I have never learned how to be prepared with bags of time left in which I don’t need to worry about anything. Perhaps it’s the journalist in me; the thrill of working to a deadline, at the last minute. Then again, I think I was like this during my school days. Unless there was an exam imminent or a project to be handed in the next day, I could never seem to get my act together to get on with it. So I’m a last minute kind of person.

I had promised myself that preparing for this London Triathlon would be different. I did manage to achieve most of the preparations, but because of a funeral in Reading earlier this week, and a number of work deadlines, I just couldn’t find the time to completely prepare.

So today, the same day as I leave to head to London, I still hadn’t changed my front crank on my bike (back to the set-up I used prior to the Pyrenees); I was awaiting delivery of a new pair of goggles and I had a last training session to complete.

All this, and a press release to write and various blogs to finish.

So I want to sat thanks to all those people who went beyond the call of care, duty and friendship to help me out. Thanks go to:

* Solid Rock Cycles, at Balmore, for swapping my crank and front cogs set on a very busy Friday morning. They even took the time to discuss the gear ratios I might need for a flattish bike course and to offer some last minute advice on dealing with race punctures etc. This shop always goes beyond the call of duty to help people who love their bikes.

* Simply Swim for delivering a pair of goggles to me within 24 hours of emailing them. I’d made the last minute decision to wear contact lenses instead of prescription goggles but could not find pair in the house that didn’t leak. Simply Swim rushed the goggles to me from England to Scotland and they arrived just 2 hours before leaving for London. I’ll be reviewing the goggles.

* My coach The Mighty Vickster for pushing me to fit in my last two training sessions when all I wanted to do was “not train”. I’d a mountain of work, bags to pack, my daughter and dog to take care of but MV calmly pointed out to me that each training session is there for a reason. So today I managed the quick brick session and felt, mentally and physically, so much better for it. She also sent me a lovely good luck card.

Race report to come!