Grand day out..

Not exactly cycling weather but worth a run over Kentmere Horseshoe.. A quick brew at Wilfs Cafe in Stavely and then we sat and watched the Open5 adventure racers sliding off their bikes at regular intervals. Fell running in the snow is possibly the best activity that exists in the world and 3 hours later, myself, Coach Paul and former european age group duathlon champ Matt 'pork pie' Cullen found our way back to the cars. There can't be anything better than running just for the sake of it.. forget the HR monitor, the pace, chasing personal bests and enjoy the feeling of propelling yourself up a mountain, taking pride in the fact that you fitness can take you to places others can only dream of. Racing triathlon, running and cycling events can sometimes lead to an all work and no play perspective and this often results to low motivation. Get out there on you mountain bike over the winter, run through the mud, do some 'off road night running' with a head torch and when it gets a little warmer pair up and go wild swimming!! Enjoy the benefits your hard work has earned you.

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

Back to Basics..

The first basecamp of the winter was yet aother classic, a great group of folk and yet another great weekend.. with snow! Saturday's bike ride South to Cartmel was a tough rolling course and i regretted riding fixed wheel.. especially when the king of the mountains competition started slipping away, even early attacks failed.. i was a marked man. The run on Sunday over Coniston was awesome despite the vicious winds which pinned us to the floor as we crossed Swirl How.. When Jess the Border Collie flew past with no 'paw to ground' contact, i started to think that things were getting a little spicey! Great to see everyone on the summit and everyone back in the cafe in one piece.. life doesn't get any getter, there's nowhere else i would have rather been!

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

"If it doesn't kill you it will only make you stronger.."

Or so a close friend of mine used to tell me every time I complained as the road went upwards and I ran out of gears... Anyway, I'm talking about the OMM (that's the KIMM for the older audience) which was in the news recently.. 1300 mountain runners are missing! Well, not quite.. they were in their tents and they knew where they were.. they just couldn't contact the organisers (A friend told me this very weekend at the Dunnerdale fell race that they were trying to call the organisers to report that they were safe and the lines were blocked by the media calling the organisers.. I waited for the news report on Sunday.. 1300 mountain runners re-appear! but it didn't happen. So the debate began... police said that it should not have been allowed and competitors said that that's why they did it... It was worse that the Howgills!! and that was bloody awful!! No doubt many a proud story will be told in future years.. I was there at Borrowdale in 2008!! That's where I think it's quite sad that high risk taking activities are being reduced to a standstill by health and safety guidelines and ask again has it gone too far? As a race organiser the threat of being sued is increasingly present in your mind, the odd thing is, most of the competitors think it's ridiculous also so where is this going wrong!?

I have noticed from my coaching activities that the age at which athletes are able to handle large quantities of training seems to be on the rise. People are reaching their thirties before they can are physically and mentally strong enough to train hard (n.b. does not include all people - huge generalisation on my behalf!) and I have a theory as to why this is occurring:

1. People only have responsibility later in life, they study longer, travel a bit and buy houses / settle into full time work at an older age.. this means that they don't have to grow up as fast. Not wanting to sound like a moaning Northerner.. but my dad left school at 14 and worked as a blacksmith from that age.. that's just how it was.

Why is it that during ultra-distance running events it's always the 65 year old who wanders up the the checkpoint after 75 miles of running looking like he is out for a stroll.. "Aye.. just give us a cheese sarnie and I'll be fine.. I had a pork pie at 20 miles". The younger athletes who should be able to handle the 'physical challenge' much better are wilting.. perhaps the key term in understanding this phenomenon is 'physical challenge'.. how much is mental and how much is physical and how much are they both linked? I'd suggest more than we think.

2. Risk has been taken out of just about everything, people don't make their own judgement and don't face dangerous challenges and therefore lose the associated experiences. What exactly is a hard training session? Generally the answer is dictated by your experiences.. If you have ran in the worst possible conditions for 2days without stopping, you are probably not phased by a marathon. Your experiences and the challenges you deal with make you the person you are and dictate how you handle the things thrown at you.. If you can say every time "we've been in worse situations than this" you are quids in..

3. I strongly believe that points number 1 and number 2 strongly dictates the kicking all Europeans seem to get from African distance runners, physiological differences aside..

Training can be a chore which requires commitment, dedication and drive, especially when the weather is as bad as those experience make you who you are.. remember:

"If it doesn't stretch outside the recognised boundaries of health and safety legislation.. you can be pretty sure that it's not going to kill you"

Here endeth theenduranceblog and the ramblings of an ageing man...

It's all in the mind..

Great run today with a friend round Kentmere Horseshoe with the dogs leading the way, this particular friend is called Andy Mouncey and he has done a great deal of ultra challenges such as marathon de sables and the incredible arch to arc event. Andy is an expert in motivation and mind state for ultra distance competitors and our discussion turned to 'fatigue' and what causes it. There has been much debate in recent years relating to the control of fatigue and whether it is dictated by 'peripheral factors' such as muscle fuel running low and high lactate levels or whether the brain controls all fatigue via the nervous system and simply switches off the muscles! Our 'buzz' word during the run was 'perception'.. how you expect something to be and how that compares to actual reality.

Let me give you an example.. athlete 'A' starts a marathon and expects to run the whole way and not have to walk, athlete 'B' start the same marathon and believes that he will probably have to walk in the last 6 miles at some point. Both athletes are the same level of fitness and both athletes indeed do need to walk at the 22 mile point. As a result, athlete 'A' completely loses the plot and loses 45 minutes, athlete 'B' (who is physically in the same state) remains composed and loses 10 minutes overall.

Both were the same with regards to peripheral fatigue (their legs were in the sane condition), it's just that one didn't expect to walk.. his perception of how the event would unfold just didn't match up to reality. What can you learn from this..? 'Coping strategies' are important tools, it may never happen but what if it does, how will you deal with it and what will be the outcome?

There are lots of situations which may require a coping strategy... You feel awful for the first 15 minutes of a half marathon and you are already 60 seconds down on your expected target time!! In a triathlon you exit the water 3 minutes slower and 75 places further down the field that expected and this is your most important race!! In a cycle time trial you are riding for a personal best and at half way you are a full 2 minutes behind your expected schedule!! Your state of mind at this point will directly influence how your legs feel.. How would you respond?

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

Sportspeople mean business..

I had an interesting talk to some 'business people' this week (not trying to make business people sound like a different breed) and the methods of doing 'good business'. During our conversations it became very apparent that business and coaching are pretty much the same thing.. It's well known that business and sport can mix, Clive Woodward being a great example, but only when you start to analyse the techniques used does it become apparent just how similar they are. The methods of identifying objectives, planning, acting and evaluating used in business are identical to those used in coaching manuals...
Coaching and 'management' are pretty much the same thing. A coach gathers information, identifies strengths and weaknesses, looks at the best way to go forwards and then formalises it as a plan, broken into smaller blocks. Constant monitoring and evaluation are essential and sometimes interventions are necessary to put things back on track. Perhaps the most important aspect is agreement of the workforce to accept the policies and strategies, if the workforce refuse to embrace the strategies and don't understand the relevance, they fail to be productive.. i.e. no personal best.

Aside from business waffle my main concern today is based upon a recent comment that i look more like my dog every day which is quite ridiculous..

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

Aloha Julie..

18 ironman races and 12 years later, Julie Harrison finally qualifies for Hawaii ironman and she has booked the flights.. packed it.. booked it..

It's amazing to think about how triathlon (read ironman) has developed to it's curent state with event filling within 20 minutes of opening and thousands pursuing the quest for Kona.

To some extent the incredible achievement of compelting an ironman can become lost amongst your peers.. whether you can complete an ironman is no longer a debate, it's simply 'what time' you will achieve and whether you will qualify for Kona.

Never lose sight of the achievement, 99.9% of the population could never contemplate completing the distance, if it doesn't feel that spectacular to you, that's because you spend 99.9% of your life with the other 0.1% of the population...

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

Helvellyn Triathlon

Great weekend for me.. a rather surprise victory at Helvellyn (thanks to Dave at www.actionandevents.co.uk for the photo!) 7th out of the swim, 3rd off the bike and then pulling back Martin on the climb up Mires Beck (bloody hell.. he can run well uphill for a big fella). Bit of a drama on the descent with a bad fall and a nasty bang to the head but being hidden in the mist was a bonus. I don't tend to race much these days and prefer to race less frequently and race well rather than race every weekend which is a common issue with athletes we coach.
Realistically most of your hard preparation should be done before the season starts and then the fitness you have is taken into the race season and you try to produce your best performanes on the day. It will take 2 weeks to recover from olympic distance races (even if you do feel ok!) so to race every other week and expect to train hard is a non-starter. When you plan your season for 2009 leave gaps between races or pack a few in (keep ticking over between each with no real hard training) and then take a good 4-6 week break where you can solidly train before peaking for another block of races. Only mediocre athletes can produce their best performances every week of the year..

Should also mention Paul Mason (45-49 age group cat) of the endurance coaching team who finished 7th overall at the Rivington olympic triathlon thereby practicing what he preaches.

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

The end of the season..

The season is drawing to an end for most triathletes and cyclists and everyone is ready to take a break and put some (more) weight on! This is a classic pattern for many endurance athletes and is vital for performance and motivation. It's extremely difficult to maintain focus and high level performance for more than 4-6 months and that's why you should take a break.. If you are a distance runner you should also take note of this. The problem with distance runners is that they finish the track or summer road period and then immediately train hard for cross country and roll from one week to the next trying and often failing to peform at their best.. If you are a distance runner you may not be aware that triathlon and cycling pretty much shut down for the winter and pick up again in spring ensuring that everyone is well rested and hungy for racing as the season starts. Plan your breaks after particularly difficult periods or 'before' particularly difficult periods. If you are planning to train for London marathon you need a good 16-20 weeks, work backwards from the race, see when you need to start and go easy until that date to avoid burnout.

Here endeth theenduranceblog..