Decisions, decisions

This weekend I am meant to be racing an ETU qualifier in Southport. Now this race was never about me qualifying. It was more about me seeing where I needed to improve and what standard I need to be at to qualify and if indeed qualification was even possible. It was about gaining experience and being in a big race. I had purposely picked a flat course to see what I could do on the bike and how that compared with the people who qualified. Yes my run would be my weak element but I was intrigued to see how my swim and bike compared.

If I managed to qualify that would be a nice surprise.

However I have decided to not race. This is a decision I have not taken lightly and have thought long and hard about. I have consulted with my friends and family over this decision and have done the sensible thing.

I don’t like committing to things and then not seeing them through and this will be my first DNS.

The reason for my decision to not race is my little date with 140.6 miles in Austria in a little over two weeks. If I raced on Sunday I would tire myself physically and thus increase the chance of a DNF at Ironman Austria, because I would push myself as far as my body would allow to ensure a fair comparison with other athletes on race day.

With hindsight the sensible thing I should have done was to defer Austria when I knew I would be representing GBR in Cologne. I had outlaid very little money for Austria (apart from race fees) at this point and had a four day window to defer to another race without losing my race fee but in typical “me style” I buried my head in the sand and ignored the problem and subsequently missed out on my chance to defer.

I have undertrained for Austria. My running and bike have lacked the longer training rides and runs. Yes I have plenty of time in the saddle and on my feet but only one 90 mile bike ride and two 13 mile runs. Like I said I am underprepared. I have two weekends left before Austria and plan on training through Austria to peak at Outlaw, so to this end I will be using this weekend to complete a long run and next weekend to complete a long steady bike. No heroics. Just me and the open road to get my body used to a long ride and run.

Thanks for reading,

Michael