Show up

Show up.

It sounds easy.

But it isn’t.

Especially when days are hard.

Show up.

For others.

For your goals.

For yourself.

90% of a successful life is showing up.

Not when times are good.

But when they’re bad.

When you don’t want to be there.

When your mind is telling you to take a break.

When you’d rather sit in your bed watching Netflix than do the thing.

This journey has had several days like that.

Days where I’m tired.

Sore.

Exhausted.

Don’t want to do anything.

Yet I continue to push on.

Continue to show up.

Know that if I show up, even if the workout will suck, at least I will have done it.

Since the start of the year I’ve only missed 2 workouts.

One because the pool was closed on March break, even though I rode my bike that day.

The other because I went to watch Liverpool play Fulham in London.

That’s it.

Every other day I’ve been there.

On good days.

And bad ones.

Even the ones where you want to curl up in a ball and not speak to anyone.

Doesn’t mean it’s been easy.

It’s been hard.

Really hard.

But I keep doing it.

I keep showing up.

I remember Rafael Nadal saying in a press conference years ago.

Someone asked him why are you great?

It’s because he shows up.

Even when it sucks.

He said the days when he doesn’t want to practice are the moments when he’s really tested.

Especially when he’s injured.

When his body is telling him to shut down.

That’s when his mental capabilities are really stretched.

He understands the need to keep showing up.

Keep having a positive attitude.

Putting out your best effort, even when it sucks.

This is what all the great athletes have talked about my whole life.

Nadal.

Kobe.

Lebron.

Jordan.

Brady.

Tiger.

The work.

The practice.

The grind.

Being consistent.

Showing up day in, day out.

No matter the success.

Showing up to work.

Tim Grover, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s trainer, talked about it in his book ‘Relentless.’

These guys were built different.

Only because they never stopped working.

Never stopped improving.

Even when they were at the peak and won everything, they still showed up to work.

Even when they were at their lowest and didn’t want to, they still showed up to work.

This journey has been that for me.

A test of endurance.

A test of discipline.

A test of consistency.

Can you keep showing up, even when you don’t want to?

So far I’ve done ok.

But I know I need to keep it up.

I’m only a few months away now.

This is when the workouts will really ramp up.

This weekend was the beginning.

2.5 hour bike ride on Friday.

2300m swim and 1.5 hr bike on Saturday.

Hour 45 minute run on Sunday.

This will only increase till race day.

I’m hitting the second half of this journey.

When I’ll really be tested.

When I’ll be doing 4-5 hour bike rides and 2-3 hour runs on the same day.

That’s when my consistency will really be tested.

Can I keep showing up, even through that?

Yes.

Of course.

Even though I know it will be hard, it doesn’t matter.

I will be there.

Showing up.

Again and again.

I’ve been doing that my whole life and look how far it’s gotten me.

I’m not about to stop now.

LFG!‍

This week in training - (Follow me on Strava here):

Swimming - 4.3k - 1 x 2000, 1 x 2300m. Two swims this week. One was shorter than I liked as the pool wasn’t open for as long. Pretty consistent on long distances at around 2:00/100m but did my first time trial in a few months. Really happy with my times. 7:05/400m and 3:27/200m. Shows that the consistency is paying off and I’m definitely getting faster in the pool, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Biking - 134k - another 100k bike week. Happy with the progress, especially with my VO2 max workout. Did a few hills too and pushing hard above 200W for a few minutes. Not outside yet but getting there.

Running - 25.3 km - solid run week. Good zone 2 pace on the long run but did it indoors. Need to remind myself to keep it slow even though I know I can go faster. Less than 2 weeks away now for the marathon, gonna be an awesome day.

Notes from Week 15 of training:

• Back into the routine this week, although a few hiccups with scheduling because of easter weekend. All good though, happy with the progress and ramping back up. Apologies for the delay in releasing this a day late as we had family from Ottawa visiting us this weekend and family commitments so Sunday was washed.
• Nutrition was decent this week. Still not optimal but definitely getting there. No issues with any of the workouts and stomach getting used to it.
• Swimming was good this week. Sad I didn’t get my full 3k workout in on the weekend because of easter, but got to do a time trial for the first time in a while and super happy with the results. Shows I’m definitely getting faster in the pool and know this will be good for race day.
• The bike is still going well but curious to see how this translates once I get outside.
• Another good run week. Good zone 2 runs throughout. Speed is still not where I want to be considering my HR but keeping it zone 2. Test will be to do that on marathon day when my body will be telling me to go faster.
• Watched Black bag (good spy thriller), Thank you for smoking (meh), All my life (good sappy tearjerker), All About my mother (meh), and Interstellar (still epic). Also finished the Agency (good spy show). Seth Rogen’s the Studio continues to be hilarious.
• Feeling good this week. Progress has been slow and steady but now seeing it, especially in the pool where I thought I was plateauing for so long. Will be trying to get outside this week on the bike and a bit nervous about that, but that comes with the territory. Excited for another big week ahead before we taper down in preparation for the marathon.

‍