Patience I lack

I wont be racing the Ironman 70.3 in East London on Sunday morning – I am really gutted.

There was a two fold goal in planning to race some unfamiliar territory: 1, to assess my enjoyment of the specific training; the time trialing on straight roads as well as the faster flat land running. And 2, to assess my enjoyment of the race itself; the feel, character, and nature of half Ironman.

I’ve been surprised at the amount of joy my Specialized Transition has generated over the past four months – tweaking for a balance between comfort and power on every ride, time after time. Eventually it felt like home. Perhaps the riding was brought to life as well by the inclusion of wattage training – turning every ride into a numbers game. So too on the run, I was enjoying working on cadence and turnover on the flats without too much withdrawal from the steep single tracks I used to frequent.

So part one was a go – and as such, I will prepare for another 70.3 this season, hopefully building on the good progress I;ve made, probably more than one, and probably in the USA. I cant wait to be racing on the bike, tucked in the hurt box, at 50km/h. Soon.

As for today, I am not bouncing significantly enough after the past weekend’s multisport euphoria of the Totalsports Challenge. I’ve been niggling for four weeks now, and slowly feel to be loosing the battle, perhaps clarified by the past weekend. Quality, racing especially, has the potential to accentuate any imbalance. I think it stems from an ankle I rolled during my last week in Truckee all the way back in July. I did treat much of the scar tissue, but joint mobility has not been the same since. I changed my running foot strike a little, and since its been a domino effect.

Seems my pelvis is now twisted, riding higher on the one hip than the other, and experiencing discomfort on my left ankle while running escpecially.

Yes, I could race this weekend, and yes, I would very much like to. But it would seem too similar to last season’s frustrations, and I am real motivated to not race when niggling, instead to get back to neutral soonest, and build on positive form. I’ve had some excellent treatment this week, and racing would take me two steps back.

It was simplified by the voice of my new coach. I dont always want to listen, and be patient, but for today, I’ll sulk and accept.

I wish everyone racing at the sellout event the best of luck – including my man Dylan – who I’ve now left to represent alone.