One man's taper is another man's sprint

Yesterday was a semi-rest day, with just a 45 minute jog on the programme, and one of my top mates Andy came along to join me on the run. It's fair to say that, in the past, both Andy and I have yo-yo'd about a bit in terms of weight and fitness but have both managed to put it all together over the past few years and make it stick. For me, that means triathlon; for him, like most guys with a family, it's a few sessions a week to keep the weight off and the ticker healthy.

We ran a route that we'd run many years ago – maybe four or five years, just at the beginning of this prolonged 'health kick' that has brought me as far as the start line of an Ironman. Back then, Andy powered through and I followed, a sweaty, asthmatic mess. Now, Andy regularly runs a couple of 10kms each week, so he's not exactly flat out of shape but this time it was him who was struggling. And, as he said later, 'you weren't even breaking sweat on that were you?' – although I tried to sugarcoat it a little, the answer was no. It was exactly what I needed – an easy trot to get the legs moving. But certainly no more.

The reason I bring this up – other than to blow loud and proud on my own trumpet! – is to comment how important it is to look back every now and then and see where you've come from. I really want to knock 5 minutes off my 10k run time in an Olympic distance triathlon – that's one of my main goals for after Ironman – but it feels like an enormous task and one that I'm not sure I'm getting any closer to. Until I look back. Maybe to the first time I ran around Arabian Ranches and was happy to complete the 10k in one hour; or to my first ever triathlon when I ran just over 30 minutes for 5k. Then it's clear that I am on the right road and will reach my target if I keep working for it. I think progress is quite hard to spot until it's already been made.

On another note, the taper is going quite well. I've busied myself with seeing family, not to mention a bite to eat and a few beers out in Chester with Andy last night (another significant landmark: my last alcoholic drinks before the big day!). I've ordered a box of my gels of choice (Gu Chocolate Outrage, for anyone interested!) and C02 cartridges which should be delivered in the next day or two – I know both of these will probably be available at the Ironman Expo but, at this point, I'm taking no risks.

Today, it's an 80 minute easy run with a 45 minute masters swim session this evening. Most of the intensity has been dropped from my workouts now, with just a few short sharp efforts in each session to trigger the fast twitch fibres and kickstart glycogen reserves. I'm also running through a few easy stretches a couple of times a day. By and large, I'm feeling good, fit, focused and raring to go...the only downer being the weather forecast for Ironman weekend – cold, very wet and very windy. Well, they don't call it the world's hardest race for nothing...tho Ironman Australia suddenly sounds way more attractive!

10 days and counting...