One More Week to Welland

I'm racing in my first Half Ironman distance in exactly ONE WEEK!

I started officially training for this race back on February 21.  I was just coming off from some serious hip pain caused by an unstable Tib-fib joint.  Now nearly 4 months later with 194 workouts completed, I'm ready to go.  I feel perfectly trained and ready to tackle the biggest race of my life.

Here's a recap of my training:

RUNNING: 56 workouts for 436.34km in 40 hours














CYCLING: 66 workouts for 2148km in 90 hours

SWIMMING: 36 workouts for 54.5km in 21 hours

WEIGHT Training: 36 workouts for 28 hours!








I am entering in to my taper week.  My plan calls for work outs over the next three days with the biggest being an open water swim tomorrow for 1500m - though if I'm lucky and feeling good I hope to put 2000m under my belt, a 60km easy ride on Tuesday and a 30k ride 30min run brick on Wednesday.  I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do all of that.  Definitely the OWS and an easy ride/run but then I think I'm going to let my legs rest, eat and drink well and embrace the fact that I am trained and I am ready for this race in one week.

By this time next week I will have moved my body through 70.3 miles all in one go.   While I often think of this as just a training step along the journey to Ironman Florida, I have to remember a 70.3 is in itself a huge accomplishment and I should give it the respect it deserves.

So what are my goals for Welland?

1. Nail my nutrition!  I'm planning on 3 hours on the bike and will have 3 bottles of Accelerade containing 270 calories each.  I have trained drinking one bottle an hour and if I nail that then my nutrition should carry me through.  I'm also planning on taking 2 salt tabs a hour (though I don't take pills well while biking).
2. Work through my anxiety of a mass start.  There are going to be nearly 500 people in the mass start and we are swimming in a pretty small canal so I know the start is going to feel like there are 2000 people starting.  I hope to seed myself appropriately and handle starting with so many people.
3. While I would like for it only take 45 mins in the swim, I'm just not sure that is realistic.  I would like to complete the swim in under 50 minutes.  I also have to take in account that there is 425m run up from the swim.
4. My goal on the bike is to settle in quickly and keep an average 30kph pace.  That will get me on and off the bike in 3 hours.  I have to remember to ride like I should, not like a could and there is no such thing as a good bike split followed by a bad run.
5. My goal on the run is to manage my pace, remember this is 21.1km and NOT 10k.  I am going to take an Accelgel when I start the run and carry 2 with me.  I will drink HEED and water at every aid station and take a salt tab every 30 mins.  I will be thrilled with a sub-2 hour half marathon but know if I don't manage my pace I could blow up at the end.  Keep a 5:30 - 5:40 pace and all will be good. 
6. Finish in A) under 6 hours B) under 6:10 C) under 6:20

A year ago at the Multisport Welland Triathlon, I raced in my very first triathlon.  The Give-it-a-Tri. It took me 53:30 to swim 400m, Bike 10k and run 2.5k.  I've come a long way in a year!

Here's to taper week!  See ya in a week Welland!