Welcome to Jamaica Have a Nice Day
Amazingly, the day before I went on me hollybobs I won my first running race for 14 years !!! Admittedly it was only a Parkrun but boy it felt good to cross the line first !!! And as a bonus ball with Chris Ritchie is too cool to hand in his bar code I'm ranked #2 in the history of Peterborough Parkrun ;) Alright, Chris has gone faster and there's only been 2 but still, number 2 eh !!
Race went as expected, gun went bang and we all run round a big park. First KM I was way down in about 7th place, good 10 secs behind Dan with a 3.28. Kept it consistent and slowly reeled everyone in running same pace (lesson there eh) and took the lead about a KM from home. Picked it up a bit and ran a 3.18 last one for a 17.19 split. Happy Days, big win and a decent time too boot and exactly a minute faster than the week before.
So, what better way to celebrate than a fortnight all inclusive holiday! Long story short Jamaica was a great family break. Food was awesome and for the first time in my life I managed to eat pretty healthy - scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for brekky, salad for lunch, fish for dinner - that will amaze some people who know me!! Didn't go mad on the booze, probably 5/6 small Red Stripes a day and a couple of glasses of red at dinner.
Swam between 1 & 2 km a day, 5 days a week in the sea. Read first few chapters of swim smooth as well and think I really started going well by the end of it. Be interesting when I get in the pool this week to see how that transpires. Also slept like a lion - 9/10 hours a day so nice to come off a season break feeling refreshed rather than like I need a holiday to get over the last one!
Great to spend good quality time with the wife and kids after all the Ironman training, think they had forgotten what I looked like!
Back home and now time to start prepping for last couple of big races this year - Anglian Standard qualifier and Stowe half. Couple of easy runs this week and surprisingly faster and easier than expected. Will Parkrun this Saturday and see where I am with the run - sub 18 will be the aim which is a big ask after 2 weeks off!
Biked a fairly hard 25 on Tuesday @ 20.3mph which I was well happy with. I'll knock out the last TT this season and see where I am there.
So break done, feeling good, have a tan and ready to up the training again.
Also, booked in next seasons big races this week. First up in March is Cambridge Half. Unfinished business there on a course that should be quick and a decent time will put me at the pointy end. Then April is the big one - Ironman 70.3 Florida. Nice to combine a bit of tri with a family break :) Then it's Outlaw Half in June - last year was my pb so want to smash it this year and try to emulate Mr T with a big performance. If it goes well next month at the qualifier then it'll be another family break to Kitzhbul for the European AG Champs where I'm in the real coffin dodgers 40-44 group !! Finally my swansong is going to be the marathon leg of the Outlaw where I am in team Greenlight PT with Adam on the swim and Ian on the bike. We are going to smash it up and win it easy !!
So exciting times for next season and after a good break I'm well up for getting stuck in again. Will go easy for this week, do some testing and then next week start getting back into some real hours.
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