I have had a very lazy week leading up to Christmas.I did aride on Tuesday morning with the group .A 20km time trial and pipped the others at the end to win ...but i just had too much of a head start for the real fast riders to catch me.Overtook Michelle and Katy who were sore from the Rockingham race as well and worked with Julianna for one lap before we were joined by Rod and Nat and worked as a group.
Still had the strength for the short rides.It was a good end to riding the Tuesday sessions and closes out the training for me till the new year.I swam on Wednesday morning in the squad and we did a short 1500 session before then ending the session with some mindless games and working in a group in each lane .My group had me to contend with as I am the slowest swimmer in the squad.Will be working to correct that next year.
I then had a break for the next few days although I was dying to go riding on Christmas day but I would have been a dead triathlete had I done that.Don't think the wife would have been too pleased if I was missing on Christmas morning.
I have learnt with some difficulty to try and go slow.It is a mindset in progress at the moment.On Saturday before flying off to Singapore I decided to ride with the North Coast Boxing day ride. It was an easy 1.5 hr ride up the coast and back and there would have been 50-70 riders .A very good turnout for the club.I did not stay for coffee or a swim after the ride as i had to get back to catch the flight. Thankfully I did not have any accidents on the bike.
It was a refreshing ride.Chatted with Dodge and Rod regarding Im training and plans for the future. Unfortunately I will not be part of the group going to China although I would like to be.Work and training to rectify the deficiencies this year will have to be the focus.
I arrived in Singapore on boxing Day and the weather was a comfortable 27 C .Did an hour run the next morning and felt comfortable .It was slow on a run trail /road and the trail was muddy and wet .The humidity was a 100%. Will try to put in a few slow runs whilst in Singapore
The plan is to start thinking of my training regime over the next 5-6 months of next year and have a plan drawn up with the half ironman in May.No long races at least till the 2nd half of 2010 and that will depend on work and benchmarks I believe i will need to set.
I will draw up my wish list of goals .
It was a pleasant surprise with the wonders of technology that this morning as I checked my facebook I got a message from the chat box and a member of the club asking about IM China . (not that I have done it) Having read and spoke to several who did I imparted what I could but given the change of dates the organisers are hopeful IM china in 2010 is not the hot hard slog it has been in the past 2 years.I would love to do IM china but it is for the best I revisit my training regime and plan for a race later but I hope I was helpful to the member of the club .
Being the first IM race for this person , we are always filled with self doubt but in the end it is like any exercise , preparation and execution are critical but the goal is so achievable. I had doubts about the task of doing my first Ironman , fortunately I was surrounded by friends and a coach who thought if you want to do it badly enough you will. Every race I have done , what I fear is the expectations I place on myself that I may not live up too .But better to try then to stay at the sideline wondering what if . For the first race the fear is what if I don't complete it...I will feel so bad and let everyone down.But oddly it is the competitor only who feels that way and it takes a far stronger person to persist through a failed attempt than one who has succeeded at his first go. That is not to say we should aim to fail ...far from it but endurance racing is more than just the sum total of a person training.Everything has to come together like one large jigsaw. But the fun is having a go.I hope I was helpful atleast to that person. Have a go what you gain far outweighs the risk.
I feel so much more a complete person for having tried...although I would like to have done a better time and beaten others in that process .But the victory is all the more sweeter after tasting failure , whatever that may be .
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