Training for a triathlon - 7 weeks to go

I started my training mid way through January. At the time, I was in no way training for a triathlon – in fact entering a triathlon hadn’t even crossed my mind. Starting an Organic Sports Nutrition company was the catalyst to cleaning up my diet and getting myself fit, which is something I haven’t been in years.

Somewhat innocently, I thought that if I got fit, maybe we could save some money for the company and Joe and I could model the products. Ha! Only now do I realize how much work goes into keeping in shape for that job! Fortunately for your eyes, it’s safe to say I won't be gracing the home page of the Motion Nutrition website anytime soon! Initially the idea with my training schedule was just to improve my base fitness and lose some of the fat which I had managed to amass over the last couple of years not playing competitive sport. Fortunately, my business partner is an ex professional swimmer and has been trained by the best in the business! So I enlisted Joe’s help in writing a program that would enable me to reach these goals. I had high expectations. Expectations which were met with a cool warning from Joe: “This training is going to hurt before it becomes enjoyable. Are you ready to commit?” 12 weeks later, training 7-10 times a week, I can confirm he was right. At first, it sucked. With no certainty of what the next session would be (anything from Swimming, Sprint Sessions, Weights Training, Circuits, or Climbing to a good old fashioned jog!), my body was in for a shock. The first 3 weeks were agonizing, I had gone from no training in 2 months to training 9 times a week. My understanding for the abbreviation DOMS was taken to a whole new level… “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, get used to it.” Cheers Joe. Thank God for the BCAAs - anything that can help with muscle repair at this stage! 9 weeks into the program and that’s when things changed! A switch in the goal resulted in a change in the program. A switch I, again, was not prepared for. I wasn’t familiar with HIIT, endurance and high rep weight training! The BCAAs weren’t so important now, but I just could not wait for the recovery shakes at the end of the sessions. My legs constantly feeling like jelly, I actually fell into the bike after doing 20 minutes of a spin bike/rowing complex! Swimming is something I did not think I could grow to enjoy. Wrong! There is something liberating about getting up at 6AM and swimming in a heated outdoor pool in mid February! Now, I won’t say this made me good at it – we have been swimming on the regular for 4-5 weeks now and I still can’t swim 1000m without stopping. This is a problem as I have to do 1500m at sea in July! The benefit of having an ex pro swimmer coaching you is totally lost in the pool as the only time I see Joe is when he overtakes me or when I’m catching my breath and he pushes off the wall! So where am I today? I am still a long way off posting a good time in the triathlon events or even completing the swim without stopping… but I haven’t been ill in 4 months! Totally unheard of in London. I have been training in the morning and evening most days while pulling 12 hour shifts in the office, and despited all this my energy levels are through the roof! My mind is clearer too and oh, yes, I’ve lost a bunch of weight. Sure, there are down sides to trying to get sustainably fit and healthy while running a new business… My social life seems to have temporarily disappeared and I haven’t been on a date since November! But I’m feeling better than ever and ready to take on the world, getting people in Motion, one healthy soul at a time. Charlie. P.S. Yikes, 7 weeks to go before my first triathlon!!!