Mind games

Isn't our brain a wonderful thing? It seems to contain a wee voice in our head that constantly talks to us. Usually it is critical or full of reasons why you can't do something and this is a daily challenge, even to someone as positive as me. This morning was a perfect example. I was in my yoga class and being pushed hard. At times I though my muscles were going to snap but my teacher kept telling me that if I breathed then the oxygen would help the muscle stretch. In the meantime my brain was screaming at me to stop. Nothing snapped. It got worse when I went upside down, that really confused me but again the voice kept giving me negative feedback. "Just breath Derek" I was being told - so I did. The mind plays games with you and this kind of practise is going to be good for the desert when my mind and body are telling me I can't go on any longer. But if I can breath and silence my mind then I will have the best chance of achieving the seamingly impossible and that's worth working hard for. It will be relentless with 5.5 marathons over 7 days carrying a 10kg rucksack, and in the end, ignoring the false signals and focusing on breathing to feed the muscles will get me there. Why not try working on your breathing when you feel under stress? It's a great way to relax. Have fun.

Lovely nails!

When my alarm went off at 5.45am I thought I was dreaming. It was pitch black and silent the other side of the curtains and I really didn't feel like getting up. But I had to so that I could get in 20 minutes of yoga followed by porridge which would give it 1 hour to digest before swimming. In the pool I worked on keeping my legs closer together and I thought my times were ok till I checked my watch - even slower than last week! 4 x 500m was my session but I mustn't get dispondent about the time because I am not training enough to warrent a better time. I am only there to ease my legs from the running and that it did. Tonight a "foot doctor" came and checked out my feet and toe nails. They got a nice filing and any calluses were reduced with a scapel. I've been advised to put moisturising cream on my feet twice a day to get them in good shape for the desert. I know it all sounds like I'm getting in touch with my feminine side, but this is all to help me survive in the desert. If your feet aren't properly prepared the it will be a very painful and perhaps short adventure in the sand pit! It would also be a waste of all my fitness training so my feet are now a priority!

The Red carpet

After a week of rain we've had the most wonderful autumnal weekend. Yesterday I went out on the bike for 2.5 hours. I haven't done that in a long time and I really enjoyed the feeling in my legs. Cycling keeps my fitness up while giving the legs a bit of a rest - but not too much. You're using different muscles which keeps a balance as too much of either discipline can cause problems which I have experienced before. My pals had gone out earlier so I was on my own for the ride. Again I didn't use my Garmin and just went on feel. It felt good. Then I had to clean the bike due to all the muck on the farm roads because of the previous weeks rain. It was filthy. This morning the sun was shining brightly in the blue sky and I headed out for a 14.4 mile trail run. My ultra running pals were either exhausted from a race the day before or hungover from the night before or both - they train hard, race hard and play hard. So it was Derek no mates again. The trail is tough with it's constant ups and down but the scenery makes up for it. At one part there was a red carpet of leaves , absolutely stunning. I lost my water bottle on the first lap and decided that I would continue and treat this as "desert dehydration training". Fortunately I found it on the 2nd lap as running for 2 hrs 13 mins with no hydration isn't advisable. Now I'm home and resting so I can start again tomorrow.

Improvement

The last few days I have noticed some aches in my ankles and have put this down to increased mileage on trails i.e. uneven ground. So a trip to the sports mausseuse Grant this afternoon was, painful. But a good kind of pain. It's been too long since my last visit but the yoga has kept me going. Grant was impressed by the greater range in movement in my ankles and again this is as a direct result of my yoga. That's the first time in 3 years that I have seen a marked improvement of that nature and that encourages me to go keep going with the yoga. I went out for an early morning run with my swimming pal in the dark and pouring rain but he developed a stitch so we cut it short. But this will act as a warm up for a tough weekend of distance running!

It's a drag

Swimming was never my strong point and as I stirred at 5.10am I realised I would be getting up in an hour for my swim session. At 6.10 I was thinking of every reason I could to stay in bed but then I remembered I'd have to report back to you in the blog. That's one of the reasons I write the blog almost daily as it keeps me going when the motivation is weak. So into the pool for 4 x 500m and I had to drag my ass up and down the lane whilst getting passed by an excellent swimmer and fellow triathlete on a frequent basis. He made it look so easy that didn't help my frame of mind as my times got slower with each 500m. But being realistic I can't swim once a week and expect to see improvement. It's not my priority but is there to help my legs recover from the running. So tomorrow I will bury that swimmer when I take him out running and later on will suffer at the hands of the sports masseuse. With all the running I expect there will be a few sensitive points, you'll probably hear me screaming!

Key session

When I was training for Ironman Lanzarote I realised that there were key sessions which you "banked" and they paid off on race day. But you must complete them. Today I had a key session. After 1.5 hours of wonderful yoga which keeps pushing me to new limits, I came home and rested in anticipation of what was to follow. The weather was awful with the rain hammering down so I waited till the afternoon when it wasn't as heavy. I had ran 14 miles on the road on Saturday and 10 miles trail running on Sunday. So I had miles in my legs and wanted to push it further. So I went out in the rain and completed a 14.5 mile trail run. Not a huge run but the important aspects were; I was on my own so tougher mentally; the trail is up and down and the weather made it difficult and heavy under foot; my legs had covered 24 miles in 3 days so it wasn't going to be easy. The session was a success and it's important to put in mentally and physically tough sessions. In 3 months time I won't regard this as a tough session as I'll be running with a weighted rucksack but at this stage of my training, it was important. As I sit and recover watching the footie I realise that my legs feel great. But a sports massage would be wise in the next couple of days. The yoga is really working at keeping me injury free and today I did my first headstand! Chuffed to bits.

Bike fit

A weeks holiday at home with the family and the chance time to relax, spend quality time with them and train. So today I went out on my bike for the first time in 7 weeks. I had no Garmin, no targets in mind, I just wanted to spin my legs after all the running. It was also the first time I had ridden my bike since the bike fit and what a difference it made. My quads felt great. The scenery was amazing in a crisp autumn day but I stopped to take a photo and when I started again I was freezing! It was great to be out on the bike but my bike fitness has gone. No worry there as this will improve when I started my turbo training this week. Tomorrow I have my 6.30am yoga which will be followed by a couple of hours trail run. I feel so good just now, I'm loving it!