Kona Diaries - Episode 2
Posted by william newbery on Wednesday, August 17, 2016
10 days or so into my prep for Hawaii and things are going well. I have managed to get in a couple of longer 80 mile rides in with confidence boosting runs after them both. The ride/run combo yesterday was done at the hottest part of the day and my Garmin bike computer said the temperature was about 88 degrees. I have no idea how accurate that is but I will put it in the good heat training box.
I tend to do most of my training on my own. Not because I am anti social or a grumpy bugger rather I tend to make decisions on when and what I do based upon how I feel and how long I have available to train. It does however mean I have a lot of time talking to myself and doing some thinking. Sometimes I think about what food I am going to be eating, a lot of the time it is about the athletes I coach and how they are doing and coming up with a masterplan.
Recently I allowed myself to let my mind wander to myself and how I felt. Not just in the run I was doing but also what my mental state towards Hawaii was. Having read previous posts here or social media updates you may know that I like to be in a happy place and that helps motivate me to train and race. Hawaii will be my third Ironman in about 4 months. When I have tried to do more than one Ironman in a season before I have struggled with motivation to train for the second one. The first time was when I did Roth followed by Wales. While I loved the Wales race my performance could and should have been so much better. The second time I tried to double up was when I won the Forestman and was entered in to Challenge Weymouth. I pulled the plug on Weymouth and transferred my entry to the half. I couldn't face doing the training and the race again.
This cycle though is different. I am really looking forward to the training and the race and I think that is the difference. It is the occasion, the history and the experience of Hawaii that is the driving force. I have been told that the race might not be the best race on the circuit and when I think about the day after the race I can imagine my sore feet and my crispy skin.
But I know it will all be worth it.
I tend to do most of my training on my own. Not because I am anti social or a grumpy bugger rather I tend to make decisions on when and what I do based upon how I feel and how long I have available to train. It does however mean I have a lot of time talking to myself and doing some thinking. Sometimes I think about what food I am going to be eating, a lot of the time it is about the athletes I coach and how they are doing and coming up with a masterplan.
Recently I allowed myself to let my mind wander to myself and how I felt. Not just in the run I was doing but also what my mental state towards Hawaii was. Having read previous posts here or social media updates you may know that I like to be in a happy place and that helps motivate me to train and race. Hawaii will be my third Ironman in about 4 months. When I have tried to do more than one Ironman in a season before I have struggled with motivation to train for the second one. The first time was when I did Roth followed by Wales. While I loved the Wales race my performance could and should have been so much better. The second time I tried to double up was when I won the Forestman and was entered in to Challenge Weymouth. I pulled the plug on Weymouth and transferred my entry to the half. I couldn't face doing the training and the race again.
This cycle though is different. I am really looking forward to the training and the race and I think that is the difference. It is the occasion, the history and the experience of Hawaii that is the driving force. I have been told that the race might not be the best race on the circuit and when I think about the day after the race I can imagine my sore feet and my crispy skin.
But I know it will all be worth it.
