Daz Does Tri

Back to racing - 29 days after my disaster at Peterborough a chance at redemption at Watford. Chose the 1500m as it was the best chance to get something decent done. 3000m is still a bit of an ask. My legs have been constantly battered since returning. I've really pushed my body hard to get fit. Now is the time to stop pushing for fitness and try to get back into race shape and use that fitness to build some racing form. Monday Rest, well needed and nothing whatsoever today. Tuesday  35 min shakeout with 4 x 20 sec strides. Full mobility. Felt good and moving well, good sign. Still a bit of fatigue in there but can feel things starting to come together. Wednesday Race day! am) shakeout nice and relaxed 2km ish village run. Breakfast 3 eggs on toast. Lunch of Jacket potato with cheese and sausage and beans. Rice pudding snack and red bull 2 hours out. Meet Andy at Watford and do 2 mile warm up. Tempo 800m in around 2.45 half hour before race starts. Warm up but don't feel fully ...

Phase 1 - the restart. Starting to run again is a right pain in the arse! So basically The reset was to just restart training and get back into the swing of things. 3 weeks of running 49, 55 & 52 miles were at the worst absolutely horrific and at the best mildly disappointing.  But 3 weeks in and 2 sessions per week and a long run up to 16 miles and the reset has happened. Now in week 4 it's time to cut back slightly and enjoy a couple of races in a down week. HR is improving. It's been far too easy to rev the engine and anything slightly uphill or into a headwind drives it up - lack of conditioning.  Sessions are improving, every week I am getting fitter but it is a constant battle. S&C has taken a back seat, firstly I need to get on top of aches and pains and stay flexible. 3000m up on the 30th April and then hopefully Parkrun on the 4th. These will be rust busters and hopefully set some benchmarks although neither will be a full on race effort. If I can get a season...

Positivity.  Finally a glimmer of hope. For the first time in a while I feel a sense of something good starting. Like a crack in a door there is finally some light.  And it fills my soul for the first time since I crept off the track in Torun. First up, think I have a better idea of what's happening with my knee. Adductor is very tight and very sore and answers the question of why the interior of my knee aches. There is a chunk of light there and if I can loosen that off and work on that it's maybe just possible that I can get through a test run. The quad is loose and I've been obsessively looking there but the answer is much more likely to lie on the inside of my thigh. Put in the work on that and see how it results in coming back. My core - as identified by Simon - my core is weak and letting me down. It's the one area I have neglected over all the years I have returned to sport. And the cherry on the cake - my hamstrings - specifically the top insertions from the bot...

Long story short. Injured. The race done the damage and recovery post race has been attempt to run, fail, weights, attempt to run, fail, weights rinse and repeat. Initially I came back from Torun fired up. Knee flared up in an annoying dull ache a week ago and I've been unable to run since. Depression kicked in a few days ago. Seriously down about it all. Feels a bitter pill to swallow. Pep talk today, the main issue is the lost fitness means that both Dulwich & Mid Cheshire are effectively now non starters. Taking those out of the equation and I can actually start to feel the weight shift from my shoulders. It's pretty fucking far from ideal BUT I can at least start to visualise a come back rather than lay in a pit of self pity with a race clock countdown ticking. Physio is booked for tomorrow so the hardest part is to wait that out. It should hopefully give me ideas about what and when at the very least. From Thursday onwards I'll need to adjust one way or the other. ...

OK, so off a big block it's time to start feeling fresher. Bring the legs in and start to feel faster as I head towards Torun. There is not a lot to be achieved burying myself and breaking down from here. I need to maximise the build and get quick. Monday 26th February Achy back. Head to see chiropractor and back is very sore and tight afterwards. BJJ in the evening and pretty beat up after that. I think I am at the stage now where I can see the back of two things. Tuesday Fuck, my back is absolutely shredded today. Busy day with builders in and home admin but spend much the morning / afternoon stretching, icing, heating, rolling my low and upper back. Quite stressful feeling this beat up off a rest day. Very frustrating. Right side of back - I'm guessing the lumbar spine maybe? is absolutely tight as mahogany. Eddington tonight but I need to get my body relaxed. Will be quite a bit of r&r before I go trying to loosen off the back and then keep it this way. Annoying, was ho...

Venue - Torun, Poland Date - 17th March 2024, 19.25pm (local) The skinny - DQ'd - stepping off inside of track. Could end the blog there really as those are the only facts that matters. I spin a good yarn though and I need the therapy after that race. Build up - was pretty good. Tight back and sore left glute but I hope to have started to address these. Everything on the trip leading to the start line I cannot complain about. Got some good memories of warming up, the call room, getting dialed in but the simple fact was I stood on the start line 100% ready to rock and roll. 10th fastest out of 12 in the race on seasons bests. Bang We're off. Grzegorz  KUJAWSKI  from Poland goes off at an insane pace. World champ and big favorite. (He clocks 64 for the opening 400m).  Ruben  BARRIO LORES  from Spain follows in the hole (70 for first 400) and then it's me leading the entire pack. Sitting on the front I clock and even split 75 for the first 2 laps and bang on 2...