Michael Milton's Blog

Michael Milton's Blog - 27 October 2011

The time has come.  I am on the plane on the way to Noosa and the race. My
family is travelling with me which is a nice change from going solo
although, with two kids in tow, I am missing my standard in-flight sleep.

I admit I am a bit nervous about the race on Sunday, mainly because I would
have liked my preparation to be better. Still, I know I have done as much as
I can but I wish my health had allowed me to train more.  I know racing will
hurt a lot but, as an experienced athlete, I have learned not to worry about
things that are out of my control and, three days out, I am quietly resigned
to the pain.  Believe me when I say I am looking forward to crossing that
finish line.

Sitting on the plane I am running through a checklist in my head. Race plan
clear: check.  Nutrition sorted and bagged: check.  Equipment prepared and
ready: check. Bike shoe packed: check (it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve
forgotten my shoe). Aside from the nerves I’m not that stressed. I’m not
going to Noosa to set the world on fire and I think that helps a lot. Sure
the race is important and I want to perform well but this is my first
Olympic distance triathlon and I am only competing against myself.  And this
time there is so much more to look forward to with my family along for the
ride.  It will be great to wander around Noosa with the kids, go to the
beach and have them there when I cross the line.  We’ll also catch up with
some friends and take in the festival events and atmosphere, something I’ve
heard a lot about.

So, I’m hoping the next four days will be mostly fun but, when you pass me
(probably on the run leg if not before) give me a yell and a wave but please
don’t be offended if I don’t respond. I’m bound to be in a world of hurt,,,
but still enjoying the challenge.

Good luck to all of us!

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Michael Milton's Blog - 26 September 2011

Noosa is looming.

I’ve reached the point where I know this is my last real chance to get some solid training in.

You too?  Well, there is still time to make a big difference but we would have to go pretty hard to achieve that. 

I know cramming doesn’t work but I still can’t help but sometimes leave things to the last minute. I wish I could learn from  previous mistakes but now, as I hit my late 30s, I begin to think it will never happen. I’ve had 30 plus years of training: from school teachers rapping me over the knuckles to that feeling of dread as I see question after question I can’t answer in an exam to coaches yelling at me.  And now on to Noosa where it’s becoming increasingly likely that I will have to dig deeper and deeper into the pain reserves to finish a race that I’m not prepared for. Oh why oh why don’t I ever learn?

I have a few excuses tucked away.  I competed in the World Triathlon Championships in Beijing early September and have come off a quiet couple of weeks on the training front. The standard process of ramping up for an event, travelling overseas, building up to a competition  high, coming home, getting sick and crashing really takes it out of me.  Again, I should know better by now!

Still, the World Championships race was a great learning experience for me and a pretty solid result as well. I came fourth overall in my class of one legged athletes which isn’t bad for a rookie.  But the best part of it all was learning that I can improve and working out how.

The swim was solid but everyone else wore a wetsuit so I know I can improve my times. The ride is my strength and I was second in the bike leg and second coming into the second transition. Then the run which was always going to be pretty awful but, by my own awful standards, it was pretty good. I ran my first ever sub 30 minute run time which meant I only lost two places. I have a few ideas about how I can improve my running which include some equipment changes (always the easy way out), losing body fat and getting more k’s in. These three things will all help.

In the meantime I just have to conquer Noosa and my first Olympic distance race. The swim will hurt but it won’t be fatal and the bike will be fine but I have to keep control and not blow myself up.  The run will just plain hurt and I will have to be ready to suffer.

These uncertainties and challenges are exactly what motivates me to keep going: to jump in at the deep end not knowing if I will sink or swim. Sure I’m pretty confident I won’t end up on the bottom but still the doubts linger.

In the end the best way to survive and enjoy the experience is to stop sitting at my desk, get out there and do the hard work now. And, with that, I am off for a swim. How about you?

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Michael Milton's Blog - 25 August 2011

Hello again

Well, the hoped-for ascent out of my health slump hasn’t yet eventuated but I continue to work as hard as I can because I know it will mean less pain on the race weekend.

As a fulltime athlete for more than 20 years, training was always the priority. Now that I am a weekend warrior with a family, it’s often hard to get the balance right.  Training now comes after family, work and health. It’s not number one anymore and I find that shift quite challenging. 

Still, life has an athlete means I have good training habits and high motivation.  I am also lucky to have such a wonderful, supportive wife but there are still times when I have to skip a few planned training sessions.

However, the biggest barrier to getting consistent training continues to be my own health. Energy levels go up and down like a yo-yo and, although I try to manage my load and train to the highest possible level, I regularly go through a savage boom and bust cycle. I start to feel good, my energy levels increase, I get every training session done, my fitness improves... and then BANG! I can’t recover between sessions and I start to miss a few, I have  a few days off, sleep a lot, feel completely exhausted and then I have to start from scratch again.

I think this cycle is pretty common among elite athletes and other successful people who try to achieve too much and push too hard. I know the best way to train is to be consistent from week to week and to stretch the limits slowly but, with so much downtime, I can’t help but make hay while the sun shines.

Apart from good health, the key to training for me is motivation. Getting out of bed early on a cold winter morning in Canberra can be pretty tough so I need some pretty strong forces behind me.  When I first thought seriously about competitive triathlon I found a coach (hi Corey) and a training group (thanks everyone at PTC) straight away.  I need to be accountable to someone because training on your own is very lonely.  I know, I was a skier for a long time and often envied the team sport athletes who trained in a group towards a common goal. 

But even training with a group doesn’t make swimming fun.  I love running and cycling but I have to find a lot of motivation to go to swimming training.  Maybe it all comes from my childhood when my mum would drag me to the pool every morning. She was convinced that swimming would help keep my back straight is a concern for any leg amputee.  I learned to swim well, I’m strong in the pool and my back is straight so perhaps she was right. But I still don’t like swimming.  It’s changing though.  Now I’ve been back in the pool for a while I am starting to feel that glide and easy movement that comes with regular training. It’s what I love so much about being on my bike: that feeling of speed, ease and rhythm.

So I continue to plug away, training when my health is good, the planets align, the kids are happy, work is in check and my wonderful wife says it’s okay.  I’m working towards the World Championships in Beijing and then Noosa.... not always smoothly but I know that persistence is my strength and that doing the hard work now will bring rewards later.

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Michael Milton's Blog - 9 August 2011

This is the second time I have trained for the Noosa Triathlon. My first attempt came to an abrupt halt when I crashed into a garbage truck. More about that later...

First let me tell you a bit about who I am and what I am doing competing in triathlons.

I started skiing (the snow kind) when I was four, got cancer and had my leg amputated when I was nine, got back on snow and, to cut a long story short, went on to compete in five winter Paralympic Games for Australia.  Along the way I also took up speed skiing and still hold the Australian open record at just over 213km per hour.

I’d had enough of skiing and, for a few years so took up competitive cycling and was focussing on gaining selection for the Australian team to compete at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games when cancer struck again, another primary tumour unrelated to the first and this time in my oesophagus.  I was off the bike and back on chemo, had a few weeks of radiotherapy as well and some major surgery. I still made it to Beijing though and finished with two top ten placings.

My journey to Noosa really started in 2010 with a phone call from Mark Smoothy who founded a cancer fundraiser called Smiling for Smiddy. He wanted me to ride in Smiddy’s Challenge, 1600km in eight days from Townsville to Brisbane. I haven’t yet managed to juggle enough appointments to get eight days off to ride the big one but I did do the Middy Smiddy in South East Queensland, a more respectable 560km in three days... but tough enough (that climb up the range to Toowoomba was hard after 190km).  Then Mark asked me to join their team for the Noosa Triathlon.  I’d always wanted to do a triathlon so an invitation was all I needed to start training.  This is where the garbage truck comes in.  It was stationary, I was not... until I hit it. Still no memory of the accident so I can’t give you any details about how stupid I was.  Anyway, I broke a lot of bones, including some in my back, spent a week in hospital and missed out on Noosa.

But now the recovery is done and I have been back in training for a while now. I’ve done a few sprint races and have even managed to qualify for the World Paratri Championships in Beijing (please don’t go looking for the qualification standards as it will make my achievement sound far less impressive). 

Triathlon really suits some of my mental and physical strengths. I often think in a very tactical way and that works in a sport with constant discipline changes. I swam competitively until I was about 15 so I’m strong in the water and I have a lot of experience on the bike.  Unlike all my one-legged competitors, I don’t wear a prosthetic leg and that slows me down so running is definitely my weak leg (boom-boom!) although I have a nice custom carbon pair of crutches though so the gear freak in me is happy. Doing the whole race on one leg means my competitors have a small advantage on the bike and a big advantage on the run but I plan to flog them in transition as they all struggle to get their legs on and off.

I live in beautiful Canberra so training with my coach and the squad has been tough through the winter. I’ve just had an awful couple of weeks with health issues but hope I am on my way out of that and can keep some training consistency through to Beijing in September. Then I’m off to sunny Noosa. Can’t wait. See you there.

And remember... you can’t fail if you keep trying!

Milto

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