My blog site is in dire need of an update! I’ve thought many times over the past months about getting on to this, however I have had zero downtime and I haven’t had a lot of news to report! The year has panned out much to the opposite of how I had originally planned! In the wonderful world of triathlon and endurance sports, so much can be thrown at us which causes us to change tack and re-plan! My year, has very much been about planning and re-planning again and again!
So, after a rough few months at the end of last year, with lower back and sciatic nerve issues, I finally managed to put that behind me, and delved into an amazing block of training at the start of the year in Noosa. Training went brilliantly and my fitness came back much quicker than expected after a few months off, that I decided to fast forward my return to racing, and signed up for Ironman South Africa! So come April, off I jetted and wound up in Port Elizabeth to be taken care of by my incredible homestay family Andre and Ursula! The area was beautiful, and I felt extremely lucky to be there, ready and super excited to race!
Race day started out with an amazing sunrise over the ocean as we dived in. I had a good swim, for me, managed to stay in the second main pack, and was swimming easy, conserving energy.
The bike went well, for the first 30km or so, I was feeling great, until I started vomiting, unable to hold any fluid or nutrition. I did the best I could to tackle the rest of the bike course running on empty! Disappointed but ready to put it behind me, I was keen on storming through a great marathon! However the effects of no nutrition and being dehydrated meant I wasn’t in a good state to run! Still unable to get anything to stay down, I got through the first 10kms, then made the decision to pull the pin. With a big season “planned” ahead I didn’t want to drive myself into the ground and jeopardise my upcoming races. I don’t know why I was sick during the race, I was feeling great leading up to it, I’m wondering if either I swallowed too much ocean water, or if being away from my normal routine with changes in diet in the week beforehand…..
So, I returned to Australia, disappointed, yet eager to get back into training for my upcoming Busselton and Cairns races. A couple of weeks back into training, more hurdles were thrown my way, this time an Achilles tear, that I developed during a hard run. At the time, I was still hopeful I would make the start lines of my races, however healing took its time and had me off running for 8 weeks!
In the midst of this, I had to re-assess and re-plan my season goals. I had planned on heading to the States after Cairns, but made the tough decision to call it a season before it had really started, and stay in Australia for some rest and recovery. I have been very lucky over the past 18months, to be able to train in the best places, with amazing people, which has meant spending bulk periods away from my husband, Clay. Therefore my decision to stay in Australia had ups and downs. Big ups, to actually be able to live with my hubby!, financially easier for us, as I ended up returning to working as a physiotherapist, and of course downs of not being able to train and race as I would’ve liked. I took 2 months off training, as during my low back issues at the end of 2012, I kept a full on training load of swimming countless hours, easy spins and gym sessions. This time I decided a clean break and downtime would be best to let the body and mind rest and recover! This coincided with returning to full time work + Sydney winter, so it was nice to have some sleep ins, spend some time away with family and good friends who have been neglected in the past because of a busy training/racing routine. Come July, I returned to some easy, non structured training, for 6 weeks, where I spent most of my time cycling indoor on my compu-trainer. I must extend a huge Thank You to Phil, Chuck and Sherri at racermate/ compu-trainer…….I had my compu-trainer stolen in the post en route from America as it was left there in storage at the end of my season last year. Thankfully the team at compu-trainer came to the rescue and helped me out with a new replacement, which is so appreciated as it is the best cycling training tool!
Mid August I started a scheduled training routine in prep for the upcoming Australia/NZ season. I’m feeling revitalised, ready and excited to train! I’m super excited about the upcoming race season, I have picked some old favourites, as well as some races I haven’t done before!
I have toed the line in one race already, the Sunshine Coast 70.3 in which I decided to do the swim-bike only, as I had a hamstring tendon issue, that needed a couple of weeks off running. It was such a great feeling to be on the start line again, and awesome to be (half) racing in the Sunny Coast, as I have spent periods of time living and training there, so it feels like my second home.
Next up is Port Macquarie 70.3 in 3 weeks time! Woohooo!
Once again a massive Thanks to compu-trainer, as well as Asics, Hammer nutrition, Blue 70, and SOAS racing, and of course my husband Clay for your ongoing support!
Michelle 🙂
Michelle Bremer 