Ironman Melbourne: 9 days to go - a message for competitors

This is a message for all the men and women who will be racing at Ironman Melbourne next weekend:

You must rest your body! 

There is just over eight days until you will be lining up for a challenge that will test your body and your mind. You have trained for months and now there is no need to over do it.

I can see that my Ironman is in need of good sleep, healthy food and a calm mind. So, my post message of STOP is to say now you are allowed to taper and rest. 

Sure, tapering doesn't mean stopping altogether - this post on the Active website has some great advice on effective tapering and points out two common mistakes people make when tapering  -(i) not tapering for long enough and (ii) going at too high intensity when tapering. So take note.

Now I am no expert by any means but I do believe in listening to your body, so if you feel tired as many do at this point, take what rest you can.

Remember too -  avoid planning too many activities in the lead up days to the race, don't overdo it once you get to the race location by feeling you have to swim, ride and run over the whole course length,  and make sure you take care of your body inside and out so it is in top condition for race day.

Thats all I need to say tonight xx

IRONMAN CHALLENGE DAY 5 & 6 - Taking a Break

So I have lapsed already. I am feeling guilty. Yesterdays post didn't happen.

I did attempt to write at 10pm after a day long conference which zapped my brain. However, I rolled into bed no post, feeling unwell and guilty that I had decided to not get up early this morning and compete in a triathlon I had signed up for. On the flip side however, I have woken up with a post ready to roll, guilt subsided and I'm still in bed at 9.30am :-)

I want to talk about TAKING A BREAK.

I am a very happy Ironman wife this morning because for the first time in a long time I had a kid free sunday morning with my Ironman.

No 5am alarm clock, no waking up in an empty bed, no kids arguing.

I got cuddles. I got to sit with my husband over a leisurely breakfast reading the papers and discussing things we just haven't time to think through. We hopped back into bed amazed at how good it felt to laze around. We looked out our bedroom doors at the overcast windy weather and felt no regrets for deciding to say 'no' to our usual routine and just take a break.

So when did you last do this?

Ironman training requires dedication and consistency. It means following a training plan that lasts months. Six weeks before, there are crazy weekend sessions of long rides on the bike, maybe in wind and rain, then a run or a swim. Back at home after devouring all that is in the fridge, you collapse for the rest of the day. Kids may run around the house needing to release their pent up energy but you are just spent.

I am OK with this as an Ironman wife. It  has been our lives for so long that I understand how it works. We fit in with the routine knowing that it's just those key weeks prior to race day.

We are now in  the last couple of weeks before Ironman Melbourne. This is tapering time. The body needs to rest. There is still some training and there are race and travel plans to think through but this is also the time that you are allowed to say 'no' just for one day!

I am now hearing the wind trainer next door, however I know my Ironman has had a great sleep and he has happy wife who is still lazing around and readying herself to refocus and start planning for the pre-race build up.

It is OK to give the body and the mind a break even if it's just briefly. Don't feel guilty. Know that at this point, the body is ready but it's also close to burnout.  You need to listen to what it's saying to you.

Get enough sleep, have a massage, stretch, eat well, take time to look at the big picture and appreciate where you are at. You need to focus on having everything in balance so you are ready for the best race of your life.

Take  a break from routine - I promise you won't regret it!

When sickness hits....

This has probably been the worst winter of sickness I every remember experiencing and it's almost too boring to write about.

Apparently I am not the only one however. It seems everyone around us has stories to tell and many of those effected have not been able to shake it - like me. I am in week nine still with symptoms, kids have been on and off with it all winter, but what amazed me is that Ironman kept it all at bay all winter.....until this week.

Prior to this week, I had the perfect post planned to tell you all that I think Ironman in training managed to avoid the nasties due to a few key things that he has changed in regards to his health and eating habits. And although I have decided it's not appropriate to write about now, I will eventually as I still think its worth noting.

Of course, four weeks out from the Hawaii Ironman is not a great time to get sick, but then again at least he has managed to have an unbroken winter of training which is pretty impressive.

If you live with someone on a heavy training schedule in the lead up to a race you will know how it can mean low immunity and susceptibility to getting sick if they are not careful, this then forces them to stop training, which they just can't cope with. So, they push through when still sick and get sicker, and so it goes on.....they just can't stop themselves from training and give their bodies a rest!

So this week as reality hit that he hasn't avoided the latest virus in the house, the mind games have been in full swing. The body is feeling weak and the rest of the family aren't much better...it hasn't been pretty!

Today however, I feel that we are all coming out the other side. My fingers are crossed. Nobody wants their months of training and peak fitness to be knocked sideways just as the final weeks before a big race are looming.

For me, I am just dreaming of the sun, sea and sand, cocktails by the pool, a good book and a break from being mum...in the hope it will bring me back to good health. What race? Ha Ha !

Have you been struck with sickness this winter? Tips for a speedy recovery? I have tried so many things that aren't working....I have open ears for new ideas :-)

Trading Places

Today was an unusual day for two reasons:

1. IM did not go training first thing in the morning - and it's sunday!
2. I competed in a race and IM and kids were the supporters!

As background, I will begin by saying I have never been a sporty person. I did do quite well in some short distance running races at primary school, I then avoided sport in high school, became a gym junkie in my twenties, took up walking and yoga in my early thirties and only a few years ago after having two children, did I come to the realisation that I needed to do more aerobic workouts to lose the extra kilos from pregnancy and keep fit and healthy as I get older.

I could never be a runner I declared to my ultra fit IM husband! Famous last words...

I have to admit that having a fitness obsessed husband probably helped me to change my thoughts on running and a trainer at home who was able to slowly convert me from walking to my first 5km race was a bonus! Once I strapped on the heart rate monitor and started to understand how to train myself to be running fit,  I did not look back!

So, 4 years on and I have finished two half-marathons, training for a third and seriously contemplating the challenge of a marathon for my fortieth year.

Back to today. It was not a long race. 11.5km. It was local and didn't start early. It did not require a lot of support apart from kids being looked after and being cheered on at the end - and some TLC for the rest of the day. But it feels good.

There are partners who both train and race for long distance events and mange to juggle family and work life - and I take my hats off to them! However, I would guess that in many IM families there is one who competes and one who supports. Like ours. As I discuss in the page about me, this works well in our family and you respect each others needs and balance as best you can. What I do think is important however, is that the supporter has their own passions and goals that they can have time to spend on. This may be anything, not necessarily related to health and fitness.

Running for me seems to be a good fit. I have my own personal trainer at home, and I now have a better understanding for IM's love of running, triathlons and racing  - I even tried a mini Tri just to have that feeling of bobbing in the water at the start!

I may not have the desire to do an IM triathlon but I now have my own health and fitness goals that we can share together - and just occasionally we can trade places and I can be the competitor for the day!

Still don't think IM quite understands what it's like to support someone through IM but hey, never say never, maybe one day the desire may come for something bigger and more challenging.....

Preparing for the Unexpected

IM packed his bags and headed up North for a Half IM over the weekend. Good preparation leading into Hawaii I was told....also good to practise the bag packing and weighing. (will dedicate other posts to packing lists and the weight issue!)

What I want to focus on now is preparing for the unexpected. Or really, the question of whether you can prepare yourself for something that happens which is out of your control?

Our household had some nasty tummy bug doing the rounds last week and IM stayed as far away as possible. A few days before he felt like he had something but it didn't seem to take hold. Training kept going and the excitement built as it always does in the lead up to a race.

The support crew did not have tickets to this race (can't always be there) but there were other friends attending and we were there in spirit.  In fact, maybe we were not meant to go, as the weekend may have been even less manageable if there were kids around.

In a nutshell, IM came down sick with gastro type bug night before race, attempted to race next day and ended up not finishing as was so ill. Then he proceeded to be stuck in bathroom of hotel room for next 24hrs and only just managed to make it home in bus/plane/car. (really felt for his room mate!)

Still not feeling well three days later, IM has been fairly accepting of the situation and is now just focusing on feeling better and getting back on track with the training plan.

What else can you really do? It is something you cannot prepare for and you cannot dwell on too much.

You can have a healthy diet and lifestyle and take all precautions to not getting sick, and you can pack in your bags all sorts of medication, but really when something like that hits it is just the unluckiness of it that it happens to be on race day.

It reminded us both about our China IM experience - well the fact that we were lucky not to get food poisoning in China when so many did (and many attempted to race or managed to race through it but it was not pretty!).

This was a first time experience of this sort for IM. Was there lessons to be learned?

Maybe he shouldn't have raced and it just made the sickness and dehydration worse but thats a hard decision when you have paid money, made the journey and planned so much for that day.

Maybe a few more medications could have been packed - we have since discovered that Gastro-Stop  is a great one to have in the medical kit (think Imodium is similar).....but actually the one most important thing you need is rehydration and most triathletes will have some sort of hydration drink or powder in their kit - perfect! I think a few satchels of hydralyte is also a must for a travel medical kit.

I did find a good rundown on what to do for diarrhea on a US website which talks about natural remedies and diet  (www.health911.com) and I learned a very useful acronym everyone should remember: BRAT - only eat Banana, Rice, Apple and Toast (lots of other useful stuff on this website!)

Back to the point of this post...

There are a number of things that can happen (not just sickness) that may result in not racing to your full potential or not even making it to race day. You can not be prepared for all scenarios. 

However, what you can do (this is not just for the competitor but his supporters too) is to accept the outcome, try to look at the positives of maybe not such an enjoyable journey and try not to dwell on it too much post-race day.

There will be another race. We all know that the most important thing in life is our health and that of  our families, so we need to remind ourselves of this, be thankful when health returns and all is well again, and just look ahead and plan for the next challenge.

In signing off,  I just have to say, that although we may now be slightly more prepared for the unexpected, I really hope we don't have a repeat performance in Hawaii :-)

Here's to our health!