Road to Ironman 2014, or confusing ambition with ability

Well, after setting my alarm for sparrow fart this morning, I was just glad to get to Llanberis in one piece, I was really tired on the drive down. After going through registration in the visitors centre, I really enjoyed setting up in transition, there was only a few of us there at that time (about 07:20), so I was happy in my little bubble, getting myself ready. I spotted Wayne, one of the Team Pie contingent and had a quick chat with him and then Scott, a fellow member of Team True Spirit. My mate Phil and the others arrived a bit later so we spent the next hour or so just chilling, before our wave started. This was the first time that I was trying out the stuff that we'd done in training, whereby we just use our own body fat for fueling during the race instead of taking carbs on board, so I was a bit nervous (yes, I know there was no chance of me running out of fuel, in that case), but within an hour of taking the travel sickness tablet I was fine and relaxed. The travel ...

In recent weeks we have moved in to a more volume based training ethic. Our Tuesday night swims are around 4km now, with variations thrown in. The other week we were simulating race conditions which was great fun, swimming over each other and generally tussling, although I think leaving the pool with a split nose was a bit much, lol. I did learn a few tricks for swimming around buoys and saving a few precious seconds. Last week we started our open water training and to say it was cold would be an understatement. I think even the fish had coats on. It's a great location, we're using Eccleston Delph dive centre and it's a bit surreal seeing streams of bubbles coming up from below, from the scuba divers that are 30 - 60 ft down. There are some huge fish in that lake as well, although I've not seen the sturgeon yet. Hopefully I'll get to spot it sooner or later, the water is lovely and crystal clear, a total contrast from the 5ft of visibility that there is in Penningt...