Triathlon Gold in 2012?

So last week 12 hours of training, the time is flying past me and I hardly know where the days are going!
I have managed to get in the pool around 4 times a week which is pretty good, and this is a mixture of squad sessions with Stamford Tri club, Oakham Tri club and on my own as well as training with Mary Hardwick. Mary is a fantastic athlete as well as coach. She has set up her own business along with Gail Warner. Here is their Facebook page, they will be launching pretty soon here in Rutland (along with their website) and I think it will pretty much explode. What with all of the interest building in triathlon, and with it being the fastest growing sport, if the Brownlees win Gold and Silver in August at the Olympics, then who knows what will happen for the sport. It is all positive!
Triathlon for me is that release but also allows the competitive part of me to come out. I know I may not be the fastest at all, but I am working pretty hard this year along with advice and coaching from Will.
I have been out on the bike a fair bit, especially last weekend, which has me out on the bike both Saturday and Sunday. I have also been doing a couple of very hard sweat-box turbo sessions with Mary leading them.
My primary goal for this year is to qualify for the World Triathlon Age group team and have a few races lined up for that, however for me this is something which I have taken seriously this year, whereas in 2012 it was a one off chance and I managed to qualify for the team.

All I have to remember is that focus and hard work in training will make the races easier!

By the way, my running is slowly coming back to me following injury, only a few kms per week, but it's slowly increasing and hopefully my fitness and  speed will be on top form!

2012...... what's in store for me???

Well 2011 was a bit of a washout year for me.... A broken scaphoid in January halted the progress which I had made through the winter, which resulted in 3 months off work and pretty much no running or swimming. I did manage to get on the turbo a few times, but seriously not good!

I began running again after the cast was removed and at first everything seemed to be fine, races were entered and I was back to my old self, or so I thought.

Then it began, that horrible stinging feeling in the shins and after each run and each session they were only getting worse. It was back, that pain of 2007 through hockey training. I had shin splints.

My friend Becky recommended I see a doctor and then I was referred for physio only to be told complete rest was going to be the answer. Not the answer I wanted when I had tonnes of races and my goal was to qualify for Beijing 2011 World Triathlon Age groups, like I did in 2010.

So 2011 was spent not running and basically feeling very deflated.

That was until I moved to Oakham in July. Moving in with Will and having him write me up plans for training was the next best thing for me, and he completely appreciated the running injuries and therefore we decided to work upon my swimming, gaining strength and speed, and cycling.

After 10 weeks of hard work, averaging around 7-8 hours a week, with a full time job, came Christmas and the New Year. Having family meant the training took a back step, but I was pleased as now we are beginning a new year with lots of positive thoughts and goals.

My one goal for this year is to finish the Dambuster Triathlon in June, I have made it my A race. I DNF'd (did not finish) at 2011's race due to being overworked (Glasgow two days prior to racing), poor training and preparation and tiredness. I have since take the day off before the 2012 race and am working hard at cycling and plan to work really really hard in training for it.

My other goal is to qualify for the 2012 New Zealand Triathlon Age group team. I want to wear that GB trisuit again and I want to feel like I have achieved hard!

So this month is all about getting my mojo back, and working hard this week (14 hours of training which is double what I have been doing) and working with lots of other triathletes has helped me to feel positive about 2012.

Good luck to all this year and I hope that training goes well!

Kerry X