Preparation begins

When triathlon first appealed to me, it resulted from a desire not to run all the time and to shed a few pounds along the way. I didn't even know what an Ironman race was, or even, comprehend that one day I would attempt to race in a small park in Ohio at a race known as The American Triple T. And so, 12 years after my good friend Mitch encouraged me to race a short triathlon in Estes Park, Colorado, I find myself preparing to make the long, unidentifiable ride down to a state park in Ohio to race 4 triathlons in 3 days.

There'll be minimal supporters, but the races themselves. 250 of us. There'll be plenty of humidity and hills. The camaraderie will be strong and plentiful. The legs will be sore in the end. Yet, we shall have all completed a very challenging race that pits your natural instincts to race, and race hard, against the necessity to conserve your energy stores.

After the 12 hour drive from Minneapolis, we shall immediately begin our weekend with a super sprint race, just to sweeten the legs a little. Saturday will follow with 2 Olympic distance races (ish) with the first being traditional and the second a little mixed up. Sunday will present us with the unenviable task of a half iron distance race, which will be the cherry on top of the ice cream (I really hope there'll be ice cream!).

The race director warns to bring your climbing gear. It's probably wise to bring your climbing legs too. So, now we begin the preparation. Food, glorious food! However, the key is which food. The group had a meeting and we decided that Vincent would do all the cooking. Fantastic. That's that sorted, now all we have to worry about is racing..... and a few thousand miles of driving!

The next 10 days are going to involve a lot of training and some seriously fun racing. I am really looking forward to this race format, with the brand new experience to add to the CV. To go with friends and fellow triathletes will make it that much more of an experience for us. I can't wait.

This past weekend I was able to fly back to the UK and enjoy some wonderful training scenery which always makes those long hours flow by like a meandering river. Helped that much more by wife riding beside me as support. When you train and see the same scenery every day, to have a new vista in your sights can make all the difference, even if it's an old familiar face of the Chiltern Hills. The ideal place for a training camp by the way!

Now it's time for a bit more swimming,  running and biking. 2.5hrs of running awaits, with a trip along the banks of The Charles River in Boston. one of the truly unique places to run, seeing some of tomorrows future running, walking and talking along those banks. Makes the time fly by.

A race report will follow in a few weeks. I wonder if I will be as enthusiastic then as I am now??

Good luck to us all!

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

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!
 

Whispers in the Dark

Did you hear that? Was it the door creaking? Was it someone calling a name? Was it the chimes sailing in the wind? 

It sounded like a memory calling from the deep caverns of the brain. A memory perhaps purposely forgotten. A memory of a feeling willfully (semi)retired. A memory that releases a sudden rush of adrenaline and excitement. 

Such a recollection seems to rear its head from behind the metaphorical sand dune, peaking in to your conscience, reminding you of a time that can not be erased. A time that, despite the pain, suffering and soreness, blazes back from the past and reveals that memory like the first dawn of summer, bringing a rich smile across your face. 

This memory of a feeling, a form of joy which instantly makes you want to up the pace, inevitably shows a few miles in to a winter run in the sun. A spark is ignited as you lament on a race from yester year and all of a sudden you begin to think how much better you could do. Like the inevitably of the luge's icy run, the mind weaves you along contemplating what you would do different or how you would better train. All of a sudden the computer screen is in front of you and your scrolling through the race pages, tempted to hit the "register" button. 

It is, yet, still important to control those memories and release of endorphins, to bring in to check these desires for competition and ensure that you are competing for the right reasons - for you and those who support you. That said, those endorphins are quite addictive. Let's see where they take me. 

Good luck to us all!

Back to dreamin...

It's been awhile. Such a common phrase, like welcoming an aquaintence you've been subconsciously avoiding for.... a while. It would have to be said that this holds some water when it comes to this blog.

When the blog was first named it was named for the three guys who set out on a journey to finish an iron distance race. 140.6 miles in one day, under our own steam, using various methods of self inflicted forward momentum. This is always a challenge, no matter how many times you've completed the distance. However, you need purpose is absolutely necessary to drive you forward, to want to endure such a feat.

There was a charitable purpose to the last attempt in Idaho. A real purpose that could drive you through the massive amounts of training to be ready for race day. Ready I was, yet the mental training wasn't up to snuff and yet again I found myself hindered out of the course and unable to unleash myself to my full potential. Another mediocre time. It was almost as if time was meandering on by. The motions being followed. Familiarity ringing strong in the ears as the course passed us by. The swim is brilliant. The run very enjoyable, as you see the faces cheering you on. However, that bike has become so.....very.....boring. Self-inflicted. Self hindered. It could be exciting if I was confident enough to unlock the hooks that mentally dig in and hold me back.

There is no doubt in my mind that another iron distance (or more) is part of the future. The near future? Perhaps not. A few things need to occurr before jumping back up that well worn path. The enjoyment and subsequent desire needs to be re-ignited from within. Riding 180KM is still something that can be fun. Heading out with the lads for a day on the bike with purpose is something that can always be fun. As part of a race, that enjoyment needs to be re-discovered. The foundations of which are in proper racing. The endorphin rush of smashing a course that you have the most confidence in and letting go of the oars. Throwing caution to the wind.

How can this be done, I hear you ask? Short....er course racing is where the fun can be found once again. Different challenges from within the triathlon world. Enthusiasts are re-inventing how we swim bike and run everyday. Super Sprint; Olympic; Half Iron; All three in a weeked????? There is no question that, mentally, I am "burned out" on long course racing for now. Hopefully, some good short course and varied fun can make 2016 a very fun year.

First up race on the calender will be a fun indoor shindig at the Lifetime Indoor Tri at our local university. Shake off the cobwebs time trial each discipline for 30 minutes at a time. In fact, Lifetime is likely to gain a lot of my dollars this year, as they dominate the local landscape of triathlons. Well run and local. That's what the doctor ordered. One race a month (June-August), with a half ironman thrown in for a bit of fun :). What's not to love about that kind of schedule. Become fast and start truly racing again.

There has been a fair amount of the famous soul searching this autumn. It has presented a few welcome challanges and has reinvigorated the inner workings. Purpose is key to keeping one moving forward. Purpose. For me, regarding triathlon, is racing for those who can not. December is a month that will always be reflective since the loss of my father almost a year ago. He didn't have the chance to even attempt a triathlon, as so many others don't. We all take it for granted, those of us that find health an easy option. It is for my father and so many others who don't have the option to attempt a triathlon, or any other sport, that I find purpose within sport. This will be my inspiration moving foward. It is such an incredible motivator to do well and not just do. It's unlcear what form this will take. Charitable? Raising money? Donating time outside of racing and helping others find the joy that I find when toeing the line? My re-introduction to this sport came from joining a charitable racing team. It would be an apt continuance of the journey. It remains to be seen what guise it may take. Perhaps it will present itself in the coming chilly months, spinning away in the cold, dark basement.

In the meantime, it's time to dream of what may come and what could have been.

Good luck to us all!

Broken, but not forgotten

It's been a long old season. The heat was turned up to seventy stupid. The roads proved long and arduous. The hills seemed never ending. Yet, the light continues to shine at the end of the long dark tunnel.


It's pretty common to feel such doldrums after a long season. Look at Lizzy Yarnold. Professional Skeleton racer, taking a year away because of exhaustion. It was important for my psychological betterment to complete another year of iron distance "racing", but not necessarily my physical one.


The end of the season is nye, with just one more bit of fun left to do - to fly back to my home village and race the local 10k to benefit my local elementary school. However, the season long, yet again more discoveries have been made. Possibly a discovery that iron distance racing is no longer exciting. The key phrase "racing" distinctly lacking. Smashing and having an awful lot of fun racing an Olympic distance triathlon opening my eyes to the fact that perhaps it was racing, true competing, that I truly miss. Flying around a course, truly racing those who come by and wanting to catch back up to them, burying your legs long past when they wanted to give up. Only in the latter parts of a long distance race do I begin to feel the challenge of racing, but if only against myself. Crossing the line and completing the course may no longer be enough. A new re-imagining of why to train long and hard is needed.


A local Olympic race in St Paul, MN is where I first discovered my long lost joy of racing. Flying out the swim in 4th place overall and then riding the bike segment with complete abandonment was a thrilling feeling. As much as my body began to fail me towards the end of the run leg, my achilles screaming at me to stop, to cross that line in contention is a newly rediscovered joy. Glancing down at your watch and wondering whether you may have accidentally stopped it halfway round. A new personal best time splashed across the screen, letting you forget your suffering lower body as you are overcome with adrenaline at the thought of truly racing against others on the course. A latter discovery reinvigorating you and allowing you to glance forward to the favourite half iron man, late season race in Square Lake Minnesota. The question bounding around your thoughts, "could I actually race those around me there?"

Ignoring injuries the whole season, say since April, will not make them go away. Works with bad behaving children, but not hip injuries. Post-Olympic elation and my achilles and hip were greatly displeased. Introduce, stage left, the elliptical for the rest of the season. A few test runs and an arduous cricket match later, it becomes very apparent that running is not on the cards for a while. Good news, they have a relay for the half ironman coming up. A "calling all cars" all points social media bulletin later and a trusty running fellow has been found. The race is back on!


And what a race we had. I managed to bike the fastest I have ever biked for the 54 miles distance and swim myself in to 3rd position out of the water. My initial curiosity as to the low numbers for the race that year, is replaced by the realization that this is what transition looks like when you are ahead of a lot of people. Fascinating!


With a solid run from my cohort, we found ourselves with a second place silver medal hanging around our necks, departing in the car to home with a Cheshire cat grin on my face that Rex would be proud of! What a great feeling.

So, once again, I announce retirement from the full iron distance. My body is quite frankly broken and needs repair. Hello, long distance swimming, with a smattering of shorter distance triathlon thrown in for good measure. The outlook for winter is dominated by the gym and the pool. To repair my damaged hip and continue to the repair of my achilles, both likely linked.


The weather is cooling and so will the racing season. Hopefully, there is a bit left to smash it around the Frieth Hilly 10K in 4 weeks. Such a stunning and picturesque race that deserves my full effort.


Time for some ice and stretching, not in that order.


Good luck to us all!