Mid-Channel....

Mid-Channel....

Friday 15 April 2011

Catch Up! The Lanzarote Ultra part 1

Oh dear! I have failed miserably in keeping up with the blog! Time passes so quickly and as it does it seems to get harder and harder to catch up! I am going to try and do a little catch up now, at least to bring us into March and out of February! In the last week of February, Adam and I flew out to stay with Eddie and Lynn Ette in their lovely house on the island of Lanzarote. Eddie is the Director of Enduroman and, along with Adam, would be guiding me through the Lanzarote Ultra. For Adam, this was a test to see how it would work with him being my crew, would I get to emotional, would he know what I needed etc. We arrived on the Thursday evening and settled in happily to Eddie and Lynn's welcoming home. We chatted through the plan of action which was to start the run on the Saturday afternoon as the weather looked best for a swim on Sunday. It was invaluable to have this week with Eddie and Lynn who have both swum the Channel themselves, to get all their tips and hints for a successful attempt. On Friday Eddie and I went for a short 10mile cycle to get my legs working and check everything was in working order on the bike. It was extremely windy and all I could think as I powered up Lanzarote's notorious hills into Lanzarote's notorious wind was that I wanted to conserve all the energy I could in advance of the event. It was hard going, though not as hard as I might have expected having not been on the bike since August (I think Eddie was a bit shocked when I told him that!) so I must have some residual endurance in my legs from the Double Ironman. Eddie sat off the back of my wheel and had a nice draft! He protested afterwards that he had no choice as I was pushing the pace along but I think he was probably just being gallant and building my confidence!! Afterwards we headed into La Santa village to stock up on things I might fancy for the event. I think Lynn was a bit perturbed that I hadn't really thought this aspect through but it is so hard to tell what you might fancy at 2am after 40miles of running. So I just grabbed things I thought I might like including some pepperami, a hint gathered from RiRi post the Double IM, some chicken super noodles which I know I love after the run and oddly some macaroons which I spied and thought might be good for the swim! When we got back it was time for another wonderful home cooked meal from Lynn before a quick kit check and an early to bed........