A Word of Warning

As I sit here, once again cursed with man-flu and about to miss my second training session of the week, a conversation I recently had with a friend and one time training partner comes to mind.

We had been talking about the long hall training plans that get us ready for Ironman, that may range from 17weeks to 30weeks in length and the relevant affect of dropping occasional sessions.

Quite often in a plan we will feel tired after work or lack motivation to get out the door when the weather is bad outside so may end up missing a session as there is ‘plenty of time to make it up’, this is especially so early in the plan, when in the UK it is normal the new year and the depths of winter.

But dropped sessions accumulate and early in the plan we are laying the foundation that need to be solid, without gaps, to support the build up of training as we progress towards our long distance goals.  So missing sessions weakens that foundation and what is missed is missed, it has passed us by and we can’t go back to that missed opportunity.

For me last year and Ironman Germany was a case in point of this effect, it was my worst Ironman race ever, I went into it not fully ready, I had dropped sessions through moving away to work, ending up at the other end of the country, having to make the most of my weekends with my family … and so on … but these, when it comes down to it are just a bunch of excuses and If you want Ironman you have to work at it, it take time, commitment and consistency, training is hard and long but it’s not supposed to be easy, its Ironman.  The above left me struggling, for the first time, to finish – It took me 14:45(ish) … the lack of training showed

It is normal to feel the accumulation of training, it is normal to feel the wariness of a hard day at work but you still need to train to follow the plan, to build the foundation of your race.  Just get out there (HTFU, JFDI etc) and train, you may quite often find it will revitalise you after a hard day at work.

BUT remember do be organised, do be structured and build recovery weeks (for me 1 in 4) and rest days into your schedule, these are what serve to keep you fresh and ready to train and prevent over training.

Don’t look for excuses not to train instead look of ways you can train and build the foundation to your perfect race

(JUST MY THOUGHTS)

WW