IRONMAN Leeds course review with experienced local coach

Discover everything you need to know about the inaugural IRONMAN Leeds course with award-winning, coaching LEGEND Simon Ward (Simon@TheTriathlonCoach.com)

In this video, he will walk you through the now confirmed course details including actual life knowledge of technical nature of the Leeds bike course), share valuable tips and strategies for success on each element of the race (swim, bike, run), and Simon’s insider hacks that will make your race day easier!

Whether you’re a first-time IRONMAN athlete or a seasoned veteran, this video will give you the insights you need to confidently tackle the IRONMAN Leeds course.

Plus if you are keen on looking up a superb IM Leeds or IRONMAN coach in general, here are Simon’s contact/social media details:
Website: https://www.simonward.co.uk/
Podcast: https://simonward.podbean.com/
Email: Simon@TheTriathlonCoach.com

OTHER HELPFUL VIDEOS:OTHER HELPFUL VIDEOS:
IRONMAN nutrition: https://youtu.be/DwQteW2NFao
Transition bags explained: https://youtu.be/Tjdllnsn5XY
Beginners guide to packing: https://youtu.be/0weCv9jQ_B0
What should I wear for my 1st 70.3: https://youtu.be/I1D1mUFJaV4
How to handle pre race nerves: https://youtu.be/xzbvQgbuRzA?si=S5zzXFLKMwmIUQ8O
Last min tips to ensure race day success: https://youtu.be/ntrHAGUVLDA?si=dzeuU06HxqhDUTsB
Transition hacks: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0Fj046_efEA37dGUFeM5bgOyPfIR832&si=O1f8RVPfaOUNls5P

REFERENCED/RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS TO HELP YOU ON RACE DAY
Avoid wetsuit neck rash with a neck protector: https://youtu.be/5UtXC3Hv6sg
https://geni.us/wetsuitneck

Body glide (for faster wetsuit transition) on amazon:
https://geni.us/bodyglide4triathletes

Lock tite laces for faster transitions: https://youtu.be/S58Na4d6rd8
https://geni.us/locktitelaces

Link to airtags on amazon (to track valuable tri kit)
https://geni.us/trackyourtrikit

Please note as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you and I only ever recommend products I have successfully used myself). It also helps fund the channel so I can keep creating great informative content for you awesome athletes!

Please note as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you and I only ever recommend products I have successfully used myself). It also helps fund the channel so I can keep creating great informative content for you awesome athletes!

Are you planning on taking on Iron Man leads this year? Well, if so, this is the video for you because in it, myself and an very experienced leadsbased coach is going are going to talk through what all you need to know about the swim, the bike, the run on this course and we’ll throw in some equipment recommendation hints and tips that will help you have an absolute belter of a race day in Leeds. So, how are we going to do this? A little bit of intro. My name is Coach Steve or Steven Moody from Dublin, Ireland. I’m an ir manu sort of a coach in Strolin Ireland a coach of the year at one point, but now I’m a YouTuber. Um, I’m going to say YouTuber rather than influencer because I don’t want to sound like a tosser. But what my my focus is I actually reach out to people I know who know courses who uh either are local to the course who have raced the course who have actually or organized the race and I ask them all the questions that you want to know as an athlete and in it this for leads I’m absolutely delighted to talk to coach Simon Ward who I’ve actually been a fan of his podcast for quite some time I saw him talking on the Iron Man leads uh forum and he he already has given some great tips so I got to talk to this guy. So, Simon, do you want to give us a little bit of background to yourself, your coaching experience, and what and how close are you to leads? Yeah, good morning, Steve. Uh, hello viewers. Nice to be here, and thank you for inviting me. So, I’ve lived in Leeds, uh, Yorkshire, um, close to Leeds for the best best part of 50 years. Um, I’ve been cycling most of that time actually. I think I started cycling when I was 10 or 11 when my mom was felt it was safe to let me out on the roads. And um since I’ve lived in a lease area, I’ve cycled a lot around here. I I probably live about four or five miles from the the western edge of the course and um the rest of it is within uh easy reach for me. So these roads that the event is going to be held upon um in July are very very familiar to me. I’ve ridden all of them many, many times over the years. In the summer, in the winter, in the rain, in the snow, in the sunshine. Um, all sorts of weather conditions on all sorts of bikes. So, I’m very familiar with them. Um, as a They’re promising. They’re promising snow. There was snow sunshine on the race day, not the not the snow or the snow. We all That’s cuz it’s always sunny in Yorkshire. And the day I’m chatting with you today, we’ve got the sunniest March ever, I think. Um, yes. So, I’ve I’ve been doing triathlon since 1987. Uh, I’ve been doing Iron Man uh, triathlons since my first in 1995. I I sort of retired in 2017 when I achieved my goal of uh, crossing the finish line in in Hawaii. Um, but uh, I’ve continued coaching. I’ve helped well over a thousand people to finish iron distance races um, from outright beginners to people who have qualified to race in Kona and also um, some professional athletes as well. So, I feel like with with my own experience and my coaching experience, I I’ve got a good insight into um the world of triathlon and the world of fireman. And like you, Steve, I’m also a um a coach and a coach educator for British triathlon and I too won a coach of the year award. I got mine six times. So, Oh, so the politics I got once. Yeah. If we’re playing top trumps, I’ll get you back for the good looks comment earlier. I know they can see now the good looks. Don’t worry, I’ll photoshop myself up nicely. Okay, but we will again. So, as I said, Simon’s top bloke. He is it loads of experience, loads of uh leads experience as well and all the rest. And we’re going to tap into that experience to give you all the info you need to know. So, we’re going to dive in, if you excuse the pun, where you guys will start your race day in Leads. Um, now this is again the first time of this course. H, what you probably know the area. What what can people expect on the day kind of water temperature this time of year? Will it be a wet suit legal swim? Um is there much wildlife in this water? What’s the general consensus time? Yeah. Do you know what Steven? I’ve never swam legally in Waterl Lake. I think I’ve probably fallen in or or taken a couple of sort of drunken dips in there in my past. Um it’s been the home of the World Triathon Series race while it was in Leeds. So, um, clearly the water, at least then, was clean enough for humans to to swim in. Um, no reason to think it wouldn’t be now. Um, it’s actually in a bit of a bowl. Not not a steep bowl, but it’s in a bit of a bowl. So, it’s at the bottom of the hill. So, um, you will be walking down to the start from from that transition area, which means that actually going back there afterwards, um, you’ll be going back uphill as well. Something to bear in mind. Um, as you can see from that map, it’s two laps, but there’s no Aussie exit. So, when you get back to that, um, end of the first lap, you’re you’re sort of tracing it around there now where your little cursor is, that end there. You’re going to go straight around the buoy making leftand turn and you are then going to start another lap. Um it’s really difficult to envisage how many people are going to be in there, but um I don’t know what the limit of numbers on this race is, but I did see that it was sold out recently. So assuming that there’s a normal 10% drop off, there’s there’s going to be probably a thousand people or more in that lake. And um you know, the way they do iron man starts now for swims is they let four or five people in. It lot will depend on how wide the start is there and they’ll be going in at four or five setting intervals. So it could be if if there’s over a thousand people, it could be 10 minutes before everybody’s in. And of course, the leaders are going to be around those first two or three turns and onto that out that sort of like long leg of the race there. So if you’re a faster swimmer, you’re going to be overtaking people, I guess, on on your second lap. If you’re if you’re not so fast swimmer, you are going to have that experience of being overtaken and um by the faster swimmers. So that’s something you might want to to think about as well. And again, we I something similar. I did 70.3 Doober last year and they had this sort of two loop where you didn’t have an Aussie exit. And an Aussie exit for people don’t know that’s where we define that as when you actually come out on land and then go into your second lap. So you don’t So they they typically have some sort of arch which you swim under and they have a timing chip. So you actually get your halfway point which is kind of a nice little bit extra bit of data. Um and again agree with you on the it’ll be busy on the second lap. So again, drafting and just sort of keeping an eye out for faster swimmers or those wonderful feet that are just a little bit faster than you can hold on to them. Um, do you think it’ll definitely be wet suit legal or what’s your what’s your take on that with the water temperature or I mean, you know, we do have heat waves in the UK as I’m sure you do in Ireland. Um, but who knows what the weather’s going to be in July. As I said, it’s it’s lovely and sunny here in Leeds at the moment, but it’s not particularly warm. Um it’s it’s not there. I think there is a stream flowing into there and out again. So there is some water moving through it. So um but yeah, I don’t I don’t really know how how much it’s going to heat up and whether it will be non-wet suit or not. I mean, I always think that, you know, you should prepare for every single eventuality because if you turn up to the race briefing on the day before and they say, “Well, it’s 24 degrees and that’s over the limit and you’re not going to be able to wear a wet suit,” there’s going to be a lot of disappointed people. So, if you’ve if you’ve prepared for that possibility and you you know, you can tell in the week before what the weather’s going to be like, if it’s not particularly hot and there hasn’t been a heat wave for a for a you know, long period of time, the water’s probably not going to be that warm. But what if it is? So, I always to these swims, I always I would always take a swim skin just in case. And I would always make sure that I’m confident in swimming in open water without a wet suit. And let’s face it, Stephen, we all train without a wet suit, don’t we? So it’s not like we don’t we aren’t used to it but it seems that somehow people’s confidence deflates on race day if wets suits are removed. So yeah but honestly if it’s if it’s non wets suit I don’t know whether anybody be able to tell that until a couple of days before the race. No agreed and again but you’re right in terms of the practice points as in yes do a lot of your swimming in the pool but do make sure you do some sort of practice swimming in a lake or in the sea if possible because open water swimming is very different to what you’ll find in a pool swim. There’ll be currents, there’d be chop, there’d be sort of like, you know, things moving underneath you. So definitely at the bare minimum practice open swimming in a safe way in a in a wet suit. And also, as you said, correctly point out time that we in take off to take off. Get in there in your skins and all the rest and do a bit of swimming. Find how the body reacts and the technique doesn’t change hugely. It’s that it’s just a bit of panic that people sort of go like, “Oh no.” Um, you know, sorry, can I interject there as well, Stephen? Um I I had a chat with one of the guys who organizes Long Course Wales and and one of the things he said to me as a race organizer was that he it it’s an increasing concern for him year on year the number of people who are coming to these events having entered for something that’s that’s got an open water swim with people that that they’re anxious because it’s not anything that they’re used to. So they don’t have that experience. And you know, one of the things that I’m always sort of trying to point out to athletes is if swimming in open water makes you anxious, then trying expose yourself to that anxiety and and get into open water. If swimming with people around you, getting knocked, getting your feet tickled, getting banged on the head is something that makes you feel anxious. Get amongst it in your training so that on race day you’ll be just a little bit more confident. And again, if it, you know, there isn’t going to be a some lovely clear water with a black line on the bottom. It’s going to be dark. Yeah. There won’t be any predators in there to worry you, but that still doesn’t stop people feeling anxious. So, get out into the water. Go 100%. And again, it’s something I hammer home on my guys. Like, as I said, it’s it cuz I it been leads, it being the UK, and it’s the first kind of full Iron Man since Iron Man Bolt and I guaranteed a lot of newbies signed up for this, which is brilliant, and we want them in our sport, our community. But you do not take underestimate what it’s like to transition into it. Open swim women swimming. It’s like turning up to whatever uh like a soccer game and never actually was it practice taking free kicks or some or corners just it’s a part of our sport. You got to practice it and a lot of people shy away because oh there’s a lot of logistics. The logistics aren’t going to you got to be ready for this. And it’s something I’ve seen that at races they turn up and sort of people going that they haven’t. It’s not a badge of honor to turn up and complete your first Iron Man swim without having done any open up more swimmer. It’s a badge of stupidity. You got to turn up and and and as you said, you turn up, train it with your mates and have a bit of messing, find out what it’s like getting dunked in the water then because when it does happen and it will happen and especially with a twoloop course, it doesn’t won’t ruin your day. Because I’ve seen people come out of the water, they’re in tears. Like big guys going like, I just couldn’t. I had a panic attack. I couldn’t deal it. You don’t want your day to not get to the bike, you know? Well, you know, you can and you can do this stuff in the pool. If you’ve got a club session, a lane’s 2 m, 2 and a half meters wide if you’re lucky. Put three people side by side there and that lane is full. All right. tread water a couple of meters out from the wall at the deep end and then set off swimming and just see what happens when people are trying to swim fast and they they’re hitting you on the back of the head. They’re catching you on the shoulder. They’re knocking your arm. Not trying to drown you. They’re just trying to swim like you are and find some space. Um now when when there it doesn’t matter if there’s five people or a thousand people or 5,000. The only people you need to worry about are the person in front and behind you and the people either side. So that’s four, maybe five or six maximum. So get in the pool and surround yourself with a group of people and swim to one end right in the middle and then take a turn swimming at the front, swimming at the side, swimming at the back. You do that for a few weeks at the end of your training sessions. You’ll shoot you’ll soon get used to some of the sort of anxietyinducing parts about water swimming. And also you’ll be you’ll get much better at drafting which is a key skill in long long distance swimming where you’re actually hanging on someone’s hip or something because it’s easier. They do all the work. Um so that skill itself is massively important. And again sighting was it when you pop your head up and you keep an eye on what’s in front of you looking at an inanimate object that’s not going to move and make sure you’re swimming towards that keeps you in a straight line. Drafting a bit of expecting a bit of not fisty cuffs but a little bit of physical contact. You got to be ready. But these are the things that will make sure you get in and out of this twoop in smiling at the end of the day. Um, any other tips on the swim course before we talk a little bit about transition? Um, no, I don’t think so. I think we’ve covered it all there. I’ll just some basics about swimming. It’s 3.8K. The cut off times are usually around 2 hours 10 minutes. I’ll I’ll repeat this point again. There’ll be an athlete manual published on second time and third time events. You can normally refer to the previous year. There hasn’t been a previous event in Leeds, so there isn’t one yet. I don’t I don’t think at some point that’ll be in there. And the cutoffs will be identified for the end of the swim. Just make sure that you’ve had the opportunity to swim 3.8K non-stop in the pool just so you know roughly how long it’s going to take you. Yeah. And that’s key as well. We’ll talk a little bit actually just a bit about the swim start because you’ve mentioned it there and I have a little bit of a a uh this is a key part again this is that I’m I’m assuming a lot of people at their new races arman do what we call a rolling swim start or a seated swim start or actually Simon now this is something I learned from my Canadian fans they call it a pulse swim start which I thought was kind of cool essentially it’s a way that um Iron Man the biggest barrier to IR people entering Iron Man race used to be the, you know, the mass swim starts. And if you Google um something like Nice Orlando swim start, they used to have all these big mass start where like 2,000 people all bailed into the water at once. Majestic looking terrifying to be part of. So what Arman have put in place is they call this um a seated swim start. You’ll turn up on the race day and as per Simon’s point, you should roughly know what it’s going to take you to swim 3.8K 8K and then you will see that there’ll be under 60 minutes, 60 to 70 minutes, 70 80 minutes and there was depends and you put yourself in in based on your estimated swim time that allows Iron Man. Now, this is based off an American uh this will not be um what you call it leads, but it’s it’s just a good visual. This is a swim pen. They’ll let them in four or so at a time, possibly five. These are your volunteers. They will hold you back. And as Simon made reference earlier, a beep will go. They literally will lift their arms up and in the guys walking. Just means it’s a real controlled flow of swimmers into the water. And I love this. You can see the guys already switching on the garments because they know they the watch only their time for the race only starts when you cross the mat here. So don’t worry if you are putting yourself you’re a weak enough swimmer and you’re in the 2hour pen and you go, “Oh, but they those guys have got half an hour ahead of me.” D. It doesn’t work that way. There’s a mat here that you will cross and your timing chip which will be on your left ankle. You’ll pick that up when you check out your bike. We’ll talk about that later. That goes then and if you do this it means that you don’t have that mad uh fear of everyone mass starting. You can will and if you tell the time if you se yourself correctly you’ll be roughly around the swimmers of the same level which as Simon has correctly pointed out drafting is key. When you swing swim behind someone, it makes life easier and you won’t get swam over by someone who actually is the an a body double for Aquaman. You don’t want that. So, this is how your day will start. And the the key advice from me is see yourself honestly. You’re not going to advantage put yourself a disadvantage yourself too far forward or too far back. Anything you want to add to that, Sim? No. Perfect. Just you can do the sums here. If you’ve got four people and they start you every 5 seconds, that’s what’s that? That’s 12. That’s 50 about 50 people per minute. So that’s three or 400 per hour. Uh per per 10 minutes. Is that right? Yeah. So, you know, it could take 15 to 20 minutes if you’re if you’re in the slower seeded lot for you actually to get in there. So that will also dictate at what point you’re going to start getting passed by the faster swimmers. And you can expect the faster swimmers, the pros and the age the faster age groupers to be coming out of this course in 50 minutes. It’s going to take them 25 minutes per lap. So if you’re going in 20 minutes after the gun, it’s quite likely as you’re getting started, you’re going to get swam past some very fast swimmers. So um and some of those guys uh they’re not particularly choosy about how they pick their way through the groups even though they’ll be asked to, you know, be cautious of slower swimmers. they’re racing to win or to set PBS or to qualify. So, they’re um as you might find out on the bike later, they’re not going to be particularly cautious and friendly to you. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. But to give them a wide birth and all the rest and it was it stay out of the way, I think is the best advice. Um we will talk a little bit about um now again transitions. Um it’s a is it a single it’s a single transition in leads or is it a split transition? No, I believe it’s a single transition, but again, you know, um I’ve not had a look at the full details and all of that will be revealed in the the athlete manual. So, I do it’s one of the things that will be on my my webinars. It’s like make sure that you are responsible for looking at the athlete manual. I get very very frustrated when I see people on Facebook going so is it one or two on one or two transitions, you know, like find out yourself. Oh, I know exactly. While and whilst these videos are useful as I said and we do talk at the end about definitely read the athlete briefing because things can change and also attend sorry read the manual and attend an athlete briefing because things change in Iron Man like for example last year in California they had to change the course and people who didn’t turn up they only found out when they were trying to cycling that way like this is you’ve invested too much time training this not to do all the research now this is a great start watching this video but there’s other things that will come out that’ll be more timely specific to your race so make sure I’ll tell you something now, Stephen. Um, I work at a, um, another Iron Man distance type of event. Um, you might be able to tell from the water bottles that I’m holding up here. Um, we do a race briefing. We had a change to the bike course cuz some road works. Um, there was a bike pre for the first person to go past a certain point and it was a pair of, um, very expensive carbon wheels, two grands worth. um the guy who was fastest pass there uh well he wasn’t actually because he took the wrong route because he even as a seasoned pro raced in WTS races he hadn’t turned up to the briefing and uh yeah he was fast passed there um except he wasn’t and I think I don’t know what happened to his time I don’t think they disqualified him but anyway um he was he got lost or maybe that was it maybe he went down a road and had to turn back and somebody else beat him to the pin and that’s right he took a wrong route had to double back and in the meantime somebody had nipped past him and got the pre all because he didn’t bother turning up to the briefing. So please don’t be that person. Well, I’d love to be in that position but again as I said yeah just do your research. You can never and especially in taper you have time on your hands. So what we we will assume and it looks like it’s going to be a single transition and again for people new to the sport what do I mean? That means that your transition one, where you transition from your your swim to your bike is going to be the same place as where you transition from your bike to your run. Much more easier logistically. You only have to drop your bags off and your bike off in the one place. So again, we I suspect it will be a single transition. Iron Man vents typically use a what they call a clean transition. Um a clean transition means that they use these transition bags. So instead of being if you now if you’ve raced a couple of sprints and Olympics and I really hope you have because I’m a big fan of people migrating to Iron Man distance it shouldn’t I know people like to do as the first race but there’s a lot to be learned at and if you’re watching it now and you get a chance to do a sprint or Olympic and turn in in preparation for Iron Man leads find local one and do it. But those races tend to have what they call a traditional setup where you actually you put your bike out, you put your runners beside it, you put your helmet, you put all everything there. because you’re talking with thousands of athletes. Iron Man used this bag system where you have to put all your your bike stuff that you will transition from the swim to the bike in that a blue bag and then all your run stuff like when you’re transitioning from your bike to run in a red bag and that’s and you’ll hang that up and this will be part of your transition flow. So there’s a video it sound might sound a little bit confusing. There’s a video in the comments below that walks through it and shows you what you put in the bags. But the first thing you’ll need to know is blue bag is your swim to bike bag and that’s where you’ll take your wets suit off, you put your wets suit in, you take a helmet on, etc., etc. There are personal needs bike bags where you have put them on the course and that’s where you put in something that’s very specific to you. If you want a can of Coke, there sometimes bike. If you want a cheese and hams, a Cornish pasti or whatever you English lads want to eat these days, that’s where you pick it up on the bike course and you’ll pick that up. We’ll talk about that in a moment, but that’s something that be specific and that’ll be part of your course walk through. When you arrive and check your bag, your bike and your bag in the day before the race, you should walk. Well, where am I going to come from? The swim exit where Simon correctly pointed out there’s a bit of a hill up. You need to walk up that. Where’s my bag? which will which will be was it numbered based on your actually race number where’s my bike where the again racks and get all these landmarks where’s the mount line where do I have to get my bike out and again do the reverse back as I’m going to come in my bike where do I have to rack my bike same location but coming from a different angle so it feels a bit different and where do I run where my red bag be transition tips what’s your top three tips for a newbie transitioning in Iron Man racing Well, when you rack your bike, um you’re going to walk into the entrance. Um and once you’ve got your bike location, go to where the swim entrance is and where you come out the swim and then walk back to your bike and notice some key fixed landmarks that will tell you my bike’s on this aisle at this point. Okay. Um, and then when you’ve done that, and you’ll have to go past that transition one area where your bike gear bag is and through the tent and then walk to your bike and then walk out again and then where you come back in on at the end of the bike section, walk in that way. I’m not sure yet whether they’ll have people who are racking your bike for you. Some races they do, some races they don’t. So, assume that you’re going to have to rack your own bike. Find the most efficient way to get to your racking point. um and then go into the tent for your run shoes and um just walk on the way out to the run. That’ll just save you taking the wrong turns and wasting time. Secondly, practice your transitions. You know, every time you do an open water swim and you’re wearing a wet suit, there’s an opportunity to practice taking it off quickly and putting on a you can put a bike helmet there. you can have your bike and you can practice running with your bike through transition on the grass where it might be bumpy and um yeah, I think that’s about it really. Find know your way know your way through transition and practice your transitions. Um you know, you don’t have to do a super fast world triathlon series transition in 60 seconds, but equally you don’t have to spend 25 minutes in there having a full Yorkshire breakfast. That’s it. Yeah. We we had an award in our club called lost in transition for people came out wonder I won it with what what 45 minutes I think he’s hoping for the rain to go away in Cork it didn’t work they do those um they do those in Kona as well Mike Riley and Bob Babett get people on stage like what were you doing in there for an hour questioning my life choices um no that’s that’s great tips and all the rest and again it’s it’s key part of it walk to transition and and it might sound well my bike’s going to be there and my bag’s going to be there it’s all very in the heat of battle and everyone’s cheering and you’re out of the water, you’re thinking, I’ve just nailed my 3.8 swim as in I feel great and you sort of go, “Oh, where’s my bike?” And then everything looks different and know your landmarks. One one point um one thing I know from the race officials is that if you put some sort of mark on your bike, you know, like people think, “Oh, I’m going to be clevery. I’ll put some flour on the floor, you know, bit bit sprinkle a bit of white flour. No, that will get that will get scuffed up by the masters. I’m going to put a towel across my uh handlebars so I know where my bike is. I’m going to put a flag on it. All of those things will be removed. You’re not allowed to put anything in transition that’s going to identify your bike. Except if you have a bright pink saddle or a saddle cover, that’s fine, right? If you’ve got bright pink handlebar tape or bright yellow handlebar tape, that’s fine, too. So, there are ways in which you can decorate your bike because something’s attached to it that will identify it a little bit easier um from all the other bikes with black handlebar tape and black saddles. But if you put anything on the floor or on the racking, then that’s going to be removed. So, um just just a little inside tip there is how you can play the system. That’s a dangerous game cuz I always buy a black bike, always black. So, therefore, anytime my misses find me with a new bike. Is that a new that a new bike? No, no, that’s all black ping. That’s a dangerous. That’s a dangerous game as well, Stephen, because when uh when you’ve got that black bike and she decides that she’s gonna sell it, she’ll just get 500 quid cuz she thought it was the same as the other cheap black bike. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no. Don’t do that. Righty ho. We will move on. Well, actually before I hope you’re enjoying the conversation myself and Simon have. I am is a very very knowledgeable bloke and definitely have future conversations with them. the please do um like and subscribe to the channel if you want to have other race review videos. If you’re going to be doing another 70.3 later in the season or you’re going to do another race um like the video helps me as a a YouTuber and also please check out Simon’s uh website there and also his podcast because he’s again some really great info coming out of that. What’s the name of the podcast where people can find it Sim? It’s the High Performance Human Podcast. Stephen, fantastic. And I do listen to it as I said like but I have to it’s much better when Simon pronouncing with his English accent but again as I said lots of top tips and so really cool interviews etc. So make sure you do check that out. But back to what was the big debate on social media for absolutely what seemed like a lifetime. What’s is it will it be won’t it be is it going to be hilly la of course it’s going to be hilly it’s leads. Um the bike course, what can people expect on the day? Simon, headline news. Um three laps once you’ve got uh from Roundy Park out um there’s like a little dog leg that takes you out from Randy Park from the start. So I think that’s the bit you’ve got in green there. And I think it’s about 8 to 10 km. And once you get to that point there, that’s the start of the three laps. And then obviously at the end of that you’ve got to do that 8 to 10 kilometers back into round a park. Um so yes there are hills. They’re not long hills but they are short and they can be quite punchy. Um black hill lane will be the uh the queen hill. Um it’s probably two or three minutes of climbing. You can expect to be pushing out if if you’re familiar with what’s three to four um watts per kilo to get up there. it gets up to 20% at a couple of points. Um the surface isn’t brilliant. Um it if if it’s been a bit damp, uh as you get out the saddle, you’ll notice that your back wheel is uh spinning a little bit on the surface. Um there’s another couple of hills. There’s quite there’s two dead turns. You can see them there at um at Thorner um um and out and back and also one at Hwood. There are also two very sharp corners um where almost like 180s, not quite where you’re going to have to almost slow down and um come to a stop and then accelerate again. One’s there and then the other one is over um here at mile 80 I think on the right hand side of your map. Yeah. Um Yeah. right there on the very extreme. Right. So, those are two two very sharp turns um where the surface on the inside isn’t particularly great. So, you’re going to have to you won’t be able to roll around those too quick. There’s I think I counted up about 15 or 20° turns where you’re going to slow down. So, there’s a lot of decelerating and there’s a lot of accelerating. So, we’ll come on to that in a moment. Um the road surface in places isn’t particularly good. um you know lead city council like every other council are strapped for cash. So they’re probably not going to treat this like they did with the tour to France and resurface the whole road. So I would prepare for um you could call it agricultural conditions but that might be being a bit kind to it. You know the um I would don’t prepare for formula one road type surfaces. That’s what I’d say. All right. And again the Yeah. And again with tied in you did have that again the other classic debate is is it a road bike or TT bike? Um again I know you did a good video on that but you want to share your opinion here on the on the channel. Yes. So yes under under normal circumstances on decent roads where you can get a decent speed a TT bike’s always going to be faster. But and it is a big but for this course. Think about all the things that I’ve just talked about. Even when we’re not talking about the sharp inclines, there are lots of little kickers where you’re going to have to get out the saddle for a few seconds. There’s lot there’s a couple of steep descents as well um where you are going to have to slow down and the road surface might not be great. Time trial bikes and triathlon bikes are a bit twitchier. Your weight’s pitched a bit more forward because the seat tube steeper. Um you know, they’re carbon fiber. They’re just they’re just a bit like driving a for a a Ferrari or a Porsche or something rather than a a a so a saloon car. So they’re twitchier and they’re less comfortable. Now if you’re a very very experienced rider and you’ve got good bike handling, you might be okay. And if performance is is the most important thing, then you might be willing to sacrifice some some of that comfort and that that control. Um, I I pulled 10 of my friends who I ride with every weekend and they’ve all done Iron Man races and they all ride on these roads regularly and and over coffee, every single one of them said they’d be choosing a road bike for this course. Okay. Um, so I think it’s personal. I think if you’re really unsure, you definitely want to make an investment of time to come up to Leads and ride one lap of the course and see for yourself. Yeah. Yeah. But so I honestly I couldn’t guide somebody if I was if I was guiding somebody who’s new and you know I’d say a road bike. If I was guiding somebody who wanted to finish or if they weren’t that confident uh um on on poor surfaces then I would say probably a road bike. Yeah. Again it also ties down with your ambitions your goal. If it’s your first one you want to finish and all the road bike is a safer option. As I said, the another thing with the Tom bikes, they they tend to have more high pressure wheels, etc. And they sort of got whereas if the, as you said, an agrarian or agricultural type road surface, that’s not you’re going to lose a little bit of that cuz it’s bumpy. Anyhow, um but yeah, I again, yeah, I’d say you would have to be either going for an aggressive time or very very comfortable time trial bike to have a crack at this one on a on a time trial bike. Um, any other feedback on the course or any other thoughts? Well, the thing about the training for Iron Man is most people get into the process of doing a lot of steady state intervals, you know, holding a power for a certain amount of time, which is great if you’re in on a course where you can actually just get locked into a that sub maximal effort. that this course is going to be a bit like Bolton um was a few years ago and maybe Iron Man Wales but to a lesser extent because of all the sharp turns and this this you know over the course of the three laps there’s going to be 50 or 60 of these. If you’re decelerating that means you’ve got to accelerate. It’s very easy even in a course of a race um to stand up and pedal hard for 10 seconds right without trying to sprint. you could easily still be pushing out your functional threshold power. Right? So, let’s say that’s 250 watts. We we’re talking about 50 little efforts over the course of the seven or eight hours. Right? Now, if you don’t ride like that, if you tend to ride at a steady pace when you’re on your long rides and you’re not used to doing 50 or 60 little leopards, as well as the short sharp climbs you’re going to have to go up, that’s going to have a significant impact on how fresh your legs feel getting off the bike. Okay? So I would say if you can build something like that in, you know, go out for your long ride and every five minutes stand up in a big gear and just do an effort and see how you feel after a few hours. It’ll be a lot different to your normal ride. Um and and the other thing, Stephen, is you know much like the swim, this is three laps. you are going to be if you’re not one of the front runners, you are going to be getting overtaken at some point by faster riders. And some of the roads are not they’re not particularly wide. And so if you’re moving out from the the left hand side of the road to avoid some potholes, sure, be be thinking about who’s in front of you, but be mindful of the fact that somebody could be coming along riding at 5 or 10 miles an hour faster than you. And if you’re moving out without looking, that’s going to be limiting the space for both of you on that road. So, you know, I would say you’re going to be have to be really, really vigilant throughout the whole of this race. Um, and if you’re passing people as well, communicate. Let them know that you’re coming pass because if you don’t, um, you know, well, I can let you make your mind up, but it’s all about, it is all about a communication and being vocal as in some people think it might be a bit of a deck by shouting out, I’m on your left, I’m on your left, or I’m overtaking over. It’s not. You’re just actually making sure they’re aware because like at that stage, they might be suddenly they might switch off and veer out. It’s the more you communicate and talk to other riders, especially in the process of overtaking, um it’ll just make the life a lot safer. And again, just it’s again overtaking on the left. Yeah. On the right. On the right. Yeah. Yeah. Just making sure. I was trying to do my head. Well, I hope well I hope well actually there will be a couple of points when you’re riding on the the wrong side the nonfamiliar side of the road these these out and backs um because of the way you’re turning onto them making a right turn if they put if you have to cross the road you’ll be you’ll be crossing people coming the other way so you will be riding on the nonfamiliar side of the road for a couple of instances in there I think um but most of the time I would expect that we ride in the British way you ride on the left and you pass on the right yeah yeah and Again, this again, this is something that they’ll tie down, especially those areas where the overtaking might that’ll be covered in the athlete brief. Make make sure you read that and attend. Um, right, we will. So, it’s going to be a challenging course. You do need to be switched on. Possibly the road bike is is the way forward. Again, depends on your goals. Road surf is not brilliant. Just be very switched on for this. And love the point about your training about the Yeah. Don’t be just going up and down on your nice super flat road in like your motorway road if you’ve got that action. Um do throw in those efforts. See how it affects the legs because it will burn the legs especially when you’re doing your bricks or afterwards you go like wow my legs just feel butchered. Right. There’s one thing one thing I would say here Stephen as well that regardless of which bike you’re choosing to ride on I would try to find the widest tires that your bike would accommodate. M um that’s one of the things that we’ve been able to make more of with the advent of disc brakes is that there’s more clearance around the um you know the the the areas where the calipers used to be. So, if your bike and your wheels will accommodate 28 or 32 mm tires, I would definitely upgrade to those because the wider they are, um, that little bit extra comfort you will get on race day and you can ride those at a slightly lower pressure might also help with the the punctures. Yeah. No, absolutely. As well. And and there’s another point as well with the road surfaces is if you’re not particularly good at fixing punctures, just start practicing that in the leadup because it’s possible on this road surface that you’ll hit a pothole um and you might get a puncture. So the better you are at changing that, the the the more enjoyable your race will be. No, agreed. And it’s also another skill. Back to our original point, don’t turn up for an iron man race if you’re not self-sufficient and know how to change a puncher. Like there are open water swimming punches happen and do you want to be the guy sitting in the pub going ah I you know yeah what happened you I was I was on I was on great track third lap got a puncher the support car just wasn’t to be seen missed the bike cut off and you go how long we waiting half an hour surely it only takes 10 minutes to change a puncher don’t know never practice it don’t don’t be that guy or girl so practice all right we will move on um just something I want to talk about aid stations Um the aid stations and fueling in iron distance races is absolutely vital. Um this is kind of the typical flow of an iron man aid station. And I got to highlight two things. One, trash. I know it’s an American one. Sorry. Or rubbish or litter as you English might say. The the start of it, the end of it. This is the only place you can drop uh or your empty bottles. Was it your banana peels? I don’t care if they’re organic. The um they’re not biodegradable. They take 20 years. or your energy lappers. You can only throw in this area, right? You’re in leads, a beautiful part of the world, and the two things will happen to you if you throw litter elsewhere. One, you will probably be seen by Marshall and disqualified, which make you be really real stupid out to the and two, you’ll be known as a dick in the triathlon community. You do not want to be that. We are guests and leads. We respect what we respect the the countryside. We this because when we do it this way just to chuck rubbish here it means Iron Man can turn up pick up all the rubbish and the next day it’s gone and they do do this they just disappear and it’s as if they never were there. They won’t be able to do that. We we’ve chuck little Morton gel wrappers all around leads but otherwise there’s my little rant. Um you will have people handing out water bottles which will be in a 750 meter so it will fit in a standard water water your your standard bottle cage. You’ll have precision hydration which will be premixed in bottles and again the volunteer will hand that. You have mortal gels and uh energy bars, fruits, don’t expect kiwi fruits or anything lavish. You get a you’ll get a half cut up banana. Um and again it repeats itself towards the end. So if you miss your water bottle the first time, don’t panic and don’t slam on the brakes. There’s another chance at the end of it. This is over around three 400 uh meters wide. So, this is part of your your day that you will have this because you won’t be able to carry all your fuel and and hydration for your race. You need to practice this. Um, there are key things that you need to do and myself and Simon will be able to go for for ages on this, but to make it simple, there is a a a little video on showing you how to how to practice for an aid station, how to actually execute an aid station and key things communicating, making eye contact with the volunteer, thanking the volunteer, having practiced grabbing a water bottle while a bike is moving and putting into your bottle cage and then moving safely out. Lots of things there. Aid stations are high reward. You need that fuel. You need that hydration. They’re also high risk cuz people are moving in and they’re not communicating. They’re dropping water bottles. They’re throwing all sorts of stuff. You need to make sure that you have actually known how to do it. Do you want to give any tips on aid stations, Sim? No, I think you’ve covered it, Stephen. And I love the bit about the high risk. I’ve I’ve seen, you know, I’ve volunteered at quite a few races and I’ve seen people come past at 30 mph trying to um trying to grab a water bottle at high speed and and missing. I’ve been on the receiving end of some very vitriolic language and aggression from people who think it’s my fault that they couldn’t catch a water bottle at 30 m an hour. Um I’ve seen accidents when one person stopped their bike to get a um a water bottle and somebody else assumed that that’s what they’re doing. So yeah. Yeah. Um practice um know what you want, communicate, make, like you said, make eye contact with people or all the things you mentioned. Good and be polite. As I said, and people will get disqualified for being abusive to volunteers or marshals. They’re volunteers. They’re not getting paid for it. There’s only certain amount of people get paid by Arman. So if you if you drop a war ball, don’t give it to the the the the kid or the the whatever. Be polite. It’s your it’s your goof. No, you can be sure if I’m volunteering, I’m going to get your number and report it as well if you’re nasty to me. Don’t mess with Simon. I’m not going to be there, by the way. So, don’t worry about that one. So, we’re back now into T2. Now, actually, the way I’ve looked at the map, it is definitely a single transition because we come back to Steve. Just just one thing to mention, right? And you could see this in the World Triathlon Series. Even the world’s best professional triathletes who go to the Olympics got this wrong. After transition, you’re going to have to cycle uphill to get out of Round A Park. You can watch the video of the World Triathlon Series where Johnny Brownley fell off after a collision with Hayden Wild. Um, you can watch some of the female athletes, I’m not picking on them, it just seemed to be worse for them, but in the wrong gear trying to push a big gear, trying to jump on their bike as they went up a hill and it all going horribly wrong. Okay, so get your bike into the smallest chain ring and the biggest sprocket. Um, you can always change up if it’s too easy, but it will make your your transition to getting onto your bike so much easier if you choose the right gear to exit T1. And again, when you come back down, you’re probably going to be coming downhill. I’ve been at so many dismount lines when people have misjudged that. They’ve gone over the line, they’ve gone back, or they’ve locked the brakes on and fallen off because they can’t get their feet out the pedals. So, yeah. And again, just have a think about you could get penalized as well. So again, that’s part of your know line. Look at the and go, okay, right, I need to feather my brakes and figure out how you’re going to get off the bike, but you have to stop. And again, you don’t want to be coming in at 30, 40k an hour with the marshals around, but no good tips. Thank you. Right, so we’re back to T2. We’re now transitioning to our red bag, which is our bike to run bag, which again is you run through the same sort of uh sort of tent. And there will be your red bag is typically underneath your blue bag. And in that, you’re literally taking off your helmet. You’re putting it at By the way, you cannot take a helmet off until you’ve racked your bike. That will get you penalty as well. Rack your bike, run into the run tent, take a helmet off, put that in the red bag, get your runners on, and then start heading out. There will be another bag as well, a black bag probably again to be confirmed a color, but that’s your personal needs bag which you can find on the course. Um, for me, transition two is much faster than trans transition one and you shouldn’t fanny around. Um, we have a phrase in our in our group that says nothing good happens in transition two. Do not sit down. Do not start thinking about life choices. Do not start stretching and do not start talking to strangers. Get your runners on. Everything else can move. You’ve got your you’ve got your your cap, you’ve got your sunglasses, you got your your gel, you’re you’re jogging, you’re eating a gel, you’re jogging, you’re putting your hat on, you’re putting your save time because you’ll be when you’ve done that, you’re 500 meters down the road, you go, that’s 500 meters off my marathon of distance. I’m better place. What’s your top tip, Simon, for transition to Oh, I love the bit about don’t talk to strangers. Although everybody in Yorkshire is strange compared to what most people think. Um, yes. Uh, I always hated the run section, so I hated T2 as well because it meant I was getting onto the bit I didn’t like. Um, again, you know, less haste, more speed type thing. You know, you don’t need to whistle through it, but equally, don’t be sllovenly. Um, have your um order of getting your kit together. I like the idea that you said there about there are things that you don’t need to put on in there. So, make sure your race numbers on if you’ve got one and you can put all of your nutrition in your, you know, carry it out and put it into pockets and things afterwards. You can put your glasses and run hat on. Just just keep moving through. Don’t waste time and start walking and jogging your way into that run section. Absolutely. You’re moving, you’re improving. All righty. Now, we are on to the run course. We’ve got again, it’s a standard enough like people are going, “Oh, it’s four loops.” But that’s standard with Iron Man distance. Did they make it more spectator friendly and also logistically friendly? What’s your feedback on the course, mate? Urban. Yes, it is actually, isn’t it? There’s lots urban. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of um streets through housing estates and things uh to go on. It’s a bit like if you think of Brownie Park being on top of a dome. So, you’re going to come up and then you’re going to drop down the other side. So, I don’t think there’s I don’t think there’s any really serious hills there, but um you know, it’s still going to be tiring on the legs. It’s not it’s not a completely flat run like um like some courses have. Um there’s lots of there’s lots of corners and turns as you can see from the map which can mentally can break things up because you can just focus on right I’m just going to jog until that next corner right I’m just going to jog until the aid station and then I’m going to go to the next corner then I’m going to run along here and hopefully people will be be able to walk around and cut from one part of the course to the other and um you’ll be able to see your friends a few times so that should give you a bit of um bit of comfort and sort of inspiration as well. Yeah, absolutely. And then yeah, there’s lots of corners here. There lots it’s um but in one sense as well, it does mean that you’ll be able to see a lot of your your club mates, your um your There’ll be lots of hot spots here for spectators. Um what’s your advice for people taking on their first Iron Man marathon? What do you tell your athletes? Few things really. I mean, the run starts at mile mile 13, right? If you if you look at um data from people’s pacing and heart rates, that’s when everything starts to separate their heart rate goes up a bit because you’re tired and you’re warm and perhaps your nutrition’s not been up to par and your pace drops off. Um that’s when you see people start to physically just crumble. You know, they can’t pick the feet up because their feet and ankles are tired, their their hips are tired, so they start to fold at the hips. They sort of start to slump at the shoulders. So then they get into the iron man shuffle. Um so and and you also see at that point a lot of people start to walk because they just can’t run anymore. Uh I know it’s supposed to be the the run course, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with planning a runwalk strategy right from the exit of transition 2. And in some cases, many cases in fact, for a lot of people, a runw walk strategy will get you to the finish line a lot quicker than trying to run for as long as you can and then having to struggle along for the last however many kilometers. I’ve done that. It’s miserable. No, absolutely. And with the there’s lots of aid stations. Aid stations typically going every mile. So you can actually run to the aid station, walk the aid station, run. That’s what I got a lot of my athletes used successfully. Another piece of and again other piece of advice I’ll give my guys is do not do not miss an aid station. You should have been fueling on the bike for the run, but now you’re just literally trying to keep everything moving. And it might be if it’s hot, you’re using water to keep your core temperature down. If it’s you’re getting on some sort of liquid or fuel to keep the the uh the legs ticking over. Um, and another thing I tend to with the four loop strategy I tend to tell my guys to look the first 10k which if you make it that way it doesn’t sound as daunting is just get your legs warmed up just get into rhythm whatever sort of start moving kind of get out of the bike mode and then the second and third 10k is what you can actually kind of try to hold on to race pace and I 100% agree with Simon as in half marathon onwards everyone has a a great half marathon then have a h a second half marathon story to tell afterwards. Um, keep in keep try to keep good form, try to keep on top of nutrition, and then the last 10k is just a battle of survival. Just a just keep moving. Um, anything else you want on the on the run course that’s jumping off the the page for you? No, not really. I think we’ve mentioned it. You know, you you’ll be coming back into the um to the rounded park area. I don’t know what the surfaces are going to be like in it. Looks like they go across some of the tracks, but it it may turn from obviously all that bit where you’re going around the cursor through the urban streets is going to be on tarmac. So, I would say if you if you’re used to running on trails a lot, I would spend a bit more time running on the roads and the heavier duty stuff so that your legs are used to it. Um, but also be mindful of the fact that um, you could be running on on hard packed trails as well and surfaces that are not particularly even. So, it it might be something to consider for those folks who are thinking about wearing these super stacked running shoes. Um, they don’t have the best support often because they’re trying to give you benefits in other ways. And if you feel like you are a runner who needs a bit of support in your shoe, wearing those and taking them off road might be more challenging. Yeah, absolutely. And again, there’s also a good training tip in there. Make sure you do mix up your running terrain. Um, and by the way, if you are looking at the super stocks, Iron Man ban a certain amount of the they update that list as well. So, make sure on ironman.com you can see prohibited runners. Um, but overall I think again I 100% one thing I think we we need to emphasize is leads will come out to support this as in like they’ve got a dreadful football team but they’ve but they’re very proud of their triathlon who okay by the time by the time by the time we get to the Iron Man you might find they’re back in the Premier League. Well that’s again and again I will eat my humble pie at that stage. Um but they they’re massive interfan. It’s where the brownies are from. It’s where they had they’re setting up a triathlon center. It’s where the W2s was. They’re going to be triathlon nuts. So this will be a wellup supported and the crowd level will be immense as in like uh yes English have got their stiff upper lip but they do let their hair down when it comes to and they go a bit of crack. So you will enjoy this and make sure you feed off the energy. Make sure you feed off your your when you look for your friends in the crowd, your club mates etc. There will be a lot of triathlon clubs here. It’ll be pure energy and it will be a great day out for a lot of people. Do you know do you know what, Steve? When you go up Black Hill Lane, right, um at a certain point up there, you can cut across the bridal paths and you get to Alistister Brownley’s house. It’s probably a couple of miles from there. So, I think that I don’t know whether Alistister’s going to be there or not. Um, but he’s a massive triathlon fan and you folks that are racing might be playing a game of like a where’s Wally, you know, seeing if you can spot Alistister and Johnny out on the course because if they’re about, they will come and watch. You see them down at the city center cycling events in the local towns. Um, you see them out watching the uh the leads marathon come past. So, uh, if they’re about, um, you might see Johnny or Alistister at some point on the course. So, keep your eyes open. And there’s a definite party in Alistister’s house afterwards, I heard. So, uh, I’ll put the address in the comments below. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do All righty. Um, listen, some just other things to think about while we’re uh before we wrap it up and say thanks to Simon. We’ve mentioned race day nutrition. That is absolutely key. Um, there’s a video in the comments with some very basic principles about how to train, how to train to our fuel for an Iron Man, when to eat, what to eat, how to eat it, etc. How sounds a bit funny, but again, if you need to practice actually being able to have your food cut up in your booty bags, etc. What to pack for an iron man, how to pack your bike. If you are coming over from abroad, either from across the pond or coming across from Ireland, etc., or from Europe, make sure you check out the the packing list where Simon will earn all his money as his athletes slowly lose their mind coming closer to leads and start calling him, texting him, sending him WhatsApps and all the rest saying that I my I I definitely need another 112 mile bike in my leg. Surely I should do it. No, it was the week before. But again, there’s some tips on how to handle your taper there. And some top tips about how to get ready for the race in terms of and it’s stuff we talked a little bit about before. Read the athlete guide, attend the athlete briefing, book your bike in for service, plan your logistics, work out a plan with your sherpers and your support crew and all the rest. Those are some other tips in there. Um those are some supporting videos which you’ll find useful for. And again, if you do have any questions. Oh, there’s a question with Simon has a question. Quest Question from the back. It’s not a question actually, Steve. Um, can we go back to that last slide a minute? Yeah. Race Day Nutrition, right? You mentioned that Precision Fuel and Hydration are one of the supporting nutrition um companies. That’s great because I love their product. Right. It is down to taste. I appreciate that. But one thing that PFNH do is they offer athletes the opportunity to have a 15-minute call with one of their nutrition experts. Now, I’ve made use of this myself and with um quite a lot of my athletes, I’ve referred them to this. You can tell them about your previous history over long distances. If you’ve got one, what’s typically happened, what type of things you like to eat and drink and how much during the race and how that’s resulted for you. Um, I would say that every long-distance race you do should have a new strategy because things change, course changes, weather changes, etc. If you speak with the folks at Precision Hydration now, like April, May even, you can build a strategy for your race in leads. You then have a few weeks to practice this in training. And one of the things they’re always um emphasizing is that you need to train your gut to take in the amount of fuel. This race is going to be quite corrosive on your fuel consumption, as in all of those little spikes on the hills on the bike are going to burn glycogen. And so you’re going to need to be more mindful about replacing that so you’ve got energy for the run. So have a strategy with somebody who knows what they’re doing. There’s no obligation to buy their product, but if you do start using it, then you’ll find that bonus on race day because they will have their stuff on the course. Um, and it will be one less thing to worry about on race day. Yeah, absolutely. No, that’s a great option and I have seen that posted up and all the rest. It’s probably something I should do for Texas. I shall I shall give you. Yeah. Right. Okay. before now just again if you have any last minute com I think Simon’s covered a huge amount of information there and he’s been brilliant in the rest but if you do have any questions either drop them in the comments below or was it there’s Simon’s um email address and again this is a very knowledgeable and we’d be delighted to chat to him and if you’re looking to get an absolute worldass coach in your corner you’d have no you do a lot you would be doing very well to actually talk to him and get him on your side he is a really a top bloke really enjoyed chatting to him. Um, and that’s his comment. I’ll put that in the in the links below. But on that, Simon, I just want to say on behalf of myself and the viewers, thank you so much for your time, so much for your knowledge, so much for your local insight. It’s been absolutely fabulous talking to you and I thank you ever so much. Any last words for the viewers? Well, you’re welcome, Stephen. Thank you for the invite. And viewers, listeners, I hope you have a great day. Yorkshire is a special place. Uh, you know, it may not be the course that you were hoping for, but it is what it is. And Iron Man isn’t about having the best time or riding the best course. It’s a journey. That’s why, you know, it’s a journey. And that’s what we love about it. That’s why having the tattoo means so much because it represents everything that you went through in the leadup to that race, not just what you did on the day. And by golly, when you get to the finish line, you will have been through it on the day. But you have to have been through it the months beforehand. And that is part of the journey that you have to embrace. And the course is what it is, but it’s just part of the challenge. And in a few years time or a few months time, you’ll forget about the the things you didn’t like about the course. And you’ll be swapping stories about all of those um you know avoiding potholes and climbing up that hill pushing out 500 watts and feeling like today Pagata. Yeah. No, I you know I I think Arman’s catchphrase is impossible is nothing. Nothing is impossible. I think actually adapt and overcome is a better one because it is it’s more the as you said the impossible is nothingness on the day but you’re adapting in your training. adapting in uncertainty about the course blah blah blah adapting your work life balance as in trying to trying not to get divorced over this thing. Uh but listen again listen we’ll wrap it up there Simon I hope we’ll do some more of these race reviews in the future again great chatting to you and um I hope leads put on the show which I know they will. Yeah me too. Thanks a lot Stephen. Tadisonens.