Long Course Weekend is coming and a New Nemesis!

This weekend it is the Long Course Weekend (LCW) in Tenby and according to the timer on their website, it starts in 1 Day 5 Hours 56 Minutes and 11seconds ,sorry 10 seconds ,sorry 9 seconds.


 The LCW is a full Ironman distance triathlon but spread across 3 days. On Friday you swim the 2.4 miles, on Saturday you bike 112 Miles then on Sunday you run the 26.2 Marathon. One of the pros of this is that you get some time to recover between each event, unlike Ironman. The con of this is that you have time in between to feel your aches and to have second thoughts.

I've signed up for all 3 disciplines, and will be using this as a benchmark for how much more work I need for Ironman on the 18th of September.  The total time for Ironman is 17 Hours, including transition. Assuming 15 minutes per transition, based on my New Nemesis' time from last year), I'll hopefully finish the 3 disciplines this weekend in at the very most 16hours and 30 minutes.

Below is how I hope they breakdown:

Swim 2.4 Miles

Based on my Swashbuckler time of 49 minutes for the Swim (I'm erring on the side of caution and taking the chip-time rather than my riverside time-check), I'm hoping to complete the swim tomorrow in 102 Minutes. That's 13 minutes slower than my nemesis but hopefully can make it up in other disciplines.

Tomorrow?Crikey!Its tomorrow!

Bike 112 Miles

Pembrokeshire,as seen by bike.

Based on the fact that Wales is where hills go to get an education in being mountains, I'm erring on the far far side of caution here. If you use all your allocated time on the swim at Ironman, you have 8 hours to do the bike course. So in the spirit of expecting the best but preparing for the worst, I'm aiming for 8 hours, as this is the maximum time I'm guaranteed to have to use on the Bike in September. Any quicker than that and I'll be happy. In honesty, I'm just going to be happy to finish this. But if I do meet my target, I'll have done it 38 minutes quicker than my Nemesis.

(My nemesis by the way is a chap I've never met and has only become my nemesis as he was the fellow to come last in my age range at Ironman Tenby last year. I'm sure he's a lovely bloke but I want to beat his time this year,so I'm not the slowest Ironman in my age group and it gives a benchmark to aim at. Plus I like the drama of a Nemesis. )

Run 26.2 Miles 

That'll be me at the back then.

The Marathon, after a gruelling weekend of  swim and bike, doesn't begin until 10am on the Sunday, which is nice. Unfortunately, its not the same course as September but it sounds like it'll be more varied than the Ironman course so swings(no actual course experience) and roundabouts (lovely day out!).

On Ironman Day, again assuming all time prior has been exhausted, I'll have 6 hours 20 minutes to complete it, which is about 9 minutes a kilometre. I think that is stumble-able but I'd like to do a bit better than that both this weekend and on September the 18th. So I'm going to aim for a sub 5 Hour marathon on Sunday. Its not fast but remember what all this is about. Its about the taking part, finishing, pushing yourself. Its not the winning, It is however about beating the Nemesis, and to do that, all I need do is finish the Marathon in under 6 hours 18 Minutes.

So wish me luck, and hopefully see you on the otherside. I'm off to eat some pasta and try not to get caught up counting down the 1 day 5 hours 21 Minutes and 43,42,41,40..........