Kona Blog
Attempt number seventy six at writing a blog, let’s get it right this time!
Just like a lot of challenges in life, consistency is key to achieving and maintaining goals - something I find easier to practice in sport than in blogging! I do however want to use this forum to document and provide insight into my prep for Kona in October. It’s the first time I’ll be heading to the big Island, so I'm looking to take the opportunity to share any advice and knowledge to people who find themselves in a similar situation. Whether you’re also prepping for Kona, or gearing up for your first ever triathlon - I hope you’ll be able to take away at least one thing from this post.
I'm going to be totally open and transparent - it's important to me that I share the good and bad training days. Progress is never straight forward, rather a big journey of many ups and downs. These challenges can be tricky, but ultimately they shape how you learn, adapt and improve - and ignite determination in the face of unavoidable difficulties and inconveniences. Who wants plain sailing anyways?
The start of 2022 hasn’t exactly gone to plan for me - I’ll put my hand up and say that’s on me. The plan was to be at over 100 CTL by the end of February, ready to begin a prep into Cairns. The reality in the last week of March is that I’m sitting at 77 CTL points. Essentially starting from the beginning again. However you'll see how quickly some consistency and structure can bring this back around. (See photos below, the last week in March versus first week in April)
The biggest struggle mentally and physically after time off is trying to get back to that level of fitness you know you should be operating at. It’s frustrating when you’re swimming slower, or can’t do as many repeats on the bike. This frustration makes it very easy to fall into a cycle of missing a session here or there, cutting your run short because "it’s better than nothing" or skipping pool sessions. However, falling out of good habits is a dangerous thing to do. That one session where everything was going to click again, you've skipped that - and your reconciliation with quality training is delayed further. And so it continues.
After getting my ass kicked into gear from my coach - Tim Ballintine (Koa Sports), speaking to people I trust and watching motivational triathlon videos on YouTube - it quickly became obvious how to fix my training problems. Ironically it's something I know all too well - but hey, sometimes we just need a little reminder. The simple truth is - just be consistent! Tick something off each day, stop thinking about the end goal or how far away it feels, or where your fitness should be - just focus on what you can do to improve each day. Put in place the systems to allow you to train effectively, fit the sessions in, get the green on TrainingPeaks. Everyone sets goals, but little is achieved if you’re not doing what’s required to get there. Adopting consistency each day allows you to reach your goal - that is the key.
So I’m back on the horse. I’ve achieved my goals before, I know what works - and through consistency I’ll be successful in my targets again. This week is an all green training week, 20 hours. Build that base back! For me that's four to five swims a week, four rides (all the elevation), three runs, quality sleep, good diet, sufficient recovery. No excuses necessary and some big points to prove. So if you want to keep up to date, check back in each month, see how I’m doing. I’ll be here documenting it all.