Lack of Motivation? Buy New Kit!

Having read a few other athletes blogs and comments on various tri forums, we all seem to have been through a period where we have suffered from a lack of motivation recently for either cycling, running, swimming...or even all three! There have even been some folk talking of packing it all in and selling their kit! (welcome back Hussler!). One way or another the vast majority of us seem to snap out of it. Some of us are fortunate enough to jet off to sunnier climes for some warm weather training (nice sunshine pics Daz!), but I usually opt for a bit of new kit; doesn't matter what...could be something as lavish as a new bike (I wish!) or as little as a new pair of running socks, doesn't matter what it is, if it's new, it gives me enough of a boost to keep me going until the sun returns and the racing begins!

This last couple of weeks I've increased my running and biking hours, but swimming has kinda stalled a bit. My own 'motivational struggles' have been with the wet stuff. I just don't seem to have the urge to get in the water, and when I do, I find it a chore to put any real effort in. I think it's probably due to the fact that, in the back of my mind, I know I will be doing a lot of swimming when I get down to MPA. Hopefully the new swim shorts will help!
So, I'm mainly concentrating on bike strength at the moment, trying to convert all those squats and leg presses into more specific biking strength. It's leaving me with heavy legs most of the time and as a result my running just seems to be made up of steady runs, some quite long, rather than any real hard efforts, which is no real drama for this time of year. Once I'm done with so much 'big gear crunching' I will shift more emphasis to my run speed...that's the plan anyway!
But at the moment, I'm sort of got addicted to my strength DVD which has me crunching big gears at low cadence. I'm up to 5 intervals of 15 mins in a big gear at 50-55 RPM, with 5 mins easy spinning between. Feel the burn baby!!

Train smart.

Back To The Great Outdoors

Hallelujah! The snow has gone! Since the weather has improved I've been out on a couple of long rides...isn't it nice when the scenery changes as you pedal! Over the last 2 weekends I have bagged some solid base training. Last weekend I dragged myself out of bed for an early 3km swim on the Saturday, and in the afternoon I went for an easy/steady 10 mile run, which took me 1hr 10. I was pleased with the time, it shows that I still have a decent base level of run fitness to build on after my lay off.

The next day I went for my first outdoor ride for nearly a month - a lovely 60 mile loop over the rolling hills to Pateley Bridge (see the snow free photo!). Unfortunately I am having to use my TT bike for outdoor rides at the moment coz my road bike is a bit poorly - the chain keeps slipping under load. I've replaced the rear cassette and chain but it still slips so the next step is to change the chainrings which should sort it then, hopefully. But until then I will just have to keep giving the 'good bike' a damn good scrubbing after every ride.

Now that I am feeling stronger and have my 'mojo' back after my op, this week I have started to take a more structured approach to my training, managing to train twice a day for most of the week.

I did one of my favourite 'extensive endurance' run sessions on Tuesday (outside!). It starts with 10 mins easy then I up the pace for 10 mins of moderate effort, followed by 10 mins very hard before 10 mins easy and then the last 10 mins of 1 min strides 1 min steady. It maybe doesn't sound to hard but it does the job!

My hardest bike session this week was on the turbo for some strength sets. I use a DVD (Joe Friel) The main part of the workout was 15 mins in a gearing I could maintain 50-55 RPM in zone 3 (no power meter here I'm afraid!), with 5 mins easy spinning, and repeat another 3 times. It's a real leg burner but I find these kind of sessions a lot easier to do with the help of a DVD.

Only managed 2 swims this week. One was a long swim of 3km and the other was an interval session of 6 x 250m on 4min 50sec, followed by a recovery ride home. I really must try and get more swimming in next week.

Getting swim time in won't be a problem soon when I'm on my winter training camp with the penguins! Lots of time for that, but outdoor rides and even runs will be a tad more challenging! I fear a lot more turbo and treadmill sessions coming up....

Train smart.

Shock and Thaw!

Got a bit of shock the other day when I stepped on to the new scales we got for Christmas...since my last weight check, which was just before my leg op, I was 72 kg. This was a couple of kg's heavier than I was during the summer, but nothing too drastic. However, due to not training for 2 months and still eating like I was, then top that up with my weak will power over the Christmas period and I had 'ballooned' to 77 kg!!! Not good! Since that sobering revelation I have got back into eating better and because my training levels are increasing the weight is coming down. Yesterday I weighed in at 75 kg's - not a massive drop but I don't need to loose it too quickly, just as long as I'm back down to my 'racing weight' of 70kg by the summer then I'll be happy.

Well, almost half way through January and I still haven't managed to get my bike on to the roads! I know a lot of you are also suffering in the snow and ice and like all of you I am getting really sick of my turbo! The end of these arctic conditions does seem to be in sight now (well, in North Yorkshire anyway) so hopefully I can get some winter gear on and hit the hills without being met with a road an 'Ice Road Trucker' would be scared of!

Definitely a turbo day!

I struggle to get proper time in on the turbo, especially any kind of endurance ride. The max I have done on the turbo so far has been about 2 hours. I find that turbo riding is harder. I feel as tired after a couple of hours on the turbo as I do after 4 on the roads! Is this just me?

My running endurance is improving - did 90 minutes steady recently without any problems. I am still just training by 'feel' at the moment, just getting the endurance levels up.

Swimming wise , I'm concentrating on drills and aerobic endurance. The pool is quite busy lately with all the 'New Year resolution' swimmers! I don't mind when it's busy as long as the slower swimmers give way at the turns and keep close to the lane ropes to allow faster swimmers to pass without annoying on coming swimmers when overtaking them. Rant over.

This years base period I'm experimenting with doing a lot more weights and core work than I've done before. This is an area I've only 'dabbled' with previously, opting to get 'serious' miles in rather than spend time in a gym. Hopefully this will result in more power on the bike come the summer and maybe a greater resistance to lower leg injuries(?!)

I need to go and finalise my 2010 race plan...decisions, decisions... Train well and pray for rain!