"I was disappointed with my Ironman race"
Because I was going to race it. Because I trained so hard in the early days (OK I got distracted by Lisbon but that's not an excuse). Because I put quite a lot of effort in towards the end. Although I skipped a few sessions I did some hard weekends. I thought I would do better but as a friend of the family pointed out (Mr multiple age-group wins retired over 65 git), I just sneaked in inside the cut off times... and this time I didn't have any punctures to use as an excuse.
People have reminded me that I did an ironman. I took 6 minutes off my marathon time. Yada yada... but I would just have liked to be competitive. I feel like I should have been competitive.
There's every chance I'm in denial - that I'm just not fit enough but actually, I really feel like I was due more from myself whilst I was at Kielder, that somehow the legs weren't doing what they should on the bike, the arms weren't doing what they should on the swim. Yeah I'm happy with the run but that's about it. I feel like some time soon, I'll see some payback from all my effort and one of these days, I don't know which one, I'll suddenly be all awesome - just like that.
So, after a week off, I got back on the horse (bike) and managed a few runs from work and a few swims after work - even managing a loop of Hatfield in my shorty wetsuit just for the pleasure of enjoying real swimming.
I've been battling with a busy episode at work and a general lack of motivation. The first few "training" sessions have left me feeling really tired although I have massively enjoyed them. Just swimming, riding and running for the hell of it is luxury and it makes me feel like I never want to follow a programme again (is this why I don't like Ironman?). As the weeks have passed (2 now!) my rides have become more enjoyable and the runs more manageable though still a little infrequent. I'm struggling with swimming due to a possible ear infection but I'm being positive and doing some pool sessions to work on the swimming weak-spot.
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| Exploring some new trails in my back-yard for motivation |
I seem to thrive on a natural addiction to JFDI. My best races followed on from last year's Sheffield Half Marathon where I accepted a place just because I could do it and surprised myself by quite enjoying it - although it's not an experience I'd choose to repeat in a rush - or even at a plod.
That said, last week, I did sit down and write a training programme but as I mulled over more and more my success off the back of impromptu events, it turned into a series of targets to be hit rather than a series of scheduled training sessions.
As a kind of mid-year resolution, it includes all the fell races I feel I can "make" and all of the triathlons I have booked in (a half Iron in July and a standard distance in August) and it goes, conveniently, all the way up to our summer holiday (700km of mountain biking in the Alps) and then on to the 3 Peaks.
So I mess up a few races while doing better in others. So what? I'll be surfing on an overwhelming feeling of joy and satisfaction.
Recovery and resting is for pussies. Watch this spot for injury news.
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