Tuscany, Nice & TFD's Birthday

Lots to catch up on! I was out in Tuscany in the Empoli Hills staying in a lovely villa for Anna and Jeremy's wedding. Such a wonderful long weekend! I headed out to Pisa on Thursday with the Irish Massive (Helen, John, Sam, Kirstin, Ruth) and picked up the cars to start a rather long drive to the villa. The driving instructions we were provided with were vague to say the least! The villa was massive with 2 floor and a converted attic space to house the 10 of us staying there. Thursday we headed out to take over the local co-op, shopping for 10 people is an adventure in itself and we were not too popular with the locals after we had forgotten to weight the fresh produce and held up the line whist we tested our knowledge of the Italian names for fruit and veg.

I got up Friday morning and had this fantastic run through the vineyards. I ran around the ridge line of some of the hills and just kept getting higher and higher. The views were just breathtaking so I kept going further up. I was supposed to be doing a structured session but sometimes the training plan has to go out the window! I ended up doing a loop around so I could look back across the hills having reached one of the highest points in the area and could see our villa which was quite distinctive with turrets along the top of it. I came across quite a lot of pheasant and no matter how many times I saw them they still made me jump when they explode out of the bushes. I was crossing through one vineyard where there were 5 old men picking grapes who just stopped working and just stared at me. I'm not sure they see too many runners. I gave them a big wave and a smiley buongiorno and picked up the pace before they could say anything :)

Friday was the wedding in one of the most beautiful settings. Anna and Jeremy got married in an olive grove and then we headed to the pool for prosecco and canapés and lots of pictures. It was a lovely surprise to see Joanne there with her husband Matthew and baby Gabe. I had no idea she was going to be there! Joanne and I used to work together in product management at AOL.

The party was certainly starting to get underway and we were ushered up to an outside terrace where dinner was. I was on a table with Lena, her husband Jasper and another colleague Ingo. The 5 course meal was to die for! Amazing, especially the wild boar ragu. It was very dramatic sitting out there as there was a lightening storm across the valley which made for a fantastic atmosphere. In perfect style the speeches were not too long, just right, food was incredible and the company absolutely charming.

After dinner we were sent back to the pool where the DJ was warming up. John was causing mischief by going around saying to guests that the party starts when the bride hits the water. Enter stunt bride. John had packed his own stunt dress and managed to talk one of the guys to jumping in with him. There was a collective gasp when he jumped in until everyone realised Anna was safe on dry ground :)

Everyone up on the dance floor and of course all the wedding classics were coming out. About 11.30 the heavens opened and it just poured and poured with rain for the night. We were all inside so it wasn't a problem. The problem was waiting for the 1 and only taxi in the area to ferry people around to the various places. It was nice watching the storm and waiting so wasn't bad at all :)

Unfortunately the bad weather settled in, it was humid so the rain was actually welcomed for my run Saturday morning. I think I might have been sweating white wine on my run but did feel good once it was done. Some of the parents of the Irish Massive were also at the wedding so they came over for dinner on Saturday night so we had 16. Huge BBQ and some great salads along with a drop of Tuscan Chianti.

More bad weather Sunday so I did a little run and then focused on some core exercises improvising with rocks for weights. We drove to Sienna for lunch and had a bit of a wander around. I have been there 5 or 6 times and love it so was more than pleased to be back there. John and I were heading back on a 10.30pm flight which was good and bad. Good that we got to spend the entire day and bad that I didn't get home till 2am! kind of ruined Monday's training because I was so tired.

Was back on track with training for the rest of the week and knew I had to keep it up because I was flying to Nice on the Friday with The Flying Dutchman for his birthday! We had a later flight Friday night that removed the airport stress. Friday night was a lovely cold beer on the terrace when we arrived, all in anticipation for his birthday!

Got up Saturday for breakfast on the terrace and put Matilda (my bike) together. I gave TFD his birthday present which was the new ipod video nano. I had loaded it up with some youtube videos, various cycling podcasts and my music collection which he has not stopped poking fun at. I had to point out that there was a time where Aussie Music of the 90's was cool. Somehow he didn't believe me. :) We headed out on our ride on Saturday which was about 3 hours and I still can't quite believe how breathtaking the views are in that part of the world. It is so totally worth climbing these mountains for an hour just to look out across a stunning coast line. When we got back I went out for a 50min run along the promenade towards Monaco where the road goes up..and up..and up. I spotted some cyclists so made them my target to beat them up the hill. Think I may have over done it because I hadn't eaten on the ride and wasn't fuelled up for a 3 hour ride and then a high intensity run. Totally screwed up my nutrition so was feeling pretty sick by the time I made it back to the beach to meet TFD. I skipped my swim which wasn't good but I wasn't feeling so crash hot. A little nap on the beach fixed that :)

Dinner Saturday night was amazing. We ate at La Reserve which is a Michelin starred restaurant in Nice. We got a table on the terrace looking back over Nice, awesome watching the light go down and the lights of Nice come up. The food was incredible, the service perfect and I think I had the best chocolate torte I have ever eaten. Highly recommend it.

Sunday was supposed to be a 6 hour ride but it was raining! No! That isn't supposed to happen in Nice!! We waited and it cleared so we went out for 3 hours up a climb past Elton John's house. It is such a long climb but it is so worth it to come back down it. I hit 82km hr coming back down. YEEE HAAA! It is like flying and is so exhilarating, especially passing cars. That is the fastest I have ever been on Matilda before. Previously I had managed to get to about 72km/hr but always starting thinking about what would happen if I crashed. I don't think about that now, I just concentrate on trying to catch The Flying Dutchman who certainly does fly when on a bike. I call his bike Razor simply because it just cuts through the air fast as you like. That and the seat is like a razor blade :)

It is always such great training being in Nice, I can really feel the improvement in my legs. I am already feeling fitter and stronger than before heading into Ironman Austria in July and I still have a bit over 7 weeks to get ready for Ironman Arizona. Race prep starts here. I have the competitor list and will start researching who will cause me problems in the race, just as I did for IMUK. No more alcohol from now until after the race and I will start getting strict with my diet again. I have done quite a bit of work and research on nutrition planning for racing so will post up some of my top tips. being the absolute geek that I am, I have also created an excel spreadsheet with formulas that when you enter the food you are going to eat it highlights if you are getting enough carbs/calories/protein/caffeine or anything you want to program it for. Screams Tri nerd I know :)
Thats it for now. Next up: Fiona and Andrew's wedding :)
Cxx

IronMan UK Race Tips 2008

This might be useful for those of you doing IMUK this year. One of my Aunt's in the US who is also a multiple IM finisher including Kona, has a friend doing IMUK and asked me to send her some tips.

Swim
* The water is cold. It always rains here in the UK in August so the water never really heats up too much so definitely make time to get in and do a warmup. The start line is actually about 200m from the shore so you do get to swim a bit before hand.
* Be careful about what time you get in the water, last year (2007) we were delayed and could have really done without the 20 mins of treading water.
* You swim clockwise around the course, 2 laps
* The water is murky brown so don't expect to see much. You will be lucky to see your hand a foot in front of your face
* They do a practise swim around 9am each morning so do try and get to one of those in the days leading up
* The swim was delayed by more than an hour 3 years ago due to mist on the lake. Make sure you can get some food and water should this happen and you have to wait because you will be in the race funnel on the side of the lake waiting.

Bike
* It starts with a hill. A steep hill. You leave the castle and go maybe 1km and then start climbing. Take it easy, it is one of those hills that when you think it is over, it twists around a bit more. You only do this one at the beginning of the race because the loops start at the top of the hill.
* The climbs are tough, especially on the back section of the 60km loops. They are long and it can be really windy. We had a really strong cross wind last year so when you would get to a gap in a hedge you would have to really hold on.
* There is a long decent on the back stretch, it isn't technical but a lot of people hold off. If you are fine with speed I suggest you cane it. I was overtaking loads of people on that section and it isn't a technical descent, you just need the balls to go for it.
* It can be cold in Britain in Sept, in fact a few people got hypothermia last year. I wore a cycling top, arm warmers and shorts and I was fine but I don't tend to feel the cold too much. You definitely need to plan on having some warmer clothes than a trisuit. Saying that you might get lucky on the day and have beautiful sunshine!
* They sweep the roads the day before the race but they do get covered in crap so there are lots of punctures. A friend got 4 last year which was game over for him. I was lucky, but make sure you have plenty of spares and know how to change them quickly.
* Put a tube, spare C02 canister and a bt of food in your special needs bag. You won't get it back but it is nice knowing you have a backup tube should you go through the ones you are carrying with you. It could have saved my mates race last year.
* The mechanic support on the course is minimal, even one of the pros I know couldn't get help, so game over for her. I don't think they would even help you with punctures.
* They do have mechanics at the expo if you want your bike looked at pre race, but you have to book in. Mail the race office and they will help you.
* There is always support at the top of the hill in point one where the loop starts again as lots of people walk the couple of km's out there to support people. There are a few other hot spots for supporters and you pass through a few towns but there isn't loads of people out there.
* The aid stations are great, shout out what you want going into them and you will get it. Remember to say thank you to these people! They have all got up very early on their Sunday to help you realise your dream. Saying thank you isn't going to cost you any time.

Run
* The run course has changed this year but I believe they still do the same 1st half around the castle grounds and changed the 2nd half which was on a duel carriageway rd.
* 1st half leave transition out towards the campsite and is lumpy, it then goes up gradually to the turnaround and back down around behind the castle, around past transition and around again. You will get a bracelet as you do the first loop so they know to send you out on the 2nd one.
* If it has been raining it will be muddy in parts as some of it is dirt tracks. Avoid the water, last thing you need is wet socks, yuo will get blisters.
* After the 2 loops around the castle you go through the town and over this bridge which is stairs on both sides. Killer on the way home!
* Once through town, last year it was 2 loops of basically 3 hills, there wasn't a flat bit in it. If they are not doing that part again thank your lucky stars!! It is brutal but if you can run hills you will dominate. If your strategy is to run the marathon, do it! If your plan is to run / walk, stick to that. Don't change your race plan on the day.
* It was incredibly windy on the run, especially the 2nd half and it was either a head or tail wind which made some of those hills interesting. At one point I was blown backwards :) Be mentally prepared for that!
* Once the 2 loops are done, back across the killer bridge, through the town and out to the castle to finish. Even the finishing chute is on a hill!!
* The support going back through the town is great so don't forget to soak it up!
* Again, don't forget to be nice to the volunteers. They don't have to be out there and it is a thankless job.

I wish everyone who is doing Ironman UK on 7th September the very best of luck, although finishing Ironman has nothing to do with luck. Ironman is about hard work....and lots of it! Have a great time, it is a phenomenal achievement to even make the start line and something you can be proud of for the rest of your life.
Cxx