Here we are with five weeks on the clock till Gurye IM, summer is in full swing, humidity high and it feels like the rainy season never really finished.

It really was a bit of a gamble whether I’d be able to compete in the full distance race after my operation earlier in the year, and my belief has swung wildly from deciding to quit immediately through to dreaming of getting a PB.

But time waits for no man ( or triathlete!), so I have been plugging away at my training day by day, doing my best to stick to my mantra of #gettherundone, and trying to ignore the bigger picture. 

I haven’t actually trained with anyone else, haven’t even spoken to others, this has been all based on my ability to push myself from inside. It really is tough motivating yourself in such a vacuum, and the temptation to quit has been strong without the external support and camaraderie from others. But I have pushed on, and strangely enough seem to have managed to complete s bigger percentage of planned workouts than I have done in previous years, although been a bit slow.

So it came as s bit of a shock when I suddenly realised I’m ” getting there”! Last weekend I managed a tough indoor bike session of over 4.5 hrs keeping the cadence high throughout. On the Sunday I went out early evening for my long run when the sun was still strong, specifically to mimic the conditions I’ll have on the run in Korea. The heat was intense and of course I played the normal mental games with myself of promising to quit if I just complete 8k, 12k, 18k, 21k, all the way to 25k. I got around on 500ml x2 bottles of water, a gel and in the last few km, a can of ice cocoa, which was absolutely the nectar of the gods. I lost over 3k in water weight, I was incredibly slow  but I did my long run and hit the 70k total on the week I had planned.

And.. this week, I noticed something new. Firstly my weight is down, I look in better shape and I feel good. Secondly, I’ve been straight back at the distances and intensity , not being slowed down by the previous days efforts,  and wanting to push myself. I realised that for the first time in a year, I actually started to feel fully fit again, enjoying the workouts rather thsn constantly struggling to cope. I’m still way behind where I should be, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel and by hook or by crook, I’m gonna get myself not to just the start line in Gurye on September 20th, but to the finish line too.