Busy, busy

It's a busy time but I still managed my 5.40 porridge and 7am swim.  Today was a 500m warm up and then 5 x 400m with a 1 minute rest in between.  Tough session but you feel great (relieved) when you get out the water.  Off to sit in a 7 mile tail back to Glasgow, then a 1.5 hour workshop on tax avoidance schemes.  Just popping out to replace some of the calories burned before another 1 hour technical session - the day you stop learning your dead (in my view)! Then I can start work!
I am often asked where do you find the time?  Get up an hour early and spend less time sitting on my bum watching telly is the answer.  Oh and a very supportive wife that makes everything else happen!  Off to London for a couple of days but I have booked into a hotel with a gym and a pool - can't let the regime slip.

Feeling good

Perhaps it was just the time of year that made me feel so tired and lethargic but an early night and I was up at 5am ready to go.  A quick hours work and off to the pool.  500m warm up, then a pyramid session; 100,200,300,400,300,200,100 with the first half of the distance easy and the second half hard e.g. 100 breaks down into 50m easy / 50m hard.  I have to admit doubting I could do it and although I was the slowest out of the group I got there.  Back tomorrow for what they call "efforts" - it's all an effort to me so I don't know what they are talking about!

Lazy day

Left at 8.45am to take my son to Kelvinhall as he was competing in 800m event.  Considering his lack of training with the bad weather he did well.  However I couldn't muster the energy to train myself and the roads and pavements were too icy to consider running.  So took a rest but need to get back on the bike.  In the pool at 7am tomorrow.  Hope you all faired better with your goals this weekend?

Had enough of the white stuff!

This is getting to be a pain.  4 inches of snow so restricted training to a turbo session.  Worked up a sweat but rather suspect getting the car out the drive may be a bigger effort, even with a "quattro" system - but the kids want fed!  Thank you for all the emails, and posts, telling me about your goals for 2011.  Remember if you make it public then it helps you achieve them!
Mr Baldy is checking with the doctors if he is allowed to go swimming due to the risk of infection.  If the answer is yes then game on, the training for his novice triathlon will be starting soon....what a man, watch this space.

Quality time

In 9 weeks time I am off to Lanzarote with some real cyclists for a hard week of training.  It will be nice to ride on some smooth roads but I need to get into shape for this intensive training or it will be hell.  Since Ironman I have hardly been on my bike and I am certainly not venturing out on the icy pot holed roads here so I have to make do with the turbo trainer.  I was scheduled to train tonight but with my wife at a yoga course, one son socialising and another at football I decided to have some father / daughter time and we went out for a chinese.  Excellent company, fantastic food and I promise I'll put in an extra hard session tomorrow to make up for it - honest!  It pays to give your body a rest sometimes and life is too short to miss such an opportunity.

One Life. Live it.

One life. Live it.  This was the sign I saw on the back of a jeep today - fantastic.  Busy day driving to Manchester and back so I will have a light training session in the pool tonight as I help my son prepare for his Lifeguard award.  Unfortunatley he takes his swimming style from me but he wants to achieve this award as it will be good on his CV plus it's handy to have as he wants to work in sports development when he leaves school / college. 
Remember those days when you had the freedom to choose the direction you wanted to go in? You still can.  My motto is "want it, plan it, work it, do it".  The "it" is personal to you.  For me other than the challange of bringing up a family, having quality time with my wife and running a successful business I have a few goals for 2011/12.  The main goal is in May 2012, Lanzarote Ironman - one of the toughest in the world due to the terrain (hilly), the temparature (35 degrees) and the wind (30 mph).  This will be a good guage for my 2013 - 2014 goals which culminate in Marathon Des Sables - a 6 day, 151 mile endurance race across across the Sahara Desert - that should raise a few £s for charity!  Is it possible?  Time will tell but anything is possible if you put your mind to it.  One life. Live it.

Back to work

We always start the new year off with the best of intentions but the hard bit is keeping them going.  As I drove to the swimming at 6.30am this morning the radio adverts were all about losing weight, giving up smoking etc etc followed by the sad news that Gerry Rafferty (Baker Street) died at 63 - I think I'll stop listening to the news.  A short innings but a reminder to make the most of it - well perhaps not as much as he did!  So I put an extra effort into my 500m warm up, 15 x 100m intervals, 200m kick drill and 100m warm down.  A pint of chocolate milk and two bananas and I'm ready to start 2011 - start off the way you mean to go on, enjoy.