Tick tock tick tock

"Time waits for no man" (or woman or anyone in this PC world!) is such a true phrase.  Last night despite being knackered I had a 10 k run to complete and the objective was to get inside my previous timed 10 k 2 weeks ago.  Having that focus means when I reached the "hill from hell" I grit my teeth (don't know why cause it doesn't make you faster), pump my arms and lift my feet so that I drive up the hill knowing that any slowing down will lead to a poor result - I managed it in just under a minute less!
Then this morning in the pool, after 800 m of drills and warm up, I had six short intervals of 50m to do within a very challenging time, then 6 x 150m on the same time followed by another 6 x 50m on the challenging time.  People were looking at me as I was talking to myself at the end of the lane.  Basically I was reminding myself I was an "Ironman" and get on with it cause that's what we do.  It must have worked 'cause I hit all the targets but without the target in the first place I would have cruised up and down the pool.
When I visit companies in my consultancy capacity it doesn't take long to find the "cruisers" despite some of their best efforts to look busy.  Life and business can be so much more fun if you narrow the focus in certain aspects and right now I'm having a great time even if it is difficult getting up in the morning and not hiding under the covers.

Complacency

This morning at my swim session I had an interesting chat with one of the senior citizens who despite being in his late 60's swims 2 miles a day.  He was telling me he'd been at a chess tournament which didn't have a great level of competitor in comparison to the ones he normally enters.  Despite this he was well and truelly beaten in a number of matches which had knocked his confidence especially as he had a tough tournament coming up.  I explained my 5 step goal planning process and he agreed a stringent review was required as maybe he had mentally lowered his standards due to the level of competition - in short he had been complacent.
I thought about that as I knocked out a very hard session this morning and focused on every stroke as I was against the clock and didn't want to become bored or lazy.  That's the great thing about measuring the various sets, the results never lie so there is no room for complacency!
Tonight I have a 10k on the clock which is to be compared directly against my last one as I wasn't happy with that result.  I'll report back my findings tomorrow.

Brick session

Following a late night today started with an early morning rise to watch my son play football in a cup match. Exciting game which he won despite 2 red cards and a lot of abuse from the oppositions parents - people get really uptight at these games. So when I returned I went out on my bike for 3 lonely hours - the mental side is really important and I just had to "man up" and get on with it. The roads were dodgy with a load of "farmers poo" and mud across the roads but when you're doing 35 mph when you come across it you can leave your own deposit if you get my meaning! This is the start of regular out door long bike rides no matter what the weather as Lanza is approaching.
When I finished I had to run for 20 minutes as this was a brick session I.e. You run immediately off the bike to get your legs used to it. Your brain tells something isn't right as different muscles start to complain. And from now on every time I get off the bike I need to run. After some food I had a power nap in order to help recovery as the last five days have been full on and I was shattered. Early night as I'm in the pool at 7.30 am tomorrow. Goodnight.

Back to training

My schedule last week took account that I was away for two days - they were my rest days!  I'd debate it was a rest but I wasn't training so this morning it was back to training.  In the pool at 7.30 and knocked out 2 x 500m (30 sec rest between), 2 x 400m (20 sec), 2 x 300m (15 sec rest), 100m warm down.  In the next lane was a swimming club and I had to "blank them out" as they were swimming so fast it could have a negative affect on me i.e. how slow I was by comparison.  But I'm not racing them and they aren't preparing for an Ironman, so ignore them.
When I returned home it was out for a 1 hour run.  My coach had me complete this in three different paces, each one getting faster. It was a hilly course but I averaged 7:49 per mile which is my fastest yet and in the right range for my training.  Again I need to work to my targets and plan and not be put off by faster swimmers or runners
Tonight we are having friends round for dinner so there will be some excellent food but I'll need to restrict my wine intake as tomorrow I have a 3 hour bike ride followed by a 20 minute run off the bike which is known as a "brick session".

Promises

Last night at the conference dinner a large number of people sought me out to say how much they had enjoyed my Mission Ironman keynote speech.  It's always nice to have your work praised so thank you to everyone that took the time out to tell me.  What was more important is that everyone had been inspired and as a result set themselves a goal using my five stage goal planner.  Now that's a result and one that can change lives for the better which is an initial success for Mission Ironman.
One person had spoken to me a year ago and had gone away to get fit and lose weight as she was getting married 10 months later.  She'd dropped two dress sizes and was loving her new found fitness.  So the message to everyone who had set a goal, made a promise, is that when they get home there will be an envelope address to them which they completed and inside will be their own five stage goal planner with their hand writing outlining their goal.  Now the hard work starts and they need to follow through with the promise but tell people about your intention because that increases your chances of success.  Enjoy the journey and the results.  Remember a goal without a plan is just a wish.

Mission Ironman delivered

Today was another milestone in that I delivered my first Mission Ironman presentation to an audience at The Belfry in Birmingham. The audience were great and understood the key messages about the journey to ironman from non-athlete, non-swimmer and how this relates to challenges in life and business.  They completed my 5 step plan to goal setting and posted it to themselves so that when they get back to their office there is a reminder of what they want to change and a structure to support the change.
Achieving unbelievable challenges is usually won or lost in the head and we tend to limit ourselves by our thinking.  Mission Ironman is all about overcoming this type of thinking and making the most out of our lives while helping those less fortunate along the way.  Enjoy the journey.

Targets create focus

As I am getting back into my running and with only 99 days to go before I complete a marathon (after the swim and bike) I need to step the mileage up.  So yesterday I ran 12 miles.  I watched my time carefully as this indicates how "run fit" I am and was delighted to average 8 mins per mile on a hilly course.  If I didn't measure it I wouldn't have anything else to go on other than feel which isn't good enough.  After my glutes problem I wasn't surprised that I had some discomfort in the last mile but this went away afterwards.  In the build up I will improve my speed slightly but it's not about getting a fast time on the marathon, it's about putting three hard disciplines together and crossing the line in a respectable time (and in one piece!).
Due to the length of the run I took out a drink and some energy jelly.  Unfortunately at -2 degrees the jelly was not easy to chew so I spent 20 minutes trying to pick it out of my teeth as I ran - another lesson learned!  However in Lanza I will have a different problem with the heat.  That's why I will be testing everything when I am out at the training camp in March as I can't afford that type of problem on race day.