For those not aware, the Biking Blitz is an annual cross country (XC) race series run on Coilte trail center trails. Clear as mud? No worries. I think it's fair to say it's the mountain biking equivalent of a national 10k run series for Ireland. There are a number of official trails in Ireland that are all in official forests. They're loops of varying length and technicality. The Blitz was created to encourage people to visit all the trail centers and to introduce people to racing in a safe and fun way.

Right, pre-amble over. Where are we starting this journey? As I write this it's 4:30 am the morning of the race. I decided to do this blog last night at midnight before bed. I haven't slept well. I woke up an hour ago and haven't been able to get back to sleep. It's nerves, but 3hrs sleep isn't a good start for a race. Hopefully I'll nap more a little later. Fitness wise, I've certainly been a lot less fit. Last year I was regularly training with a PT (thanks Anthony) so that I wasn't too out of shape for my wedding. I was biking more regularly than I had been in years, and hit November feeling fit. Since November I got married, had a long Christmas, and then we went on honeymoon.

I'm 36 years old. If this was classic racing categories it'd be in Masters. At 94-ish kg I'm no feather weight either. So I'm not exactly prepared for this race today. It's short enough, on 14km. I've done the trail a lot in the last 12 months, but I'm not 'race fit'. I haven't gone mad and put myself into the 'pro' category. This year I'm very much making up the numbers. The plan is to have fun and see if I like it.

So that's where we're starting. It's far from ideal. This isn't going to be a blog about peak performance for those in their late 30s. This blog is another attempt to make myself accountable. Accountability is important. It's what makes us go out and train. To see things to the end.

See you on the trails, and best of luck.