Building up to the final race this year - Sam
23 October 2008
Well it’s now just ten days out from The Mexico World Cup, the final counting event of 2008!!!
We are still in the desert and training is going well. Once again this morning I did the 16 mile climb out of here on my bike. Not quite as painful as last week as I managed to take in the view of the sun rising over the plains as we climbed so that made me realise how lucky I really am to be here.
I had a rest day on Monday which was nice, we went up into the hills to an old cowboy style village which is famous for its apple pie and cider. So we had to try it and sure enough the apple pie was lovely!
On Sunday I was tired and knew I was coming to the end of a big training week. I had a hard run in the morning which I was pleased with because I achieved my training targets. Then in the afternoon we had a huge swim set. At the start I remember thinking, blimey that’s going to hurt, it was such a long set I really didn’t want to do it. But I got in, swam well considering how tired I felt, and at the end felt so pleased with myself.
It was that swim session that got me thinking about a question I’m asked all the time; “how do you do all the training and stay so motivated”
Well there was one reason right there, the feeling of achieving that challenging set although I did not want to and had felt so tired at the beginning. I got in there and did it the best I could which on this occasion went well. I was so pleased with myself that I felt great for the rest of the evening. It was even more of a reward when Siri came over and said tomorrow is rest day!!!
The only annoying thing about my rest day was although it was a nice day I found it hard to relax. I think I felt guilty about not training but also two of my sponsors informed me that they won’t be able to continue their support. The economic situation in NZ really is taking its toll and none of us are detached from it unfortunately.
But once again Stephen made me realise where you sit affects how you see a situation. I could think ‘oh hell what am I going to do now for money’ or alternatively I can see it as an opportunity to make new connections, a fresh start!
Then in the evening Siri came round for dinner which was a lovely evening and we made plans for next year which really..Really...really excited me! Siri once again reinforced to me what I can achieve and how exciting next year is going to be. I think those sponsors who’ve stayed on board are going to be very happy with the plan Siri’s hatched for me, but more about that in a couple of weeks.
First things first, everything is working towards Mexico. I went to bed Tuesday happy and could not wait to train in the morning even though it was a hard bike to run and that hurt like hell, it was worth it as I know I will feel a lot stronger for it.
The best thing here is our little ranch, it is so homely and cute and there are no distractions. I can just simply train and recover which is so important when you are doing the volume and intensity I am doing at the moment. I’m struggling with the swimming though as the pool water is so cold. The temperature in the days is up in the 90’s but in the evening it is very cold so the water is not holding its temperature. But other than that life is good and I’m just soaking up everything Siri says like a sponge!
I’ll be giving it absolutely everything next Sunday to finish the season on a high. But no expectations; I’m just going out there to have fun, Siri says if I swim, cycle and run to my potential everything else will sort itself out, so that’s my plan I’m just going there to go hard and have fun.
Speak soon,
Sam.
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