Ironman 70.3 Cascais Portugal

This weekend Cascais hosts the return of Ironman 70.3 after an extremely successful inaugural event in 2017.  This is my local race and I train around Cascais and Sintra week in, week out.  The bike and run course remain the same with a small change to the swim course.  The main change this year is the transition area, now based in the Hippodrome instead of the Marina.  This has caused a lot of discussions on social media since we now have roughly 600m uphill run from swim exit to transition.  So anyone looking for a fast T1 can forget it!

For my team, Estoril Praia, we have 16 members competing.  For our captain, Bruno Pais, this will be his last professional race after competing for 20 years.

For me, it will be my third middle distance race in three months and I am hoping to improve on my result from last year.  Target is to achieve a roll-down place for the 2019 World Championships.  I am feeling good in body and mind and have the support of family who've travelled from England to watch along with the local crowds.

Race report and photos will be posted next week.