Smell of spring in the air

The long ride yesterday found myself and the new Yeti cycle out in very familiar weather conditions - conditions reminiscent of my childhood growing up in the UK. The clouds rolled in like a strong tide and kept the temperatures snug enough below to wrap the landscape in a slightly mild blanket above freezing. Whilst damp, it wasn't wet. With hand warmers in my cycling cleats, the feet warm and toaster like a fire on a winter's day, off we went out the door, grossly overdressed having over estimated the "spring" weather.

That's how the week concluded. The first (well, second) long ride out of the basement and feeling my first non-manufactured wind in my face. It wasn't even face numbing! Was a fitting end to a week filled with diverse landscapes and environments.

The week began in chilly temps in Minnesota, running with a diverse group, who will encourage anyone that they can run. When we get bogged down in these intense training environments that ironman training often presents us, it is easy to forget that we are the abnormals. Running in a group that ranges from 12min/milers to sub 4hr marathoners is a very encouraging and inspiring group to find yourself in. For 45 minutes very Monday, we get to forget that we are training for and endurance feet that most can not begin to comprehend and remember that the joy of running can spread as far and as wide as our imaginations can go.

A quick trip later and I find myself suffering in the smog and altitude of Mexico City once again. They must put lead weights in my legs when we land (that or the bike is just crap and out of date) because when I start to spin up there it feels as though I am surrounded by quick sand mixed with syrup as the workout chugs along. However, like everything, it is just a test to pass so the greater and more challenging, be it mental or physical, can be surmounted in the future. The reward was a very pleasant, smoggy, sunny and traffic ridden run the next morning before we left for the day.

This week could probably be summed up the vegan recovery drink that is currently being choked down, in an attempt not to simply ralph it back up. You know that what you are doing is worth it and the results will be positive just as long as you make it to the other end of the shaker bottle, even though presently you question your sanity at taking on this challenging liquid/bike/run/swim.

Many times during training, not matter what your goal is, you will find yourself in a mentally dark place - think "hello darkness my old friend" - and you will question whether you can make it to the figurative light at the end of the tunnel. Before you know it, and the negative thoughts have subsided, you find that the pain is over and the negativity found no purpose and no foothold despite the enormous influence it was trying to have. You come crashing out the other end like a wave breaching the sand. All is suddenly calm and the world retreats back out in to the ocean and all that remains is a fresh bit of beach that is the new you, that has only benefited from the chaos that just occurred within you. Simply, you never regret riding the wave of chaos, be it physical or mental. it is one of the big reasons I love endurance training and racing. The daily realization that I just discovered a new piece of myself that I didn't know existed.

The next couple of weeks appear to be the calm before the storm. Training is going to ramp up in the middle of April and we shall see if I'm still this jovial then.

Good luck to us all!

High on smog

Last time I posted on this blog was over a year ago. The world has changed quite a bit in that time, so say the least. Some things remain the same. Subway is still awful and not fresh. Minneapolis is still cold. Maggie is still my best pacing partner and Mexico City is still entirely over polluted. Random facts instead of fake news.

I haven't written a lot simply because I would argue that I had lost the way in triathlon training. Yes indeed the training was plentiful, non-stop and somewhat enjoyable. However, the end goal had become somewhat blurred by the mental side of the game.

2016 was a year of falling back in love with endurance racing and remembering why I started this in the first place. There were personal records set at the Half IM distance and marathon distance. I'm not about to enter any elite divisions by a long stretch of the imagination, but I was very pleased with what I perceived to by some fast racing. I remembered how to hurt and not just calculate and manage. Admittedly, I achieved this at distances I knew could be conquered, having accomplished each many times.

The psyche I am in possession of is one that becomes conflicted at iron distance races. I am greatly disappointed by a result that I knew I could have achieved more with. The competitive side will always give me a push along, but then the careful and calculated side of me bullies it's way in and puts a stop to all this nonsense. I can honestly say that I don't mind losing at any given sport, so long as I know that I have given everything that there was to give in that time period. That happened during my first iron man. I was truly spent, not to mention very burnt. I can also say that of my second race. A depressing testament to how I know this is that when completely knackered I lose the ability to control my emotions and often fight back tears as I cross the line. That hasn't been the case during the last two races - Boulder and Couer D'alene. I looked at the clock and thought that the mental had won the day, despite the conditions we raced in. It's time to let go.

A once wise Frenchman lent me a few books over the most recent winter period in a bid to help me finally beat him in a race that he actually finished :). They have begun to allow the first small steps to be taken to allow myself to discover what it takes inside myself to achieve what I know my body has the potential to do. "But this is only triathlon!" I hear you exclaim. Yes, this superficial fact is indeed true. However, this sport and the lengths that it pushes you to, irregardless of the length of the race, allows the self to continually improve and you will take these lessons out with you in to the world outside of sport. Mentally, this will make me stronger and wiser in every day life. Displaying as a reflection  of the potential that you are willing to achieve. Your mind will always stop you before the body does. Always. It protects and sometimes not for the betterment of the person within. Just like the body, however, we can train it to be leaner and stronger when we most need it. That's the goal for this season.

Having taken on a coach within a group called Team Oxygen Addict based in the UK and having begun to explore what lies within the deep confines of the psyche, I truly hope that this season will be one that I look back on with pride knowing that I truly gave it all, mentally speaking.

Good luck to us all!