Blog
Day 14 – Livigno
Day Fourteen: 21/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 74bpm
Blood Saturation: 94
Active recovery day today. I went ice karting with determination to beat my brother. Unfortunately, the warmer day had made the circuit extremely bumpy so in the end, it was about how much I was prepared to hurt/damage my body (getting airborne over the bumps) in order to win. Given I’m about half my brother’s weight, I should have been able to beat him however his understanding of how machines react/handle in different situations way exceeds my knowledge of motorsports. My accelerations and top end speeds were much better than his however his handling of the kart was much more impressive than mine. I just went flat foot out of the corners, often felt out of control sliding around and took the shortest, bumpiest lines in order to gain an advantage…. But all at the price of a seriously bruised buttocks and tailbone. My neck is sore too. I guess I feel that the body heals faster than a damaged ego or losing? I don’t even feel like I won, my brother was a MUCH better driver but I crossed the line first. I’m not proud of all the traits that come with being born to win. I still find myself trying to solve the mystery of what drives an athlete and WHY? It’s very complexed. We will dive deeply into that (was it worth it?) a little later.
Day 13 – Livigno
Day Thirteen: 20/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 83bpm
Blood Saturation: 93
On my 13th day of training here in Livigno I managed to climb 1000m of elevation – I’m quite satisfied with my climbing fitness. I woke up with blisters on my heels which means tomorrow’s climbing will be super painful, even with compeed plasters. Choosing the correct socks is super important – as well as making sure your boots and crampons are always super tight. Climbing crazy steep sections in the snow (with crampons) means you need to have a lot of ankle strength; my ankles seem to be holding up well. Apart from having super sore muscles, I feel most fatigue in my lower back and hip flexors – these will strengthen during my next (last) few weeks of preparation.
Day 12 – Livigno
Day Twelve: 19/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 80bpm
Blood Saturation: 93
Back at it! Straight up the mountain. 500m vertical elevation, burning quad and calf muscles. Today I found myself crying a lot, mourning and letting out my emotion on the mountain. My anger from yesterday had turned into pure sadness. Sadness realising I’ll never be able to have those long chats with my friend again. Sadness that his wife will need to carry so much weight and sadness that the boys have lost an amazing father. I was just sad.
The snow was fresh and soft near the top so as I took a step, I would just slide back to where I was. The crampons wouldn’t grip on the steep soft powder snow. Hard work, my heart rate was above 180 hiking up the steep slopes. On the way back down the heart rate drops dramatically however the load on the lower back, knees and leg muscles is very intense. The slopes are so steep that I need to balance leaning back in the right position and get the weight of my step just firm enough to lock me into the snow, ready to safely take my next step. Descending is a constant load on the body.
Day 11 – Livigno
Day Eleven: 18/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 78bpm
Blood Saturation: 92
A day of mourning. Today I lost one of my closest friends (hit while out cycling), a guy who was one of a kind. A dedicated family man, committed husband, son and the absolute best Dad to two young talented boys, who are becoming amazing young men. My day has been very tough, helping the family through the first 24hrs however possible; booking drivers and flights to bring the family together as soon as possible. I spent the afternoon angry with the situation, it’s not fair etc etc… Why do we lose the good ones, why should such a beautiful family lose such a wonderful kind hearted and generous man so soon.
Day 10 – Livigno
Day Ten: 17/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 75bpm
Blood Saturation: 92
Terrible sleep! As you can see by my ridiculously high heart rate, I’m not recovering very well. My coach has demanded I take a full day off, serious rest and recovery!
I watched a bit of Netflix, made a few phone calls and caught up on paying bills and responding to emails etc.
Activity: Stretching