Big Bike Ride

Today almost didn't happen as I didn't get to bed till 2.45am as my son missed his bus from T in the Park and I had to pick him up!  The my daughters alarm went off at 5am, she was away on a sleepover, so I had to get up for that.  So when I dragged myself out of bed at 11am I wasn't feeling refreshed or motivated to get on my bike but my coach had underlined how important this session was.  It was a milestone in my cycling - 6 hrs and 140km in very testing conditions, wind gusting up to 35 miles per hour almost made me turn back as I was nearly blown off the road on a few occasions.  It was dangerous but conditions improved and this would be my longest and last big ride before the event - character building!  I will continue cycling in the run up to the event but the mileage will be less.
Ironman is an an interesting concept in that the first time I will swim 2.4 miles will be on the day, same with the 112 miles on the bike and same with the marathon.  In addition I will never have put them together at that distance before - a real challenge.  That's why each training session is so important.
So tomorrow is a rest day and having had my steak, pasta, veg and milk I am dressed in my compression clothing to help my recovery while I watch the footie!