A bit of a booster

On Monday I had the opportunity to give a short presentation on the psychology of sport to fellow members of Manchester Cross Country Ski Club.  Since cross-country  skiing is a very technical discipline (in the same way that swimming is)I chose to cover a few studies on skill acquisition and also somethings on mental toughness and anxiety.  I used examples of endurance athletes from other sports - Chrissie Wellington, Lizzy Hawker, Jason Louttit to name a few.  It's interesting listening to their strategies for coping with the stress associated with enduring effort and how much importance they attribute to the mental aspect of their sports.  Got me all motivated again!

Baby steps...

Pressure of work is starting to relent, so training is picking up again.  Running and cycling are going well, albeit steadily, but I need to concentrate more on swimming if I am to hit the goals I set myself to achieve before Christmas.  I had the opportunity to cycle from Penrith back to Preston last weekend, so chose to go over Shap, as I'd never done it before.  Although never steep, the first 16 miles is virtually all uphill, and the top of Shap is a wild place in the wind and rain!  I ended up doing around 75 miles and should have tagged on an extra loop somewhere as I was planning to do at least 85, but a distinct lack of mental toughness and the thought of a warm shower meant I headed straight home.  I've been doing some nice trail running with Tri Preston recently - much better than plodding on the roads.  The new inserts I'm using to sort out my hip and knee problems seem to be working well - thanks Emily!  The plan between now and Xmas is to hit my main goals and to up the volume. 

Where's my mojo?

Not a good week.  Started with being busy at work, but totally lost sight of my training plan, goals and broke all of my self-imposed rules.  So I had a good talk to myself over the weekend and reminded myself of why I'm doing this.  So back on it this week and I'm determined to get a few of my interim goals ticked off in the next couple of weeks.  Although I didn't do much training this week, I did have a bit of an adventure.  Out mountain-biking with some friends yesterday, we came across a horse that had obviously thrown it's rider.  Light was fading so we ended up calling 999 to call out a search for the missing person.  Luckily in our group of riders we had a horse rider, a special constable and an ex-mountain rescue team member, so we coped with the incident fairly competently.  Luckily we came across the rider, so no real harm done, although we did end up finishing our route in the dark, with no lights.  PS If you think you can ride your own bike while holding another one, while someone walks a horse off the hill - you can't!

Life gets in the way....

A mix of a heavier than  usual workload and illness, meant that the last two weeks have had vastly reduced training volumes, with really only some running being recorded as decent training.  I find that there is a relationship between my attitude to exercise/general sense of well being, my diet and my fitness.  If one of these slips, the other two quickly follow and I get on a vicious circle of decline.  So, when work gets heavy, I get tired, eat the wrong things and then don't train properly.  Luckily I was able to re-invigorate myself with a trip to the Alps, with some friends from the tri club over the weekend.  Two lovely trail runs in the high mountains, in glorious autumn weather, plus a surprise opportunity to swim in an open water 50M pool.  Now back in the groove and looking forward to a good week of training.  Weight and body fat % continue to drop steadily (I'm averaging about 0.5kg a week, which is in line with expectations, although there is lots blubber to go at!!).  I am enjoying my training at the moment - it's nice not to be too hard on myself and just focus on losing weight and regaining a base level of  endurance, but I do need to balance that with a more structured programme of steady increase in distances.  Hopefully this week should be a good one and will be topped off with a small reward of going mountain biking in Wales, on the Marin Trail - one of my favourites.

A hard week

I'm still staying mainly in Zone 1 to do my training, but tried to increase the volume a bit this week.  My goal was to do four standard distance tris in the gym.  I ended up doing three plus another swim and a long bike (somewhat curtailed by bad weather, tired legs and a puncture!).  I felt quite fatigued by the end of the week, but although I didn't hit my original goal, I'm pleased with what I got done.  (For more on the difference between 'Goals' and 'Standards of Performance' read our blog enthiostraining.blogspot.com and look for a post called 'Putting the M in SMART'.  The main thing I learned this week was where my limits start to lie in Zone 1 training.  Seems after about 4 hours I start to fatigue, at present.  I'm also starting to gauge the balance a bit better between nutrition and effort, although this still needs refinement.   (Not much weight dropped this week, about 0.5Kg, but it continues to fall.  I've not monitored my calorie intake as closely as I should have).

Highlight of the week was a night ride on mountain bikes, with a friend from the tri club, Jo Mc Williams.  She wanted to test her new lights so we had a quick trip up Rivington Pike in the dark on a windy night.  Managed to get the bikes going sideways in the wind at one point.  Overall a good week and some progress made.  The main thing is not to get impatient and to build gradually.

Rules of Engagement

At the start of this crazy adventure I wrote down some guidelines for myself that I thought would maximise my chances of maintaining commitment to this challenge.  Some are based on previous experience (things that have worked for me in the past), others are based on psychological theory while others are more aspirational - things I need to practise as part of my preparation.  They aren't meant to be hard-and-fast rules, more guides to keep me heading in the right direction.  Here they are:

1. Always finish what I start (Learn to endure and persevere).
2. The weather is part of training and never an excuse to do nothing!
3. Consistency is key.
4. Build gradually and build on success.
5. Whatever I may be thinking or feeling, the task remains the same (1 more stroke, pedal turn or step).
6. Keep a sense of adventure.
7. Do my training early in the day.
8. Be realistic in the goals I set along the way.
9. Keep my eyes on the prize, yet focus on the present.
10. Review progress, be objective and specific in the conclusions I draw.
11. Be internally focused - this is my challenge.  (It doesn't matter what other people are doing or saying).
12. This is a whole-life event.
13. Have multiple reasons for doing this.
14. It's in the decisions I make moment to moment in everything I do.

I guess some of these may require further explanation, which I will cover in future blogs.  So far they seem to be working for me, although Number 7 is proving problematical at the moment!

Week 3 - progress

There is a book called 'The Celestine Prophecy' by James Refield, the basic tenet of which is that if you commit to something then lots of little coincidences occur that will help you reach your goal.  You just need to stay attuned to the messages that surround you.  So it was this week, as I managed to pick up a few contacts that might help me organise the Deca.  Can't say too much at the moment, as I haven't approached the people concerned, but here's hoping.  A good training week last week.  I'm still taking it steady but gradually increasing the volume.  Weight continues to fall, but not helped by a weeked binge (big jammy cream scone during a lovely bike ride with friends, then dinner out with more friends in the evening).  Had my first thirst pangs for alcohol too, but managed to resist.  I'm  now looking for a few adventures/races to keep the training interesting between now and Christmas.

Week 2 - setbacks and learning

A bit of a slow week this week.  Much of this was due to workload, which was not only heavier than usual but took me to several locations around the UK.  However, if I'd managed to get up early instead of lounging around in bed, I would have got a lot more training done!   Only managed around 8 hours training this week, with virtually no cycling, which wasn't good.

Finished the week with my first competitive open water swim this year, taking part in the 1 mile event at The Great Scottish Swim, Strathclyde Park.  Very cold for the first ten minutes, but I took a nice steady pace and got round the course without too much trouble, albeit in a slow time. 

As a source of inspiration, check out Elizabeth Hawker - a virtually unknown GB athlete who is an awesome endurance racer:

http://www2.thenorthface.com/sa/athletes/athletes-EH.html

I saw her compete in her winning run on the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc this year and 4 weeks later she has just beaten all-comers in a gruelling 24 hour race.  There's much I could learn from her in keeping going despite weather, pain and suffering! 

On the plus side, weight continues to drop.

First week over

So, the first week of proper training is over and first challenge completed.  I'd set myself the task of doing 5 sprint distance triathlons in the gym (at a nice easy pace!).  Really, it was just to get back into the discipline of training again.  This went remarkably well, considering the lack of training in last 12 months.  The fourth one was bit of an ordeal as I'd eaten less than 300 calories before starting, so 'bonked' on the run.  I ended up having to do it as set of intervals!  On the spur of the moment, I finished the week by entering the British Heart Foundation 'Midnight Ride' from Manchester to Blackpool.  It seemed like a good opportunity to have an experience of riding through the night.  It was a hugely enjoyable experience, if a bit cold and wet, but that was all forgotten with a bowl of hot porridge at the finish line.  Did the 52 miles in 3h 5min, which I was quite pleased with, mostly because I held a steady pace throughout, so there must be a little bit of fitness in there!  Now suffering from a lack of sleep.  (Weight now down to just over 82 kg, so progress is being made!).  It's going to be harder to train this week, as I've a heavy workload which is also taking me away from home.

Total hours training 11h 30min approx.

My first discovery

Well, started training in earnest yesterday.  After a year off from 'proper' training, I'm starting easy, with a series of gentle sprint distance tris in the gym. My main focus is to lose weight initially, and build a base level of fitness again.  I'm ashamed to say that the stats show I'm currently 84kg and 23% body fat!!  How did I get like this?  Too much food and a lot of studying is the answer.  Last time I had my VO2 max measured it was around 55, so lots of work to do before Xmas.  I'm not going to focus on any speed or performance measures at the moment, just on losing weight and building base fitness.

And my first discovery?  'Doing the Deca' seems to be a search term used by body builders who are using a particular 'stacking' regime for steroid intake.  Just for the record I am TOTALLY OPPOSED to drug taking in sport, although having studied it as part of my Sports Psychology Masters, I can understand how people get to the point where they do it.  It's still dirty and wrong though, and nothing to do with what my personal project is about!

Taking the plunge

It's the first day of my training for Deca Ironman - 38Km of swimming, 1800Km of cycling with 422Km of running to finish.  Right now it feels crazy and impossible, but that's why we set ourselves these goals - to test ourselves and to see what lies beyond our limits.  I'll be putting up posts as my training progresses, but this first post is a way of building my own commitment to the project.  Not having done anything like this before, I've decided to train up until Christmas, set myself a few goals between now and then and, at that point, if my fitness and commitment are sufficiently strong I'll make a decision on whether the Deca is a realistic goal for me.  I already know that support is going to be a big factor for me, so your company on the journey will be appreciated and I hope you enjoy reading my blog.