4 Weeks till IRONMAN Cairns
And a little bump in the road
We’re just four weeks out from IRONMAN Cairns (the year is flying by!). I’ve been chipping away at the sessions, building consistency, and things have been coming together nicely.
That was - until last week.
Winter is creeping in here in New Zealand, and with it comes cold and flu season. I’ve been lucky to avoid getting sick for almost two years, but my streak officially came to an end last week. Despite doing all the right things to stay healthy, sometimes illness still finds a way in—especially this time of year.
So last week — a week that was supposed to be a key week in my build up — I missed some sessions and had to cut some others short. As any athlete in the thick of an IRONMAN build knows, navigating illness during these key training weeks can be challenging. You want to keep the momentum going, but push too soon and you risk prolonging the recovery. Earlier in the week last week, I felt like I was on the mend—just a lingering sniffle—so I jumped back into training. The next day, I woke up feeling a little worse again. Lesson (re)learned.
The logical advice is always to rest until you're back to 100%. And I absolutely stand by that advice. But when the race is just weeks away, the temptation to power through is very real. So there I was, learning the hard way—again!
The truth is, a perfect build into a race is rare, even for us professionals. Life happens. Illness, travel, fatigue—it’s all part of the process. So, while I don’t have a magic cure for getting sick mid-build (besides the usual: rest, warmth, hydration), I wanted to share this little bump in the road as a reminder that you’re not alone if things don’t go exactly to plan.
Thankfully after some days of rest last week, I am back feeling healthy again and ready to hit a good week of training this week.
In about a week, we head to Noosa for a two-week training block before travelling up to Cairns for the race. I am very excited to head back to Cairns to race as I enjoyed it so much last year. I’ll share more about my goals and lead up to Cairns in a couple weeks time on here.
It’s going to be a busy few months ahead, so I’m trying to soak up these final few days at home (and hopefully get in some quality IRONMAN training while I’m at it ).
Till next time...
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