I am back

Yes, after three weeks of on and off illnesses I am finally back....I think. I took it very easy last week and did the workouts that I felt like doing without putting too much pressure on myself. I just wanted to get back into training without any risk of relapse. So fingers crossed.

I think I have also finalised my race plan for this year. There will still be some running races or cycle sportives added to it but for now it looks like this:

31 January - Canterbury 10 miler: This is a great local race which I have done few years ago and I love running races so why not?!

14 February - Dover half-marathon: This race is organised by my triathlon club and it is a great race. I have also done this in the past. The first half is VERY quick and you go through it thinking yay I am flying, and then you hit the hills :((( So we'll see.

27 March - Oceanside 70.3: Really looking forward to this but there may be some changes. Read about it below.

16 May - The Marshman: half-ironman distance race half an hour away from our house. It doesn't get better than that. I can sleep in my bed and train on the course. Yay!!! Plus I get to race with loads of friends. It doesn't get better than that.

27 June - A Day in The Lakes: half-ironman distance in the Lake District of the UK (in the north-west of the country). It is a beautiful and VERY VERY hilly part of the country. This will be the second year of this event and some of my friends have done it last year. It was TOUGH!!!!

29 August - IM Louisville: I love this race and cannot wait to get back there. It is by far the most important and favourite race for me on this schedule.

So, the above plan is slightly different to what I first envisaged I would do. I was registered to race IM St. George but the thought of travelling there on my own, staying in a hotel on my own (Shaun will be deployed then) and racing without knowing anyone was really not appealing to me. I would not have fun and would not enjoy it. So I've decided to pull out and do some more local races. I am really excited about racing locally where I get to spend time with my friends and where I can have loads of friends supporting. It will be fun.

So Oceanside!? So far there has been no plan change. But.... Shaun is getting deployed at the end of March/beginning of April. So this is the hard part. If he gets deployed before 25 March I am racing, but if he for example gets deployed any time after that, I would really really like to spend some time with him rather than race. I am so frustrated about this. The problem is that the situation is so fluid, flight dates change all the time (for security and other reasons) and we really won't know when he will deploy probably until some time in March. I know that for some people out there it is hard to understand my decision but even an hour spent longer with my husband is worth to me more than any race. He is going to be away for 6-7 months and it will get tough and lonely and depressing and all those other things so I want to spend time with my husband now. So basically I am training as if I will be racing (and I probably won't book my flight until quite late in March) but who knows what will happen.