Second installment, this is just as abusive as the first, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, if you're just starting to read this, scroll down to read the earlier missives.

JFT Graham








JFT (Just fucking train)

I have a T-shirt from Animal pak that has the logo “Shut the fuck up and train” that kinda sums it all up, this is not abuse, it’s a simple fact, if you want to train, you train like your life depended on it, every length you swim, every mile you bike and run takes you closer to your dream being realised. Remember, an unfulfilled dream is just mental masturbation. Fuck every thing else, nothing matters other than the session, no bills, no family problems, no office politics, not what you’re going to eat, no Tesco shopping, no he said/ she said shit, come training with me and start that crap and I’ll bitch slap you like you’re ginger.

Every time you train, mentally light that internal fuse that ignites the fire storm inside, have you ever seen Thermite burn, become an animal, you’re not doing this to impress any one, so fuck ‘em, if they come out with the usual shit “It’s not good for you” ask them if they’ve looked in the mirror lately cos it’s usually said by a lardy cunt, or the classic “Don’t you think your doing too much” ask them what their experience of doing an Ironman is, if they’ve never done one repeat these words “BITE ME”, accept experience not thoughts, keep the focus going no matter what, when the internal critic starts up with all the negative crap, mentally bite it in the face and laugh out loud. If you have no control over any thing else, you control your training!. Accept nothing but your best, every session is your last one, so enjoy it.

There will be times when you push yourself so hard that you dump your last meal all over the bars of your turbo trainer or into the gutter at the end of the swim lane, when your head hurts and your lungs burn, when you run so hard you have sparkly bits in front of your eyes or your ears ring from oxygen debt so that the people talking to you sound like they are talking in a fucking tunnel, you have to micro-pore tape your nipples cos they’re bleeding, when you have to come down the stairs backward cos you quads are jelly, when you’ve been in the saddle so long there is no feeling in your genitals, remember I FEEL THAT SHIT TOO.

Find out what fires you up, for me it certain music, memories of going over the finish line, things that piss me off, people that I feel resentful to or hate, some things that are to dark to print. Some are really emotional, like how those who support me put themselves out for me, that shit really brings a lump to my throat. I gather that energy up and throw it on the fire, Burn! mother fucker Burn!. Energy is energy, use it constructively to take you closer to your dream.

Get you self a coach, someone who knows what it’s about and won’t take your shit, I guarantee you will improve beyond your wildest dreams. A coach can look at what you’re doing from a different angle and spot things you can’t, best thing I ever did was to get a coach, solid training.

When Daley Thompson was asked why he trained 4 times on Christmas Day, his answer was a simple one, ‘Cos my rivals only trained 3 times’. Do you understand yet? This is it your one shot at immortality, don’t fuck it up. You know that you can train harder, so you do. There are no limits to how much you can do, the only limiter is you. You will force yourself to do that last 400mts swim interval or the last mile of a run/bike, to the best of your abilities, no-one else. This is your commitment to greatness and I want you to succeed. When you finish a hard session, make sure that everyone who was training with you knows it. You want everyone leaving there to be afraid to train with you.” Fuck that, I ain't training with G4, he pushes all the fucking time”. I love to hear those words.Training hard does not mean running a marathon every session or riding a century every time you go out. Just because you train like an Animal doesn't mean you should destroy yourself. Train hard, work till you get the results you require, then stop. Recovery is your friend, if you’re recovering do it with focus. I have had loads of people asking me how do you get used to doing six hour rides, it’s simple, get on your bike and ride away from your house for 3 hours , turn round and ride back. You ride for six fucking hours, there’s no short cuts, endurance is endurance is endurance.

How do you know it’s going well? Look inside, be honest, you know the truth, Coach Troy came out with a good one “Remember you don’t cheat me you only cheat yourself” that one really hits home, when I want to back off, those words ring in my ears. When people that know me tell me I’m looking a little gaunt, that’s good, it means that I am coming down to race weight , that’s another thing, instead of paying thousands of pounds to lighten you road bike, drop some fucking lard, works out a lot cheaper.
How do you know when you’ve done too much, if you hear the words “ Oh, he’s coming round now” back off a bit, another clue is, piss should not be brown and burn when you pass it and finally you should not be shitting blood. It’s OK to throw up, but not pass out.

‘Being your best’ has fuck all to do with beating anyone or being faster than so and so, it’s about looking inside and knowing that you gave that session your best shot, whether it was a hard session or a recovery one, know that it was the best you could do. Don’t let the Ego get in the way, I remember coming back off a 70 mile bike, after giving it my all, warming down over the last mile, when some 10 year old on a BMX says “ wanna race, mate? “ I gave him my best Paddington Bear hard stare and replied “ Piss off, before I push you off.”, patience is one of my strong points along with eloquence.

Do not mistake arrogance for confidence, we have confidence that borders on arrogance, nobody likes a dick, even a big one. It only takes one miss directed out burst to turn every one against you, learn to become humble with those that support and train with you, always thank people for training/racing with you, even if they are wankers. The fire that burns inside is yours, don’t externalise it, don’t waste it, harness it for that next training session. One other thing, always thank marshals and volunteers, if it wasn’t for them you couldn’t race, they do this for free. Learn humility, learn to grow, do some marshalling,