It's been a while

 First off, very sorry for not blogging sooner. It has been while between blogs.. My quest to get a few half marathon’s under my belt before Challenge next year has been done and dusted. I raced at Traraglon with a heavy head cold, it was not good but I finished it. I was mainly there for Ellie to complete her full marathon.

The time for Traraglon was 2 hr 13 mins 11 secs

With Ellie and Sue @ Traraglon Half/Full Marathon Start

 

After losing a month to the cold my training was not great my longest run was 17km when it should have been 21km. The goal was to complete Run Melbourne which I did but wasn’t fast.

We lined up with a heap of others waiting for our wave start, the atmosphere was unreal and then our wave was let off. My speed has not been great this winter, but more a solid runner after the race my legs felt great.

The time for Run Melbourne was 2 hr 13 mins 20 secs

I was meant to Race Sandy Half, but Saturday woke up with a head cold, so I took a few days off, instead I raced at Mornington lots of hills, but was more about completing the distance not speed. I was happy with the run.

The time for Marathon Half was 2hr 08 mins 40 secs

Medal after completing the Mornington Half

Sue and friend before the Start of the trail run. It was freezing.

 

After Mornington I completed a trail run which has been on my bucket list for ages, I had a great time and completed the race in and 1hr 05min or so. It was funny weather, cold, foggy, windy at the start line, no wind or fog in the valleys

 

Now it’s time to get back into Mutli-Sport Mode so I signed up for Hazelwood again. I headed down their Saturday morning for the sprint distance  to clear the cobwebs out as prep to Noosa and I walked away with 3rd Place for my age group. I was shocked and stoked at the same time.

My time for the Sprint was 1hr 32min 58 secs

Swim Exit at Hazelwood

3rd Place Finisher @ Hazelwood.

 

With my Half Marathons and my warm up race done for now it’s time to focus on Noosa. Most weekends I’ve been riding down to Mornington with some hill work and on through to Dromana and onto McCrae or Rosebud. Followed by long runs on Sunday. My run speed is returning I have been punching around 5:10km. My swims are getting strong and faster too. For example a year ago I was 1:50min/per 100m, now I can punch out 1:30mins / per 100min in a sprint or 1:40min/per 100m over 1KM. Anna my swim coach is happy with my progress as am I. Friday last week Anna gave us the Ironman swim just a 3.8KM swim for fun. I worked out that in September I swam just a lazy 40KM in the pool. 

Too earlier for a beer?

Bathroom break

Almost done @ Brighton

Brighton Baths - Icing the legs post long ride and run off the bike

 

New Swim Squad Members

With Noosa and Challenge locked away I am starting to plan my summer race session. It’s been hard, lots of work and personal pressure on me, it’s taken a toll which I won’t go into details here.  I’ve been working on my mental side with good friend and coach Helen. She has managed to get me focused on what needs to be done and I can’t thank her enough. I feel like a weight on my shoulders has been lifted.

Today saw me get my Trivic Technical Official Certification, so another accreditation to books.

To's Post Race Debrief