I'm back doing a bit of training, nothing crazy. Just what I can maintain reasonably around work and my commitments to people.
We went along to Trevor and Rachaels wedding on the weekend. Had a great time. Hopefully get some photos and wang em up here.
I thought I'd write a post about what training worked for me heading into Coast and what I could have done better at. As much for myself as anyone else who is interested.
THINGS THAT WORKEDTurning off my heart rate monitor and listening to my body
Your body knows what it needs and it knows how hard its going, (I also found it increased my enjoyment of sessions and seemed to reduce the pain of a hard session. i.e my heart rates 170 it should be hurting...)
Lots of aerobic training
Any endurance sport is nearly 100% aerobic so that needs to be the primary focus of training. Doing hard anaerobic training is good at the right time of the buildup, but in moderation. When I did lots of hard training it meant that I was tired all the time and the day to day consistency and quality of my training was reduced.
Training relaxed
I made a concerted effort to do my sessions in a relaxed manner. I found I could go faster and my muscles didnt get as sore and I reckon this helped prevent injuries.
Light on the feet
This is a carry over from being relaxed. I made an effort to be really light on my feet when running. (It also works for kayaking and cycling). You shouldn't be pushing really hard when your going fast, it uses more energy.
HILLS
Ran lots of hills. This was key for my run. I hadnt done much hill work since I moved to Nelson. When I started doing a few this buildup I remembered how well they had worked for me before. When I've been running lots of hills, I can run at a faster at a steady pace and I'm so much stronger at the end of a long run (Goat Pass!).
Steady paced long paddles
In our long paddles on sat mornings we never took it out very easy. The 2hr paddle was always at a reasonable pace that you knew about by the end. Because recovery is so quick with paddling I reckon you can do a lot of paddling at a fairly good effort.
On these long paddles we also did some max 20 stroke efforts (counting 1 side only) every 5 to 10minutes. We did this when we wanted. Its a great way to make sure the muscles were feeling it.
Rock running
I did lots (at least once a week, more during easy weeks) of running on sea walls around Nelson. This was awesome and come time to run Goat Pass I was sorted.
Easy weeks
I organised my training into 16 days on (2 weeks including weekends at each end) then 5 off. The days off were very easy. I'd normally have Monday and Friday as easier days during my on weeks. This left me so much fresher for my sessions and I never felt like I was falling behind on recovery.
Good break following last season
I took a good 6 week break after Rollos last winter. I started running after 2 weeks, ran to and from work most days. This was good to keep things rolling. I was also hitting the gym a lot over winter. (This time off wasnt all good, I took too much time out of the kayak)
Consistent buildup
The most important thing about sport is consistency. I felt I was very consistent throughout my buildup. The long-term consistency really helped when I needed to lay down a big final push.
Big weeks
I did one really big week (32 hrs, 40hrs including the weekend before) and a couple of reasonable weeks (23hrs+) in January. This sort of training makes me feel strong.
Good training partners
This is so key. Its great here in Nelson. I had Andrew Martin, Dan Busch, John Harris and Trevor to push me along in the boat. Andrew, John and Trev for the bike. The run I did mostly by myself (the hills were my training partners). I think there needs to be a balance here, somewhere between compeditiveness and not blowing each other to bits!
THINGS I COULD'VE DONE BETTER
Strength work on the bike
When ever I've done heaps of strength work, either in the gym or on the bike, my cycling seems to go a lot better. I did a fair amount over winter and I hit the ground running (?) when I got back on the bike. But I didnt carry it on through the buildup like I should've. (I think if your doing a lot of hard anaerobic training, this takes care of the cycling strength, but if your doing a lot of longer miles you need some more specific strength).
Intensity in the kayak
I kinda wussed out of the early season intensity in the kayak to keep aerobic across all my sessions. I regret this now, as post coast Im actually continuing to get faster in the boat. I reckon its alright to go hard in the boat as it takes so little out of you, you dont comprimise your other sessions.
More river time
Didnt get enough river time. Wouldnt have hurted to get out in the surf more to!
Too much time off - kayak
I feel I took too much time off over winter when it came to the kayak. I think I should've kept it at 2 sessions a week. With one of them reasonably full on, and both thinking about technique.
Worry and lack of self belief
I worried way too much. This really affected my training as I missed a lot of sleep! Worry wastes a huge amount of energy and leaves you with what feels like a hangover. If I'd just believed in myself and stayed in the present (not negatively anticipating) I would have been so much better off.
Thats all I can think of for now. At some point I'll put up my training log leading into the race.
Jack and I lining up.
Nelson multisporters photo. Have a close look. See whose hiding in there.
Nigel, Freya, me & Elin pre reception.
The group we tramped, talent quested and massage trained with. Good times! L 2 R; Dorien (Holland), Elin, Me, Ed (USA), Abby (USA), Heather (Canada) and Kira (USA).
Abby and Dorien on Lucky Beach.
