Humility

First a couple of photo’s.


This is the pool at FlatIron where I’m training. 2 days earlier I’d been out in mid 70’s loving the sun. On this day we had about 12-15inc of snow and the air temp was about zero. I had to laugh as we swam and the coach stood on the pool deck dressed like an Eskimo.

The first two don’t do justice to the views I see each day as I train, but hopefully give you a little taste. The mountains are pretty imposing and loom on the horizon all the time… I cant wait to get up there once the snow melts!

SO to main theme of this post…..

Being here in Boulder is a lesson a day in so many ways. But in the last couple of days I’ve been made really aware of one particular lesson I can try to learn…..

As a Christian, one of the things I really try to focus on, pray about (and for) daily, and know is a real key to growing as a Christian, is Humility. In the bible God says that without it, you miss out on wisdom and can’t grow closer to God – so it’s clearly something that’s important to me. But when the opportunity comes… it actually takes it, to receive it…. If you know what I mean.

So how does this all relate to my first week here in Boulder? Well in 2 major ways:

1. The altitude here in Boulder is nearly 6000ft (2000m) which means the air is pretty thin. This has a HUGE effect on you in a number of ways. When training you just can’t go as fast, as hard or as long as normal. The reduced O2 means your body can’t produce as much energy in your body and your muscles therefore can’t work as hard. So when out training and riding with people, I’ve been forced to accept that I just cant climb a mountain as quick as I could… or more importantly as the other people on the ride. Granted, I’m riding with some of the best athletes in the world (current and former world champs, Olympians etc), but it’s still tough to ask your body to do something you expect it to…. And have it reply with a firm NO WAY!!! I’ve had to accept that I can’t go as fast as I expect to just yet and that others will be dropping me pretty easily. The altitude also means that I can’t DO as much as I’d normally do and recovery is WAY more important too. Sleeping, eating and hydrating become a real focus. But also realising that until I adapt to the altitude, I need to NOT push as hard or as much as I normally would. I might want to do the extra session, or even feel like I could, but deep down I know that I cant beat the altitude… or should that be “cheat” the altitude. I have to accept that it’s bigger and more powerful than me and I’ve just got to go with it for the ride as I adjust to the lack of O2.

2. The second way I’ve been “humbled” this week, is by people. Boulder is a “hub” of world class athletes and this is one of the reasons I’ve come here. It struck me this morning in the pool as I was hanging on for dear life to the times for our main set. I was swimming in a lane with a world champ and 2 time Olympian, in the lane next to me was one current and 3 time world champ, and one 4 time world champ and Olympian… and there’s me…. VERY cool I’m thinking…. In between desperate gasps for breath as I take all of 2 seconds rest at the end of the current 100yrd interval. I can’t help but be humbled that I even get to train with these people, of just how good they are, and that they let me train with them.

But as I said at the start, humility something that’s pretty key to my faith. The opportunity to hopefully grow in it is a good one. I have to accept that right now, confronted by my current surroundings, I don’t have much choice. Altitude doesn’t care for pride and world champions certainly don’t either. I only hope I can use the opportunity to its fullest.

Focus

As I write this next Blog, I’m sat in a Julie and Mike Dibens house… in Boulder Colorado USE. I’ve just finished a nice 3 and a half hour ride with Chrissie, her coach and all-time-great triathlete Simon Lessing and numerous other top class athletes. We road on perfect roads, through what looks like “Little House On the Prairie” scenery and it was 70+ degrees… yes, it was a VERY enjoyable ride.

And it’s exactly this kind of thing that is why I’ve decided to head over here for 6 and a half weeks. The location at 2,500m above sea level, is tough at first, with breathing and pushing anything harder than steady not possible just yet; but I know that over the next few weeks I’ll adapt and come back stronger when I “come Down” to sea level to race. Boulder is FULL of other triathletes, swimmers, cyclist and runners of world class pedigree so there’s never a shortage of great training partners. And the location is amazing with great roads, flat, rolling or mountains (should you wish to go up any further and deprive your body of even MORE O2!) I’m really excited about what the next few weeks will bring in terms of training and improvements in me as an athlete.

It also allows me to continue what I mentioned in my last blog about being successful in what’s necessary. Being away from home isn’t great that’s for sure – I miss my girlfriend, family and friends; but being able to solely focus on the work at hand (and not find excuses or get caught up in “other stuff” that means I don’t end up doing a “full days work”) is really important for me. This focus comes more easily to some than others. For me, I find that, just like chocolate, I need to remove the temptation or not put myself in a position where I can be tempted – either to eat the chocolate… or miss that nasty session that needs to be done, but is easily skipped in favour of “other stuff”. So whilst to many, it might sound cool and exciting to travel to Colorado, the reality of it can be far from ‘cool’. The next 6.5 weeks are purely and simply about getting down to the business of training, eating and sleeping… and not a lot else really.

It’s also much easier to train and train HARD around other people who are in the same position as you. And especially understand what you mean when you say that you’re “smoked”. Being able to simply go home and sleep when this is the case, and not have other “stuff” pulling you away from the importance of recovery and rest is a vital part of it all. I read a quote recently from Mark Cavendish (the best road cyclist sprinter in the world right now) that I think really sums it up well (to para-phrase it and remove some of the colourful language)

“'People ask you to come here and there and I say, "I can't." And they say, "Yeah, I realise you're tired, I realise you just want a bit of peace and quiet." And it's like, no… I… Am… smoked!!!. I'm totally, utterly exhausted. My body is eating itself because I'm so tired.”

When you look at the best there is out there, in both sport, business, life generally… they all have a real focus on doing what is required to succeed. I’m looking forward to exercising this focus over the next few weeks and just glad that people here don’t mind when I can barely say more that ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked an open question and know that you just cant do normal stuff a lot of the time.

Back in the swing of things

Since my last post at the end of my season last year (September) I’ve been a pretty busy chappy – hence the lack of anything resembling an update to my website or blog. I went back to work for a few months in order to work on the finances a bit having earned very little money from the season and survived on some generous help and support of friends and family. But its important that if I’m going to do this (call myself a Profession triathlete) then I must in fact be successful enough to justify that title and so earn a living from the sport. I hope that with all of last years problems behind me and resolved, I can do just this.

My time back at work was an interesting one and for the later part, pretty brutal on me. The global downturn in pretty much anything, meant that working at the London Stock Exchange was at times, a pretty heavy place to be. I was blessed to have got the contract to work back there again and so I worked my butt off to make sure I kept my job and the additional pressures of the project meant that at times I was back to where I was 2 years ago when 30 hours in a day wouldn’t have been enough to get everything done. My focus was to get to the end of the project successfully and with something resembling a base fitness level. From this I hoped I could return to full time training and spring forward, rather than hit the end of February (when I left the contract) and pretty much have to start my training from scratch. This would have meant my season was about 2-3 months behind schedule and been hugely frustrating. Thankfully I just about managed it and by ensuring that what training I DID do, was maximum “bang for the buck” I found myself in far better shape than I’d hoped.

Introducing some of the key sessions from Brett Sutton last year, meant that my cycling was entirely done on the turbo with a lot of strength work (big gear) and never anything more than 2 hours at one time. A few 2 x 2 hours ride days meant that I was still actually getting some good volume in (especially if you agree with me that riding for 60 minutes on a stationary trainer is about as good as 90 minutes on the road).

So when the start of March rolled around and I left “work” in the city for “work” in lycra, I was able to begin with a real optimism about the season. I’ve begun to settle into my new schedule nicely and am really enjoying the sessions as they tick by. Its interesting for me though as I think back to this time last year when I was (un-be-known to me then) struggling with food allergies and couldn’t even manage 2 hours training a day without needing to sleep for the next 15 hours. Part of me still expects the fatigue to kick in 20minutes into a ride with me struggling to last much longer. I’m delighted to report though that it’s not that way at all now and I’m quite happily ticking off the sessions at the moment and this is the key I think. Being able to consistently complete the training day after day is really showing and I can see and feel the strength and fitness improving over time. I recently heard a great Winston Churchill quote that said “It’s not simply good enough to do ones best, we much succeed in doing what is required”. This is the target for me, to know what is required and to succeed, day after day, at doing it. With nearly 3 months to go before my A race of Iron Man Japan (June 20th) I’m really excited about where I’ll be come the start line of my first Iron Man.

Finding my "mojo" / Small changes.

If you've read my last blog then you know all about the year I've had so far. You'll then understand why on Saturday, as I stood on the edge of Rutland Water in Leicestershire waiting to start the British Middle Distance Champs at "The Vitruvian" - and defend my national title - I was so uncertain about what the next 4 hours held in store. I'd long ago lost the confidence I used to have going into a Half Ironman distance race, of going as hard and as fast as possible and being a contender at the front. There was now far more nervousness surrounding things for me. Would things within my body work properly today....would I finish.... Was I as good as my inner belief kept telling me I was or had I lost my "mojo" for ever?

You can read the race report here, so I won't go into the ins and outs of the race, but surface to say it went well, pretty much according to plan and most importantly reassured me that the failings of 2008 WERE anomalies caused by external factors and that I'm right to keep pressing on with my goals.

Its hard to explain but I'm sure most people out there can relate to feeling like they've lost their zip, confidence, flow...whatever you want to call it. And even for the most confident of people, it can be very hard to handle and stick it out and get through it. You only have to listen...and I mean REALLY LISTEN, to many of the things that our incredible Olympic champions said this summer Thankfully Saturday and the way the race went has not only reassured me that things are back and I'm about 85% back on form, but its also helped me see what could come next year if I get things right.

After my time away last week and the numerous little nuggets of advice and help I received I was able to try and implement some of them leading up to and during the race. To my delight and impacts were not merely indicators of what could be, but actual tangible differences to how things went right now. Changes in training leading into the race meant I was SO fresh come Saturday morning. Then come the start a different approach and tech to my swim... Normally something that would take months to feel like it was making a difference...left me coming out the water not only still in touch with the leaders, but also feeling like I'd barely got out of breath. Such a difference after so short a time blows me away, but has also fuelled the fire inside for next year and the possibilities. I remember the first time I managed to swim 20.16 for 1500m open water and the boost I got from it. Suddenly I truly believed that I could actually swim "OK" and that my goals and ambitions weren't as far away as they'd seamed for so long; and the path to them wasn't so cluttered with barriers any more either. The same thing is true on Saturdays swim. OK the time wasn't stunning and on a World class level, would still have left me off the pace, but it was over 90seconds faster than my time her last year or at Timberman 70.3 only 3 weeks ago. That’s HUGE in comparison to how long I've struggled till now to knock off a few seconds here and there, over the last 3-4 years. And to enhance to confidence boost, it just felt SO easy that I'm excited to see how much there is to come.

The same can be said of my run on Saturday. 3 weeks ago I struggled with cramp and have always found it tough to keep my "technique" for the whole 21km leading to most recently, well below (in my opinion) potential, run performances. One simple change to my run leg (not literally my running legs though of course...changing those for say...Halle Gabri Sellasies would be nice) approach and the first 10.5km flew by with my legs feeling fresh, fast and the clock showing me back on track to the levels I've seen fleetingly in the past but most recently struggled to realize or even believe were possible again for me.

What's different, what's the magic formula I'm now using...? Well its not EPO in case you're wondering ha ha! In a nutshell though, its purely simplification. As a great coach once said, moving away from "paralysis through analysis". Sometimes we (I) can get so caught up, over-complicating things, that we end up restricting things. Freeing myself of multiple technique focal points also frees me from any subconscious pressure I create to perform each one of those "points". This also reduces needless energy expenditure and waste that actually, we all too often don't even realize we doing.

In short though, I'm really excited about the ride I can once again see ahead of me next year. The next 6 months will be a journey in itself, but where I get to at the end, I once again believe will allow me to start on the next journey to even more exciting places.

For now though, I've got to settle in for a few months. Training yes... That journey must begin NOW, but also returning to work and rebalance the finances to allow for the journey to be possible come 2009. The life of a fulltime athlete is far from exotic... And we all have to live within the realities of this world...but using it to fuel the dreams in our heads.

Whats been, what is and what's to come.....

For so many reasons its been a long time since I've updated my blog... Or website for that matter. Many of them are technical (IT related) ones, but having spoken to various people recently, it seams that people DO actually read this so firstly "Hi" (Cathy, Dan & Cathy, Eddie, Ben) and secondly thanks... I'll try to be better with this in the next few months.

Well 2008 has been a pretty rough year all said. My first year full time has coincided with my first ever real injury and some pretty drastic health problems. I'll try to cover most of it in this post so it might be a long one - serves you all right for telling me you read this ha ha. I'll split it up into what's been, what is and what's to come....

What's Been...
Thus far my first year full time has been anything other than "Professional" - certainly in terms of finances & winnings. Starting the year with tendonitis in the hip meant that bike and run wise I was off to a bad start. Happily however Lanson Running (www.lansonrunning.co.uk) have come onboard to support me alongside Saucony Shoes and these problems are now in the past. My swimming was on the up though, but when I came to racing I was struggling...at the time I thought I was just missed fitness from the injury. In hindsight though, the deep exhaustion I was feeling everyday wasn't a result simply of the training. I was finding myself struggling to manage 17 hours of training a week. I simply put it down to the "reality of life as an athlete" and set about training MORE.

Come mid June and my two main focuses of the early season Austria 70.3 and Switzerland 70.3 came and...well went...BADLY. For some reason I was barely able to even FINISH one of these races now, let alone think about doing well or winning them (despite winning numerous shorter races). Training was getting harder too and general energy was on a downward trend. It took me 6 months of the year to see it and look for it, but something was clearly wrong.

I won't go into it here...as I've board most of you with it all in person anyway ha ha. Some blood tests, doctors appointments, injections and other advice all ended up with various changes to my lifestyle and nutrition. Within a few days I could feel the difference and by the end of July I was once again feeling back to normal. Though it can take time (months or even years in some cases) to get over stuff like Gluten intolerances, the general trend was an upward one. I no longer felt shattered all the time, training more than an hour at a time wasn't an uphill battle and more than 20 hours in a week didn't leave me bed ridden for a day! The goal for the year had always been the World Champs in November again and hopefully a top 10. By now all I wanted to do was qualify after the first 7 months so my coach and I picked a race in August and set about trying to get that slot....

What is....
I headed over to New Hampshire USA once more after my last, successful trip there in 2006. Timberman 70.3 is a great race and offered the chance to see some good friends again too. The race itself might have well have been a world champs with the amount of top class Pro's there but I was excited about racing and actually feeling remotely strong again. My good friend Chrissie Wellington (www.chrissiewellington.org) was also going to be there so it would be great to spend some time with her in a year where she is CRUSHING everyone in her wake! (including the men in most races.... More to come on this...)

I had a great few days in the Greystone Inn, Gilford. Seeing Dan and Cathy again was fantastic and bumping into other familiar faces made it a really nice few days. I felt pretty good leading into race day and had managed to avoid any gluten so I was optimistic about the race itself.

Race day dawned hot and sunny. Another disappointing swim (my pool times are still hit and miss as far as "showing up" in a race!) was followed by a solid bike as I anxiously waited to see how I felt coming off the bike...I came into transition less than 5mins off the leader and in 6th...this was more like it, but would my energy problems be there again. Thankfully I knew within about 3k they weren't and I held a nice steady pace over as I moved into 5th during the first hilly 5k, aiming to slowly build it up over the last 10k. Then.... BANG! On the way back at about 9k both my hamstrings went into rigid cramp! :-O I couldn't believe it. I had to stop and stretch. I had enough energy, but couldn't push the legs too hard or it came roaring back. Nursing the cramp for the remaining 12k of the run I came home in 8th. Pleasing in many ways as it was so much better than everything else so far this year, but disappointed as it wouldn't be enough to get the Worlds slot; and humbled as during the cramp attack Chrissie had pounded past me and I'd not been able to catch her back up... For the first time ever I'd been beaten by a girl (OK, so she's World Champ, a generational "freaky" talent and I'm not the first man to be beaten by her this year).

It was both satisfying and disappointing. The Worlds would have to be missed for a year as the remaining races to qualify at are all too far away (for my bank balance anyway ha ha!).

I'd have to console myself with trying to defend my National Title in September and re-focusing on next year being PERFECT - no injury, no sickness and achieving what I believe I'm capable of!

What's to come...
Fueled by the deep disappointment of the year I've looked to see what I can do to ensure next year and the years thereafter are all they can be. The offer to spend some time with Chrissie, her world leading (often wrongly maligned and criticized) coach and some of the members of their "team" TBB, was just what I was after. Some time in the peaceful, idyllic Swiss alps would offer me some space to think things through too. The year so far has left a lot of ...."clutter" in the gray matter that needed sorting.

Brett Sutton has an undisputable track record of training champions. Over the last 30 years he's done so on the track, in the pool, in the ring, on the race course and now in triathlon. Right now there is no one better in my opinion than him to seek for advice. Coupled with the "space" I wanted I was optimistic that my time there would have a HUGE impact on me for next year on onwards. I wasn't disappointed....

Without going into too much detail (maybe another day), I've got a new perspective on me as an athlete, training generally, life in "this sport" and my future in this sport. My self belief is still strong, though he makes no time for "blowing up your backside" for the sake of it i.e. He won't tell you you're great to make you feel good... And he didn't with me either. He simply told me what I'd need to do, that it would be INCREDIBLY hard, require a HUGE amount of work and that really I was starting 5 years too late.... Nothing new there then ;-) oh and one other thing.... That I need to start doing Ironmans....:-O :-D

Aside from Bretts insight, thoughts and advice that I've been fortunate to have and will I believe, go towards making next year an exciting one, I also got some really good time to think about things and coupled with fresh words from the "Doc" (Brett) I've got a really good desire for everything again. My belief had never really gone, but I think I'd lost sight of how to make it a reality. I'm chomping at the bit to get started on building towards next year now... I almost just want to get the Nationals out the way so I can get cracking :-) exciting times....

So there it is. I do want to add a HUGE HUGE thank you to those of you who have help me, especially recently in some generous ways that serve to keep me humble and grateful to you all! I hope to be able to "repay" all the support and help in the near future in more ways than one.

So it’s back to reality now. I'm going to look to do some work again to get the financial side of things ticking over. If possible get something going that will help maintain me next year too. God continues to bless my church (www.eternitychurch.co.uk) too and we're moving to a new BIGGER venue so there’s work to be done there. God willing, everything will fall into place in the right way to allow forward movement in all aspects of life. With my girlfriend moving down to Surbiton, at least I won't spend half my life on the M4 now too! Ha ha