Faking It

Today is a day of pretending to do exercise. Well okay, not actually pretending, I am really doing exercise, it is the environment that is artificial.

This morning I was on the Kickr pretending to ride and this afternoon I will be on the AlterG treadmill pretending to run.

This is a strange situation for me considering just a few years ago I was a quite anti indoor training. It all stems from my days as a rower and my hatred of rowing machines. I was never very good on rowing machines and so never had a very good relationship with them. I was always much better on the water in a real boat. Rowing machines don't float is something I was fond of saying.

When I came to triathlon I brought that attitude with me. Why run and ride inside when you can do it outside, if you want to get better at riding get on a bike, are all things I remember saying at least once or twice.

Learning the benefits that good quality training tools can bring has been a gradual process for me. As I have mentioned loads of times before, the Kickr was a revelation for me. A piece of equipment that worked well and brought real benefits. Since then I have been a lot more open minded about using training equipment to help improve the various legs. I still need to have the benefit demonstrated to me, I won't just jump on a bit of exercise equipment because it looks shiny or because it is the latest thing. But if the benefits of that equipment can be explained to me and it makes sense, then I am more than happy to give it a go. The AlterG is a good example of equipment where that benefit has been explained to me, which is why I am more than happy to use it. Being able to work on leg speed without incurring the wear and tear that usually comes with it makes a lot of sense to me.

Should be a good day of fake training.