Wednesday, March 09, 2011

3 Days to the State

I've been a bit slack with updates lately. Well, the competition season is almost over. A short summary:

I missed the Jan 30 meet in Castlemaine, to give more time to recover from injury. However, the following week in Bendigo, I hit the track with a vengeance. At the last minute, I ran the ladder race, literally the first attempt in over 20 years. The climb was a bit rough, but I made it. A run in the pumper and ladder 5s followed a bit later, as well as a couple of 4s. Unfortunately, I inflamed a groin injury catching the reel in the 8s, which affected my performance the following week.

Jan 13 saw us in Mooroopna. This time around, I got through the first round of the ladder race and ran the final with a solid climb. I also had a good climb in the pumper event, though we had a hiccup elsewhere.

January 20 was at Echuca. Knocked another half second off my ladder time, but didn't make the final round, happened to be up against the guy who eventually came third. Was pleased with the improvement though. Another good run in the pumper and ladder event. Unfortunately, messed up our best chance at a place in the C section 4s, due to a combination of a bad break and a basic screwup on my part. :(

Since then, we have been busy training. I worked on my ladder technique, and have the potential to take considerably more time off my climbs. I've also learned (more correctly, re-learned!) the ladder part of the hose and ladder 5s, and have that going well. Unfortunately, another injury (this time a hamstring) a week ago has slowed things down, but I have already almost healed and should be 100% by Saturday. I was able to manage a reasonable run last night.

This weekend is the real comeback, literally 20 years in the making. Even as late as this time last year, I never thought I'd be back on the track. Things certainly can change in a short time. :)

Anyway, I'm going to give it my best shot and put it together as best I can this weekend.