“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

How I got here!

 

 

I first entered the triathlon world just over two years ago, having trained at my local David Lloyd in a 12 week group triathlon programme with fellow newbies. To say I was absolutely clueless about triathlon was an understatement. My sister and her partner had been trying to coax me into their world for years, but having explained the distances of their Ironman efforts, I thought the sport sounded a rather ludicrous.

 

Anyway, after my basic triathlon training and first sprint tri under my race belt (Virgin Active Brighton Triathlon formally Esporta Brighton Triathlon) I soon became hooked.

 

However, training smart didn't seem to sit very well in my vocabulary. I have always been an all or nothing girl, so triathlon was another all focus. I would get to some of my local club training sessions, continue with my regular gym classes and just swim, bike and run when I could with little or no thought to the volume or intensity. Looking back I probably over trained - giving my body little or no time to recover. I've never been good with routine and structure if I have to organise it. Partly down to my scatty nature and the fact my job sees me literally all over the place.  So training was all very mishmashed and without specific goals.

 

My first ever triathlon was at the end of the 2011 season, so the rest of that year was spent trying to run more than 5km without stopping and trying to enjoy it. The next year I entered a handful of local triathlons and enjoyed them, but did them to complete, not compete. It was still very much a social thing.

 

Swimming had always been my strongest discipline so when I entered the Worthing Sprint (sea swim) and finished ahead of fellow DL'ers this gave me my first taste of success. I knew if I could improve on my weakest disciplines, running and biking I could potentially be better than my peers. The next year I focussed soley on running and completed two sub 4.10 marathons. Again, my all or nothing approach had led me to focus on running. Although, this very same year I completed my first half iron middle distance (Swashbucker) in a respectable 5hrs 39 with a very random training plan I'd plucked from the internet. I completed a few other triathlons that year with very mediocre results and decided that 2014 would be the year I would train smarter, with the aim of posting better results. In Oct 2013, post Amsterdam Marathon I signed up for Berlinman August 2014, a middle distance tri, with the intention of making it a 5:30 finish with my ultimate goal being Austria Ironman 2015.

 

However, my training came to a complete halt when worst nightmare came true. I broke my ankle after losing footing in a pothole on a marathon training run on the South downs Dec 31st 2013 (Happy New Year me!) Thankfully I can now look back and see all the positives that came from what at the time felt the end of the world.

 

A Bloc waterproof sock became my friend and swimming my saviour. When my swim sets became monotonous and I lacked creativity, I moaned to a  friend who highly recommended that I looked online for swim sets and read The Triathlete Bible that she'd given me to swat up on having a smarter approach to training. Sustaining an injury changes the way you think - I could no longer carry on training like an insane mad woman.  I had to be safe and sensible in my recovery.  I certainly wasn't an athlete. But I thought, having signed up to Berlinman perhaps I needed to be a trigeek and plan my training to help me get to the start line, just fit to race, regardless of posting a decent time. Anything was worth a shot. I felt miserable and disheartened by the injury.

 

With some mish mash coaching advice from the tinternet and various tri friends in the past year I feel I have gone from. Try-athlete to potential triathlete in a matter of months .

 

Sustaining an injury is physically and emotionally exhausting. From day 1, having people around me that I could ask about my training helped me to focus on what I could be achieving.  

 

Putting together engaging swim and strength and conditioning plans plucked from the internet also helped to give me a clear structured focus. It was refreshing to complete creative and well devised swim sets.   Swimming became less monotonous  and varied with every swim session that I ticked off. It was even better when I managed to train with others, especially my good pal, Mike Latham, third time channel legend.

 

I soon felt not only stronger in the water, but also physically and emotionally and confident that I could recover well from my injury.

 

Recovering from an injury is a long and slow process and it's hugely encouraging to have triathlon friends on tap to put your mind at ease.

 

Over the following few months of swim training plans, I became stronger in the water. I noticed my times had become quicker and my mindset had shifted from negative to a positive one. It was so rewarding to set goals and achieve them.           

 

I wasn't training any more than I had done in the past before my break,  but thanks to guidance  from my triathlete pals (got to love the Tuff Fitties) my once sporadic and slap dash approach had become smart and efficient and I was beginning to notice the gains.

 

Out of cast I worked on strengthening my glutes and I banked some quality bike miles. Less became more with running. I couldn't quite believe that after my first few runs back my times had actually got quicker. It was a revelation for a tryathlete like myself.  It was beginning to all sink in - I didn't have to train all day every day like a mad woman, like I had in the past.

 

Within the first three months of recovering from an injury and reading and talking to friends -  I had picked up more tips, skills, advice and knowledge in the space of three months than I had in the first few years of my TRYbie days.

 

Breaking my ankle gave me more time to focus on thinking, reading and planning  my training rather than just being 100 MPH and doing all the time! 

 

In July I went to Lanzarote and banked some amazing quality bike miles and met some incredible and truly inspirational friends (this is another blog post in itself..to follow)

 

My recovery year has been truly incredible and I have laid the foundations to build on for Austria 2015. I was amazed to cross the finishing line at Berlinman in a respectable time of 5:30:32. Which goes to show that Smart training pays off!

 

I want to continue to train smart so will be enlisting the help of a professional to keep me on track.  Watch this space!