Ove the last week or two I feel like I’ve really started to make progress again in terms of coming back to a very basic level of fitness and being in a physical state to take on more training and importantly get my head in the right place about striking the balance between wanting to and being able to.
Off the back of what felt like a positive outing at the Run in the Dark 10k I have been able to mentally adjust my view of what is a longer run these days and now see 10k as not a bother (even though I haven’t actually bothered to run this distance since last week) and I can now see myself moving up towards 8 or 10 miles again pretty soon. Maybe not such a big deal but mentally it feels good.
I am really enjoying our Club Group rides at the weekends, and I know that I am getting stronger as a result. I’m still far from being the type of cyclist that I want to be by the time I get to early July next year, however taking a long term view on it and comparing where I am now to where I was a couple of years ago, I have now got a different mental view of what is achievable.
Last couple of times for Ironman the goal on the bike was definitely about competing the distance without feeling too tired for the run and then rely on my strength (not pace) to carry me through, and to be fair it did work well for me as an approach. This time however I want to be in a position where I can push harder on the bike and still feel strong for the run. It seems very obvious but the key to this is not being a fantastic runner but about being a decent cyclist who can run with strength.
The other side of the Group ride is that it gives affirmation of progress when I am able to see how I stack up against my club mates week on week but also it’s motivating to see them improving every week too. It’s a simple thing but it feels good.
I have been pairing up with “Big Ring” Pollard quite a bit, especially for swimming and I have to say the level of improvement he has displayed over just a month is fantastic and it is driving me on to make sure I improve at the same level, although to be honest he is improving faster than me at the moment and I just hope I can narrow the margins of difference as we progress. It’s great to see improvement in others and I do feel somewhat responsible, as I sort of talked him in to the whole IM Frankfurt experience. So I better make sure I keep the motivation levels up and am pressing myself onwards to do justice to his efforts too. It’s a bit strange feeling accountable to someone else for your training but that’s pretty much what Ian and I have created.
Basically he’s a Bollox who isn’t going to let me off with anything and I’m going to be the same with him!!
Next week marks the start of my formal training plan for Frankfurt and I feel good about going in to it. It feels important to me to be in a good state of mind as it’s a long road and it is tiring physically without having to battle inner demons as well.
To quote the lyrics of the Allman Brothers – I’ve got to “Keep on Keepin on.” (It's a great song, give it a listen)
Few recent workouts for anyone interested:
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