Proper

Finally a good, proper day of training. First one in absolutely ages.

The day started with a bit of a spin on the Kickr. Unlike the Kickr sessions I did last week, today I actually tried to ride with a bit of intent. Not too much yet, but more than just spinning easy. It seemed to go okay, at least I didn't end up completely ruined by it. There is hope yet.

The real test was this afternoon though. Today it was more.... running. ONOES, flee in terror!!!!

After the rather unpleasant experience that was running on Saturday, fair to say I wasn't looking forward to running today. At the same time I am painfully aware that the only way for running to get pleasant again is for me to run. If I don't run, running gets more unpleasant, which will make me less likely to go running. Nice vicious circle you have there. Not keen to go down that route which leaves only one alternative. Running.

Deep down I have been harbouring a quiet hope that the horribleness of Saturday's run was at least partly due to some residual effects of my cold. I was kind of hoping that when I went running today I would feel dramatically better and the run would be improved.

Well lo and behold, that is kind of what happened. The 12km of running that I did today was certainly still not lovely. It hurt rather a lot and I didn't feel great, but the important thing, and this is key, is that I felt better than on Saturday. As a result the pace for the run was significantly quicker, for not a whole bunch more effort. That is on top of a solidish session on the Kickr this morning.

It is going to take a bit of time for me to get my fitness back, that is without a doubt. But come back it will. Today it feels like I took the first proper step along that road.

Those steps are necessary because the other thing I did today was enter my first race for 2017. Not just any race, but this race:

Karri Valley Tri

Karri Valley Triathlon is a local race a few hours south of Perth that is quite a local institution. In terms of local long course events that have a fond place in people's hearts I would say that Karri Valley is second only to Busso Half here in Perth. It is very popular. Which makes it even more frustrating that I have never done it before.

My lack of racing at Karri Valley hasn't really been deliberate, but rather one of those things that have just happened. It is a race that I have heard nothing but good things about and so it has been on my to do list for quite some time. However, I just seems like I haven't been able to get there. For a couple of years I was just away racing elsewhere, then last year I was injured. Always something.

So this year, when we started planning events for 2017, I said straight up that I was doing Karri Valley this year. I wasn't going to miss it for another year. Which is exactly what I am doing. Very exciting.

Now that I have a target, all I have to do is get race fit. Simple.