GCHIM Course run through

Today the plan was to ride 2 laps of the course being the full 90kms and do 1 lap of the 3 lap run course (7km's).

I headed out on the ride at 6:20am, so no lights were required which was pleasant. I was really worried about this ride and driving down I was feeling ill. My main concern was riding on my own down there - what if something happened? However, once I got going I was as good as gold. I brought a new 2xu triathlon top with pockets in the back the day before so I was trying that out along with the 2xu pants of Craig's just to see if I could cope with a long ride without the full bike nicks.

The course is good, there are a few little uphills, but nothing nasty. I stayed in my big chain ring for most of the hills. The Kerkin Road stretch is pretty bumpy and full of potholes, but most of the road on the course is Ok, there are sections that are dead but overall it is good.

My goal was to have 4 bottles of electrolytes on the bike, 2 vegemite sandwiches and a rice cocoa bar. I managed to get through all of this which was good. Race day I need to have the first bottle finished by the turn at the little shop near the strawberry farm. The next bottle needs to be finished by the halfway turnaround point at Calypso Bay and 2 bottles the same for the last lap. Because I can only carry 1 bottle on my bike it means that I am going to have to carry electrolytes on me to put into a water bottle. Each electrolytes provides 39grams of carbs so I need to make sure that I get everything on board for the run.

I think the plan for transition will be to have some sustagen sport and water and make sure that I scoff the sustagen as muh as I can get down whilst in transition. This will help by providing a good dose of carbs and hydration.

I did the first lap in 27kph average and then the wind picked up on the second lap. Thanfully though by the time I finished the second lap my average had only dropped down to 26.5, so I must have taken advantage of a tail wind in there somewhere, however I don't remember it!

3hours 20min was the cycle time.

I then tried a fast transition to the run. It ended up being 5 minutes by the time I locked the bike in the car and sorted out my runnin shoes, run belt and grabbed my food and hydration which wasn't too bad for me! I took out a water bottle and a vegemite sandwich. The run was good, I wasn't cramping and didn't feel as though I was about to, it was slow, but I felt consistent. I felt like I could have continued on after the 7km lap so I hope that I can feel like that on race day.

47 minutes for 7km with a loo stop so it was probably just over 6min k pace which I am happy with.

I stretched for 20minutes and then I went into the water for 5minutes to cool down the legs. I had 2 up and go's and headed for home. I wasn't overly fatigued or sore which I am thrilled with.

Today's session has given me a lot of confidence that I can do the Half Ironman and complete it which up until this point I wasn't so sure so i am feelin on top of the world.