The Journey so far........what next?

2004
Jan - 93kms - Resumed Jan 4th, aged 28 after 10 year break with intention of breaking 3hrs in the Gold Coast Marathon on 6 months training and then retiring!
Feb - 161kms - Started building my base
Mar - 163kms - Suffered minor tendonitis
April - 264kms - Quick recovery from tendonitis. Comeback race LWF 8k 32:15
May - 405kms - Weeks of 84, 96, 104, 89kms
June - 282kms - Ran 87:55 in Qld Half at goal Marathon pace. Taper for GC Marathon
July - 153kms - Ran GC Marathon in 3:12:45 and ditched plans to retire!
Aug - 241kms - Joined Pat Carroll Running Group to add speedwork to my training
Sept - 310kms - Excellent training block month, 10:19 PB 3KTT
Oct - 244kms - 38:22 PB in Nike 10k, 17:45 PB in Bribie Team Tri 5k run leg, 10:05 PB 3KTT
Nov - 244kms - My team Northies came 43/800 in Noosa Team Tri, 9:55 PB 3KTT
Dec - 82kms - Broke down with shin splints, lots of cycling to keep cardio fitness
TOTAL - 2642kms

2005
Jan - 116kms - A handful of short, slow runs. Constant shin discomfort
Feb - 94kms - Ditto!
Mar - 204kms - Light at the end of the tunnel?
April - 105kms - Broke down again with more shin discomfort
May - 63kms - Hit rock bottom(with the shins). Turned 30 years old!
June - 185kms - On the way back! Only running 4 times a week, but training at full speed at speedwork and seem to have finally found the keys to keep the dreaded shin splints at bay and am working hard to eliminate them completely

What Next?

* Except for the Noosa Team Tri, I'm restricting my racing to 3-8k races for the remainder of the year whilst continuing to work on my speed. Next race is the Noosa 5k on August 21st, then I 'll target a top 20 finish with my team, Northies in the Noosa Team Tri. All going well with the shins, I'll begin a long buildup to next years Gold Coast Marathon from December or January. Hopefully, I'll be ready for a genuine crack at a national marathon ranking in 2007-2008.