it's the thought of it!

If you're like me then sometimes "it's the thought of it" that puts you off - whatever "it" may be.  This morning "it" was leaving the sanctuary of my nice warm bed as, if my nose was anything to go by, the heating hadn't come on and it was cold.  The temptation was so great to just shut off the 6am alarm and turn over but I force my legs out of the bed and yes, the heating hadn't come on.
Did I fancy going out to minus something and run for an hour - no I didn't.  But this is why you need to have a good reason to do it because it's on mornings like this that you need to remind yourself why you have undertaken this challenge.  Wrapped up with hat, buff and gloves I turned to climb the hill, always a bad start, and within 100 metres my eyes were watering and by the top of the hill I had lost the sensation in my pinkies.  30 minutes later I was warmed up and enjoying the breath taking views of a star lit sky - sunrise was an hour away.  I ran passed the early morning commuters with stress all over their faces and realised how lucky I am being able to run at this time in the morning.  Back home and showered before the kids are up and ready to face a new day.
Turbo session tonight which will be tough but it should also help my legs after today's run.  Then 3km swim in the morning before joining the commuters heading into Glasgow.  At least I'll feel refreshed.  Why not get out of bed an hour early and go for a walk or run - it's the best part of the day and you're missing it!  It will set you up for the day.

Preparation

A heavy schedule today with the main sessions being 1 hours turbo session early morning and a 1 hr 15 min swim session tonight.  Going across to the "sweat studio" at 6.30am wasn't nice but within 5 minutes I started to heat up.  By the end of the hour there is a pool of sweat under the bike - great start to the day.
I was searching for some video clips to use for my Mission Ironman conference talk when I came across the swim start in Lanzarote Ironman. 1,600 people all rushing into the sea at the same time - it was a free for all punch up.  It just reaffirmed my belief that I wont be taking the risk of getting wiped out before the race starts, which does happen with the feet and fists flying.
Preparation is vital hence the reason I am going to Lanzarote in March for a weeks training so I can learn the bike course.  It's important to know when the extra effort is required so I can take the "fuel" on before I get there.  Preparation can make the difference between success and failure so must be taken seriously.

Back with a bang

This is the first of three hard weeks training.  It started with a 2,900 m swim including 16 x 100m timed efforts.  After a week of light training this felt tough and my times had slipped.  Later on I went for a 50 minute run at three different paces and felt good.  The temperature was low at zero degrees but it was a lovely crisp winters night.  Tomorrow the forecast is for snow but fortunately all my training is indoors; turbo, core, swimming and stretching.  With the training increasing my diet is going to have to change and my intake increase.  I will probably have to take food into the office so I can eat more regular but smaller meals. Yum!

Camera, lights, action

Although I am on a rest weekend I needed to take part in filming my "indoor" training yesterday.  This resulted in me going flat out on the turbo trainer to get the effect of the heat coming off me and the sweat dripping off me - looks good on camera.  However I wasn't expecting these shots to take 31 mins so it was a great workout on  my rest day.
With the snow on the ground the director decided it would be good to do the weights outside.  Again when filming the bench press the number of takes exceeded my expectations so I had a big weights workout.  The purpose of the filming is to make a short promotion video for my Mission Ironman conference speaking (www.missionironman.co.uk) and next Sunday I will be swimming in Loch Lomond as well as cycling and running.  This will give a snapshot into Ironman training.
My new schedule starts tomorrow and the endurance is building in all disciplines.  My weights and core sessions reduce by one each but three stretching sessions have been introduced to keep the muscles flexible as they will shorten and tighten with the longer sessions.  My wife is designing a yoga workout for me which should keep me right - can't wait to get started.

Snowed off!

Early morning saw the Loch Lomond swim being cancelled due to the snow.  It's one thing getting into a freezing loch for some great filming but if everything is grey due to a low cloud base it's not worth the risks!  So filming was postponed and I locked myself away to do some writing for the business.  Writing newsletters or papers are time consuming but you need time away from the office to tune into the task.  I also took the time to make some changes to the website and add some new videos.  If you have a spare moment go to www.strategicassetmanagers.co.uk and see SAM grill some leading fund managers!
I've just finished 1 hour on the turbo and now have 2 days off training, except for stretching, until the hard schedule starts on Monday.  The intensity is increasing as you'd expect and the next 3 months are going to be tough but that's the only way you can survive an Ironman competition.  My focus is getting ready for the weeks training in Lanza in March so plenty of work to be done.  It's good to have something to aim for.

The benefit of rest

It's one thing having a schedule to focus as it gets results but at the same time you need to be prepared to change if necessary.  Yesterday was that day and I am so glad I listened to my body which was asking for a rest - even on an easy week!  So when I got up to swim this morning I felt refreshed and my legs, which were the main source of tiredness, felt good.  This led to a very productive swim session this morning.  It wasn't a long swim, just 1,900m, but it was interval training against the watch and I was able to work on my technique at the same time.  I left the pool knowing I had worked out but wasn't shattered.
This recovery will help when I am filming tomorrow for a short promo video for my Mission Ironman conference speaking as I will be open water swimming in Loch Lomond!  Should be challenging as today snow is forecast.  Once my digits have thawed out I'll report back.

Interesting day

I attended a workshop today where everyone had completed a behavioural profile and we worked through them with a facilitator which was illuminating.  I have some experience in this field but it does no harm to get a fresh perspective on the most important person to you. i.e. you!  It fascinates me that we do have differences which result in different approaches which is why we are all individuals driven by different things.  It's understanding these differences and getting the best out of people that really interests me and Mission Ironman is all about helping people exceed their capability which is only limited by their mind.
Later on I went for my regular sports massage which was unpleasant / painful, but absolutely necessary.  Following the heavy week last week my legs were in need of "the treatment" and as a result I won't be training tonight as they need to recover.  I can get away with this as it's my easy week and it will mean I am ready to tackle 3 hard weeks starting on Monday.