Calm before the storm...

I say the calm before the storm because it's all not quite real yet, but I know that the second tomorrow dawns its new day things are going to change. At the moment it feels a little like a holiday (albeit a very restrained one!)

The pic above is from today's recce of the bike course. One loop around the scenic roads and villages of Frankfurt. It's a great course. A lot of people had said it was a fast course and not technical but one man's technical compared to ickle old my technical could be chalk and cheese. Thankfully I think both of those statements are true. The roads are long and sweeping so apart from a section of cobbles and a couple of tight bends I feel okay about it. The climbs are all given names like 'The Beast' and 'Heartbreak Hill' but to be honest they're not what I would call climbs (I have the good old Yorkshire Dales to thank for that.)

We rode the whole thing very very easy and in true organised German style. We had a Police escort and a pack of Police outriders for the whole 3 and a half hours, stopping traffic, keeping the roads clear and danger free and allowing us to see the course safely which would have been impossible had we tried to do it on our own. On race day the roads will be closed. It was a great feeling, riding in a pack of about 25 to 30 people and all of us soon to be Ironmen, all with a different story to tell and different paths to get here, all enjoying the sun (another 32 degree scorcher) and seeing the sights.

Tomorrow becomes the real start of it all. Family & friends are arriving and other competitors start trickling in with their perfectly honed bodies ready for the race that awaits... we register and everything we do from now onwards starts to really make the difference for Sunday, what we eat, what we drink and how we deal with race anxiety as the minutes tick ever closer. Tonight I'm going to pretend I'm still on holiday, read my book and sleep well.

Tomorrow's another day - like the beginning of a long awaited Christmas holiday I'm starting to feel excited. Keep the lid on it for a few more days though, button down the hatches and let it all happen at 7am (6am English time) on Sunday morning.

Right gonna sign off before I start making myself nervous!

Night night.

H. x