Friday 29 June 2012

Song of the Week - Elbow - One Day Like This

It's been a while since I did a Friday song of the week. Don't know why I started them. Just a little fun. I'd often choose a tune that had been rattling around my head that I couldn't get out, or a new tune I'd heard that I liked. This one goes under the first heading.Then again, it goes under that heading most weeks. It resurfaced again last weekend when they did it at the Isle of Wight Festival. I didn't go, but they showed it on Sky Arts1. Shocking coverage to be honest. 


The lyrics are just great and I reckon and hope that it's in my head on Sunday.  


..well anyway, it's looking like a beautiful day
So throw those curtains wide, one day like this a year would see me right.    

Thursday 28 June 2012

Chill and Prep....Repeat

Am I ready? Just about. Am I excited? Yes. Am I nervous? Not yet. Will I be? YES!


7 months in the making and we're finally here, just a few days 'til the Outlaw Ironman Triathlon. Yes, I am putting the IM word in there. The WTC can do one! (But please don't tell them, I don't want to get in trouble!). But it is an Ironman, so let's not let a little copyright and trademark get between friends.


Training over the last month has hardly been textbook. Don Finks textbook to be precise. A calf injury at the beginning of week 26 has meant that I've only managed a 20 and 30 min run the last 14 days as I gave it complete rest in an attempt to at least recover in time for the race. Well, its mostly healed but still niggles a little. I find that shorter strides help out. Which is fortunate, as that's as good as the run's going to get after the bike! They do call it the Ironman shuffle for a reason. Fingers crossed it'll hold out to get me across the finish line and that I've held on to some of the endurance I'd built up. It was always going to be a run/walk scenario but there'll just have to be a little more walk in there now. It's all about forward motion and that finish chute.


My preparation for the weekend starts today. I've taken today and tomorrow off work so that I can relax and get all my kit together bit by bit without rushing around. Whilst also watching the athletics, Wimbledon and the football. Just perfect for me! The floor of my living room is very quickly becoming an obstacle course as I add elements to it. I'm taking the kitchen sink! Will I/won't I need it? Pack it. 

Then tomorrow there's a few more things to get from the bike shop. A little more nutrition, a couple of spare inner tubes. It'll all come together by the end of tomorrow and then I'll be heading up to Nottingham early Saturday morning to soak up the atmosphere and register, potter around before heading to the hotel. Whether I'll get an early night is debatable once the nerves kick in but I'll try. I'm going to bed earlier and getting up earlier the next couple of days in order to try and trick my body. That 3am alarm isn't going to be too pretty!    


Right then, let's get some of this kit sorted. I hope to bump into a few of you over the weekend. I'll be in Walden Triathlon kit so please say hello. Best of luck to all of you. I hope everyone finishes and is proud.