158 day countdown
You always look back at the last year of your life just before the New Year chimes ring. I have had an interesting year – that I will not delve into here – and have learnt a lot about living the life of a young professional in modern day London. People who know me would probably describe me as among other things, ambitious, driven and enjoyable to be around. This probably paints the picture of young “whipper-snapper “ on the path for high achievements. However I have never been somebody who is pleased his achievements. And as I have begun to enter the later years of my twenties, I have been feeling like my personal mantelpiece is lacking some achievements that I can look back at in later life, particularly in the sporting section.
I have always been a fairly active person, be it playing football, rock-climbing or visiting the gym. But I have never felt that I have anything tangible to show for it. I was regularly running with the office running club, until an injury in March made me prefer to par-take in private running where I could push myself as I choose.
In September I took part in an advertising agency 5K run, finishing the course in 21:09. A time I was particularly pleased with, bearing in mind it was my first running competition since I was at school. The satisfaction further prompted me to devote more time to keeping fit and competitions.
So towards the end of September, during an evening spent on my own, I filled out the online form and entered my first triathlon. I was tempted to enter the Olympic category, but fortunately my commonsense got the better of me, and so I opted for the Sprint Category, made up of a 750m swimming, 20k cycling and 5k running.
I could have entered the nearby London Triathlon, but decided on the Blenheim Palace alternative, to make more of a scenic weekend out of it that my girlfriend could also appreciate. There’s just something off-putting about swimming in the London Docklands and traipsing around it streets.
I have studied the 2008 Blenheim Triathlon sprint results and calculated the average time for each stage, including the transition times. 36:42 for the swimming, 45:16 for the cycling and 30:12 for the running, with an overall average of 02:05:00. I have also studied the pit-falls from those excelling in certain disciplines, but then floundering in others. However, beyond all of the targets I know that I need to reach, I have set certain personal aims that i must achieve. Goal number one is to just finish the finish the competition. Number 2; enjoy the completion. Number 3; don’t be disappointed in myself at the finish line.
Although these targets may seem somewhat airy; I have never put myself through anything similar in my life, so to finish it alone will be an achievement. To enjoy it is to complete the course comfortably without mistakes or injuries. And to not be disappointed in myself at the finishing line is to have proven to myself that I had pushed myself, that I had overtaken others and that I done so in a decent time. There is only one way that I can tick off each of the objectives, and that’s by training, training, training. Not just of my body, but of my mind.
A few weeks ago I went for a walk over Hampstead Heath. When I emerged on the East side and started walking on Hampstead’s solid paths an excruciating pain erupted in my left knee – so much so that I almost passed out from the pain. The next morning I was still pain and so I bought a knee support on my way to work. Although the knee support weakened the pain, I knew that my training for the rest of the year would be written off. It was two weeks before the pain subsided. In the meantime I have been composing my training schedule in the run up to the triathlon, in the form of a spreadsheet, that gradually pushes my training further and further to a point that will in theory have me ready for the event come 6th June 2009.
From the 1st January 2009, I have exactly 158 days to get triathlon ready and as I write this, I am genuinely confident that I will commit myself to the training required and perform well on the day. However I am fully aware that there are some serious improvements that I need to make in all three disciplines.
The swimming phase is what I am concerned of the most. I can swim fairly competently, but I certainly can’t swim competitively. I have swum a couple of times in the last month. I get exhausted quite quickly, take regular breaks and generally struggle after half a dozen lengths. The displeasure in the experience creates flashes of fear for the day when I have to swim in a freezing lake with a few thousand others. In the start of the New Year I will swim once a week and find myself a swimming trainer that will teach me how to swim more proficiently and efficiently.
I used to cycle just about everywhere I went when I was a child and during my teens. I can cover a fair distance with ease. I own a hybrid bike that combines the low-resistance of a city bike with the strength of a mountain bike. I am aware that this will be a hindrance in a road competition and plan to invest in a racing bike around March time. In the meantime I plan to build up my leg strength and get my body used to medium distance cycling.
Running is the area I’m most confident in and believe it to be my strongest point out of all of the disciplines. However; I’m sure the majority of competitors think the same about themselves. My aim is to get my 5K running time below 20mins in the first couple of months of 2009 and then begin to extend my distance to a point whereby running 5K is a walk in the park. Santa Claus has brought me a Polar 200 Heart Rate Monitor watch, So I will be training with my heart in focus.
Beyond the three disciplines I will need to work on improving the transitions between the stages. Getting out of a wetsuit, putting on my cycling kit. Getting out of my cycling kit and into my running gear. As well as practicing inconveniences like having my goggles knocked off or getting a puncture. All of this will need to be second nature, come the day.
The next six months are going to be a stretch on my discipline, resilience and wallet. My body, mind and personal life are going to be tested and I hope those tests reveal secrets about me that I never knew.
I know that I’m not exactly competing in the Iron Man, but it is the biggest competitive undertaking I’ve ever taken and I hope it leads to greater things in the future. And so through the six months that lay before me, in the lead up to the event against the backdrop of Winston Churchill’s childhood home, I will remind myself what the great man himself once said:
Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential. – Winston Churchill