End of season blow out

This is a long one...but two races to report...so dont fall asleep!!

September...what a great month!!! I got a new motorbike....a CBR1000 HRC fireblade and that thing knocks my socks off....oh...also...the season finally ended and i managed to put a few ghosts to bed.
As i said in my last update i decided to do the Tatton Park OD and had entered the Berlin Marathon.....both were great...and both were tough...and crossing the finish in them reminded me why i do these stupid things.

Lets start with Tatton Park.
Buoyed on by Mrs B entering the sprint i decided i'd get one more Tri in before the end of the season and Tatton park is not far from where i live and is a big, and great event...i did NO swimming in the run up to it in a bid to let my shoulder heal...i have a rotator cuff injury and its honestly the most painful injury i've ever had.
Unfortunately due to illness mrsB was unable to compete on the Saturday. It was a very wet weekend and at 7am on Sunday morning i was wishing i'd got ill too.
After hanging around for an hour or so i got into my kit and went into the holding pen where they had us warming up...at this point they has us doing some 'stand up front crawl' and every time i raised my left arm it was painful and i knew this was a mistake. oh well HTFU right??
so i got in the water (cold) walked to just about the start and got near the front...determined to see if i could keep up...i was ready...10...9....8...7 blah blah...and we're off......oh...something is wrong...what is it...never mind keep swimming...right...pull...left..ouch...what is it...its not my arm...something is wrong....oh crap...goggles are on my head not my eyes...DOH...try to get them on...water...oh...empty...adjust....water...empty...adjust....thats it...look around...DEAD LAST!!!!
oh crap..oh well keep swimming....man it was hurting...i could not recover my left arm properly and could not pull with it at all....this was taking ages, i took a quick look at my watch and it said 12 minutes..i looked again 20 minutes later and it said 14 minutes...not even half way.
At this point i very nearly called in the boats to drag me out...but i cracked on, swam one handed for what felt like 3 hours and before i knew it i'd over taken a couple of BS swimmers and was out in 35 minutes. messed up T2 and got on the bike in about 8 minutes...this was me, i like the bike ride.
a very very wet...but reasonably quick bike leg of 1.21 was pretty uneventful..into T2 now for an easy jog round to finish. What i didnt bank on was mud...it was a mess and like running through treacle...now i'm not a fast runner but i honestly thought i could do about 1.05 for the 10k...but it was muddy, slippery and miserable...and it took me 1.20...lol.....i could crawl it that fast. it was grim....but crossing the line i felt totally elated....my last race (IMUK) ended in tears..and i had to remind myself the i only did my first sprint distance at this event one year earlier so i was doing ok. I felt great and was really pleased i did it, and they gave us medals this year...a tough race done.
now just one week to recover before my other big challenge of the year. BERLIN.

In the run up to Berlin my should froze up completely...we drove there with a friend (and got very drunk on the boat etc) and any driving i did was accompanied by a knife in my left shoulder and trying to indicate through the steeping wheel with my right arm. good job the car was automatic. on the saturday before the race i was having serious doubts....if the pain didnt fade...i'd think of nothing else and my race would be torture...i needn't have worried. by the end of the race something happend and my shoulder was 100% better...but still a long way from healthy. if you get what i mean.
Anyway...Race morning. If you know me you'll know what a challenge it was to go to bead early after a meal on a saturday in a big city like Berlin....but thats what we did.....nice early night.....in bed by nine....to lie awake till the alarm went off at 6am....should have got bloody pissed!!!

But up at 6...had a really great breakfast of 1/2 slice of toast (16 euro's...lol) which was all i could manage...then out into torrential rain in a running top to make our way to the start. MrsB was with on this one and we both looked at eachother on the start line wondering why the hell we thought this might be a nice idea....but hey ho, we was here and we were gonna have a crack...only rain after all HTFU.
Cat's a better runner than i am and we decided to stay together as much as we could...partly to pace her and also partly to encourage me...we managed this till between mile 11 and 12 when i felt i was holding her back and she felt she was putting me under pressure....so i put in my earphones, had a little walk and watched her jog on into the crowd.

I dont have much to report about the Marathon, other than it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. i never got down...never felt i couldnt go on....i was just running when i could and walking when i couldnt and smiling the whole way round...at 28k i remember thinking 3more and i've only got 6 miles to go....then suddenly i was there...i was elated...10k to go and i was enjoying this. The crowds were the most amazing thing...people around you everywhere...encouraging you in all different languages as they came past...a thumbs up as you passed them...amazing.
IM was very very lonely for me...most triathlons are as i'm usually at the back somewhere...but this was different....i loved it.

with 2k to go i decided to ditch my earphones and take in the crowds and what a great decision that was....the finish was in the heart of the city, with the last 1k lined with thousands and thousands of people on a long straight right under the famous Brandenburg gate and onto the finish...i was even running...people actually shout your name (on the race number) and high 5 you all the way along....my god...is there only me in the race? thats how it felt. i crossed the finish line punching the air and i have to say it one of the greatest feelings i've ever had. i admit, it might have felt the same if i'd finished Ironman....but i honestly enjoyed this more than anything i've done in the last 2 years. and if you've never done one of the 5 majors..i urge you to do one....do this one...Berlin is wonderful...and no matter what next year brings...i think we'll be back! Time. 5.26....slow...but amazing!
I rang cat on the finish line as the crowds meant i couldn't find her...she was only 15 feet away from me and was well amazed i'd finished only 25 minutes behind her...she did 5.01...she wanted under 5 but i'm sure she'll get that next time without me holding her back!!! well done babe. awesome time if you ask me!!

So we made our way very gingerly home and i could walk properly again by about Thursday.....lol....seriously i'm so proud i did this...a marathon is a great achievement and it really did put the ghost of ironman to bed, and my season to a close.
This season in a nutshell was , 1 half Marathon, 2 Olympic distance Triathons, 126 miles of Ironman, and one of the 5 major marathons in the world. IM aside...a bloody great year!!!

I have promised myself a month off, but a week and a half into that month and i feel like i want to start training...i'm climbing the walls and truly must be a changed man!!
i've decided to put together a 10 week mi-coach training plan to get my running improved, and leave the bike to get stripped down and cleaned up, it will be Christmas the end of that when i'll take a bit of time to get drunk and then (shoulder injury prevailing)hopefully, i'll be all signed up for IMUK and about to start the whole affair again.

my run up to July 31st next year will probably involve a half Mara, Edinburgh Mara, Liverpool od and cowman Half IM....if that doesn't get me ready nothing will!!!!!


Thanks for reading.