Where to start???
Its more or less the end of the season for
most and I have still not posted a single blog post, there are a number of
reasons for this … it’s not just due to the fact that I have been lazy and
constantly put it off, honest.
Well the start of this year was less than
optimal, I was lacking a lot of fitness due to trying to train and complete a
teaching placement in a Primary School, which I didn’t quite manage to find the
balance, mainly because I managed to pick up every bug/cold possible, I guess
that’s to be expected in a Primary School.
Once I managed to get over that, I really
tried to knuckle down and get some good training under my belt before races
started to kick off, but unfortunately I picked up a tear in my right calf
which lingered and was harder to shake off than I expected, resulting in me
pulling out of a lot of early races that I had been panning on kicking my
season off with.
Who ever wants to write about the negative
things? Not me, and hence the lack of blogging then.
You could have at least put up race reports
you might say? Well to be honest there has not been many.
I raced Camlough ‘Crooked lake’ Triathlon,
at the start of June, at superb race and one I will always do if I have the
chance, and it was good to get my name back on the trophy after my absence last
year.
Other than that I have only raced four time
… four elite triathlons in four consecutive weekends.
Liverpool
‘British Elite Champs’ (sprint)
Geneva
‘European Cup’ (Olympic)
London
‘British Super Series’ (Olympic)
Istanbul
‘European Cup (Olympic)
Liverpool – wow, can you really be that
rusty from lack of racing – Yes, definitely yes! Simple mistakes cost me the
front group of four, whilst exiting the water 5th, and bad
nutritional choices pre race, meant I went backwards on the run with bad
stomach problems.
One week later …
Geneva – possibly the worst triathlon I
have ever raced, (can I use the word raced???) … Participated in might be a better
phrase.
A horrendous swim, an even worse bike leg
and then the run; I think I have been negative enough already but I would have
to resort to profanities to give its description justice.
Then the season turn around point.
One week till London, and I sat on the
shore of Lake Geneva chatting with my coach.
I had to ask myself; if I want to continue
to visit places like this across the world, I really need to get my finger out.
I needed a change in thinking and I found
it.
7th in London - 3rd out of the
water, good cycle in the lead pack followed by a solid-ish run to result in a
performance I was finally happy with and a good confidence boost.
Now for the fourth triathlon in the same
amount of weekends – there was quite a few people who doubted I could back up
this many races, but I had finally had a good race the weekend before and I was
just going to ride the wave of new found confidence to get me through.
Istanbul European Cup- A great swim to
excite at the front, a strong bike, got a break away with two others for lap 3
but unfortunately we got reeled back in,
it was then down to a foot race and I managed to come away with a
credible 16th, something I am happy with considering tired legs with
minimal miles in them this season.
A performance that has qualified me to
compete in the Elite U23 World Championships in London on September 12th.
Now I am currently in a training phase
doing all I can to prepare for Worlds, and to be ready to put a race together
that I know I am capable of.
Hope you enjoyed my mid season report, even
if it was lengthy, thank you for reading it all … your attention span is definitely
bigger than mine.
Russell.
