Anna & Jörgs Ironman China count down

The days are slowly passing by, the weather is improving and all the top athletes have now arrived. What does the lead-up to an Ironman race look like for Anna and Jörg?

 

Saturday (one week before race day): Arrive in China

10 min light run
Very hot and humid...

 

Sunday

trying to get used to working night shift, turning the body clock upside down....

1 hr 30 min ride, check out the transition area and run course along with a part of the bike course.
Jörg had a flat after 20 mins - a huge hole in his tire, shit wrong tire choice for these conditions. We need some tough tires. Quickly organised tires from the Bike Boutique (official bike shop) to arrive on thursday...

 

Monday

Swim - 1200 m with 800 m Ironman pace

in the hotel swimming pool (50 meter!)
feeling good in the water

 

Tuesday

Run - 30 mins with some Ironman pace and 3 x 200 m 10km tempo surges

Ride - 40 mins easy

Wet and cold (11 degrees opposed to the 30+ degrees when we arrived)

Wednesday

Swim - 15 mins a lap of the swim course (bloody cold....)
didn´t really warm up as the water is cold and the wind too! Bit rough out there today, hope it will be calmer on race day.

 

Thursday

Run - 30 mins with Ironman pace

Ride - 30 mins with 1 km Ironman pace
Feeling good!

Pick up race number, bikes to the mechanic as our tires have arrived from Singapore, changed all tires to a more robust tire along with pit stop for extra puncture resistance, good choice feels much safer. The bike course is mostly on good roads however there is a 10km section through small villages, so it is better to be safe than very sorry.

 

Friday
swim - 400m in the very cold pool (15 degrees). Must have cooled down due to the cold weather, didn´t notice this on monday, or maybe it was the jet lag. Few 50 m sprints to get the muscles and blood flowing.

 

So we do not have much more on our training schedule. Tomorrow a light run and swim. All the training has been done in the previous months, all you can do in the week before is to rest up for the big race, you will need every bit of energy your body can find.  We have loaded up all week on pasta and rice so the tank is full. I did make the mistake in the Nice Ironman last year of not taking on enough carbs during the race. This week I have had time to plan my race nutrition. Of course you can only take a limited amount with you relying on the feed zones for the remainder of the race. I´m sure my body will let me know what it needs come the run leg, cola anyone?

Tomorrow we will need to take our bikes to the bike check in where they will be guarded overnight (hopefully!). Sunday morning we will be awake at 4.00 am for a light breakfast before catching the bus to the start area. 

 

The weather looks pretty much like we expected coming here to China - 34 degrees and humidity in the high 80ies. Although we have not been able to acclimatize as this week all we have had is cold weather! The wind is going to pick up around midday to make our day a little more interesting. Looking foward to Ironman China.

Photos:

1. The Hotel swimming area, located directly on the beach
2. The mechnics mounting our new tires
3. Our own private beach on the door step