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Tuesday 27 July 2010

Quote of the day

Have just entered for Challenge Roth next year. 10th July 2011. And this is why:

Failure just makes me more determined to succeed.

The quote is my own. Someone may well have said something similar, but it just resonates with me. I haven't been down about not being able to race at Roth, but just want to get back out there and try harder!

Steve Lumley

http://lummersblog.blogspot.com/

Great fun blog from Steve Lumley, top triathlon coach, and love this quote on his site:

"Stressing about things is a bit like using a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but gets you fooking nowhere"

Stop smoking

I was recently asked by a fellow personal trainer some advice on giving up smoking. I used to smoke. Yep, before all the triathlon I used to smoke a lot of cigarettes and drink a lot of alcohol. Oh how I wish I hasd never done it, I would be able to buy myself a lovely Scott Plasma 3 for next season!!! Anyway, here is the advice I gave. This may be useful for anyone else out there who is wanting to quit.
"Well, the most important thing I can say is that it takes a massive amount of energy to give up. What I mean by that is, it is such a big part of someone's life that it requires an immense effort and a lot of focus and concentration to give it up. So what might help is to find another source of focus. Also, on a scale of 1-10 how committed is he to giving up? It has to be 10. If it is he will do it. Small steps. 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, awake, 24 hours, 1 day, 2 days etc. You get the picture. Smoking is 99.9% mental habit. It is not physical addiction. Break all associations if you can with smoking. If he has a coffee with a cigarette, stop the coffee. If he has a break at 11am every day, move that break to 10:45. Try and break down any habitual behaviour. It will scramble the brain and it won't be able to focus on the need for a cigarette.
Just be positive about it. Don't focus on the smoking as a real negative thing. Sounds a bit odd. But smokers can get very defensive about their habit if you bang on about how awful it is. He has smoked, he is still alive and he can change. It's all about you just supporting that change and finding ways in which you can help him break the habit.
Remember, goals are massive. So think of the small steps above, and set regular short term goals, and he will be successful in quitting."

Monday 26 July 2010

Personal Trainer

My website is in production, but there is a link to my basic profile. Please contact me for more information if you are interested in training, whether it be online or in the flesh!!
http://www.stevebpt.co.uk/index.html

Saturday 24 July 2010

Sleep

You gotta love it, it is the one guarantee thing to make you well. Drop the pills, health drinks, recovery shakes and vitamins and minerals. Sleep is king!
And as a result of lots of it this week, I am recovering well and have woken up for the first time this week feeling refreshed and wanting to eat and drink. I shall just have a 20 minute very gentle jog later today and if that's ok I will try 30 minutes of very gentle spinning tomorrow on the rollers. The idea being to get the body moving after a week of nothing and not raising the heartrate to anything resembling effort.
So far so good.
Here is a link to the Outlaw Triathlon on 8th August.
http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/the-outlaw-triathlon.php

Friday 23 July 2010

Ironman Journey continues

OK, well, it's not gone according to plan. But things seldom do. That's just life and the unpredictability of it all.
We flew out to Roth, great flight( and I do NOT do airplanes at all well!) and we picked up car and had a lovely drive to Ingolstadt. Lovely hotel, very helpful. Nice room, refreshed, met parents, ate out, very good food. Then got to hotel for sleep, and couldn't. Unbearably hot. And so I was wide awake all night. Tired the next day but ok with food, and I drove up to register with the family and we ate out and spent a nice day together and then back to hotel for eating and sleeping. Then Saturday I got bike into transition, only to be stopped with acrack in my helment. So off I rode to the bike shop, new helmet purchased and back again. Bike in, no problems. At this point, feeling a bit tired and snotty, but ok, just thought part of the tapering. But then the evening wore on and I was getting worse, started heating up and feeling very grumpy. Very very tired and got to bed early. Then 2am race morning, hot and cold, shivering with sweats and just absolutely no way I could race. Drove to the race start, handed in timing chip, collected my bike and then went back to hotel. That was it. Race over before I even got wetsuit on.
Disappointing, but it never sunk in as I was feeling so rotten. Now back in the UK and had time to reflect. I have laryngitis, and am taking anti-biotics, loads of co-codamol and have been sleeping and drinking as much as possible. Feeling much better, but another 2-3 days required before I even put on a pair of run shoes. I have managed to find another long distance race on the 8th August which I shall be able to do. And I will just go and smash it and have a good ol time!! See what I can do.
Not the way in which I expected to do my first 'Ironman' race, but hopefully in 3 weeks' time I will be one!
Watch this space!

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Challenge Roth

Bike packed up. Kit ready and everything more or less organised. We fly tomorrow from Heathrow, touch down in Munich at 2pm, then pick up car and 40 minute drive to hotel. Put bike back together and take for a spin and find a pool for a gentle float!
Massively excited and nervous at the same time. Not the best of flyers either, but thankfully it's less than a 2 hour flight, so only white knuckles for a short time!
Did my last run session today, felt a bit tired, but it was wet and windy and early morning, so not really awake. But I will hit that start line in the best shape I have ever been in and ready to do my thing! My race number is 288 and you can follow my progress throughout the race on http://www.challenge-roth.com/en/index.html Live streams and reports, photos and video. Updated all day long with an athlete tracker, just stick in my number and see how I'm going!
Race report will follow as soon as I am back and have enough energy left to type!
See you all soon.

Saturday 10 July 2010

All about the bike

Watched my first bit of Le Tour yesterday! Great stage racing and another excellent win for Mark Cavendish. Regardless of whatever come sout of his mouth, he is one talented sprinter and without a doubt the quickest man in the Peloton and will be for years to come. Great stuff for Britain to have an elite athlete like this and I only wish he was getting more exposure and the sport would become more high profile in the UK. I don't know why on earth we are like this in Britain. That's why I am really looking forward to Roth next week. 500,000 fans and supporters at a triathlon race. 30,000 people lining a 1km climb! Brilliantly organised race( well, it is Germany after all!) and it just looks like an awesome place to be for a triathlon.
I had a ride out with coach Harry on Thursday and we had a chat about approaching the race. This is my first attempt at long distance and a bit of a journey into the unknown, and we discussed two main approaches. I either go at it very conservative and within myself and just get round, or I have a good go, do what I do well and push as hard as i can and if the wheels come off, just suck it up, laugh and enjoy myself, knowing that I have given it a good go and I know what to do for next time. The conclusion was the latter. This is what I have been training for for the last 12 months, the last 18 months. The focus of everything has been to get strong for long distance. The training is in place, it's time to put my body on the line and just go for it.
This last week has been a weird one. The tapering effect is in full effect!! Ridden easy, sea swum, run easy, tired and feeling rubbish and body stiff and aching. It's slowly wearing off, after yesterday's hour in the sea at Swanage. Wetsuit repair is a good one, very pleased with the guys at Dorset Diving Services.
So 8 days to go til the race start. Run this morning, bike later today. Early bike tomorrow and easy 20 minute run and sea swim. Monday as a rest I think and then some short efforts Tuesday and Wednesday. Fly out Thursday, register and practice swim Friday. Rack bike on Saturday, then back to hotel for sleep! Up at 2am race morning and breakfast, race start at 6:20am. I can feel the nerves already!!!!

Thursday 8 July 2010

One week to go!

7 days til I fly out. Am slowly preparing everything, making sure I am well organised, got all the gear I need, bike parts, spares, right clothing, all flight and accommodation info and anything else I can think of. Lists a plenty!
This tapering is killing me! I did an easy jog and easy bike on Tuesday, a 4k easy swim yesterday and just got back from a 40 minute easy run this morning. My body felt like a train wreck! Very slow, joints and muscles tight, and so tired! Easy 90 minute bike to do later and then I'll see what is in the schedule for the weekend. Nothing heavy, still light. Next week will be a few short sharp efforts, kickstart the body back into action. I know I'll be ready for Roth and I can't wait to get there and get on that start line.

For the latest race info go to:
http://www.challenge-roth.com/en/index.html

Monday 5 July 2010

The body

The body is a funny old thing. I have had 4 easy days since my last hard training session. I had a gentle swim Friday, a very easy jog Saturday, a 2 hour spin Sunday and I am off in a minute to go and have a nice easy swim in the sea followed by another gentle spin. And it feels horrible!!
Tired, no energy, no appetite, restless, can't settle. Just couldn't be bothered with riding yesterday, so after 2 hours I gave up and rode home. Not like me, I love being out on the bike. Truth is, I feel a bit lost without the focussed training session. Without the target pace to hit or the right level of effort to maintain! Just easy riding has lost any meaning! But that's the idea this week, it's just to rest the body fully before I shock start it into action next week with some short hard efforts and then ready for the big one on the 18th July. Temperatures are set to sore out there, so looking at some white tri kit and one of those 'Lawrence of Arabia' style caps with the rear flap. Might look a right plonker, but if it keeps me cool then that'll do for me!

Thursday 1 July 2010

Battered

Well, that's it. That was the last hard session before Roth, and now we start the tapering. Gonna be hell next week, but it's all in a good cause! Today was tough, very tough. Same session as 5 days ago, and not at all fresh. Bit of a stressfuly week so far. However, 72 miles in 3 hr 5' and a solid 20k in 1hr 35' on another warm and muggy day. And damned windy. Managed to build the pace on the bike and hung on for my 21 x 800s. Legs hanging off as I write, not been that tired after a session for a long time. Good to have really worked as hard as I could. Like Harry said to me, 'job done!'
So off for a glass of milk and some chocolate!!
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