The big Three-Oh!!!

My birthday today, guys and gals...and not just any old birthday but my 30th.

So, how have I celebrated? Well, last night I nailed a pretty good 3,500 yard session in the pool. I know - Rock and, indeed, Roll. As a young whippersnapper I swam pretty seriously (every day and often twice a day) up to a national standard and I'm really enjoying getting into my swimming again. I'm now starting to step up the sessions a little too. I've a list of around 15 hour-long (3500-4000 yard) sets and work my way through those one by one. Some are just standard sets, others are aimed a little more at building good distances - essential for triathlons.

This morning, I was up at 6am and did a 30km cycle on my mountain bike - felt pretty good too. We've a long weekend here in Dubai (it's Islamic New Year) and I'll look to get one circuit session in and one BRICK (transition practice - probably 500m swim along the shore in the sea, run back to starting point - repeated three times - great for getting used to that 'jelly legs' feeling you get when coming out of the swim and heading into the cycle but also a really good cross-train experience) over the course of the three-day weekend.

The point of this is...well?

Firstly, it may be useful info for anyone else at the early stages of training for triathlon. More significantly, I remember when I was swimming competitively just how unmotivated I often was - and how much I tried to avoid morning training.

It's funny that, now 30-years-old, I have more determination, motivation and even competitiveness than I did back then. I can't wait to train this weekend and almost jump out of bed on those early mornings, coz of all the energy I have.

I recently saw a photo on Facebook from my 28th birthday and, from a vanity point of view, two things occurred: 1) I looked older then than now; 2) It looked like some fat kid had eaten Matt! From a non-vain point of view, exercise has brought so much back to my life. I feel younger and better than I have for years, I have tonnes more energy and I just enjoy the variety of things I have to do.

Sure, I can tell you that beers, vodka cranberries, junk food, late nights and some truly embarrassing dancing are all likely to feature over the course of this birthday weekend, but that's not all there is - that's not all I am.

After all, what better way to crack through a hangover than a beach BRICK session?

Matt

On to serious matters…

So, enough of the whimsical notes on trainer shopping and post-workout lunches and on to matters a tad more serious and technical.

Those of you who don't compete in triathlons, Ironman or adventure racing may wonder just how much training we're doing right now; those that do might want to laugh at us for being hideously under-prepared...so I thought I'd share my current schedule with you - probably adds up to around 20 hours a week. 

I have a rough daily plan that I keep to, but it boils down to this each week:

• 3 x weights sessions (chest and pecs, back and traps, triceps and lats...very roughly speaking, with extra abs, glutes and quads thrown in around them)
• 15kms run in one or two sessions
• 1hr swimming (around 3,500 metres) - I'm doing the run and swim just to keep my CV nice and strong. Just two hours per week tho as high heart rate stuff isn't too important for the Adventure Challenge - it's an endurance event and, therefore, about enduring
• 50kms mountain biking in one or two sessions
• 2-3 hours kayaking (group)
• 25kms midweek evening walk on easy terrain (group)
• 6-8 hour hike at the weekend on rougher ground
  

This will be what I stick to right until the main event in a month's time...well, with a few days of very easy stuff just before.

Going slightly against what would usually be expected, while everyone else is carb-ing up, I'm actually still on a very low carb/high protein diet for five days a week with some good, complex carbs added at the weekend. During our training in the desert, I was really aware of how difficult carrying any extra weight at all was, so stripping a couple of kilos in the next couple of weeks will be ideal...I will, however, be getting some high quality carbs (whole grain bread, pasta and rice) into my body a couple of weeks before the event.

Scott and Pete both have the opposite problem as they can be a little lightweight, so they're having to concentrate on putting on a bit of body mass to increase strength - but I'll let them tell you about that themselves.

Apparently, we'll need to be taking on as many as 6,000 to 8,000 calories a day during the comp itself - not sure my body's capable of that anymore unless it involved an all-night free bar!

Nutrition's something we need to look at closely - for during the event in particular. Does anyone out there in the blogosphere have experience of competing in endurance events? Can you receommend the best way to take on enough calories during a race? Would be great to hear - do leave a comment. Also, what do you think of my training regime - is it enough to see me through six days of competition?