Fire up the engines again....

Last Thursday Physio Jonty from Body Dynamics gave me the OK to get out and run to see how the recovering body felt. So up to the "Craters of the Moon" mountain bike park I went on Friday to do so light running on soft dirt tracks. I'm happy to say everything felt fine, no jarring and my tender right hip was not an issue. In fact I felt great! Normally after a month of no running my cardio system is rubbish and I puff, wheeze and struggle through my first week or 2 of running. I think due to the fact I have kept my swimming up I'm still reasonably fit. So feeling good and loving being out on a beautiful day with the tracks to myself I extended the run slightly and ended up doing around 50mins. It was pretty slow and I finished stoked and excited about being back in the game! Since then my legs have been stiff as boards and back to limping around the place! What a wally, never mind, nothing major and I will run again today and start getting a routine back into my weeks.



I have also had a couple of rides on my new Litespeed, what a difference to my last frame! A real pleasure to ride and its nice to have something I catch myself "ogling" over every time I go into the garage. I will try to make the most of the remaining good summer weather and get out on it at every chance. The pic is of another bee sting in my leg I picked up on one ride. Not as bad as the one I had earlier in the year on my eyebrow but impressive all the same!

I have over the last month put serious thought into what the year is going to look like. I have concluded that this year will have more focus on Half Ironman racing to work on my swimming and running speed. It will allow me also to race more often and travel to some interesting locations for some "life experience!". Here is what things will look like through to The World Long Course Champs in Perth in October....

1. King of the Bays Ocean Swim, 19th April


2. N-Duro off road 1/2 Marathon, Tauranga 24th May


3. N-Duro off road 1/2 Marathon, Rotorua 28th June


4. Putrjara 70.3, Malaysia 26th July


5. Capricorn 1/2 Ironman, Nth Queensland 16th August


6. Gold Coast Training Camp, Mid September


7. World Longcourse Champs, Perth 25th October

There is also the option of doing the Phillipines 70.3 a week after Yepoon. If Putrjara 70.3 goes well I may be in a position to do this, I will wait until after then to make a decision.

Its an exciting plan and the build up started yesterday! Training through the Taupo winter is going to be tough as it was last year but with more things to break it up this year is will be more manageable. After the Worlds it will be onto the NZ summer with the big goal being retaining my NZ title at the Mt Half. IMNZ will follow on from that as the demons must be exorcised!

I must also mention the "Tenon" team who completed the Oxfam 100km race again this year. They took 3.5hrs off the time from last year and ended up 4th overall. The terrain this race goes over is brutal and these guys nailed it. In their preparation two of there big training days included going over the Tongiriro Crossing, and back again! It just shows if you prepare well, race day is that much easier. Maximum respect to you boys, inspirational stuff.

Cheers

Dunc.

Movin on.........

2 weeks on from NZIM and I'm walking normally again after the crash and have begun planning for the rest of the year. I have been having regular physio with Jonty Garlick from Body Dynamics and we are making progress. There is a few funny things going on in my lower back and hip to the point that Jonty has recommended I have an xray asap as there may be a fracture of some kind in there causing pain that I am still having. Running is still out of the question so the Auckland Half is definitely a no go. I haven't rode yet either but hopefully I will be able to take my new Litespeed road frame (pic above, bike courtesy of "Bike Fixation" chur!!!) out for a test ride this week and start some gentle riding again. My right hip is still tender due to bruising on the bone. I am reminded of it at regular intervals whilst navigating my way through our small home catching it on door frames or dressers and at work on packets of timber or whilst climbing onto the forklift! I am definitely on the mend though and look forward to the xray tomorrow to see what is going on in there.

I have put some good time into thinking about the rest of the year, for now it's a swimming focus through to the "King of the Bays" Ocean swim. This is a good opportunity to have a close look at what I'm doing in the water as I'm determined to be in the front group out of the water next year. After that it's going to be a swim & run focus through the winter to avoid to many long rides in the "minging" Taupo winter! I am keen to do up to 5 Half Ironman races before IMNZ next year. At this stage I'm looking at either the Phillipines 70.3 or the Yepoon Half Ironman in August as a lead up race to the World Long Distance Champs in Perth in October. One month before these races is the Malaysia 70.3 which could also be an option but will depend on funds and work commitments. Following the World Long Course it will be back to NZ for the summer with the main goal being defending my Mt Half title! Then roll on again to IMNZ if all is going well.

It will be another exciting year with the focus on more racing and getting my swim and run up to my riding level in order to become a more balanced triathlete. I was happy with my running development over the last 12 months so am keen to continue this improvement. I'm pleased to be back in a positive frame of mind and an enjoying the extra swim miles I'm doing with Mitch Nairn (local national age group swimmer). The pic to the right is of Mitch, Shayne Nairn, Me, Mum and Richard (dark horse) Stringfellow at the 2.8km Sand to Surf Ocean Swim yesterday. It was a great event, Mitch was top 10, Mum did her longest ever swim, very gutsy in unsettled and sometimes rough conditions! Koro and Shayne banged out good times and I cruised around feeling OK and happy to have no back issues. A great day out and good to be toeing the start line again!

Cheers

Dunc.