SUMMER HOLIDAY!! 5 weeks to live like a pro!!!

I now have 5 weeks off for the summer holidays…to train like a pro! I can rest and train how I like and when I like, if I am tired I can sleep if I want to ride I can ride, coffee stops galore. I will keep the blog up to date with my training week by week for the next 5 weeks, I feel that this will also give me a chance to evaluate how things have gone week on week, and also to see how longer and more volume of training will increase performance.

I feel as though at the moment I am in limbo, to be honest not much has changed since my last post in regards to the way I am feeling, I haven’t been able to shake a strange mind set. I am doing my best to keep training and sessions have actually been successful and PB’s are being broken and everything is going well, I have been racing and even that has been successful with a few podium finishes here and there. Mid season base is being built ready for September and October races, I have also been experimenting with different types of training and methods. Most of all the sun is out so why do I feel that I am not doing anything right at the moment I can’t bounce from session to session with ease and the my diet, well that’s just a nightmare.

I have always had a constant battle with food, when I am pushing for a race I am brilliant and can control things, I can usually get away with a little more and don’t have to be so strict in my mind set. But I always have a constant craving for food, and finding it hard, I don’t always eat rubbish, its just the amounts and its starting to show. I have a constant battle in the evenings with how much should I eat, but some times I push for more and shouldn't eat it. I don’t believe in the old…I put weight on easy tlak, you put weight on if you don’t work hard enough and eat too much of the wrong stuff. My girlfriend gets the brunt of my weight issues, when I am training and keeping it under control it is ok, I still weight myself and am very conscious of what I am eating, but if things are not good then she knows because its on my mind.

A sample day looks like this:

4.45am - Wake up, espresso.

90min run - long hilly base run. (11miles)

7.00am - 4 eggs (scrambled) , 2 x table spoon of peanut butter, flax seed and handfull of chopped brazils and almonds. Green tea. 

7.15 - Black coffee

10.30am - green tea, Pulsin gluten free protein bar.

12.30pm - ham, lettuce, carrots, peppers, handful of Brazil nuts. 

4.30pm - Pulsin gluten free protein bar

6.45pm - Time trial (10miles) 10miles to and from time trial.

8.30pm - salmon, green beans, cabbage, broccoli. 500ml electrolyte drink. 

9.00pm - cup of tea, slice of fruit cake, 2 x table spoon peanut butter and handful or dried dates and brazils. 

This is the kind of day that I would like to replicate most days, but at the moment sugar has crept its way in more and more and I must do my upmost to cut it out! I am fantastic at giving advice about food and writing food plans, and even writing my own…but you know what they say, those who can do and those who cant teach!

I have decided to dedicate my summer to improving on the bike more so, but also make improvements in my running, I plan to swim 2-3 times a week just to keep myself ticking along. I want to improve my time trialing and know I need more strength in my legs to cycle faster, I hope this will also help me to improve my running. I know that being able to rest after key sessions during the summer will add a huge benefit, because as we all know you don't get stronger from training you get stronger from resting.



UPDATE:

Well what a difference a few days can make, I have been working hard on my diet and training and things have all fallen into place a little now. I am going to be back normal weight etc within a few days and have been much more focus! 

Its actually strange what a week can bring when training for multi sports! I also raced the worcester country 10k championships at the weekend and was able to finish 6th which was a great result and made me very happy. It was disappointing at the time because I only recorded a 36.43 and was thinking I would have been much faster, but everyones time was just over a min slower than their usual PB so I was actually very happy, and placed were I should have. So on wards and upwards from here!