Article for my club...

I was recently asked to write a wee article for Tri-Anglia, as a member, to give an insight of training whilst working away...

Training from an Oil Rig.

Coming from a bit of a cycling background and now about to start my second full season as a triathlon I was asked how I manage to fit training in around working away on a drilling platform for 21 days at a time.
Working away, on a Drilling Platform, seriously impairs the training effect.
Although my workplace has a very good gym facility, the one thing I can't do, is swim, which is without doubt, my weakness. That's quite ironic really, as I'm surrounded by water. But unsurprisingly, given my geographical position of 95 miles NW of Shetlands, it is forbidden!
So, my training plans at work are structured in such a way as to take into account the regular 15+ hour days I do, with the odd late night/ early morning call out. Twenty one days straight, no days off, and if the weather is favourable, I may get off as per schedule. But, more often than not, I'll spend 2, or more extra days out here.
Then, there is the training plan for when I'm home. The luxury here being that I have plenty of disposable time, to indulge my craving for pain training.
The downside of being home is that, while I think I'm free to do as I please, as I have done my trip, others (girlfriend/ child/ friends) think differently, so I'm constantly manipulating. Luckily I have a coach who has managed to learn how to structure a training schedule around all these variables, and still manage to get me going faster and better.
Because of my working hours, my training on the rig is generally kept to an hour on the Watt Bike, with maybe a 20 minute brick, or 60 -75 minutes on the dreadmill. So, 6 – 7 hours per week of short duration, quite intense sessions, which do take their toll, over a 21 day period. Plus other gym work. These are then offset, to a degree, by the home training, where I spend more time on endurance training (bike). Increasing the volume to around 14 hours, for bike and run, with further hours to be spent swimming & in the gym! The long rides can be tedious, especially if raining, or I'm fatigued.
The other constant battle is nutrition. At home I try to maintain a good well balanced diet, but the odd cake does prove too much for my powers of resistance, which have always been suspect in the presence of temptation!
At work, takes temptation to another level! Being on a rig is like being on an 'all inclusive' binge. There is always a good selection of food, good and bad, in the Mess. Particularly bad for me, as the cakes are all laid out near the area for returning your plate, so it's easy (for me) to weaken!
The spare hours I get at work are generally spent trying to piece together a selection of races, that fit around my offshore rota, to give me the much needed targets required to keep motivation high. Failing that, I'm surfing online shops, desperately seeking my next.
Now looking forward to some warmer days, so that once I get home, I can get out for some OWS.