Focus

I've done quite a bit of soul searching in the last fortnight. With my mojo levels falling through the floor it gave me the opportunity to take a bit of a step back and make a few decisions about what I want and more importantly what I should do next. I've blogged before about how I struggle to fit everything in and as a result never quite feel that I have given of my best. This comes down to competing in long endurance events which take a lot of time to train for and are also quite specific in their demands. In the space of nine months I've completed an ironman tri, a marathon and the DW. I should celebrate this fact and I am proud to have done these things but trying to do all of them all the time leaves me constantly undercooked for the next race and fretting about not laying enough of a base to do the event as well as I would really like. I have constantly felt under pressure to get out the door, do something, anything to keep the momentum going. I have essentially been 'panic training' and to a point, it's worked but ultimately it's proved unsustainable and quite often, not very enjoyable.

So, I've decided to break the cycle and here's how...

For the next 18 months my aim is to concentrate on  marathon training and I will not be taking part in any triathlons in that time.  I really, REALLY want to go sub3 and unless I commit to it whole heartedly it will not happen. I've been speaking to a few people to get some advice in the last week or so and discussed the injuries that I have been suffering from and it's becoming obvious to me that I need to put in place a strengthening and conditioning program that will allow me to cope with the running load. I have good basic speed and reasonable endurance but I don't have the elasticity and strength to run consistently week in, week out. So, weedy old me will be going to the gym. Yikes. It makes sense. I'm not happy about it but the bottom line is that I do not have the legs of a 20 year old anymore so it's got to be done if I want to achieve a sub3 time.

Next year I'll also be taking a break from the DW. Mrs Wheezy was making some decidedly unsympathetic noises when the idea of a fourth successive start was mooted. I need a break from that BUT I really want to keep paddling without the pressure of having such a big goal in front of me. 2014 I will be back at Devizes and in the meantime I'm going to enjoy myself, work on my technique on the river and use paddling to keep my core strength high. I am trying to get myself a K1 boat at the moment but it's proving tricky to get a suitable one. There are plenty of second hand racing boats that are very wobbly and beyond my skill level but a mid-range boat like the Kirton Tor are much harder to come by second hand, but hopefully I can sort out something soon and make full use of the Royal and the Thames over the summer months. I have my coaching course to prepare for and I am hoping that a group of us can get together to train regulalry as I now there are some club members with the DW in their sights.

Without the need to train for tri this year I feel a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I am so much happier for making that decision. I'll commute on my Trek when the weather's good, do a bit of time trialling as training and meet up with Simon to support him (as I'm doing tomorrow). Like Pep Guardiola, this is going to be my sabbatical year. ;-)