I had that last week. As I explained a few weeks ago, I had a bit of a rubbish exprience in my last race (the first tri of the season). Flat tyre aside, it would have actually been a decent performance. But I didn't 'feel' it; I didn't love racing. I was over it even while riding ok pre-flat. For me, that's really disappointing as that's my major motivation to race at all. I realized I'd been too busy, too stressed (yep, work, travel, training and having a baby on the way seems to be fairly stressful... who'd have guessed?) and dialled it back for a few weeks. Skipped a local sprint tri. Focused on the training. Focused on enjoying the process. And while I was getting my equipment, bike and nutrition dialled in throughout these sessions, it turns out I was also getting my head dialled in.
I got off the bike feeling amped up, changed into my run clothes and nailed the 10k T run (also above or at Half Ironman pace). And arrived home feeling like the king of the world. Fit. Strong. Tired in a good way. Ready to eat the whole fridge raw.
The confidence that delivers is huge. I have a couple more weeks before my key period of racing for the season starts - obviously, with a mini me on the way at the end of July, my season has been somewhat front-loaded. I'm no expert, but people with kids tell me that 15 hour training weeks with a newborn will be somewhat less possible..!?
So, there are more sessions to go. And there's still potential for fitness to be built. And lost too, of course. Nothing should be taken for granted. But I'm ready to rock and roll now... I'm (generally) loving every training session (with the notable exception of last night's long run - but that was due to a very easily explainable tummy explosion) and I can't wait to pull on the tri kit and wetsuit and get out there to race. Bring it on!