Its been a while since my last post, almost 9 months in fact. You may think that I may be looking forward to another season of triathlon for 2012 but unfortunatley I seem to have lost a little motivation. This began after Ironman Austria last year, as I felt I needed a break and a little more 'normality' in my life. So I returned to keep wicket for my old cricket club in the Dorset Premier league. A few catches, runs and stumpings later and the season was over and the plan was to get back into shape and have a good winter of riding/running. How wrong could I be. Despite a regular Team Primera TBUK ride on a sunday, I felt my fitness disappear and found I was forever playing catch up in all disciplines. I tried numerous times to re ignite my passion for training but never seemed to be able to rekindle the same consistency I showed over the previous year.
So, after a fantastic mild winter down here on the south coast I have come into the season in the worst shape I have been in for a while. I did however have a fantastic week skiing in Val D'Isere - my love of the mountains covers both summer and winter especially in France. The Time Trial season started with the customary Good Friday 10 which I posted a 23:57 on a cold morning where frost needed to be scraped off the cars. Winning time was 21:08 by Julian Jenkinson. I can normally use that race as a springboard to finding a bit of form with a month of club 10's in the legs, however the recent wet and windy conditions have meant I havent made an appearance on the rumble strip yet!
So to 2012, the plan was: Swashbuckler, Cowman and MK111 but with the first of those events only 2 weeks away I have had to rethink my race plans. I am still doing both of the MK races as I feel there is plenty of time to build and get in to decent form for those but have decided not to punish myself through the swashbuckler, opting instead for some consistent training between now and July. Once 111 is done and dusted, I am turning my attention to running my first standalone marathon since 2006. This will be taking place in October in Amsterdam, and I have named this challenge 'Project 190'. The 190 stands for the number of minutes I wish to complete it in or sub 3:10 in old money :-)
Looks like there will be a few people joining me for the trip as the following people have expressed and interest: Corrine Ellison, Corrine Clark, Mel Varvel, Anja Heijen, Chris Weeks, Paolo De Luca (Mr Sky new marathon man), Ivan Whitehead, Wendy Barton and Lee Piercy embarks on Project 69 for the half. Plenty of blood sweat and tears to be shed along the way i'm sure and definatley a few laughs and beers post race in 'The Dam' - couldnt think of a better way to end the season. Anyone else fancy it????
Regular training updates to follow as I embark on this new challenge!
