There is a new calendar on my fridge door and this past weekend I finally got around to putting away all of the Christmas decorations so I guess it's time to concede, a new year has arrived.
Welcome all to 2014.
A triathlon season here in the land Down Under follows our summer months and therefore spans the date line from one year to the next. This current season, though I have already raced a pair of marathons and an equal number of half Ironman events it is now approaching the pointy end. Like I said last year (about this time) - It's beginning to get serious - again.
Every couple of days a new email will land in my inbox, giving me the latest updates and a "days remaining" indication for the events I have scheduled over the next couple of months. Again, like last year, the familiar questions arise.
- Am I ready for this?
- Have I done enough?
- Did I learn my lessons from past errors? (Like arriving at a destination race minus an important piece of kit - twice)
On point one, readiness, how does anyone prepare for an endurance event?
When do you know it's time to pull the trigger and step up that line?
I think the only way to approach this is with slow - or rather, steady progression. The old adage, you've got to walk before you run holds true here. There are a few who will burst out of the gun and go straight for the big show and fewer still who will do so successfully. Building a base and then advancing in stages yields a far more reliable road to the goal and inherently reduces the risk of injury along the way.
In my case, I have several seasons of racing under the belt as well as a decent bank of successful long 70.3 races and though I entered half the number of races this time, they are all long course. (Ok, so there is one sprint race but when the opportunity was presented I had to jump on it!) When I mapped out the events I also decided upon which to target as training/experience opportunities and which to have a bit of a crack at. So far, I think I've stuck to that plan pretty well so on that front, I think we are good.
Closely related to preparedness is that second question, and further, the worry, have I done too much. There are also plenty of triggers for these queries - post a training session you'll hear other athletes talking about the work they've done, the kms logged or supplemental training. Perhaps it'll be whilst reading one of those final lead up emails and you realise there are only a couple of months to go, then you note, one of those months is really short. It is these times that you start to take stock of where you are at, what training you have done and more likely, start counting the sessions you've skipped. Argh! Did I really need that sleep-in!? Here's the deal, it's too late to worry about how much you haven't done. You can't simply add training intensity to cover it, the bigger risk is in doing too much to try and compensate. From here on, it's all about continuing the steady build, being consistent and listening to the body. Any niggles, get them looked at and sorted as early as possible. From my perspective, I approached last years' Ironman with a goal of leaving the Clydesdale category and, after a year of improved diet and also six months of training build, I officially weighed in the day prior at 98kg (a Clydesdale still by a fairly safe margin). This year, in the interest of ensuring I'd done enough I enlisted the help of a friend and fellow triathlete who also happens to be a qualified sports nutritionist. From my first assessment session with Margs (http://www.fuelrightnutrition.com.au/) 8 months ago I have managed to drop almost 10kg, my skinfold tests have reduced by over 9mm and my percentage body fat (as measured by my bathroom scales at home) has come down by 5%. Even over the Christmas feasting period where I didn't see Margs for 2 months the numbers still came down (although I'll admit that first assessment back was nervous!)
I'm going to tick box number 2 as well
Have I learnt my lessons? This is kind of hard to answer as, I thought I had after arriving in Shepparton and discovering I hadn't packed my bike helmet. That was until I arrived in Canberra only to find I had my new helmet - but no tri shorts...
When I last wrote about the final lead up for my big race I told of my fear of becoming too complacent in the approach. This season the fact has been proven twice (well, three times if you consider I left my carefully prepared hydration bottles in the hotel room on race day in Canberra...), asking the question again today has reiterated the point. No matter how long I've been doing this, I still need to bring it back to the basics. Make a list and then double check it and not just leave it to experience.
Though I am aware of this, I am yet to actually write the list so I will leave this point as an urgent To Do
(crap, now I have to write a To Do list as well)
My next race is actually at the end of this week: Challenge Melbourne is a half iron distance race and after checking the weather forecast, it'll be a hot one! The bureau of meteorology is happily predicting we will be racing in 39 degree (Celsius) heat. In fact, a heat wave is expected for this whole week so the hydration plan will kick in today. I have this one pegged as a training race and an opportunity to trial some new nutrition products under race conditions. Since Ironman recently announced their on course supplements will be Endura Gels and Bonk Breaker bars, (neither of which I have used) I want to race solidly and test myself on these new products. I wont be smashing myself out there and it will give my a good indication if I can race the big one and eat off the course (rather than having to carry my own nutrition plan the whole way around)
The rest of the season looks like this:
- Challenge Melbourne (2-Feb)
- Amy Gillet Ride - Arthurs Seat (9-Feb)
- Gatorade Race 3 (16-Feb)
- Neon Run (22-Feb) - Ok, so this will be a family event, not a race
- Sufferfest (2-Mar)
- Ironman Melbourne (23-Mar)
- Gatorade Race 5 (30-Mar) - maybe??
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