I have been at my new training regime for about one month now, so like many of you, I am starting to think I should be improving. Today is time for an update of where I am at.
As a pro, I would have sacrificed my socializing, ensured I got to bed early and ate correctly to maximize my recovery, come hell or high water I would never have missed a training session, unless I was ill or injured. So far I have missed about 30% of my sessions due to work, fatigue, lack of motivation or family commitments, so my planned 10 hours a week is averaging around 7 hours.
On the plus side, my diet has been second to none. I had a scare last year with high cholesterol and since then have revisited my eating habits. Now, I am happy cutting out cheese and full fat dairy products, these are replaced by soya. I have stopped eating junk, no more biscuits and cakes. Once I set my mind to it, I have not been tempted, to eat badly, apart from chocolate. I now allow myself a small amount of it, so long as it is over 70% cocoa…why 70%? Well, recent studies suggest that in small amounts dark chocolate may have certain properties that protect the heart!
I have also stopped drinking alcohol at home, and now only drink with friends in the pub….Drinking alone at home is an bad habit to pick up easily, an odd glass of wine here and there, a cold beer while watching TV…it all adds up. By changing my approach to food and drink, I have already dropped from 70kg to 65kg, without actually dieting.
As for the training, I have really struggled with the bike, the snow has meant that apart from my trip to Lanzarote I still have not been out on the road bike in England, I have substituted it all for indoor turbo sessions…which lest face it, (unless you can get a good sound track to ride to or a good Tour de France DVD to motivate you), is mind numbingly boring. One plus, is my indoor trainer has a very good watts meter so I can monitor my power output. This is still lower than it should be, at around 200 watts a session, but as I have lost 5kg of fat already, I know my power to weight ratio has improved.
The track running has been a disaster due to the weather, but I have enjoyed running in the snow, and this has given me some real stamina sessions, offering a great and unexpected base work out.
Swimming has been my favourite training, I am currently working on my timing, which is so important and something I have tended to over look in the past…if I am pushing too hard to think about my stroke, I slow the pace down. This strategy is paying dividends, yesterday I knocked out my best set in the pool for over 7 years. I did 10 x 200m on 3:30, averaging 2:40 for them all; proving to me that age is not a barrier to fast swimming, it is my technique!
I am writing this at 40,000 feet, somewhere over the North Pole on my way to Japan and Hong Kong. This flying could prove to be my undoing. I will be away for 10 days and have no bike with me. The prospect of a 10m hotel pool does not thrill me. But, consistency is the name of the game, and blanks in the schedule, could be my down fall…
So, one month in, and I can happily say, that my swimming times are ahead of where I thought they would be. Unfortunately the bike is still well below par, but my running is still on target. I think I need a few races to find out just how fit I really am.
Keep with it Mike! You are an inspiration to me. The fact that you can balance family life and tough training is a credit to you.