So it’s been a LONG time since I have posted to this blog, and the main reason is that I spent many months this year doing absolutely no running and therefore absolutely no triathlon racing!  My last post talks of my training camp in Florida last February – and it turns out I actually injured myself at the end of that training camp.  Instead of just some random minor shin pain which I had self diagnosed as a tight calf/shin splint, I ended up with a torn soleus muscle and a stress fracture right at the tendon attachment.  Four and a half months later, I hit the ground running 10 minutes without pain.  From there, it was on/off shin “discomfort” as I worked on developing a new running stride and gradually building up this running duration s-l-o-w-l-y!  And by slowly, I mean both running SLOW and building the mileage slowly :-).  This was a good exercise in patience for me, I must admit!  However, I ended up being able to get in some racing beginning in September and had a new appreciation and renewed love for the sport of triathlon.  Two 70.3’s in September and then Ironman Arizona in November resulted in a postive end to the 2012 season, and a lot of new motivation for some great racing in 2013!  I will p0st a race report from Arizona shortly.