Saturday mornings usually involve joining the local bike shop (Cycling Obsession) ride that starts at 6:30am. I had planned a long ride this morning (5hrs+) which would have meant doing about 3 hours extra at the end, but the knee didn't feel great, so I revised the plans and decided the 2 hour ride would be enough.
The Cycling Obsession rides alternate each week between Mt Martha (hilly) and St Kilda (flat & fast). This week it was St Kilda, but because so many of the riders are also doing Ironman the ride was extended to Port Melbourne - an extra 13kms taking the riding distance up to 78km.
The ride out is usually done at a reasonably easy pace of 30kph, it then picks up on the way back with an especially fast section between Brighton and Mordialloc for about 16kms before cruising back to Seaford. On the way out today we were sitting around 35kph, so I figured we probably had a slight tailwind. I was feeling pretty good and was entertaining ideas of trying to push the pace on the way back, but wasn't so keen on doing this if it was going to be a stiff headwind - the strength of the wind usually picks up as the morning progresses. Very fortuitously, the wind changed direction just before we reached Port Melbourne, so we ended up having a tailwind in both directions - this does not happen very often.
The pace back was moderate until Brighton where Beach Rd starts to open up and is much more bike friendly. Four riders from the bunch took off and immediately generated a gap of over 50m. I charged off to bridge the gap hitting 60kph, but in my eagerness I hit a pothole at speed. The force of the pothole bounced my whole body off the bike - I landed safely on the nose of the saddle, but in doing so pushed the angle of the seat down about 10 degrees. This suddenly made the bike very uncomfortable. Usually I sit on the nose when I'm pushing hard for speed, but now this would result in the seat being way too low. So I had to sit further back than usual to maintain the correct saddle height, but the tilt of the seat meant that any position was not very comfortable. I still managed to bridge the gap, but ironically within a kilometre we got stopped at the South Rd lights and the group was re-united again.
Each time we stopped at lights, I tried to wrench my seat back into position. I managed to improve it, but it was still a few degrees out - workable, but not comfortable. The ride through Sandringham and Black Rock is a little hilly, and seeing as I'm supposed to avoid hills, I didn't think this was a good section to take the lead. Once we made it to Beaumaris I could sense that the leaders were starting to tire, so I charged up to the front of the pack. Unfortunately I charged a little too hard and instantly gapped the pack by about 30m. I eased off to let them catch back up and as soon as I sensed them closing in, I took off.
I was riding at my highest sustainable effort and when I glanced down at my speedo I saw 55kph. However I could not sense any difficulty coming from the riders behind. It was a bit of a dent in my ego that my best efforts were not causing the other riders to push hard to keep up, especially when I thought most of the riders were starting to tire. I kept the speed above 40 going up the Mentone Pub hill, but still no puffing and panting from the riders following. Once up the hill I pushed the speed back over 50 and still no evidence that I was causing any pain, so I signaled for the rider behind to take over the lead.
To my shock, the 2 riders behind were both professional riders from the Porsche Drapac Team (I think they were Amir Rusli & Adiq Othman). They must have passed the pack when I made my initial 30m gap, and I never noticed the lead riders when they caught back up. The 2 Porsche Drapac riders both took turns on the front and then fed back into the back of the pack. The actual Cycling Obsession pack was now about a 3rd of the size with lots of riders having dropped off the back and those remaining were mostly on their last legs after giving everything to stay on the wheels of the pro riders.
After reaching Mordialloc, we cruise across to Station St to wait for the other riders to regroup. However today we only waited about 5 minutes, as it was decided that the slower riders would simply be too far behind after such a fast ride. During the easy ride back to Seaford I started chatting with a friend Kevin from Gravity-Zero. He was continuing on to Mornington to take the distance over 100km. It sounded like a good idea, so I decided to join him. The total ride ended up being 113km in 3h20m. We took the extra ride to Mornington relatively easy, but I was still wrecked trying to ride up MorningStar hill and was very glad once I got home.
I haven't ridden with any intensity in nearly 2 months, so I was very pleased to see that I had not lost much of my top end power. My knee seems to have pulled up well, so all in all I think the ride went very well - and it always feels good to go fast.
Saturday 31 December 2011
Saturday 24 December 2011
Looking Better
Even though the Physio ordered rest, the knee felt good after Saturday's ride, so I continued training for the rest of the week.
Sunday morning was a 3 hour ride to Dromana and back containing a few hilly sections (but not really any hill climbing). The planned open water swim on Monday was canceled due to poor water quality, but I got in 2 good swimming sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, both over 3km in distance. Wednesday's session was an open water swim at Half Moon Bay totaling almost 3.5km, including swimming around Cerebus 3 times - the chop was starting to pick up a little towards the end and I finished feeling absolutely exhausted. I also slotted in two 6km runs (Tue & Thu) and an easy, flat 3 hour ride on Wednesday, although it was a head wind all the way back from Port Melbourne.
I had a rest day on Friday before my appointment with the Sports Medicine Doctor and my knee was feeling quite good - certainly much better than a week ago when I last saw the Physio. The Sports Medicine Doctor is Dr Kal Fried, who is also the Sports Doctor for the Melbourne AFL Football Club. He checked over my knee, looked through my MRI, Ultrasound & XRays and assessed my injury as minor. There are 3 phases of tendon injury and I am still in the first phase regarded as inflammation stage. Cortisone injections are not advisable in this stage as they are more likely to worsen the situation (which is good, because I hate injections).
I was given a prescription for Doxycycline & Ibuprofen and also advised to drink lots of green tea. Hill climbing on the bike is still not allowed, but I am free to continue riding on the flat and allowed to extend my running distance as much as I like - assuming I don't feel any pain in the knee, or any other parts of my legs. And naturally I am encouraged to do as much swimming as I can.
He also gave me a few extra stretches to do and keep attempting the single leg squat exercises I was given by the Physio. If the squats cause pain in the knee, I am to immediately stop. But once I am able to do single leg squats pain free, I am allowed to add hill work to the bike and the run - basically it will mean I am recovered.
This morning I went out for a 10km run, unfortunately I hadn't charged my GPS watch, so the battery ran out after 500m. It felt very strange to run without knowing my speed or heart rate, but after a while I fell into a rhythm. With roughly half a kilometre to go I had to stop and walk due to tightness in my ITB. I suppose it is a good sign that other pains are now appearing before my knee hurts, but it is also evidence that it is going to be a difficult task getting my run mileage up.
The Alpine Classic event in late January now looks very unlikely, but my chances of doing the Long Distance triathlon at Geelong in February and Ironman in March have definitely improved - maybe 70/30 now.
Sunday morning was a 3 hour ride to Dromana and back containing a few hilly sections (but not really any hill climbing). The planned open water swim on Monday was canceled due to poor water quality, but I got in 2 good swimming sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, both over 3km in distance. Wednesday's session was an open water swim at Half Moon Bay totaling almost 3.5km, including swimming around Cerebus 3 times - the chop was starting to pick up a little towards the end and I finished feeling absolutely exhausted. I also slotted in two 6km runs (Tue & Thu) and an easy, flat 3 hour ride on Wednesday, although it was a head wind all the way back from Port Melbourne.
I had a rest day on Friday before my appointment with the Sports Medicine Doctor and my knee was feeling quite good - certainly much better than a week ago when I last saw the Physio. The Sports Medicine Doctor is Dr Kal Fried, who is also the Sports Doctor for the Melbourne AFL Football Club. He checked over my knee, looked through my MRI, Ultrasound & XRays and assessed my injury as minor. There are 3 phases of tendon injury and I am still in the first phase regarded as inflammation stage. Cortisone injections are not advisable in this stage as they are more likely to worsen the situation (which is good, because I hate injections).
I was given a prescription for Doxycycline & Ibuprofen and also advised to drink lots of green tea. Hill climbing on the bike is still not allowed, but I am free to continue riding on the flat and allowed to extend my running distance as much as I like - assuming I don't feel any pain in the knee, or any other parts of my legs. And naturally I am encouraged to do as much swimming as I can.
He also gave me a few extra stretches to do and keep attempting the single leg squat exercises I was given by the Physio. If the squats cause pain in the knee, I am to immediately stop. But once I am able to do single leg squats pain free, I am allowed to add hill work to the bike and the run - basically it will mean I am recovered.
This morning I went out for a 10km run, unfortunately I hadn't charged my GPS watch, so the battery ran out after 500m. It felt very strange to run without knowing my speed or heart rate, but after a while I fell into a rhythm. With roughly half a kilometre to go I had to stop and walk due to tightness in my ITB. I suppose it is a good sign that other pains are now appearing before my knee hurts, but it is also evidence that it is going to be a difficult task getting my run mileage up.
The Alpine Classic event in late January now looks very unlikely, but my chances of doing the Long Distance triathlon at Geelong in February and Ironman in March have definitely improved - maybe 70/30 now.
Saturday 17 December 2011
Out of Action
I saw the Physio yesterday, and I've been ordered to take it easy until I see the Sports Medicine Doctor on Friday. The most likely scenario is that I will get a cortisone injection designed to break up the inflammation in the patella tendon and bursa.
Until Friday I am allowed to do as much swimming as I want (which isn't usually much) and short, easy, flat bike rides. This morning I joined the local bike shop ride. In hindsight, this ride was not slow or flat, but I seemed to pull up well.
With the forced break from running and restricted riding, all of my planned events are in doubt. At the moment I would rate myself less than 50% chance of making the start line for Ironman. But maybe the cortisone injection will work wonders, we can only hope.
Until Friday I am allowed to do as much swimming as I want (which isn't usually much) and short, easy, flat bike rides. This morning I joined the local bike shop ride. In hindsight, this ride was not slow or flat, but I seemed to pull up well.
With the forced break from running and restricted riding, all of my planned events are in doubt. At the moment I would rate myself less than 50% chance of making the start line for Ironman. But maybe the cortisone injection will work wonders, we can only hope.
Wednesday 14 December 2011
100 Days till Ironman
Monday started well with a really good run. However my knee has not been improving as I would have liked and I've skipped sessions every day since Monday hoping the rest will help with the recovery.
I saw the Chiropractor tonight and he suggested that I now have Bursitis. The pain has lowered to where the patella tendon attaches to the bone. I see the Physio on Friday, so I'll know then whether or not he agrees with the Chiro's diagnosis.
I've had 3 reasonable weeks of training - lots of swimming, two long rides and my running is now up to 10km. So one easy week now will do me more good than bad. But I'll be extremely frustrated if I cannot get a long ride in this weekend.
There are 100 days till Ironman. Currently I have probably done more swimming than I expected, and my long ride is not too far off target. However I am literally miles behind in my running. I would expect my long runs to be well over 20km and my weekly mileage to be approaching 60km. Instead my last run was 10km and my total distance for the last 8 weeks has been less than 60km.
I have 46 days before the Alpine Classic ride - my participation is still in doubt, and the Long Distance Triathlon at Geelong is two weeks after the Alpine Classic. These two events will be my best gauge for Ironman. If my knee does not come up for the Alpine Classic or I struggle too much or my knee flares up at the Geelong race, I will probably need to pull out of the Ironman.
At the moment my enthusiasm and confidence is very low, but maybe this is just a side affect of not training.
I saw the Chiropractor tonight and he suggested that I now have Bursitis. The pain has lowered to where the patella tendon attaches to the bone. I see the Physio on Friday, so I'll know then whether or not he agrees with the Chiro's diagnosis.
I've had 3 reasonable weeks of training - lots of swimming, two long rides and my running is now up to 10km. So one easy week now will do me more good than bad. But I'll be extremely frustrated if I cannot get a long ride in this weekend.
There are 100 days till Ironman. Currently I have probably done more swimming than I expected, and my long ride is not too far off target. However I am literally miles behind in my running. I would expect my long runs to be well over 20km and my weekly mileage to be approaching 60km. Instead my last run was 10km and my total distance for the last 8 weeks has been less than 60km.
I have 46 days before the Alpine Classic ride - my participation is still in doubt, and the Long Distance Triathlon at Geelong is two weeks after the Alpine Classic. These two events will be my best gauge for Ironman. If my knee does not come up for the Alpine Classic or I struggle too much or my knee flares up at the Geelong race, I will probably need to pull out of the Ironman.
At the moment my enthusiasm and confidence is very low, but maybe this is just a side affect of not training.
Monday 12 December 2011
Finally some improvement
I ended last week with an easy weekend. Saturday was a rest day and Sunday contained an easy 40km ride and swim. But I still managed to clock up over 14 hours, thanks largely to the 5 hour ride on Thursday morning. The long ride covered 138km and even though it was done at an easy pace, I still felt quite fatigued during Friday's run and swim which is why I took Saturday off.
When I woke up this morning the knee was OK (not great, just OK), but I was feeling refreshed after an easy weekend and eager to run. I decided to wear a tight tri-top for my run because I've had problems with loose clothing causing static on the heart rate strap resulting in spikes in the reading. Up til now I've tended to run in the heat of the day to help my body acclimatise, but today I decided to run in the cool of the morning. With my run distance now up to 10km I also increased my warmup and cooldown sections from 1km to 2km.
With all the above factors (fresher, no HR spikes, cooler temps, longer warmup) my pace at a heart rate of 137 increased from 5m55s to 5m25s pace. Continually training at your aerobic ceiling (which for me is a heart rate of 137) should over time result in a faster speed for the same heart rate. Frustratingly, up til now my running pace had not improved, even though I had been doing this type of training for over a month. So I was extremely happy to suddenly experience such a sudden leap of improvement.
When I woke up this morning the knee was OK (not great, just OK), but I was feeling refreshed after an easy weekend and eager to run. I decided to wear a tight tri-top for my run because I've had problems with loose clothing causing static on the heart rate strap resulting in spikes in the reading. Up til now I've tended to run in the heat of the day to help my body acclimatise, but today I decided to run in the cool of the morning. With my run distance now up to 10km I also increased my warmup and cooldown sections from 1km to 2km.
With all the above factors (fresher, no HR spikes, cooler temps, longer warmup) my pace at a heart rate of 137 increased from 5m55s to 5m25s pace. Continually training at your aerobic ceiling (which for me is a heart rate of 137) should over time result in a faster speed for the same heart rate. Frustratingly, up til now my running pace had not improved, even though I had been doing this type of training for over a month. So I was extremely happy to suddenly experience such a sudden leap of improvement.
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Rest day
I ran 8km on Monday, road 78km yesterday morning and swam 2.2km yesterday afternoon. Today's plan was run 9km and do 2 swims, one in the pool and one in the bay. However the knee was not feeling great this morning - it was not that bad, but I could feel it a little which was a bit disappointing. Usually the morning after a ride day it feels good, so I decided to skip today's run and make it a rest day - except for an easy swim in the bay tonight.
Maybe it is weather related, because my knee seems to only play up when the weather is perfect for training. At least I'll enjoy tonight's open water swim.
Fingers crossed, the knee will feel better tomorrow. I'm planning a ride, the length of which will decide upon how good the knee is feeling. If everything goes OK, I might do as much as 130km - roughly 5 hours.
I've made a few alterations to the tri-bike in preparation for Ironman. I have raised the bars about 15mm, added a bottle cage to the handlebar stem and changed the seat from a Profile Design TriStryke to a ProLogo Nago Evo Tri40.
The new seat is not only more comfortable, but its color scheme better matches the bike - which is very important.
Adding the bottle cage to the stem allows me an extra bottle without having to attach bottle cages behind the seat. I should only need 1 extra bottle for Ironman, as there will be plenty of aid stations on the bike course to get new bottles. It also makes it much easier to access the bottle.
Maybe it is weather related, because my knee seems to only play up when the weather is perfect for training. At least I'll enjoy tonight's open water swim.
Fingers crossed, the knee will feel better tomorrow. I'm planning a ride, the length of which will decide upon how good the knee is feeling. If everything goes OK, I might do as much as 130km - roughly 5 hours.
I've made a few alterations to the tri-bike in preparation for Ironman. I have raised the bars about 15mm, added a bottle cage to the handlebar stem and changed the seat from a Profile Design TriStryke to a ProLogo Nago Evo Tri40.The new seat is not only more comfortable, but its color scheme better matches the bike - which is very important.
Monday 5 December 2011
Only 16 weeks left
Time flies and the race date is quickly creeping up. My injuries (knee, back & shoulder) have not healed, but are now in a manageable state. I am almost back to full training, but have to monitor the injuries (especially the knee) very carefully. Anymore setbacks at this stage could put the Ironman in doubt, and you get very little refund back from the very expensive entry fee.
All of my current training is at an aerobic zone, which for me means keeping my heart rate under 137bpm. This is sometimes called the fat-burning zone, as when training at this level, most of your energy is sourced from stored fat instead of glycerin, meaning you do not require as many carbs to keep going. In theory, over time my body will become more efficient working in this zone and I'll get faster for the same effort. Above the aerobic zone is referred to as the anaerobic zone. Training anaerobically will build strength and develop more speed and power, but result in a lot more stress on the body and greatly increase the chance of injury. It was the anaerobic work I did during the Duathlon series that resulted in my knee injury.
I am more or less unrestricted in how much swimming I can do, so I have been trying to swim most days. An easy session is around 1500m and the longer sessions are up to 3km. I need to get comfortable swimming 4km and maybe even do a 5km open water race. The shoulder is always sore when I start the swim, but seems to be behaving itself once I'm warmed up. My recent swims have not included any speedwork, so I have not broken any swim PBs. However I am finding that I am posting reasonable 400m freestyle times without a lot of effort, which is a good sign.
When I ride, I am very aware of my knee. It is not really a soreness, but an awareness that the knee is not 100%. I'm told the next morning is the best indicator of how the knee is holding up to training and my knee is usually at its best the day after a ride. The knee actually feels better when I am riding my Triathlon bike due to the steeper seat angle, but unfortunately my bum is not agreeing with the seat on the tri-bike when I go for long rides, so I'm tending to ride more on the road bike. Hopefully this week I'll get to the bike shop and try some different seats. Last Friday I did a very slow 110km in 4h21m - I felt pretty shattered by the end, and my bum still hurts 3 days later. I'm booked in to do the 200km Alpine Classic ride in January which is only 8 weeks away - so I have a lot of work to do here.
Saturday saw my first run without any walk breaks since the MRI. My knee had become quite sore due to a Christmas party on the Friday night, but it seemed to hold out quite well. Generally my knee feels great when I run (completely pain free, not even an awareness), but usually pulls up a touch sore the next morning. I could feel my knee on Sunday, but it was quite minor, so I am still feeling quite positive. I will run 8km today, 9km on Wednesday and hopefully 10km on Friday. While this progression looks great, I need to get my long run up to around 30km before the Ironman. Chances are I'll be racing very much underdone in regards to the run. To keep my heart rate under 137bpm, I currently need to run at around 5m55s pace - this is very (almost uncomfortably) slow, and hopefully this will improve closer to 5m00s pace before the race. I will be disappointed if I cannot at least run at 5m30s pace (3h51m Marathon).
Overall I am a long way behind where I hoped I'd be at this stage, but if my body holds out, I still believe I can get into condition in time. The last 3 weeks have seen me log good training loads - 9.5, 11.25 & 13.5 hours. Due to the easy level of training this has felt quite easy. At first, all the aerobic training actually loosened up my muscles, but as I've extended the amount of time (in particular the long ride), they have started to stiffen up again. It is the stiffness in my quads, ITB and VMO that pull on my patella tendon causing the inflammation, so I will definitely need to pay close attention to this.
All of my current training is at an aerobic zone, which for me means keeping my heart rate under 137bpm. This is sometimes called the fat-burning zone, as when training at this level, most of your energy is sourced from stored fat instead of glycerin, meaning you do not require as many carbs to keep going. In theory, over time my body will become more efficient working in this zone and I'll get faster for the same effort. Above the aerobic zone is referred to as the anaerobic zone. Training anaerobically will build strength and develop more speed and power, but result in a lot more stress on the body and greatly increase the chance of injury. It was the anaerobic work I did during the Duathlon series that resulted in my knee injury.
I am more or less unrestricted in how much swimming I can do, so I have been trying to swim most days. An easy session is around 1500m and the longer sessions are up to 3km. I need to get comfortable swimming 4km and maybe even do a 5km open water race. The shoulder is always sore when I start the swim, but seems to be behaving itself once I'm warmed up. My recent swims have not included any speedwork, so I have not broken any swim PBs. However I am finding that I am posting reasonable 400m freestyle times without a lot of effort, which is a good sign.
When I ride, I am very aware of my knee. It is not really a soreness, but an awareness that the knee is not 100%. I'm told the next morning is the best indicator of how the knee is holding up to training and my knee is usually at its best the day after a ride. The knee actually feels better when I am riding my Triathlon bike due to the steeper seat angle, but unfortunately my bum is not agreeing with the seat on the tri-bike when I go for long rides, so I'm tending to ride more on the road bike. Hopefully this week I'll get to the bike shop and try some different seats. Last Friday I did a very slow 110km in 4h21m - I felt pretty shattered by the end, and my bum still hurts 3 days later. I'm booked in to do the 200km Alpine Classic ride in January which is only 8 weeks away - so I have a lot of work to do here.
Saturday saw my first run without any walk breaks since the MRI. My knee had become quite sore due to a Christmas party on the Friday night, but it seemed to hold out quite well. Generally my knee feels great when I run (completely pain free, not even an awareness), but usually pulls up a touch sore the next morning. I could feel my knee on Sunday, but it was quite minor, so I am still feeling quite positive. I will run 8km today, 9km on Wednesday and hopefully 10km on Friday. While this progression looks great, I need to get my long run up to around 30km before the Ironman. Chances are I'll be racing very much underdone in regards to the run. To keep my heart rate under 137bpm, I currently need to run at around 5m55s pace - this is very (almost uncomfortably) slow, and hopefully this will improve closer to 5m00s pace before the race. I will be disappointed if I cannot at least run at 5m30s pace (3h51m Marathon).
Overall I am a long way behind where I hoped I'd be at this stage, but if my body holds out, I still believe I can get into condition in time. The last 3 weeks have seen me log good training loads - 9.5, 11.25 & 13.5 hours. Due to the easy level of training this has felt quite easy. At first, all the aerobic training actually loosened up my muscles, but as I've extended the amount of time (in particular the long ride), they have started to stiffen up again. It is the stiffness in my quads, ITB and VMO that pull on my patella tendon causing the inflammation, so I will definitely need to pay close attention to this.
Thursday 1 December 2011
No longer drowning
Swimming has always been by far my weakest leg and it has also been the discipline for which I have always trained the least. So it is not surprising that my swimming ability has remained stagnant whilst I've slowly improved on the bike and run.
However with the frustration of restricted running and cycling due to my knee injury, I have recently spent a lot more time swimming. In fact in the last 17 days I have done 14 swims, 7 bike rides and only 6 walk/run sessions.
For the first time ever my monthly swim mileage (26km) is larger than my run mileage (21km). All of my sessions in November were done at an easy pace while I concentrate on staying in my aerobic zone, so I have not broken any swim PBs. But I definitely feel swimming is becoming easier and I am having no problems backing up swim sessions day after day (ocassionally even 2 sessions in one day)
However with the frustration of restricted running and cycling due to my knee injury, I have recently spent a lot more time swimming. In fact in the last 17 days I have done 14 swims, 7 bike rides and only 6 walk/run sessions.
For the first time ever my monthly swim mileage (26km) is larger than my run mileage (21km). All of my sessions in November were done at an easy pace while I concentrate on staying in my aerobic zone, so I have not broken any swim PBs. But I definitely feel swimming is becoming easier and I am having no problems backing up swim sessions day after day (ocassionally even 2 sessions in one day)
Tuesday 29 November 2011
A Weighting Game
Elaine bought me 'The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing' by Dr Philip Maffetone for my birthday. Not only does he talk about training, but there is also a large section on diet.
Dr Maffetone's main diet theme is to avoid processed carbohydrates. His advice is that you should not buy food from any of the aisles in supermarket because all that food is not good for you. In particular he singles out Bread, Cereal, Milk, Pasta, White Rice, Desserts and Soft drink. He also does not like fruit juice, potatoes and corn (high GI and too many starches). Instead he wants you to have foods high in protein and dietary fats. You should buy as many different colored vegetables as possible, eggs, nuts, avocados, bacon, cheese, sour cream, meat and fish (wine, coffee & tea).
In fact he attributes nearly every unhealthy symptom (even dental decay) to an overload of processed carbohydrates. He advises a two week test where you try to avoid all carbohydrates to allow your insulin levels to stabilise and your body to adjust. During this time all your unwanted symptoms such as intestinal distress, bloating, irregular bowel movements, insomnia, fatigue should disappear and weight loss also usually occurs. After the 2 weeks, you can slowly start re-introducing carbohydrates and take note of which foods cause symptoms to reappear.
With only 2 weeks before Elaine's work Christmas Party, she was very keen to start the 2 week test straight away. We are now just over a week into the test and Elaine is feeling much better and has lost 2 kilograms. Unfortunately, I discovered this morning that I have lost 3 kilograms, and I didn't have any extra weight that I could afford to lose - I'm now down to 75.9kg (190cm tall). So in the interest of good health I just had 2 Tim Tams and am currently drinking a beer.
Dr Maffetone's main diet theme is to avoid processed carbohydrates. His advice is that you should not buy food from any of the aisles in supermarket because all that food is not good for you. In particular he singles out Bread, Cereal, Milk, Pasta, White Rice, Desserts and Soft drink. He also does not like fruit juice, potatoes and corn (high GI and too many starches). Instead he wants you to have foods high in protein and dietary fats. You should buy as many different colored vegetables as possible, eggs, nuts, avocados, bacon, cheese, sour cream, meat and fish (wine, coffee & tea).
In fact he attributes nearly every unhealthy symptom (even dental decay) to an overload of processed carbohydrates. He advises a two week test where you try to avoid all carbohydrates to allow your insulin levels to stabilise and your body to adjust. During this time all your unwanted symptoms such as intestinal distress, bloating, irregular bowel movements, insomnia, fatigue should disappear and weight loss also usually occurs. After the 2 weeks, you can slowly start re-introducing carbohydrates and take note of which foods cause symptoms to reappear.
With only 2 weeks before Elaine's work Christmas Party, she was very keen to start the 2 week test straight away. We are now just over a week into the test and Elaine is feeling much better and has lost 2 kilograms. Unfortunately, I discovered this morning that I have lost 3 kilograms, and I didn't have any extra weight that I could afford to lose - I'm now down to 75.9kg (190cm tall). So in the interest of good health I just had 2 Tim Tams and am currently drinking a beer.
Sunday 27 November 2011
A Good Week
I skipped the long ride on Thursday due to my knee, but otherwise had a good week of training. My runs were only short (and slow) run/walks and the longest ride was only 58km, but I got in 6 swim sessions including a 3km swim on Thursday. I had intended longer ride on Saturday, but it poured rain all day, so I did an 80min windtrainer session instead.
All up I did 11 hours of training which included 11.5km of swimming - the most I have ever swam in one week. My run/walk is up to 4.5km and the knee is feeling excellent and getting better each day.
Although my run and ride volumes are no where near where I would like them to be, my injuries appear to be healing and I starting to feel confident that longer ride and run mileage is not far away.
All up I did 11 hours of training which included 11.5km of swimming - the most I have ever swam in one week. My run/walk is up to 4.5km and the knee is feeling excellent and getting better each day.
Although my run and ride volumes are no where near where I would like them to be, my injuries appear to be healing and I starting to feel confident that longer ride and run mileage is not far away.
Thursday 24 November 2011
Putting the Brakes On
This week has been pretty good so far. It is only Thu morning and I've already clocked up 6 hours of training - 4 swims for 6.5km, 2 run/walks totaling over 6km and a 58km ride.
However this morning I can feel the knee a little more. It is not painful, it just seems a little more irritated than it has been in the last week. So I've decided to be cautious and have abandoned today's planned 80km ride - disappointing considering the weather is so good today.
But I'll probably do a swim. Most likely at the Pines swimming pool in Frankston North - a nice 50m outdoor pool. I'm pretty bad at doing any distance in the pool when swimming by myself, but I'm hoping to do 3km.
However this morning I can feel the knee a little more. It is not painful, it just seems a little more irritated than it has been in the last week. So I've decided to be cautious and have abandoned today's planned 80km ride - disappointing considering the weather is so good today.
But I'll probably do a swim. Most likely at the Pines swimming pool in Frankston North - a nice 50m outdoor pool. I'm pretty bad at doing any distance in the pool when swimming by myself, but I'm hoping to do 3km.
Sunday 20 November 2011
Little Things Add Up
As I gradually move back into training mode, it still feels like I've done almost nothing. However my training diary shows over 9 and half hours for the week - which for me is a decent week's training (still a bit off Ironman levels though).
Each training session was relatively short and they were all done at very low intensities, so the stress on my body has been minimal. For the week I did 4 swim sessions totaling over 6km, 3 rides totaling 180km and a single 1.8km run/walk.
Each training session was relatively short and they were all done at very low intensities, so the stress on my body has been minimal. For the week I did 4 swim sessions totaling over 6km, 3 rides totaling 180km and a single 1.8km run/walk.
Friday 18 November 2011
First Run since the MRI
The Physio has given me permission to start running again - yay !!! Well actually, I have to run/walk.
My first run was for 15 minutes, running for 400m followed by 400m of walking. It was very slow and the walking sections seemed frustratingly long, but it was great to be back running.
I can always feel the knee when I'm riding my bike. It is not really pain, but more of an awareness of a sore knee. Even swimming I can often notice my knee - usually pushing off from the end of the pool, or doing a kick set. However I never felt anything on the run, which must be a good sign.
My first run was for 15 minutes, running for 400m followed by 400m of walking. It was very slow and the walking sections seemed frustratingly long, but it was great to be back running.
I can always feel the knee when I'm riding my bike. It is not really pain, but more of an awareness of a sore knee. Even swimming I can often notice my knee - usually pushing off from the end of the pool, or doing a kick set. However I never felt anything on the run, which must be a good sign.
Monday 14 November 2011
Eastlink Ride
The weather forecast was good, about 20 degrees with rain and thunderstorms not forecast until the evening. There were several drops of rain on the windscreen during the drive to Ringwood for the ride start, but thankfully there was no rain on the ride.
I arrived at the start line just before 7:30am, but there was already about 1,000 riders ahead of me. They let about 50 riders at a time onto the course, so it took about 15 minutes before I actually started. With the tollway having 3 wide lanes, it was very easy to work my way past the congestion and find some room for myself.
Heading towards Frankston, the speed was very fast with a perfect road surface and generally being downhill with a tailwind. My plan was to keep my Heart Rate below 140bpm and keep my Power around 200 watts - Ironman race pace. I averaged 39kph towards Frankston, but only 27kph on the return trip back to Doncaster and I was averaging the same Heart Rate and Power in both directions. Eastlink is so open that you are very much exposed to any headwind, and the road runs due north until the tunnel, so there is no respite from the wind. My position on the road bike is very relaxed, so theoretically I'll be slightly less affected by the headwind on my Tri-bike - I can only hope.
I could feel the knee injury during the ride, but it was more of an awareness than pain. After about 50km (of the 75km ride), my hamstrings started to feel worn out, a side affect of not having trained in the last 2 weeks.
I iced the knee 3 times during the day after the ride to try and prevent any further inflammation. The good news is that my knee feels great this morning. Usually the knee is very stiff in the morning and slowly loosens up during the day. I cannot remember my knee feeling so good in the morning since I injured it - this bodes very well.
I arrived at the start line just before 7:30am, but there was already about 1,000 riders ahead of me. They let about 50 riders at a time onto the course, so it took about 15 minutes before I actually started. With the tollway having 3 wide lanes, it was very easy to work my way past the congestion and find some room for myself.Heading towards Frankston, the speed was very fast with a perfect road surface and generally being downhill with a tailwind. My plan was to keep my Heart Rate below 140bpm and keep my Power around 200 watts - Ironman race pace. I averaged 39kph towards Frankston, but only 27kph on the return trip back to Doncaster and I was averaging the same Heart Rate and Power in both directions. Eastlink is so open that you are very much exposed to any headwind, and the road runs due north until the tunnel, so there is no respite from the wind. My position on the road bike is very relaxed, so theoretically I'll be slightly less affected by the headwind on my Tri-bike - I can only hope.
I could feel the knee injury during the ride, but it was more of an awareness than pain. After about 50km (of the 75km ride), my hamstrings started to feel worn out, a side affect of not having trained in the last 2 weeks.
I iced the knee 3 times during the day after the ride to try and prevent any further inflammation. The good news is that my knee feels great this morning. Usually the knee is very stiff in the morning and slowly loosens up during the day. I cannot remember my knee feeling so good in the morning since I injured it - this bodes very well.
Saturday 12 November 2011
Setting up the road bike
I was tempted to go for another ride on Saturday but decided not to risk it and save myself for Sunday's ride. Instead I setup the road bike for Eastlike ride.
My recent rides had been on my Triathlon bike thinking that this put less pressure on my knee due to the different position on the bike. However the Triathlon bike only really feels comfortable when you are going fast, and my comeback from injury needs a lot of short easy rides. Therefore I've decided to revert back to riding on the Road bike. Also the Eastlink Ride does not allow Triathlon Bikes.
I've had the power meter moved from the Triathlon to the Road bike. And just for the Eastlink ride I have put the Zipp wheels on the Road bike. The reason I'm doing the Eastlink Ride is that it is the only opportunity I'll get to ride the Ironman bike course before the race. So it makes sense to do the ride on the wheels I'll be racing with.
I'll remove the Zipp wheels after the ride and revert to my training wheels. But don't the Zipps look good on the Colnago.
My recent rides had been on my Triathlon bike thinking that this put less pressure on my knee due to the different position on the bike. However the Triathlon bike only really feels comfortable when you are going fast, and my comeback from injury needs a lot of short easy rides. Therefore I've decided to revert back to riding on the Road bike. Also the Eastlink Ride does not allow Triathlon Bikes.
I'll remove the Zipp wheels after the ride and revert to my training wheels. But don't the Zipps look good on the Colnago.
Friday 11 November 2011
Back to light training
Friday was an absolutely beautiful day. As soon as I got home from the Physio, I slopped on some sunscreen and went out for an easy ride. It felt so good to be back training, but I had to make sure I only rode slowly, which is very difficult when you are so excited.
Elaine had bought me some wonderful gifts for my recent birthday including a new bike computer - a Garmin Edge 800. This computer does everything but pedal for you.
I also had just recently bought some new cycling shoes. My previous pair were Triathlon specific with straps that allow you to easily get in and out of the shoes whilst riding the bike (speeds up transitions in a race). However I had heard from several different sources that these shoes are not good for doing lots of long training rides. So I bought a second pair of shoes that are road cycling specific.
Still feeling good, I went down to the Frankston pool and swam almost 2km, most of it without the pool buoy. I can feel that I've lost a lot of fitness and conditioning (and put on weight), but I don't think it will take long to get back into top shape. The only problem is having to take things easy whilst my injuries slowly repair.
Elaine had bought me some wonderful gifts for my recent birthday including a new bike computer - a Garmin Edge 800. This computer does everything but pedal for you.
I also had just recently bought some new cycling shoes. My previous pair were Triathlon specific with straps that allow you to easily get in and out of the shoes whilst riding the bike (speeds up transitions in a race). However I had heard from several different sources that these shoes are not good for doing lots of long training rides. So I bought a second pair of shoes that are road cycling specific.
Still feeling good, I went down to the Frankston pool and swam almost 2km, most of it without the pool buoy. I can feel that I've lost a lot of fitness and conditioning (and put on weight), but I don't think it will take long to get back into top shape. The only problem is having to take things easy whilst my injuries slowly repair.
MRI Results
I pre-booked the Friday morning Physio appointment a week ahead to make sure I didn't have to wait long for the MRI results. Now paranoid about arriving on time, I ended up getting to the Sports Medical Centre 30 minutes early. Unfortunately the receptionist was running late, so everything was delayed in her absence whilst my Physio fumbled around trying to process patient payments - the irony.
The MRI results clearly showed inflammation of the patella tendon. This was the Physio's initial prognosis, and he is not sure why the Ultrasound did not reveal this injury. It seems that Ultrasounds can be a little hit and miss and are very reliant upon the expertise of the person performing the Ultrasound. Whereas the MRIs are always very comprehensive (and much more expensive).
So we are back to the initial plan of light exercise, taping the knee and lots of strength exercises. However I'm to abstain from running for a while.
I am allowed to do the Eastlink Ride on Sunday (one 75km lap of the Eastlink tollway), but only if I ride it at Ironman pace.
The MRI results clearly showed inflammation of the patella tendon. This was the Physio's initial prognosis, and he is not sure why the Ultrasound did not reveal this injury. It seems that Ultrasounds can be a little hit and miss and are very reliant upon the expertise of the person performing the Ultrasound. Whereas the MRIs are always very comprehensive (and much more expensive).
So we are back to the initial plan of light exercise, taping the knee and lots of strength exercises. However I'm to abstain from running for a while.
I am allowed to do the Eastlink Ride on Sunday (one 75km lap of the Eastlink tollway), but only if I ride it at Ironman pace.
Thursday 10 November 2011
MRI dramas
Tuesday morning I had a physio appointment, but due to the wet weather bringing peak hour traffic to an almost stand-still, I arrived 15 mins late. Therefore the session became more of a quick consultation with no work being done for my injured back or knee. This experience highlighted how important it would be to arrive on time for the MRI this morning.
I allowed an hour's traveling time, which should be ample considering the early appointment time of 7:15am. However when working out what time I had to leave home, I had a complete brain meltdown and somehow thought 6:45am was 1 hour before 7:15am.
A sudden sick feeling entered my stomach when the 7:00am news bulletin came on the radio and I was less than half way there. At first I was in disbelief, still believing I had left so early, but after redoing the time calculations I soon realised my mistake. I could not even ring the MRI centre because my phone had frozen up the night before (now fixed).
Luckily I had decided to allow 1 hour's traveling time. So even though I left 30 mins late, I arrived only 15 mins late. Unfortunately this would still be too late to keep the 7:15am appointment. But fortune was shining upon me, because the 8:00am appointment had arrived early and in my absence had taken my 7:15am timeslot - I wonder if they miscalculated their departure time in the opposite direction.
So after a stressful morning, I ended up getting my MRI after all. Of course they never tell you the results - you have to wait until you see the Physio again.
I allowed an hour's traveling time, which should be ample considering the early appointment time of 7:15am. However when working out what time I had to leave home, I had a complete brain meltdown and somehow thought 6:45am was 1 hour before 7:15am.
A sudden sick feeling entered my stomach when the 7:00am news bulletin came on the radio and I was less than half way there. At first I was in disbelief, still believing I had left so early, but after redoing the time calculations I soon realised my mistake. I could not even ring the MRI centre because my phone had frozen up the night before (now fixed).
Luckily I had decided to allow 1 hour's traveling time. So even though I left 30 mins late, I arrived only 15 mins late. Unfortunately this would still be too late to keep the 7:15am appointment. But fortune was shining upon me, because the 8:00am appointment had arrived early and in my absence had taken my 7:15am timeslot - I wonder if they miscalculated their departure time in the opposite direction.
So after a stressful morning, I ended up getting my MRI after all. Of course they never tell you the results - you have to wait until you see the Physio again.
Friday 4 November 2011
Ultrasound and X-Ray results are clear
Due to a cancellation, I was able to see the Physio this morning. We pretty much spent the whole session trying to loosen up my back muscles. It does not appear to be a serious injury and I should be right in about 10 days. Unfortunately the Eastlink ride is only 8 days away, so fingers crossed that I'll be OK for the ride.
As for the results from the Ultrasound and X-Ray, other than a build up of fluid they did not reveal any injury. This means we do not know what the problem is and I now need an MRI.
I have a Myotherapy session booked on Sunday (Physio is unavailable), a Physio appointment on Tuesday and the MRI is booked in for Thursday, which means I'll have another Physio appointment Thursday or Friday. So late next week I should have a good idea about all my injuries. Hopefully the complete rest enforced by the combination of knee and back injuries will mean that they heal quicker, one can only hope.
As for the results from the Ultrasound and X-Ray, other than a build up of fluid they did not reveal any injury. This means we do not know what the problem is and I now need an MRI.
I have a Myotherapy session booked on Sunday (Physio is unavailable), a Physio appointment on Tuesday and the MRI is booked in for Thursday, which means I'll have another Physio appointment Thursday or Friday. So late next week I should have a good idea about all my injuries. Hopefully the complete rest enforced by the combination of knee and back injuries will mean that they heal quicker, one can only hope.
Thursday 3 November 2011
More bad luck
Yesterday I had the Ultrasound and X-ray done on my left knee. However when I tried to make a new appointment with the physio to go over the results, I discovered he is booked out for the rest of the week.
I had intended to swim with a pull buoy every day until my knee recovered and did this on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately I have now injured my back (not training related) and now I can't even get out of a chair, let alone swim. What's more, I can't see my physio because he is booked out for the rest of the week. The back injury feels like a re-occurrence of an injury I suffered in February this year which saw me miss the Portarlington race and 2 or 3 weeks of training.
On the bright side, it is probably better to have 2 injuries at the same time rather than one after the other. As a single rest period should see both injuries recover at once.
I had intended to swim with a pull buoy every day until my knee recovered and did this on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately I have now injured my back (not training related) and now I can't even get out of a chair, let alone swim. What's more, I can't see my physio because he is booked out for the rest of the week. The back injury feels like a re-occurrence of an injury I suffered in February this year which saw me miss the Portarlington race and 2 or 3 weeks of training.
On the bright side, it is probably better to have 2 injuries at the same time rather than one after the other. As a single rest period should see both injuries recover at once.
Monday 31 October 2011
Out of Action
I've been to the Physio again today and now I need to have an Ultrasound and X-Ray. Both have been booked for Wednesday morning so hopefully I'll know a bit more after that. If the results are not conclusive, I may need an MRI (which is a lot more expensive).
In the meantime I am banned from running and riding, so this weekend's triathlon is definitely off. And the Eastlink ride the weekend after is in doubt. The Eastlink ride is important, because it will be the only chance I get to ride the actual Ironman bike leg.
In the meantime I am banned from running and riding, so this weekend's triathlon is definitely off. And the Eastlink ride the weekend after is in doubt. The Eastlink ride is important, because it will be the only chance I get to ride the actual Ironman bike leg.
Friday 28 October 2011
Oh the Pain !!!
This morning I was awoken by severe pain. If I straightened my leg, excruciating pain ripped through my knee. I tried getting out of bed, but any weight on my leg made it even worse. So I fell back into bed and assumed the fetal position.
Elaine was nice enough to get me an ice pack and 30 minutes later I made the arduous trek to the couch. I could not put any weight on my left leg and I couldn't even hop, because any vibration was just as painful. So I had to use nearby furniture as crutches to help me carefully glide (with an anguished face) to the next room.
Luckily we have a lot of unwatched shows on the set top box, so I spent the morning watching Mad Max and then old episodes of The Office while I waited for the anti-inflammatory gel to do its work. Near the end of Mad Max, he has to kill the baddie and then hobble back to his car after being shot in the knee - I reckon if Max's knee had of hurt as much as mine, he'd of never made it.
Once the anti-inflammatory gel started to work I was able to hop which gave me much needed mobility to do things like go to the toilet and get a cup of coffee. Although obviously carrying coffee while hopping doesn't work, so a little ingenuity was needed to get the coffee cup back to the couch. I spent the afternoon at my computer and it wasn't until 3pm that I could gingerly walk again. It is now just after 6pm and I can walk normally, but still with slight pain.
Any training this weekend looks extremely unlikely and the first Triathlon of the season on 6th November is starting to look in doubt. Other than one tendon in my knee, the rest of me is feeling great, so it is very disappointing not to be able to train, and even more disappointing if I start missing races.
Elaine was nice enough to get me an ice pack and 30 minutes later I made the arduous trek to the couch. I could not put any weight on my left leg and I couldn't even hop, because any vibration was just as painful. So I had to use nearby furniture as crutches to help me carefully glide (with an anguished face) to the next room.
Luckily we have a lot of unwatched shows on the set top box, so I spent the morning watching Mad Max and then old episodes of The Office while I waited for the anti-inflammatory gel to do its work. Near the end of Mad Max, he has to kill the baddie and then hobble back to his car after being shot in the knee - I reckon if Max's knee had of hurt as much as mine, he'd of never made it.
Once the anti-inflammatory gel started to work I was able to hop which gave me much needed mobility to do things like go to the toilet and get a cup of coffee. Although obviously carrying coffee while hopping doesn't work, so a little ingenuity was needed to get the coffee cup back to the couch. I spent the afternoon at my computer and it wasn't until 3pm that I could gingerly walk again. It is now just after 6pm and I can walk normally, but still with slight pain.
Any training this weekend looks extremely unlikely and the first Triathlon of the season on 6th November is starting to look in doubt. Other than one tendon in my knee, the rest of me is feeling great, so it is very disappointing not to be able to train, and even more disappointing if I start missing races.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Reduced Training Week
More beautiful weather and still injured. After a nice run on Sunday, I did a windtrainer and swim session on Monday before being subjected to the dry needing on Tuesday.
I pulled up sore on Tuesday morning, so I didn't do my planned morning run and I was even sorer after the dry needling. Wednesday morning was not much better (so much for the dry needling) so I took another rest day with the only session being a swim with John Van Wisse in the evening. I arrived early and did an extra 800m before the session, resulting in a total swim of 4km - my longest ever swim.
Thursday morning I felt a little better, so decided to try another windtrainer session. Unlike last time, I remembered to tape up my knee and after the session I felt great. Later that day I went out for an easy 8km run (knee still taped) and again experienced no problems and the knee pulled up very well.
If this lasts, I should not lose much conditioning and will soon be back into full training.
I pulled up sore on Tuesday morning, so I didn't do my planned morning run and I was even sorer after the dry needling. Wednesday morning was not much better (so much for the dry needling) so I took another rest day with the only session being a swim with John Van Wisse in the evening. I arrived early and did an extra 800m before the session, resulting in a total swim of 4km - my longest ever swim.
Thursday morning I felt a little better, so decided to try another windtrainer session. Unlike last time, I remembered to tape up my knee and after the session I felt great. Later that day I went out for an easy 8km run (knee still taped) and again experienced no problems and the knee pulled up very well.
If this lasts, I should not lose much conditioning and will soon be back into full training.
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Dry Needling
My Physio loves Dry Needling - I hate it.
He finds the tightest and stiffest part of the muscle, inserts an acupuncture like needle and then starts wriggling it around until the muscle suddenly goes twangggg. I jump 6 inches off the table and he looks back at me with a satisfied grin and then looks for the next spot to needle. I suspect he was a dentist in a past life.
Picture the string from a bow and arrow. The archer pulls back the string as far as it will stretch and then releases to produce a mighty twang. Dry needling feels like that twang, except instead of stretching the string, the physio uses his voodoo needle.
Some people I've spoken to reckon dry needling is great, but to me it is the most un-natural thing that has ever happened to me, and it freaks me out. It doesn't help that I usually get the needles into the quadricep (thigh muscle), which on a long legged 6'3" cyclist is a pretty large muscle.
My Physio now blackmails me. If I don't do all my exercises, stretches, foam roller and tennis ball massages every day I'll get more dry needling. The foam roller and especially the tennis ball (rolling back and forth with a tennis ball under the quad with your full weight resting on it) can cause excruciating pain, but at least that sort of pain feels natural.
He finds the tightest and stiffest part of the muscle, inserts an acupuncture like needle and then starts wriggling it around until the muscle suddenly goes twangggg. I jump 6 inches off the table and he looks back at me with a satisfied grin and then looks for the next spot to needle. I suspect he was a dentist in a past life.
Picture the string from a bow and arrow. The archer pulls back the string as far as it will stretch and then releases to produce a mighty twang. Dry needling feels like that twang, except instead of stretching the string, the physio uses his voodoo needle.
Some people I've spoken to reckon dry needling is great, but to me it is the most un-natural thing that has ever happened to me, and it freaks me out. It doesn't help that I usually get the needles into the quadricep (thigh muscle), which on a long legged 6'3" cyclist is a pretty large muscle.
My Physio now blackmails me. If I don't do all my exercises, stretches, foam roller and tennis ball massages every day I'll get more dry needling. The foam roller and especially the tennis ball (rolling back and forth with a tennis ball under the quad with your full weight resting on it) can cause excruciating pain, but at least that sort of pain feels natural.
Monday 24 October 2011
Injury Update
The sharp pains in the knee have completely gone, but it still aches a lot, especially in the morning or going up stairs. I have been icing the knee twice a day and also applying anti-inflammatory gel. It appears to be improving, but slowly.
As is always the case when you are injured, the weather last week was unbelievably good. So good that I actually swam in the bay on Wednesday afternoon. The official temperature of the bay has risen to 15 degrees (from about 10 over winter), but the water at the Seaford beach is so shallow that it heats up a lot quicker and I'd estimate the temperature to be at least 17, possibly higher. But at least today the weather has had the decency to rain, so I don't feel so bad.
I'm not actually in rest mode, just limited training mode. This is frustrating because I had intended to ramp up the number and length of sessions over this period. My run is currently limited to around 8km, although I am now allowed to add a bit of intensity. The road bike causes pain to my knee, but due to the different geometry I am fine on the triathlon bike but cannot do the long distances. And naturally I am free to do as much swimming as a like (I don't enjoy swimming so much). Last week I still managed 9 hours of training, so hopefully I'll at least be able to maintain most of my fitness and form until my knee fully recovers.
As is always the case when you are injured, the weather last week was unbelievably good. So good that I actually swam in the bay on Wednesday afternoon. The official temperature of the bay has risen to 15 degrees (from about 10 over winter), but the water at the Seaford beach is so shallow that it heats up a lot quicker and I'd estimate the temperature to be at least 17, possibly higher. But at least today the weather has had the decency to rain, so I don't feel so bad.
I'm not actually in rest mode, just limited training mode. This is frustrating because I had intended to ramp up the number and length of sessions over this period. My run is currently limited to around 8km, although I am now allowed to add a bit of intensity. The road bike causes pain to my knee, but due to the different geometry I am fine on the triathlon bike but cannot do the long distances. And naturally I am free to do as much swimming as a like (I don't enjoy swimming so much). Last week I still managed 9 hours of training, so hopefully I'll at least be able to maintain most of my fitness and form until my knee fully recovers.
Friday 14 October 2011
First Injury of the Season
Unfortunately my knee injury has flared up again. Due to patella tracking problems, I had 3 months off running with boney bruising in the knee after the Torquay Half Ironman in April this year. This time I have strained the ligament that goes under the knee cap on my left leg. Last time it took about a month for the inflamation to die down before I could start the rehabilitation that included strengthening some of the stabilising tendons and getting more flexibility into the muslces that pull on the knee cap. I don't think it is anywhere near as bad this time.
I was so happy with my running form after the last Duathlon. When I tried to run on the Monday and Tuesday after the race, I noticed the stiffness in my legs and rested from running for the rest of the week. Monday this week I did a short, easy recovery run which felt fine, so I then did an 18.6km long run on the Tuesday. The Tuesday run was one of the best long runs I've done - I still had the fluent running action I experienced in the Duathlon and was able to cruise along at a good speed with hardly any effort. The pace for most of the run was under 5 minutes per kilometre and my HR sat in the mid 140's. I felt no issues on the run, but was quite stiff 30 minutes or so afterwards. The right knee felt a little numb, but it didn't really seem anything to worry about. However on Wednesday morning I felt sharp pains just below my left knee, so I booked a physio appointment for later that day.
Naturally the weather this week has been perfect, which is especially frustrating considering the last 2 weeks have been pretty awful. Since Tuesday I have only done 1 swim session on Thursday night. Knowing that I would be quite fresh due to having rested since Tuesday, I moved up into a faster lane - I'm not feeling so fresh anymore. It was always my intention to move up a lane, I had just been delaying it. But I think I'll stay there now as it stops me slacking off.
I have two rides this weekend that I am supposed to take easy, then I'll see the Physio again on Monday. I suspect the injury was caused by some muscles still being too tight from the Duathlon and they then affected my knee on the long run. With any luck I will be running again late next week.
I was so happy with my running form after the last Duathlon. When I tried to run on the Monday and Tuesday after the race, I noticed the stiffness in my legs and rested from running for the rest of the week. Monday this week I did a short, easy recovery run which felt fine, so I then did an 18.6km long run on the Tuesday. The Tuesday run was one of the best long runs I've done - I still had the fluent running action I experienced in the Duathlon and was able to cruise along at a good speed with hardly any effort. The pace for most of the run was under 5 minutes per kilometre and my HR sat in the mid 140's. I felt no issues on the run, but was quite stiff 30 minutes or so afterwards. The right knee felt a little numb, but it didn't really seem anything to worry about. However on Wednesday morning I felt sharp pains just below my left knee, so I booked a physio appointment for later that day.
Naturally the weather this week has been perfect, which is especially frustrating considering the last 2 weeks have been pretty awful. Since Tuesday I have only done 1 swim session on Thursday night. Knowing that I would be quite fresh due to having rested since Tuesday, I moved up into a faster lane - I'm not feeling so fresh anymore. It was always my intention to move up a lane, I had just been delaying it. But I think I'll stay there now as it stops me slacking off.
I have two rides this weekend that I am supposed to take easy, then I'll see the Physio again on Monday. I suspect the injury was caused by some muscles still being too tight from the Duathlon and they then affected my knee on the long run. With any luck I will be running again late next week.
Friday 7 October 2011
Recovery Week
I've been quite sore since the Duathlon, so I took it pretty easy this week. On Monday I headed out for an easy 5km recovery run, but had to stop and walk after 4.6km due to soreness and the swim session on Monday night was cancelled. Tuesday morning I went for an easy 38km ride and then an easy 10km run Wednesday morning. However during the 3km swim session on Wednesday night I could feel a little soreness in the legs so I skipped my long run on Thursday and had a rest day on Friday as well.
Based upon my Duathlon results, my running and riding is obviously going well although I need to add a lot more distance. But now it is time to up the focus on my swimming which is by far my weakest leg. However even though I am currently only averaging 3 swim sessions a fortnight, my swimming appears to be showing promise. Two Mondays ago I swam a 700m TimeTrial (TT) in 12m05s, two Wednesdays ago I did a 3.8km session (my longest ever session) and this Wednesday I did my last (of 3) 400m TTs in 6m55s - only 15 seconds off my PB. I haven't got any specific time goals for my swim, but if I start breaking my swim TT PBs - I'll be very happy.
Following are some pictures of my local training spots. The first photo shows the road I have to cross from my driveway to get to the bush containing the running track. On the other side of the bush is the beach. Even though it is a highway, it is usually pretty easy to cross.
The photo on the left is the running track. It goes for 5km, so provides a nice 10km loop without having to worry about crossing any roads. There are occasional walkers (often with dogs), but generally you get a pretty clear run and the path is usually wide enough to get past people without causing any problems.
On the right you can see the path heading to beach. It is one of the best beaches in Melbourne with beautiful sand and it is usually completely abandoned, although that may change once the temperature heats up.
This is a photo taken while I was standing in the bay to get the cold water treatment on my legs. I usually do this for 10 minutes after my sessions.
The view shows some buildings in the background which is Frankston - where the Ironman swim leg will be located.
Finally this is the private balcony where I relax after a hard session.
I usually come out here to stretch, but often end up falling asleep.
Based upon my Duathlon results, my running and riding is obviously going well although I need to add a lot more distance. But now it is time to up the focus on my swimming which is by far my weakest leg. However even though I am currently only averaging 3 swim sessions a fortnight, my swimming appears to be showing promise. Two Mondays ago I swam a 700m TimeTrial (TT) in 12m05s, two Wednesdays ago I did a 3.8km session (my longest ever session) and this Wednesday I did my last (of 3) 400m TTs in 6m55s - only 15 seconds off my PB. I haven't got any specific time goals for my swim, but if I start breaking my swim TT PBs - I'll be very happy.
The photo on the left is the running track. It goes for 5km, so provides a nice 10km loop without having to worry about crossing any roads. There are occasional walkers (often with dogs), but generally you get a pretty clear run and the path is usually wide enough to get past people without causing any problems.
On the right you can see the path heading to beach. It is one of the best beaches in Melbourne with beautiful sand and it is usually completely abandoned, although that may change once the temperature heats up.
This is a photo taken while I was standing in the bay to get the cold water treatment on my legs. I usually do this for 10 minutes after my sessions.
The view shows some buildings in the background which is Frankston - where the Ironman swim leg will be located.
Finally this is the private balcony where I relax after a hard session.
I usually come out here to stretch, but often end up falling asleep.
Monday 3 October 2011
Richmond Duathlon - State Championship
Most Duathlons start at 8am Sunday morning. Certainly the last 10 Richmond races I've attended have all started at 8. When I received the race details via email, I didn't even think to check the start time, so Elaine and I were very surprised to discover the new start time of 9 after arriving at the race location at 6:30am. But at least we got a really good park and a good rack position within transition. However the extra sleep in would have been nice, especially after losing an hour's sleep due to daylight savings and we didn't really enjoy the early morning temperature of 7 degrees. When the race finally got underway at 9 the temperature had snuck up to 12 and there was a moderate wind of around 15-20 kph - pretty good conditions for a race.
Again there was only a small turnout of club members with Peter, Jeff and Elaine doing the Sprint race, the Howards racing in the shorter Dash event and Sally again performing her Technical Official duties. I was expecting to also see Martine, Brady, Matt, Jeremy and Courtney.
My pre-race plan was to go out hard and post a very fast 5km run split and then keep going hard for as long as I could on the 20km bike and second 3km run - I was confident I could beat Aurel (who I had never beaten) this race. I positioned myself 3 rows back from the start line and even though the first run always starts off at breakneck speed, after about 100m I found myself hemmed in. My body wanted to run faster, but a quick check of the pace on my GPS watch showed 3m30s pace which I figured was plenty fast enough, especially since my target pace was 3m45s. I sat in this pack for the next kilometre, but as soon as the group's pace started to drop off I pulled away.
At the first turnaround point on the run I had not spotted Peter or Aurel. I expected Aurel to be ahead and Peter behind me. Around the half way mark I started to close in on a small group of runners and was surprised to see Peter. He usually starts these races very conservatively, but had decided to start this one from the front row and go out hard - I was very impressed. After slowly reeling him in, I eased passed him but only managed to finish the run 11 seconds ahead. This was a PB 5km run time for Peter and at 3m49s pace it was a PB for me as well. My official 5km time was 18:35s, but the course was a touch short. Luckily I was wearing a GPS watch, so I can work out that my actual 5km time would have been 19m05s. I have always believed I could go under 19 minutes for 5km and this effort pretty much proves it because I slowed down in the last 500m to try and save something in my legs for the bike.
Having run so fast (for me) I was seriously worried how much I would have left in my legs for the bike. However the knowledge that Peter was close behind was enough to make me push hard from the beginning. At the turnarounds I would note what position Peter was behind me, and was very much encouraged to discover I was extending my lead each lap. Then at the half way mark of the bike leg I caught and passed another competitor called Sam. Sam is in my age group and has beaten me in every Duathlon we have ever raced together. In Somers he beat me by over 3 minutes and at Kew he finished ahead by 2 minutes. So I never considered myself a threat of ever beating him, but now I had a chance to build a lead on the bike. I have always been a faster bike rider, but he is usually so far ahead after the first run that I don't see him again until the medal presentations. And in the absence of legend David Meade, passing Sam probably meant that I was in the lead of my age group - I could be state champion. With these thoughts acting as inspiration I was able to maintain the hard effort on the bike.
The rule of thumb with race nutrition is that you do not need anything for a race that lasts less than 1 hour. I usually go a little longer than an hour in Sprint Races (Triathlon or Duathlon), so usually have half an energy gel and a few sips of water on the bike. Unfortunately with the later than expected start time, my normal race preparation was thrown around a bit. I spent an hour before the race trying to fill in time and forgot to put the energy gel in the pocket of my tri top. When I realised this, my original thought was that I would run out of energy on the last run, but then I figured the faster I go, the closer my time will be to an hour and therefore the less I will need the nutrition. With this sort of backward thinking I surged on and probably ended up going faster because I didn't waste time eating the gel and drinking water.
On the last lap of the bike my calf muscles started to cramp. Naturally I immediately blamed this on not having my usual gel. But the reality is that I cramped because I had been pushing my muscles much harder than usual. My average power for the ride was 277 watts, 1 watt higher than Kew which is very good considering the very fast first run. With the cramps not going away, I started to have serious doubts about my ability to run a good 3km run and it would need to be one of my best final runs if I was to hold off Sam.
I came into an emptier than usual transition and then headed out on the run. My calf muscles felt like they had been replaced with bricks, but this feeling slowly wore off and after the first 500m I had regained my normal running stride. It felt very slow, but my watch said it was 4m00s pace which should be just enough. At the run turn around I had a good chance to see who was behind me and there was a small pack forming that included Sam. He had already made up a lot of ground and at that point I thought he probably had me. It was a fair distance further back that I saw Peter and further back again that I saw Aurel for the first time in the race.
I now knew that I had both Peter and Aurel comfortably beaten and regardless of what happened, this had definitely been my best race ever. There was a huge temptation to ease off the pace (and therefore lessen the pain), but the thought that I still had a small chance to being state champion kept me going.
The end of the run leg moves off the road and follows a winding trail through bush before opening up for the last 100m to the finish line. Once I was into the bush I knew I was out of sight of my chasers and this would be a big advantage - nothing spurs people on more than being able to see your competitor just ahead. With about 50m of bush left and 150m from the finish line I started my sprint home. I didn't look behind, I just put every ounce of effort into getting to the finish line as quick as I could, but I could still sense that the other runners were right on my heels.
I made it to the finish line without being passed and then immediately started to vomit. Luckily with the later start and no gel or water on the bike it had been over 3 hours since I had consumed anything, so the vomiting ended up only being dry retching - still not really a pretty sight. It only took about 20 seconds for me to regain my composure and I immediately went over to the timing guy to check my result. I could not believe it - 2nd place in my age group. Another competitor Austin, who usually does the Western Suburbs Duathlons, had decided to enter a race in this series for the first time (maybe because it was the state championships) and beat me by 90 seconds. 3rd place was only 2 seconds behind me (another competitor I had never heard of before) and Sam finished in 4th place a further 3 seconds behind - the first time this season Sam didn't finish first or second.
Despite not winning the state championship I am immensely happy with my race - it is definitely my best race ever !!! In the end my finish time of 1h03m02s saw me beat Sam by 5 seconds, Peter by over 3 minutes and Aurel by nearly 5 minutes. The very fast first run by Peter had a negative impact on his bike split and Aurel seemed to have an off day.
Elaine has continually improved throughout the season and her Richmond time was 14 minutes quicker than her first Duathlon of the season at Knox. And naturally she won her age group again making her the state champion and series winner. Peter came 5th in his age group and Jeff 9th.
My training up till now has been mainly focused upon these Duathlons with the intention of peaking for this race, the state championships - I think my training worked. In fact, I am in such good form, it now seems a pity to waste this speed by training for Ironman. The sprint distance races are all about speed over a one hour duration, whereas Ironman is about endurance for an all-day event. Training for the two different types of events is not really compatible. So now the focus of training shifts towards the Alpine Classic ride and Ironman.
My pre-race plan was to go out hard and post a very fast 5km run split and then keep going hard for as long as I could on the 20km bike and second 3km run - I was confident I could beat Aurel (who I had never beaten) this race. I positioned myself 3 rows back from the start line and even though the first run always starts off at breakneck speed, after about 100m I found myself hemmed in. My body wanted to run faster, but a quick check of the pace on my GPS watch showed 3m30s pace which I figured was plenty fast enough, especially since my target pace was 3m45s. I sat in this pack for the next kilometre, but as soon as the group's pace started to drop off I pulled away.
Having run so fast (for me) I was seriously worried how much I would have left in my legs for the bike. However the knowledge that Peter was close behind was enough to make me push hard from the beginning. At the turnarounds I would note what position Peter was behind me, and was very much encouraged to discover I was extending my lead each lap. Then at the half way mark of the bike leg I caught and passed another competitor called Sam. Sam is in my age group and has beaten me in every Duathlon we have ever raced together. In Somers he beat me by over 3 minutes and at Kew he finished ahead by 2 minutes. So I never considered myself a threat of ever beating him, but now I had a chance to build a lead on the bike. I have always been a faster bike rider, but he is usually so far ahead after the first run that I don't see him again until the medal presentations. And in the absence of legend David Meade, passing Sam probably meant that I was in the lead of my age group - I could be state champion. With these thoughts acting as inspiration I was able to maintain the hard effort on the bike.
The rule of thumb with race nutrition is that you do not need anything for a race that lasts less than 1 hour. I usually go a little longer than an hour in Sprint Races (Triathlon or Duathlon), so usually have half an energy gel and a few sips of water on the bike. Unfortunately with the later than expected start time, my normal race preparation was thrown around a bit. I spent an hour before the race trying to fill in time and forgot to put the energy gel in the pocket of my tri top. When I realised this, my original thought was that I would run out of energy on the last run, but then I figured the faster I go, the closer my time will be to an hour and therefore the less I will need the nutrition. With this sort of backward thinking I surged on and probably ended up going faster because I didn't waste time eating the gel and drinking water.
On the last lap of the bike my calf muscles started to cramp. Naturally I immediately blamed this on not having my usual gel. But the reality is that I cramped because I had been pushing my muscles much harder than usual. My average power for the ride was 277 watts, 1 watt higher than Kew which is very good considering the very fast first run. With the cramps not going away, I started to have serious doubts about my ability to run a good 3km run and it would need to be one of my best final runs if I was to hold off Sam.
I came into an emptier than usual transition and then headed out on the run. My calf muscles felt like they had been replaced with bricks, but this feeling slowly wore off and after the first 500m I had regained my normal running stride. It felt very slow, but my watch said it was 4m00s pace which should be just enough. At the run turn around I had a good chance to see who was behind me and there was a small pack forming that included Sam. He had already made up a lot of ground and at that point I thought he probably had me. It was a fair distance further back that I saw Peter and further back again that I saw Aurel for the first time in the race.
I now knew that I had both Peter and Aurel comfortably beaten and regardless of what happened, this had definitely been my best race ever. There was a huge temptation to ease off the pace (and therefore lessen the pain), but the thought that I still had a small chance to being state champion kept me going.
The end of the run leg moves off the road and follows a winding trail through bush before opening up for the last 100m to the finish line. Once I was into the bush I knew I was out of sight of my chasers and this would be a big advantage - nothing spurs people on more than being able to see your competitor just ahead. With about 50m of bush left and 150m from the finish line I started my sprint home. I didn't look behind, I just put every ounce of effort into getting to the finish line as quick as I could, but I could still sense that the other runners were right on my heels.
I made it to the finish line without being passed and then immediately started to vomit. Luckily with the later start and no gel or water on the bike it had been over 3 hours since I had consumed anything, so the vomiting ended up only being dry retching - still not really a pretty sight. It only took about 20 seconds for me to regain my composure and I immediately went over to the timing guy to check my result. I could not believe it - 2nd place in my age group. Another competitor Austin, who usually does the Western Suburbs Duathlons, had decided to enter a race in this series for the first time (maybe because it was the state championships) and beat me by 90 seconds. 3rd place was only 2 seconds behind me (another competitor I had never heard of before) and Sam finished in 4th place a further 3 seconds behind - the first time this season Sam didn't finish first or second.
Despite not winning the state championship I am immensely happy with my race - it is definitely my best race ever !!! In the end my finish time of 1h03m02s saw me beat Sam by 5 seconds, Peter by over 3 minutes and Aurel by nearly 5 minutes. The very fast first run by Peter had a negative impact on his bike split and Aurel seemed to have an off day.
Elaine has continually improved throughout the season and her Richmond time was 14 minutes quicker than her first Duathlon of the season at Knox. And naturally she won her age group again making her the state champion and series winner. Peter came 5th in his age group and Jeff 9th.
My training up till now has been mainly focused upon these Duathlons with the intention of peaking for this race, the state championships - I think my training worked. In fact, I am in such good form, it now seems a pity to waste this speed by training for Ironman. The sprint distance races are all about speed over a one hour duration, whereas Ironman is about endurance for an all-day event. Training for the two different types of events is not really compatible. So now the focus of training shifts towards the Alpine Classic ride and Ironman.
Monday 26 September 2011
A big week of training
I usually would not taper much for Duathlons, they are really just a way to stay focused during winter. However with the large amount of riding and running I'll be doing for Ironman and the Alpine Classic, I'll lose some of my speed. So I decided to make the most of the Duathlon Sprint races while I had the chance. This means tapering off the training load before each event to make sure I feel fresh.
With only 2 weeks between the Kew and Richmond Duathlons, it meant I only had one week of training before tapering for Richmond. My usual training blocks are 3 weeks followed by a 1 week recovery. Therefore I decided to make this week harder than usual.
The Monday after the Kew Duathlon I did an easy 40km ride and a slow 5km run to try and loosen up the legs. This was then finished off with a relatively easy 1.8km swim session. This worked well and on Tuesday I felt good during my long run of 17km. Elaine and I would usually do our long run on Thursdays, but we switched our schedule due to Elaine's work commitments.
On Wednesday I did another easy 5km recovery run followed by a tough 3km swim session. I don't know if it was the brutally hard Butterfly set, tiredness from the 17km run, residual fatigue from the Duathlon or a combination of all, but I really struggled in the second half of the swim and still felt very fatigued on Thursday.
The Thursday run session was supposed to be a Moneghetti Fartlek session (very hard). But it quickly became evident during the warmup that it simply was not going to happen. I decided to try a kilometre interval at medium intensity to see how I went, but I was nearly 1 min slower than I should have been. So I abandoned the thought of any intensity and changed the session into an easy 8km run. Ironically I was feeling better towards the end of the run, and my speed in the last kilometre was the same as my earlier interval attempt.
On Friday, I scrapped the planned ride and run sessions and had a day of rest before a short but tough Brick session with the club on Saturday morning. The rest had obviously been good for me, because I felt strong and fast in the Brick session. And I still felt good for the club long ride (85km) on the Sunday that included another ride up the front of Arthurs Seat. This time I did the climb in 11m48s compared to 13m07s a month ago. Congratulations must go to Martine who climbed the front of Arthurs Seat for the first time and Elaine who climbed the back (White Hill Rd) for the first time in 3 years.
Even though I skipped several sessions, at 11.5 hours (and 237 Slowtwitch Points) it was still the biggest training week of the season so far. Hopefully my body will slowly adjust to the load and be able to handle the planned 19 hour weeks (398 pts) in the lead up to Ironman.
With only 2 weeks between the Kew and Richmond Duathlons, it meant I only had one week of training before tapering for Richmond. My usual training blocks are 3 weeks followed by a 1 week recovery. Therefore I decided to make this week harder than usual.
The Monday after the Kew Duathlon I did an easy 40km ride and a slow 5km run to try and loosen up the legs. This was then finished off with a relatively easy 1.8km swim session. This worked well and on Tuesday I felt good during my long run of 17km. Elaine and I would usually do our long run on Thursdays, but we switched our schedule due to Elaine's work commitments.
On Wednesday I did another easy 5km recovery run followed by a tough 3km swim session. I don't know if it was the brutally hard Butterfly set, tiredness from the 17km run, residual fatigue from the Duathlon or a combination of all, but I really struggled in the second half of the swim and still felt very fatigued on Thursday.
The Thursday run session was supposed to be a Moneghetti Fartlek session (very hard). But it quickly became evident during the warmup that it simply was not going to happen. I decided to try a kilometre interval at medium intensity to see how I went, but I was nearly 1 min slower than I should have been. So I abandoned the thought of any intensity and changed the session into an easy 8km run. Ironically I was feeling better towards the end of the run, and my speed in the last kilometre was the same as my earlier interval attempt.
On Friday, I scrapped the planned ride and run sessions and had a day of rest before a short but tough Brick session with the club on Saturday morning. The rest had obviously been good for me, because I felt strong and fast in the Brick session. And I still felt good for the club long ride (85km) on the Sunday that included another ride up the front of Arthurs Seat. This time I did the climb in 11m48s compared to 13m07s a month ago. Congratulations must go to Martine who climbed the front of Arthurs Seat for the first time and Elaine who climbed the back (White Hill Rd) for the first time in 3 years.
Even though I skipped several sessions, at 11.5 hours (and 237 Slowtwitch Points) it was still the biggest training week of the season so far. Hopefully my body will slowly adjust to the load and be able to handle the planned 19 hour weeks (398 pts) in the lead up to Ironman.
Thursday 22 September 2011
Kew Boulevard Duathlon
Near perfect conditions greeted us on Sunday morning for the Duathlon at Kew Boulevard, but the morning did not start off well. We left home later than planned which meant we missed out on getting a spot in the Boathouse Carpark next to the start/finish line and registration. So we were forced to park nearly 1 km away.
Unlike most races, getting a good transition spot at Kew has massive advantages as it limits the distance you have to run on bitumen covered in loose gravel in bare feet (or socks). Last time we raced at Kew (2 years ago), a bad transition spot cost me 2nd place, so I was very keen to rack my bike early.
Once parked, I set about getting the bikes and gear ready when my bike pump stopped working. Luckily the people parked next to us lent me theirs. With the tyres fully pumped up and all the gear in a backpack I rode back to the registration area to pick up my race kit. Doing this I discovered that aero helmets do not work very well when wearing backpacks.
After getting my race kit, applying the race numbers (and a quick toilet stop), I put my backpack on and took off for my warm up ride (again suffering the backpack, aero helmet problem). The driveway out of the Boathouse carpark is extremely steep and because my tri-bike is still new I keep forgetting which way the gear levers go. So after several incompetent gear changes, my chain came off. I am pedaling in futility, going nowhere, half way up an extremely steep hill - needless to say I crashed. Luckily a soft backpack comes in handy in these situations and I took half the impact on my backpack, the other half on my left knee - but importantly the bike was OK.
I dusted myself off, checked the bike and then continued on my warm up ride. I would usually do a 10km ride before a duathlon, but due to my anxiety over the transition spot, I reduced the warm up to 4km. When I finally arrived at transition to check in my bike, it was nearly half full. Luckily most people were too lazy to walk up to the 'good' end of transition and there were still a couple of reasonable spots available. Feeling very relieved I then headed to the medical to get my knee cleaned up (they were a little surprised to be treating someone before the race).
I had decided not to have my usual energy gel 10 mins before the race as I'd read this was not considered a good idea. Unfortunately with all the early morning incidents, I'd forgotten to eat my usual pre-race energy bar 1 hour before the event. But I'd had breakfast and a banana, so it should be OK.
The only members of the triathlon club racing were Courtney, Jeremy & Elaine, Sally was acting as Technical Official and Los came down to cheer on Jeremy. Peter and Bill had just raced in the Age Group World Championships in Beijing the weekend before and had not made it back to Melbourne yet. Martine decided the Kew course was too difficult and Jan decided to skip the race at the last moment. I'm not sure what the Howard's excuse was, but I expect it had something to do with the difficulty of the course.
A Sprint Duathlon is 5km run / 20km bike / 3km run. Kew Boulevard does not have any big hills, but it also does not have any flat sections, so you are either going up or down. This applies to both the run and the ride. In fact the worst hill is on the run and we run up that hill 4 times.
The first 5km run is 2 laps (each lap containing the nasty hill). I took the first lap conservatively and then picked up my pace a little on the 2nd lap. This seemed to work well as I drew in sight of competitors that would usually be further ahead at the end of the run. I also had a good lead on Courtney which was something I didn't expect.
I passed a competitor called Aurel on the first lap (of 4) on the bike. Usually I would not pass him till near the end of the bike leg (if at all), so this was a good sign. Aurel has beaten me in every Duathlon, but I've been getting closer. However Aurel has been noticing my improvement and picked up the pace as soon as he saw me pass. Sadly I was not able to pull out of sight and only had a small lead heading into the last run (this was not helped by dropping my chain on the last lap). Running to my bike rack in transition I saw my sunglasses lying next to my runners and cap, which was strange because I alway wear my sunnies on the bike (looks better in the photos). However when I tried to put them on, I discovered I was already wearing mine, these were an identical pair owned by the competitor whose bike rack was next to mine (more time lost).
It took one and half laps (of 2) in the final run for Aurel to catch me. But the hills on the run had destroyed my legs and I had nothing left for a final effort, so he beat me yet again. The good news is that Aurel has moved up an age bracket this season, so it did not affect my place within my age group. The bad news is that David Meade (triathlon & duathlon legend) turned up (he is in my age group) and he won the race overall (a long way ahead of me). But I still managed to score 3rd in my age group, 2 minutes ahead of Courtney who was 4th. I think that is my biggest win over Courtney, but the course suits me better. I expect Courtney will be much tougher to beat at the next race in Richmond which is flat and fast.
Jeremy came 7th in his age group and Elaine won her age group yet again - 3rd time in a row. Elaine only has to finish the last race at Richmond to secure the series win - this usually involves a trophy and sports gear from series sponsor Brooks. It will be the third time Elaine has won the series.
Overall my race went fairly well. My first run was good on a tough course and my second run was only 2 secs a km slower which is probably my best effort to date. The average power on the bike leg was 276 watts (6 watts higher than Somers), but I actually feel I was too conservative and could of ridden harder - the faster than usual 2nd run probably confirms this.
There is only a two week gap to the last Duathlon in Richmond, so this week I have been training hard to try and find some more speed. I ran 17km on Tuesday and am planning to do another Moneghetti Fartlek session this afternoon. The Richmond Duathlon is a week before the Melbourne Marathon and I'm hoping this will keep some of the faster competitors away, allowing me to score a podium in what will be the Victorian State Championships.
On a side note, my weight has dropped further to 77kg (I'd prefer 80). So this morning's shopping included donuts, muffins, Tim Tams and potato chips.
Unlike most races, getting a good transition spot at Kew has massive advantages as it limits the distance you have to run on bitumen covered in loose gravel in bare feet (or socks). Last time we raced at Kew (2 years ago), a bad transition spot cost me 2nd place, so I was very keen to rack my bike early.
Once parked, I set about getting the bikes and gear ready when my bike pump stopped working. Luckily the people parked next to us lent me theirs. With the tyres fully pumped up and all the gear in a backpack I rode back to the registration area to pick up my race kit. Doing this I discovered that aero helmets do not work very well when wearing backpacks.
After getting my race kit, applying the race numbers (and a quick toilet stop), I put my backpack on and took off for my warm up ride (again suffering the backpack, aero helmet problem). The driveway out of the Boathouse carpark is extremely steep and because my tri-bike is still new I keep forgetting which way the gear levers go. So after several incompetent gear changes, my chain came off. I am pedaling in futility, going nowhere, half way up an extremely steep hill - needless to say I crashed. Luckily a soft backpack comes in handy in these situations and I took half the impact on my backpack, the other half on my left knee - but importantly the bike was OK.
I dusted myself off, checked the bike and then continued on my warm up ride. I would usually do a 10km ride before a duathlon, but due to my anxiety over the transition spot, I reduced the warm up to 4km. When I finally arrived at transition to check in my bike, it was nearly half full. Luckily most people were too lazy to walk up to the 'good' end of transition and there were still a couple of reasonable spots available. Feeling very relieved I then headed to the medical to get my knee cleaned up (they were a little surprised to be treating someone before the race).
I had decided not to have my usual energy gel 10 mins before the race as I'd read this was not considered a good idea. Unfortunately with all the early morning incidents, I'd forgotten to eat my usual pre-race energy bar 1 hour before the event. But I'd had breakfast and a banana, so it should be OK.
The only members of the triathlon club racing were Courtney, Jeremy & Elaine, Sally was acting as Technical Official and Los came down to cheer on Jeremy. Peter and Bill had just raced in the Age Group World Championships in Beijing the weekend before and had not made it back to Melbourne yet. Martine decided the Kew course was too difficult and Jan decided to skip the race at the last moment. I'm not sure what the Howard's excuse was, but I expect it had something to do with the difficulty of the course.
A Sprint Duathlon is 5km run / 20km bike / 3km run. Kew Boulevard does not have any big hills, but it also does not have any flat sections, so you are either going up or down. This applies to both the run and the ride. In fact the worst hill is on the run and we run up that hill 4 times.
The first 5km run is 2 laps (each lap containing the nasty hill). I took the first lap conservatively and then picked up my pace a little on the 2nd lap. This seemed to work well as I drew in sight of competitors that would usually be further ahead at the end of the run. I also had a good lead on Courtney which was something I didn't expect.
I passed a competitor called Aurel on the first lap (of 4) on the bike. Usually I would not pass him till near the end of the bike leg (if at all), so this was a good sign. Aurel has beaten me in every Duathlon, but I've been getting closer. However Aurel has been noticing my improvement and picked up the pace as soon as he saw me pass. Sadly I was not able to pull out of sight and only had a small lead heading into the last run (this was not helped by dropping my chain on the last lap). Running to my bike rack in transition I saw my sunglasses lying next to my runners and cap, which was strange because I alway wear my sunnies on the bike (looks better in the photos). However when I tried to put them on, I discovered I was already wearing mine, these were an identical pair owned by the competitor whose bike rack was next to mine (more time lost).
It took one and half laps (of 2) in the final run for Aurel to catch me. But the hills on the run had destroyed my legs and I had nothing left for a final effort, so he beat me yet again. The good news is that Aurel has moved up an age bracket this season, so it did not affect my place within my age group. The bad news is that David Meade (triathlon & duathlon legend) turned up (he is in my age group) and he won the race overall (a long way ahead of me). But I still managed to score 3rd in my age group, 2 minutes ahead of Courtney who was 4th. I think that is my biggest win over Courtney, but the course suits me better. I expect Courtney will be much tougher to beat at the next race in Richmond which is flat and fast.
Jeremy came 7th in his age group and Elaine won her age group yet again - 3rd time in a row. Elaine only has to finish the last race at Richmond to secure the series win - this usually involves a trophy and sports gear from series sponsor Brooks. It will be the third time Elaine has won the series.
Overall my race went fairly well. My first run was good on a tough course and my second run was only 2 secs a km slower which is probably my best effort to date. The average power on the bike leg was 276 watts (6 watts higher than Somers), but I actually feel I was too conservative and could of ridden harder - the faster than usual 2nd run probably confirms this.
There is only a two week gap to the last Duathlon in Richmond, so this week I have been training hard to try and find some more speed. I ran 17km on Tuesday and am planning to do another Moneghetti Fartlek session this afternoon. The Richmond Duathlon is a week before the Melbourne Marathon and I'm hoping this will keep some of the faster competitors away, allowing me to score a podium in what will be the Victorian State Championships.
On a side note, my weight has dropped further to 77kg (I'd prefer 80). So this morning's shopping included donuts, muffins, Tim Tams and potato chips.
Friday 16 September 2011
Enjoying an easy week before the Duathlon
This weekend is the Duathlon (run/bike/run) at Kew Boulevard, which is an event I have been looking forward to. So I've been taking it easy this week in order to taper for the race. A lot of the stiffness and soreness has disappeared and I'm starting to feel very toey which is probably a good sign. Ideally I would have done an easy mid week ride, but other appointments have prevented this.
I've done two John Van Wisse swim sessions since the last blog entry. Both sessions have been over 3km and I've finished strongly both times. My shoulders always feel sore at the start but warm up as the session goes on. It may be a little while before I'll be able to swim on consecutive nights, but hopefully I'll regularly get in two swims a week for the next month or so.
Last weekend a group of us did the 70km Kinglake Ride. There were about 12 of us that shared a big house a few kilometres out of Whittlesea (the ride start point). Four of us were signed up for the 70km distance (including myself, Elaine and Martine) while the rest were doing the longer 120km ride including Jeremy, Los and Jan who was riding her brand new bike for the first time. Unfortunately the weather was terrible. It was cold, windy and rained pretty much the entire ride including a short burst of hail. I registered for the fast group and intended to sit in the bunch until the big hill at the half way mark of the ride. Unfortunately all the fast riders signed up for the longer ride and I ended up being the only rider in the fast group for the 70km (that started 90 mins later). So it was a lonely ride all by myself with only the lead car 50m in front for company. Not quite what you expect when you enter a ride with over 3000 participants.
Los and her friend Melba completed the full 120km ride, but everybody else from the house cut their ride short by taking the 70km turn off option due to the bad weather. This seemed to be a popular option amongst all riders and I doubt many people ended up riding the full 120km.
Elaine and Martine road together for a lot of their 70km ride, which meant Elaine was able to help Martine fix a puncture - never fun when it is cold and raining. It is probably the longest ride Elaine has done in 18 months, but despite the bad weather she completed the distance comfortably. In fact she did so well that she decided to sign up for the 70km distance at the Alpine Classic in January which involves riding up and down Mt Buffalo. I have signed up for the 200km Alpine Classic Ride which involves 4 mountain passes - Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap & Mt Buffalo. Thanks to Jeremy and Los for inviting us to stay with them at Bright (start point for the Alpine Classic rides).
I've done two John Van Wisse swim sessions since the last blog entry. Both sessions have been over 3km and I've finished strongly both times. My shoulders always feel sore at the start but warm up as the session goes on. It may be a little while before I'll be able to swim on consecutive nights, but hopefully I'll regularly get in two swims a week for the next month or so.
Los and her friend Melba completed the full 120km ride, but everybody else from the house cut their ride short by taking the 70km turn off option due to the bad weather. This seemed to be a popular option amongst all riders and I doubt many people ended up riding the full 120km.
Elaine and Martine road together for a lot of their 70km ride, which meant Elaine was able to help Martine fix a puncture - never fun when it is cold and raining. It is probably the longest ride Elaine has done in 18 months, but despite the bad weather she completed the distance comfortably. In fact she did so well that she decided to sign up for the 70km distance at the Alpine Classic in January which involves riding up and down Mt Buffalo. I have signed up for the 200km Alpine Classic Ride which involves 4 mountain passes - Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap & Mt Buffalo. Thanks to Jeremy and Los for inviting us to stay with them at Bright (start point for the Alpine Classic rides).
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Less than 200 days to go
Even though I have been mainly focusing on my run training, my form on
the bike appears to be very good, whilst my running is still slightly
below expectations. Maybe it is just the affect of having new bikes. Unfortunately I have been neglecting my swim - only
10 sessions in the last 19 weeks, something I'll definitely need to improve upon.
The weekend saw two ride sessions. I have started joining a local ride on Sat morning that leaves at 6:30am from the Seaford bike shop (Cycling Obsession). This is an earlier start that would I would like, but the ride is over by 8:30am leaving me free for the rest of the day. And it is very convenient with the bike shop being just 1km down the road. On Sunday we did a run/bike/run session at Kew Boulevard as a practice for the Duathlon in 2 weeks. My average power for 2 laps of the boulevard was 254 watts with a HR of 145bpm. This compares well against a similar distance at the Somers Duathlon - 270 watts/163bpm (you always go harder in a race).
The weekend saw two ride sessions. I have started joining a local ride on Sat morning that leaves at 6:30am from the Seaford bike shop (Cycling Obsession). This is an earlier start that would I would like, but the ride is over by 8:30am leaving me free for the rest of the day. And it is very convenient with the bike shop being just 1km down the road. On Sunday we did a run/bike/run session at Kew Boulevard as a practice for the Duathlon in 2 weeks. My average power for 2 laps of the boulevard was 254 watts with a HR of 145bpm. This compares well against a similar distance at the Somers Duathlon - 270 watts/163bpm (you always go harder in a race).
In a move to further improve my running, on Tue I decided to do a Moneghetti Fartlek Session (click here for a PDF version). I decided to run the efforts just above my 1500m pace (3m30s/km) and run the recovery float pace at around 5m00s/km. Despite my best efforts I tended to run between 3m35s and 3m40s (the last 2 efforts blew out to 3m50s pace) and while the recovery float pace started at 5m00s pace, it slowly stretched out to 5m30s pace. This is a deceptively difficult session and I was close to vomitting on my cool down run. In fact it took 3 or 4 hours after the run for my stomach to finally settle down. But if the session worked for Mona, it should work for me and hopefully it will get easier (and/or faster) over time.
After the run session I considered wading out into the bay to give the legs a bit of cold water treatment (like the footballers the day after the game), but unfortunately the weather conditions had turned the bay into a surf beach. I drove down to the Ironman swim start at Frankston and took the following photos. Hopefully the water will be calm on race day, because I do not look forward to swimming 3.8km in those conditions.
Tonight I'll be attending my second John Van Wisse swim session for the season. I doubt I will last for the full 3km, but the important thing is that it will be the first week this season that I'll do 2 swims in the one week. I was going over my notes from the Triathlon Coaching course I did 2 years ago and they suggest 6 swims a week when preparing for an Ironman. There is no chance I'll get to 6, but 4 swims a week is a possibility, but that will be a while off.
This weekend Elaine and I will be doing the Kinglake Ride with a group from our Triathlon Club. Elaine, Martine and I will do the shorter 70km option, whilst Jeff, Lee, Jeremy and Los are doing the longer 120km and Jan is still undecided. Last year I did the 120km with Peter and really struggled over the last 40km so opted for the shorter distance this year. However I'm in much better shape than expected and am now regretting not opting for the longer ride, especially when I need more kilometres in my legs in preparation for Ironman.
Bill and Peter are currently over in Beijing for the Age Group World Championships. Peter is doing the Aquathlon and Olympic Distance and Bill is doing the Sprint Distance and then flying to Spain to do the Duathlon. I wish them both the best and although podium finishes against the world's best are extremely unlikely, I'm sure they will place well.
Friday 2 September 2011
Where am I at now ?
I'm 190cm tall (6'3") and exactly one year ago I weighed in at 86kg, this morning I weighed in at 78.3kg. I consider my ideal race weight for a 1 hour sprint event to be around 78kg, however for a long distance event that could take up to (or over) 12 hours, I would be looking more at 80kg. At this time of year I would usually be around 81-82kg (last year we just came back from an overseas holiday). I haven't been training overly hard and have been eating pretty well, so I expect it is other stresses that have contributed to my weight loss. Something to monitor over the next few months. I might have to start eating pizza for health reasons.
I was wondering today, would I be able to cover any of the individual legs in my current condition. Due to the sore shoulders I am currently experiencing when I swim, the 3.8km would certainly be too far. The 180km bike or Marathon would be possible, but the times would be very slow and I would be a complete wreck afterwards and most likely incur an injury. Even with this knowledge, the swim leg of the Ironman is the one I fear the least. I have never swam 3.8km before, but I've swam over 3km lots of times in training and once I get into regular swim sessions, 3km doesn't seem overly far, so an extra 800m should be relatively easy (I hope).
If we were looking at half distances, I could easily swim 1900m, but it would be slow and I would be sore afterwards. A 90km bike ride would be a piece of cake, I believe I would set a good pace and still be relatively fresh afterwards. The Half Marathon would be a challenge, but having previously run this distances 3 times now (once in a Half Marathon, twice as part of a Half Ironman) I would be confident of posting a reasonable time, definitely within 10 mins of my PB.
But having said all that, I have significant concerns about my Ironman bike leg. I have ridden over 180km twice in my life (210km Around the Bay in a Day in 2003 & 2005) and both times I was absolutely destroyed by the end. I am certainly a better rider now, but in Ironman you need to come off the bike feeling relatively fresh because you still have a marathon to run. My longest ride so far this season was 89km 4 weeks ago, I have a lot of bike training to do.
Some of my fears for the run relate to how fresh I will be off the bike. But most of them are to do with the fact that a Marathon is a really long way and the furthest I have ever run is 23km. I ran 15.4km yesterday (4 laps of the TAN) and it did not feel too bad (other than some nasty chafing), but I'm pretty stiff in the legs and lower back today. If I can get my long run over 30km and my weekly mileage over 60km I should be in OK shape. And the chafing was a result of choosing the wrong shorts for a long run, so no issues there.
I have some short ride sessions this weekend due to Father's Day. Next week will be my last hard week of the current training block ending with the Kinglake ride before taking an easy week leading into the Kew Duathlon. My body is really looking forward to the easy week. Overall I have been keeping the training load reasonably light and just slowly extending my long run. In the next few months I will need to also extend my long ride.
I was wondering today, would I be able to cover any of the individual legs in my current condition. Due to the sore shoulders I am currently experiencing when I swim, the 3.8km would certainly be too far. The 180km bike or Marathon would be possible, but the times would be very slow and I would be a complete wreck afterwards and most likely incur an injury. Even with this knowledge, the swim leg of the Ironman is the one I fear the least. I have never swam 3.8km before, but I've swam over 3km lots of times in training and once I get into regular swim sessions, 3km doesn't seem overly far, so an extra 800m should be relatively easy (I hope).
If we were looking at half distances, I could easily swim 1900m, but it would be slow and I would be sore afterwards. A 90km bike ride would be a piece of cake, I believe I would set a good pace and still be relatively fresh afterwards. The Half Marathon would be a challenge, but having previously run this distances 3 times now (once in a Half Marathon, twice as part of a Half Ironman) I would be confident of posting a reasonable time, definitely within 10 mins of my PB.
But having said all that, I have significant concerns about my Ironman bike leg. I have ridden over 180km twice in my life (210km Around the Bay in a Day in 2003 & 2005) and both times I was absolutely destroyed by the end. I am certainly a better rider now, but in Ironman you need to come off the bike feeling relatively fresh because you still have a marathon to run. My longest ride so far this season was 89km 4 weeks ago, I have a lot of bike training to do.
Some of my fears for the run relate to how fresh I will be off the bike. But most of them are to do with the fact that a Marathon is a really long way and the furthest I have ever run is 23km. I ran 15.4km yesterday (4 laps of the TAN) and it did not feel too bad (other than some nasty chafing), but I'm pretty stiff in the legs and lower back today. If I can get my long run over 30km and my weekly mileage over 60km I should be in OK shape. And the chafing was a result of choosing the wrong shorts for a long run, so no issues there.
I have some short ride sessions this weekend due to Father's Day. Next week will be my last hard week of the current training block ending with the Kinglake ride before taking an easy week leading into the Kew Duathlon. My body is really looking forward to the easy week. Overall I have been keeping the training load reasonably light and just slowly extending my long run. In the next few months I will need to also extend my long ride.
Sunday 28 August 2011
I'm in !!!
Entries for Ironman Melbourne opened today at 1pm, by 1:07pm all 1500 slots had been taken. The official sellout time may be longer because entrants had 20 mins to complete their registrations and any incomplete entries went back on sale.
Now that I am officially entered, I am surprisingly not stricken with fear. Maybe the insanity required to even contemplate an Ironman has now taken full grip of my senses. Although there is a certain amount of dread when I think about some of the ridiculously long training sessions I'll need to complete.
This week's training was my biggest of the season so far at just under 11 hours and was dominated by 185kms of riding, including 3 categorised climbs (Arthurs Seat, 1 in 20 and The Wall). Of course this distance was done over 3 separate rides, whereas on race day I'll do this in one go, preceded by a very long swim and followed by a marathon - maybe best not to think about this.
Now that I am officially entered, I am surprisingly not stricken with fear. Maybe the insanity required to even contemplate an Ironman has now taken full grip of my senses. Although there is a certain amount of dread when I think about some of the ridiculously long training sessions I'll need to complete.
This week's training was my biggest of the season so far at just under 11 hours and was dominated by 185kms of riding, including 3 categorised climbs (Arthurs Seat, 1 in 20 and The Wall). Of course this distance was done over 3 separate rides, whereas on race day I'll do this in one go, preceded by a very long swim and followed by a marathon - maybe best not to think about this.
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Only 4 days before entries go online - decision time
I eased back into training last week after the Duathlon. The legs were stiff for a few days, but actually felt better once I put a bit of run mileage back into them. The week saw 7.5 hours of training which included 35km of running.
This week should see an increase, and I'm expecting around 11 hours largely due to a 3 hour ride today up to the top of Arthurs Seat. Originally I planned to do a short, easy ride of around 40km, but the weather was so good I just kept going and ended up with a hilly 80km. The Arthurs Seat climb is just under 3km with an average gradient of 8%. The picture on the right is from a lookup about 400m from the top.
There have been a few aches and pains, especially in my shoulders from swimmimg, but nothing too serious so far. Hopefully my body will be able to manage the heavy training load - it is certainly going to require a lot of maintenance. At the moment my thoughts on entering Ironman Melbourne are "Yes", but that could change in the next 4 days.
Entries for Ironman Melbourne go on sale at 1pm this Sunday. There has been lots of conjecture about how fast the event will sell out, so I will have to be at my computer and ready to start typing quickly at 1pm.
This week should see an increase, and I'm expecting around 11 hours largely due to a 3 hour ride today up to the top of Arthurs Seat. Originally I planned to do a short, easy ride of around 40km, but the weather was so good I just kept going and ended up with a hilly 80km. The Arthurs Seat climb is just under 3km with an average gradient of 8%. The picture on the right is from a lookup about 400m from the top.There have been a few aches and pains, especially in my shoulders from swimmimg, but nothing too serious so far. Hopefully my body will be able to manage the heavy training load - it is certainly going to require a lot of maintenance. At the moment my thoughts on entering Ironman Melbourne are "Yes", but that could change in the next 4 days.
Entries for Ironman Melbourne go on sale at 1pm this Sunday. There has been lots of conjecture about how fast the event will sell out, so I will have to be at my computer and ready to start typing quickly at 1pm.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Duathlon - Somers
Having had at least one good training week since the last Duathlon at Knox, I decided to pretend I was in good form and race hard from the start. Unfortunately most of field took off ridiculously fast, so I immediately changed strategy and reverted to trying to pace myself as best I could. My first km was run in 3m48s, but the head of the field was already completely out of the sight and there was a decent gap between me and the main pack. Concentrating on maintaining good rhythm I pulled back and passed a handful of competitors and ended with a 5km run split of 20m16s, 72 secs faster than Knox so I was very happy. However this run ended up being ranked 42 out of 82 competitors, so I was in the back half of the field.
After a slow transition, I got to the mount line and realised I still hadn't practised mounting my new tri-bike. Due to the much steeper seat angle, the seat sits a lot higher than my old bike and I was very hesitant to try and leap onto it for the first time in a race, so I settled for a conservative mount.
The Somer's course has a slightly longer bike leg (an extra 2km) and I figured this would probably go in my favour. I set off after my competitors, but with the help of a power meter was able to pace myself much better than in the past. Being able to see your wattage helps prevent you from over exerting up the hills and from slacking off on the downhills and flats. I haven't calculated my FTP yet, but had a rough idea from the 2x5km TTs I did at the velodrome and decided to try and maintain a fairly constant 280 watts. I caught and passed a lot of riders on the 2nd lap (of 2) and was I was definitely happy with my first real hitout on the new bike. I ended up with the 15th fastest bike split overall (and fastest in my age category), which moved me from 42nd to 25th place. My average speed for the 22km bike split was 36.6kph and average wattage was 270. As far as the bike fit went, I think I would actually be more comfortable if the front was a bit lower, but I doubt anything is going to make the seat feel better.
Even though the final run in a sprint duathlon is only 3km, it is always the most painful part of the race and usually the section where my race falls apart. Coming out of T2, I saw I had small lead over Peter and if I could maintain a good rhythm I should be able to hold him off. An average pace of 4m10s saw me lose 8 places in the overall standings, but was enough to hold off Peter who ended up only clawing back 7 seconds.
Elaine won her age group again, Bill and I both scored second places whilst Martine and Jeremy finished in that unlucky 4th place. Peter placed 5th (3 secs behind 4th) and the Howards were very happy with their efforts in the Mini after competing as individuals instead of forming a team.Overall I am extremely pleased with how the race went and suprised to score a 2nd place (other races on the same day no doubt weakened the field in my age group). Hopefully I'll get in 3 solid weeks of training before the Kinglake Ride (a hilly 75km) and be well prepared for the Kew Boulevard Duathlon the week after. The Kew Duathlon is a on a very tough course and is part of the National Series. This means it is a selection race for the Age Group World Championships to be held in France in around Sep 2012 - and Elaine really wants to go to France again.
How Sprint Duathlon form relates to Ironman, I don't know. But I'm in better condition than I expected, and that can only be a good thing.
Friday 12 August 2011
First good week of training for the season
For the first time this season I completed what I consider a full week's training. It was certainly not a big week, but it contained 1 swim, 3 runs & 3 rides. The runs were an interval run, long run & brick run, whilst the rides consisted of short velodrome TTs, brick and a 90km long ride. The week's mileage was swim 2km, run 24km & bike 130km, which equates to 161 Slowtwitch training points (a big training week for me leading up to a HIM would be 300+ points).
Anyway, that was last week. This week the body feels a little stiff and I decided to taper for this weekend's duathlon. It is pretty lazy to taper after only 1 week of effort, but it pays to listen to your body and gradually introduce training load over the pre-season. If I am any chance of completing an Ironman in March, it is extremely important to stay healthy and injury free.
So far, this week has only consisted of 2 runs, an interval run with lots of hill repeats and a 10km easy run. I usually run my long runs at a comfortable pace, but this time I ran to heart rate, which meant running about 45 secs per kilometre slower. Hopefully my aerobic engine will adapt over time and my pace will increase for the same heart rate. My dream is to be able to run at 5 min pace with a HR of 140 (that would give me a marathon time of 3h31m), but I think I am kidding myself - 5m30s is probably a far more realistic target (3h52s marathon).
I can foresee running to heart rate causing internal conflict during the season as I strive to find speed for the Sprint Distance races. A lot of triathletes simply avoid the shorter races when training for Ironman, but I think this would make the season too boring. There is nothing quite like smashing yourself in a short race. The quality of the field is usually less, so there is always the chance of a podium and you are usually fully recovered within a day or so.
I'm looking forward to the Duathlon this Sunday. I don't think I'll have much run speed (or endurance), but I'm excited to see what sort of time I can post of my new tri-bike. The front tyre that punctured last race has been replaced and I've swapped the rear Zipp 808 for my disk wheel, I think the bike looks really good.
Of course I will almost certainly not learn from my puncture last race and will again race without a spare or even a can of pitstop. Sometimes vanity is our own worst enemy.
Anyway, that was last week. This week the body feels a little stiff and I decided to taper for this weekend's duathlon. It is pretty lazy to taper after only 1 week of effort, but it pays to listen to your body and gradually introduce training load over the pre-season. If I am any chance of completing an Ironman in March, it is extremely important to stay healthy and injury free.
So far, this week has only consisted of 2 runs, an interval run with lots of hill repeats and a 10km easy run. I usually run my long runs at a comfortable pace, but this time I ran to heart rate, which meant running about 45 secs per kilometre slower. Hopefully my aerobic engine will adapt over time and my pace will increase for the same heart rate. My dream is to be able to run at 5 min pace with a HR of 140 (that would give me a marathon time of 3h31m), but I think I am kidding myself - 5m30s is probably a far more realistic target (3h52s marathon).
I can foresee running to heart rate causing internal conflict during the season as I strive to find speed for the Sprint Distance races. A lot of triathletes simply avoid the shorter races when training for Ironman, but I think this would make the season too boring. There is nothing quite like smashing yourself in a short race. The quality of the field is usually less, so there is always the chance of a podium and you are usually fully recovered within a day or so.
Of course I will almost certainly not learn from my puncture last race and will again race without a spare or even a can of pitstop. Sometimes vanity is our own worst enemy.
Monday 8 August 2011
Ironman Melbourne is announced
I had never considered doing an Ironman. Rumours about Ironman Melbourne had been circulating for over 12 months, and I'll admit that an Ironman race in my home town had caught my interest. But all the rumours had mentioned Docklands as the location, and having previously lived in an apartment at Docklands I had no intention of ever swimming in that water.
But with the official announcement of Ironman Melbourne came the previously unmentioned location of Frankston. This is a location very close to where I live, in fact it will be the closest a Triathlon has ever been to my house. Maybe this is a sign.
I still think the event is utter madness and I still do not believe I am capable of completing such a ridiculously long event. But I find myself seriously considering the idea. Even my wife Elaine is suggesting I give it some thought.
Entries go online on 28th August, so I have another 20 days to decide if I want to do something really stupid
But with the official announcement of Ironman Melbourne came the previously unmentioned location of Frankston. This is a location very close to where I live, in fact it will be the closest a Triathlon has ever been to my house. Maybe this is a sign.
I still think the event is utter madness and I still do not believe I am capable of completing such a ridiculously long event. But I find myself seriously considering the idea. Even my wife Elaine is suggesting I give it some thought.
Entries go online on 28th August, so I have another 20 days to decide if I want to do something really stupid
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