Living the dream....with 5 examples of gratitude

A big shift in my mentality recently which has a big positive effect on my life, and training is letting go. I realised that I wasn't going to have time to write and post a blog last weekend, but instead of stressing about it, I let it go. So this blog is a little bit about the past 2 weeks.

Last week I got to train in the aptly-named Sunshine Coast. Noosa has long been the Mecca of triathlon in Australia, and while Melbourne struggles on with its coldest winter for years, I had an opportunity to escape for my "big week" of training.

After a swim with Tony Caiafa

I'm under no illusions that the life of a pro triathlete is easy; I was looked after by my friends, the Caiafas. As in LOOKED AFTER! They hardly let me exert myself, outside of my training. A pro triathlete still has plenty of chores to do around their training, whereas I did not. I did manage to fit in a few hours computer work a day, which at least kept me from getting bored while my legs were up!
So my 

Example of gratitude number 1 is to the Caiafas. They are both ironman athletes (and vets, interestingly; in fact Tony lectured to me when I went through vet school). They both completely "got" what I was up here for, and did everything they could to make my week run smoothly. Tony is a great cook!

So how did I fare? Well I was really pleasantly surprised that by Sunday, when my long run came around, although I had a lot of muscular fatigue, my energy levels were still great. In fact, there was only really one day (Friday, which was a lighter day anyway) when I felt a bit flat. So my impression is that my base fitness is already pretty good, and the big increase in volume doesn't hurt me anymore.
I won't go into stats, as I promised not to, but my Strava profile is public, so for anyone who wants a nosey, here is my Strava page
https://www.strava.com/athletes/179268
What I know to be a big limiter for me is sustained efforts on the bike. I can ride and ride and ride, all day, and I can sprint flat out, but I always get dropped on any hill that is longer than a few hundred metres. During the week, I really worked on riding the hills strongly, usually seated. By the end of the week, I was definitely finding them easier. I think another big factor in feeling so good is that I sat within my aerobic zone throughout the long rides, apart from when a hill was too steep to allow that. This meant that I never had to dip into my anaerobic reserves. In other similar weeks, I've invariably pushed too hard at certain times, and ended up very fatigued s the week has gone on. For me, the whole idea of a camp like this is to give my aerobic fitness a big boost (with some muscular strength developed from climbing). To achieve that, it's important to sit in that aerobic zone, not the grey zone.
And what about my mental limiters on the bike? That loneliness? Well, I was lucky enough to be able to ride with Alison and some of her triathlete friends. They are all in their 50s, and although they were faster than me on a lot of the climbs, I would catch them on the descents, so we essentially rode together. But my 

During my long ride

Example of gratitude, number 2 came at about the 4hr mark of my long Saturday ride. I was rolling through Cooroy, about 20k from Noosa, when a chap called Russell, who was clearly a much stronger rider than me, invited me to sit on his wheel back to Tewantin. I protested that I would be too slow for him, but he said he wasn't in a rush, and he slowed down until I was comfortably able to ride with him. Such a nice gesture at a point in the ride when I needed the company. 

I grudgingly finished my 9 days in Noosa, having fallen in love with the place and came back to a chilly Melbourne but a lovely warm welcome from Pete. My first day back at work was full-on; teaching practical skills to vet students on the yards all day. I did pull out a chair a few times to rest my weary legs!!

Example of gratitude number 3 has to be directed to my supervisor at work, Peter Mansell. Not only did he cover some teaching for me while I was away, he told the students about my training camp, seemingly with some pride. I have had bosses who made life quite difficult for me when I was playing serious rugby in the UK. To have a boss who is so supportive is absolutely gold.  

Lucky to only be bruised

I had a couple of easy days training wise when I got back. On Friday I went for a spin on my beautiful new race wheels. I was busy looking at my Garmin in Albert Park and rode straight into a large plastic traffic bollard and hit the road, quite hard. Although as a rugby player, I learned to never put my arm out when I fell (in case of breaking a wrist), it appears I have forgotten that, and my wrist and elbow broke my fall. In fact, that probably saved my collarbone. So 

Example of gratitude number 4 is that I came away from my fall with a few bruises rather than breaking anything. 

I'd been quite nervous about coming back and doing my long ride in the cold and wet this weekend. It was damp, but didn't feel too cold at all. I had a lovely ride with a load of friends that I swim with, a great run off the bike, and 2hrs later I ran my best time at the Brighton 9k handicap; a brutal race that finishes with about 800m on soft sand! Yet another example of how I (or my body) can surprise me when I have no expectations. 

Gratitude is an enlightening state of mind. It needs to be cultivated from a place of kindness though. Instead of telling yourself you "should" be grateful, try asking yourself "what has happened today that made me feel grateful?" It's quite amazing how it can change your outlook on your life, your relationships and your training. Thank you to Rosie McCaughey from Rise Yoga for this picture. 

9 weeks to go

Postscript - my sister pointed out that there were only 4 examples of gratitude! My 5th is to everyone who reads this blog that closely!!!

Swings...and roundabouts

When I think about how I'd describe the mental/emotional side of training for Ironman, I think of the analogy of swings and roundabouts.

The swing part is fairly obvious - the ups and downs. A recent example of this was when, last Friday I ran my fastest 10k since 2007. An "up" which was followed by a great long ride and XC run just 2 days later. A couple of slightly lighter days, and then I rode the 38km to work, ran off the bike, was on my feet all day teaching vet students, then rode home.  With a few hard sessions, then a big day like Wednesday comes the inevitable fatigue. Physically, I usually manage to push through that, no matter what. After all, it's what Ironman is all about. But I now recognise that the mental signals often come before the physical ones. On Thursday, I swam well, worked at home all morning, and then just didn't want to get up from my desk to run at lunchtime. Procrastination got me to the point where I was really hungry, and I debated sacking the run and just eating lunch. This wasn't any big, or hard run, just 45min easy! Anyway, eventually I got out there, felt pretty flat for about 20min, but then my legs came back, and I finished it well.

In the past, these swings used to really throw me. I used to berate myself for feeling that way (not the "ups" of course! Only the "downs"). I used to think "you are meant to enjoy doing this, it shouldn't be a chore". Or " you have no injuries, you are healthy, you should appreciate that and just get out there". What a waste of energy that was! Now I can handle the swings much better. I can acknowledge that I won't feel good every day, and as long as I'm not slipping into real fatigue, I'm happy to be patient and wait for the next upswing. A good way of dealing with those rubbish days is just to give myself the credit for ticking off a session, however it gets done, and move on.
 The roundabout analogy refers to the self-talk that crops up, which serves no positive purpose. There is a time and place for a mantra, especially a positive one. For me, when I'm really struggling physically I only need to think "getting through this will help you in Kona", or "you're banking great kilometres here", and it gives me the nudge to keep pushing. Even mentally, when I'm struggling, I think to myself "you're training to suffer. When it gets tough in Kona and you question yourself, this will help you to keep going". After all, this sport gives us this incredible knowledge that we are capable of more than we thought we were. That is part of the magic of it. 

But back to that roundabout. I was riding with a group of friends on Saturday; all stronger riders than me. I had managed to keep up for the first 90 minutes, so was feeling really positive. Then we hit the hills after Frankston. I'm pretty strong on a long, sustained climb (like a mountain!) but the short sharp hills absolutely blow my legs if I try to push them, and on a long, aerobic ride, I pay the price later. So as usual, I started to get dropped from the bunch. They kept looking back and slowing to let me catch up (remember I descend like a demon!) but the negative voice (I call her "Negative Nora") piped up within the first couple of hills. "You're shit on the bike! You're going to have everyone coming past you in Kona! No one is slow enough for you to ride with them!"  These are the phrases that go around and around, just like someone stuck on a roundabout. 

Can you imagine how you'd feel if someone said that to you? How nasty!! And yet this is how I speak to myself. It's no wonder I stop enjoying my rides, and end up dreading them! It's also no wonder I cry so often when I'm riding badly - I'm bullying myself at 41 years of age! Of course then I tell myself how ridiculous it is, which makes me feel worse! 

I have told a few people about this and heard that others have similar thoughts/doubts. So how do you jump off that roundabout and stop it ruining your fun? 

Well I can't say I've nailed the answer yet, or I wouldn't have reacted like I did on Saturday! 

But a massive step forward for me recently has been starting meditation and mindfulness. What it teaches you is that thoughts are just thoughts. You can observe them, with curiosity, or you can let them take you over and bring you down. And that's what I did on Saturday. I watched my thoughts. I put on some music, I started planning what I would write in my blog. 

Distraction, and a shift in focus can certainly help get you off that roundabout. Other ways to take your mind off those negative thoughts are to have a schedule for your nutrition. Keeping an eye on the clock, and rotating through different types of nutrition (gel, drink, solid) can keep the mind occupied. Focus on technique. Are you fully engaging your pedal stroke? Do you have a good cadence? (I don't!) An extreme version of keeping the mind busy was demonstrated by Peter, my wonderful husband. In Ironman Los Cabos, he wanted to take his mind off the ride. So he conceptualised starting his own business! Two incredibly successful years later, he has a full workload!

I actually really hope that most people reading this don't have to deal with too many swings and roundabouts, as I do. But for those that do, know that you are not alone. Name your negative voice, it makes it seem less menacing! Observe your thoughts, but don't let them rule you, and remember they are not who you are. 

I'm heading to Noosa this week for 8 days of warm weather training. I am incredibly grateful to my work colleagues and Peter for giving me the time to do this. My mantra for this week is "I am grateful". If Negative Nora rears her nasty head, I'll be telling her to shut up! 

11 weeks to go

Returning to Kona - 4 years later, many years wiser

A different style of blog

This blog won't be all about training and stats. I may write about some of the training I do along the way; the highs and lows. But anyone who races Ironman, or even knows someone who does, understands that it takes a lot of training, many hours, and to be honest, there's nothing that exciting about reading a list of numbers!

For those who would like to look at my last "12 weeks to Hawaii" blog from 2011, here's the link

http://jocoombe12weekstohawaii.blogspot.com.au/

This blog will be very different from that one!

The feedback I have received from my previous blogs is that people like to read the other aspects of the sport that I have written about; the ups and downs of training; juggling work, training and other aspects of life (eating and drinking for example!) But also, the mental and emotional side of training and reaching the goals that I set for myself and importantly, how I manage that aspect without becoming so caught up in achieving the goal, that the beauty of the journey is lost in the process. 

Goals

I'd be insane if I said I didn't have goals for Hawaii. I suppose the fear of the heat and humidity is enough to motivate anyone to train - you don't want to turn up to Kona half fit! But I actually feel NO pressure to go back and perform any better than I did in 2011. I was happy with my race then, despite my issues on the run. I now know that getting there in 2011 wasn't a fluke. I won my age group in Malaysia to re-qualify. But it's taken me 4 years, including a year of recovery from breaking down with fatigue to get back there. So for me, the second Kona will be just like doing my first; go and enjoy the experience, and soak up every minute. Be grateful to be on the start line, and I aim to enjoy every moment as if I may never get back there, because who knows if I will?

But I digress. Yes, I have goals. It's pretty difficult to put real numbers on the swim and bike in Kona, as they are so affected by the currents and winds. That said, it is having the goal dangling like a carrot that keeps me wanting to get up and train every day.

Malaysia swim - 1.09

SWIM

IF the swim is relatively normal in terms of the currents, and given my huge improvements this 

summer, I'd definitely like to target a sub 1.09 (my IM Malaysia swim time, non wetsuit). In most recent years, anything close to 1.05 could have me out of the water top 10 in my age group. As a complete non-swimmer 10 years ago, if I could accomplish that, the rest of the day I'd be floating on cloud nine!! My last Kona swim was 1.16.

BIKE

In 2011 I rode a 5.57 on the bike. I know that during that race I turned myself inside out in the final 30km to come in under 6 hours, and this may well have contributed to the massive loss of salt that I was then unable to counteract, and led to my demise in the run. I will not be making that mistake this year. Anyone who knows me has witnessed my love/hate relationship with the bike! I love going out and climbing up mountains. I'd do that for 100s and 100s of kilometres. But generally training the bike is a huge drag for me. Come race day, there's no problem, BUT I will not be chasing any kind of PB on the bike. In Malaysia I rode EXTREMELY conservatively for a 6.27 bike split. With a 4hr run, that was enough to get me the age group win, and a 11.44 finish time. So I guess I'll be happy with a comparable time to that (again, dependent on the winds).

RUN

Running a 3.09 marathon in 2012

Now this is the leg where I do have a definite goal. After all I do consider myself "a runner" above all else, and I have a 3.09 marathon under my belt. The level of heat will affect the run in Kona, but not really any more from one year to the next. After running a 4.00.29 in Malaysia in the "cauldron", I'm pretty confident that with the right prep (and better use of salt this year) I can break 4 hours for the run. This would be a double win for me; not only as I would achieve my goal, but it would also be my second fastest ironman run, after France (3.28). Last time in Kona, I ran 4.28, but had been on target for well under 4 hours until hyponatremia struck.

A word on the conditions

I seriously hope they are as brutal as any year has ever been in Kona! Having laid out my goals, I am realistic enough to know that if the conditions are seriously bad, those times could be out of the window. If that is the case then I want a REAL battle of attrition!! I went to IM France in 2011 expecting the most horrific heat and brutal climbs of my life. On the day, it seemed easier than I'd expected. Similarly in Malaysia, I wanted it to be as hot as it could possibly be, because while I don't consider myself a particularly good triathlete, I truly believe I have the art of suffering down pat! So the tougher the better as far as I'm concerned!!

That's about it for this first blog of the prep. I have a big ride in the hills to gear up for tomorrow. I'll be starting the ride with a few other Ironman athletes, including some who are Kona-bound. I have no aspirations to keep up with them tomorrow, but at least starting with others makes the long rides seem a little less lonely! Following that, I have a fun cross country relay race (everyone runs 3.5k twice!) to look forward to. And after a terrible cold, wet week in Melbourne, it looks like we might have some sunshine!

12 weeks to go.