Beauty....

With one week to go before Ironman NZ and well and truely into my taper period, which to date has gone well and has not affected me with the traditional "taper blues". Thanks to Florian at Erox for supplying my wheels, this will be my look for the race. I have ridden these wheels a few times in the recent weeks and have found them to be equivelant to my former disc wheel. The real test will ofcourse be on race day. However in saying this, if you are not comfortable with your wheels you will make excuses for not riding well on them.

THE BEAST...

I would also like George from Degani for supplying my race suit, so I will be in the Traditional Degani Black & White. With support from people like Erox & Team Degani, it does make competing at the pointy end a lot easier.

The legs are really starting to freshen up and with one more session with Jason, I know they will be in prime condition come race day. Carla & I fly out on Tuesday and no doubt will be inspecting the course to get familiar with it pre-race. I have been getting some really good advice from a few people who either have raced on this course before or have loads of experience in the caper.

I also re-discovered water this week and felt really good doing it. I have only had a handful of swims this year and have found that I have not lost to much fitness in the wet stuff!! Overall I am very happy with my condition and will definately giving it my all to grab that elusive "slot".

Finally, something that I have failed to do with previous races is to thank everyone who has helped me get into the shape that I am.

So, here goes:

Stormy; for all the texts at 4.30am confirming week day rides, and also making sure that every session has been quality and worth while.

Jas; for spending more time with me every weekend on the bike than what we do with our partners!! Also, helping me start to enjoy climbing hills, even if I am still no good at it!!! And no, I am not going to ever do a 24hour MTB race. Ofcourse, Bec his wife for cooking my pancakes post ride, and for TRYING to keep me quiet at 5am after 3 early morning coffees!

Trav & Arch; for really helping with my running, and dragging me to some undulating runs regulary to once again help conquer the hills.

And finally, Carla; When two people in the same household are training for the same significant event, it takes a lot of patience and strong will to both keep going strong and motivating each other.

So, after training solid since June '09, I am going to give it all at New Zealand like previous races. I have set my race plan, which will be slightly different to previous and will see if this pays dividends. Time will tell.

MTR-Racing is really taking off with some great early results and more and more interest from athletes who are interested in joining. Positive breeds positive!!

So with that and leaving ALL the excuses at the door, I might be able to blog once more pre-race but if I don't a in depth race report will be given post race with a heavy unfluence of the amber liquid!!

For now...

X-Man