Ohhhh that bike shop looks like heaven!!! A big wall of Bianchi!!! Think that’s the bike I am most in love with for an upgrade.
Went in to buy the power meters and nearly came out with a TT bike 
It was only when I realised the price I had agreed was for the frame only that I had to back out!!!
Training update.
Second ride outside today, first time in clipless pedals. Decided to have a spin round the block to get used to it and fell flat on my face at the lights so I guess I am officially a cyclist now
Session was really good today, 20KM up 20 min coffee break and 20KM back.
first did it 3 weeks ago and have pushed the training hard in between and the results have been great.
AVG HR down from 157 to 145
Max HR down from 182 to 171
Avg Speed up from 31km/h to 32km/h
Max Speed up from 48km/h - 52km/h
So happy to see some results from the training
I’d get in early before the Race Pass goes up to £12 
Zwift is a fantastic training environment, but make sure you get some outside rides - you need to pratice some real world bike handling as well as getting in and out of clips
Completely agree Matthew, Zwift has been a great intro and is very convenient to get 60/90 mins bashed out when short on time but I’m really enjoying being outside and cycling. Did my Brick session last night outside and is so much more enjoyable so will be trying to get out on the bike for at least 50% of the sessions.
Training update - Saturday was rest day, was itching to jump on Zwift for a group ride but stuck to the plan as don’t want to burn out.
Brick session last night, 17KM ride followed by a 3km run, legs felt a bit heavy on the run but was ok.
Tried some nutrition with stealth gels, second time I’ve tried a gel and I really don’t like the texture/consistency to be honest. Any recommendations for different nutrition for the 70.3?
Saw a coast to coast 100 miler advertised for November and am thinking I will jump on that 
Also the Bianchi Celeste colour is haunting my dreams every night!!! I keep seeing it everytime I go into the bike shop!!!
There are so, so many products out there these days it’s just a case of finding what you like and works for you. All sorts of different flavours and textured gels, chews, bars, drink mixes etc.
For a 70.3 personally I go for Maurten drink mix on the bike and then gels on the run. But everyone is different. 
Use this time to start experimenting.
When I started out there weren’t many liquid carb products on the market. I remember buying blackcurrant PSP but really didn’t get along with it. In the end I used high juice squash for my first tri - let’s just say that wasn’t an optimal choice!
Then I discovered lemon GO and life became much easier.
For longer distance I always struggled to get enough calories, solid food was something I found hard to digest. I ended up using GO, dilute lucozade (I think they’ve reduced the sugar content now so this might no longer be an option), soreen, mint cake and basically stuff I didn’t need to chew much.
I know someone who relied on jam sandwiches for IM, someone else who got all IM nutrition from gels (had about 20 taped to her bike!). There really isn’t a template if you have a fussy digestive system, you just have to use trial and error.
For events I use Maurten 320 mix on the bike and Maurten gels on the run. It’s expensive so don’t use it for training.
On Zwift I eat 2 jelly babies every 10mins. It’s good training eating while doing a hard Zwift effort (it will feel awful at first)
Riding outside Menthos at great as they don’t melt and are reasonably easy to eat. Also oat bars are good. avoid chocolate or anything that melts.
On one marathon training run I ate a snickers (Marathon) was glorious! Made a nice change from gels.
Yeah, this. If you really want to experiment, order a couple of a number of different things and then just give them a try. Ultimately you’ll find something that goes down nicely. That’s all that matters really at the start…I wouldn’t worry to much about cars per hour, and all that. Just find something that enables you to ingest something regularly.
My summary of different brands of gel I’ve tried would be:
High5 - very sweet and liquidy but can be mixed into a water bottle.
SIS iso - more viscous but still watery. Go down very smoothly but bulky
Maurten - quite like chewing raw jelly. I like them
Gu - more like a thicker syrup/paste. Needs washing down with water but compact. Lots of flavours.
I tend to go with Gu and Maurten
My 2c having spent too much money over the years on SIS, High 5, Torq and Cytomax drinks… make your own.
50:50 ratio of fructose and maltodextrine powders from Amazon or bulk.com. Plus 1-2g sea salt or sodium citrate or an electrolyte tablet e.g Nuun. Pennies per bottle. Plus the flavouring of your choice. I’d start out with 50g sugar in a 750ml bottle (typical large bidon) and experiment up from there. Our guts are all different and tolerance needs to be built. You’re in the heat so you may need a more dilute mix.
I used 1L bottles at 120g sugar in each for a recent Mallorca trip. Long unsupported rides. One bottle every 90mins or so. Works for me.
Most of the sports nutrition is marketing snake oil IMHO.
Where you are I’d be refrigerating my bottles and putting ice in them. (Not something I need to do here in Aberdeenshire!).
(Fructose can taste very sweet so you may need to adjust the ratio for you palate.)
If you can’t stomach solids on the bike, you’re probably pushing too hard. That was always my reasoning in 70.3 …and especially Ironman. I would use a mix of energy bars & drinks and take a banana from the bike aid stations.
It’s pretty easy to be self sufficent on the bike in a 70.3, unless it’s unusually hot and you need some more fluid than 2x 750ml.
…and hey presto you’ve made 'Tailwind’ 
(do people still bang on about it on IMJ?)
I should just mix it up myself, stick a logo on it and sell it as my own Galewind brand. #poweofthegale
(Don’t introduce @G8zzaj to Facebook IMJ it’s a toxic echo chamber of poor advice and male ego. )
when I was racing I’d make my own up using maltodextrose powder and drop a Nuun tablet in for flavour. worked fine and would keep me going for a good while but not having any GI issues I could also take any fluid on offer at aid stations and carry on although wasn’t a fan of Gatorade ‘cos of the flavour.
Agreed, Bianchi is my choice of weapon. Used to have Celeste all over, now just about cope with black with a touch of the wet dreams colour
Thanks for all the nutrition advice everyone, looks like I’ve got lots of trial and error to get through. I think I’m going to rather eat solid food or drink pre-made drinks and not use the gels, but I have a pack of 12 stealth to get through so this may change but I can see it as i bloody hated it on Sunday!!!
Tech and Training update.
Training:
Swimming lesson got re-arranged so still waiting to get cracking with that, had a cycle on Monday where it was intervals between 120W and 170W over and over period and then did the same last night at 135W and 185W, run tonight and cycle outside 40k tomorrow morning.
Found the intervals nice and easy (this is a deload week with an FTP test on Sunday).
Tech update:
Took the bait and ended up getting seduced into a new Bike, Bianchi didn’t have my size so I ended up with a Trek Madone SL7, heading in tonight for the fitting and will get out on the new baby tonight
Upgrades:
Brand - Gone from Giant to Trek
Frame - both carbon
Wheels - gone from Alloy to Bontrager Aeroulous Pro 51 Carbon
Groupset - Gone from Ultegra Mechanical to 105 Di2
Brakes - Gone from rim to disc break
Excited to get out tomorrow and notice no Difference at all
Oh dear, @G8zzaj has caught the triathlon bug
…now its time to focus on the one upgrade that will give you the most benefit - consistent training
1 trillion percent caught it!!!
Training is consistent, toughest thing is convincing myself to the scheduled rest day each week, far too tempting to jump on zwift for a group ride