Gait Analysis

It's been a pretty big training week. This weekend we did swimmimg time trials followed by bike time trials on the velodrome. Then this morning (Sunday), Elaine and I had a Gait Analysis session provided for free through the Triathlon Club. The gait analysis expert (Kevin) is from the Australian Institute of Sport and has tested a lot of Australia's top athletes (what a come down testing us).

The Gait Analysis involved us being videod doing 3 short runs (about 20m long). One running towards the camera and two running away with the camera focusing on different sections of the body for the two different away runs. Elaine needs to strengthen her core muscles because the video shows her hips collapsing a little after landing. My hips are good thanks to all the core strength work I did before Ironman, but I have other issues. Most obviously my feet splay outwards (far more than I realised) and I have a weakness in my Vastus Lateralis (outer quad). It's not so much that my Vastus Lateralis is weak, it is more that my Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO or inner quad) is overly strong due to all my cycling. So I now have an extra set of squats to do with my foot turned in to strengthen the Vastus Lateralis. Apparrently the splayed feet are not a big issue, but they look terrible, whereas I cannot even detect the Vastus Lateralis problem. Follow this link to one of the gait analysis videos

I did 2 x 700m swimming Time Trials (TTs) in 13m10s and 12m50s. Not great times, but I'm very happy to be swimming this well so early in the season. Plus I clocked up 7.6km of swimming for the week, biggest swim week of the season so far.

The bike time trials consisted of three 16 minute time trials where I averaged 40.4kph, 40.9kph & 40.4kph. I would usually be happy with these results, but considering that the only ride I've done in the last 3 weeks has been a 30 minute windtrainer session - I'm extremely happy. I usually do all my time trials with training wheels, but I've been lazy and left my ZIPP 808s on since Ironman, so it is a little difficult to compare with past results (the ZIPP 808 race wheels are very fast). Unfortunately I've currently got the Power Meter on my road bike, so I cannot compare power files either. The only downside to come out of the ride is that I again suffered bad saddle sores (I don't have this problem on my road bike). Riding for 90 minutes should not result in saddle sores, so I definitely need to start exploring other seat options. I'm hoping to trial an ISM Adamo or Cobb saddle.

Today's run mileage was 15km, consisting of a 3km warmup run before the Gait Analysis and then a 12km long run this afternoon. This brings my weekly mileage up to just over 32km (equal highest for the season).

Injuries Are Improving

My back still feels delicate and seems like it would not take much to trigger it again. But it is no longer impacting any of my sessions. Even when I do the one legged squat exercises for my knee, there is no longer any twinges from my back.

Talking of the one legged squats, since I started doing these exercises more regulary, I've definitely noticed improvement in my knee (patellar tendinopathy injury). Sounds pretty obvious doesn't it - do the rehab exercises and your injury will improve. The problem is that you always think you are doing the exercises, but it wasn't till I started recording them in my training diary that I realised I wasn't doing them anywhere near often enough. Now I'm doing the squats at least every 2nd day and I'm using the foam roller on my quads and ITB 2 out of 3 days.

The sore shoulders are still there, but no where near as bad as they were. And they now have almost no impact on my swimming. Unfortunately I'm developing a sore neck. In particular it hurts when I look over my right shoulder. It feels better for a few days after the chiropractor works on it, but I only see him once every 3 weeks.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how things are slowly progressing. Below is a Strava session of a new running route we discovered near work.

Lazy Weekend

Unusually good weather for July over the weekend, yet I didn't really make much of use of it. Friday morning was beautiful in the outdoor pool at GESAC, but I elected to sleep in on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Elaine headed off for a heated stone massage and pedicure on Saturday - a special treat I had organised for her birthday. My knee was still not feeling great, so instead of joining my usual ride with the Cycling Obsession group, I planted myself in front of the TV and caught up with the happenings of the Tour de France. Unfortunately the British Sky team had proved completely dominant and made it a pretty boring race, but Cavendish's win in the last flat stage before the Time Trial was very dramatic.

Late Saturday morning I did manage to venture out and complete an easy 10km run (with heart alert on). During the run there was no actual knee pain, but there was an awareness towards the end of the run. It is sort of a funny feeling. Not bad enough to say 'discomfort', but I definitely notice a difference from normal. Maybe it was something as subtle as areas of knee being a different temperature. I iced the knee straight after the run and used the foam roller later in the day - my quads on both legs are very tight.

Sunday was another beautiful day and I planned to go for a nice easy morning ride - 2 to 3 hours at a constant aerobic level. Once again I ended up in front of the TV. Not only did I have another stage of the Tour de France to watch, I had also recorded the qualifying session of the Formula One. Towards the end of a very lazy day I headed out for a slow 4.2km run just after 4pm. When I got back I jumped on the Windtrainer. I setup the laptop next to me outside in the courtyard so that I could listen to the Podcast from First Off The Bike while I rode. Initially I was tossing up between a 1 or 2 hour ride, but I ended up quitting after only 35 minutes. I didn't even make it till the end of the podcast which was 40 minutes. I really dislike Windtrainer sessions, which is another reason why I should have done the ride on the road in the morning.

After having sleep ins on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, I wasted all the benefits of that extra rest by staying up late Sunday night to watch the Formula One race in Germany and then a bit of the Tour de France. At least the Tour is over now, so I can resume normal sleeping patterns. Unfortunately the Olympics are just around the corner.

Garmin Heart Rate Strap problems

The Garmin Heart Rate Strap I use for my training sessions is problematic, the main issue being that it often shows (and records) elevated heart rate readings. I'll be running along at an extremely easy pace and look down at my watch and see 170bpm when I know it is actually around 135bpm.

This elevated reading usually occurs in the first ten minutes or so. Then it will settle down and behave itself for the rest of the session (but not always). Any headwind that causes my top to flutter against the strap nearly always triggers the problem as well. I assume the fluttering causes static interference or similar. Last season I did most of my sessions in a tight fitting tri-top, but this is not as convenient during the cold months of Winter.

To my knowledge Garmin has release 3 different straps, 1 hard and 2 soft versions - I had tried them all. Brand new, the straps usually work well, but it doesn't take long for the same problems to arise with each one. Keeping them clean, especially the contacts between the actual transmitter unit and the strap helps, but does not eliminate the problem. Some running and cycling tops seem more problematic than others, maybe different materials are more prone to static electricity (assuming that is the cause).

Obviously the unreliability of the heart rate readings is extremely frustrating when you are trying to train at a particular heart rate. Since Ironman I have turned off the heart rate alert functionality, because I got sick of it continually beeping despite me running at a very slow pace. The result is that a lot of my runs have crept up a little too high in pace (and actual heart rate), so they have not been quite as effective as they should. It is also annoying when you use training software to accurately report how long you have spent in each heart rate zone for the week or month - ideally you want to do at least %80 of your training in zone 2 (aerobic).

Through trial and error I have identified the running tops that seem to be the worst offenders for interference. I have also discovered that making sure the chest contact points are very wet before the session starts greatly reduces the initial elevated readings. With these new measures in place, I have re-activated the heart rate alert setting on my watch. Hopefully I can keep the strap problems to a minimum and continue to improve my aerobic training base.

Catching up on Sleep

My knee had become a little sore after the ride two Saturdays ago. I missed the Dandenongs Ride last Saturday (looked like it was a great ride) and did two runs over last weekend instead.

Last week's run mileage was 32km. Not big by normal standards, but easily the biggest so far this season and my knee seems to be complaining about it. In general I almost felt like I was getting run down. Tuesday morning I skipped the early morning swim session and ended up taking a sick day from work - which of course meant I didn't go for my usual Tuesday run either.

I was back at work on Wednesday, but rather than try to sneak in a catchup training session I decided to have another training rest day. Wednesday night I had my Chiropractor appointment and we went over my knee X-rays. There are minor signs of wear and tear but nothing you wouldn't expect to see on a 20 year old athlete and I'm 43. This doesn't mean there is nothing wrong with my knee, it simply means the skeletal side is all good and the problem lies in the tendons.

Having not done a ride on the weekend and having missed most of the seasons so far this week, I decided to make it a recovery week. Originally I thought my current training load was too light to require a recovery week, but it seemed to slot into the overall training plan quite well. I reduced today's run to 6km (down from 8) and hopefully I'll start to feel better and slowly ramp the load back up over the weekend.

Early Mornings, Motorbikes and a Cat

Leaving no margin for error is a sure way to trigger Murphy's Law.

Elaine was still overseas and I had Sunday free, so I planned a motorbike ride to Lorne with a couple of guys from work. Then during the week, head coach Clint asked me to take a Sunday training session. I chose to make it a run session starting from the Clubrooms, as I could ride there on my motorbike, shower after the run and then join the guys for the ride to Lorne. This would save a lot of time by not having to go back home after the session.

On Sunday morning I needed to leave home around 6:50am to unlock the gate and have the clubrooms open and ready for the session starting at 7:30am. I was pretty organised, breakfast had been cooked and eaten, running gear was packed and I was dressed in my motorbike gear ready to go. It had been an important stage in the Tour de France the night before (which I'd recorded), so I thought I'd have a quick watch. Through a combination of fast forward and jumping I was quickly getting through the 3 hours of recording. Then I came across an exciting part and switched the playback to normal speed so I wouldn't miss anything. Obviously this ate up a fair bit of time, and before I realised, it was already 6:50am and I was still sitting on the couch.

I still had time, I simply wasn't leaving quite as early as intended. I raced downstairs, starting warming up the motorbike and opened the garage door so I could move the bike out into the driveway.

As soon as the garage door started to open, the neighbours cat darted in under the gap and shot through into the house. Our neighbour has two cats and they love to explore our house, but usually aren't wandering around this early. We usually see the cats mid morning or lunchtime on the weekends when they seem quite relaxed. My previous experience has found them to be extra frisky first thing in the morning. I raced in after the cat and as soon as he saw me, he flew up the stairs. Of the two cats, this is the less approachable one. Neither cats are in the slightest way vicious or dangerous, this cat simply likes to avoid human contact.

Taking stock of the situation, I closed all the downstairs doors as this would limit his downstairs hiding options. Once upstairs I found him hiding under the kitchen table. As I moved around he sped past and into the bedroom - Damn ! I should have closed the door when I had the chance. I found him hiding under the bed, after a little coaxing I got him back into the Family Room. But this just led to a Benny Hill like chase around the couch.

It took a while, and a lot of frustation on my behalf, but I finally maneovered him downstairs. Of course a cat flies downstairs much quicker than me, so by the time I got there he was out of sight. I had left the front door wide open in the hope he would run straight out, but I when I looked outside I couldn't see him. This meant I needed to do another thorough search of the house to make sure he hadn't found a new hiding spot.

By the time I finally headed off it was 7:05am (15 minutes late). Luckily I experienced a good run to Sandringham and arrived at the Clubrooms at 7:28am, not a disaster, but still meant I was very rushed - far from an ideal situation.

I ran 10.5km along the Bayside coastal track and then did a 380km motorbike ride to Lorne and back. The Weather was good for the run, but cold, windy and wet for the ride. Below is the Strava details for the run, although I suspect a map of the cat chase would have been more interesting.

Double Swim

After Saturday's long (and very cold) ride, my knee pulled up a little sore. I should have iced the knee after the ride, but after being out in below freezing temperatures, the last thing I wanted to do was apply ice to my body. As a result I decided to skip my long run on Sunday to give my knee some time to recover.

To make up for missing a run, it seemed like a good idea to add in an extra swim Monday night. I took an instant meal to work to have for tea at 5:30pm (an hour before the swim session). This would not only fuel me for the session, but more importantly remove the hassle of having to cook tea when I got home - always a problem with evening training sessions.

Tuesday morning the alarm went off (always too early) and I headed off to my second swimming session in 12 hours. As soon as I started the car, the petrol warning light came on. So the whole way to the pool I was concentrating on finding a petrol station. The first couple were still closed (it was 5:40am), but luckily I found one open just before Southland. All this concentration meant I forgot to eat my banana - something I didn't realise until I was on the pool deck. At this point I also realised I'd left my water bottle in the car. It seems I'm lost without Elaine, as I'm sure none of this would have happened if she was in the car.

Doing two swim sessions within 12 hours was always going to be difficult. But having barely eaten between them made it almost impossible. I was surprisingly good for the first kilometre, but then things went quickly downhill. Just having a water bottle full of sports drink would've probably been enough to get me through, but with no nutrition at all, I soon dropped off the pace. It was a pity, because it was a good session with a main set of 9 x 100m on 1m50s (twice).

I've since had a good breakfast and an even better coffee and plan to run at lunchtime. Hopefully the knee will hold out - I have the XRay booked for late this afternoon.

Coldest Ride Ever

Rather than do my usual Saturday morning ride with the Cycling Obsession group, I decided to join the Mercury session instead, which departed Sandringham at 7am. Despite starting 30 minutes later, I had to leave home 20 minutes earlier because I needed to ride the 23km to the ride start. My usual Cycling Obsession ride is only 1 kilometre away.

Heading off at 6:10am, the temperature seemed very cold. I was wearing full winter gear - very warm cycling jacket, thermal hiking t-shirt, thermal skull cap, Buff (neck warmer), leg warmers, calf compression socks, another pair of thick sport socks over the compression socks, full inner gloves, fingerless gloves and full winter gloves (yes, 3 pairs of gloves). Knowing that I would come back past my house at around the 46km mark, I put slightly less warm clothes in a bag on my doorstep. The theory was that I would be getting too hot by then and would want to change before hitting the hills.

It wasn't long before my fingers started to freeze. However I discovered that if I maintained a heart rate of around 135bpm, the resulting body warmth was enough to combat the cold. But this didn't stop me from pulling the Buff above my nose so that I barely had any exposed skin - a sight that Clint (the coach) found quite amusing when I arrived at Sandringham.

After a small wait, we headed back towards Frankston. Riding within the peleton resulted in my heart rate dropping and the freezing finger experience returning. Initially my turns at the front raised the heart rate just enough to feel some relief, but this was short lived. The temperature definitely seemed to be getting colder. I quickly realised that I would definitely not be stopping for less warm clothes.

As we rode into Frankston it was so cold I was starting to loose feeling in some of my fingers, which made braking a little interesting. This prompted me to check the temperature on my Garmin bike computer and I saw MINUS ONE degree. I have lived in Melbourne all my life and cannot remember ever seeing a minus temperature (where's global warming when you need it). The temperature hovered between minus one and zero for the next hour. The only positive was that we had now arrived at the hilly section of the ride. A heart rate of 160 brought a little feeling back into my fingers, but I was still feeling very cold.

Once the sun got a little height, the temperature slowly began to rise. I could not believe it when I could feel the warmth of 3 degrees. By the time it reached 6 degrees I almost felt toasty. The last stages of the ride were quite pleasant with the mercury almost reaching 7 degrees. I had taken a packet of Winners Gel Blasts and two water bottles, both containing sports drink. However when I got home, I realised I had only consumed less than half of one bottle. This is nowhere near enough for a 100km ride, something I'll have to improve upon in the future.

Below are the Strava details (a relatively slow ride):

Distracted but still training

A small gap in blog posts, mainly due to the all the time spent watching the Tour de France. No real action in relation to the General Classification (Yellow Jersey), but heaps of action none the less. Lots of crashes (which is unfortunate) and some very exciting finishes to each stage. On some stages the peleton was riding at nearly 60kph for the last 20km - unbelievable.

Training has been going well. Nothing special, just getting the sessions done. At the moment I'm doing 1 ride, 2 swims and 3 runs per week. This will slowly build as the season progresses, but I'm happy with the small but consistent training building a nice base.

And welcome to my fifth follower Chris.