Outlaw 2013: Decision

So earlier this week the Outlaw registration officially opened for 2013. After the popularity and good reviews of the last few years I knew that the even would easily sell out within a month. So after pre-registering last month, I received the email saying the registration as open. Straight away I knew that a decision needed to be made quickly.

As soon as i finished the Outlaw this year the competitive person in me looked at the time splits and thought where I could improve my time overall. I knew straightaway that my bike and especially my run could be improved. the run improvement would mostly come from overall fitness rather than faster running.

This is the reason I want to go back, and lets be honest its the reason we do all forms of racing... so that we can improve on our personal best times!

But the opposite side of the argument... the reason I didnt know if I was going to do it was the whole selfish commitment of the event. If you read back over the previous entries dating back right to before chrsitmas last year you will see a consistant unhappiness with the lack of time I have for other things... yes I love training and I love getting out and training in all weathers, but hidden in the back of my mind during my 6 hour bike rides at the weekend was the thought that I was being selfish.

So the decision on the Outlaw for 2013 was made... I wont be there next year!

I decided that it was too selfish of me to dedicate so much time to Ironman training two years in a row, which would probably destroy my relationship with my girlfriend... even though she wont admit it, I know it would... and it's not fair on her or us.

So for 2013, I will be back down to shorter faster races... which means I will be doing speed work again! That will be a shock to the system!!

I will be back at the Outlaw.. maybe in 2014 and I will race it faster!!

Injury Update

Well the trapped nerve is still causing me pain... the last few weeks have been quite entertaining, muscle spasms painful enough to send me to A&E and actually finding out I had two trapped nerves not just one! Fun!

Its been difficult, for a while it didnt feel like it was ever going to start to improve, I was having terrible muscle spasms all over my back in different muscles and missing out on a lot of sleep. I'm not mad keen on taking painkillers so I was grinning and baring the pain due to my stubbornness.

After some advice from the A&E doctor to take Ibuprofen and Paracetemol regularly throughout the day to keep the pain and swelling down. This has helped a lot with the pain and sleep, but the Ibuprofen has helped keep the swelling of the muscles down, which in turn has helped me do the physio exercises and also stopped the muscle spasms.

Finally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm sleeping properly again. I think it will take a lot of the winter to improve my posture and stop the nerve being pinched again, but all the improvements will help me for the future,

I'm feeling positive again now... it will get better again!