A Small Pivot

My Substack has been a bit quiet over the last few weeks. Sometimes it’s good to voice things when they’re a bit difficult. But that’s not typically my way of doing things. I’d rather crack on and talk about them when things are on the up. So here we are…

Post-Tarawera, everything was on track with a really solid recovery period, then back into training. The body felt like it was coming around nicely. With Western States being the big goal, I had a nice runway to build fitness and specificity, with a line-up of races including Lake Sonoma and UTA. I was genuinely looking forward to that run of races. The plan there was to try something a little different, approach it at a more relaxed effort and use it as an opportunity to test a few things, particularly around nutrition and cooling.

As part of that build, I headed over to a team training camp in Germany. The idea wasn’t to smash out big mileage, but rather to treat it as a bit of a de-load week, make use of the facilities, get into the gym, spend time in the sauna and ice baths, and do a bit of testing in a controlled environment. Then I’d head back to New Zealand for a final block before flying out to the U.S.

Before leaving, I squeezed in a solid sharpener of an interval session. It felt good, one of those workouts that gives you confidence you’re moving in the right direction and finding the rhythm I had pre-Tarawera. I boarded the flight fulfilled and happy to put the legs up, hoping to get some decent rest on the way over, which I managed reasonably well.

Once in Germany, I was keen to make the most of our excellent facilities. One day post arrival I jumped into a plyometric gym session. Doing some of the exercises I’ve been working on with Marcos at Rehab Physio.
In hindsight this was a pretty poor decision. I’ve since discussed with Marcos and you do have to be really sensible when working in the frequency and intensity of these plyo exercises. It doesn’t take much to over-stress connective tissues (As I was about to find out). I will add this was all on my own accord, not prescribed by Marcos…

After the session, I felt a bit of tightness in my calf. Nothing major at first, just one of those things you notice but don’t think too much about. But as the week went on, it tightened further. Enough that I wasn’t able to complete some of the testing sessions I had planned.

Another annoying thing that popped up was an ever-increasing pain in my tooth. By about my third night in Germany, I was waking up with a throbbing in my mouth. Yea great, not my first rodeo with this kind of thing, but again pretty frustrating. I trusted in our fantastic team who helped me out by setting up an emergency appointment with a German dentist.

Amazing, there is nothing quite like relief of having tooth pain subside, even if it came in the form of a two-visit root canal. I have since heard that poor tooth health can really have some pretty bad side effects on the rest of the body. Including inflammations. So, it appears that maybe the pain in my tooth also contributed to the pain in my achilles.

Reading what you have, you’d have to say, what a shit experience I must have had. But, I still tried to make the most of the camp. I spent good time with teammates, enjoyed the environment, and kept things ticking over where I could. In the grand scheme, it felt like a minor setback.

But it has meant a pivot in my Western States build-up.

Returning to New Zealand, I was on the fence about Lake Sonoma, but in my mind I knew it wasn’t going to be a smart option. The training had taken a hit, I hadn’t been able to get in what I’d planned and therefore wasn’t in a place to crack-on with the sessions that would get me around Lake Sonoma. I’ve been able to gradually return to some running mostly on the flat, but it’s been controlled and fairly cautious. Alongside that, I’ve leaned heavily into cross-training on the bike to keep the engine ticking over without aggravating the calf/Achilles.

With that in mind, I had a good chat with Marcos and went for an ultrasound to rule out anything more serious, no tears, nothing underlying. It all came back really promising. And, in the end, the time that I haven’t had ideal training only equates to a couple weeks. So where things sit right now, it’s more about taking care of the body, staying patient, and keeping a positive mindset while I work through a bit more rehab and build back up. To be honest, I wouldn’t even call it an injury. It’s more of a niggle. I can still train, and I should still train. Just in a way that helps that area respond and adapt to the load I’m putting through it.

But it does mean making a call. I won’t be heading over to Lake Sonoma this year. Instead, I’ll shift my focus to the longer build toward Western States. We’ve still got about 12 weeks until race day, which gives me plenty of time to get things right. Rather than forcing a race that doesn’t quite fit right now, it’s about setting up the bigger goal properly. In between, I’ve got a nice little bridge with UTA 50K, which I’ll train through and give me a chance to keep building without needing to peak.

From there, it’s actually shaping up into a pretty exciting block. We’ll head over as a family, spend some time in Australia, then make our way to Flagstaff in the U.S. for an altitude and heat training block. It’s a great opportunity to prepare specifically for the conditions Western States will bring, and to build familiarity with that environment ahead of race day.

I’m pleased to share that this article has been presented to you by Precision Fuel & Hydration. The team that helped me nail my Tarawera nutrition - hitting 126g/hr of carbs.
We’re constantly in comms around how to maximise my performance in training & race day, it truly feels like an “athlete-first” approach. If you’re keen to get an understanding of how to weave their products into your training & racing - check out their planner: PF & H Planner