I’ve taken the plunge and entered another Ironman distance race! There was some debate over it being the right decision but eventually I decided that even after all the struggling towards the end of my IM France training I really did quite enjoy myself and the sense of achievement after completing an event like that is quite something. Since my last post quite a lot has happened and I haven’t really had much time to keep up with this blog. But now that I am getting back into the swing of things I am going to try and get back to writing a post once a week to track my progress.

To Recap

In September I completed the Helvellyn triathlon, more of a survival test than a triathlon, but a great event none the less. I was pretty busy with work at the time so could only pop up to the race and back in 24 hours, instead of the original planned long weekend, so it was a pretty crazy 24 hours. I arrived at the campsite on Saturday evening to a incredible storm and a boggy marsh on which to pitch my tent. After a very long drive I started to question if the race would actually take place as it was so miserable. However I awoke to bright blue skies and a gorgeous day with huge relief.

The race starts in Ullswater and people told me the water temperate was a balmy 13 degrees on the day, certainly cold enough to wake me up. It was quite a spread out swim so wasn’t too chaotic, certainly after my last race in France. I got out the water in 23:45 , not my fastest swim, but my preparation going into this race was pretty much zero. After France I really sat on the sofa quite a lot, something I will get onto later. Anyway, we headed out onto the bike for what was an epic course, such beautiful scenery around the lakes and a really stunning day. The bike concludes with a climb known as “the struggle” and having ridden up this I can now see why. I am proud to say that I managed to keep cycling the entre time, but it did somewhat blow my legs apart. After the climb you descend back into Glenridding and get ready for the run. The first kilometer is reasonably flat as you approach the foot of Helvellyn and then a run quickly becomes a walk and then a crawl as the path gets steeper and steeper. I went into the race without having too much expectation of times, so I was able to take in the views as I ascended (at least this is what I told people that were overtaking me!). On reflection I’m not sure what was harder, going up or coming down? I was seriously impressed with the way some of the participants came hurdling down the slopes with seemingly no care for their safety at all. I eventually arrived at the finish line after just under 2 hours of running and a total time of 4hrs 29mins. Would I do this race again, yes probably. I think I was really lucky with the weather and I had a great day. But I don’t think it is a place that I would ever be competitive as it is a very very tough course.

Moving Forward

So after that race I really didn’t do very much at all. It was great to spend a little bit more time with the family and not have the feeling of over or under training. But eventually that feeling subsided and I started to a bit of exercise again. Wow, I lost my fitness really quickly, or maybe I had just taken my fitness for granted as I was really struggling to get out the door. I found that all my muscles were constantly fatigued, as if my body was just telling me that it wasn’t ready. That feeling went on throughout October and it wasn’t until the start of November that I feel I really got back into it all.

The Outlaw has always been on my to-do list so wanting to keep things on a budget next year it seemed like the perfect choice. I have also entered a few “warm-up” races along the way and seem to have got over the sluggish feeling of post-ironman blues. I’m now looking forward to a new race season and trying to push my boundaries of fitness further, if I can get back to where I was first !