The thought of it, especially the July period, does scare me a tad still. I really have no idea of how I will recover from a half ironman to compete at a full ironman 2 weeks later, and then do another half ironman 2 weeks after that, at least I will go into the 1st of the 5 at Lough Cutra in a fully fit and rested state and have a month to get fully recovered before the 2nd one.
I have had a great winter and spring build up, since starting being coached by Darren Jenkins, we have slowly built up my fitness to a level I have only ever reached when purely cycling. My winter fears of too slow a build up have been proven to be totally unwarranted, Darren has got me here in such an easy manner it is hard to believe how fit I appear to be on paper. Hardly any missed sessions, no illnesses, only one or two failed sessions, all in all the best ever winter/spring season I think I have ever had. Big thanks also need to go to Secret Training for supporting me with my nutritional needs, it has kept me fueled throughout my training and recovery.
Swimming has improved, running has improved, cycling has remained pretty solid so I would expect to have become a better triathlete, let's hope it translates to racing.
As to my thoughts about Lough Cutra, it is a wonderful event which this year is part of the Triathlon Ireland National Series so sees another increase in competitors in the Gauntlet, this is fantastic news as it can only draw in an even higher class of triathlete to compete against. The numbers have increased so much that there is now 2 starting waves, ideally I would have liked a single wave as as well as competing again my Age Group competitors, I do like to compete against the whole field from the start. Obviously the numbers mean there is no option of one start so my aim for the day is to race as hard as I can and just see where I end up, at least I get to watch the 1st wave go off and then relax for a little while for my wave to get going.
What am I expecting, well I am not sure to be honest, last year was a bit of a case of doing a decent swim and a great bike, but as my running had been crap leading up to the event the run was only ever going to be a decent training run. This year obviously things have been great, I am hoping the swim is faster, just need to get on some real good feet, the bike is unlikely to be faster but I hope to be at least around the same time as last year, I guess the wind direction will have the biggest impact. As for the run, now I aim to attack this with a bit of relish, I know what sort of pace I can do in a standalone HM now so the aim in reality is to try for this pace and see how long I can keep it up for.
I am really looking forward to Sunday, it's time to really get going this season and see how the winter has paid off. Let's get racing :)
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