Almost there!

Well, time has flown by unbelievably quickly and we're getting ready to head down to The Outlaw. Just 3 more sleeps and we'll be lining up at the start line on Sunday 27th waiting for the gun to go off at 6 a.m. for the swim start.

I took the kids along to watch the pros do their thing at the Commonwealth Games Triathlon at Strathclyde Country Park today. What a day, amazing weather, fantastic racing and an incredible atmosphere. There was never any doubt that Glasgow (and Scotland as a whole) would rise to the challenge and after day 1 it's safe to say these games will be a total hit.

It was brilliant to get so close to the athletes - just cm away as they flew by on their bikes or stormed past like gazelles up the hill... 

Check these out...

The Brownlees whizzing by

... and this time without their bikes!

Awesome to see Nicola's boyfriends taking gold and silver too   ;-)

The nerves are beginning to kicking in now and it all seems VERY real when you lay out all the kit you need for the race. We're going on the idea that we can stuff everything in the car and that if we suddenly remember that do-hicky we need, we'll have it in the boot... hopefully it will actually fit ;-)

The training is all done, I've stuck to the plan that Gary at Dig Deep has developed and now I've *just* got to put it into action on the day.... eek

So, for you stat lovers, the scores on the doors are...

Since the start of training on 1st August 2013;

622 sessions
covering 8,725.5 km
elevation of 50,154m
exercised for 559 hours, 51 minutes and 51 seconds
burned 334,749 kCalories.

This breaks down as:

Swim: 82 sessions, 180.3km, 63 hours, 33 mins, 37 seconds

Bike: 176 sessions, 7208.7km, 263 hours, 54 mins and 9 seconds

Run: 163 sessions, 1325km, 157 hours, 45 mins and 36 seconds

Weights / stretches: 199 sessions, 70 hours, 7 minutes and 31 seconds.



A number of people have asked whether or not I'm raising for charity this year. I decided after last year when everyone was incredibly generous that I'd not come round shaking the collection tin.

If, however, you think this madness is deserving of a small donation to a worthy cause, you could donate to the UNICEF appeal launched yesterday at The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony:

Simply text FIRST to 70333 to donate £5 via your phone - simples!



So, I'll sign off for now and update you next week after *hopefully* a successful race at The Outlaw.

You can track me and the rest of the ATHelite team online on the Outlaw website on Sunday 27th July.

Tracking numbers for Team ATHelite: Gav (625), Lorna (141), Alan Stirling (363), Alan Robertson (510), John McManus (715), John Young (1010), Derek Boyd (1028), Graeme Scott (1098), Tony Marlow (1132)