ATHelite Tri Club

My apologies for missing my blog last week.  It was an extremely busy weekend with training, attending a 1st birthday party and clearing out our house as we prepare to put it on the market - some of these activities are known as "life".  It wasn't until I was out running today and thinking what I'd write about today that I couldn't remember what I had written about the previous week - a senior moment!
A lot of positive things have happened in the last two weeks and I'm delighted to report that "I'm back".  The last 8 weeks of carefully planned training, thanks to my coach Genevieve, have got my fitness back to a good level relative to the time I've been back training.  In the last two weeks I've started swimming noticeably faster and my mileage has increased on my runs without my form slipping. By continually measuring the data and having my training plan tweaked, combining that with consistent running, the results are starting to show.
This weekend was my longest run to date, 25km on mainly trails.  I had my pal Michael Martin plan the route and it was good to have company as it was wet, windy and muddy.  After 10km we met up with team mates from the ATHelite Tri group and we stayed with them for 7km before finishing the rest of the route off.  It was a tiring run which was to be expected but when reviewing the results I could see how I'd improved.  This was then topped off today with a 12km run at a faster pace than yesterday.  Other than the first big hill when my legs felt heavy, I felt great and improved the pace significantly with a lower heart rate.  You'd expect that in a shorter run but the good news was there was no effect from the day before.
The last 4 weeks have been building the training and next week's session cuts back on the training to give my body time to recover.  Having said that it starts with an hour run tomorrow with my coach so I won't be taking it too easy!
I should mention all my mates in the ATHelite Tri Club who I run and swim with have a bunch of like minded nutters around makes what I do much easier.  There's always good banter, you need thick skin, and while we have different goals, different skills and the age range is wide with me pushing the barrier at the far end we help motivate each other.  We had our AGM on Friday and it was inspirational to hear the stories of what the athletes had achieved in the last 12 months from short Tri's to Ironman, 10ks to ultras and long distance cycling events.
Everyone is on their own journey with their own goals and face numerous challenges along the way.  But being part of this positive community makes the seemingly impossible, possible and I'm so lucky to be part of it.  Thanks guys.