Starting to get excited!

It has been a few weeks since I blogged and after having a joke with a mate about what my next blog would be about I resisted the "where it all began" blog.  Sorry Jas, you were there, you know the story!!

Everything is now stepping up a gear in my 2nd Kona adventure.  All my family has booked there flights and accommodation and I even asked Big Boy (aka Ian Scott) if he would like to venture over earlier than his original plan to get some training done in the conditions of the race and on the course.  To my delight he accepted my invitation with one criteria....

We don't drink $1 coronas until after the race.  Come on mate, are you for real??  Ok, only a few, nothing like the days of Yeppoon!  DEAL.

Having great company over there for the weeks leading into the race is going to be great.  Not only great athletes, but great people.  Greg Farrell and I have started to discuss different options for training (well he has been asking) and I can really see the excitement & nervousness in him already.  What has he got to prove??  First Hawaii...to me nothing, just a solid race that he can learn from for future Hawaiian experiences, exactly what I went through.

Matty Burton will be great to train with again, as he is going to defend his title from last year.  With the 3 of us (all in different a/g) it will be great fun running along Ali'i Drive and carving up the Queen K both in training and come race day.

I can really see my training take shape and the extra 10 or so kg's I added since Ironman Melbourne are started to fall off.  I got back in the pool this week (squad) and got a great reality check.  I need some work to get back to where I was, let alone try and improve.  My riding was going along ok, until I rode some hills.... Ok, time to get back into them also..  Where is Jason to hand it to me up the hills again??  The run has been sluggish however ticking off the boxes has been my goal.

Just having some speed work introduced shows that I am still a long long way off , however with around 116 days until race day, I know that I will be back in better shape than last year.  My run effort last night had a max of 3min 42sec k pace for 1 k.  Sounds ok, however when I look back and think that I ran a 1/2 marathon averaging the same pace for the whole thing, well yep.....I am a fair way from it.

I am not concerned at all, as I know with experience to trust the coach and with the base that I have worked hard to build, I will be back somewhere near where I was very soon.

The Planta Fasciitis is starting to come good mainly due the simple things called:

Socks!

By adding heat into my feet and sleeping with socks on the help circulate the blood flow I have been able to get up in the morning and actually walk.  It is an amazing feeling again.  Fighting through the pain for so long and now having some good relief from it means that I can really push the body again without the pain factor.

I am also re-introducing massages twice weekly to get on top of any injuries before they become something. What I have found and am finding is that athletes are more worried about looking after the chassis and not the engine.  We are more likely to go and spend thousands of dollars on our equipment but are too tight to spend $50 - $100 per week getting the body treated so we can get the best out of ourselves come race day.

As Fos has told me on many occasions.... prevention is better than cure!

The coaching is hitting a good level and one that still thrills me with every new conversation, every new athlete coming on board and every new challenge that is thrown my way.

For Now...

X-Man

PS.  A big shout out to a mate, Brett Carter for packing up his life and chasing his dream! Hope it all works out for you mate and I am still looking forward to lining up against you at Kona this year!