This year has felt like one long ultimate test of endurance, where your thinking is completely consumed by that one event. It's only now that I'm free from that and able to catch up with this blog. Unfortunately, I'm not referring to some exciting race I prepared for and took part in. No, I'm referring to my MSc in Sport Psychology. As some of my readers may recall I started this MSc 3 years ago when I felt like I needed a fresh challenge in work, even though this MSc was completely separate from my work. Due to my qualification already of a doctorate in clinical psychology I only had to complete four out of the six taught modules in the MSc, which was a godsend. Whilst at times the assignment of these modules would take over my life for a few weeks, it was manageable around my full-time work and just meant training took a hit for a few weeks. However, since the turn of the year my focus has been completely on writing my dissertation as I was conscious of having to do this part-time around my full-time work, and also knowing how busy the tutors were so pinning them down might prove difficult. As it is I'm not sure I ever expected it to be this hellish! I won't bore you with all the details, but basically when I submitted it it was the hardest I've ever worked on anything, and I was chuffed that I submitted it 19 days early meaning I could finally breath and have my life back!
So, here I am, on the second of my two weeks annual leave, and I'm sitting in the veranda of the holiday let I have for the week, looking out over Newgale Beach in Pembrokeshire (South Wales, UK, for those of my readers who aren't British). Other than at night when I fear the bugs coming out to crawl over me in my sleep I feel completely chilled and my stay here so far has involved long hikes along the coastal path as well as a run along the beach.
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| The view from my holiday let |
I knew August was going to be a hideous month, of going into work early to create some extra time, then coming home and studying some more, before spending all my weekends working. The end of August bank holiday weekend I spent 25hours+ studying but the reward was having two weeks completely off and here I am!
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| Not going to tire of this stunning panoramic view |
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| The long hill up to start my first hike of the coastal path |
But what about training and racing? Well, at the start of the year I decided not to enter any races so as to not put any added pressure on myself to train if my dissertation took all my time. The hope was that I would be able to enter races closer to the race date as and when I felt able to. As it happened I haven't raced at all as my training went to pot and my swimming went out the window. Partly this was due to me finally getting near the bottom of my shoulder pain, although I'm still awaiting the results of a recent arthrogram/MRI which might confirm a SLAP tear. However, I've got pain in the other shoulder too, so it just seemed less hassle not to swim. Although, there have certainly been times when I would have gone, pain included, if it hadn't been for my studying taking over.
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| A look back at the bays I have just come from |
I had no plan to my training, it was all quite ad hoc. I did write myself a plan one week but I don't think I even managed the first session from it! That's not to say I haven't been training, I have been running consistently, but the cycling and gym work was sporadic for quite a while. I think it's only three times that I've been outside on my bike this year!!!!!! Long rides outside were just time I didn't have so its lucky that I quite enjoy the turbo, other than the pain of being in the saddle for longer than 45 minutes when you're not used to it.
I also made a decision to ditch my gym membership. It's a bug bear of mine that there is only one squat rack in a gym and then one bloke decides to hog it for over half an hour. Unfortunately, it's rare that I will approach someone and ask if I can do alternate sets with them, or ask how long they will be, although I have done it once or twice in the past. In the gym itself session would revolve around the trx, the squat rack and the leg press mostly. If I went straight from work I'd struggle to get on one of the 3 spin bikes there, and definitely wouldn't get on the squat rack. This meant that I was opting to miss sessions rather than go to the gym and waste my time. Ultimately I decided to invest in my own equipment and turn my garage into a mini gym. So, now I have my own squat rack, a trx and a few other bits and bobs to ensure I can train when I want. This also means that my sessions are far more efficient as I am super-setting each exercise and not having to wait around for a piece of equipment to come free. When I return swimming then I will have to decide whether to go late in an evening to a public lanes session (I hate training late at night as I then can't get off to sleep), or to join up with a swim squad again.
What I have found during this year is that having broken the habit of early morning training sessions getting up early is the hardest thing in the world if I know I don't "have to". If I had to get up early to go somewhere then I wake like a button. If i know there's a chance I can push the alarm back...a bad habit I'm afraid but after my leave is over, BOOM, I'm going to get back on it! I also recognised that my mind was working so hard in work (I was also taking on extra work in work to try and set up a new service) and then at home, that actually I was quite mentally exhausted and all my annual leave prior to these two weeks had either been taken to give me dedicated time to study/write my dissertation, or I was off but it was still on my mind as I was waiting on feedback before I could proceed. Therefore, it's only now that I have switched off from it.
It's horrible to not be racing though, seeing race reports from club mates and friends about their races and not being a part of it. Granted, I have been working on my running after my session with James Dunne of Kinetic Revolution back in July to try and run injury free, so I wasn't anywhere near race ready anyhow. After my session with James I booked up to have a follow-up for the day after my dissertation was due, to give me time to try and implement his suggestions into practice, and then return to have a follow-up to check on my progress and ensure I was on the right lines. During the intervening time I was now running pain free, it was quite amazing!!!!!!! I had focused on going back to base building which was frustrating as when I started out I could barely break into a jog before my heart rate would beep and tell me it was too high but I stuck with it and whilst my mile splits are still way off what I'd like I am getting faster with my heart rate continuing to be low so I know it's working. I was even running on consecutive days, which is unheard of in "Hayley Land"!! I was up to three times a week running and had built mileage up to about 17 miles total across the runs. When I returned to Battersea Park it was another glorious day and the hour with James flew by. It was pleasing to see that in the first video he took of me in this follow-up sessions you could see the difference in my foot landing (i.e. not rolling in). However, there were still areas for improvement so over the next hour James had me work on technique and when he videoed me for the final time the difference within the hour was evident and it felt good! I have something to work on now over the winter and then I'll pop back up and see James again before Spring next year to check on progress again and see if there's anything else I need to tweak. I have noticed my soleus getting tight after running, which might be my leg adapting to running in a slightly different way so I have some strengthening exercises to do there, along with the other rehab exercises James had given me before. Additionally, this week with all my hiking my shin splints are sore but its not serious, it's not the tibialis posterior pain and that's the main thing!
So how about my biking? I raved about Cycle Specific a few months back but given how busy I got with my dissertation and how my bike work took a hit I haven't been there for a good long while. I've still been working in zone 2, base building, for my heart rate here, and in recent weeks my turbo sessions have become more regular, so hopefully I'll get back up to speed soon and get some outdoor rides in regularly and maybe a class or two on the wattbike.
I have been considering where I go from here though training wise. Do I need a coach to give my training some structure? But I know from past experience that I have felt restricted by it. However, I also know that consistency is key, even if this means repeating the same sessions so maybe it's my issue. Saying that, I have the Friel and Fink books to work from and my own knowledge that has served me well in the past, so I was then thinking about changing my training in other ways. I've mostly been a lone wolf when training, only been to a smattering of run sessions mostly due to injury, and dipped in and out of swim groups. Do I then maybe need to look at joining in with some organised runs, meeting new people, finding new routes? James had said not to worry about speed work over the winter, continue to base build, but it would be nice to mix things up, maybe even if it's just a hilly run session...I've also got to consider what works best for me, which is training as soon after work as I can, as I'm not someone who enjoys coming home, grabbing a very light snack, and then training late. It just doesn't work for me. So, I'm weighing up some changes...
On a final note, during my dissertation months I didn't do any private work as a performance psychologist #youcanyouwill but now that my MSc is done I'm looking to build this a little to be a regular little side venture. A local run club approached me and have asked for an hours seminar on psychology for performance in November, so I'm looking forward to that, and maybe there'll be a couple of people from there that might benefit from some additional 1:1 time. We all put time and money into coaching, all the bling equipment, all the gels, protein shakes, recovery aids, etc. but too often the mental side is overlooked, yet recognised as being an area of weakness. I know myself that my mind has worked against me many a time in the past, and I'm a psychologist! So, hopefully, I can help people recognise how important it is to train the mind like any other part of their training and preparation.
Thanks for reading...it was a long one for sure!
