Taiwan (TT column 25.08.13)

Did I mention last week that any routine might have gone out of the window? Well if it hadn't then it certainly has now, although this time I have the valid excuse of a seven hour time difference. I'm writing this whilst sat in my hotel room on the thirtieth floor listening to the intermittent creaking as the building resists the strong typhoon winds it's being subjected to. I have travelled east to Taiwan for the senior Modern Pentathlon World Championships where these extreme weather conditions are nothing unusual for these parts of Asia in August.

You might have noticed that my season has been rather void of modern pentathlon competitions and I've filled a lot of this extra time with my new found love, cycling. Whether competing in full pentathlon competitions or not I have always loved to run so these past few months have been painfully frustrating for me after I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my shin. I won't bore you with the details but it basically means I must not put impact through that leg, thankfully cycling is not detrimental to its healing and I've therefore managed to maintain sanity.

That probably leaves you asking what am I doing at the world championships; I was invited out here to Taiwan as part of the commentary team for the host broadcaster. Due to the weather conditions this competition has been so interrupted I haven't been envious of those competing. Things were looking very bleak on the women's final day when the torrential tropical rain showed no sign of ceasing, the only option was to postpone the whole event and return the following day for the riding and combined phases. Thankfully the strong winds and high temperatures dried the ground sufficiently and there was a competition to commentate on.