Time To Focus

It’s been a funny past couple of weeks and I have had to exercise flexibility and patience with my training. Things have come up at short notice so I have found myself doing a little less work on the bike and more running and swimming as they are the two things that are easiest to continue fitting in, even when away from home. All I need is my goggles and a pair of running shoes and I can still get in quality sessions wherever I am.

There is just 3 weeks left until Geelong 70.3 and I have revised my training to ensure I get in the necessary work before race week. Instead of starting to back off the volume of training two weeks before the race, I will train hard until 7 days before and then drop the volume by at least 50% to freshen up for the race.

I am relatively happy with where my swimming and running is at the moment but I don’t feel strong enough on the bike. To rectify this, I know that all I need is to get in my 3 main rides and one solid weights session each week.

My 3 rides are:-

Ø  Tuesday – Strength ride with 5 x 20 minute hard efforts in a big gear pushing a low cadence.

Ø  Thursday – Single leg work followed by high cadence efforts on the indoor trainer. This will precede my weights session consisting of dead lifts, single-leg squat jumps, Swiss Ball hamstring curls, step-ups and calf raises.

Ø  Saturday – 4 to 5 hour ride with some sharp hill and race pace, time trial efforts.

Ø  I will attempt to fit in easy 60 minute rides on other days for active recovery and a warm-up to run sessions, as well.

I must, also, focus very hard on my diet in these final 3 weeks. I am still holding a couple of kilos more than what I would like and I haven’t been eating enough meat, fish and vegetables in the past couple of weeks.

I am feeling very motivated to put in a massive performance in Geelong to continue my pursuit of, hopefully one day, being fast enough to compete as a professional. However, there are simple things I can do in these final 3 weeks to give myself the best possible chance of having a great performance and I will be getting very strict on myself.

I will be getting some chiropractic and massage treatment a couple of times each in these final weeks. It’s something I have neglected in the past 2 months and I have found it catching up with me through tight muscles and aggravated joints. I am looking forward to some Chiro treatment from Dave at Holistique Health and Spa - http://www.holistiquehealth.com.au/ - https://www.facebook.com/HolistiqueHealthSpa/info - as it really straightens me out so that I am not over compensating as much for things like my misaligned pelvis which can play havoc with my glutes, quads and cause knee and hip discomfort. Getting this sorted out makes a huge difference to my power output on the bike and run which can easily make a difference of 5 or more minutes to my race time.

There’s no time left for complacency. I must make the most of these final training days to get what I want out of this event.