It's been a while... a long while

Hello all, 

You might have noticed that I have been a little bit inexcusably quiet for a few months. I suppose there are a number of reasons for my absence, one of them being a new job, the other being trying to find myself in triathlon again. I picked up a nasty Achilles injury as you all know, and this has subsequently led onto dropping out of the London Marathon. With not really enough time and not enough fitness due to a few weeks off running, I decided that the best thing would be to pull out this time. I am gutted obviously as I cannot defer another year. It really is a big blow for me after months of winter run training. So in an effort to concentrate on bigger things, I have entered the Rutland CiCle Classic Sportive which coincidentally is something which in my new job is something that I have to promote! 

I have recently joined the team at Rutland Cycling as their marketing coordinator, so I am combining my love for bikes with work, which is awesome. Part of my job involves triathlon (to some degree) and cycling of course, so it is really cool that I am getting to work on and with bikes for a living! 

Job aside, the training has taken a bit of a turn for the worse with the last week being completely resting up due to a horrible chest infection which I picked up. I am still trying to struggle it off my chest, but other than that, I have a week off this week and Will and I are trying to pack in the training before we go back to work. It was this time last year that you might remember the pictures I posted up of our week off with a packed week of training. What a difference the weather makes! As you are probably all aware, the snow has bitten back in the UK with winter making a ferocious bite even this late on in March. We went out for a cold cold ride yesterday, and even though the roads were (mostly) clear, the snow drifts on the sides of the road were so high! It was my first bike ride outside in a while and I really struggled with the cold and the hills and the wind! Luckily Will and our friend Heath were there to help me through those tough spots. I really felt that I need to improve my cycling, and by quite a lot!

In other news, I have entered a few triathlons for the season ahead, but fully intend on concentrating my efforts on the bike. I really don'w want to struggle so much, and want to be stronger, so am going to do as many TTs as possible and concentrate on the miles and quality sessions on the bike. Also keeping injury free for my A race in August: the Vit. 

There is not really that much more I can tell you about other than I ran the Silverstone Half Marathon which really wasn't that much fun with a twisted ankle (courtesy of the ski trip I took earlier this year). I didn't think it was possible to twist your ankle in a ski boot, but I somehow managed it twice, on the same foot, on the same day. Even now it is giving me some twinges which are really not that pleasant! 

So it is onwards and upwards and trying to get fitter and faster! Hopefully this year will be an accomplishment year and hopefully I manage to get somewhere with this triathlon lark! 

Happy training everyone (hopefully the spring weather will come back soon!)

Kerry