Derailed Already?!

After committing to the Box End Bedford Middle Distance Duathlon scheduled for 4 Sep 22 and entering, have I been derailed already? 

The dreaded Achilles pain has appeared - seemingly out of nowhere. I can only think that my enthusiasm to train, increasing run volume, has caused this problem. Last week I did record my biggest volume with a weekly total of 40k, which is not that massive really. I did a decent interval session last Wednesday too; maybe that also tipped the Achilles into stress mode. Whatever it is, I am pretty miffed. I completed the Middle Distance Duathlon mega-brick set today and struggled through. Not sure whether I should just stop preparation for September now. I'll see how this week goes but run sessions will e reduced to 2 per week. 

New Race Goal - Can I save the Season?

 Hello the masses of people who read this old fashioned Blog . . . .Oh, wait. . . .

After catching COVID late May, I am only just returing to normal. A decent weekend's training last week confirmed that I may be able to salvage the season, which was based on a main goal of a middle distance duathlon to quailfy for the 2023 European AG Champs. I have found the last qualifying event at Bedford, Box End middle distance duathlon on 4 Sep 22 - just after my 58th birthday.

I have just completed 3 days' specific training to test the fitness, with the aim of making the decision to enter Box End - I have entered! Feeling motivated again. I completed my first more intense turbo set on Friday (plus some run drill sets in the morning), a long slow run on Saturday and finally 65k TT bike followed by an easy 15 min run. FOr me, that is quite a tough 3 days. Also, the week prior was quite tough, hitting 40k+ running for the week.

Rocking the Riyadh Triathletes run gear for a long easy run

Stoke Festival of Running 5k. Covid Comeback

 

Well, I ran the Stoke on Trent Festival of Running 5k. And finished 4th overall. But the standard wasn’t great. I maintained a 4:00 min per k pace fine - if not as comfortable as I remembered Pre-covid! But the lady k seemed long as I clocked 5.2k on my Garmin for an official finish time of 20:48. Oh well, I got a decent 16k overall run in the bag with the extra running before and after the event. 

So since Sunday I’ve been able to continue training, proving that I had not raced full bore. 

Today was a decent run tempo intervals and 2 x recovery Zwift rides. Let’s hope I can salvage a main goal for the season and prepare for the the Bedford Middle Distance Duathlon early September!  Details to follow!