I guess that is a good place to start, I seemed to have gelled pretty well with Darren. Obviously I knew Darren already so that was always likely to not be a problem. We did have some issues which in all honesty was probably a lot more of my making than his, as I think my pride got in the way of me being objective. I mean no-one really likes to admit they have lost power on the bike, but for me I suppose it was always going to be inevitable, I just don't train as much on the bike as I used to and thinking my FTP hadn't gone down from it's heyday was a tad stupid on my part.
What this meant was sessions that Darren thought weren't that difficult eventually took a toll on me and I really started to suffer with actually completing them, I was starting to doubt if things were going to work. Luckily for me I have always been honest with a coach (no point in having a coach if you don't give good and honest feedback), and Darren obviously saw there was a problem. I always think it is a sign of a good coach if they take time out of their day to phone you up and discuss the issues, even more so when they are currently the other side of the world. This was really appreciated and it helped massively with the confidence I had placed in Darren and the confidence in myself, which I had seriously started to doubt.
As I said in my previous blog, training was a bit different to what I was used to but it actually didn't take long to get used to it. Apart from the wobble I had in one week I think it is probably the most consistent training I have done over the winter and this is really starting to show itself in terms of how I feel. Recovery has been good between sessions this last couple of weeks and the training has become enjoyable again. I did have a week out in Majorca which I had hoped would be a nice warm weather training camp with the family, I admit it was warmer than the UK, but warm it certainly wasn't especially when riding through the mountains. I suppose we did eventually get a couple of decent days where it wasn't raining or windy or cold, I don't think Heather was that impressed with the weather, I did sell the week to her as a chance to get some sun.
At the Top of Puig Major Looking Down on Soller
The training out in Majorca went pretty well, it gave me a chance to get some good bike time in as I felt this was the more worrying thing about my winter training. In all honesty it was a bit of a pointless worry, cycling 6+ hours in the mountains wasn't really a problem and although top end power might have dropped actual long duration bike fitness is still well and truly there.
Cap Formentor on a Rare Sunny Day
The running is going very well, and almost every run has some form of intensity in it. The most pleasing things is even with the extra intensity, it is done in such a way that I still felt pretty good after each session. It also makes the runs a bit more interesting as to be honest, for me running at x pace for x hours isn't the most stimulating so I enjoy the changes in pace and effort.
Swimming is still making progress, up until I started with Darren I was swimming with some masters swimmers for the majority of my sessions and this has made swimming really enjoyable and challenging. When I first started with Darren I switched entirely to his program and whilst the change in session structure was good, and a really new stimulus, I wasn't entirely happy. On 2 days of the weeks, trying to fit my sessions around 8 other people doing something completely different meant these sessions were disjointed and difficult to complete to the plan. I explained the issue with Darren and asked if joining in with them on these 2 days was a possibility. Darren being the good bloke he is agreed and now we work my other sessions around these 2 days. I personally think this is ideal as I really am tested in the session Darren sets, and then try and hang on others feet in the 2 other sessions. At least I get good practice at drafting.
Overall training has been pretty solid, I've put in some of the biggest training hours in January and February yet still feel half human LOL. Fitness is slowly rising and if I am honest I probably am fitter now than I was going into IM South Africa last year so given the later start of the year I hope to be able to build on that, avoid colds and illnesses and start racing both fitter and healthier than every before.
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