Recovery week did continue today with a bit of light training this morning and to be honest there was nothing lousy about it.
As I mentioned yesterday I went out for a bit of a jog/walk this morning. I was feeling fine so it ended up being more of a jog than a walk. I kept it at 10km though. I was feeling good, but any more seemed excessive. It is a recovery week after all.
Nice to be at the point where going for a 10km recovery jog is even an option though. Going back not too many months and running was something I was only doing sparingly. 6 months ago and I was doing almost no continuous runs. The body just wasn't holding up to anything more. Things seem to be improving though with the body handling the running better and better over the last couple of months. It has been a steady build, but things have slowly been getting quicker. Consistent training bringing improvements. There is hope yet.
Now going back to Busselton 70.3 briefly. Last time I promise. Perhaps.
Earlier today I had a quick look at my results from the 2013 edition of the Mandurah 70.3. Strange thing to look at I hear you say. The reason I looked though is that it occurred to me that my time from the Busselton 70.3 on the weekend may have been quicker. Turns out it was, by around 20 seconds. That means that despite all my bellyaching about my race on Saturday, it is officially my second fastest 70.3. This is significant because it forces me to view the race a little differently. It certainly reinforces that my initial impressions of the race may have been a little critical.
Also significant because whilst Busselton is a fast course, I think that it isn't as quick as Mandurah. Well that is only partly true. I think the actual speeds you can hold on both courses is similar. In fact I think that the run leg of Busselton is quicker, certainly the route and weather are friendlier. The ride is comparable between the two, however, the ride at Mandruah is a little bit shorter, so the times for that ride leg are usually quicker. That short ride combined with the current assisted swim make the finishing times for Mandurah faster, even if the speeds you are holding on both courses are simliar. This difference was only exacerbated this year by the long swim at Busselton.
That all made sense in my head.
Anyway, the point of the above paragraph (yes there was one) was that given that the Mandurah course is quicker, to have beaten it on weekend gives me a greater appreciation of my time on Saturday.
Actually if you factor in a few things like the slower swim and ride then my time on weekend starts being comparable to my PB of 4:02:55 from Mandruah last year. And that isn't too shabby in my eyes. Sometimes a bit of reflection can be a useful thing.
The early planning process for Japan 70.3 started today. I mean most of the heavy lifting planning like flights and accommodation is already taken care of. Today was things like having a good think about the course etc. Very technical bike course. About 18 180 degree turns. That is a lot of stop/go riding. Enough that it requires a bit of a think when it comes to what gear would be best so I was doing a bit of that today. Nothing serious, just throwing some neurons at it. Probably some more serious thinks to come though. I think.
The week of the recovery will continue tomorrow. The plan is to head out on the bike tomorrow. Hopefully with a bunch of the Break Your Limits guys. Quite a few of them are now gearing up for Roth, so hopefully they aren't to mean tomorrow. I am more fragile than I look.
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