Last weekend we were at the annual triathlon expo, TCR @ Sandown racecourse. Fiona was running the Indoor Time Trial using the CompuTrainer MultiRider system and I acted as MC in the Gatorade theatre. We hosted 5 seminars each day the format of which was a short presentation and then a Q & A with our panel of esteemed guests. The panellists changed with each presentation but among those who took part were Olympic Kayak gold medallist Dr Tim Brabants, Olympic triathletes Alistair Brownlee (2008) and Richard Allen (2000), GB junior triathlete Jonny Brownlee, Sports Psychologist Jeremy Lazarus, Gatorade nutritionist Dr Susan Shirreffs and TTC coaches Jack Maitland and Steve Lumley.
Just about every session was packed out with standing room only in some of the seminars. In future blogs I’ll expand on some of the consistent themes to emerge from the answers the panel gave but one of the most interesting was from Tim Brabants.
When asked about how he prepared mentally & physically to win his gold medal his answer was that he liked to keep everything as simple as possible.
Train hard, eat well, rest well and take care of the things within your control!
So with that in mind here are 3 ways you can make that happen with immediate effect
#1 Train well – You have to have a plan which will progressively take you towards your goal. The on a daily basis make sure you have a goal for every single training session. You should be clear about what it is you want to achieve before you start the workout and stay focussed on that objective until you finish. If you feel as thought you are just going through the motions then you may as well stop
#2 Eat well – wholesomeness (as much natural and as little processed food as you can), variety (to ensure that you get the full range of carbs, protein, fats, vitamins & minerals) and moderation ( a little bit of what you like does no harm. As long as you follow the previous 2 rules 90% of the time then you can drop them for the other 10%)
#3 Rest well – Get plenty of good sleep including regular power naps ( as little as 15 mins per day is enough) but also try to find other ways of relaxing. suggestions including reading, listening to music, stretching & massage
#4 Control – You cannot control the weather so it is a waste of time worrying about it. It’s the same for everyone. You can control how you perform in different weather conditions so you should take the opportunity to practice whenever possible. This may give you an advantage over your competitors. This is just one example but I think you’ll get the idea.
And talking of ideas you may think that these fit into that category. If you do, that’s great but remember….
“There is no such thing as a good idea unless you act upon it!!”
Have fun & stay healthy
