It’s telling that I’m doing this review on a Sunday morning, the sun is shining and my bike is propped up in front of me. I’ve “in theory” Ironman Wales in a week and my motivation to get out on the bike is pretty low. I’m still sore from last week.

Report here.

With pretty much zero preparation for the race initially I thought a review was rather pointless but in fact it was a bit of an eye opener for me on several points. So this review will be just a series of observations.

1. DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) – boy oh boy it was bad. Never had it before after a 70.3. In the past I’ve always done them when training for Ironman so have loads of volume in my legs. This time I’d done virtually nothing. I’ll be honest, I was loving my hobble, I wore it with pride. Given the season I’ve had I was chuffed to be able to get myself in to that state.
2. The swim was so much better than expected. This season, especially in the first half of the year my swimming got to levels I’ve not see since my University days. It stuck around longer than I’d expected and indicates that the maintenance level of swimming I need is less than I thought.
3. I certainly over cooked the bike. I feel sure that my overall time could have been a fair bit quicker if I’d knocked the bike back by 10 mins. The course is so fast. I did 2:36 with a normalised power 247 (pretty much 3w/KG on the day). This compares with 280w I managed at Wimbleball (3.6 w/kg).
4. The run was a pleasure. I’ve not run pain free since end of April and not run at all since June. To enjoy foot strikes that didn’t make me wince a little was superb. Shame I’d gone too hard on the bike and was having to deal with cramp.
5. First time I’ve had cramping in my calves since I moved to forefoot striking. Gave me something to think about on the run. No conclusions though
6. Post the race I was ultra enthusiastic about Ironman wales. I was in dream-ville imagining getting 10 days solid biking in and a long run and then smashing Ironman Wales. The reality was minimal training for a week after. The one run I did confirmed my back / heel issue isn’t completely fixed but is on the mend.
7. The race seems to have helped my back / heel. From 2 days post race I’ve been walking pain free. Yesterdays short run however did knock it back a little so I clearly have to be careful.
8. Ironman Wales – I so want to do it. I’m tempted to call my friend Andy to get him to talk me out of these arbitrary goals. I’ve completed all the Ironman Wales events so far so want to complete this one. This makes me realise those dudes that had done every Ironman New Zealand are remarkable. My logical side is telling me not to do it. I’m not in shape to do a race I’ll be pleased with. It will not be pretty at all. My mum and Rachel will be put through torture watching it. I should just view last weekend as my end of season and now focus on returning to running.

We will see…