Almost gave up!

To finish the weekend off we went to see the Waterboys perform in concert last night so it was another late night - this weekend was not normal, I don't want you to think I have a busy social life!  So 7am in the pool started with the usual 500m warm up - felt as though I had woken up, 200m kick drill - starting to struggle followed by the main set; 600m, 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m with reducing rests in between.  Half way through the 600m I felt like giving up but then thought "what will I say in my blog?".  So I presevered and got over the mental demons thanks to you.  The followers who will rightly so give me a hard time if I was to step off the "train".  It did feel like I'd achieved something and I will benefit from this in my first race in June.
Now recovering with chocolate milk, bananas, nuts and raisins to get fuel in the system to build back my energy.  Taking tomorrow off from training so I can rest.  Have a good day and hope you are all still working towards your goals?

Fit for life

I'm writing this blog from the comfort of my couch while watching the footie.  Now before you think I have wimped out of this weekends training this break is my recovery following my 13k run this afternoon - an essential part if training.  I was particularly pleased as it follows a hectic social life - we finished our ceilidh last night at 2.30am and had to get back this morning for my sons football match at 10am.  My heart rate was within the limits and my speed was good. 
Last night I met some very successful people who had extremely busy lives and following our discussion they have promised to set some goals around biathlon and triathlon because they realise that being fit for life helps all aspects of your life.  Missionironman continues to spread the word!

Burns supper

Last nights Burns supper was very long but something must have stuck as I started my own verse while on the road to Muirkirk; "tae a pothole".  What a b**l buster that road is.  Anyway, I went out with a real cyclist so my average speed improved as he dragged me along the road.  It's good to work with athlete's better than yourself as it increases your own performance if you can cope with the mental demons telling you how slow you are!  The bike will be my main focus this year based on my requirement to be better on the hills for UK 70.3 in June and my sportive in September.

Weekend challenge

Busy weekend lined up with a Burns super tonight, a big bash on Saturday and a concert on Sunday night.  I also will be attending two football matches and horse riding with the kids.  On top of this I have a bike session on Saturday afternoon and a bike/run session on Sunday.  This isn't a normal weekend but I am determined to enjoy all aspects of the weekend but not to overdose on the liquid carbs as it severly affects performance!

Mixing pleasure with training!

In short, it doesn't!  Too many liquid carbs last night watching Birmingham City make it through to the Carling Cup final.  Sometimes business and pleasure interupt the training schedule and this weekend also throws up a few challanges in that direction however you still need to have a life outside training. 

Multi-tasking

Today I am off to Birmingham so before I leave at 8.30am I had to multi-task, something women are meant to be better at - I might check that out with Andy Gray ex-Sky Sports presenter!  Anyway, this involved a 5.30am start so I could complete some client work, then a 10km run, back for a shower, breakfast, write the blog and now to drop the kids off at school.  That to me is a result and I still have the majority of the day to conduct business.  Multi-tasking can be done by everyone it just takes a desire to make it happen.  Have a good day!

What doesn't kill you...

...makes you stronger so the phrase goes.  Hard pool session today with 500m warm up, then 3 x 300m, 3 x 200m, 3 x 100m with 1 minute breaks in between followed by 200m warm down.  I try not to think about the total distance or what is left to do when my lungs are crying out for air, I just concentrate on the segment I am working on.  There is no point worrying "will I make the last part" when you aren't there yet.  That's just uses negative energy and you need to channel that to the present moment.  It's the same in life and make sure you enjoy it!

Back on the bike

I've been putting it off with weak excuses like, cycling in 6 inches of snow is dangerous so when I looked out this morning and the temperature was ok I couldn't put it off any longer.  I took my bike off the turbo trainer and headed for the hills.  It was great to be out in the fresh air and plenty of cyclists nodding as you pass or offering words of encouragement as it was obvious I was working hard (for that read puffing and panting!).  So I've set some benchmarks for my bike training and it's now up to me to get out there and get the fitness back.  Some strength work will be required  for the events I have entered are all hilly in preparation for Lanza next year.  Last night I found the race I wanted for September, Bealach Mor which has some severe climbs so again that will keep me focued on the area of triathlon that will make the biggest difference to my time.  As you can see I am sticking with my motto "want it, plan it, work it, do it".  Now I need to go and clean all the dirt off the bike!

Mind set

Today was a rest day for me as I watched my sons football team come back from 1 down in a cup match to draw in the end.  Standing at the sidelines allows you to observe the players and their different attitudes.  Some turn up and are fully committed whereas others seem to have left their commitment behind.  Confidence ebs and flows but the one thing that remains consistent is those that want it the most usually succeed.  So tomorrow I am back on the bike and this cup tie has reminded me of the importance of knowing why I'm doing it and why I need to remain focused with short-term goals which build to the long-term goals.  Bring it on.

Perseverance

Usual 5.40 porrige, 7am swim.  500 warm up, 5 x 400m plus 100m cool down.  It's amazing what you can think of in that time in the pool while trying not to lose count of the lengths plus reminding yourself of the technique you are trying to master.  As I caused the usual traffic jam in the lane with the better swimmers I reminded myself that perseverance is what is required if you want to achieve anything worthwhile - there are no short cuts.  That is why at 6.55am there was a queue of 30 people waiting to get into the leisure complex with an average age of say 57.  There not all athletes in fact quite a number of them are severely obese and will spend an hour walking up and down a special pool - that's perseverence with the desire to accomplish something worthwhile and I take my swim cap off to them.  So now for some strawberry milk, bananas and I'll be ready to face the day.  How are you getting on with your goals?  Post some progress.

Don't ignore the signs

Following yesterday's swimming session (video nastie now available) I was due to run today but ended up on the turbo trainer. Towards the end of the session I started to feel a slight twinge just above my knee.  You have to watch for signs so i will be booking myself in for a sports massage which I haven't done in a while.  Small niggles can end up as long-term injuries and the first goal of every triathlete is to make it to the start line.  Back in the pool tomorrow at 7am so this might help loosen it off - here's hoping!

All becomes clear

We all have an image of ourselves and tonight my swim coach took a video of me swimming - a very sobering experience.  You have one view of how you think you look and then there's the reality!  It does no harm to have a reality check so that I have a more accurate image and next time I'm in the pool I can work on improving my technique to make the task easier.  Once I can get the technology to work I'll let you see the video nastie.  The report card would have said "room (lots off) for improvement!"

Managing energy

Yesterday was a long day which meant I decided to stay in bed when the alarm went off and postpone the turbo session till the evening.  I was in a meeting all day and struggled to keep my energy levels up so when I climbed onto the turbo trainer tonight I wasn't feeling up to much.  However as always the session rejuvinates the energy levels and I am now away to fill up the tank again with some food /fuel.  This is the challenge we all face whether athletes or "corporate athletes".  The later category have the toughest job of maintaining energy 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year.  This takes great awareness of your body, constant eating of the right food and plenty of hydration.  Here's to you corporate athletes out there.

Goals are relative

It's difficult to measure progress if you don't have goals written down.  This mornings swimming session brought this to mind.  We did a long hard session and being passed in the same lane by the better swimmers on a number of occassions can be disheartening however when I got to the end I had taken over a minute off the time set for the same exercise the previous week.  Therefore the session was successful but had I based it on the other people around me I wouldn't have come to the same conclusion.  We all go at a different pace and some are better at different things.  I know that when we start running then I will be faster than some of the swimmers and that just goes to show that triathlon and life have a lot in common.

Blowy

Today started early at the side of a football pitch spectating and being blown away.  That made my mind up that the bike wasn't going to see the light of day so I put it in front of the tv and watched the football while the sweat poured off me.  Good practice for Lanza as the heat in the house was better than the cold and the wind outside.  Feeling good and back in the pool tomorrow at 7am.  Hope you are all continuing to work towards your stated goals?

Focus required

It wasn't a good week for training due to being in London so today I had to train despite the high winds and pouring rain meant my first stint was on the turbo trainer.  I can tell from my heart rate (average 150) that more training is required especially with an average speed of 20kmh.  With Lanzarote in March I need to increase the frequency and time on the bike.
After "Dad duties" I went out a short run to a friends house for some tips on Marathon Des Sables - Tony has completed it twice.  It was great to hear the stories from someone who has completed it and my first priority it to get in the race.  I have written to the organisers to see if I can get in for 2013.
However while MDS is the ultimate goal I have other challenges approaching fast;  Lanza bike training in March, 1 leg (13 miles) of the West Highland Way in a relay race in April, 81 Mile Caledonian Etape bike race and my "A race" for the year the UK 70.3 Ironman (1.2mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13 mile run) - one of the toughest in the world!  I can't lose sight of these shorter term, tough and important goals and once they are out of the way I can start training for Ironman Lanzarote May 2012.
So the excitement of MDS will have to wait but the planning has begun.

Inspirational

What a day in London yesterday.  I had the privilege of listening to Alan Chambers MBE - the man who walks the talk, go to http://www.alan-chambers.com/ .  He's a polar adventurer with an unbelievable story - leader of the 1st unsupported team to walk from Canada to the Geographic North Pole.  His research into expeditions, ability to adapt and determination to succeed are inspirational so please look him up and follow his 2 expeditions this year.
Then over a few beers (liquid carbs are an essential part of the training diet!) I discovered that in the group I was with there were people who had completed olympic distance triathlons, cycled 4 stages of the Tour De France, 1 who had cycled the whole of the Tour De France and other mad 4 day challanges involving cycling/kayaking etc.  These are ordinary business people doing extra ordinary things and raising vast sums of money for charity while achieving goals they didn't initially think was possible.
A number of people on the night committed to various goals for 2011 including a 10k, a half marathon and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  You know who you are so get that commitment onto the blog and enjoy the journey.  A truly inspirational night with "can do" people - first class.  Now back to training!

Busy, busy

It's a busy time but I still managed my 5.40 porridge and 7am swim.  Today was a 500m warm up and then 5 x 400m with a 1 minute rest in between.  Tough session but you feel great (relieved) when you get out the water.  Off to sit in a 7 mile tail back to Glasgow, then a 1.5 hour workshop on tax avoidance schemes.  Just popping out to replace some of the calories burned before another 1 hour technical session - the day you stop learning your dead (in my view)! Then I can start work!
I am often asked where do you find the time?  Get up an hour early and spend less time sitting on my bum watching telly is the answer.  Oh and a very supportive wife that makes everything else happen!  Off to London for a couple of days but I have booked into a hotel with a gym and a pool - can't let the regime slip.

Feeling good

Perhaps it was just the time of year that made me feel so tired and lethargic but an early night and I was up at 5am ready to go.  A quick hours work and off to the pool.  500m warm up, then a pyramid session; 100,200,300,400,300,200,100 with the first half of the distance easy and the second half hard e.g. 100 breaks down into 50m easy / 50m hard.  I have to admit doubting I could do it and although I was the slowest out of the group I got there.  Back tomorrow for what they call "efforts" - it's all an effort to me so I don't know what they are talking about!

Lazy day

Left at 8.45am to take my son to Kelvinhall as he was competing in 800m event.  Considering his lack of training with the bad weather he did well.  However I couldn't muster the energy to train myself and the roads and pavements were too icy to consider running.  So took a rest but need to get back on the bike.  In the pool at 7am tomorrow.  Hope you all faired better with your goals this weekend?

Had enough of the white stuff!

This is getting to be a pain.  4 inches of snow so restricted training to a turbo session.  Worked up a sweat but rather suspect getting the car out the drive may be a bigger effort, even with a "quattro" system - but the kids want fed!  Thank you for all the emails, and posts, telling me about your goals for 2011.  Remember if you make it public then it helps you achieve them!
Mr Baldy is checking with the doctors if he is allowed to go swimming due to the risk of infection.  If the answer is yes then game on, the training for his novice triathlon will be starting soon....what a man, watch this space.

Quality time

In 9 weeks time I am off to Lanzarote with some real cyclists for a hard week of training.  It will be nice to ride on some smooth roads but I need to get into shape for this intensive training or it will be hell.  Since Ironman I have hardly been on my bike and I am certainly not venturing out on the icy pot holed roads here so I have to make do with the turbo trainer.  I was scheduled to train tonight but with my wife at a yoga course, one son socialising and another at football I decided to have some father / daughter time and we went out for a chinese.  Excellent company, fantastic food and I promise I'll put in an extra hard session tomorrow to make up for it - honest!  It pays to give your body a rest sometimes and life is too short to miss such an opportunity.

One Life. Live it.

One life. Live it.  This was the sign I saw on the back of a jeep today - fantastic.  Busy day driving to Manchester and back so I will have a light training session in the pool tonight as I help my son prepare for his Lifeguard award.  Unfortunatley he takes his swimming style from me but he wants to achieve this award as it will be good on his CV plus it's handy to have as he wants to work in sports development when he leaves school / college. 
Remember those days when you had the freedom to choose the direction you wanted to go in? You still can.  My motto is "want it, plan it, work it, do it".  The "it" is personal to you.  For me other than the challange of bringing up a family, having quality time with my wife and running a successful business I have a few goals for 2011/12.  The main goal is in May 2012, Lanzarote Ironman - one of the toughest in the world due to the terrain (hilly), the temparature (35 degrees) and the wind (30 mph).  This will be a good guage for my 2013 - 2014 goals which culminate in Marathon Des Sables - a 6 day, 151 mile endurance race across across the Sahara Desert - that should raise a few £s for charity!  Is it possible?  Time will tell but anything is possible if you put your mind to it.  One life. Live it.

Back to work

We always start the new year off with the best of intentions but the hard bit is keeping them going.  As I drove to the swimming at 6.30am this morning the radio adverts were all about losing weight, giving up smoking etc etc followed by the sad news that Gerry Rafferty (Baker Street) died at 63 - I think I'll stop listening to the news.  A short innings but a reminder to make the most of it - well perhaps not as much as he did!  So I put an extra effort into my 500m warm up, 15 x 100m intervals, 200m kick drill and 100m warm down.  A pint of chocolate milk and two bananas and I'm ready to start 2011 - start off the way you mean to go on, enjoy.

Review of 2010

I wasn't my intention to continue my blog but then again I didn't intend going beyond Ironman!  Thank you for all the encouragement over the year and we managed to raise £9,000 for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres.  However unbelievably someone was inspired by the mission ironman story and donated £9,000 to Maggie's at the end of the year.  I do not know who this generous donation came from but wanted to say a heart felt thank you.
Life after Ironman was strange, it was like falling off a cliff.  No focus, no daily tasks to complete, I felt "lost".  Sure I had plenty of other things to do like spend time with the family, which was great, and run the business but something was missing.  Getting back to training was hard as I "couldn't be bothered" and anyway, what was the purpose?
Many lessons were learned over this period which I will share in due course but I'M BACK!  I've trained over the Xmas break and had a 7am session in the pool this morning that left me feeling great, assuming that means knackered and realising I have a lot of work to do on my swimming.  I have some big challanges lined up to 2011, 2012, 2013, 2104 and will share these shortly.
The highlight of 2010 wasn't completing the Ironman, it was Mr Baldy getting the all clear from his cancer treatment having battled extremely hard.  Let's hope Mr & Mrs Baldy's life will return to normal and he will come through on his promise of training for a novice triathlon!  Now there's a story worth following.