Towards the end of last year things did start to get a little better. My injury began to slowly improve and an amazing opportunity came up for Ritchie and I to train at Thanyapura, a world class sports resort in Phuket, Thailand. We were so excited at the prospect of training in with the Thanyapura Pro Team and racing in Asia in 2017 and jumped at the chance to be a part of the team.
The opportunity came at a great time and I am so grateful to be here with such a great group of people, coaches and truly world class facilities. We are now in a great rhythm of training here, joining many of the bike and run sessions with guests and other pro athletes and also swimming with Coach Miguel and his swim squad.
After a very long time off any training at all It's been a slow process to get back in to it since early December. Having not done any real consistent training since April 2015 and barely any bike and run training at all in 2016 the process has been/is slow but but it can be quite rewarding and I'm now getting back to some more 'normal' training. I feel some fitness and strength coming back on the bike which feels better and better with each ride.
I'm also running again which is brilliant but it's taking a long time to get going. After such a long time without running there are many issues that are popping up along the way especially with the lower legs which don't know what's hit them after so long. I'm managing to be fairly positive and patient with addressing each niggle as it comes. It's slowly coming together and I'm happy to be making some progress.
I am very grateful have the continued support of Team Alameda and On running in 2017. After a tough year or more with injury it's brilliant to have some loyal sponsors who still believe in me.
At the minute I have no solid plans, I have to be very patient but I'm hoping to start racing some smaller races in a couple of months time and to build from there.