Be at your best

My family has been through a challenging 2009, various members of it have found themselves in hospital. After a prolonged spell trying to fight off a bad case of pneumonia my Grandad passed away. In his mid 80's he just didn't seem to have much fight left, he passed away peacefully having the day before said his good bye's to his son and daughter. It's been a difficult time for my Dad and his Sister. Traditionally families have been really close geographically, times have changed and with Grandad living 125 miles from Dad visiting was made quite difficult. I think losing the old style family network certainly makes tough times tougher.

Since the New Year Dad has somehow (it's cause is still unknown) become quite ill with an ear problem known as Labyrinthitis. After a deliberating few months he was making great progress getting back to his active lifestyle. Last Monday he had another far worse attack, collapsing and as a result he currently finds himself in Milton Keynes Hospital. After a difficult few days he now seems to be making good progress and should shortly be home. Then it will be a really slow build up. That's the difficult part. Dad is a sportsman, he played competitive football into his early50's, he continues to race his bikes, last year for his 60th Birthday he nailed 207 miles in his first 24hr Time Trial, he coaches football to 30 odd children every Saturday morning in his village, and coaches junior school sport each afternoon at Swanbourne House School. However, take it easy he must if he is to get back to full fitness and his busy lifestyle. You'll be back soon Dad, keep setting and achieving those goals.

Dad being 150 miles away has meant I have not been able to get down to see him yet. On the phone all he wanted to talk about was how my training was going. He didn't want me to visit, just wanted to make sure I didn't miss my key training sessions. I know he is as excited as I am regarding Lanzarote. He was with me when I raced IMUK and during IM Switzerland he couldn't let me have all the fun, so between following my progress of the Internet he slipped in a 100 odd mile bike ride. With that in mind I made sure I made the most of this weeks training.

I wanted to recover from last weeks 15 hours, and Sunday's big brick session, so settled for 3 really solid key sessions. Session 1 was a swim. For those that know me you'll be a little concerned by my swim volume, 'overdoing it' some may shout. This was swim session number 4. I settled for a nice even paced 6 x 500m and felt strong.

Thursday I ran long. Bouncing along the canal tow path I felt really comfortable. I wondered if my Garmin was struggling to find a satellite signal when it consistently bleeped out low 8min mile pace. Feeling great I turned at 8 miles and decided to aim to even pace it or negative split the return journey. Not quite bouncing I ran up the drive for a tremendous 16 mile run in 2.07, averaging 7.57 min/mile. To say I was happy would be an understatement. Sarah was working so Ellie and Evie got the brunt of my excitement and happiness. I collected them from nursery and we called in to Frankie and Bennies for Chocolate Ice Cream Sundae's :)

That then leads me to Sunday's session. The final brick session with big session training hunters and great friends Tom and Helen. When I ride the bike I like to stick it in a gear and bang out consistent power and heart rate, hence my excitement for sessions on the A168 (see previous blog) Sunday's ride however was totally different. Tom had decided on a very hilly 425m of climbing per 13.7 mile loop, followed by a long run. I was a little nervous of such a hilly route, and one where there was no one section to relax and tick along. However, I knew I was strong and going well on the bike and thought I'd try to make the hills as comfortable as possible and work the descents that I could (some were too fast and technical to pedal) hoping to match Tom on each lap. Lap 1 was eventful, my saddle bag with spare Tub, tools and cO2 canisters decided today would be a good day to snap off. I stopped picked it up stuffed it down my jersey and watched Tom fly past me on a descent, I somehow managed to empty the bits into my pockets and stay in contact with Tom, good start. Lap 2 was fine except for the wet road descending Norwood Edge. Tom flew past me again as I descended like a cowardly idiot. I'm not great at descending given that I rarely get the chance to practice and the wet roads had messed with my mind. I blurted out some words of disgust at the crappy wet roads to Tom as I caught him up. To which he replied 'it's really not that bad, it could be wet in Lanzarote, just relax'. Good call, a kick up the arse, it did the trick and on the next 3 laps I got my self sorted and come down hill pretty quickly. On the climbs I felt strong, and across the top section with a huge head wind I felt in control pushing out a solid cadence and good speed. We had planned 6 laps, however at the start of lap 5 I started to get a few twinges of cramp in my quads. This I put down to the severity of the climbing, and the changing demands from out of the saddle climbing to head down big gear mashing. So I decided that 5 good laps would be better than a 6th where I leave myself out on the road. I was really pleased with my even paced riding, and felt good as I dismounted, put the bike in the car and set off for the run. We set up another 1/2 mile out and back, along a quiet flat lane. Ticking along nicely I felt super. At this stage Richard Leake from the Tri Club joined me, he was on his bike and happy to roll along beside me chatting away. Thanks Richard the company was great. I'd done 6 miles when Helen rocked up, and she joined us. The miles went by at a quick rate and I was still feeling good. Tom rolled into town, looking pretty smashed, he'd lost his head with 2 laps to go, but managed to get through it. Lose his head he might off but he hadn't lost his run legs, he knocked out 20 solid miles at 7.23min/mile pace, awesome stuff. I called it a day still feeling good at 14 miles for an average pace of 8.39 min/mile. Helen went on to run 20, great stuff. That was the end of another massive session. Big thanks to Tom and Helen, another big brick session, done individually but totally together out there, encouraging and pushing each other on, just what it's all about :)

Not only do I feel as fit and strong as I ever have, I am extremely positive going into the final 3 weeks before race day. I said many weeks ago that I wanted I get plenty of Ironman specific sessions in. I have definitely achieved that. I am feeling strong and controlled in the pool, very comfortable with the distance and clear in my mind that I can ride hard on the bike, and confident that I can knock out a steady run pace. Into the final couple of weeks and that's a great feeling.

Today's photo is of my Garage wall, race numbers, training sessions and inspirational images of Chris Hoy et al. What you can't see is what's written on the mirror for me to see whenever I lift weights or get ready for a training session. It simple say's,

Saturday 23rd May, Be at your best.

I know I am going to be.....