Time to remind myself how to swim, bike and run again!

Today is almost 12 months since I was last standing on the start line of a triathlon. It definitely wasn't the way I thought my race plans would play out for 2016 but they were the cards I was dealt and that was the best hand I could play at the time.

That absence of racing alone is enough to indicate that 2016 wasn't my finest year as an athlete and in fact the complete opposite, it was perhaps my toughest year to date for a number of reasons. A continuous series of injuries, illnesses, incidents and life events throughout 2016 were certainly character building times but ones that will hopefully see me come out the other side a much better athlete and person from the experience.

I've been participating in triathlons for 10+ years now and my biggest racing hiatus before this would have been no longer than 2-3 months due to a stress fracture or some other pesky injury. There have been a number of things I've missed during this prolonged break from racing and one of them has been keeping the website and in particular this blog up to date. There have been a few times where I've scrolled through my race schedule and blogs and thought to myself how much I need to update it but then I was hit with another setback that just put me way off track again and definitely not in the right head space to be writing blogs to post. There have been a number of blogs sitting as drafts for days, weeks and months but enough is enough and along with the ever popular new years resolutions, I've got my act together both on and off the training track.

Getting my act together on the training track isn't something that I just switched on once the clock struck 12 on New Years Eve but actually something that has been in motion for about 10 weeks now. I'm a big believer in consistency with my training and am really happy with how things have been progressing and the times and numbers I have been producing but until I reach that first race there is definitely an element of mystery to see what happens. Racing is the best form of training and close to 12 months between races definitely has me asking a lot of questions of myself about what is going to happen but there is only one way to find out!

Following the trend of the past three years I've decided to start my year by racing Hell of the West out in Goondiwindi this weekend. This race also doubles as national championships for professionals so I am chucking myself straight into the deep end and going by the names that have already been announced as starters, it is going to be one heck of a reintroduction to racing. I can't really pinpoint the emotion or emotions around getting back to racing again - on one hand it is like a kid in a candy store and pure excitement but on the other hand it is like a kid starting at a new school and pure fear as to what could happen. I guess that's to be expected and the longer I delay it the worse it will get so it's all about putting in the hard yards now to prepare for not only that race but the remainder of 2017 and focusing on the day to day process of getting the job done.

With 2016 being so race-lean I didn't get as many opportunities as I would have liked or what they deserved to thank my sponsors and supporters so that is definitely one thing I'm looking forward to being able to do more of this year. With a new race suit and speed suit from Titan Performance Group, Xterra Wetsuits and Nimblewear I will definitely be looking the part this weekend. In fact it has almost meant a new everything for this race and that includes an unbelievably fast wheelset courtesy of TLR Wheels and some very fast and comfortable running shoes from Saucony. Hammer Nutrition have been a long term nutrition supplier for me and if it ain't broke don't fix it!

The support is greatly appreciated and I'm looking forward to being able to represent these brands and people on Sunday but until then I'm going to enjoy this taper...it's been a long time coming!