The road to Ironman is a long one, and it is a long time to maintain focus and drive. When the goal is so far in the future it can be too easy to find justification to take the relax.
I've known for a while that my program would begin in earnest is August but there was always plenty of time.
It comes as a bit of a rude shock that we are now at the end of July. The road I've been on since I first took to the sport of triathlon has always had a steady positive gradient to it, now things are set to get a little grippy (to quote the great Paul Sherwen) From here on the sessions will get progressively longer and it be all the more important to remain consistent with them.
Looking back over the earlier phases of my training this year I can be happy that I have made some decent head-way. My running has always been my weakest discipline but I am now running consistently well; I am swimming fairly solidly and cycling has always been my strength. More recently however, various illnesses and injuries (seldom my own) have meant that I have been missing training. The Tour de France and its inconvenient late night live coverage also conspired to make early morning sessions impossible. Once off the wagon, it can be difficult to get back on.
So, as we transition into the real conditioning phase of the workload I find I am trying to find my training mojo again and hoping that I've done enough base work to enable me to roll with it.
It won't be long before these questions are answered either, this weekend is the Long Course camp in Apollo Bay. On the menu for the two days is over 200km of cycling in the hills and 30 km of running on tired legs.
Fortunately, I'll be in some familiar territory as it will be my third trip to the region and, though definitely tough, the terrain has been manageable. At a recent evening run session, Coach Ollie called me "a diesel" based upon my ability to put my head down and just keep going. In the past this trait has enabled me to get through the long endurance events and training days. It is also this trait I've been banking on to get me safely though the days in the hills of Apollo Bay. Later in the same evening, Ollie hinted at his intentions for me when he stated that I "can't be a diesel all the time, we need to work in a little speed"
Yikes, my plan has generally been to keep at this game until everybody else got slower...
Apart from the veiled threat of some higher intensity work, this year's camp will also differ in that I am bringing my own support crew, the wife and kids are coming along for the ride so it should be a fun weekend - I hope... Though it is a great place to train and visit, I'm crossing my fingers that the weather holds enough for them to enjoy it!
As I look now at the clock in the corner of my computer screen I note that we have crossed the timeline. August has finally arrived.
Good luck to all who have also set their sights on the same goal, may we all climb this peak safely.
The view from the top will be amazing!
I've known for a while that my program would begin in earnest is August but there was always plenty of time.
It comes as a bit of a rude shock that we are now at the end of July. The road I've been on since I first took to the sport of triathlon has always had a steady positive gradient to it, now things are set to get a little grippy (to quote the great Paul Sherwen) From here on the sessions will get progressively longer and it be all the more important to remain consistent with them.
Looking back over the earlier phases of my training this year I can be happy that I have made some decent head-way. My running has always been my weakest discipline but I am now running consistently well; I am swimming fairly solidly and cycling has always been my strength. More recently however, various illnesses and injuries (seldom my own) have meant that I have been missing training. The Tour de France and its inconvenient late night live coverage also conspired to make early morning sessions impossible. Once off the wagon, it can be difficult to get back on.
So, as we transition into the real conditioning phase of the workload I find I am trying to find my training mojo again and hoping that I've done enough base work to enable me to roll with it.
It won't be long before these questions are answered either, this weekend is the Long Course camp in Apollo Bay. On the menu for the two days is over 200km of cycling in the hills and 30 km of running on tired legs.
Fortunately, I'll be in some familiar territory as it will be my third trip to the region and, though definitely tough, the terrain has been manageable. At a recent evening run session, Coach Ollie called me "a diesel" based upon my ability to put my head down and just keep going. In the past this trait has enabled me to get through the long endurance events and training days. It is also this trait I've been banking on to get me safely though the days in the hills of Apollo Bay. Later in the same evening, Ollie hinted at his intentions for me when he stated that I "can't be a diesel all the time, we need to work in a little speed"
Yikes, my plan has generally been to keep at this game until everybody else got slower...
Apart from the veiled threat of some higher intensity work, this year's camp will also differ in that I am bringing my own support crew, the wife and kids are coming along for the ride so it should be a fun weekend - I hope... Though it is a great place to train and visit, I'm crossing my fingers that the weather holds enough for them to enjoy it!
As I look now at the clock in the corner of my computer screen I note that we have crossed the timeline. August has finally arrived.
Good luck to all who have also set their sights on the same goal, may we all climb this peak safely.
The view from the top will be amazing!
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