What do you do after a major event like the London World Championships? This depends on a lot of factors such as the time of year, fitness, injury status and simply how you feel. You might continue to train hard for some end of season objectives or you might slowly ease down training over a few weeks whilst still doing a few events for fun before having a proper rest at some stage.

In my case it was essentially the end of the season the moment Matt and I stepped across the finish line in Hyde Park and as a result this meant it was time to kick back and relax a bit!

I had decided to have a full 2 week off from doing anything too strenuous apart from some walking and the odd, slow ride into work (more of a necessity rather than training). During this period I went back to work for a week and then had another week’s holiday to catch up with a few people and do some normal stuff for a change (like go to Colchester Zoo with Jill which was very nice indeed).

I kind of cracked after 10 days though doing a short swim session and a 3 hour bike ride. After that I went back to being as sloth-like as I could manage and seemed to do a pretty good job too. During this two weeks I also ate and drank whatever I wanted without going too crazy. If I fancied chocolate I had it. If I fancied a beer I had it. If I fancied…you get the picture. Not surprisingly, this was very, very easy to stick to compared to not training.

In what is now the 3rd week post-World’s I have eased myself back into being more active again, although by no means full training. That can wait just a little longer I think. No, I have only completed one session a day at most (rather than 2, 3 or even 4!), I have kept sessions easy and they have generally been short. Come to think of it I haven’t actually been swimming either! I did however cycle 4 times and run twice totalling a whopping 5 hours!

I’ve also been to Loughborough this week for a review with British Triathlon…don’t really know what will come of it as such as a lot seems to be linked to decisions pending from the ITU (International Triathlon Union) regarding which categories are to be included at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and the long awaited revamp of the classification system. Without going in details, it was generally a positive experience so we will wait and see.

Next week I have a few more days holiday to spend with Jill (she’s been working away for a week so that’s good) and will start fortnightly coached swim and run technique sessions again with Time Williams (Perfect Condition) over in Cambridge. Not sure what he’ll make of my current fitness or swim technique after my little break  😆

It’s a long winter so plenty of time to get in some quality training and make improvements ahead of next season and an attempt to wrestle back a few titles (again!).

Iain