Sunday 6 March 2011

I'm back (I think!!)

I started writting this a week ago.......... Jeez I'm useless............ Hope it makes a tiny bit of sense!!!

Well it appears that after my stumbling stuttering start to 2011 I 'might' finally be back on the road again. I hope!!

My swimming seems to be going well as my injury problems mean I've been putting in 2-3 sessions a week rather than my normal once a week attempts and in the last week I have managed 3 runs without any significant problems. I'm still not sure though how a bike ride on anything other than my hybrid might affect my back, especially after an hours spin on my TREK a couple of weekends ago put me back to square one for a week.

The years big plan of putting in more training month on month compared to last year has already come crashing to the ground of course, I'm already over 12hrs behind the 2010 total and with only 4hrs of running done in February I'm well off the pace as Sundays race proved.

Taunton Aquathlon

This was going to be a test and an important test as I'd won the race last year so had my title to defend. I'd got a target time of sub 50mins which would be marginally quicker than last years time, but last year I'd spent an absolute age in Transition. I knew I was swimming quicker, but after the injury ravaged month I'd probably lost a little run fitness so hopefully they'd just cancel each other out!

The swim started and I was in a lane with my old pal and foe Will, with me having a 10 second head start on him. Our wave set off an the lad in the lane next to me went off like a rocket. I knew Will would also start quickly so I decided to keep tabs on my neighbour. We went through 100m in a crazily fast 1:14 and he soon started dropping off. Will still seemed to be closing on me so I pushed on hard until half way when he started dropping off too. I finished the 1km swim, raced through transition and led the wave onto the run course in 13:52.

As soon as I got out on the run course it became obvious just how much the lay off had taken out of me (just 3.5hrs of running in February pre race). My legs felt heavy and although I was moving along ok and my HR was reasonable there was no zip, no extra edge, no overdrive 'race' speed. I knew I was in trouble and there was unlikely to be any repeat victory. I was half way through the run before anybody caught me, but there were two of them and they appeared to be tearing the road up. Then Will caught me and there was nothing I could do to go with him. Finally to rub salt into the wound I got passed again within 400m of the Finsih Line, I'd run almost 3mins slower than last year and it was all I'd got in me.

So, I got my butt kicked........... On the plus side I managed to pick up the first V40 prize and a small consolation was that the winner Martin finished in 49:54, so had I run as I know I can I'd have been up there in the mix. I still may not have won, but I'd have been a factor. Best that this one is just put down to experience and brushed under the carpet I think.

Quick injury update :- All seems well at the moment. My back is still stiff and occasionally I'll feel a slight hamstring twinge but it's nothing to worry me....... I've hopefully made the sensible decision and given my entry for Grizzly away. Much as I love the race I'm not really in the shape to run 20miles off road and the risk it posed to my back/hamstrings was just too much. Had I still got the entry I'd (stupidly) be racing, but luckily I've an old pal who took it off me. Hopefully he'll rip the course up for me on Sunday.

Ironman Florida update - I'm still no nearer to deciding what's happening. Shelly is getting twitchy about booking flights/accomodation etc as she likes to be organised and know what's happening. I guess that the fitter I get the more likely it is that we'll decide to worry about the finances later................. We'll see!!

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