Looking back at my 2014 calendar there’s hardly been a weekend this year where I’ve done nothing. Training, races, more training: I’ve clocked up a marathon, half marathon, 10k, the run leg of a 70.3, Olympic triathlon, half-iron triathlon, attempted Ironman and my ‘iron person‘, as well as a couple of sportives. It’s been fun, but by September it was time for a rest. So I went on holiday.

Some people have post-race blues after a big race season has finished. I find that going away somewhere where the sky and sea are far bluer is a good antidote to this. So I went to Sardinia where it was sunny and 30C every day, and where the beer and gelato were cold and plentiful.

I took my running shoes, of course, but ran because I wanted to and not because I felt I had to. I ran an out and back four miler to and along the beach on which I managed to get lost. And I ran three miles round a lagoon with wild flamingoes in it. That was quite fun.

I took my goggles too. The water was warm and clear and I watched fish swimming about underneath me as I swam along. I followed a few fish, investigated a small cave and rummaged about some submerged rocks without thinking about it. I was swimming, in the sea, where I couldn’t touch the bottom and I wasn’t scared.

I started learning to swim to complete a triathlon. For weeks and weeks I went to a dingy pool in Victoria when it was cold and dark outside and I did as my coach told me. I got on the tube with wet hair and got home late, tired and hungry. And it was all worth it. Because now I can swim in places like Sardinia.

It was a great end to a fun season and gave me plenty of time to think about what I want to do next year.

There’s still a few races on my calendar for 2014 that I’m looking forward to.  They’re going to be a big challenge but rather than being the end of this year’s challenges, they’re the start of the next. More on that soon.