New Season

Just back from the World Championships in Australia. A great holiday, and a good race. I competed in the 17-24 sprint category, and came 13th out of 39 starters. Overall position was 132nd out of 538 (top quarter!). Obviously, the competition was a lot stronger than an event back home, as everyone has to qualify (and therefore be a top notch racer) to even stand on the start line. I carded 01:05:54, and was proud to take home my world championship medal. Hopefully it’s the stepping stone to greater things - that's certainly the plan. The Gold Coast was a fantastic place for a world championship, and a holiday. Great training facilities (plenty of 50m pools), and some awesome attractions (sea world, the 3500ft Mount Warning and Brisbane to name but a few) nearby. I’d definitely go back.

After taking a few days off cardio exercise completely, I've began my prep phase for the 2010 season. I'll be doing a few weeks of half distances, and won't begin full training until October 5th. This should leave me chomping at the bit and really raring to go.

So, the first cardio session of the new season officially took place this morning. It was a 20km ride in the Charnwood Hills north of Leicester. The course has three pretty serious hills in it, so isn't one for setting personals. Nonetheless, I timed in with 35:47, which was decent enough.

A little pool session followed - 1000m with a 750m TT as main set. Went far too hard - it’s the beginning of the season for Christ’s sake! But still, was hard to be irritated at myself for not keeping a cap on my effort as I actually posted a PB - 10:39 (5:39 at the 400m split).

A solid start.

19/09/2009