At the moment feeling pretty chilled, helped by the great venue and being around my Club buddies. Also need to say a big thank you to our support crew (Donna, Sue, Marilyn and don't forget Nigel, otherwise known as our 'Wags').
The temperature here is upper 30 degrees plus (I think it is forecast to be 35C / 95F tomorrow). Because of the heat and resulting water temperature we have been informed it is a non-wetsuit swim. I am not too phased with this announcement - I like the buoyancy of a wetsuit but am not that much quicker with it on. Of course I have never swam 3.8km without stopping and without a wetsuit, however I am confident I can do the distance (done it in training in the pool). At least the first transition will be quicker.
Another consequence of the heat will be loss of fluids making rehydration even more important - must make sure I drink plenty of water and electrolytes. The other problem is protection from the sun. My tri suit leaves my shoulders and neck quite exposed so I am going to have to cream up well. I will also wear a lightweight running hat. There will be ice available to put in your hat and cold sponges to run with - best to take 2 and run with them tucked in to the tri suit above the shoulders. The only thing to watch is a lot of water running down into your shoes, which is best avoided on the run.
We have just taken the bikes and numbered bike and run bags to register them. As part of the slick operation we also picked up our timing chips.
Now it is back to the hotel, dinner at 7pm (probably pasta) and bed ready for a 4am rise to eat breakfast and prepare drinks / food for bike and special needs bags.
At just after 5am it is back to the bikes, blow up tyres to correct pressure (we prefer not to leave them overnight fully inflated - not in this heat - danger of blow outs) and final food / drink preparation.
Thereafter only three things to do - 3.8km swim, 180km bike and run a marathon!
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