Alice's adventures in... Bahrain #2

After getting lost yesterday, the countdown to IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain for Alice Hector (www.alicetri.com) continued on Thursday, a day which can be summarised as "making friends".

Day 2: Thursday. T minus 2 days

Alice Makes Friends...

A better night's sleep and a semi decent gym session were the order of the day, after being advised by several coaches and athletes never to venture out cycling on the Bahrain roads again!

I did a small session with a main spin bike set of 10*30 secs @320 watts, 30 easy, then a 3km run with 4*1 min race pace, then back on bike to do 5*1 min @280-290 watts, 1 min recover.

A short swim off in my 10 metre pool and a bit of core/mobility set me up for the day.

Race briefing took place in the afternoon and it was a chance to say hello to all the Brits and suss out the course on paper. A split transition with a 40 minute drive to pick up race packs tomorrow isn't ideal, but it's the same for everyone. The course itself should be really good - the swim is crystal clear (and probably non wetsuit for pro's, wetsuit for age groupers), the bike is fast with a couple of technical sections and finishes with a lap on the F1 circuit, then the one lap flat run takes us into a safari park, where we can race antelopes as well as triathletes.

We finished the day with a 'team dinner' in a lovely Japanese restaurant. I basically hijacked Team Dillon for the night. They have a lovely attitude to racing and are a pleasure to spend time with.

I like to keep things very simple in the lead up to a race diet-wise, so just opted for beef and plain rice, water and of course, a Pinot Grigio (for relaxation's sake).

Tomorrow we have it all to do - registering, racking, checking out bits of the course, sharpening up and trying to conserve energy in amongst it all, so it's an early night tonight and then we'll just be going with the flow as much as possible tomorrow.

It's easy to get caught up in pre-race hype but I find it important to keep a clear head and a relatively laid-back attitude throughout. And top tip: when it's a split transition you're preparing for, you never quite know how long it's going to take you, so always pack snacks!

The locals have been very friendly and there's a definite buzz about the race: it seems everyone knows about it and people seem really supportive and aware of the opportunities triathlon can bring to Bahrain.

So far, so good!