Bayside Classic

The week started off easy as I recovered from last Sunday's Duathlon, but hit full speed as I participated in the first edition of the Bayside Classic - organised by the Bayside Triathlon Club. The ride was 120km and contained several Intermediate Sprints and King of the Moutains (KOM). Points were available for the first 4 riders past each Sprint and KOM point. Each one had a starting point about 1 kilometre before, so you could not break away early and steal the points.
With very little riding mileage in my legs, I knew 120km would be too far. So I decided to join the ride as it got close to my house and finish at my house on the way home - this would result in a ride of under 90km. This would obviously mean I would miss the final sprint, but I'd still get a chance to participant in some Sprints and all the KOMs.
After coming fifth in the first sprint (one place out of the points), I managed to get on the scoreboard with a 4th place on the Oliver's Hill KOM (600m @ 6.5%). I did one better on Balcombe Hill (2.4km @ 4.1%) with a 3rd place and managed another 4th place climbing up Arthur's Seat (2.8km @ 8.7%).
I was never intending to climb Arthur's Seat. It is very steep with several sections over 10% gradient and I was worried it would flare up my knee injury. However as I approached, my resolve to skip the climb weakened. When the peleton continued up the hill, I simply followed. I started off easy with no intention of fighting for KOM points, but other riders slowly dropped away. Riding a hill that steep was always going to take a lot out of my legs, but I still felt reasonably good.
After Arthur's Seat we headed back towards Mornington. I love the twisty, undulating roads along the cliffs in Mt Martha, but right near the start we encountered a detour leading us up Bradford Rd. This unexpected detour involved a 1.8km climb at an average of 6.6% gradient. Not a huge climb, but I think the unexpected nature of it made it worse, plus it was one of those hills that just kept going. Bradford Rd continued all the way back to Nepean Hwy which meant we would miss the last KOM at Beleura Hill. Not that I would have scored any points, the mileage we had covered and the extra hardship of the detour hill had left my legs with nothing. I was dropped by the peleton before we reached Mornington and rode home with one other rider from the group.
All up I was extremely happy with the ride. It was well organised over a great course with well positioned Sprints and KOMs. I missed the last 3 sprints after being dropped, but that gives me extra incentive to get into better shape before the next event. And my power file showed some great figures, the sort of effort I cannot duplicate in a normal ride.
After the ride I was completely wrecked. All my muscles felt fatigued, but I don't believe I suffered any injuries. Today I managed a slow 14km run. Again I felt fatigued but not overly sore.
Below is the Strava details for the Bayside Classic Ride:

Review of the Rocket Science Race Belt

Race belts are used to hold race numbers, an alternative to attaching them to your top with safety pins. The photo to the right shows my new Rocket Science Race Belt holding the race number from the Duathlon on the weekend.

Most Short course Triathlons (Mini, Sprint & Olympic) do not use race numbers. Instead they rely on arm numbering. However nearly all Duathlons and Long Course Triathlons do have use race number bibs. In fact it is not unusual for the Long Course Triathlons to use two separate race number bibs - one for the bike leg and a different one for the run. The two race number bibs will have the same number, but advertise a different sponsor. In these races I need 2 race belts.

The next two photos show my previous two race belts. They are different styles with the Fuel Belt one using toggles and the other one using press studs - I've had problems with both.

The press studs can be very difficult to snap together through the race bib material. Generally you need to align the press stud exactly over the hole in the bib - but I always find the race bib is wider than the gaps between the press studs.

The toggles are extremely easy to attach, but not overly secure - I've lost one in a race. Through experience I've discovered you need to attach the bib rather loosely. If you push the toggles tight up against the belt, the elastic nature of the belt will end up creating too much force against the toggle and shoot it off. Again this is partly a problem of the positioning of the toggles not always matching up against the holes in the race bib. This isn't helped by the fact the belt is elastic, so the length of the gap will depend upon how much the belt is stretched.

Whenever using either of these race belts, I nearly always safety pin the bib to the belt because I simply do not trust the fasteners. Also, using safety pins and ignoring the fasteners allows me to better line up the width of the bib to the belt. But safety pins do not stretch with body movement, so there is still a chance the bib may rip and fall off.

The Rocket Science race belt uses rings to attach the bib. Not only are the rings far more secure, they are also moveable along the belt rather than being fixed in a set position. You can see from the photo that there is a red rubber patch that grips the ring to keep it in place, but you can also place the ring past this rubber patch.  This means I can get a perfect fit regardless of the race bib size. A better fit means that it will also be more aerodynamic when riding on the bike. Flapping clothes or race belts can be one biggest causes of extra drag.

But wait, there's more. As shown in the photo on the left, the Rocket Science race belt also has little loops that can carry gels. In the photo I've shown 3 gels attached to the belt, but it can hold up to the 6 gels. They are securely held, but easily removed by pulling down on the gel.

I have not tried to run with gels in the race belt yet, so cannot truly rate their effectiveness. However I suspect it will be far more convenient than carrying them in back pocket of my tri top. I don't carry gels on the run in Short Course races, but I definitely intend to utilize this feature when I race the Half Ironman at Geelong in February.

Richmond Duathlon

The purpose of this weekend's Duathlon was to see where my speed and fitness was, which would tell me how effective my training has been. The short answer is that I seem to have the speed, but my fitness is certainly lacking. Overall this is better than I expected. My race splits were:

• Run 5km - 19m21s (3m55s pace)
• T1 - 0m35s
• Bike 20km - 31m44s (38.0 kph)
• T2 - 0m28s
• Run 3km - 12m26s (4m08s pace)
• Overall - 1h04m36s

Elaine and I had party in Rosebud on Saturday night. This was always going to mean limited sleep before the race. It wasn't helped when I didn't notice that this race had a later than usual start at 9am (instead of 8am) - Elaine was not happy with me. However the upside was that I scored prime position in transition.
As we gathered on the start line I noticed that a lot of the big guns had come out to play (including several speedsters in my age group). I had hoped that the clash of dates with the Half Marathon in Sandringham would have thinned the field, but a lot of the athletes who are doing the Age Group World Championships in Auckland next month decided to use this race as a good hit out.
My nemesis from last year Aurel was present and he had a new bike. After beating him for the first time ever in the last Duathlon last season, I was now confident I had him covered (not sure if there was any logic to that confidence). A new club member Peter and his wife Tatjana were also racing - this is a different Peter to the one I mentioned last season. I had never raced Peter before and I was interested to see how I matched up. I suspected he had a slight edge on the run, but I was confident my biking ability would hold me in good stead.
The first run went well. I found a good rhythm and was able to sit 10 metres or so behind Peter and Aurel, who out of pure coincidence were running together. They slowly extended the gap as the race went on, but never moved out of sight. Looking at my average pace for each of the 1km run splits:

  3m41s, 3m49s, 3m54s, 3m57s, 4m12s

I suspect Peter and Aurel maintained a relatively steady pace, whilst I slowly fell away. But I'm happy with my run split of 19m21s.

Having fallen away significantly towards the end of the first run, I took a conservative approach on the bike leg. I've been averaging less than one ride a week for the last two months and most of those rides have been quite short (some only 30km). So I ditched my usual strategy of pushing really hard and decided to keep some energy in reserve for the last run. Even holding back, I still posted a good bike split compared to the other riders (20th fastest overall for the race). However as the 5km splits below show, my speed still dropped off.

  38.6kph, 38.8kph, 37.5kph, 37.0kph

As expected the 2nd run was a little ugly. In the beginning I struggled with sore calf muscles, but I slowly found a rhythm before struggling again towards the end. At the turn I saw a had a reasonable lead over both Peter and Aurel and that helped me maintain some sort of pace to the finish line. Below are the kilometre splits for the last 3km run:

  4m15s, 4m05s, 4m07s

The last time I raced on this course in October 2011, it was my best ever race. Today I was only 90 seconds slower, and I didn't dig anywhere near as deep. One year ago my Duathlon Run split was 20m16s (at Somers), so I am in much better condition than the same time last year. Elaine also had a great race. She won her age group as expected (I missed the podium), but was also very happy with her time and overall place.

Muscle Fatigue

Elaine and I plan to race the Duathlon at Richmond this Sunday. My original intention was to train right up to the event and then have an easy recovery week afterwards. However my body feels like it is currently on the limit, one hard session away from injury.

Not surprisingly the running speed work on consecutive Tuesdays has taken its toll. I believe I gained a lot out of the speed sessions. Having not done any fast running for about 10 months, I needed to re-discover my rhythm. On Saturday morning I joined the early morning Cycling Obsession ride. The ride was surprisingly subdued, which was good, but I when I went for an easy 4km run off the bike, my legs felt extremely heavy. I skipped the planned hilly ride in the Dandenongs on Sunday and instead did a long 14km run. My legs felt quite heavy for the first 5km of the run, felt good for the next 5km, but then everything felt quite lousy for the last 4km.

This week I'll still swim as planned, but cut back on my running and will probably skip the Saturday morning ride. I need to do lots of stretching, foam roller work and single leg squats, plus I have a massage booked for Wednesday night which should help loosen everything up. The main areas of stiffness are my quads and ITB, closely followed by my calf muscles and I have minor discomfort in my knees - probably because of the tight quads and ITB.

Sunday afternoon I started prepping my Tri-bike ready for the race.

Reminiscing with Strangers

Yesterday it rained for most of the day. After a particularly heavy shower just before noon, my small running group at work unanimously decided to skip the usual Thursday lunchtime run. Instead we relaxed in the common room eating our lunch and despite the Radar Map predicting otherwise, we watched the skies clear to produce one of the few gaps of clear weather for day.

Fortunately I had driven into work, Elaine had an afterwork function and would catch the train home. I always intended to drive to my 7pm coaching session directly from work. So I simply re-scheduled my day so that I'd arrive at the running track at 5:45pm giving me time to get in a run beforehand.

As I cruised around the 1.2km track at Duncan McKinnon reserve I struck up a friendly conversation with another runner who was travelling at a similar speed (which was pretty slow). The conversation took the usuall route of 'what events are you training for'. While I'm looking at doing the Duathlon Sunday week, my new friend Neil Gilbert, was training for the Sandringham Half Marathon being run on the same day.

The Half Marathon is a lead up event for Neil as he prepares for his 6th attempt at the Hawaii Ironman. More often referred to as 'Kona' (the name of the big island that hosts the event), this is the Ironman World Championships and the Holy Grail for nearly all triathletes. Each Ironman race contains qualifying slots for Kona, the more high profile the race, the more slots available. These slots are highly contested and for those lucky (and fast) enough to score one, it is like qualifying for the Olympics - some people would think it was better. Mere mortals like myself are realistic enough to know that Kona is no more than a dream.

My Duathlon is being run at Richmond Boulevard. Neil remembered racing a Duathlon there back in 1998 (won by Emma Carney in controversial circumstances). I've forgotten how many races he said he'd done, but I think it was around 290, including 35 Ironmans. He would have done more, but suffered a terrible case of Hypothyriodism (or it could have been hyperthyriodism, I get confused). The thyroid condition was a result of drinking lots of a certain brand of Soy Milk that contained excessive amounts of Iodine.

One of the tests for Hypothyriodism (or hyperthyriodism) is a TSH Test (or something similar, I promise no more brackets). Normal values are between 0.4 and 4.0 - Neil's score was over 100. He is currently the number one plaintiff in a class action against the particular Soy Milk company. The lawyers for the case thought there was a typo with his readings until they had the figure verified.

He seems pretty healthy now and is obviously going well to qualify for the Ironman in Kona. Although he is frustrated that age is catching up with him and he can no longer find the speed of his younger days. He did his last Half Marathon in 2h08m, but is hoping to break 2 hours for the Sandingham Half Marathon in just over a week's time. Neil is 67 years old!

Still Speeding

Despite the soreness from last week's speed work, I decided to front up at the Athletics track again for another Tuesday night session.

I felt like I'd finally recovered, as the tightness in my legs (calf muscles mainly) had mostly disappeared. To help reduce the chance of injury I wore Skins compression leggings and Calf compression socks (last week I only wore the leggings). Another change from last week was to wear a sleeveless top. Even on a cold August night, it is amazing how hot you get when you run fast.

Last night's session was 4 x 6 minute efforts with 2 minutes full recovery in between. In the interests of staying injury free, I only did 3 efforts. My average speeds for the 3 x 6 minute efforts were 3m46s, 3m48s & 3m50s per kilometre pace. Overall I'm happy with the session and pulled up reasonably well. My right calf and achilles is a bit stiff, but not as bad as last week and my knee feels fine.

Below are the Strava details for the session. The first kilometre of warmup is missing because Elaine arrived at the session late (issues at work) and had my GPS watch in the car.

Speeding Penalty

The speed session on Tuesday took more out of me than I expected. Every time I got out of my chair on Wednesday, I felt stiffness throughout my entire body. It had eased a little by Thursday, but not as much as I would have liked. As a result I cut my Thursday run down to 7km and didn't feel too bad. However I ended up running another 3km as part of the run session I'm now coaching on Thursday nights, so everything was still quite stiff and sore on Friday.

The main stiffness was in my quads and calf muscles. I used the foam roller and also tried to self massage, pushing my knuckles through the sorest spots which helped a little.

My alarm went off at 5:30am Saturday morning, I heard the rain outside, rolled over and went back to sleep. At 10:00am the weather had improved and I ventured out for a much shorter (but probably faster) 38km ride. By Sunday most of the stiffness and soreness had dissipated, so managed to fit in a 13km run along the coastal path up to Frankston. This brought the week's run mileage up to a season's high of 35km.

I'll see how I feel tomorrow before deciding whether or not I attend this week's Tuesday speed session.

First Run Speedwork in 10 months

Since I injured my knee in early October last year, I have not been able to do any speedwork on the run. With the next Duathlon in 3 weeks and my knee starting to improve, I felt the need for speed (that's a Top Gun reference for any Generation Y reading this blog).

Elaine and I fronted up for the first time at the Sandringham Athletics track - the regular Tuesday run session for our new Triathlon Club (after the merger). It started with a 1.5km warmup and then 2 x 800m running easy on the turns and building pace on the straights, before we began the main set.

Clint (the coach) devised the following Fartlek session:

• 30s fast, 30s slow
• 1min fast, 1min slow
• 2min fast, 1min slow
• 4min fast, 1min slow
• 2min fast, 1min slow
• 1min fast, 30s slow
• 30s fast, 2min rest

Which we did twice, which meant 22 minutes of speed.

After going so long without any speed work, I found it difficult to find a good rhythm, but still managed to hold good speed for the whole workout. I generally did all the efforts at around 3m50s pace and encouragingly didn't struggle to hold this speed at the end. Having been disappointed with my arm action from the gait analysis video, I concentrated on my arm movement (as per Tony Benson's instructions) and I think this significantly improved my form.

There were about 40 athletes at the session. The fastest (and biggest) group contained about 12 runners who generally stayed together throughout the whole session. The rest of the athletes were spread out with occasional small groups of 3 or 4. I was concentrating on finding my own rhythm, so hung off the back of the fast group, because I didn't want to run at someone else's speed. The fast group were definitely running faster, but never got too far away - I was never lapped (on a 400m track). Hopefully by Summer, my pace will improve so that I'm comfortably up amongst this group.

I felt some slight discomfort in my knee on the cooldown lap, but this morning it is feeling fine. Overall I'm very pleased with how the session went and plan to front up again next Tuesday.

Below are the Strava details of the session: