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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Pre Ironman Lanzarote 2013

There is only one way to start the trip for the epic Ironman Lanzarote, a spot of Champagne in the airport executive lounge, the cherry cake was good as well.

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The following day after landing I then had to put my bike back together, some how it all fits back together!!

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Not sure what happened to all three of support crew that came over with me at this point, I think they must have been sunbathing.

I even got my hands dirty!!!

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Just to acclimatise I was doing 4 a day pool swim sets followed by a spot of sunbathing to get use to the sun, warm and windy conditions.

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The next day we had to go to Club la Santa for race number collection and the expo.

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Starting to feel REAL now, NO turning back!!
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While waiting for race briefing I did a nice run around lagoon at CLS pacing my brother, it was faster than he was used to and in strong wind (as usual). He had nothing left for the 400m sprint finish on the track :-)

I was then representing Team United Kingdom at parade of nations.

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It started on the athletics track, through the expo, than the pool bar area, lagoon pool, pasta party before heading in to the stage area in the centre of the complex.

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Included below is a video found on Youtube of the parade of nations including the drummers that lead the parade around nearly all of Club La Santa.



In the end I did not win the free bike that you got entered in a draw for taking part in the parade.

On the coach trip back to the other side of the island (where the start is) we saw some of the cycle course, it looked so much easier in an air conditioned coach than cycling.

I then had to pack the race bags with enough kit options for really hot to cold plus combinations in between. I then took these bags to transition area (TZ) along with my bike.

After security and safety checks I got to rack my bags and bike.

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The bag locations were clearly located and numbered plus with my pacing strategy I should find mine easier.

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I then made a note of the bike location, as can be a bit confused after a long swim. There was only one really tall street light in the area and it was close to my rack to identify it.

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The transition 1 area had a long run up beach to the bikes area, the incline was steep without doing a swim first.

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Was not exactly sure where transition 2 for the run is as was along the road apparently, however I should easily find it about 10 hours in to the race.

After this all the race logistics had been done, so just had to chillax but starting to get a bit nervous.

For pre-race diner the team chief cooked pasta with some vegetables!! It was nice relaxed eating out on the patio, however still thinking about the busy next day.

Setting the alarms for 4am to get pre race breakfast, I then went to bed early. This was a lie in compared to other Ironman races as was a late 7am race start (normally 6am) but had up to midnight to finish (with varous cutoff times).

I managed a few hours sleep before the alarms went off. After some breakfast and drinks I then headed off in to the early and dark cold morning to the race area to start the sightseeing tour of the island.

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Now the Race..

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