A time of transition and the mojo returns...

Following my last race at Liverpool for the British Champs i spent a lot of time reflecting on things, and i'm a naturally reflective person anyway, so i never do anything without having thoroughly thought it through from all angles. Training was feeling flat, even though i was doing the sessions, and i was willing the season away so that i could close the door on it and start again. Don't get me wrong, there have been some good things this season such as the early duathlon results & also obviously slipping on the GB trisuit and racing for my country in Turkey. However, i felt like I had lost my mojo. I wasn't enjoying training, i wasn't enjoying racing, so i knew something wasn't right.

The weekend after Liverpool i went camping with a small group from my tri club for a training/social weekend at a local campsite in one of the most stunning parts of Gower. Camping is something i hadn't done since my teens but something i have long held ambitions to do but never had the courage to do as a single female, due to safety reasons. However, in the safety of a friendly group i packed up my little car with all my training kit plus my little 4 man tent (only really suitable for 2 people really). Luckily the bunch i was with were ever eager to help me put the tent up and then on the second night put the guy ropes in as i had no clue what to do with them! On the first night after setting up camp i went for a short run down some hills, along the beach, and back up some hills :) Then it was time to relax as I cooked pasta on my little camping stove and sat in my chair drinking lager and feeling instantly chilled :) It's amazing what a bit of friendly company and a few beers can do but it was certainly what the doctor ordered. The next day we had a lovely pleasant bike ride and i even indulged in a luscious slice of carrot cake (my fav) when we did a coffee stop at another beautiful beach location.

Rhossili

The weekend was a scorcher so i would happily have stayed put in the afternoon but i was coerced into a sea swim - my first open water swim since the jellyfish in Liverpool the previous weekend but i came prepared with suntan lotion that protects against jellyfish stings! I didn't feel comfortable swimming and the main group of guys had gone off like a train and were nowhere in sight, but i had a couple swimming around me, one i was looking out for so kept stopping to check her progress, and then Yoda himself, John, who was checking up on both of us! I've been having arm pain when i swim since i first started swimming for tri as far as i can remember but last year i mostly ignored it as when i reported it to the coach they didn't think anything of it. However, this year i've realised that ignoring it didn't help so i have been managing my swimming by cutting sessions shorts if the pain starts to kick in and not go away. I'm not sure if this was an excuse but i only did half the swim, getting out after the length of the beach - which was about 750 metres and walking back with another member who also got out because of injury. I think i did touch one jellyfish in my catch phase but no sting. The next morning i went off for a run by myself, just me deciding which turn to take etc., no pre-planned route and i absolutely loved it!! i felt like i used to feel when i ran - free, enjoying the exploration and the beauty of where i was, as much as the sensation of running itself. I took a mostly cross country route out onto the coastal path on uneven undulating terrain, before looping back down onto the beach, over the dunes, and then up Horton hill - a killer hill from the Gower Olympic triathlon run route. I have to say this time around it didn't seem quite as arduous an ordeal but that's probably because i hadn't swam and cycled beforehand, and didn't have to run it twice! However, this back to basics run - where i wasn't worried about time or distance was exactly what i needed to help me go searching for my mojo again...

This first half of this year, well in fact from mid autumn onwards has been difficult because i've been juggling part-time MSc study with my training, alongside full-time work. This tricky thing was my weekends were completely eaten up with training and then study up until i submitted a piece of coursework and then i would have a couple of weekends off before the work started again for the next assignment. I can't grumble too much as i live alone and am single, so it's not like i have family commitments and my time is my own, but it did mean for a long while i never felt rested and at times i had to choose study over training, and other times i had to make the decision that my work was good enough with the time i was willing to commit, so that it didn't take over my life. My last piece of coursework was submitted mid June, and then i made a presentation early july and that was my first year all done! I was pleased to find out that i had an average mark of a healthy merit across the year and i was even more pleased to be free of uni for a few months and focus on training, relaxing, catching up on other stuff (not that i seem to have done much of the catching up i hasten to add!!).

Fabulous quote i found by 'unknown'

I decided at the beginning of August to end my coaching arrangement with Rose. I was grateful for learning new training routes and new training sessions but i decided I needed to mix things up for the remainder of the season and therefore decided to go back to being coach-less. I also made the decision to not race in the Gower Sprint tri. I wasn't enjoying racing and decided i wanted a longer period to build towards Bala Olympic distance race, rather than have to taper for Gower sprint and miss out on a few days quality hard training. Since then i've found my second wind and am super motivated having got my mojo back with a bang :)

I opted to spend more time on the turbo so have thrown myself into The Sufferfest cycling videos. If you haven't heard of these i highly recommend them as they take away the boredom of the turbo and every video is a sweatfest that certainly makes you push yourself! There are many professional triathletes out there, some of them ironmen/women who do all their bike training on the turbo and only ride their bikes outdoors during racing. The elements are controllable, there's no stop/starting on the roads for junctions or traffic lights, you don't have to worry about idiotic drivers, potholes, etc. you can just focus on putting 100% effort in as on the road it's easy to coast, take it easy etc. if the ride is a recovery ride great, but if you're trying to achieve change through power/speed etc. they suggest that a turbo workout is more beneficial. I'm not saying that everyone believes this, as each to their own, but i have spent more time on the turbo recently, with a 2 hour ride down to Porthcawl and back completed last weekend just to get back used to my racing bike, rather than my training bike. Who knows how my bike time will look come Bala race, but i have enjoyed the variety of different turbo sessions as i hate monotony and like training sessions to be varied to keep things interesting, and challenging.

I have also switched my swim times to before work twice a week. I always used to swim pre-work last year and even though it can be difficult getting up before dawn to get to the pool by 6am, i always felt better after it and felt alive in work (for the first hour or so at least anyway!). I also invested in a new book "Swim smooth" and spent a bit of time reading this and various internet articles and websites looking into the shoulder/arm pain i was experiencing. I have since discovered that i was swimming with my shoulders rather than my lat muscles and i was also focusing on pulling with my hand rather than drawing the elbow back (making the forearm paddle more powerful). Having focused on this the pain has definitely eased when swimming although it still makes itself known from time to time, usually at the start of the swim. I have also had some useful tips from John and Simon who are part of the North Dock Dredgers swim squad whom i am now swimming with, so even though i still have one race left this season it's been useful having a few technique pointers to think about that seem to have helped as i need all the help i can get really. I had looked into getting an underwater swim analysis due to the arm pain and knowing something was not right with my technique under the water, but this fell flat. So, i'm hoping now once the season is over and we go back to basics that i'll have a quality winter training block given the progress i have made already from making a few small changes and that i will reap the rewards next year. I intend to swim at least 3 times a week over the winter, 2 squad sessions at least and then one longer swim on my own. I'm also going to get back in the gym and work on specific strengthening exercises for my lats/shoulders/rotator cuffs etc that will hopefully increase my power through the catch phase.

My new swim bible

Run wise...i've been enjoying doing my speed work down north dock as it's a change of scenery. Plus, my mother is into nordic walking and this is a great place for her to do laps without much foot traffic so we've spent the past few weeks of me running whilst she walks. A great way to catch up, whilst also getting a quality training session in. I also decided to enter an end of season half marathon to finish off the season strongly so i have upped my mileage recently, putting in a 11.5 miler a week ago, and i'll build again once bala is out of the way with 3 weeks then until the race. I decided to return to the Forest of Dean where i did a half marathon last year. They have a great half marathon that goes through the forest trails and the autumn race is meant to be hillier than the spring one, which had some hills in it as it was. So i'm not looking at this to be anything other than an enjoyable run through some beautiful countryside to end the season on a high as i absolutely thrive on the feeling of running, exploring new places, the sense of freedom that it all brings - that's what i have lacked, the pure love of training :) I've also really loved doing flat out speed work. busting a gut over a short distance flat out sprinting is what i love - pure speed :) so i've been tagging on some sprint runs after my threshold run sess :) best of both speed worlds ;) As for speed...well i've really, really started to miss the oommpphhffff of having a fast car...the grin i get from putting my foot to the floor and hearing the engine respond quickly and with guts is second to none...i miss that...but it costs a lot to have it!!

Come after bala now i'll get out on the trails and beach regularly to prepare the muscles for the unevenness of the trails through the forest. a chance for me to explore new places plus good prep for the pending cross country season starting again. Another reason for heading up to Forest of Dean is that i can check out the bike route of the Little Woody triathlon. This is a hilly half ironman distance race which has the run through trails again. I really fancied doing this race and needless to say it's been duly entered the day the entries opened. It feels very strange to have entered races as soon as they've been raced this year, and before my season has even ended, but the popular races fill up so fast now that you can't dilly saddle, you have to act. As it was i had already decided i wanted to make the step up to half-ironman distance next year, trying a flat course and a hillier course and as it happened i entered both my  half distances races on the same day! I'm in for the Outlaw Half in Nottingham on 1st June, and then the Little Woody on 23rd August. The Little Woody venue will also serve as a training base for at least one weekend in the build up, so that i can swim in the large diving quarry there, and also check out the hilly bike route. Preparation is key and if you can get used to the setting pre-race it helps settle anxieties and nerves come race day. Plus, living in wales i have hills galore to play with so i'll be spending a lot of time on bwlch and rhigos mountains, as well as venturing towards the black mountains as somewhere new too. A number of people from the club are stepping up to ironman distance next year so i intend to join in some of their training sessions to get the miles in the legs. having seemingly mapped out most of my season next year i'm already excited to get started on the next phase of my tri life. I'll refer to Don Fink books for training plans and tips but i won't stick to it religiously as the base phase refers to only 7 hours work a week, which given i already have a solid base i will add more to it, but without going overboard and peaking before the base phase even finishes!!

Today i booked my annual leave to coincide with my last race, the half marathon, and then i'll get a week and a day (with a weekend away in London in between) off to mark the end of my season. This is when i will do what i want, or nothing at all. I will eat what i want and get back into rock climbing for a month or two at least. I'll get jobs around the house done that i keep meaning to do but all my leave this year has been focused on training, getting coursework done, or going to turkey for the euro champs. I have only had a few days where i took them off just to enjoy, and because of that, that time was precious, not to be spent clearing a garage, or painting a kitchen! however, come end of september, at least a day or 2 will be dedicated to those very jobs!!

So here i am...in my week of taper and absolutely raring to go in Bala. My race head is well and truly on, i'm loving what i'm doing, i'm feeling ready to give it my all and leave everything out there on the race course. All i can do is my best on the day. if the conditions are favourable i'd hope to beat last year's times and if i get a good enough time then i might get onto the rolldown list again to try and qualify for the Euro Champs next year, in Kitzbuhel, Austria. if i don't get there, then not to worry, i've got the half ironman distances to focus on, plus a sportive or two, plus some duathlons, so still plenty to look forward to whatever next season holds...next stop bala so i'll see you all on the other side!!

Enjoying the run section in Bala 2012