13 Days

A fortnight minus a day. That's all the time I have till World Championships (June 7th).

The nature of endurance sports is that 'cramming' is completely and utterly ineffectual. It's a shame as I was quite adept at it in my academic career about 1000 years ago...

Alas, most of the "hay is in the barn" by now... at least from a physical perspective. Now, I don't mean to get all "Dr. Phil" here but I will say that I believe the last two weeks is the time when the mental 'hay' goes into the mental 'barn'.

Thus, please enjoy my plan for the final two weeks (it may read a bit like a Code of Conduct or some such formal literature - that is intentional - as I plan to hold myself accountable to this.)

Without further ado, the plan:

- I will do bricks. Bricks are workouts that involve more than one discipline in succession i.e. SWIM - BIKE or BIKE - RUN. I will focus on bike - run. I find these workouts challenging to fit in during the year and I tend to focus on them late. The bricks will train my body and mind for the transition... I will not feel 'worried' or negative in any way when my legs feel crappy for a few minutes after the bike - I will push through knowing it is temporary.

- I will ride big hills (in week 1). The Stanley Park course for World's includes the Prospect Point Hill x4. This hill isn't large or particularly challenging, but I will ride larger ones, more times this week so that on race day I will call that hill my B#*@H!

- I will swim in the open water. I believe my competition will be shocked and chilled to the bone by our cold water - not me. I will be used to it and used to my wetsuit. I will visualize swimming fast (maybe with a knife between my teeth like a stone cold killer.)

                          


- I will feed the machine. These two weeks I will concentrate on being exceptionally hydrated and fueled so that on race day I will have supreme confidence in my engine.

- I will rest. I will sleep as much as life will allow. Rest is key - I screwed this up last year and I will not repeat. This may be the biggest challenge. I will arrive well tapered and fresh - ready to empty the tank.

- I will assess my equipment. Any issues will be dealt with, repaired or replaced leaving no excuses on race day. I don't want to think about my equipment even once on June 7th.

- I will maintain balance in life. My family is no. 1 right now (and always). The easiest way to screw everything up (for us all) is to ignore them and create a stressful home.

So, it's that simple.  If I go 7 for 7 it will be a VERY good sign for the race on June 7th. 

This is my new goal:   7 for 7, let the rest take care of itself.

Thanks for reading.

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