Post 51 - Not quite nothing

I've spent the last few weeks doing "not quite nothing", in the aftermath of another ultimately frustrating season where I achieved "not quite nothing". "Nothing", in that I'm an all-or-nothing sort of person, and I didn't qualify for Kona, and so I didn't achieve what I set out to achieve.  But "not quite nothing", as this year will be a stepping stone, and the level I reached earlier in the year confirms to me that I have the potential to qualify.

After Wales, I spent a bit of time wondering if I should go to Barcelona for the Ironman event there. Ironman Barcelona was on Sunday 5^th October. I wondered if I went there, would I have a chance to qualify...? Barcelona is a very flat and fast course, and I knew that realistically it would be a long shot to go there and come away with a Hawaii slot, a mere 3 weeks after Wales. In the end, I decided not to go to Barcelona. It was a bit of a crazy idea, very expensive, and I decided that enough was enough for the season. It had been a long year, and deep down I knew that my body was in need of a rest. I also needed to mentally switch off from it for a while too.

I had a quick look at the Barcelona results, and it turns out it was a good decision, as there were some seriously fast times posted. Even going into Barcelona in top form and well tapered, it would have been a long shot for me to qualify. I’d have needed a disc wheel as well.

So, with the decision made not to go to Barcelona, I really did switch off for a full two weeks. I suddenly found that I had time – a strange thing for me to have. At the weekends, I slept late. I watched TV. I read some books. I didn’t do a single training session other than walking to the train, walking from the train, and a few minutes per day on the lumbering, clunking hire bikes in London. I had a few beers on quite a few occasions. I ate some junk food. I ate a dirty burger.

 

It was actually called a dirty burger. I was sold straight away when I saw it on the menu. Dirty burger? Yes please…! It was a filthy mess of beef, cheese, onions, relish, spicy chilli sauce, and who knows what else. I’m not sure I want to know. But it was lovely. I ate sausages. I ate chips. I ate crisps. I also ashamedly ate some microwave meals. I am now carrying a few extra kilograms. But it wasn’t all bad news. I started on raw cabbage, big time.

I read an interesting article about how “disease” thrives in an acidic environment. With a typical Western diet, the blood pH lowers and becomes more acidic than it normally would. The article advised to eat alkalising foods on a regular basis, both to combat the “acidic” Western diet and to help to stave off disease. I like to think I eat a good diet (apart from the last couple of weeks), but I’m aware that the electrolyte drinks, gels and bars I use regularly when training and racing are quite acidic. So I thought that a good alkalising detox was in order.

I can buy a cabbage for less than £1, and I can slice it up and put it in a Tupperware box, and it will last me for days. It’s actually really nice, but it draws some funny looks and comments when it’s sitting on my desk at work. Admittedly, it does look a little bit like a brain in a box, but I’ll stick with it. It’s a cheap snack, it’s alkalising, and it’s good for you. Plus, there is no sugar in it. I think I need to get my sugar intake down a bit and cut down a little on the fruit – I must eat nearly 10 pieces of fruit per day, plus a couple of smoothies and a few other sugary bits and pieces – porridge, honey, cereal bars and so on.

Winter is well and truly on the way now. It’s dark when I get up. The evenings are really drawing in. For the last two years, Ironman Wales has quite literally marked the end of the summer, and the warm weather. I’ve been feeling colder in bed at night. I need a jacket on in the mornings. I can see my breath. Soon I'll have to dig out the winter coat and the thermals. It's a long time until the days will start to turn for the better again - February is 4 months away... 

A fiery but chilly sunrise

Endurance athletes often talk of the “post event blues”, when you are left at a bit of a loose end. When you spend so much time and effort pursuing something, and then it just ends, and you don’t have to do it any more (for a while anyway), it is quite a big change to get used to. Also, the past two seasons haven’t ended well, they’ve both finished on a bit of a downer. Maybe it would be different if I had actually qualified and had something concrete to show for the effort, and had the excitement of making plans and bookings to go to Hawaii. After Wales last year, when my season ended, I came off all the dietary supplements almost immediately, and I had the flu injection as well, so all of this combined to leave me a bit lethargic and listless this time last year. 

This year, I have applied a few lessons. I won’t be having the flu jab, for one thing! I came off the dietary supplements gradually this time around, to allow my body to adapt. I’ll stay off them for at least a month, again to give my body a bit of a break. I’m also living in a house with better company this year, which helps. I bought a piano/keyboard – I’ve always wanted to learn, so I can spend some of my free time teaching myself. I’m learning Enya’s “Book of Days”. I’m planning to get the guitar, harmonica and whistle out as well, and have a few tunes.

Lost and out of place in a room full of triathlon gear

 

I’m still trying to work out the best plan for next year. I think it’s most likely I’ll go back to Bolton and do Ironman UK again, assuming I can get an entry. Although I am looking at other races too. Ironman Frankfurt or Ironman Austria? Ironman Copenhagen? Ironman Kalmar in Sweden? Wales again? Barcelona? Ironman Mallorca? I’ll see. I’ll have to bite the bullet soon, and then I’ll just try to deal with any work trips as best I can and hope that my training in 2015 isn’t too disrupted.
So, after two weeks of giving myself a complete break, I felt it was time to start doing a few easy training sessions again. I wanted to be careful and take it easy, and I’ve been aware that my left knee is a bit sore. These damn knees don’t make life easy.

I got on the turbo on Tuesday night and had a really easy hour-long spin. It felt fine. Or so I thought. The next day, my legs felt like they had done 200 miles at top speed. They felt terrible! I took the next evening off. The evening after that, I did an easy 30 minute jog. And again, it felt fine. Or so I thought. That evening, in bed, I felt like my feet were going to explode. They were so sore. This persisted into the next day as well. Then, the next day I went for a swim. Just an easy, short swim. Needless to say, it felt terrible too. At the weekend, I did a longer turbo, and turned the intensity up a little bit higher than “easy”. This time, it felt better. I also did another run at the weekend, but it was spoiled by a sudden attack of the dreaded trots… I just about managed to get where I needed to go to resolve the problem!

First turbo session after Wales - summer 2015 and Kona both seem a long, long way off...

 

So I think all of this is my body’s way of saying “Please take it easy for a while”, and that’s what I plan to do. I’ll only do easy training for the next few weeks and build it up gradually towards Christmas, then once 2015 starts, I’ll hopefully have a good winter base built up and I can start to hit it hard again.

Training done this week was as follows:

Monday 29^th Sept 2014: Rest
Tuesday 30^th Sept 2014: 1 hour turbo
Wed 1^st October 2014: Rest
Thurs 2^nd October 2014: 30 minute run
Friday 3^rd October 2014: Swim 2.5km
Saturday 4^th October 2014: 30 minute run
Sunday 5^th October 2014: 2 hour turbo

Totals: Swim 2.5km, Bike 55 miles, Run 9 miles