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..