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Outlaw 2013
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Unless you're riding fixed, it's almost certain you'll be able to get round. That's a personal guarantee
Ali...........i have no idea on bike gearing.couldn't tell you what mine is...............but its never good enough to get up the hills....but they could be getting unfair blame as i think the engine on the bike is crap
Good post, you can either prepare to fail or prepare to succeed, 8 months is a hell of a long time and if you train hard you should have nothing to worry about.
Outlaw bike course is pretty easy, there is nothing on the course to challenge you and even the wind isnt that bad (or I didnt find it to be), the wind/weather conditions could have been a lot worse. There are no hills to speak of and the steep bit that appears on the profile takes about 30 seconds to get up, its not even 1:10.
As said, dont even think about 17 hours, thats for when the day goes wrong.
If youre worried about your bike speed get out on your bike, ask yourself whether that 2 hour ride you did last weekend was enough, could you have done another hour, were you dead on your handlebars when you finished. Have you been out on the bike/turbo'd twice this week? if not why not?
Hey Pixie - don't worry about the "hill" - I live in the flat lands and can't do hills - just ask anyone who's been on a Surrey Hills jaunt with me!
And I got up it without getting off 
Re speed - whilst fully appreciating Meldy (and other's) points about not chasing cut offs I think that if you are not a speedster it's a very good idea to have an idea of what you need as a minimum - FWIW I did and still do train at only 12 mph but had time to spare at Outlaw on the bike (not including time "gained" on the swim) - don't put too much pressure on yourself for speed
And in addition to the erudite comments above
remember that some people never get fast how much and how good their training is - some of just are just tortoises :0 
Love a shitty 12 mph'er
Podds I don't agree with your last point, there is no good reason preventing anyone getting fast. What limits us is ambition and commitment. I'm sure both you and I could easily add 2mph to our Ironman average bike speed if we tried.
Many people who are strong on the bike do 200 miles+ week in week out. I'll wager youll stuggle to find anyone who regularly averages even 100 miles a week who isnt ok on the bike.
my average biking this month is 1 minute a day, yep, you heard it right, i did a 20 minute spin on the 1st of the month, yes, im a lazy git but come december i will be putting the time in the saddle with the knowledge that the right training and commitment will get you through your event, so stop fretting and put in some easier sessions if thats what you need, it'll be all good on the day - you might not even have to climb that oxton bank
I have no intention of getting back in the saddle until Dec 10th and the 30 week Fink countdown starts.
After my last race on Oct 7th I will be maintaining my running (half mara in Nov) and 1 swim per week. Other than that, enjoying the off season and maybe even the odd sleep in
stanners - it is a good idea to have some down time and off season rest. Enjoy it
Apologies if this topic is already buried somewhere in this thread. Does anyone have ideas about how to fit in the Fink 1/2IM proposed as part of his training plan?
LB, it has come up a few times with various suggestions put forward, not sure if any of them fit the exact date for the Fink plan though. Depending where your based, a number of us are planning on attending Silent Assassin's DIY Half IM. There is a thread for it on here.
I'm also struggling to find an Olympic with an OW swim that fits with the schedule.
Everytime I feel guilt, that is my "get out of jail" card. Thanks Mathschick
stanners - I am pretty sure the elites have time out as well - I know I am nowhere near elite, but if it is good for them it must be good for us too
Absolutely.
For those who have done Outlaw before, is this the campsite everyone is raving about?
http://www.nwscnotts.com/accommodation/
Yep that's the one. Last year we grabbed an area for Pirate HQ - no doubt we'll do the same again.
There's a bar on site and a decent pub about 15 mins walk away - as long as you don't mention knowing Barlos, you'll be fine!
Just don't stay up drinking the night before with Donar Kebab!
Cheers Stanners,
I'll have a look at the Silent Assassins thread. I live in Edinburgh but it might be worth the trek down rather than do one on my own. I'll keep an eye out on the threads closer to the time
Now, who would be that stupid?!?!?
I'm in the Borders - maybe we should organise a DIY half-jockman?
It is a hot topic for me. I have just done my first long run focusing on HR rather than speed. It was a set distance rather than time, which I know us wrong. I managed to keep my heart rate mostly in z2 and averaged 160bpm. I didn't even look at my time until I had finished and managed to knock 3 minutes off my best 18k time finishing in 1h:19min. I am putting this down to being able to look down at the Garmin and see I am allowed to push a little harder, e.g push another 5bpm.
I am obviously chuffed, anyone else had a similar experience?
I have Dec 16th etched in my head ...
I'm keen to dust off my heart monitor and see whether I can even run at z2. I'm the sort of person that likes being told what to do for how long and how hard, and fully intend to stick as closely to the intermediate plan as I possibly can.
Hi Barley - I don't do enough structured cycle training I suspect to say 100% I couldn't get faster but if I look back at my running PBs my mins/mile for my 10K PB is frighteningly similar to the one for my marathon PB and that was despite event specific training including speedwork in each case
I've sort of assumed that cycling would be similar, for me at least, but this may not be the case - I do know that losing the lard would make me faster though
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you are a BOPper it is way too easy to put too much pressure on yourself re speed as you are hyper-aware of cut offs and early on in the training season that can be really off putting and hit your motivation
For some people (me and I suspect EP) there is a need to have a realistic idea of your speed and what you need to make cut offs but without aiming to just duck inside them which I agree is not a good target to have per se
I didn't bother with zones during my first year. I has 8 months to build swimming, cycling and running from scratch. I live in an undulating area and my hr would often be at 90% max going up hills on the bike. My long runs would often be 75-80& max at the beginning.
What did happen though, is that with the training my working HR started to drop. So at first my long slow runs would be in the 150's and after 3/4 months the same run/speed my HR would be in the early 140's.
Personally I just think trying to keep in zones just adds an extra stress for slow beginners. I could easily train to Fink now, but not in my first year.
I know what you're saying Pixie but I am soooooooooo glad I finished in the dark at the back of the field at Outlaw with everyone down on the carpet with me - just wouldn't have been the same in daylight with everyone sterilely behind the barriers..........
.........although it would have been nice at the same time to not have been quite so slow!!!
If there are any relay teams needing another person, let me know. I would be quite happy to do this one as part of a team. Will not be quite ready for the full distance by then