12 months ago Neil was battling his second bout of cancer and wasn't winning at that stage. However he came through and has been training for his FIRST triathlon on Sunday. Tonight I met Neil to go cycling as he was struggling with the gears on the bike. We sorted that out and went for a short cycle over an undulating course where he did well. We discussed his plan for Sunday and I will meet him before his triathlon starts just to make sure he is comfortable. One of the key messages will be about the mental side. You shouldn't think about the full event, you need to break it down i.e. when swimming only think of the swim - don't start worrying about the bike or the run. Follow that through with the other two disciplines. He has raised a fantastic amount of money for "Friends of the Beatson" and when he reaches a dark moment in the race, and he will, this is what he must focus on. You have to know why your putting yourself through this pain. If there's no pain then he's going to slowly or has chosen too short a course!
Tomorrow morning I am swimming 3k in the pool and it's a tough task but if I pace myself correctly it will be achieved. It will be my last long swim before UK 70.3 IM and obviously it is longer than the 1.9k I will be swimming on the day. However it will be open water and I need some more practice in open water as it is quite different. I know I can do it I just need to get more comfortable in the open water before the event.
Thursday 2 June 2011
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