Monday, March 26, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Recovery - the key to preventing overtraining
As I sit here, taking a time to recover from my long run (albeit in a recovery week), I find myself preaching to my running partner of the day. My father in law, who graciously accompanied me on the run.
Having been ill this week and struggled, stressfully to force in all the training that was due, in the short space of time I had available, it gave me pause to think back to last season. It was a very enjoyable one, without illness or injury. I had just discovered Dr. Phillip Maffetone. He is well known in the endurance world and even trained a few horse successfully (they have a similar ability for endurance as humans). He trained Mark Allen, who famously was a relaxed person after spending time with the Doctor.
Dr Maffetone is famous for preaching about balance and ensuring overtraining prevention. He believes that even reducing your recovery time, i.e. not affording enough sleep, will lead to overtraining, even if you seemingly have a balanced active training schedule. It was indeed, in my opinion, this reasoning, or lack of, that has lead me to the illness and injuries that have occurred this season. Admittedly, the ankle was the result of falling, but arguably would not have occurred if i had not been trying to push the training (and run in the dark).
I am currently re-readining his book - The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing - and rediscovering the training methods that lead me to an enjoyable season last year and, most importantly, an injury free one. Balance is everything. From training, to recovery, to diet and so forth. That is the attitude I am re-adopting and firmly believe that will set me well in the future.
I have also decided to run the Twin Cities marathon in October. That is all!
Good luck to us all!
Having been ill this week and struggled, stressfully to force in all the training that was due, in the short space of time I had available, it gave me pause to think back to last season. It was a very enjoyable one, without illness or injury. I had just discovered Dr. Phillip Maffetone. He is well known in the endurance world and even trained a few horse successfully (they have a similar ability for endurance as humans). He trained Mark Allen, who famously was a relaxed person after spending time with the Doctor.
Dr Maffetone is famous for preaching about balance and ensuring overtraining prevention. He believes that even reducing your recovery time, i.e. not affording enough sleep, will lead to overtraining, even if you seemingly have a balanced active training schedule. It was indeed, in my opinion, this reasoning, or lack of, that has lead me to the illness and injuries that have occurred this season. Admittedly, the ankle was the result of falling, but arguably would not have occurred if i had not been trying to push the training (and run in the dark).
I am currently re-readining his book - The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing - and rediscovering the training methods that lead me to an enjoyable season last year and, most importantly, an injury free one. Balance is everything. From training, to recovery, to diet and so forth. That is the attitude I am re-adopting and firmly believe that will set me well in the future.
I have also decided to run the Twin Cities marathon in October. That is all!
Good luck to us all!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tough two weeks of travelling
The last two weeks have caught up with me this morning. </p>
<p>It's been a mental challenge, flying, jetlag, holiday, then straight back to work. Irregular diet intake and sleep has all culminated in not being able to finish the swim this morning . More mental burn out and fatigue than anything. It was to the point that I was almost falling asleep during my kick lengths. Not a great sign. Therefore, in honor of the Philip Maffetone approach I favor, I called it a day early on the swim and decided to shell out for a proper breakfast. I think another contributing factor was the late night run and lack of subsequent nutrition prior to swimming. It is sometimes quite hard to maintain the right nutrition on the road when I do not have my own food with and have to rely on the crap for sale. Frustrating!
However, to try and be positive is to view this as another pain in my ass, why can't everything just go as planned, learning experience in the crazy (or nuts) journey that is Ironman.
Good luck to us all!
Ps the ankle is improving. Shame about the abductor!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
English country garden
Out in the UK, trying to enjoy my holiday and still maintain some training. Managed to get a short sharp ride in today with an ok rental bike from a local shop. The weather was misty and overcast with some wet roads, but was fantastic. Very few cars, lots of quadriceps scream inducing hills and peaceful English countryside. Wish I had brought my own bike to enjoy it all more. There is something very special about cycling in the area one grew up in, looking out over the rolling countryside (albeit, breathing very heavily and legs screaming at you) and just taking it all in. Allows any stress involved with the training to melt away and allow the shear enjoyment of training to return.
I wish the ankle would improve a little more so I could partake in some more runs as well. Off to swim in the pool I learned to tomorrow morning. This time in the public lanes, whilst the school swim club, with the weary, tired eyed school children who are less than impressed that their parents made them get up so early, are swimming in the lanes next door. They have not updated it since then, it would appear. Thus, a sense of deja vu will be strong.
It looks as though I am, however, missing out on some great biking weather back in Minneapolis. Can't wait to get "my boy Blue" out on the road when I get back. Should be fun.
Good luck to us all!
I wish the ankle would improve a little more so I could partake in some more runs as well. Off to swim in the pool I learned to tomorrow morning. This time in the public lanes, whilst the school swim club, with the weary, tired eyed school children who are less than impressed that their parents made them get up so early, are swimming in the lanes next door. They have not updated it since then, it would appear. Thus, a sense of deja vu will be strong.
It looks as though I am, however, missing out on some great biking weather back in Minneapolis. Can't wait to get "my boy Blue" out on the road when I get back. Should be fun.
Good luck to us all!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
It's been a while
A lot has happened since my last post. Currently, my ankle is still in rehab. Still swollen and struggling to get a running in. Subsequent to that there is a lot of swimming going on and biking. Unfortunately, only managed 1hr 15mins of my long ride on Thursday as I had to pack for my trip to the UK. Along with ankle injury, I feel that I have fallen short on my training this week and with my trip I feel that next week will be a challange to stay up with training.
For example, right now, we are sitting in a hotel in Chicago waiting for our flights. We did not managed to get on a flight to London yesterday and the luggage went missing. Thus, I have an 8 hour window to train, but with no equipment to conduct any. Very furstrating, as this will be the second day in a row without any training. Admittedly, it won't kill me, but as anyone training for an Ironman might tell you, you get a little fidgety and nervous when you sit around so much. My hope is that the English countryside will provide a fantastic backdrop for some running and swimming (and with some luck, a few bike rides).
This blip in training is a real mental test for me. I have decided to embrace it and accept the challenge. That isn't to say that I will be a success at the challenge for 100% of the time it is testing me. However, it will hopefully mentally and physically rest me and allow me to come out stronger and better off for it.
Good luck to us all!
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