Weather!

It is the beginning of February and we can see the grass in our garden again. The igloo the boys and I made has melted and we have little snow on the lower parts of the mountains, at least on the south facing slopes that is not man made. It has been a month of almost no fresh snow falling and worse still, no more is forecast for a few weeks at least.

But before I get depressed that my imagined winter of unending powder days has not eventuated, a few thoughts.

• Last night Australian time Queensland was hit by a Cat 5 hurricane, the biggest on record. The damage is as yet unknown but will undoubtedly be huge.
• Queensland already suffered floods in January that killed dozens of people, made thousands homeless and were the most costly natural disaster in Australian history inundating an area the size of France and Germany put together. Victoria in Australia's south was also flooded.
• Australia has a heatwave going on in the south-east just now and more than 50 fires are burning.
• We don't have much fresh powder in the Haute Savioe.

Kind of puts it into perspective doesn't it!

 

So rather than get annoyed by the lack of snow I am going to appreciate the good things about it.

1. We have had a month of sunshine. Lately it has been cold, but it is dry and sunny and still feels warmer at -3 here than I felt in the UK at +2 due to the grey skies, damp air and winds there. The mountains look stunning and inviting to play in them each day.

Iced water at Sereval!

2. The roads are free of snow and ice. We haven't had to dig our driveway out for over a month and it is easy to get around again. I even decided to take my bike out for a ride on Sunday on the roads rather than face a 3hr home trainer session. It was cold but wonderful to be out there. I was well dressed so came home absolutely humming from the fun 90k later after riding down to Annecy around the lake and back up one of the lower cols on the way home.

3. Resort skiing is fun on piste. OK so I may not be known for skiing on piste by choice often, but it is perfect for the kids. Liam and Jackson are becoming good little skiers with lots of opportunity here, good snow that is not too icy yet thanks to snow making and a decent base higher up. In addition we get to take them out in consistently lovely blue sky, windless days. Lately we have been enjoying taking a break for lunch and picnicing on the snow it has been so nice. Rob and I are loving teaching the boys and seeing them thrive and never feel the need to go rip a few lines through the trees thanks to the rocks and hardened crud we would find there.


Liam, in the nordic groove

4. The cross country trails are in great condition. Although the alpine skiing is a bit limiting for Rob and I, we haven't been limited much in nordic skiing as most trails are open and have been kept in good to great condition. I have loved improving my skate skiing and greatly appreciated the free pass La Clusaz provided me this year for training on the 60+kms of groomed trails through forests, valleys and up to high plateaus with jaw dropping views including the main Aravis Range and across to Mount Blanc and the Massif.

5. Running is easier. I have been able to run much more easily on the roads now they are free of snow and ice. The forest paths are pretty tricky in places though as there is lots of slippery clear ice making the trails difficult to maintain decent rythm and pace through and a place that risks injury. I like running on trails but have had to stick to the roads more to train more consistently at target efforts/paces.
 

6. Training is a pleasure. I have not been distracted by powder to skip out on or squash in my training now I am back into a properly structured program and 20 weeks out from my first big race of the coming season. Actually I am loving training and really enjoying both the discipline and physical feedback as I rebuild my fitness and strength.

So, no great waist deep powder yet this season, but lots of great experiences and generally stunning weather with no floods, heat waves, fires or cyclones to endure.

I hope you are enjoying the weather wherever you may be, and you have not been affected by natural disasters in Australia or elsewhere.

A bientot
Christine

Coaching - the good, the bad and the ugly

Happy New Year to you all. Bonne Année tout le monde!

Many of you will have set new goals recently or reviewed and renewed your enthusiasm over Christmas and New Year to achieve goals you set previously. Having goals are great motivators as I discussed before http://christinehemphill.blogspot.com/2010/11/setting-and-achieving-remarkable-goals.html. Now is a great time to consider if you have the right team around you to find a better path than you would find alone (although there are some wrong ways, I personally don't believe there is ever one right way) to achieve them.

Although I have good internal motivation for self learning and training, I love learning from others and need a trusted advisor to really get the best out of myself. Most of us do. So that brings me to some thoughts on coaching, one of the critical elements of my team that help change my 2011 goals from scary hairy big to possible.

So what is coaching? I have a really broad definition of coaching. It is not necessarily the traditional person with a whistle and stop watch monitoring your session. In my mind it is any assistance from anyone where they are trying to increase your chance of achieving your goal/s by assisting across all of or some of the cycle of planning, training and monitoring/re-evaluation. Whether you are a novice or professional, training 4 hours or 25 hours a week, good coaching will extend you closer &/or faster towards your real capability.

What are the benefits? I know I would never have got to the level I have without the positive involvement of coaches. My goals were not high initially. I was hoping to finish in the top half of the field at the World Champs in 2009 when I decided to go, before I was persuaded by my coach at the time that I could top ten and possibly podium. I believed it, and therefore it became possible. What I have done since, including topping the podium at last year’s World Champs and turning pro would also not have been possible without the experience and advice of others that have guided me.

I have personally benefitted from some great coaching, some good coaching and unfortunately some really bad coaching. I say benefitted, as good, bad or ugly, all of it was a learning experience. I have also had a broad range of levels of coaching from a simple online, very slightly tailored standard programs through to daily coaching where even my choice of toothpaste was up for questioning.

So here are ten thoughts I have had on how you might maximise your chance of getting a good or great coaching experience and save yourself the painful learning of the bad, sad, nasty or plain useless.

1. Know what you most need in a coach, what you would like and what you are prepared to pay for 
2. Establish clear roles and responsibilities in the relationship from the beginning on both sides. Agree them in writing. Then ensure you both keep to them.
3. Do what you say you will do and expect the same of the coach, but understand that some stuff is unforeseeable and try and work through early when it is not possible. If you or the coach is not able to live up to either side of the bargain or it could be improved, change it. Go back and review the agreement. 
4. Ensure the personal dynamic works. Invest the time in getting to know your coach and allow your coach to know you so you can help them best find out how to engage, inspire and improve your capability. Obviously this is more important the more interaction you have chosen. Also understand that people are not robots and some relationships work easily and fluidly and others are may remain awkward despite best efforts. 
5. Build trust and mutual respect so that it is easy for you both to share what needs to be said / done clearly and openly but in a way that is respectful and recognises what you each bring to the team. The more you can be honest about things that may create a barrier to performance like fears or health issues, the better you can work through these with guidance.
6. Listen, learn, question for understanding and try stuff you may not yet be convinced of. Monitor the results over time see how it works.
7. Expect knowledge and competence commensurate with the level of coach and breadth of involvement you have chosen. Don’t expect any coach to know everything, but they should at minimum be prepared to answer questions and if they don’t know, say so and point you somewhere to go looking for an answer or offer to come back later with one.
8. Recognise coaches are fallible as it is a complex job (as my coach says, a great blend of both art and science) so everyone responds slightly differently and you may not always get the results you hope to from doing what they recommend. However you can assist the process by providing timely, good feedback as you go so they can adjust and adapt as needed.
9. Never, ever expect or accept verbal, physical or mental abuse. Obviously never give any either. It can be very damaging both within and outside of your sporting goals. If you have been around sport for a while, you will probably have experienced or at least seen the sort of coach who thinks that swearing, shouting or otherwise abusing athletes is a really good way to get the best out of someone. It isn’t. Simple as that. You are paying for someone’s assistance to reach your goal. If they are abusive they will threaten it, not help you achieve it. Being told off for not doing what you had said you would is one thing, being abused on the side of the pool or track is quite different. Know also that it goes against the Code of Practice any qualified coach will have signed and committed to. Don’t accept it.
10. Remember your goal is your responsibility and despite the best and most active coaching in the world, no-one can achieve it for you. A coach is a key part of your team that helps you and therefore should share in the outcome both for better or worse. They can assist you organise and prioritise your time efficiently, technically adapt in each discipline, encourage/ motivate you, guide you as best they can, but you still have to do the work and drive towards the outcome that you want. So get the best coaching you can find, suited to your needs, but do not think you can obviate yourself of the responsibility of achieving your dreams. 

Obviously before you look to get any coaching, you need to understanding where your greatest knowledge or skill gap is, determine what level of involvement you want from others and in what areas and inversely, what you wish to do yourself. Just as you know you will pay more for a higher quality, lighter weight, stiffer bike, understand that services have a value too and you should expect to pay more for higher tailoring to your specific needs, broader or more regular involvement.

Look to the people you know around locally as well as options further afield or online and think through how well their offering/s may work for you. Physical location is not such a huge barrier anymore. My current coach, Dave, is based on the other side of France, yet between regular Skype catch ups, occasional video footage, detailed daily programs and feedback captured daily within it, it can work pretty easily across geographies if you want it to.

A combination of approaches may be better than looking for a one stop shop too. For example a simple tailored program set to optimise your time availability may work for you in conjunction with a masters swim squad, camp and/or well organised cycling club.  I combine ongoing high quality but remote coaching with short intense face-to-face opportunities such as the camp I am heading to this weekend in the UK led by Jack Maitland, one of Dave’s colleagues. Jack is distinguished as being the coach of both Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee the current stand out stars in his high quality stable. During the camp I can get detailed technical analysis and advice to focus my next period of training that Dave and I can work on.

Time for an unashamed plug here. If you are Europe based (or feel like a good excuse to be in French Alps next summer and the Tour de France is not enough to get you here), then you could benefit from Dave’s coaching too. You could augment your program and current coaching with a week of focussed training and detailed coaching including technique analysis and assessment in each discipline and lots of opportunity to learn about all the other performance elements such as effective tapering, transition, nutrition and hydration, injury prevention and management etc. 

He and I are running a number of triathlon camps in the Aravis Valley for Adventures in the Alps. Each is targeted to specific groups so you can train with people of similar level from beginner to strong, sprint or ironman athletes, women's specific or mixed. More info is available here http://www.adventuresinthealps.com/fitness-retreats-summer-2011.html. There are a number of great discipline specific camps too such as a cycling camp with Welsh pro cyclist Yanto Barker or a swim camp with UK Olympic medallist Sharron Davies.

So, whatever your goals, and wherever you are based, make a difference to your chances of success this year. Find a coach or coaching combination that you trust and respect and that offers the level of engagement that you would like and then together go out and make the possible, probable.

All the best!

Until next time / A bientot
Christine

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

Winter L plates and fun

Winter has arrived and snow fun is starting. Lots of fresh snow here now after a week of storms.

The kids are loving sledding and playing in the snow. Jackson was first to get the skis on today for a ski de fond (skating) ski on the trails at Grand Bornand. He loved it despite it being a serious challenge for him on the slippery, skinny long skis with soft shoes to control. I hear you Jackson! I re-found the fun in cross country skiing after the boys were born as it meant I could still ski with them in the baby backpack (unlike alpine skiing). It is a challenge though. Slippery little suckers!


Focussed!

Rob and I are learning to that going anywhere needs a big lead time.  For now we are still getting used to shovelling the driveway, dressing the boys in layers upon layers, trying to get them to put on their own gloves, boots, hats etc so they can do it when cold and tired by themselves and reminding them to come home from school, the movies, friends houses etc with the same things they went with (not very successfully!), getting reused to driving on snow and ice, and taking plenty of food and a thermos of hot tea everywhere for rewarming and fueling after. Hopefully we will get faster after a bit more practice. For now, sorry if we are late or left a glove in your house, we are still in L plate mode. However, like teenagers learning to drive for the first time, we are still loving the ride despite the slow pace.

I hope you are enjoying your change of season too, whether it is the warmer weather arriving in Australia now, or winter as the first big storms blanket big chunks of Europe and Nth America in white.

A bientot
C

Setting and achieving remarkable goals

Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru

Aung San Suu Kyi has been released in Burma after being under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years! Amazing to see her finally released. How do great things occur? Even more interesting to me is how do great people, achieve such remarkable lives? Her life has been strongly influenced by another remarkable soul, Mahatma Gandhi who in his 78 years influenced (and was influenced by) South African politics, created a new form of effective non-violent political opposition, imagined and then “fathered” modern India and influenced generations of people around the world, particularly empowering those who feel disempowered by their circumstances, such as Aung San Suu.

Just like great sport people seem to have more time in the field of play to foresee and respond to the competition, great achievers seem to have more time in their lives to make extraordinary things possible between the mundane requirements of day to day existence we are all encumbered by. Some of the differences come from talent, but everyone knows the most talented kid at school doesn’t often become the most successful. In my view great achievers seem to fairly consistently posess unusual courage to set audacious goals, the ability to work out how they may get there, or at least start the journey, effective adaptive capacity, and then amazing energy to sustain the effort despite obstacles.

“Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” Dennis Waitley

For me personally, I use goal setting to motivate me to try for seemingly large goals such as racing with top 10 results as a pro in 4 key large races despite only a few years in the sport and being eligible for veteran (over 40) category. Two years ago I would not have dreamed that was feasible. At the time I hadn’t raced tri seriously for nearly two decades. It also helps me consider what should gain priority on any day, like today. Is it better to spend my time playing outside with the kids, helping them with homework, going out training, writing my blog, catching up with friends or doing my French homework for Monday? Reality is I would like to do them all, so do I try and do them all incrementally or a few. If a few, which takes priority? Well set goals help me make these decisions.

It’s also topical for me as it’s that time of year to consider resetting my goals. No, it’s not NYE yet, but the end of the year is heading our way, my season is over and it’s time to start planning and preparation for next year. So I'll share some of the process I go through for you to take and adopt or adapt as best suits. I set my goals in the following, generally sequential stages.

• Take the learnings from your last set of goals (these may or may not have been explicit)
• Consider new goals in consultation with others
• Make the goals SMART and consistent
• Accept and share your goals with your “team”
• Go for it!

When I think about goals, I tend to consider them in three parts; the desired outcome, expected/ planned process and core values. Looking at them as a set of three inter-related parts helps highlight a basic truth about goals; it is usually the journey, not the outcome that gives you the greatest pleasure and long term personal growth. So you don’t want to let focus and commitment to an outcome compromise you to a point that you don’t get to fully appreciate the path to it.

Outcome: Measureable result such as; establish a new business, complete your first triathlon or ironman, run 10k under 45 mins, complete your studies with an average grade of 80% etc

Process: How you expect to achieve the goal. When you consider the goal what do you think you need to do differently (start, stop or change/adapt) to successfully achieve it. Eg for the 10k run time example above this may be something like: join a club and train with them 3 times a week to keep motivated and build skills, add a key interval session and a strength workout each once a week, lose 2 kgs and determine a race schedule that gives you some 5k lead up runs and at least a couple of options to achieve your target time in case of injury/illness/work or family commitments etc.

Values: The way in which you achieve the goal. When you need to compromise or reprioritise on the way through (as you always need to do) this is the basis on which those difficult decisions will be made. It is all good to have established a successful new venture, but was it was done with the integrity that you expected of yourself. Hopefully so!

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony” Mahatma Gandhi

So the process of goal setting.

1. Take the learnings from your last goals

Before setting anything new, it’s always worth looking at your last set of goals (whether explicit or not) to honestly consider how you went. If you understand both how you went and why, then the next goals will be even more achievable and able to stretch you to greater heights.

In review consider, did you achieve the goal outcome or not? Either way did the process support the goal as you expected? Did you get some good or bad luck (uncontrollable elements) that intervened? How well did you adapt? Did your values assist guide your difficult decisions? What did you learn from it all that you can use again? Then let go of any other attachments to the past outcomes as best you can in order to fully focus on the new set.

2. Consider new goals in consultation with others

Setting new goals is exciting. Imagine the possible! For me next year I’ll be able to race as a pro thanks to Triathlon Australia granting me a licence after a good season this year. This is a really exciting opportunity that I hope to fully appreciate by racing well in some great ironman and long courses across Europe. I am also focussed on building a great business running triathlon and yoga camps in the Aravis Valley with Adventures in the Alps while developing personal skills (such as language) and relationships to make life here in France easier, more enjoyable and connected.



For any big goal you are unlikely to be able to reach it alone or without impacting those around you. So when you consider your goals, consider them in relation to “your team”. Who will need to be involved with you in reaching these goals? Do they understand the goal, their role in it and are they equally happy or hopefully excited by the opportunity?

My team - 2009 World Champs Perth



Your team includes the obvious people such as a coach (business or sporting) and professional service providers (physio, accountant, etc) as well as people you will impact through your goal orientation such as family and friends. Before you make a commitment, make sure they are part of it, understand and are supportive of it. It is not much fun celebrating a birthday without having a great family and good friends around you, even if the cupboard is full of medals / bank account numbers / university honours ...

So by the time you have committed to a set of goals, you and your team have discussed options, established boundaries and reprioritised as needed. Make it easy to deal with the tough stuff before it is even there by recognising where it may come, discussing it and either working out an approach to make it acceptable or rejecting it.

3. SMART and consistent goals

So now to write the agreed goals down and ensure they are smart. By that I mean, will you know if you’ve achieved them or not? Do they sensibly stretch you? Is your team on board and are all aware of mutual expectations? To make it easy, SMART can form an acronym that summarises this nicely.

SMART goals are

• Specific and stretching
• Measurable
• Accountable (the whole team likely to be involved is aware of their expectations)
• Realistic
• Timebound

Secondly, are the goals consistent? Consistent goals are those that do not conflict with each other (internally consistent) or the requirements of the external environment for them to be achieved (externally consistent). Internal consistency from my perspective includes all of my outcomes, values and process elements. If you need to spend all of your leisure hours training yet espouse a key value to be a good family member and friend, then you have a problem coming your way!

4. Accept and share your goals

So now the fun bit. Commit! I think one of the best ways to commit is to share your goals with others and initiate the first step or two. I tend to also write my top three goals on a little card I keep in my wallet. It includes each goal including a time for completion as well as my key values. On the flip side is a picture of the Aravis Valley in winter (taken when the dream to live here was still a dream and seemed a long way off) and a quote on each side. Both quotes are included in this blog.

As you share goals, two things happen. Firstly they can appear more real, explicit and considered to you as you extrovert them in different ways with different people. Secondly, I am always amazed at how many people add value when you share a goal. The team widens beyond your expectations as people share their thoughts or their skills, ask questions that make you realise where you still need to find answers, answer questions or solve problems you have or just offer a kind word of encouragement at a point in time when it is really needed. Big goals are very rarely achieved in isolation.

Sharing goals helps others engage with you in a meaningful way and assist which makes them feel, and truly be valued. Equally it is wonderful to actively assist others achieve their goals, so look for this to always be a mutual or even just outbound activity. To me, this is what community is, people assisting each other achieve what they couldn’t in isolation. It is what makes life rewarding and fun.

5. Go for it!

Commit, or don’t. Once committed, make it real. “Do or do not, there is no try” Yoda

So you have set your priorities, determined how you expect to achieve them and with who. Now time to do the hard work, commit and make the sacrifices that are needed to achieve anything great. That may mean something as simple as foregoing your weakness for citron tarts (not so simple for an old tart-aholic friend of mine!) or getting up at 5am for training in the dark and cold when you’d far prefer stay in bed. If you have set the goals well, including a good understanding of the process, you shouldn’t be surprised by the sacrifices required to achieve them. Additionally unforeseen obstacles can be managed through decisions based on clear, coherent and prioritised goals and values.

Now it does happen that along the way things change and goals need to be reset. I’ll deal with that in a later blog. For now, set your sails for the moon and plan to get there!

So, all the best in achieving your dreams, whether they are simple, great or truly audacious! I’m off to focus on the next priority in my evening, making dinner for the troops!

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagine. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler" Henry David Thoreau