It Was Something That He Said

I would be lying if I said that I have a recurring dream. Well, I’ve had it twice, so I guess I can say it recurred once. I’ll start again…. I once had a dream and it recurred once. No that’s sounds odd now. What about……. I’ve had the same dream twice. Yep, that will do, (a publisher would say I’d need to tighten up this first paragraph a bit).

I’m standing in a crowded room, people are talking loudly, but I can’t hear them. Sam Haughian is standing in front of me but I am the only one who can see him. He can’t be here, he died many years ago. People are trying to talk to me but my ears aren’t picking their words out, but I hear Sam. He just keeps on saying the same seven words to me, over and over.

‘‘Everything is going to be ok, Sim’’

That is the only motivation I ever need.

So a training update now the cyclocross season has begun again. In a word ‘structured’.
Not a word I have ever used before to describe my approach to training. Haphazard, yes. Ineffective, perhaps, ill thought out, certainly. I’ve had coaches before in other sports but a maverick persona has always compelled me to forge a rogue route as far as my training is concerned. I had a reputation for heavy mileage but on reflection this was damaging to my performances.

I recall sharing a hotel room with another runner that I’d never met before the evening of a big race. As I entered the room he said, ‘Hello Mike, nice to meet you, I guess you’ll be going out for another run now.’ He had heard my reputation. So, although I have already done a 10 miler earlier in the day and wasn’t planning on another run, I felt forced to uphold my reputation. So, I did another 5 miles. Pointless and detrimental to the next day’s event. I certainly never listened to my body when it was tired, I always had to go training hard. I didn’t listen.

Now, I’m following my new schedules to the letter or more like to the number. I’ve embraced using watts, such a change for me. When heart monitors came on the scene in the early 90s, I remember hating them. I was attached to one on a South of England Team training camp at Camber Sands once. They wanted to test my lactic threshold and the like. I recall ripping it off after one rep up the sand dunes as it irritated me. I think I irritated the team staff a lot more. I didn’t listen.

Training back then (as well as racing and life in general) was just all about having fun with my friends. The photo at the top is from 2001 and a GB trip to Denver for the Boulder 10km. It was also a training camp as somehow we managed to wangle a week stay after the event. I can’t remember any of the training we did there, but I remember the fun we had. I especially remember a conversation I had with Sam on our last day there. We had been given a pack of restaurant vouchers for three of the local fast-food joints. So, for the whole week we were just alternating between these establishments eating for free two or three times a day. By that last day we were so sick of them all.
‘I’m never eating in one of these places ever again’ I said. ‘’No way I bet you will, Sim’’ Sam replied. Bravado prompted me to brag that I’d never eat in a Wendy’s, McDonalds or Burger King again. We shook on it. Sam would die within a couple of years from that holiday. That conversation is so clear in my head, they were playing The Best of the Beach Boys in that Wendy’s that afternoon. We were there for hours and asked them to play it again when it finished. So how fast were our reps that day? How many miles did we run? Who cares? I remember what matters. That’s why I’ve never eaten in a Wendy’s, McDonalds or Burger King since.

Sam knew how to train, so much better and more focused than me. He was 10 years younger than me but a better racer and he used his talents to greater effect than I did. ‘’Sessions are the key, Sim’’, he once said to me. Of course he was right. I was just obsessed with mileage. I didn’t listen.

Maybe that’s why I am enjoying the new sessions I’ve been set. It’s now the part of my training I enjoy most and everything is based around the main mid-week session.

These workouts ramp up slightly each week with a big difference between pre-season sessions and race season sessions. Obvious really but something I’ve missed in the past. I start these workouts with excitement but also massive apprehension. They are daunting. Can I do this? The first set is usually the toughest and I try and relax into it, despite the high effort. After getting through the first set I get on top of it and push though. Another session done, more progress made and feeling so strong.

So, five cross races in and how are things going this season? To the casual onlooker, it would look pretty good, 5 races 5 wins but that doesn’t show what’s been going wrong behind the scenes! So, I had an idea this season to combine racing cross every weekend with adding a road hill climb season into the mix. They clash you see - cross is from September to January while the hill climb season is September and October. The thought behind this was to help my cyclocross by adding the benefits of the high intensity of short all-out efforts up steep climbs. The first one I tried was a bit of an unmitigated disaster. Technical issues with equipment the day before and right up to just before my start didn’t put me in the correct mindset for the onslaught of a three minute effort up Streatley Hill. I basically went too fast in the first minute (averaging 569w) and that just about did me in. I was then locking into an average output, unable to up it for a good finish.

The next spanner in the works was a painful one. It would also probably be an embarrassing one but I don't get embarrassed. I can always see the funny side to my mishaps. In most cross races they have hurdles to get over. You have to dismount, jump over and then re-mount. I've done this so many times and never have a problem. Until the race at Silverstone, when near the end of the race, with a very slender 20 second lead, I crushed one of my nuts when jumping back on my bike! Obviously, this was unbearably painful but I was on the limit near the end of a race so it just added to huge pain-mix I was already experiencing. 

Seemingly fine after the race, I thought I'd gotten away with it. However, that night it had swelled to about SIX times the size of the other one! So, while the evening should have been spent prepping for the following morning’s hill climb, I was instead having to ice a bloated bollock. Another hill climb scuppered.

 The following weekend I had a cross race on the Saturday and Sunday. Davina was a tad concerned; ‘I don’t think you should be racing with that massive scrotum’ Clearly, I didn’t listen to her. So how did the enlarged appendage fair? Obviously, a similar incident could do some damage, but I had to put that out of my mind and just take the hurdles as usual. Luckily, I had no problem with the hurdles on the Saturday race and the race the following day was hurdle free. The Sunday race was however on a tough course with more climbing than most cross races. 

And so, it proved to be the toughest race so far this season. A cat and mouse battle to the end with a crazy last half lap tussle. A great race, making it 5 wins out of 5 but it destroyed me.
It wasn’t until the following Thursday that I started to feel recovered.

I then had a weekend of two hill climbs planned. Unfortunately, my bulbous family jewel had not returned to normal size. A visit to Wexham Hospital on the Friday involved six people (that's almost a record for one day) inspecting my rotund gonad. I was relieved to be told that it looked like no serious damage had been done and it should return to it's normal state within six weeks if I stopped riding. Of course, I asked how long would it take if I continued riding. ''Longer'' the doctor replied with a fair chunk of disdain. Looks like it’s going to be more than 6 weeks then! She prescribed me some antibiotics and nonchalantly pointed out that a known side effect may cause my achilles tendon to rupture!! Blimey no thank you, will not be taking them.

Now once again I’m exhausted. I feel I need a rest. So surprisingly I listen to my body. Another set of hill climbs binned in lieu of a restful weekend at home. It seems my idea of adding hill climbs to the mix is clearly not meant to be. Logically and mentally switching between disciplines was always going to be difficult.

I was trying to do too much. ‘‘You’re getting old, Sim’’.
I wanted to get out of my comfort zone but actually I should stick to what I'm good at and concentrate on cyclocross. I'd be happy to be known as a cyclocross specialist.

I’ll stick to the original plan, I have the incentive and inspiration still to shine.
OK, ok, I promise I’ll listen more…… and not just to Sam.