Tuesday 21 July 2015

Out of sync!

5 years ago I set up this blog to act more as a journal for me as at that time, I had no idea where the journey was heading (and still don't).  It was so that I could look back on the journey to ironman which at the time seemed an almost impossible task.  If you go back far enough you will see I was completely bricking an Olympic distance triathlon because it has a 1 hour cut off for the 1 mile open water swim.  I was full of apprehension and people were telling me I was mad to attempt it.  I completed the swim in around 35 mins (can't remember the exact time) and when I finished the race I knew I had so much more to offer hence completing my first ironman the following year.
At the moment I have no races lined up although I have the 50 mile Strathaven cycle to look forward to - more cake stops than gels!  In September I am going cycling to Majorca for 4 days so in effect that is a goal i.e. get my cycling miles up so I don't keep the other cyclists waiting at the top of the climbs!
But I'm out of sync with my fellow club mates who are still in the middle of their season.  Today I got back in the pool which was long overdue.  My club mate is training for the 10k River Dart swim I did last year so it's almost pointless trying to follow him round the pool as I couldn't keep up.  I made up my own set, worked on some drill and didn't kill myself in the pool as it's been a long time - I felt great afterwards.
Over a post training coffee we got talking about Ironman results as three of our club mates had just completed different ones last weekend.  You can't compare times on different courses or even on the same course in different years - conditions and terrain vary.  But we reflected on my Lanzarote ("where normal limits don't apply") Ironman time of 12hrs 35min and came to the conclusion that was the race of a lifetime, which I am exceptionally proud of.  It's not the Ironman event everyone wants to do because of the wind, hills and heat.  However that was 3 years ago and time moves on.
The reason I mention this is because a large number of my club mates have entered Frankfurt Ironman in July next year and again, I am out of sync.  I would love to be part of that group training for the same event but can't risk entering until I know the position regarding my foot.  I'm seeing the physio tomorrow and hopefully this will lead to some action that might give me a positive outcome.  In the meantime I'll remain out of sync with my club mates but need to stay focused on small goals which act as stepping stones to my recovery.