Challenges

I was hoping to be typing a blog right now about my first couple of races of the triathlon season and how well they'd gone. Or at least what I'd learnt from them that I could apply to the next race.
Ok to be honest, with the way training had gone over the Winter I was hoping to be happily writing about how I'd had a fantastic race at Grendon and qualified for the GB team for the European championships.

Unfortunately the beginning of the tri season hasn't really happened for me so far.
2 and a half weeks ago I did my first Open Water Swim of the year, in fact my first OWS since the traumatic experience of swimming in the North Sea the same weekend Hurricane Katia blew over and made the water rather choppy - but that's another story!
I had a much better swim a couple of weeks ago at Pennington Flash. It was a little chilly, but after an easy lap of breaststroke to get used to being in the cold and sorting my breathing out I managed a couple of laps of good front crawl before getting far too cold and having to get out.
I was shaking so much by the time I exited the water, after only 1200m or so, that my hands and feet swelled up in the hot shower and I spent the rest of the day shaking and shivvering. That isn't too detract from the fabulous set up at Pennington Flash - this is a new OWS venue this year and it's a great location. Far nicer than Salford Quays with a lovely cafe, excellent changing and shower facilities and lots of friendly coaches on hand and some encouraging support from the safety kayaks.
It seems I just cannot cope with the cold at all - I think I already knew this though!

The next day I had the Wilmslow triathlon. I'd been looking forward to this race for about 6 months! Race day came and it was cold and raining - generally conditions not suited to me! Before the race started I decided I would give the swim everything, take my time putting on an extra waterproof layer in transition and then do my best on the bike and the run. However, as soon as I got in the water for the swim I felt really dizzy and was struggling to swim in a straightline - thank goodness I was by the side of the pool.
I finished the swim, and then stupidly thinking I was just being a wimp, carried on with the race, heading off in the pouring rain whilst freezing cold and soaking wet. I spent most of the bike course trying to remember which side road would take me back to Wilmslow so I could cut my loses and get back in the warm. However I just couldn't remember which side road to take, and ended up completing the whole bike course. At this point I was really annoyed as I felt I'd had two poor performances and wasted a day that could have been spent training more effectively. When I got into transition I was shivering so much I struggled to put my shoes on, but I really wanted to get something out of the day, so I sped off on the run and ended up clocking the fastest female run split of the day by quite some margin. As soon as I finished I jogged into transition, grabbed my kit and headed for home, still shivering.
On reflection I should have called it quits after the swim, as I clearly wasn't well, but I was so desperate to race and get the experience that would make the next tri less nerve-wracking.

Since then I've had sinusitis and an ear infection that has stopped me training altogether and is refusing to clear up.
It's been rather painful and has made me very dizzy and very weak, plus one of the unfortunate effects of the dizziness is that I can't sleep as I feel like I'm moving.
This weekend I had my fingers crossed for a miraculous recovery and packed up the car on Saturday to head down South for the Grendon Sprint Tri - a qualifier for the European Sprint Tri Champs.
Looking at the start list I felt I had a good chance of qualifying if I put in a good performance, and seeing how I was very well rested, I thought if my ears and sinuses would just stop hurting and the dizziness would go away, then this was of course possible.
I am of course an over-optimistic idiot!
I got to my parents house and sensibly decided to take the bike out for a lap of the village, just to check how recovery was going, before going for a little run to ensure I could actually run.
Straight away I realised how ill and weak I was.
However I still wanted to race - I hadn't trained hard all Winter not to race!
But then I thought about it sensibly - if I felt like this, there was no way I would consider a local 5km cross country race. Therefore it was absolute madness to be considering a triathlon where I'd be swimming in very cold water!
Initially I was really gutted, but then I realised that this could be a blessing in disguise. Without racing this weekend I would be well rested for the Deva Triathlon on 2nd June - my first attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon, and my first opportunity to qualify for the World Triathlon Champs.
Plus there are a number of other qualification races for the European Champs, including a couple in September when the water temperature should be a lot better which will doubtless suit me more!

A few days later, and I'm not feeling quite so positive! Another trip to the doctors and I'm on to my second course of antibiotics with strict instructions not to get water in my ears until I'm better. I've also had swabs to check for infections in case I've picked up anything particularly nasty.

Back in 2012 when I was entering all the races for 2013, I thought to myself, woebetide anybody who gets ill in June, when the majority of the qualifiers for the World Champs are. And here I am, 2 days away from June, 4 days away from my first Olympic distance triathlon, feeling very unwell indeed!

I can't even begin to describe how disappointing this is.
Such is life!