Progress and motivation

Another week of training complete and, well, I hate saying it coz surely it’s sure to come hurtling back like a malevolent mosquito set on biting me on my ass, but…whisper it…I’m feeling pretty confident.

This was arguably my biggest week to date and as big a week as I have scheduled. In total, I managed 11k swimming, 277k cycling, 58k running. Most significantly, this week contained both the longest ride (163k) and the longest run day (32k) that I’ll do.

Now, I know there are a few doubts – as I do more than half that ride in part of a group, you benefit from group riding dynamics. We also get a couple of quick rest stops to refill our water bottles during the ride. The run I have to do as half in the morning and half in the evening due to temperatures. Again, I factor in fairly regular stops to rehydrate.

However, I’m choosing to ignore those doubts. Two runs in a day, most coaches now tell us, is just as good as one long run, if not better. After all, it’s not as if your legs have a chance to recover in the 8-10 hours in between, so the second run is still done on tired legs. The only difference being that you’ve had a chance to get some food and drink on board – but I think the fact that the IM marathon won’t be taking place in 40 degree heat outweighs that. Same goes for the cycling – not to mention that I won’t be doing it after a week of heavy training and I’ll be well rested and properly fuelled. Plus, just as there are times when the group pulls you along when riding, there are times when you have to keep feathering your brake to avoid hitting the wheel in front.

So, all good so far and I’m feeling great – OK, slightly tired legs but today is a recovery day (just stretching this AM and easy swim tonight) – not to mention motivated.

People often ask how you manage to keep your motivation while doing something like this. I don’t think there’s any single one thing – you have to take inspiration wherever you can find it. This week, that hasn’t been hard. Firstly, I been watching those awesome riders in Le Tour de France put in such monumental work each day. The way Schleck and Contador attacked some of those mountain stages was heroic – as was the way Evans refused to let them out of sight. And Evans’ TT performance deserved le maillot jaune. Then there was the news that Oscar Pistorius (the Paralympian athlete with carbon blades for legs) got a 400m PR in Italy which qualifies him to be picked by South Africa for the full Olympics. Again, heroic.

But there’s the small stuff. I really like inspirational phrases and quotes (I’ll share some with you soon) and, so, when I see a new one, I print it out and stick it on my wall near where I keep all my swim/bike/run gear. The greatest one, however, is that mental image of me coming into the final couple of hundred metres of the Ironman – of crossing that line and knowing what it has taken to get there. That’s the image that I keep readily available in my mind for 4am starts or when I have to dig deep.

So, why do I want to ‘become an Ironman’ so much? That’s hard to explain but I think this video (for IM Hawaii) comes closest: