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.
Monday 31 October 2011
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.
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