2013's been a pretty miserable year for several reasons; one of which was suffering a series of unrelated sequential injuries just as the last one was healing, which led to me deciding to quit triathlon and exercise in general on at least three separate occasions. I didn't do a single race after March (and I shouldn't have run those), I was a DNS on at least three separate occasions, and I've managed to lose all of last year's endurance base as well as what speed I had achieved over the winter. In short, I am effectively now a newbie again, albeit one with the basic kit, a little bit of knowledge, and a shedload of bad habits already built in.
So I've decided to wipe the slate clean and start working towards my second rookie season. I look forward to setting post-30 PBs and then trying to beat them; if they happen to be faster than the ones I set in the last decade then so much the better, but if not I won't lost any sleep over it.
With all this in mind I have sketched out a rough idea of what I want to have a go at in 2014. The fine details will be decided closer to the time as I find out a) what weeks things like my summer holidays etc. fall, and b) what I can afford to enter before it fills up. I suspect the latter will be the bigger factor with some of the bigger races.
My targets for the rest of the year are this:
1) Injury Prevention - I want to stay in one piece for the year. I am currently still rehabbing an ankle I badly sprained last month and I'm planning on attempting much more S&C-based programme with the aim of preventing the injuries before I get them, and making sure I back off when I see one approaching rather than trying to train through it.
2) Get some running form back - I've been a member of my local running club for the best part of a decade now and I've really missed not being able to attend the club sessions or run the races, both for the joy of running but also as the people there are a big part of my social life.
3) Shift some timber - the eternal struggle for the previous extreme lardarse. It's been creeping back on over the last six months and I want to get rid of it once and for all. I know from past experience I can get rid of it for a while, but I want to make some changes that will keep it off for longer. Everything feels so much easier when I'm under 15st; at the moment I'm 15 stone 9.5lbs. This will have to change.
I've decided to start putting all this in a training log again as I find the act of writing it lends more focus to my efforts, as well as providing some accountability and critical feedback (if anybody actually bothers reading my ramblings
). Hopefully it'll do the same this time as well. My name will be also be properly lit up again after payday next week.----------------------------------------
To kick it all off, today I went for a 5.4M run in 42:35 @ 7:53/mile pace. My foot felt a bit sore to begin with but gradually eased off and became more flexible. This evening I did the rehab exercises to increase the flexibility, and judging by the last few attempts at running it will feel slightly better when I try again later in the week. Nothing more than easy runs in straight lines on stable surfaces until I'm certain everything's better though.
Hitting the gym tomorrow morning, then spending the rest of my day helping looking after my 17 month-old niece. From past experience I can safely say the latter will probably burn many more calories than the first
Anyway, 50mins of that and then I hopped onto the static bike for 20mins of intervals.