Too much information...

Much like an old person going into detail about their sex life, a physics teacher explaining the intricacies of their latest research paper, or a doctor telling you the craziest injury they ever saw...in triathlon, it is definitely possible to get too much information (or TMI, as I believe the kids are calling it).

Triathlon is a sport obsessed by numbers. There are the obvious ones – time and distance. But then there's speed, transition times, pace... you can keep going. At the top end, athletes have power taps on their bikes which constantly tell them how many watts they're currently pushing (or average watts for the ride) – 'OMG, you pushed 370 watts in your training ride? That's like, totally cool.'

The pros are constantly being tested too – for their VO2 max, their lactate threshold... 'BTW, did you know that Lance had a VO2 max of 84.0?' 'Really? FFS – that's just insane!'

But even at our level, figures sometimes become all consuming. Almost all triathletes have fancy bike computers or GPS watches. I opted for the GPS watch as it can be used through swim, bike and run and means I don't need a watch and bike computer too. Not only can it tell me where and how far I've run, but it also feeds me real time info such as my current pace and my current heart rate. I can ask it to compare my current workout to a previous workout, or I can set a goal pace and it'll tell me how far ahead or behind I am. It cooks me dinner, irons my shirts and tells me bedtimes stories and is my BFF. OK, not quite...

It's great for races and useful for training. But is it always good to have so much data – IMHO, I don't think so. I noticed that I hadn't really been enjoying my last couple of long run days as I'd become obsessed by my pace: Is this IM pace? Could I hold this for the marathon? Is this too fast? Am I going too slow?

Today, I did it the 'old fashioned' way – I scoped out a morning run near home using the path tool on Google Earth to make sure it hit the 12k required. Then I ran it. This evening, I did four laps of a circuit I know to be 3.5k, giving me the 14k required. I just put my old watch on to keep rough tabs on the overall time. And guess what? I really enjoyed both runs and actually ran better than I had for a while.

So, does this mean everyone should ditch their fancy training aids? Of course not – WTYF. Just don't be a slave to the stats and keep fun high on the list of priorities.

In the spirit of TMI – training for endurance events is not always too kind on the body, with the feet taking the brunt of it. I tend to lose a nail or a good slice of skin every couple of weeks and here's a pic of the next nail that appears to be on its way out. 

On its way out...

American ultra marathon runner had all his toe nails removed...after all, they're strange things that we don't use when you think about it. LMAO!

Marshall Ulrich: hard as no nails!

For anyone not 'down with the kids':
TMI – too much information
OMG – Oh my God!
BTW – by the way
FFS – for f#*k sake

BFF – best friend forever
IMHO – in my honest opinion
WTYF – whatever tickles your fancy
LMAO – laugh my arse off