My first day

Today in the gym as I was cooling down (lying on the floor...) my thoughts went back a few years, 14 in fact, to the day I went from a kid attending swimming "lessons" to a kid going to swim training.

At the time it was a big jump. I had always been terrified of competitions, this in fact didn't change for quite a few years, so the thought of starting to race was a bit scary. In fact when the coach asked me after the Saturday morning "widths" swim lesson group if I wanted to make the jump up to competition "lengths" training I said no ... it was only after I had showered and changed that my mum encouraged me to change my mind. As I went to find the coach he was driving out of the parking lot and I had to (this remains a vivid memory) run after his car and hit my hand against the rear window to get his attention.

In hindsight risking my little life in order to tell my coach I had changed my mind might not have been the best idea, but as most 8 year olds I still didn't understand the concept of waiting another 3 days to tell him at the next swimming lesson ... or the idea of phonecalls.

Anyway ... after telling him I now wanted to be a swimmer I made my way home for breakfast, chest puffed out.

Later that morning in a conversation I regard as being completely fair and one a Dad was entitled to have with his son, my dad very kindly and discreetly reminded me that now that I was going to become a "swimmer" maybe I should lay off the cake a bit (I was in fact quite the chubby child). This might seem a bit mean but he was right, if I wanted to become a swimmer I couldn't be chowing down on cookies and chocolate all the time - I had to become an athlete.

The concept of training was still completely unknown to me so I went outside and ran around the garden. Twice. Now our garden isn't tiny but it also isn't huge, I'm talking 200m around at most. So there I was, 400m into my training, standing in front of the mirror inspecting my stomach - as if to be suddenly noticing the instant appearance of a 6 pack.

Little did I know it would take a further 13 years before that 6 pack would fully emerge, but there I was, hoping to see results.

Of course I didn't so that afternoon I convinced my dad to take me on yet another regular weekend swimming pool trip. There I stood in the reception of the Westhill swimming pool marvelling at all the swim accessories on the wall, swim accessories that "real" swimmers wore. And since "real" swimmers were lean and muscley I of course presumed that by buying some of them I too would become lean and muscley. So there I went, into the changing rooms, armed with my brand new pair of goggles and ... wait for it ... a nose clip. I still to this day don't know why I associated the nose clip with swimming prowess but there you have it.

Unfortunately neither the 500m I swam that day nor the nose clip seemed to make too much of a difference, and I guess therein started my since lifelong journey into the discovery of training and the human body.

It is funny to look back at myself as an 8 year old and to think of how little I knew back then, both about training and myself, but then I also can laugh reminding myself of how little I still know about myself, 14 years later.

The lesson I learned that day at the pool was that things take time. No matter how much you want it nothing will come after a few laps around the garden or a few hundred meters in the fun pool. More importantly I learned that no matter what you buy ... even if it is a nose clip, nothing can replace hard work and personal sacrifice. You have to be the one out there training, the nose clip's not going to do it for you.

Mike

Race 1 - done.

First outing of the year today in Canada with the Bazan Bay 5km run on Vancouver Island.

Went really well, the field was and always seems to be super strong at this race and putting myself up against top runners is the best way to gauge improvement and ensure I keep getting faster. It's been a month now since I started working with my new run coach and I've been working hard on the track and in workouts across the board, so though 4 weeks is nothing in athlete terms it is still exciting to head out and run fast this early into the season. I crossed the line in 16.33 and even went through the 3km 10 seconds faster than my previous 3km PB I set last year, I started strong and though my pace fell off after the first few km's I was still running faster than ever before. The last km was tough but I held on to finish as the last male not to be chicked by ITU superstar Paula Findlay, that is a victory right there - she is quick.

I'm over in Victoria now for 2 weeks to get in some focussed heavy training before my family arrives for a visit on the 19th from Scotland. Next race is another 5km in 3 weeks time, can't wait.

Firmly back into the swing of things,

Mike

ps. Some pictures below taken by superstar photographer and girlfriend Nicole Akeroyd

Getting ready

My Akeroyd family support crew
Practicing their cheers
Possibly the coolest person to ever spectate a 5km
Pre race
Start line

Slacking

It is very VERY difficult to do multiple things at the highest level.

To be truly great at anything requires 100% complete attention. Usually this is at the behest of other responsibilities or commitments. It has become clear to me however that training at full intensity means the downfall of one of my most important and serious activities ... BLOGGING.

Blogging over the past 3 years for me has often been a crutch when I am juggling too many things or not at full steam in training for whatever reason. It can be a great method to vent or even just pull yourself up a bit with some positive writing. In 2008 and 2009 I was just starting in the sport and in hindsight really didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. In 2010 I had a crazy amount of work to juggle with my final year of university and though I was doing my utmost to train at 100% it just didn't happen, more often than not (always the right call) my studies took the place of key sessions. The base load sessions were there just the high level intensity stuff was missed.

Looking at my blogging past therefore you can see the peak in the winter of 2009 and spring of 2010, highlighting the time of most distraction. I am not saying those who blog more are more distracted, just in my own case it seems as if the more I blog the more I am trying to convince myself of things I am doing that maybe I am missing out on. An online crutch.

Well ... seeing as this is my 3rd blog post of 2011 (a 78% reduction on posts from this time last year) I guess I have been busy - and I have! I am well and truly into the "train to race" part of the winter with all the base miles put away and intensity focus starting to shift into my weekly routine.

I am working with a new run coach here in Vancouver who has taken full control of my run training, Jerry Ziak, the hugely accomplished elite runner, coach and awesome dude.

My first race of the year is next Sunday with a 5km road running race. Looks like most of the Canadian National Triathlon team guys will be racing and though I have no likely chances of being up with them (those of which who run low 15 minute 5kms) but the plan is to run hard and try and I'll be looking for a good time.

This year being full time I genuinely plan to run fast, which in comparison to years past wont be too hard of a bar to hurdle but I am giving it 110. And a big thank you to those who told me to just get my act together and get a serious run program together. Its made a huge difference...but we'll wait and see how that pans out in racing.

Triathlon #1 of the year is in 48 days and I am itching to get going.

Who really wants to read about me though, here are some pictures from this past weekend in Tofino (for my birthday) .... such a nice place:

Triathletes and swimming - the "feel"?

Triathletes as a group seem to struggle with swimming.

Unlike the bike and run elements of triathlon where you can nip out for a quick 10km during lunch or ride on your trainer indoors after dinner while your respective partner sits on the couch and watches TV, swimming is significantly more time consuming.

You can't just "nip out" for a swim. Swimming takes planning. You must find a pool, often find a group to train with, fit that groups training hours, pack your swim bag, drive to the pool, get changed, warm up, FINALLY get into the water, do the session, get showered/dried off, drive back. Definitely not what you would consider an easy process.

When children and work are thrown into the equation swimming is often the first thing to get the axe. Swimming pools have strict lane swimming hours, offering little flexibility to a tight schedule involving a 9-5 job and school runs. But swimming, for literally all triathletes (myself included), is the most important part of training when you look at what you get out of the hours you put in.

Swimming relies on a huge number of things to be done in an effective and powerful manner. This huge number of things is often what puts people off, it can seem awesomely overwhelming. ESPECIALLY when coaches or athletes offering advice seem to refer almost mystically to this thing known as "the feel".

"You just need to get the feel of the water"

"Try and get the feel"

"You'll know when you get the feel"

Ah the glorious feel. Before I start to break it down into simpler terms I must admit my reasons for writing this post. I found the feel today. I've been back in full training mode since early November but today was the day, January 17th, when I got the feel back.

...digressing...

So the feel. What is it? Why does everyone make such a big deal about it? How can I get it?

Well the feel is simply a word used to describe what is essentially a result. It is the result of a number of very important things all swimmers must do in order to get better. None of them more so than the triathlete swimmer. Triathlete swimmers swim less than stand alone swimmers (in general), they also have much busier training schedules given they have to compete in 3 different disciplines, it is of even more importance therefore that triathlete swimmers understand and are not afraid of the "feel" concept. They must embrace it and be willing to go after it, with the feel will come faster times, much more confidence and better races - which in the end of the day is the biggest goal of all.

Swimming is a technical sport. Pulling yourself through the water (without taking waves or fellow athletes into account) is a terribly difficult thing, therefore the more efficient you can be in doing so has a massive effect on performance. The technique of swimming I wont go into (see your coach tomorrow morning on pool deck) but I can say it comprises of a huge number of little things, little puzzle pieces that must all come together.

"Keep your hips up"

"Don't drop you elbows"

"Stretch forward when you enter"

"Don't cross over your centre line"

"High elbowed recovery"

"Don't jerk your head up when you breath"

"BREATHE!"

At least one of these things will have been shouted at you by your swim coach (they are still shouted at me on a regular basis) and they have a tendency of sticking in your head, usually knocking the old pieces of advice out of their way. When thinking about one aspect of technique you will more often than not forget about the others. Not an easy process.

This part of swimming ties directly into the next. Practice.

All those little technical aspects need one thing and one thing alone. Practice. Laps upon laps of practice, continual reminders of what you are doing wrong and embracing the process of improvement. Unfortunately what this requires is plenty of time in the pool, often a struggle. If you can get yourself into the pool regularly, 3 or 4 times a week, even if just for 45 minutes, on a week in/week out regular basis, you WILL see improvement. The things that at one point in time seemed overwhelming will suddenly start happening naturally, your hips wont be dropping as much, your breathing will feel natural, here it comes ... this is the feel.

You won't see it coming. One week you will be swimming up and down, feeling awkward, hitting slow times, over thinking every little bit of your stroke and the next week you get in and just start swimming.

Simple as that. You just jump in and the next thing you know you are 2km into the set and haven't thought about a single technical element ... more importantly your coach is saying "yeh you're looking pretty good this morning".

Your times start to come down, speed is accessed a little easier and there you have it ... the feel is yours.

It is nothing magical nor is it something just reserved for the swimming elite. Everyone can get it, its just a result of working hard, not letting yourself get demoralised and spending consistent time in the pool working hard. Not fast, just hard. Stay focussed and try and let things come to you, if you keep reminding yourself of your points of improvement they will eventually start to happen without the reminders. You will, in short, be pulling yourself through the water a little bit more effectively than before.

With the feel then comes the ability to train harder, the real gold mine. You can start to push yourself without over thinking your stroke, the focus becomes the intensity, where the real gains are made.

My advice would be to focus on getting your stroke sorted, be able to breathe comfortably (and to both sides) and get to a comfortable state where you can swim 2km without feeling awkward and unnatural. Be happy in floating up and down, doing some scull work, some kick and pull. Enjoy the water and the great feeling post swimming when you are exhausted. It's a great thing.

The feel will come to you, just don't build it up in your head or you will never find it.

2011

Ah what a time of year, I definitely love the festive period.

Well I'm back in Canada, beautiful and snowy here and have enjoyed a lot of great family time over the past 7 weeks. Since last week I've been in Whistler at my family home and enjoyed a great new year with my girlfriend and her family.

I have taken a few relaxed weeks training wise, all in or around the 20 hour mark. 30km of running though in 2 days Monday/Tuesday of this week so still making the most of my time.

After a bike/run at the gym this morning and a 3 hour epic snow trek with my parents I headed into Whistler village for a quick bite to eat. I was sitting in one of my favourite places to eat reading the "2010" edition of the Whistler Question magazine and really enjoyed Whistler local and regular columnist Paul Ruiterman's 2010 summary piece.

"...the year started out with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which killed an estimated 230,000 people and from which to this day Haiti has not recovered.

The next month an 8.8 quake hit Chile, but the country seems to have taken it in stride — even though 2010 was not yet done with it.

Meanwhile, here in Whistler, we had a few people over for a visit back in February and March. They came, they partied and they watched a good show — several shows, actually. The whole thing had an ugly start when Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a serious accident, skidding off course doing approximately 140 kilometres an hour. But organizers where able to keep the Games on track and Canada was on its way to bag 14 gold medals.

Meanwhile the world kept turning and North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, pissed with the joint anti-submarine warfare exercises organized by the U.S. and South Korea Navies, decided that this was a good time to sink a South Korean corvette. His navy boys selected the ROKS Cheonan for the honour, striking it with a torpedo fired from a North Korean sub. Later in the year North Korea would shell a South Korean island with the result that the two Koreas are still walking a dangerous tightrope as the new year rolls in.

Further north, Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull blew a hole in European civic flight schedules while a few days later the Deepwater Horizon blew a hole in BP’s public image. Eleven crewmembers where killed that day and the worst ecological disaster in American history was about to unfold.

On April 27 Greece’s sovereign credit rating was downgraded to junk, precipitating the Euro crises that would later envelop Ireland and may still do Portugal and Spain as well.

During the Soccer World Cup in South Africa, played between June 11 and July 11, the world was introduced to the vuvuzela — something I could have done without.

Later on in the year Chile received its second shock of the year when 33 miners got trapped 700 metres underground in a mining accident in San José. The world watched as all 33 were brought back to the surface after surviving underground for a record 69 days.

Finally in November researchers at CERN trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms for a sixth of a second, which, in a world where computers do calculations in nanoseconds, is a long time. The creation of antimatter did not cause a black hole to appear, blowing yet another End of Times prediction out of the water.

Since I did promise some names as well as events at the beginning of this column how about a few from the 2010 Hall of Shame? Try Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods or Conan. Meanwhile, our own Leslie Nielsen, no Hall of Shamer, passed away on Nov. 28.

No, I did not forget. We had some local experiences as well.

To wit: an asphalt plant, paid parking, budget overruns, the WB sale, anti-HST simpletons, old growth cutting, and probably some stuff I missed.

But you know what? Been there, done that and meanwhile another year went down the drain while I wasn’t looking."

Great summary of the past years events. Some terrible natural disasters, the winter Olympics, the summer football World Cup, instability in North Korea, serious financial instability in Europe, the historic trapping of anti-matter at CERN, the rise and fall of many a sports, Hollywood and political star but of course a lot of other great and not so great things happened as well, all the while another year passed us all by.

I hope everyone has a great 2011, I'm loving being out in the snow right now training hard and doing what I love. And lest I forget, my big sister's boyfriend asked her to marry her yesterday ... she said yes, congratulations guys you two are an awesome couple.

Here are some pictures of the last few weeks,

Happy 2011

The river Dee back home in Scotland

Crathes castle very near my parents house back home
My awesome dog Basil!
Taking some pictures out at the Banchory Lodge Hotel in Deeside

The Peterculter Heritage centre
Scottish sunset from my bedroom window
Christmas tree!
Parent's Christmas party
Christmas day
Christmas dinner pictures with little sister
Mum and Dad
Callaghan Valley, BC
-15 snow shoeing!
Morning sunrise at the Callaghan Valley backcountry lodge
Snow shoeing :)
Some beautiful snow meadows in the distance past the trees and across the creek

Nicole and I at Callaghan lake
Black tusk in the distance

Train to stay young

Now the title of this blog post may sound pretty menial as it is pretty widely accepted that training and leading an active and sporty lifestyle is good for overall health, but what I'm referring to is something much cooler and interesting than that.

One of the things I enjoy, as a self confessed science geek, is learning about space. The subjects of astronomy, astrophysics and even particle physics and quantum physics I find fascinating. A lot of people like to tell me these things are boring, and while I agree that the fundamental theory can take a lot of work in order to understand the consequences of these subjects and what they can teach us about the universe is pretty awesome.

Well how about this for an idea - the faster you move, the slower time passes.

This is not just some wikipedia

based fact here, this is Einstein and his monumental theory of relativity. It struck me as I was driving home from swimming this morning when I was recalling a dream I had last week. In it my oldest friend Pete and I had somehow hijacked the International Space Station...I won't continue with the dream but it's safe to say we managed to trash most of it ... but it got me thinking about the Astronauts who pretty much live up there.

They are flying high spinning around at close to 18,000 mph and we are down here on earth moving at a lowly 1,000 mph. According to Einstein then, the boys (and girls) up there should technically be aging slower.

THE PROOF

In 1971 two scientist from the US boarded a plane, with them they carried a very very very precise Atomic clock. Now their buddies in Washington DC also had an atomic clock. Their idea was to travel the world entirely, first in one direction and then in the

other. According to Einstein's theory in one instance the travelling clock should lose time in relation to the geostationary clock in Washington and in the other it should gain.

A very long story short, the experiment worked and the "clock paradox" was for all intense and purposes proven to be valid.

So as for those guys up at the International Space Station you ask? Well as it turns out they are in fact experiencing time at a slower rate to us, so are actually aging slower. The margin? A massive 0.014 seconds a year.

In relation to training then, I figure for all of us guys and girls swimming, biking and running every day, for every second we move faster than everyone else we are in fact delaying the inevitable just that little bit more.