Illness not a worry

Its funny how in the past illness has been a major contributing factor to interfering with training for events. Yet I feel no concern this time round as I am forced into a few days off with what SWMBO would call a head cold, but I prefer to label a severe case of influenza.

On reflection the laize faire approach to training for endurance events, with short blocks of training. Peaking last year in the 6ft-Huskie double with a massive 2 months of (sort of) training. Will be significantly affected when sickness takes you out for a few days. As opposed to the plans for the next 8 months and long build up for Ironman Oz 2012.

I guess its a bit like the constant conversations I have to the gnomes about being sick the night before their assignment was due, is not going to get them an extension when they have had 8 weeks to put it together. If the training is crammed into short block then there has been no security period for when things go wrong. Having such a long term plan however is enabling the mishaps to be dealt with without worry about getting back into it before the body is ready.

Common sense really I suppose. Unfortunately I think I have liked the fact that I turn up to events on minimal preparation. Despite the fact that this has lead to some catastrophic blow ups, aka Wild Endurance 2008.

So having had a few days off this week is sitting much easier with me at the moment because I know I have been building fairly well over the past few weeks and that even the first of the preseason events is a considerable time off. Slow and steady this time, let the body recover and pick up the gradual build once it is ready.

In general training is starting to fall into place nicely. A balance of building training back into the daily routine whilst not disappearing completely from all things family is the delicate balance at the moment. With both SWMBO and I realising post New Year the big block begins.

Swimming has been the initial priority, and I am finding joining in with the Animals Ironman swim sessions as he prepares for Hawaii is starting to show some promise of dragging my toes off the tiles at the bottom of the pool. Despite my poor history with swimming, mainly due to a distinct lack of training in a discipline I had no participation in till I was 16yrs old. I still harbour hopes of a 65min swim at Port. I'm certainly no where near that yet. But things are moving in the right direction

The cycling has to be the next factor built in. Some might suggest a month ago would have been good and I recognise the importance of the bike at a course like Port. So September is the month to put the talk into place.

I was pleasantly surprised at how little time I lost to most people (with the exception of the animal who smashed everyone) on the bike at last weeks club duathlon. Indicating that with training the strength I had post Perth to Sydney will be back.


And running, well I guess that just has to be maintained in terms of the number of sessions at this stage. It is what I enjoy most so it is unlikely too many sessions will be missed. The key I guess will be making sure running sessions don't take me out of any swim or ride sessions.

So the plan is starting to take shape. Without having labeled specific micro-cycles at this point in time. As the most consistent training blocks Ive had have been when I log it here on the blog. I think it is time to start recording the sessions again. Perhaps day to day will work best to make it more of a training diary type exercise. I'm sure the renovators can be watched by others than I to enable the time for this to occur.

And after a long absents, a song for Genevieve: