Winter training

This is the lake I swim in during Summer
 Not so inviting just now! 

It was a snow storm here two days ago, -11 yesterday and possibly warming up so that tomorrow we will get a few days of rain rather than more snow. In the UK and Northern Europe just now all the airports are shut due to the snowstorms hitting them. All this makes training a challenge! So I've had a few extremes to consider winter, how to keep fit and what can make training through it more fun. As I can’t avoid winter where I live I chose to embrace it instead. So I thought I would share with you some of the things I like to try at this time of year, in case you are looking to make your winter training more fun too.

Off season training is a great time to improve specific technique, rebalance the body using targeted strength and conditioning, and enjoy using and maintaining your fitness doing something other than your main sport (racing triathlons for me).

Rain, cold, short days, Christmas lunches, New Year’s parties all can seem to conspire against getting a good adaptive phase to get into solid training when the New Year arrives. So how do you persuade yourself to get out of your warm bed and go for that run in the cold, dark and wet?

So a few thought that seem to work for me

1. I am swimming more
2. I am enjoying using my fitness doing something different and better suited to winter
3. I have a simple strength routine I do from home
4. I am practicing more yoga
5. I am learning to love my home trainer sessions
6. Sometimes I just have to toughen up and enjoy getting out there, rain, snow or shine!

1/ Swim more
Winter swimming is great. When it is freezing outside, go swimming in a lovely heated indoor pool. Not only will you gain fitness, you can also take the time to do some really focussed sessions for technique improvement or build strength and water feel through longer sessions.

I have recently been sponsored by Hotel Beauregard in La Clusaz, a stunning hotel with a great warm pool, sauna, spa and steam room right at the base of the ski lifts. The pool is not very long (under 20 meters) but that didn’t stop me enjoying a great 5.7k swim there on Friday while the snow fell outside the windows. I was even warm enough after to enjoy running home through the snow in snow boots and with my backpack. I felt like I was in army training! It kept the heart rate a lot higher than normal though. Strength and aerobic training together.

Winter is a great time to join a squad or masters swim program and get some advice and group motivation to improve and enjoy. I love heading to squad with my tri team, TMT Annecy, twice a week. There are some great swimmers there that I can learn from both by watching and chasing. It is also a good, well structured session.

So enjoy your swimming. I have been loving mine lately which is great as I seemed to be fighting with it over the summer and now, with the pressure off, I have just been able to enjoy it. Funnily enough enjoying it more has made me want to swim more and swimming more has made me a stronger, faster swimmer.

2/ Different sports to enjoy
In this I have an unfair advantage as I live close to the lovely ski resort of La Clusaz in the French Alps, so although I cannot ride on the roads for all of winter and some of autumn and spring, I have the benefit of easily accessible winter alpine sports to indulge in.

I love cross country skiing. I try to go skate skiing at least three times a week at the moment. It is great for aerobic fitness and strength but even more importantly for me, is almost magical, that feeling of being out amongst the mountains gliding through the forests, along the valley or up on the Plateau.

It is a time to appreciate my fitness that was hard earned over the summer. My skating is better than it has ever been, and not because I have done a lot in the past. I am really a recently converted alpine/telemark skier who is more used to using lifts to get up the hills and metal edges to come down again. It is more likely my improved fitness and strength from the season that has helped my technique out the most.

Outside of skate skiing some of the other winter “training” I am doing includes; shovelling the snow off the driveway, telemark skiing (in bounds only so far this season although spring should offer great backcountry options), snow shoeing over the mountain behind our house to take the long way to the pool, lugging 20kg of kid plus a sled up deep, steep slopes for the boys to enjoy some sledding and running on snow covered roads and paths. I’m getting better at this, either in normal runners with warm woollen socks or in comfy snow boots depending on the depth. Depending on where you live some of these may be an option either for a day, weekend or on a holiday where you not only have a great time but come home fitter and stronger for it too.

Other great off season options can include mountain biking, trail running, dancing, indoor climbing or other indoor sports. The only thing I would caution here is if your next season is really important to you may not wish to take on a brand new sport or a sport with a high rate of injury. For example I am not too phased by heading out for a ski even in bounds with occasional out of control human missiles to avoid as I have been skiing for 20+ years now and trust in my ability to keep out of trouble on skis. However I won’t be adding snowboarding to my winter repertoire this year as I haven’t done it before and don’t wish to go through a learning curve and the risks that entails just now.

3/ Strength and conditioning
I have seen lots of friends injured over the summer through training and racing. Triathletes are often comparatively weak in three key areas, core, glutes and shoulders. Without specific strength work, despite significant training in each discipline, it is easy to be out of body balance as it is much easier to build the large muscle groups than the smaller balancing/aligning ones. Maintaining good running swimming and cycling technique, particularly when fatigued at the end of a race or long training session are heavily dependent on these areas. Tight calves, hips, ITB and chest/neck are also common in triathletes. All of these put you at risk of injury.

By the end of last season I had lost a lot of my normal flexibility as I hadn’t been doing my usual level of yoga and lots more specific training. I had a sore knee on and off as well closely connected to a tight ITB and weak glutes.

I have now had a great break releasing any residual tightness and letting the body and mind really heal and recover from the season. As I ramp up my training again, I am putting more of an emphasis on strength and conditioning. I hope this will aid technique improvements that require such strength and keep me in better balance.

At home a few times a week I work on,
- Core
- Upper body
- ITB/glute/legs

In a separate blog I’ll put my routine in if you are interested. For now, there are some good links on the strength and conditioning section on the right.

I don’t go to a gym for this as it is easier to fit in from home. I have a chin up bar in the kitchen doorway, a medicine ball, kettle bell, swiss ball, core roller, set of free weights, a yoga mat, two children (one 19 and one 28 kgs), a snow shovel and a driveway often replenished with snow. With those I can enjoy a routine that fits in and around family life.

4/ Practice yoga
A big part of my end of season recovery was re-establishing a regular yoga practice. It is good for my mind, body and soul. It was really hard at first as it felt terrible when the body was tight and tired. I started with a promise to myself to at least do just 6 surinamiscars each day (sun salutes) and a short meditation. From there I slowly built into the standing poses as part of my sun salute B before adding the rest of the elements as the body opened up and was ready for them. I have now re-established a good, regular and relaxed practice that I look forward to.

The whole idea of asanas (physical stretches) in yoga is to calm the body enough for it to be still and release you from physical distractions for meditation. It works for me. I get multiple benefits; releasing the body in a way that removes residual tightness from training, building some strength particularly core, as well as allowing me the space to calm my breathing, thoughts and feelings, usually in that order.

If you do not have a quiet space at home (or kids happy to join your routine) or a regular practice that you know how to do safely by yourself, then find a good yoga school that suits your personality and preferences. Winter is lovely for yoga - warm rooms, warm people and bodies that need loosening up from all the tightness of the outside cold, often less activity and winter foods.

5/ Love your home trainer
Ok so this can be a hard task some days. I am planning to be doing a 2-3 hour session tomorrow as my key session of this week. That is a lot of sitting in one place looking at the same spot in front of you! A good view is a definite advantage. I used to do my home trainer from a garage with the door open to an awesome view down the valley. Liam could even do laps around me as I rode.

Some little companions for my ride

Best option is great preparation. I had a coach who once said home trainer is great for preparing the mind not just the body for competition as there is so little to distract you from the feelings of the effort. It is an easy way to ensure focus as, for better or worse, you have none of the distractions of the road; traffic, lights, scenery, changes in steepness/surface etc. I do buy the focus benefit, however I also make it a bit easier for myself by getting spare towels, drinks and gels etc all ready and set up on a table I can reach beside me, having music, videos at hand and an interesting program that breaks up the time into different work efforts. I often watch Gray’s Anatomy while I ride – entertaining but not too hard to follow even if you lose focus for a while mid effort. Also short episodes on DVD are easier for me as I am not committed to finishing it if I feel like turning it off. I have even been known to study French while on the HT in warm up and cool down. Great, good energy music works for any length session too.

One of my favourite sessions is a mix of overgearing and high cadence where you do 10 min cycles (5m OG/1m HC/4 min recovery, 4m OG/2m HC/4m recovery, 3m OG/3m HC/4m recovery, 2m OG/4m HC/4m recovery, 1m OG/5m HC/4m recovery). I also do one leg efforts to focus on technique and address specific leg weaknesses and as I setup near a window I can check my position / alignment and watch for any unnecessary movement.

Clearly you also need a good home trainer and suitable place to set it up. If you have young kids you will know to be wary of how accessible the back, spinning wheel is.

6/ Toughen up, get out there.
So you have some indoor options, some better winter outdoor options and finally, sometimes you just have to toughen up and get out there in whatever weather blows in.

Often when you are warm and dry inside looking out at the cold, dark and or wet can be really off putting. Once out there I often just relax into my run or whatever I am up to 7-10 mins into it when the blood has had time to get in the working muscles and warm you. One of the things I do to help me get out there more comfortably is do a little aerobic warm up like skipping before I go out if it is really cold.

Also making sure you are dressed right for the conditions. A really thin jacket that traps the heat and can be taken off once you have warmed up and stuck in a back pocket is good too. If you are running on roads at night a flouro reflective vest may not be a fashion statement but I am always happy to wear one if it saves me from being hit by a car.

So, enjoy your winter. It gives you some different opportunities. Last winter I ran on a full moon evening about 900m vertical ascent/descent and 15k up to a Plateau through the snow which varied from hard pack on the lower paths and roads to deep, dry powder at the top. It was a real joy (despite losing a toenail later from the descent). As we have a long winter here, I’m certainly hoping to enjoy winter training rather than feel that I have to endure it.

Firstly, enjoy your Christmas and New Years!
Joyeux noël et bonne année!

A bientot
C

A new coach and a great movie - stories of leadership

I am really excited as I have a new coach. I am still being coached by the TTC Group next season (as I was last) http://www.thetriathloncoach.com/ but am now being coached by Dave Green for 2011. He is based in France so possibly more convenient, but more than anything he has an absolute wealth of experience and a great manner that makes me feel confident that as a team we will extend what is possible beyond anything I could come near without such guidance and interaction in my preparation. I am going to write a blog about the good, the bad and the indifferent of coaching shortly, but for now a few thoughts on leadership enabling people to excel beyond what they thought they were capable of, as great coaches can do.

I was watching a great movie last night, "Invictus" with Rob. At first glance it is a rugby movie based in South Africa for the World Cup in 1995. Rob loves rugby so no surprise that he chose it. However rugby is really just the canvas on which a far more interesting and complex story about leadership through change takes place.

The two key leaders are Nelson Mandela from when he takes office in an unstable, angry and fearful post apartheid South Africa and Francois Pienaar, the Afrikaans Springbok captain. It ends with the moment when the Springboks won the 95 World Cup on home soil against the odds and allowed a brief moment of national pride and unity at a time when the nation was anything but unified. It is a great movie that shows the power of two kinds of leadership, leadership through inspiration and leadership through example to allow people around each of these men to do in the end, what at the beginning seemed entirely unfeasible, both to themselves and their peers.

I loved the messages so much I will be showing it to my boys (4 and 7) when we next have a movie evening with them. They love sport too, so I hope they find it packaged in a good format for them to enjoy as well as be inspired by.

Invictus is the name of the poem by William Ernest Henley that gave Mandela inspiration when he was at his lowest in prison on Robbin Island. In the movie, and I believe in reality, he shared the poem with Pienaar to assist him inspire the team that at the time was a potent symbol of Afrikaaner pride and the racism that put Mandela in gaol. Personal leadership in action.

Hopefully you will never personally understand the depths to which Mandela understood some of the darker lines of this peom. I have had a pretty blessed life and cannot really conceive of the horrors and fear that his politics and leadership put him in. However anyone who really extends themselves towards their limit, whether in sport, in politics or any other field, knows you are taking on risks and challenges to do so. Whatever difficult situation you may find yourself in, the final two lines are the potent ones, you are the master of your fate (don't blame others) and you are the captain of your soul. Here it is. 

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

A bientot (see you soon)
C

Anything but Ordinary

My Mum has been worried lately about how we are going and how long we are planning to continue our current adventure. I am no longer working 9 to 5, earning a nice steady income in corporate gig in a big bank and keeping my passions for small incremental moments that may sneak through the cracks of an "ordinary" life. What's more my more balanced and stable husband is doing the same and enjoying it! She worries, as is a Mum's role, about a lot of things, but probably mostly about the fact that by being less ordinary, the little unit that is my family, is exposed to a lot more potential change and adversity.

Here is the thing, I don't want to be on the easy freeway of life along with the majority of folk, speeding from meeting to meeting, kids at before and after school care, living an easy life of prosperity and busyness but without any of the potential highs or lows that come from taking such an off route by-way as we have.

There is a catch though. A beautiful, far more self directed existence as we now have, living the dream as it really can be some days, does come at a cost. You chose to take risks. Take enough of them and some will materialise. So it is not just taking risks, it is accepting that you are making your life more variable, volatile and exposed. It is harder. You need to take more ownership and all your mistakes are your own to learn from as you cannot blame others; society, your parents, your best mate, your boss, the economy etc. when things go wrong.

I was listening to Avril Lavigne's song Anything but Ordinary (yes I love girly music like her's) driving through the snow storm down to Annecy yesterday and had it on full volume 5 times over as it truly resonates with me just now. Here are the lyrics and a You Tube link so you can hear it for yourself. You Tube link

To walk within the lines
Would make my life so boring
I want to know that I
Have been to the extremes
So knock me off my feet
Come on now give it to me
Anything to make me feel alive

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.

Let down your defences
Use no common sense
If you look you will see
that this world is a beautiful
accident, turbulent, succulent
opulent, impermanent,
I wanna taste it
Don't wanna waste it away

Barcelona Tapas

Sometimes I get so weird

I even freak myself out
I laugh myself to sleep
It's my lullaby

Is it enough to love?

Is it enough to breathe?

Somebody rip my heart out

And leave me here to bleed

Is it enough to die?

Somebody save my life

I'd rather be anything but ordinary please

You see I don't want to be ordinary. I realised that ages ago and have generally embraced rather than feared that. I know the costs of choosing the less trodden path can be substantial, both personally and when you are planning as a family unit, as it has to work for all. But we decided we wanted to put ourselves in an environment with the ability for amazing opportunities and adventures.

Some of the moments like a relaxed lunch together, full of laughter, fun, great food, wine and atmosphere in a groovy little tapas bar in Barcelona as the boys test drive their 10 words of Spanish with gusto have been truly sensational. Snow shoeing through knee to thigh deep untouched powder in the forests behind our house yesterday, including seeing wild deer en route to the pool at La Clusaz was a quieter, beautiful moment.

Other moments have been tough, heartbreaking and challenging to my core. Like seeing my generally sociable, happy son stand facing the wall at his first day of the new year at school to hide his fear and discomfort. We had put him in a place where he couldn’t yet converse with the other kids and knew none of them. I couldn’t protect him from his struggle. I was impotent to take the pain and fear away. Although I am really relieved to see him now heading off to school far more happily with friends to play with and more language to be able to share the games with them, it is hard knowing how easily he fitted in and thrived at school in Australia and how much it is still a daily challenge here. Hopefully long term, the benefits of the experiences here and having another language will outweigh the short term struggle. Until then we just try and support him the best we can and be his pit crew and support team in his grand challenge.



No shield, no cloak or makeup to hide
behind. Just me being, well me!

 Some of the risks are of showing who you really are to others. It is incredibly liberating being who you are, not who you think people want you to be. You cannot successfully attempt to fulfil a challenging, unusual goal with layers of self protection still in place. It is a bit like trying to do an ironman with makeup on! The effort makes any pretentions quickly exposed and irrelevant.

That is scary in many ways, as when people turn away or challenge what they see in you, it is not some lightly sketched outline or partially cloaked version of you they have an issue with, that you can change in your next appearance. It is a more fundamentally real and unprotected you that you really need to delve deep to decide whether you too wish to change it or it if a part of you that you wish to maintain and protect.

Additionally when you strive to make big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAG) come to life, you need to know you can manage the heartbreak if you don’t get there. A BHAG by definition has a great risk of failure. It doesn’t make it not worth doing, but understand the risks and be prepared to accept them (personally and those also on the journey with you) before you start.

Ron Clarke

Ron Clarke was one of the great Australian middle distance runners of my parent’s generation. Despite amazing success, including breaking 19 records for distances from the ½ mile to 6 miles in the 1960’s, he never won a gold medal at an Olympics. As a result he was labelled by an unsympathetic and uncompromising public as “the bloke that choked”. He was phenomenally talented and hard working, had put himself out there, aimed for the stars, reached the moon, and yet failed the expectations of a community who wouldn’t be able to keep up with him on an easy training run.

You may be blocked by circumstance, chose to abandon your goal as you determine the costs/sacrifices to be made are not worth it once further understood or just not get there despite best efforts. As I put in my last blog about goals, it is the journey, not the achievement of the goal that provides the majority of the overall experience. Whether you are successful or not, the striving closer to the edge of your capability changes you in many ways. It provides great lessons that floating along through life can never teach you, giving you an even better platform for any subsequent endeavour.

Not wanting an ordinary life don’t mean that some of the most precious moments are not “ordinary” though; such as playing with the boys on the way home from school, having a nice picnic together by a river, sitting with Rob at a cafe today doing some business planning while we waited for the shops to reopen from the standard French 2 hr lunch break. It is more the intensity that is different. When you are journeying in a more self-determined way, challenging yourself in many ways, risking failure and heartache, you see the world in richer colour so that even “ordinary” moments feel different, better, more real. Lyrics like those above seem written specifically with you in mind, stories and books resonate more deeply and the world seems abundant with opportunity. It is like being in love, but with life itself.

So some days may be hard, even heartbreaking, but I would prefer this to never really knowing what was possible, hiding within a comfortable, ordinary life, pretending my dreams can fit to that size and not ever truly connecting with people openly and fully or challenging myself to a really big, audacious goal. Luckily for me Rob feels that way too. Instead we chose to discover what an extraordinary adventure of a life we are capable of both individually and as a family. So no pinstriped suits needed here just now. With -18c forecast for tomorrow morning, a down jacket is far more practical.

All the best in finding an extra-ordinary dream to follow yourself.

Biz
C