Sometimes you've got to accept it and say F@#k it!

Today has been just one of those days when you have to say....well, you understand. The fact that we are on a recovery week is becoming obvious. Foul moods, low motivation and cranky paddy pants down syndrome are prevalent. Today, Napoleon and myself we attempting the key swim. 900 yards in the phrase "f#@k it, shall we just go and get a coffee?!" The response was an emphatic "yes". There are just the training when you are not in the right frame of mind. Better to let the workout go and revisit it again another day. There is even a professional triathlete who retired due to burn out and adding to her family. She is now out of retirement, but only trains if her mood is right. I can see myself adopting that mentality if the future. It's not a case of skipping a workout when you are tired. What it specifically refers to is one's mood. "Am i in the right frame of mind to complete this workout?" Answering that question ensures that the most can be gained by your forthcoming workout.

Tomorrow brings the long ride workout starting nice and early. Bring it on! Mood adjusted!

Good luck to us all!

Bump in the road

Well, the. Long run did not quite go as planned. I was having a fantastic run in the dark in Denver and I came upon a 200ft stretch that wasn't lit. I had a lot of ambient light and thought I would tread carefully. There wasn't an official path and th on coming car lights made it difficult to see. I was bopping along with my music on and then it all went wrong. Down I went, like the ground was disappearing below me. I had fallen down a wash. Not just a concrete one, but one that had jagged rock, with the uneven edges akin to the front range of Denver. My momentum may have saved the chronic pain, but the damage was done. A 4inch gash on my left knee quickly began clotting and the knowing feeling from someone who has rolled many ankles in his lifetime. The right ankle was not in good shape. I kept running in the classic macho "this doesn't really hurt" mentality. However, the reality was inescapable. I had rolled my ankle yet again. I made it to the next light and pulled in to the 7Elevem and found my Pakistani night in shining armor. What a nice man! He lent me his phone and chatted to me about cricket while I waited for the hotel van to come and pick me up. It was lucky the hotel van came when it did, as he was beginning to share how much money he had made betting on the cricket world cup. This is not something you want to hear from a Pakistani cricket fan. Google it! Anyway, Red Alert is panicking and hoping desperately that this will not effect my crushing of Napoleon and Constitution in Nice!! Ha! Good luck to us all!

Sleepy Triathlete

It's been another interesting week in the world of Ironman Training.  Efficiency reigned during my only 2 days off of the week (a period of time that seems normal to most people, but in the business of being away for such long periods of time, two days just is not sufficient). I managed to complete the important swims and the 3.5 hr indoor bike ride. However, due to the go go attitude of those days at home, rest suffered and that was apparent as I returned to work. Woke up very irritable and frustrated about returning to the road so soon. Even though I had completed the workout, I failed to rest enough. Subsequently, passively overtraining.  Often, in the real world of amateur triathletes who work a normal job and train in addition to their work schedule, we fail to rest appropriately, or even find the time to do so. There are those who are able to function and behave "normally" on little sleep. I am not one of those people. My body, I have discovered, demands extended resting and good sleep patterns. As I discovered this week with the lack of rest I allowed myself and the subsequent negative attitude it resulted in. At the same time, one must acknowledge the need to still function as a family member and contribute to such things as running of the house and shopping etc.. The danger is not contributing at all and simply coming home and training and resting, with nothing else being done. That does not promote a pleasant living environment, as it shouldn't.  Thus, as I will discover again this week (only another 2 days off) that us amateurs must find a balance. Certain training does need to get done, but not always at the expense of rest or contributing to our everyday lives. Sometimes, rest is best and the workout just will not get done. That's ok. Not all the time, of course, but occasionally.  I think I will truly be presented with this challenge in my upcoming trip home to the UK where I will have to balance revisiting and touring and still get some workouts in. I simply have to accept that they won't be as long as I would want and they won't be as frequent.nthis is quite often a touch thing for an Ironman triathlete to accept. I will do my best. Back home tomorrow, everything going to plan. Going to miss my favourite Oscars. Also need to plan my week of training coming up. Can't believe it's week 9 already!!! Good luck to us all!

Strength and Length(!)

Today has, so far, been productive and promises more. Completed a pretty hard working and intense hour of strength training this morning. There is definitely a lot to be said when training in a group, you being the only man in the bunch. For me, it pushes me far harder than with other male trainers. I think the reason lies in the mentality, more specifically, the male testosterone fueled bravado, of not wanting to seem weaker. The ladies today were all very motivated and at least one had done an Ironman before (athletes who are privileged enough to have completed this distance tend to wear as much clothing bearing the statement as possible, as will I!) and were pushing themselves to the max possible. A good, solid and enviable mentality, especially when you are paying the coach to push you.

With all this male bravado going on, I actually ended up pushing myself as well and having one of the most productive strength sessions of the year so far. Albeit tiring, yet quite pleasing.

Now, the downside of all this productive and motivating strength training is that one hour from now I shall be on a bike pedaling for three more. Holy bat sh@!t. That, at least, is the technical phrase. I suspect that by the end of the very long, yet somewhat spring like, day I shall be quite tired. Fortunately, along for the ride tonight is Constitution along for the 3 hours of biking. That at least should make it fly by and be a little less painful. Well, that and the excessive amount of cycling derrière cream I shall have on.

Off to work for four days tomorrow. Have a  nice long run planned along Lake Toronto. Hopefully the weather will cooperate, along with the airline schedules.

Good luck to us all!

The hard part is the training

I've run in to a number of people this week who have, in some form or another, entered in to an endurance race for 2012. Lance Armstrong just finished 2nd in his first half ironman (at least for some time) and raised a few eye brows in doing so.

There seems to be a commonality when entering these forms of endurance racing. Be it a marathon, all the way up to an ironman distance event. The traits are that the majority of participants, certainly first timers, focus on the race itself, failing to see that the true challenge is the training leading to the race.

For example, presently, as I type, I sit desperately trying to delay getting on my indoor bike setup to complete a 70 minute workout. Ultimately, I do not have to get on that bike. I do have to do the Ironman France which we have each paid $600 to enter. There's a date for that. An termination. A definite. However, I the world will not end if I do not get on that bike. THAT is the challenge. Summoning the will power to get on the bike, or step out the door to finish the run, or even submerge in to the pool to begin the swim. THE TRUE CHALLENGE IS COMPLETING THE TRAINING. The race is the easy part.

That said, off I will now go to start the bike, despite the almost irresistible urge not to! Luckily, The Departed should keep me comfortable.

Can't believe we are beginning week 7 of training.

Good luck to us all!

Waiting on a plane

I thought whilst I awaited, from row 32, for everyone to get off my ride to work, that I would update.

Completed the "key" swim today, which was a good challenge. Self discovered a little more of how to improve my freestyle stroke whilst counting the number of strokes. I found, although recommended to be minimal, that I was grossly under using the legs. A slight increase led to a decrease of two strokes per 25 yards. Fascinating stuff right! Well, after 3000 yards of anaerobic swimming it's like getting a $10,000 raise!

It was a good effort after a hard strength training last night. The Pellicanos kicked my butt, quite literally. A lot of work on the glutus maximus and quadriceps. All of which is gradually making itself known as we sit in the not-so-spacious coach seat.

Looking forward to one of my favorite road runs in, of all places, Peoria. It's an amazingly rural run, with some tasty hills, which will serve to enliven my long run on Friday. Such a fascinating life I lead in this sad sad world of triathlon.

Constitution sent out a funny Ioutube video this week. "sh#t triathletes say". It reminded me to check the seriousness of it all and remember that the reason we three fools entered in to this endeavor was, oddly enough, for the enjoyment of it all. We didn't get caught up in all the sportiness of it all and enjoyed it for the pure fun of it. Not constantly trying the one upmanship game that happens so often. Not caring who knew what or whether the other knew what the component of the bike was called. Simply heading out and having a good ole time was enough. That is what I will endeavor to remind myself of this week - to enjoy while I beat the sh#t out of my body!

Good luck to us all!

++ remember, proof read rarely. Takes too long +++

Long swim and off to work

Well, the. Long run did not quite go as planned. I was having a fantastic run in the dark in Denver and I came upon a 200ft stretch that wasn't lit. I had a lot of ambient light and thought I would tread carefully. There wasn't an official path and th on coming car lights made it difficult to see. I was bopping along with my music on and then it all went wrong. Down I went, like the ground was disappearing below me. I had fallen down a wash. Not just a concrete one, but one that had jagged rock, with the uneven edges akin to the front range of Denver. My momentum may have saved the chronic pain, but the damage was done. A 4inch gash on my left knee quickly began clotting and the knowing feeling from someone who has rolled many ankles in his lifetime. The right ankle was not in good shape. I kept running in the classic macho "this doesn't really hurt" mentality. However, the reality was inescapable. I had rolled my ankle yet again. I made it to the next light and pulled in to the 7Elevem and found my Pakistani night in shining armor. What a nice man! He lent me his phone and chatted to me about cricket while I waited for the hotel van to come and pick me up. It was lucky the hotel van came when it did, as he was beginning to share how much money he had made betting on the cricket world cup. This is not something you want to hear from a Pakistani cricket fan. Google it! Anyway, Red Alert is panicking and hoping desperately that this will not effect my crushing of Napoleon and Constitution in Nice!! Ha! Good luck to us all!

Change marks and unexpected perseverance

Just a quick note. Did not feel well after 30 mins on the bike with Napoleon. Had to stop. Possibly due to the smack in the head taken the day before. Slept a good hour. Got up. It was the super bowl. Watched that and with the great encouragement and inspiration from my good lady wife, I hopped back on the bike and half time and persevered on, watching the second half of the Super Bowl. And like every bike ride I do, there is always a chain mark to remind me of the ride completed. Feels good.

Good luck to us all!

Headaches and Long Ride

The long ride day has arrived. Completed my long run yesterday with not too much stress. Legs were a little tired. It was good to use the Fuel Belt again. Worked as advertised and allowed hydration the entire way round, which is something that I really rely on. Played around with the Hammer Perpetuum as well. Went straight out the door without breakfast, which typically leaves me under energized for a long run. Used the pancake like energy mix and felt strong throughout the run. Couldn't quite keep my heart rate as low as I would have liked. Lately, it always seems to spike when I run, much more so than on the bike.

I was tired enough yesterday, but managed to add to my woes when I knocked myself senseless walking to the basement. Must have been down those stairs a million times, but this occasion my head met the ceiling corner, hard! It hurt, a lot! For a second I didn't know what was going on. It appears that I don't have a concussion. The long ride today (3hours) should expose that theory. Looking forward to the ride. First, Man U vs Chelsea, then a long ride and then the Super Bowl. Seems like a well spent Sunday to me. ( A big thank you to my understanding wife!)

Today I will also try out the CyclOps training bra. Yes, that's right, my first bra. Such a milestone. Admittedly, it is more to hold off the sweat from corroding my bike than it is from supporting my moobies. Anything to prolong the life of my Boy Blue!
.

The game is about to start and I must pack a bag for the trip over to Napoleon's apartment for the ride. Need to pick out some good movies for this one. if i don't, I will have to listen to him bang on about the bloody French Rugby team the whole time. Nobody wants that! :)

Good luck to us all!