Taking precauions

Before I went cycling yesterday I felt a sore throat coming on but it wasn't too bad.  I wore a muff to keep my neck warm and felt fine while training.  However last night is started to feel worse so today I decided not to train and spend the day indoors to speed up my recovery.  The first objective in training for Ironman is getting to the start line fit and healthy.  So you have got to listen to your body and not take unnecessary chances.
Last year Chrissie Wellington, the 3 times world champion, had to pull out of the world championships due to illness the night before the race.  It can strike at any time and you need to be fully fit for an endurance event.  The timing of this sore throat (which usually develops into "man flu"!) couldn't be better as the serious training doesn't start till October.

Back on the bike

After the Bealach Mor (the hardest cycling event in the UK) my focus switched to running for last weeks run training camp.  This isn't the way I normally train but with single sport events as apposed to triathlon events, this is how you need to approach them.  Last week I used turbo training sessions on the bike to help my legs recover.  Even on Friday I could feel tight calf muscles so running wouldn't have been a good idea.
This morning I went out on the bike with the ATHelite group and although we only did 34 miles I made sure I stayed in the big ring which takes more effort on the hills therefore making me stronger.  There were a few challenging hills on the route so it was a good workout.
I met my coach afterwards to talk about my training plan which starts at the beginning of October and it will start with testing;  a series of swim, bike and run efforts where various measures including my heart rate will be taken to give her a benchmark on which to base my training plan for the next 7 months.  It is essential that we know where we are starting from so we can map the progress and the improvements.  I can't wait to get started but in the meantime will keep my training ticking over as I am still officially "having a break"!

It all went pear shaped!

Generally speaking my day, week and even month is planned out for me so that I can run the businesses while being there for the family and squeezing in my training.  Sometimes the priorities change and the family or the business get squeezed.  But today was a classic.
For various reasons we didn't have enough coverage at the office and my wife went in to cover as I was at a conference.  However I got a call to say her mother had fallen and had to go to hospital so my wife was on her way and I left the conference to cover in the office.  Other events conspired to mean I was changing my schedule every half hour.
Add to that I needed to fit in a training session and I was struggling.  But you have to make the best of a bad situation so I squeezed in a 30 minute turbo session which did me a lot of good based on the stress levels.  The point I want to make is sometimes events overtake our plans and we need to adapt rather than feel sorry for ourselves.  In an Ironman event it is almost guaranteed to happen and when it does you have to make the best of your circumstances and get on with it.  If you have an issue with 20 miles to go then get over it as the distance doesn't get any less when you moan about it.  Oh and my Mother-in-law is recovering fine from her broken wrist.

Setting targets

David Walliams recently swam 140 miles down the Thames.  Impressive considering the sewage he had to swim through and he raised £1m for his efforts.  Most people wouldn't consider anything like this but spare a though for Charlie Whittmack - never heard of him have you?  He completed a "world triathlon" which involved swimming the length of the Thames and the Channel in fact the swim was 275 miles.  He then cycled more than 8,875 miles across Europe and Asia to Nepal.  To complete the journey he ran (and hiked) 950 miles to the Bay of Bengal and finished by climbing Mount Everest!  Not bad for a lawyer and it all started as a wee boy's dream.
It just goes to show that we can achieve anything we set our mind to.  The biggest limiter is our own mind so we must learn to challenge it and the more we do, the more we will achieve.  So well done David Walliams and Charlie Whittmack and everyone who set a stretching target and achieved or even exceeded it.  You're a long time dead to let's make the most of the opportunity we have.

Active recovery

After an endurance event there are effects.  By covering almost 40 miles running at the weekend my legs would normally be sore but having stepped up to this mileage from almost no running in the last 6 weeks, something was going to protest big style!  It was my quads and calf muscles which meant I had to walk down stairs side ways and ease myself out of chairs.  Like a Thunderbird puppet!
It was similar after Ironman last year so I knew what to expect and more importantly what to do.  So tonight after work and domestic taxi duties, I went on my turbo trainer and did 30 minutes of high cadence spinning.  This helps "flush" out the lactic acid that has built up and should speed up the recovery.
Tomorrow will be difficult as I am spending 8 hours in the car so I will probably need to stretch when I get home.  A swim in Wednesday morning and I should be as good as new.  I am still technically "resting" before I start my Ironman programme on 1 October but need to tick over until then.

Trossachs training camp

As predicted - it hurt!  On Friday we did a wee warm up run in the rain - 6 miles including cross country up mountain tracks.  On Saturday morning, in the rain, we ran 9 miles and in the afternoon, in the rain, we did "efforts" over 6.5 miles.  I was feeling stiff and sore but doing all the right things to make sure I'd be able to walk by Sunday when we did our main run.  It was scheduled for 16 miles (yes 16!) but a wrong turn meant it was 17.88 miles!  The scenery was unbelievable and it stayed dry although our feet did get wet as again a lot of it was cross country going up and down hills on mountain tracks or paths.  I finished strong on the last run and was delighted with my performance as I had only run 3 times in the last month, as the focus was on the bike, and the runs were short distances.
I am now walking like a Thunderbird puppet and it will take me a few days to manage walking downstairs without going side ways.  However it just goes to show what the body can do if you can control the "negative voice" in your head - some may say the voice of reason (why are you running when it hurts it kept saying?).
Tomorrow I'll spin my legs on the turbo trainer for 30 minutes to help get rid of the lactic acid.  In the meantime a couple of glasses of wine are in order after my 3 pints of water to make sure I remained hydrated!

Busy day

Yesterday was an 18 hour day.  I had organised a client lunch at the Riverside Museum and had a guest speaker fly up from London.  We were also doing some filming for our website so the pressure was on to make sure everything went on schedule - which it did.  Afterwards Fiona & I went out for dinner with some of our clients but it was a very relaxed evening with good food, fine wine and good company.  It's nice to show off Glasgow and all it has to offer and today they are travelling to Loch Lomond so lets hope it keeps dry!
My punishment for over loading on the liquid carbs will come later today when I have my first run in a three day running camp in the Trossachs. The forecast doesn't look too clever and staying in a hostel in dorms could be interesting - more noisy and smelly than interesting actually.  I'll report back on Sunday but, other than the dehydration I'm feeling, think this is going to hurt!