Sat here wondering where to even start
this blog, the last 4 weeks have just been all go and all change and my feet haven’t
really hit the ground yet keeping up with.
So let’s start at the earliest and work forward as it seems
the logical thing to do.
IM very lucky with the opportunities I get and I like to
think I work hard to make sure I promote and support the people that support me
and this in turn often opens up new opportunities, this was the case when super
race bar maker rich from Jersey Pocket put me in touch with Simon de Burgh and
Billy Harriss from www.thesprinttriatloncoach.com
( actually before I go on it’s a good chance to clear up a question many have
asked , Simon and billy h deal with me nutrition and strength and conditioning
work , every pedal stroke on the bike is dictated by matt bottrill and always
will be ) these guys are very passionate about what they do and when I have the
opportunity to get on board I jumped at it, its very important to me to have likeminded
people who are thinking along the same lines looking after me as it makes
everything so much easier so this set up gave me huge confidence straight away
and I was instantly filling out my food diary after a long chat with Simon.
Then it was time to get back in the gym, now it’s a long
time since I was a gym nut and throwing big weights around at 16 stone so I was
feeling like the skinny guy on his first ever day in the gym trying to make
sure I didn’t get the old competitive edge back and want to be straight into
the big weights. I was soon brought back down to earth when billy h managed to
destroy me using technical exercises using body weight and some 2.5kg weights,
but I was happy that the urge to prove myself to the meat heads wasn’t there at
all and I took everything as it was meant to be and it was all about me getting
stronger and faster on the bike and I wasn’t there to show off.
I’m 5 weeks into the gym now and boy is it starting to show.
Core exercises I couldn’t do with my own body weight I’m now adding extra free
weights to whilst keeping good form which I learnt from back in the day is the key,
there was always guys throwing big weights around but the people in really good
shape where always the people who had perfect form, its also showing on the
bike with muscle recruitment and strength.
So back to nutrition, an area that I’ve always thought I could
improve but as I’m like a robot with training and most things I need a very
structured plan to save me going off task, my self-discipline seems to be my
let down when it comes to food choices and a lot of this was down to not
getting the right foods in and not supporting what my body needed forcing it to
go on a caveman style hunt.
It was time to review my 2 week food diary with Simon and as
soon as I opened the drop box stuff he had sent over it was a bleak picture,
veg was somewhere disguised between poor food choices and fruit barely got a
look in but only at that moment was it clear looking at all my intakes that I was
missing a very good chunk of gains from the way I was eating, not only in being
a healthier me but recovering faster , being able to take a harder workload ,
sleeping better ,thinking better the list goes on. A very long chat and a
shopping list later I was going to be set free to try and make my own way all
the while being watched to see how it goes and get little nudges to keep me on
track.
The difference is crazy and what has shown up the most is
with the right mind set and prep its not something that takes hours every day
and actually once you’re on the path you want to make the effort to make sure
your ahead of the game and enjoy the process and the benefits that come with
it, I’m making mistakes sure but I’m learning fast and its just the start and I’m
buzzing to keep getting stronger and leaner and ultimately faster as everything
takes shape, this is coming from a guy who thought it was very odd for a
cyclist to be in the gym and that I could put out my best performances week in
week out with a few Gregg’s a week on board,im not to proud to say I was very
very wrong.
It was finally announced yesterday that Matt has started up
Team Bottrill for this season and what a team it is, I’ve known about it for ages
and managed to keep it quiet and not give in to peoples guesses of what I was
doing this year, so its really exciting now that its all out there and we can
really look forward to what’s to come, I’ve said it many times before I see
matt as a huge part of my racing so to be included in his team with some massively talented riders is a huge
boost and really motivates you to push that little bit more, I don’t want to be
making up the numbers in the team I want to be making a name for myself in the team.
Its going to be very far from easy especially with a little one on the way but I’ve
got great support to push me on keep me focused and now a team of great riders
to battle alongside.
It’s the first time in a very long time I’ve got that total
enjoyment of being on the bike since I first started racing and the first 19 I ever
did when straight after I had the excitement of thinking where can I go from
here and what’s to come.
Last year is sort of a distant memory now and I’ve taking
the negatives from it and addressed them before enjoying the positives which I think
is the best way to move forward stronger.
On another positive note I’m awaiting the delivery of the
new giant trinity tt frame for 2016, it looks a crazy slick bike and I can’t
wait to get it on the road and start seeing what I can do on it, I will be
running the same group set, wheels etc. as last years as A / its very good kit,
and B / I can’t afford to upgrade anything yet.
The main changes will be to the kit I’m wearing, the new
team kit is being made by endura and hopefully il have my skinsuit ready to
wear soon and hopefully get my hands on the giant rivet tt helmet as I think it
will really suit my position, on position I’ve got some 30 degree extensions to
test as I think as I’ve said before my hand position was wrong last year but I dint
have the confidence to change anything.
