Dodds, who competed at the Rio Olympics and the last Commonwealth Games, admitted he had serious thoughts of giving the sport away but was persuaded to continue and so far everything is going well.
Dodds (30) is back living in Wanaka and will also spend time in Dunedin after being based in Cambridge for the past two years.
He was trained by Tim Brazier but is now back with John Hellemans, one of his first coaches.
Hellemans has coached many top athletes over the years and Dodds said the faith in him shown by Hellemans was a big factor in his deciding to continue.
"I was nearly ready to give it up. I was getting sick of the injuries, just the battles and was not really into it," he said.
"But I spoke to John and he said he still believed in me. That I still had the speed, still had the power there and thought I had it in me. So far it seems to be working. I’ve had a good batch of consistent training for two months and had no injuries."
Dodds had issues with his Achilles and other leg injuries and has barely raced in the past couple of years.
But he said a new attitude and changing things up in training had given him a spring in his step.
"Sometimes you have got to go backwards to find a way forward. I have spent a lot of time on the bike, getting used to being in a draft, in a time trial really for the Challenge Wanaka.
"And that has been something different. Something new. We’ve had look at a few things and it seems to be working."
The triathlon is moving more towards the sprint event in which the standard distances are cut in half to a 750m swim, a 20km cycle and a 5km run.
The team relay will debut in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics and Dodds said he was keen to be involved and perform well.
The relay has two men and two women each completing a 400m swim, a 10km bike and ending with a 2.5km run before tagging the next person.He had appealed his non-selection for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games but had quickly withdrawn it.
"It was all done on emotion, really. I was still down but then I thought ‘what would it have done for me? What would it have done for triathlon in New Zealand?’
"John [Hellemans] rang up and I thought he would be on my side. But he did not back me up. He said it wasn’t me. I wasn’t a complainer, not a whiner."
Dodds said he quickly moved on and is eyeing a good performance in the Challenge Wanaka half event on February 17.
He finished second behind Dougal Allan in a triathlon last week, although well beaten. Dodds said the Challenge race was well out of his comfort zone but he would give it 100% and as a professional athlete would be aiming for a top placing.
