Here’s the bike all ship shape. It’s clean, it’s lubed, it’s raring to go. Been managing to keep my nerves in check so far and long may it continue. This has been achieved by focussing on the fact this is all meant to be fun. My nerves seem to all be about other people passing me etc… so I just focus on this is my race and my best performance comes from just racing it as if I’m on my own.

I did a 40 mile ride yesterday split by the briefing at La Santa. It was a pretty easy ride and helped me settle and feel good. For many many weeks now I’ve not gone more than a day or two without riding so I felt it was best not to have 3 days off from cycling just before the race. This morning I swam a lap of the course. felt nice and comfortable in the water and thought about how I would approach the swim. As long as I keep my head the plan is not to redline at the start – instead just head off steady and try to have a stress free swim. I do need to get in the pen early to get a decent spot. It’s another one of those things that rattles my nerves and again it’s really not the racing it’s the worry about not being able to place myself on the front line of the swim. Easily solved though by getting in the pen pretty early.

Tomorrow morning I will have breakie even if I have to force it down. Cheese and peanut butter omelette – it’s served me well for so many long training days I will stick with it.

Tomorrow is all about enjoyment. Yes, I keep telling myself this, so it must be true. I’ve even managed to convince myself that not going to Kona would be for the best. This is a nerve settling strategy because I would dearly love to go but until I hit the run I’m not planning on it being a source of stress or a source of going too hard.

The forecast is for light winds and hot. Given my run is relatively poor at the moment it’s really not what I wanted – I wanted strong winds. That said it’s probably better for Jo and given the choice of ideal conditions for me or her I’d pick ideal for her. I still feel I’’m winging it on the run like I have the last few races. I’ve not done what I would like to have done training wise but I’ve done whats right for recovery from injury. I feel now the foot is completely repaired. I have no issues with it at all from what I can tell other than the odd blister I never used to get. I feel tomorrows run will be a true reflection of where I’ve got to in a year since returning from injury. Last year at this time I was still months away from running but I was finally back on my bike. It still amazes me when i think about it and that keeps me grounded, allowing me to just enjoy being able to do this stuff. In fact, I’ve just received a good luck email from my sister which rather echoes this sentiment. She always seems able to say the right thing ahead of a race and this time was no exception. I was almost in tears in the cafe as I read it. I will keep it in mind as I race tomorrow.