Phlegm and long rides

It's a quite like finding yourself at the bottom of a hill or mountain and looking up to the summit. You may well be excited to get to the top to share in the glorious views that your achievement has awarded you with, but you know full well that the climb to the pinnacle will be tiring and sometimes exhausting. That's how this training can be. It's not as much about the race day, but the trails and climbs that take you there. You're not alone. A team who are your friends and family around you that make sure you reach the summit of race day.

True, it is inspiring to hear and read this type of thing, but, as I heard yesterday on a podcast that helped me ignore the fact that a long ride was the day's offering, inspiration is a not the ideal word. You have to want it within you. Inspiration may drive you when you are down, but the internal desire is what has to be grounded deep down in order for you to want to start and keep it going throughout the whole season.

That is what was needed this week. A combination of a lack of sleep and a signal of 18 weeks to go, along with a noticeable increase in training volume led to a onset of a cold. When one is suffering over and above the training, be it daily life, work, family or lack of sleep induced fatigue, it is the deep desire that helped you begin this journey that pushes you forward even when it seems insurmountable. The last few days have been a bit like that.

It will seem sad, but true, that for an iron distance athlete, or even any endurance sport that requires such a time commitment, letting go of a planned session is not easy to do. Everything will point to a necessity to skip the session due to illness or overtraining, but we will have to overcome a monumental desire to "tick the box" and "have a green week". However, when you conquer that unreasonable desire, it is oddly very satisfying.  That's indeed what was needed this week with the long run. However, the temporary burying of that desire let's you hop back on your stead far quicker and keep the train moving. Of course, I sit typing this, fully recognizing that I have a cold, yet still rode four hours yesterday and ran with a club in the evening. Denial is not just a big river in Africa!

This week promises to be as challenging, with longer  rides and runs mixed with intense indoor sessions and some red eye flying thrown in for good measure. However, as above, we don't achieve this without the team around us. We must rely on them and always remember to acknowledge and appreciate their input. They make it possible for us to push these limits and achieve the goals we have set forth. For that I will always be truly thankful.

Good luck to us all