Blackland / Arizona

I signed up for Blackland in order to give myself a little more confidence in my return to full strength. Absolutely loved the pool, smooth water, wide lanes which gave me the 7th fastest swim for the day..........I had a good T1 and felt pretty good getting onto the bike. The wind seemed to move around the course as it felt like I was always cycling into it regardless of the direction in which I was heading. I was pretty happy with the bike but I knew my problem was going to the run. Sure enough I ran like an old man but did manage to hold onto 2nd in the 40-44 age group and a 10th place overall. If it hadn't been for my awful run it would have been a 1st but there's always next year.

My recovery from the MCL injury back in April has been slow and I have noticed it most with my run speed and endurance. Thankfully my endurance has been improving week by week, after a snail like run at the Prairieman in Sept I managed a much faster run at the 70.3 in Austin. These are good signs as I have Ironman Arizona coming up in November. I was at one point going to drop out as I didn't think my knee was going to hold up however I've decided that even if I end up walking the run course I am going to finish. Next year I am going to do Ironman Cozumel, 2010 will be Ironman Western Australia followed in no particular order by China, Brazil and Austria........I get to do my 2 favourite things, travel and tri!