I've been doing a lot thinking over the past few months, during my injury time and also my rehab, bringing me to my recent return to racing, about what works for me, what suits me when it comes to training. I've found it very difficult to stick to a training plan, not because i'm trying to avoid doing the hard work, as i enjoy those sessions where i feel like i've pushed myself and know these sessions are helping me reach my goals. But, with the job i do, there are days where my head is banging, or my mind is racing at 100 miles an hour, and i might not feel like being stationary on a turbo on those days, i might prefer the fresh air of a run, as running is my cathartic time. I accept that over the past few months I've gotten out of the habit of early morning training sessions and as such I would skip sessions but then fit them in later in the week. However, as a coach i accept that this must be very frustrating. I have seen people before pay for coaching but then add in extra sessions without the coach knowing, or not follow what the coach has written. When i've seen that i've questioned to myself why the person is paying the money. So, when it came to me not feeling able to follow a plan i started to ask myself whether coaching was for me, or whether i needed to just go it alone again.
I never intended on getting a coach. I thoroughly enjoyed my first season in triathlon where i organised my own training. I'm well read, so I take on board a lot of information about training plans, and feel that i know enough to make a decent job of it myself. I know that i may not be the best, but I'm a decent athlete and looking at my race results for local races i have placed no lower than 8th (my first tri), with two wins, one second place and three third places over the past 3 seasons across triathlons and duathlons which is a total of 10 races, not a bad record. When it comes to my race goals, it's never about winning, or placing a certain place/percentage in a race. For me it's about doing the best i can on the day and seeing where this leaves me. I will maybe have times in mind that i want to achieve across each discipline, and if i've done the course before then i'd be looking to improve on that, but for me the motivation is all internal, and the goals are performance goals (looking at my own performance to reach certain times, etc.), and sometimes process goals (where i'm wanting to maintain good technique throughout the run even when fatigued, or sustaining a certain average speed on the bike), rather than outcome goals which are about where you place in the race, who you want to beat, etc.
When i have trained myself I have enjoyed the flexibility to change my plan around to suit my life, and also to introduce new ideas into training to mix things up, which is great when I have a stack of triathlon220 magazines waiting to be read! During my injury layoff I didn't have a plan set by my coach, Simon @bodybullet, instead I was doing what I could and when i was training I was either following a rehab plan that had been given to me from a physio or a kind personal trainer I got chatting with on Facebook, or i was keeping my HR controlled as I had learnt from Simon. Also, in the 2 weeks leading up to my recent win at the Carmarthen Cotswold Sprint, i was between training plans and so didn't have a plan to follow, instead managing it myself and creating a race taper that suited me and how i felt. During these times I've thoroughly enjoyed myself as it feels like I'm free, that the pressure is off, and it's just down to me.
I originally started working with a coach because i felt i should, having found out I had gotten a roll down place to the European Champs in 2013 for Olympic distance. However, that didn't suit me so at the end of the 2013 season i went back to training myself. Then an opportunity came along to work with Simon, someone that i had followed on twitter and was intrigued by his methods and success with his athletes, and it kind of felt too good an opportunity to turn down. However, in some ways i was gutted as i had just bought the entire range of sufferfest turbo vids, i had bought the Don Fink triathlon books, and I had rollers, kettle bells, trx, that suddenly became obsolete. I was concerned I had wasted a lot of money on things that i now wouldn't use.
As I have started to be interested in obstacle course racing so i was keen to add different elements to my training, as variety is what i thrive on, i'm not one for rigidity and doing the same type of session at the same time, every week. As such I had asked Simon to include new things in my plan as prior to the Spartan race in Edinburgh I had already started adding in burpees, pull ups, etc., so I too was starting to add things to a plan. I like having different things at my disposal and I wanted to get back on my boxing bag once the off-season came along - what a great way to get the abs firing and let out some frustration at the NHS! I've recently bought a 10kg weighted vest from Simon, and a sled that i will attach to a harness that i will wear and then pull it behind me. The idea behind this is the extra resistance, so i'm waiting for a tyre to come so i can carry that, and also pull it on the sled, as part of a circuit type training with other exercises thrown in life press ups, burpees, planks, etc. What fun that would be!! OK, you might not see many triathletes training in this way, but then maybe i'm not like most triathletes, in that i don't like the routine, I like the fun of training even if it is bloody hard work, and i like to keep things interesting to mix things up every now and then, especially over the winter.
So much so that i came to the decision to end my working relationship with Simon. I've learnt a lot from Simon in terms of training the heart appropriately, and how shorter sessions that are done right are more effective than longer sessions that train at the wrong intensity. However, I knew that i would not be able to sustain the training plan that Simon had written for me. Yes, i will start going back to swim squads, and yes, I will follow a rough plan in my head. But, if i skip a session I have the flexibility to make it up later in the week. If i fancy a run, then i can do that and not feel guilty that i am messing around with the plan, again! I know that training regularly and consistently is key, and I will do that to the best of my ability that suits me and my life. I also accept that i might never be as good as I might have been had I been able to commit to a plan day in day out. But, I'm OK with that, as i'm happier in the knowledge that i can get the rollers out, I can dust off the boxing gloves, I can use the sufferfest vids, I can add in some extra exercises in the gym. Perhaps i don't need these things to be a good triathlete, but i do need these things to feel I'm getting the most out of my training in terms of what it means to me. I love training, i love variety, and yes i happen to be OK at triathlon, but i also happen to be OK at obstacle course racing, or running, or cycling, or tennis in the past, etc. So i want to keep things interesting with my training for me, as this is what i enjoy. The rigidity drives me to boredom which makes me switch off.
Simon commented that he never has an "off-season" with his athletes, that they don't peak for one particular race, so the training remains ever progressing over the winter months. However, I'm looking forward to having some weeks where i get back climbing (which didn't happen last winter), where i box, where i do some sled work with a weighted vest on. This will help recharge my batteries whilst keeping my fitness levels up before i start to build for the 2015 season. yes, i will look at my Don Fink books for plans for my half ironman races next year. but i might not follow these to the letter as i know in my mind what i should be doing really, having had plans from Simon for the Outlaw Half last season which I wasn't able to race through injury. My training in my 1st season was along the lines of 3 swims a week, 3 runs a week, 3 bikes a week and some gym work. I think within that you won't go far wrong if you have one long session a week in each of these, one threshold session, and one HR controlled bike, or steady swim/run pushing the pace a little.
However, what i started this week was maximising my time by run commuting to work as i'm sick of spending up to 50 mins in the car for a journey that is less than 8 miles! This week i did the 14.11 mile return run in an easy pace of 2:16 total run time on one day. This means that come cross-country race tomorrow I will have run about 23 miles in a week. I have NEVER run that before! Plus, my calf feels good!! :) So, the plan is, run to work and back once, if not twice a week when the diary allows, but I might instead run once and then take the mountain bike the other time, so I'm getting home quicker on the bike one leaving me able to do a brick run session, or another session after the bike leg home. This will certainly help the mileage aspect and mean I'm fitting my training in around my life and enjoying doing so.
As I'm no longer working with Simon I don't necessarily need to use the wattbike now so i'm thinking about leaving my gym and move back to one which has a pool within the complex, again maximising time so i could gym and then swim, rather than having to travel elsewhere for the double session which for me, just doesn't happen! This would also mean better access to a pool so maybe i might swim more. Basically, I'm coming to the end of my season with one final race left next week, and then i want to have a long overdue chinese takeaway, before i knuckle down, commit to my flexible but consistent plan, and then enjoy the training :) Happy training folks!!
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