Now 2016 has arrived one could start panicking about the
season ahead, after all it isn’t that far away and it is easy to think that you
still have a mountain to climb. I am sure we are all the same and I have
similar doubts about how training has gone so far during the winter.
I started training properly for the 2016 season in November,
but even this was pretty easy sessions just getting back into the regular
ritual of training, it is only now after all the Christmas festivities are over
we are getting down to the nitty gritty of harder training. It really is time
to blow the cobwebs away and start doing the occasional above race effort
intervals.
With my planned season ahead, doing all of the Castle Triathlon Series Gauntlet races and The Bastion it would be so easy to overdo
things and in this vein I have decided to use a coach again. The guy I am
using, Darren Jenkins, did exactly what I am doing this year and I thought what
better person to understand the challenge of trying to do either a half ironman
or a full ironman every 2 weeks in the middle of the year.
This has meant a pretty big change for me, in the past I
have been a bit more of a volume athlete, though I have always done above race
effort intervals even in the winter. Now the volume has been cut down a bit and
some of the intervals are pretty hard, especially the running and swimming, I
am having to come to terms with that reduced volume, it isn’t easy at times.
Make no doubt the training is still hard and challenging, I just need to
rethink of how much volume is really needed, especially when your first real
target event is in July.
With regards to training, I am pretty sure everyone suffers
from the motivation to train at times, we aren’t machines and at times getting
yourself out of bed to do those early morning swims, or dragging yourself of
the sofa to get out and do the second session of the day can be a real
challenge. In times like this I think back to the Howard Castle Triathlon last
year and the video that went viral of Bailey Matthews, who has cerebral palsy,
completing his first triathlon. Here is a little lad who has a very hard
challenging life, yet he doesn’t show it and gives everything 100%, what an
inspiration. If you ever lack motivation, take a look at the video, it really
does give you a different perspective about the difficulties of training. Over
Christmas it was so heart-warming to see Bailey win the Helen Rollason Award at
the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, very well deserved and he showed true
personality and spirit that a lot of professional sports people seem to lack. I
hope to be able to meet him during one of the Castle Triathlon Series races, it
would be a real honour.
Talking of honours, I am really honoured to be asked to be
an ambassador for the NSPCC for 2016, this will see me race all the Castle
Triathlon Series races in NSPCC kit and try and raise as much money as I can
for this wonderful cause. Again if we think we have it hard at times, think of
those kids that always have it hard and know nothing other than suffering, they
deserve all of our support, and I hope you will consider helping me raise as
much as possible for them.
My first race of 2016 is likely to the be the East Grinstead
Triathlon as a warm up for the first of my real challenges with the Lough Cutra Gauntlet at the end of May, and beautiful location for a stunning race in the
West of Ireland. I’ve been assured that the water will be warm so why not think
about doing this race, they offer a range of distances for every ability and
the Castle Triathlon Series do put on a magical weekend of racing, plus you get
cracking Guinness in Ireland, what’s not to like.
Keep training and keep motivated.
