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.