The Importance of Rest

"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it."


 John Ruskin

I fortunately or unfortunately did nothing on Sunday.Had a few stomach issues and so could not do my long run .Probably had something I wasn't suppose to eat and just did not feel well on Saturday night with a very sore tummy.

Coincidentally , I read Chrissie Wellington's blog and she put up a piece she had written earlier for 220 Triathlon magazine previously on the The Importance of Rest . It is difficult as I do need to have a few long runs but as the City to surf is not my major race I am not too fussed by the gaps in training especially as I need the time for recovery . All I did was my core exercises.

You don’t know how to rest your body and mind. Unless you can learn to do this you will never be a successful athlete’. Headless? He was right. I was that proverbial chicken.

I am sure those words are as alien and scary to many of you as they were to me. We are creatures of habit, we love routine, some of us are obsessive compulsive perfectionists, who come out in hives at the thought of an easy session, a nap or, heaven forbid, a rest day. But I cannot say this clearly enough. It is not the swim/bike/run sessions that will make you fitter – it is the recovery – the adaptation and regeneration – from the stress caused by those activities. As Lance Armstrong said “Whoever recovers fastest does best.” And it is not just about physical recovery, its mental recovery/relaxation too. That’s why I say that I train 24/7: recovery IS training my body to be the best that it can be. Chrissie Wellington

Chrissie Wellington (Picture from her Website)



On Monday I skipped swimming and did my run in the evening. It was a pretty wet day and it began to rain almost as soon as I started. I didn't get drenched but I was wet all over.It was an hours run and I did just over 11 km.

Tuesday morning was no better with wet and squally conditions. I was late to Nedlands but did my laps .Getting there was tough with the wind .At a point along the river I was pedalling hard but I was not moving at all.That was a wind trainer session for real.

I managed about 42km and it was a slow ride by comparison so I have a long way to go in building strength again . In the evening , I did my usual run training. with Brad .I  have my  "I"pace now which is 4.21 min/km and we had to do a warm up and then run 9 x 400m at I pace with an active recovery in between. Did a total of 21 x 400 laps .After the 3 , 6 and 9  I pace laps we had to do a Plank for 1 minute. It was an enjoyable exercise .Completed 10.5km for the session. Felt pretty good and I like running on the track.It is a lot more comfortable .

I did the whole session with Geoff who was only 2 seconds behind me on the I pace chart. So it was easier to run with him .

Finally whilst on training Chrissie wellingtons top ten tips :10 Tips from the World's Top Female Triathlete
What I did learn this past 2 weeks are that the best laid out plans are changeable and flexibility is critical to a well thought out plan when executed.