Consistency
2018 has been kind to me in lots of ways. None more so than the consistency that good health and being injury free has allowed me to do what I love with no interruptions.
Since 1 Jan I haven't missed a single training session to illness or injury, it makes me beam with happiness to even be able to write that :)
To put that into context in the same period in 2017 I missed 20 sessions, consistency was not the name of the game! Pretty much every week something sidelined me.
That's not to say that I have done sessions when I really shouldn't have. It's much more to do with having the right intensity and volume of sessions from my coach Sophie alongside taking much better care of myself before, during and after training. Nutrition, hydration, rest, massage and tons of mobility work to keep my body moving and feeling good.
In 2017 I had more than my fair share of issues! Namely I was injured (for the previous year also), I managed to hurt my brachial plexus carrying water bottles and then topped the year of with a bout of bronchitis in December!
I am finally feeling like I can put all that in the past and focus entirely on enjoying my training and seeing the improvements that come as a result of being able to just do what I love.
My first race of the year on 6 May at Pitsford is now not far away and I am finally starting to feel ready to race and see what my fitness can deliver in a race situation.
In the past I have been borderline dreading to race, which is pretty sad when I think about feeling like that. However, that's the byproduct of not being healthy enough to work consistently hard in training and getting to start lines, under prepared and with huge amounts of doubt lurking around!
This year I am in no doubt that I am the fittest and healthiest I have ever been and that has massively impacted how I feel about racing. I still can't control the outcome of a race but I definitely feel that I can really show myself how well I race when I have a great lead up to it.
I've also taken steps to improve the things that I felt were really hindering me in races and practice making them strengths in my training. I haven't taken care of all those little details in previous years but now I feel I want to improve everything to see what I am truly capable of.
Since 1 Jan I haven't missed a single training session to illness or injury, it makes me beam with happiness to even be able to write that :)
To put that into context in the same period in 2017 I missed 20 sessions, consistency was not the name of the game! Pretty much every week something sidelined me.
That's not to say that I have done sessions when I really shouldn't have. It's much more to do with having the right intensity and volume of sessions from my coach Sophie alongside taking much better care of myself before, during and after training. Nutrition, hydration, rest, massage and tons of mobility work to keep my body moving and feeling good.
In 2017 I had more than my fair share of issues! Namely I was injured (for the previous year also), I managed to hurt my brachial plexus carrying water bottles and then topped the year of with a bout of bronchitis in December!
I am finally feeling like I can put all that in the past and focus entirely on enjoying my training and seeing the improvements that come as a result of being able to just do what I love.
My first race of the year on 6 May at Pitsford is now not far away and I am finally starting to feel ready to race and see what my fitness can deliver in a race situation.
In the past I have been borderline dreading to race, which is pretty sad when I think about feeling like that. However, that's the byproduct of not being healthy enough to work consistently hard in training and getting to start lines, under prepared and with huge amounts of doubt lurking around!
This year I am in no doubt that I am the fittest and healthiest I have ever been and that has massively impacted how I feel about racing. I still can't control the outcome of a race but I definitely feel that I can really show myself how well I race when I have a great lead up to it.
I've also taken steps to improve the things that I felt were really hindering me in races and practice making them strengths in my training. I haven't taken care of all those little details in previous years but now I feel I want to improve everything to see what I am truly capable of.
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