Thursday 26 May 2016

Slateman 2016 Race Report...but noooooo! Stay Positive!!

Its about the time I should be writing another race report, analyzing the performance and looking into how that fits onto the grand plan that kicks off the season proper. However there isn't one to write, near enough 4 days in bed was not part of a new taper I have been perfecting and I did not forget to set the alarm clock for race morning, no, I got sick on the Thursday evening, a nasty virus that has been going around. Its the classic tale of illness in work, me being the third lucky recipient. Its the worst I have felt in years and bizarrely I got through the whole of this winter without any illness, talk about bad timing. Still not feeling 100% now but happy to get any easy swim and run in the last two days, feeling better by the minute.

Anyway the reason for writing this no race report is a positive one, in the past something like this could really knock me and leave me feeling very negative for a long time but I have chosen not to let it. Its amazing how much time, effort and passion we invest in things that matter to us so its never easy to deal with when things don't go to plan but that's life, no matter how many hours, how much effort or how great you feel it owes you nothing. It is what it is and the best way forward is to look at what you can do, not what you cant.


  • First thing I did was to remember the bigger picture, I have loads of races I am looking forward to this season, more exciting if I am honest and they are all still there.
  • Secondly, I looked back over my recent training, its been great and all that is in the bank, with a cautious approach to begin training again nothing will be lost.
  • Realistically, this race was 1 training session in the many months of training and racing already done, a drop in the ocean. The light taper week went well, I missed the race day and then would have had 2-3 days off after anyway and hope to get some harder sessions in towards the end of the week. This is still a possible target.
  • If not all the training is not going anywhere and 1 session does not make a successful build.
  • The numbers are great, a result in a race would be nice to confirm that but its not needed, if I was less confident in this I would be questioning stuff more.
  • Get the rubbish luck out the way early, always a good thing!
It does amaze me how much better I am at dealing with this sort of stuff now, essentially triathlon is a game, a hobby but the things you learn can be so useful in all areas of life. Having a good coach always helps in this situation, Blair was super positive as always and in touch, cheers Blair!

That will do for now I think, hope its useful, stay positive and keep your eye on the prize! 4 weeks and change till Celtman ;)