Technique, technique, technique

Very early morning start to drop my son off at school for 6am as he was flying out to Spain this morning for football training.  As the other parents were returning to their beds I headed off to the pool.  None of my tri pals were there so I spent the first 15 minutes warming up in the pool but I could feel my right shoulder with every stroke.  Then one of the ATHelite coaches turned up and he made a few observations and suggested a change in my technique.  It felt odd at first and then I realised I had no more shoulder pain.
Simple body mechanics but not so simple to put into practice.  The ideal thing about this session was I was under no pressure to go fast against the clock or chasing other swimmers to avoid being lapped.  I could swim in slow motion and concentrate on the new technique and feel what was happening.  It will take a long time to make this the norm but now I have the picture in my head I will strive towards it.  Perhaps the message today is that in order to improve you need to get some outside help and then take time out to work on the improvements.  Certainly helped me today - thanks Colin.

London calling

I'm just back from 2 days in London on business.  While there I wasn't able to train but I took the opportunity to rest my sore shoulder from the swimming and spread the word about the new Mission Ironman website - www.missionironman.co.uk .  The feedback has been very positive and the encouragement from everyone I talked to was fantastic.
So many people are following my journey on the blog and have started their own journey which is one of the objectives of Mission Ironman.
Tomorrow I'll be back in the pool and am hoping that with some TLC my shoulder will get over the shock of getting back to swimming.  If over the weekend it is still sore then it will be back to the physio as I don't want to make it any worse.  The good thing about triathlon training is that if you have an injury that prevents you doing one sport, then you can concentrate on the others.  So spread the word re the new website and lets see if we can get the message out to a wider audience.  Thanks for your continued support, it drives me on.

If it doesn't kill you......

Back in the pool tonight, it was hell but it had to be done - man flu or no man flu.  It is always tough getting back in the pool after a lay off and it hurt.  Just before UK 70.3 Ironman I was swimming well and completing 3,000 m was relatively easy.  Tonight I'd be lucky if I completed 1,000 m and had to switch lanes otherwise I'd have held the real swimmers up.
I've a lot of work to do before I will be comfortable back in the pool but there are no short cuts.  I need to continually push myself because in 7 months time I have 2.4 miles to swim followed by 112 miles then a marathon.  So if it doesn't kill you it must make you stronger.

Preparing for Ironman

While suffering from "man flu", and everyone understands how serious that can be,  I was reflecting on my journey over the last 3 years and how this has impacted on how I think and my expectations.
I didn't start out to complete an Ironman, it just seemed to be a natural progression for me.  Fortunately I met people who knew what they were doing and they guided me along the right path.  It's like putting your body (and mind) through a scientific experiment - you are constantly monitoring the effects of your training and nutrition.
Having completed one I am now preparing for the toughest Ironman "where normal limits don't apply" - Lanzarote in May 2012.  I have more knowledge and experience so the next 235 days leading up to the event are going to be interesting as I prepare mind and body.  You see I am not ready for the event now.  If it was tomorrow I wouldn't finish it within the cut off time and would probably end up getting medical attention if not hospitalised.  This type of endurance event requires you to build up your body and continually convincing your mind that you can do it. I understand this process now so when people ask me how can you complete such a long event the answer is simple - you built up to it.  But most importantly it's about believing you can do it even if at this moment in time you couldn't. Now for some more lemsip!

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.