The Season is about to commence.

Tomorrow I fly up to Sunny Yeppoon, Qld for my first proper race for the season.

Last weekend I completed a small duathlon 5k run, 18.75k ride & 5k run and achieved the goals that I set myself for the race.

Break 20min for both 5k,

Break 30min for the ride.

I finished 6th overall, however I was pleased with my 2nd run being able to run sub 4min km pace off the bike.

This weekend sees me race my first 1/2 Ironman for the season and my first since I have been self coaching. When I say self coaching, I have been getting quality advice from a few people but writing my own programs.

There will be a lot of unknown about this race as I am unsure where I am at due to a few minor hiccups along the way (see previous posts).

My main aim to try run a personal best (beating my previous of 1hr 34min) and also in the swim (29min 08sec). If I can achieve these two goals, I am confident of achieving a best time overall. I am not concerned of where I finish overall or in my age group as some quality athletes are attending who are way above my ability.

The weather will be a bit of a shock due to Melbourne being cooler by an average of 10deg Celsius per day. By flying in Thursday and the race being on Sunday, this will give me a few days to get acclimatised to the conditions. Staying hydrated in the lead up days will be a priority for me.

I am lucky enough not to have suffered cramping in a race prior and I hope that I just haven't put the mozz on me now.

I am going to post my race plan now and see how close it turns out. Based on my training and where I think I am at, I should be able to go:

Low 28mins for the swim;

Low 2hr 20min for the bike; and

Low 1hr 30min for the run

Giving me an overall time of :

Low 4hr 20mins.

For the first time I am going to attack the run early and see how long that I can hang tight for, previously I have just found a comfortable tempo and held that for the entire race. I am hoping to be able to go hard for 14-17k's and then hang on for the final 4k's. Time will tell.

I am excited to get to my first race for the season as it feels like ages since my last race in March.

I will give a small update just prior to race day.

For now...

X-Man