So – having finished Challenge Denmark iron distance in June – I can finally say I am officially back to doing what I love!
Of course, the next aim is to do it faster…
After Denmark I had a whole FOUR DAYS of rest and going-for-little-walks, by which point I was starting to get a bit fidgety. Looking back over my training diary, I appear to have paid at least some attention to Russ’ Rules for Ironman Recovery, though the “no intensity in week 2” part appears to have been edited out somewhere between my brain and my legs!
The last six weeks has been an opportunity to train and build some fitness without travelling to camps or races, and only one daytrip back to the UK for physio and work on my S&C programme. I love training camps and I love racing, but it’s also been great to spend some time at home, not get on any planes and be able to speak to Ed without regular instances of “what…. what…. sorry it’s cut out again…. maybe try audio only…. maybe try Skype? Ah never mind I’ll see you in 10 days anyway”!
Swimming has involved lots of race-specific skills and race intensity work, along with getting comfortable in my new wetsuit (for which thank you again SwimForTri!) in Amsterdam’s outdoor pools and lake. Very many thanks to Steve Trew for providing some truly revolting inspirational bike and run sessions – if I can execute these on a turbo trainer and while not tripping over the tourists or choking on the ‘interesting’ smoke in the Vondelpark, bringing them to bear on race day should be a doddle. Right?
Next is to test out my fitness, and so Ed and I will shortly be off on a racing extravaganza! First stop is a return to Denmark to race in Challenge Fredericia on 6 August…
Outside transition, a couple of days before our last Challenge Denmark event
Then it’s a quick turnaround to head to Ironman 70.3 Dublin, where I raced last year. The course has changed slightly so comparison is tricky, but I’m still hoping to smash my previous time!
Racing Ironman 70.3 Dublin 2015
From there, we head to Austria for 2 weeks for some training time in the mountains, finishing up with racing 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun on last year’s 70.3 World Championship course.
Finally, a return to Amsterdam just in time for Challenge Almere, which I’ve regularly been told is a course that would suit me ever since I started triathlon – now I’m living nearby, it seemed an obvious choice!
And yes…. this is a lot of racing. It is all subject to change, and I need to be very careful to stay in one piece. But one of the pieces of the jigsaw is race experience, of which I still have relatively little. I have time, support and nearby (ish) races. Oh and as mentioned above… I love racing!
Happiness is…
