Its Sunday morning and its a week before I finally get my first triathlon of the season under way. It will also be a massive step up from my other triathlons I have done in the past which have all been sprint triathlon's. I will be going in to the unknown and stepping in to a 70.3 triathlon. I am completely looking forward to competing in the Outlaw Half which takes place at Holme pierrepoint in Nottingham. This should be a great warm up event before I take on my biggest challenge to date which will be the Outlaw Full triathlon.
Training leading up to the Half Outlaw has been going well and I have recently got back in to the open water and swimming in the lake. The first time I went swimming in the lake the water was 12 degrees and was getting cold by the end of the hour. A few weeks later the water temp has risen to a tropical 16 degrees. My bike has remained consistent and in some ways I should of spent more time on the bike. The distance of the Half Outlaw bike (56 miles) doesn't faze me but I do feel that I should have done a bit more training on the bike to improve my average speed. My running should be my strongest element of the 3 disciplines and as long as I feel OK when getting off the bike I should be able to have a good run.
I have tried different things to eat on the bike to keep me going and it was only recently that I have discovered peanut butter and banana in a wrap. They taste great, are easy to eat and give you much needed energy. This will be topped off with energy gels and a little bit of flapjack. Now I have my Hydration mounted on my front handlebars drinking on the go has never been so easy and now I drink more frequently and feel so much better for it.
To help keep my motivation up I have now got my medals and my bib numbers on display. At the moment the garage is a storage area for rubbish and gardening stuff and I also train in there. Eventually I get the garage sorted and will paint the walls and make it in to a proper pain cave. 
Race number for the Outlaw half is 424 and my start time is 0640hrs. I do have a time in mind in how long I would like to take to complete the course but I haven't shared it with anyone and I don't intend to. Even if I don't hit my target time I won't be too bothered about it as just completing it will be a great achievement. I just hope I am not to sore after the event.
