As this year has moved on and the focus of my year comes ever closer I often find myself asking a simple question, “is this going in the right direction?”
Firstly, what do I mean by this question, well to me it comes down to is my training going to enable me to complete my target. This question will only be answered on the day of the race, but in the meantime you can certainly look at your progress in terms of the numbers and also how you feel.
Perhaps, how you feel is more important to a degree than the numbers. The numbers provide the hard statistical evidence, but how you feel both physically and mentally is the truly telling item.
I have been feeling physically good now for a few months, ever since I got over my knee injury and have been training confidently. Mentally I have been positive most of the time, yes I have had moments when I question what I am doing and whether I am equipped physically to do it. I know that in all likelihood on the day of the race I will have some dark times, and that is when you have to look inside and ask yourself the big questions. Do you trust your training? Have you followed your plan? If the answer is yes then it is a case of dig in and trust that you will succeed.
I often feel that I am in a fortunate position of being able to afford a coach, and more importantly one I trust, for me without the trust in the training program there is no way I would undertake an ultra. The training got me through 2 tri’s last year, and so I when I look at my plan for a week I know that it is all about building to the ultra and that if their is a weakness then the training isn’t it.
I find it hard to quantify how fit I am, but if being able to ride 122km in very poor weather without riding a bike this year is any sort of yardstick then I am doing ok, especially as I know a few guys who have done a lot of riding who struggled!
In conclusion, for me I feel I am heading in the right direction, obviously I can’t see the future and tell if there is something on the horizon that may interfere, but, I feel good, am enjoying training and most of all I am actually looking forward to hauling myself around 50km of the Chiltern Hills.
To use a well known football chant, “here we go, here we go , here we go”
Three Times The Effort 