Once again sorry about not blogging more frequently, January is flying by!! January has been up and down training wise, the mind is willing, but the body is not playing ball at the moment but as always I’ll keep pressing on and keep thinking of the bigger picture, a Saturday in June!! Up until last Thursday, my short aim was the next Winter Water League Walk on Sunday 1st February, however following a training sessions with Elizabeth Corran and Steve P training group, during a 3km effort around the NSC raceway, I felt a pull in my left hamstring, and glut area, I felt the pull at the start of the effort and stubbornly I carried on. Just as I thought I was overcoming my hamstring issues, the left, not the right one is now stopping me from walking. So back to cycling and cross training, I ventured out with posse group last Saturday morning or spuders how the group is affectionately known!! The group leaves the QB at 8.30am every Saturday morning, and generally consists of a 3 – 4 hour ride, at a decent pace, sometimes flat or hilly or both! Although mostly older riders, the posse ride has welcomed Cav and Peter Kennaugh, who know they’ll get a good ride at a respectable pace + a good bit of banter, which is always important when you are in the saddle for 4+ hours. The injury has calmed down quickly and I even managed to walk to work and back on Monday albeit very slowly, but in the short term, I may have to stick to the longer walks and decrease the speed a bit until I’m more confident with my hamstrings and trying to race walk! So I might have to miss Sunday’s Winter League, I’ll have a fitness test on Friday. As always the x trainer, bike and turbo trainer are helping to maintain my fitness and weight, I cover between 10km and 10 miles on the x trainer, and for me it’s the nearest thing you can get to running without actually running! Before my recent hamstring injury, I had even managed a 5km run on the treadmill at a respectable pace, so the new injury is even more frustrating but you have to remain positive and have a plan b training schedule that can allow you to train around the injury. I also picked up the V+D bug, I’ll leave the detail at that, but it did wipe me out for a day or two! I really enjoyed the recent IOM X country Champs at SCS Ballanette site, at the front end Alan Corlett and Mark Dooley has an epic battle with Mark just edging it, but a brave race by Alan, who led for the most of the way. Alan’s progress as a runner over the last 5 years is truly inspirational, and it shows what consistent training, commitment and believe can achieve. Across the younger age groups numbers were very healthy, and the senior field attracted a good entry, I also noticed a number of established parish and race walking stars taking part, so the benefits of x country running during the winter months are clear to see. So once again another blog, where things haven’t quite gone to plan, but injuries are never too far away and it’s something you just have to deal with, I’ve learnt over the years it’s not worth getting down about and you can spin it and use the time as an opportunity to work on flexibility, strength + conditioning and the list goes on. If I don’t compete on Sunday, I’m desperate to be involved on the 7th March, another great event the Ascot Hotel Manx open, I definitely won’t be running the 10km event, so hopefully I’ll be involved in the walking events, fingers crossed. I’ll leave it there with the promise of more frequent blogs, I will try my best! Take care, and happy training G