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.
Monday 26 September 2011
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.
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