As I returned to racing at the Quality Hotel New Plymouth World Cup after an eight month lay-off, I admit to feeling like a nervous little boy on the start line. It was most certainly strange, but equally it was great to get it out of the way to see where I was at. What I discovered is that I had actually forgotten some of my routine and what I usually do before a race and what to bring.
After the race though and once in debrief mode, it was easy to see what I need to work on and the touch ups required to get back into things, so that was awesome to know that everything could be easily fixed.
Prior to New Plymouth it really had been a slow, slow summer for me, with a lot of rehab and physio most days. At the start back in December I thought I would have heaps of time, I just thought 'keep calm, chill, go out see friends, mingle'.....but one month led to another, then led to another and next thing I knew it was February and I was getting dealt to by the young guys. That was a wake-up call, and that's why being here in Cambridge can be such a good thing. On tough days or if I am struggling with motivation or not going so well, these young guys will show you up, and that's when the motivation kicks back in to get your arse into gear.
I haven't really been up to too much else really other than focusing on the season ahead and making sure I'm injury free. I did find time for a few hunting excursions down home over the summer, but I have been told to knock that off for a bit, apparently it is quite a high risk 'hobby'. I can blame dad for this, he thought it was a good idea to get a picture of me carrying a deer by the back hind legs while hanging on to a cliff face with a wee bit of a drop underneath. He thought it would highlight the fact I was doing some good 'natural' gym work while back home. Fair to say my physio Rone didn't quite see it that way and the hunting has been put on the back burner for now.
My next race is Cape Town World Series (April 24), an event I am looking forward to going to. I targeted this race at the end of last year, this is where I thought I may be nearly 100%, the fact I haven't been at full capacity is why I haven't raced much.
