Saturdays Tenby Ironman Ride

Saturday  10th August 2013
Today I rode the full Ironman course. The opportunity came up to stay in a friends caravan at Laugharne near Tenby, it was too good to miss and I have been worried about the course and how I will get on with it.
So I left after work on Friday. I packed quickly and headed West. The caravan park is lovely and the big static caravan is very spacious and comfortable. 
 I didn't do my swim on Friday morning, I just felt tired and wasn't able to persuade myself to go like I usually do. Other pressures are getting to me.  So I was pleased to be doing this ride.
I had a good nights sleep and woke feeling refreshed this morning . After a good breakfast and mixing my energy drinks for the day, I drove the 30 minutes to Tenby. I found a cheap all day car park and by 9.45am I was pedalling West toward Pembroke and Angle. To my surprise a lot of people were doing exactly the same as me, test riding the course.   I had decided that I would break the ride down into bite size chunks of 10 miles at a time. I rode into Angle with two young guys I met on the ride from The Cardiff Triathlon club. They are experienced Triathletes and offered me some good advice about mental preparation and also gave me a boost by telling me that I was cycling well and strong. They continued on ahead of me as we looped back toward Pembroke up a steep hill. It was a lovely day, slightly overcast with a breeze.   I got a bit lost after Pembroke and at first got a bit stressed over that, but soon chilled out. It didn't really matter too much as long as I got the miles in. I eventually got back on the right road.   My detour took me past Anna's Welsh Zoo.
When I got to Narberth the two Cardiff guys waved me down outside a Spar shop. I told them about my detour and we compared mileage, I had done the same as them, 55 miles, so nothing lost. I bought a tuna roll and topped up my water bottle. The guys offered for me to ride with them so I didn't get lost again but I declined. I wanted to stick to my own pace. They asked how I was feeling and told me I was looking great, what a boost!   They explained which way to go before leaving me to eat my roll.
I carried on and after two junctions I got confused about the way, but lucky for me another two guys came along and invited me to ride with them.   Again two experienced triathletes but I was able to keep up with them easily.  They told me stories of previous Ironman events they had done. 
I am glad I rode with them as I would definitely have got lost again. They stopped at Wisemans Bridge and I continued alone again.
The next two climbs were brutal on tired legs.   Once past Saundersfoot there were a few climbs before eventually arriving back in Tenby. 70 miles done.  I stopped at the garage, bought a sandwich and water and headed for my car. Just as I approached the car park I saw an elderly lady trying to cross the road. She missed her footing and fell over backwards. I rushed to help her, she was unhurt just shaken.  Her daughter appeared and we got the lady up.
I went on my way. I got to my car, scoffed my sandwich while I mixed energy powder into my fresh water bottle. I also ate some Pretzels and the salt content was much appreciated.   I then set off again for the second loop. I was feeling good and put a bit of zip in my pedalling.   I only had 4 chunks of ten miles to do now.  The sky was pretty dark with black clouds looming. I fully expected to get very wet. This time round I got to Narberth with only one wrong turn and the two Cardiff guys were at the Spar shop again. We had a quick chat and I was really pleased to have caught up with them. They left shortly after I got there. I bought another Tuna roll and more water, before heading off again. At least I knew the way now. Then a painful mishap! I was lucky really. It was a fast section of road and a bee hit me on the face, then it dropped onto my thigh and stung me through my Lycra shorts. It was bloody painful, I swiped it off my leg letting out a loud yelp! It hurt like hell and actually drew a spot of blood.  At least I never got stung in the face!
 
I kept my pace up and still felt good.   Each ten mile section that passed made me smile, counting them down was satisfying and made the ride less daunting.
I pushed up the last few climbs and when I got back  to Tenby I rode up the big hill to have a look at the sea.  By now I had ridden 108 hilly miles. I stopped at a vantage point and admired the view for several minutes.
The sea looked so inviting, I wished I had brought my swimming gear as I definitely would have gone for a quick swim.

Admiring the view.

Wishing I was down there.

 I found it hard to tear myself from the view, but I was on a mission so I whizzed back down the hill to my car. I packed the bike quickly and rushed back to the caravan park. As soon as I got there I put my trainers on and went for a short 20 minute run.
It was a great days training and breaking the ride up into 10 mile chunks is now my game plan for the event.  Only eleven of them babies to get out of the way.
I did loads of stretching that evening. The bee sting on my thigh was still hurting but I reckoned it would be gone by morning.

Location:Tenby. Wales