One for the Triathletes - Brett's Lanzarote training camp diary

Well, the day began at 6:45 as the alarm went off for a 7:15 2k sea swim... Waking up and the first item of clothing i out on was a wetsuit which did feel a little odd to say the least....a 100m walk to the beach and we were in the water at dawn, swimming the first half of the IM course..it got light as we swam and we can see how clear the water was, a novelty to swim in open water and see the fish swim by ;) a great start...

Whilst I was fretting about equipment in the days leading up to the camp we had received a warning email from Jo carritt, warning us the winds were pretty high and deep section front wheels may not be the cleverest choice.. I thought this a shame as I don't get that much opportunity to ride my zipp 808s and do love them. After giving it some thought and getting advice from some folks who know me well, I swapped out the front for a 303 zipp, thanks Barry ;) The 303 front has been perfect, really great, so good I think throughout the day I have talked myself into buying a pair...I am a fan of their wheels and with the wind blowing upto 40 km/h the 303 got me through the day with only a couple of scary windy moments and i also managed a 10m TT win ;) ;) job done for day 1, and I believe race configuration decided..

Post TT the long ride option was to ride over Fire Mountain, who is going to pass that up, sounds great, and it was, a 7 km ride straight into a very strong headwind with a string of real camels sitting off the road to our left on the way up..volcano camel safari anyone ? Sounds cool eh ? It was a VERY fast descent through lava fields, 46 mph in the bars feels FAST..swear the 303 saved me a couple of times from being pushed off the road...

The afternoon run was a friskyish affair along the sea front, and up onto the Coastal path, steep hills and steps a plenty meant we only managed 5.6 miles in 45 minutes, not too bad for the terrain, intensity about my half IM pace....

A great first day, wasn't looking forward to the swim when we woke up but really enjoyed it, once in the water. Realised that when I change direction i am too dramatic in the change, just a very small adjustment is all that is required, hopefully this should help my zig zagging in future races...

Can't wait for tomorrow, suitably tired....