All the registration, gear collection and debriefing has been done. Got a couple of small sessions in yesterday and today. Not feeling great, but I'm not too worried. After having coached top level swimmers for a decade or so, I've seen swimmers train bad the day before they go out and race their best. Even a bad warmup doesn't mean much. In fact, often a bad warmup will end up in a great performance. As long as you don't talk yourself out it.

The first WOD looks good. I don't think each exercise will impact in the on the next one, so I'll be taking it out pretty hard. I've eaten more carbs today (had some berry pie from Wholefoods) plus some sushi for dinner!

It's been a good lead up so far. The heat isn't too bad, Though it's supposed to be getting hotter. The thing with the heat is to make sure you allow for it. Working out in the heat for me means about a 10-15% HR increase. So as long as I don't redline it early on, it should be fine.

Sleep has been an issue. Haven't been able to sleep before midnight and last night it was about 2am before I got to sleep. I'm up around 6:30am but I'm not feeling too tired so it's not concerning me much.

Just a quick summary of my supplements. After Masters qualifiers I went off all supps for about 5 weeks (including coffee). So 6 weeks out I went in beta-alanine, creatine and magnesium. Beta-alanine takes about 6 weeks to build up, so you need to get that started early. Creatine is similar. Magnesium seems to help with my recovery. I also take BCAA's all the time (Scivation Extend). I just sip them all day. I also use Whey after my sessions and if I can't get a meal in within 3 hours.

My weight has held pretty good the last 12 weeks. Last two DEXA's I was at 8% body fat. And the last 5 weeks I put in nearly 1kg muscle. I have gone as low as 6.5% fat, but I was nearly 5kg of less muscle. For that I need to eat 1800C/day and I feel terrible. Now I've been eating about 2300-2500C and feel good. I weigh about 84kg and am about 175cm.

You need to find your own optimum weight. If you try and go lower your body resists and it's tough. Sure it's nice to have 2kg less fat, but not at the expense of poor training and reduced muscle mass. Eat about 2g/kg BW of protein per day and lots of vegies! That's it.... Nothing too tricky.

Going to try and head off to sleep now... We have to be there at 7am even though my first WOD is at 12:30. It's going to be a long day....

This is my first blog back since the Masters Qualifers. That was 76 days ago!

It's been a very busy time. For the last 11 weeks my weekly schedule has been 4 days a week leave the house at 4:45am and return home at 8:30pm. The other 3 days I leave at 6:30am and return home at 7pm.

No days off! Not one. I did have two days of competition in there - which just means I compete until 3 or 4pm then head back to the shed until about 7pm.

That isn't all work though. I have breakfast, lunch and dinner at the shed. I trained every day (except two). And once a week I go to a movie and get a massage. It's normally a Thursday or Friday and I think of that as my weekend.

Ive talked earlier in this blog about people whose goals far outreach their commitment. Commitment means no excuses. If you have excuses, then you may well be dedicated, but you're definitely not committed! If you think your goal is worthy enough...then commit to it.

So if you to are a busy person, trying to fit in heavy training, then consider these points:

• You (just about) always have time to exercise. You just have to make it a priority. I sacrificed my social life (which wasn't that hard), and didn't see a lot of my family. The kids are grown up so they don't miss me anyway. If you don't have time to train, then that's most likely a deliberate choice you have made.
• You can train every day (as long as you program well). For me the biggest thing was getting around 7.5 hours sleep a night. I decided at the start I would rather work 7 day weeks and get to bed by 9:30 than work 5 days a week and have to work until 9 or 10. I have two jobs that are quite flexible in regards to when the work gets done. So I'm lucky there. If you're not getting in at least 7.5 hours sleep then don't train every day!
• If you stress about things, then you will need more rest days. I've worked very hard to reduce my stressors. For example, we sold our house so we wouldn't have to live week to week. And also so I wouldn't have to worry about paying for the trip to the States.
• You need stay on top of your recovery - nutrition and mobility were my big improvements here. I ate a lot of fresh salads and lean meats. And I mobilised every day for at least 30mins. No takeaways, no crap, no alcohol... If you eat badly then you'll need more rest days. I also got a massage every week. Not a relaxing one...a meaningful one.
• Know your body. I broke down after 8 weeks. I got a slight flu, my back got sore and I wasn't motivated to train. Immediately I pulled back training and worked harder on my recovery. It took two weeks to feel good again. I'll speak more on this later, because I think it's ok to go into this "over-reaching' phase in your training. That is, it was a deliberate state I wanted to get to. I didn't want to get sick - but your risk of sickness goes up when you're overtraining. As long as you can back off and recover, I think you can get some excellent adaptations.

So that's a quick summary to where I am now. If I can I'll put in my training program for the last 11 weeks. Next blog I'll cover more of that. And my diet. And my supps.

So if you're good and you want to get better, then you need to do something extra. Take a look at your life and see what you can cut out (or put in) to give you more time and reduce stress. And put that time to good use! And go for it.