Ironman Training

Ironman Blog: The Nut Cracker

It’s almost Christmas, my favourite time of the year. Time to gorge on food, listen to carols and let go a bit. (But just a bit, because before you know it, the 2012 season hits you). It is also the time to reflect on the year behind and to plan the year ahead.

And what an excellent year it has been.

The 2011 season started with a solid performance in Abu Dhabi where I achieved my main goal: a strong bike split on a flat course. It continued with a pretty brutal race at St Croix 70.3, by far the toughest race I have ever completed. Then, following a PB at Pescara 70.3, the season peaked with the perfect ‘A-race’ and another PB at Ironman Lake Placid.

The season has also ended well. Following last year’s Ironman Blues experience, I was keen to get another race in the diary before year-end. Something to look forward to and train for as a month of post-Ironman recovery and withdrawal set in. So I signed up to the winter BallBuster. Set in the idyllic Surrey Hills, the BallBuster course consists of five 8-mile laps around the scenic Box Hill. It begins with a one lap run, followed by three on the bike, and a final run.

I had been warned by many in advance about how tough the race was: “that final run is brutal”, “it’s the UK’s toughest duathlon”. This was often followed with free advice: “take it easy on the first run, you’ll need the energy for the second”, “make sure you spin your legs out on the climb” and so on. It’s easy to give advice and less so to take it, especially when they are so instructive and have the ability to suppress your natural instinct. (For example, I am a confident runner and very likely to go out fast). The best piece of advice I had was from my coach, “try and run your two laps within 5 minutes of each other”. Clever. Fiona’s simple words provided the right amount of structure and pace judgment that is needed in a race environment. It allowed me to run my first lap at the speed I thought was natural to me, yet it gave me a goal for the finish, allowing me to look down at my watch and tweak my speed on the basis of her instructions.

Crossing the finish line in 3:08 was exhilarating. Given the training runs around the course, I was expecting 3:30. But taking into account Fiona’s advice and the extra rocket fuel injected during a race, I surpassed my assumed abilities. 

It’s with this positive note that I end the 2011 season. I’m not going to talk about 2012 yet, even though there are a few exciting races in the horizon, but I am hoping to further build on the strong foundation that my coach and team have instilled upon me. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to copious amounts of mulled wine, turkey and a present or two. Or three.

Ironman Blog: Blast From the Past

One of the great things about Facebook is reconnecting with people that you knew during the pre-internet/mobile phones era. Last week, I received a friend request from my former school sports teacher. I spent this weekend’s long run thinking about my involvement in sports whilst growing up, and the encouragement I had as a kid.

My school experience was less than perfect; I was a complete dork. I always finished my homework on time, I loved science (and art), I was never tardy or played truant, I got good grades and got along with my teachers. (You won’t be surprised to hear that I wasn’t the most popular person in class). Worst of all, I hated sports (which all the cool kids loved and were good at).

I remember having each Wednesday afternoon dedicated to PE. As the bell rang after lunch, we would all be forced to change and march along to our local fitness center. I hated taking my clothes off in front of the other guys, I was a skinny, shy and awkward kid. I was also envious of all the girls in my class for being able to throw the sentence “sorry Sir, I have my period” around to get the afternoon off. I would have given anything to not have to embarrass myself in the sports auditorium. 

It is not like I didn’t make an effort. My mom encouraged me to try everything: tennis, football, volleyball, golf, basketball, badminton and various forms of martial arts. The only thing I got close to enjoying was badminton, and that was only because I got to run back and forth across the court and eventually exhaust my opponent (albeit hours later). I even remember pleading with my classmate for not running too fast at a sprint race so that he would win by a smaller margin. He accepted, but only with a small bribe. So, as I accepted my friend request, I began to reflect on what has changed since then.

My first self-inflicted venture into sports came when I trained for a marathon. I wasn’t fast (I finished in over 4 hours), but I enjoyed the distance. I was able to maintain a steady speed for a long period of time. But my real eureka moment came much later, when I realised I was good at long distance-running. This was two-fold: other people’s perception of my ability but, most importantly, the self-realistion that my times were getting better and were even competitive.

This also applies to the other two legs of triathlon. After two years of swimming, my technique has improved substantially (thanks to my coach), and my race times have reduced significantly. It was at this point in time that I began to enjoy training and racing, when I knew I was good at it. I am yet to reach that point with cycling, but with specific strength training this season and focused efforts, I am excited about reaching that aha! moment.

It is a shame that endurance sports don’t really make it into schools (I guess it is logistically difficult). But I am a firm believer that there’s a sport out there for everyone. I am happy that I found mine, and as my new friend commented “I’m very proud of you” on my recent wall post, I’m glad that I persevered.