Pre-Race pasta party was good. Hummus and fruit were a nice touch.
Bike route is too complicated. You should study the course beforehand.
Most of the competitors are doing the short course. Only a fraction(<200) of the 2500 are doing the long course.
Its very hot
Bike is flat for the most part but there can be some crazy headwinds
Biking on the Yas Marina F1 track is the highlight of the race
The swim conditions are very nice. You have to be ready to do the 1.5 km twice which involved getting out of the water running across the beach and jumping in again.
Aid stations are really well spaced. You dont need to carry much of anything.
Lots of nice bikes. One rich newbie had a Cervelo p5 and zipp wheels and clip-less pedals.
Random list of thoughts of things that worked an didn't work
What went well:
Profile Aeorobar Bottle Cage and mount worked really well.
Simple sugars through out the race
Pacing with people on the bike and run was the key. Picked people whose pace I could keep up with and stayed with them. Stayed with Cervelo p5 guy for most of the bike
Compact crank was great, Gearing felt perfect all day. Got a great deal on a Sram Red Compact crank from Velo Sport in Putney. The 50 front cassette was brilliant.
Counting was a great way to control negative thoughts
staying aero and getting out of the saddle was a great way to give the under carriage a rest
Talking to people on the Run really helped. Pacing will be key in Ultraman UK.
Got the whole bike checked a great bike mechanic(Marsin) in Velo Sport in Putney. He found an issue in the rear wheel hub that was adding resistance as well as the reason the bike saddle kept on falling down.
Packing the bike 2 days before leaving alleviated some stress. Usually I'm packing the bike midnight before I fly out.
What didn't work too well
There was too much pressure on my left arm in the Aero position, this resulted in numbness in my left hand that lasted for almost two weeks after the race.
Had terrible soreness in the roof of my mouth after the race. This was so bad that I couldn't dry foods for 2 days after the race. This seemed to be caused by breathing sand through my mouth for such a long time while biking. This may also have been exacerbated by consuming simple sugars for such a long time. I also had a bad infection in my ear/nose/throat after the race.
ISM Saddle left bad saddle soars. Granted, I have never sat on them for 7 hours before in the Aero position.
Bike fit is not right. Lower/back of shoulder hurt. Back of the neck hurt.
Swim was not a good at all. Felt mentally not there. Sighting was not great. Kept on stopping and looking for the buoy's
Back was really burnt. Should have been more careful with choice of clotheing and sun screen
Really bad neck rash from wet suit
didn't have breakfast, didn't have much energy on the swim
Couldn't get the Shiv hydration system to work. Didn't use it in the end. Met someone who taught me how to install it properly.
