Bright Training Camp

Elaine and I have spent a wonderful long weekend at a Training Camp in Bright with our Triathlon Club. Each of the three days consisted of a ride that involved at least one significant mountain climb and they also added in a run on Saturday afternoon so that it could be called a Triathlon training camp (as opposed to a cycling camp) - less than half the attendees participated in the run session.

Day One - Mt Buffalo

After spending most of Friday morning driving to Bright (4 hour drive), we headed off on a ride up Mt Buffalo at 3:30pm. From our accommodation to the base of Mt Buffalo is about 15km of relatively flat roads. The climb itself is 18.5km at an average gradient of 5.4%. Most cyclists will then continue riding to either the Chalet or Dingo Dell (an extra 4 or 5km), our group went to Dingo Dell. All up the ride ended up being 75km long.



I like the Mt Buffalo climb. The gradient is reasonably consistent, so you can get into a nice rhythm and maintain the same intensity all the way to summit. It is similar to the 1 in 20 in the Dandenongs, except it is steeper, the roads are a little rougher and it is nearly 3 times as long. The Summit is around 1500m high (you climb just over 1000m) and air is noticeably thinner and colder near the top. It was warm and sunny in Bright when we headed off, so some riders neglected to take arm warmers, vest and warm gloves - they greatly regretted these decisions on the descent.

Elaine had intended to ride for time and turn before the Mt Buffalo Summit to make sure she'd be back well before dark (and before it got too cold). Unfortunately there was another group of cyclists who climbed the mountain 30 minutes or so before us. When she saw them descending, she mistook them for our group and turned early. But she still managed to have a decent ride and it was a good way for her to start the camp.

Day Two - Rosewhite and Tawonga Gap (plus a run)

We headed off at 7am the next day. It was about 4 degrees (Celcius) when we left, so nobody made the mistake of not taking enough warm clothes. This ride was a loop that contained a small hill in Rosewhite, an optional ride to Bogong and then returning via Tawonga Gap which would be the biggest climb of the day. The short ride that skipped Bogong would be 110km and the full ride 145km. I was coaching the short ride so had no choice over the distances, but I think I would have selected the shorter version anyway. Not having the mileage in her legs (and being a looped course), Elaine skipped this ride and instead enjoyed a nice morning exploring the delights of Bright.



It was very cold for the first hour, not helped by having a tail wind that meant very little energy was being exerted. But the sun peaked out from over the mountain tops just as the road started to rise and we quickly warmed up. The Rosewhite climb was 4.3km at 4.2% gradient on reasonably smooth roads - a very enjoyable climb. This was my only opportunity to put in an effort, as after the climb the 2 groups separated and I looked after the cyclists doing the shorter ride. After the initial descent, the roads between Rosewhite and Tawonga were flat, but extraordinarily scenic as we rode along the valley between the mountains.

The turn off for Tawonga Gap (the actual sign says Bright) is between the town of Tawonga and Mount Beauty and the ascent begins straight away, 7.5km of climbing at an average gradient of 6.3%. Unlike Buffalo and Rosewhite, the climb is not consistent. Instead you have steep sections up to 8% gradient that last for 800m or so which are then followed by 200m of easier gradient (around 3%). Due to my coaching I spent the climb riding back and forth between the different riders. According to my GPS, I rode an extra 1.5km on this hill and finished the ride with the slowest rider, so my time for the climb was quite slow.

Descending Tawonga Gap (the Bright side) is a lot of fun. The road surface is reasonable and the sharper turns are well sign posted. I rode this section as fast as I could (not very fast) and then waited for the other riders at the bottom.

All up the ride ended up being 115km for me, easily my longest for the season. Going easy up Tawonga Gap would hopefully mean I had left something in the tank for the big climb (Mt Hotham) the next day.

Later in the afternoon we went for a run (Elaine joined in for this session). It was just a short, easy run (7.5km) and I was happy to discover my legs felt OK.

Day Three - Mt Hotham

A lot had been said about Mt Hotham during the camp - mostly that it was really hard. People were throwing around terms such as 'The Meg' and 'CRB' like old sailors might have referred to their encounters with the White Whale (Moby Dick reference). Mt Hotham is a 30km climb (yes that is very long) and consists of 3 distinct sections. The first 10km is a steep climb, the middle 10km is more like a false flat and the last 10km is another steep climb.

From our accommodation it was a 25km ride to the base of Mt Hotham in Harrietville - this would mean a 110km round trip. After two significant rides in two days, my saddle sores were in full force (I don't have a Cobb saddle on my road bike), so another 100+km ride was not really an option. Talking to the other riders on Saturday night, it turned out nobody was planning to ride the full 110km. The cyclists riding from Bright were only going to tackle the bottom 10km of the Mt Hotham climb (a total ride of 70km). The rest were going to drive to Harrietville and then just do Mt Hotham (60km return trip) - I chose the driving option.

I didn't think Elaine was up to climbing Mt Hotham, so I suggested she climb Tawonga Gap instead. She had heard lots of bad stories about Tawonga Gap and was quite fearful of this climb, but I had complete faith in her, especially after her efforts in the Dandenongs the week before. I drove her over the climb in the car so she would know where to go and see first hand what she was in for - seeing it made her even more nervous. However her fears were misplaced as she climbed it without any problems. Around 7km at a 6.6% gradient, it was still a tough climb, but I think she underestimated how much she has improved with the recent rides under her belt (Kinglake, the Dandenongs and part of Buffalo). Needless to say she was extremely happy with her achievements.



Meanwhile I was making my way up Mt Hotham. A group of us parked in Harrietville less than 1 kilometre before the base of the climb. Our original intention was to do a 5km warmup in the opposite direction first, but it was quite cold and we figured the quickest way to warm up was to start climbing a mountain. The main road in Harrietville takes a sharp left turn and heads straight up the mountain (up being the operative word). The first 400m or so is quite steep (around 8%) and you start to wonder how you are going to manage 30km of this, but it soon evens out to a more reasonable gradient (around 5%) and some confidence is restored. For the next 10km the steepness ranges from around 4 to 7% with one small section called 'The Meg' that is closer to 10%. Overall I found this first 10km of the climb quite enjoyable and not nearly as bad as the stories I had heard the previous day. Whilst still difficult, I am confident Elaine could have managed this portion of the ride.

Despite having great views, the middle 10km is quite boring, being a false flat averaging 2 to 3% gradient. This section is very easy, but in truth it is just annoying. At this stage you are eager to keep climbing and this section is just tiring you out a little without gaining much elevation. However this section stops with a bang.

Once you reach the pay gate (the start of the last 10km) the road starts to rise at around 8%. There are small sections of false flat to recover on, but they seemed to be followed each time by even steeper sections. Several times these difficult sections were split by steep descents, very annoying because you knew this meant you had even more climbing in store. A lot of the steep climbing was on winding roads. You would convince yourself that the gradient would ease off around the corner, but sometimes it took 6 or 7 corners to do this. The statistics from Strava show a section named 'CRB Hill' being 14% for 1.6km. There were other named sections that seemed just as steep, but with 90% of the body's blood now redirected to my legs, the mind had lost its ability to perform tasks as difficult as remembering names. In contrast to the first and second 10km sections of the climb that were surrounded by beautiful forest, the final 10km soon rises onto moonscape like surroundings. There are occasional leafless trees, but mostly just rock and occasional patches of snow. This uninviting landscape seems to match the brutishness of the climb.

There was more than one occasion where I just didn't believe I was going to make it. Yet everyone who attempted the full climb made it all the way to the summit, including the 3 girls I coached on the shorter ride the day before. On the summit, I was talking to one of the riders called Brent who has climbed the majority of the mountains from the Tour de France and he said it was the equal of any mountain he had climbed. It may have been that it was the third day of camp and we were tired from 3 days of riding, but it is far and away the hardest climb I have ever attempted.

The picture on the right is Brent and I with our warm gear back on getting ready for the descent.

Although it has nothing to do with our camp, the following link has some good photos of the Mt Hotham climb (based upon the presence of more green and less snow, I think they did their climb in Summer).

Edit: How ironic that Strava claims there was no achievement on my Mt Hotham ride.

Slight Stumble

I had a massage last night, or should I say 'torture session'. While I'm very confident that it is doing a lot of good for me, it is excruciatingly painful.

Knowing that my legs were in such bad shape, I instructed the masseur to only work below the waist and skip the back, neck and shoulders. She started on my calf muscles as they were in the worst condition. So bad that she strongly suggested dry needling, a suggestion I decided to pass on (I really hate dry needling). The tight knots in my calf muscles are also causing issues with my achilles, plantar fascia and possibly even my shins. After surviving the work on my calf and achilles I thought the worst was over - I was wrong. Even though the other muscles were in slightly better condition (the emphasis on slightly), being larger muscles means more nerve endings and therefore more pain (at least that's my theory). Once the pain threshold passes unbearable, it is difficult to gauge different levels of pain. However I think the glutes were probably the worst, closely followed by the hamstrings and then quads and ITB. In contradiction to my 'large muscle/more pain theory', the plantar fascia massage felt like she was using a knife - maybe I just have sensitive feet.

When I got home, Elaine was complaining about a sore lower back. So I shared the pain by giving her a massage. Elaine also discovered that her hamstrings and calf muscles were also very tight. She hasn't decided whether or not she appreciates the massage yet.

This morning my calf muscles were still in trauma and the rest of my legs weren't much better. Even tightening the drawstring on my bathers caused pain through the top of my glutes. Whenever I kicked in the pool it felt like someone had inserted small bricks into my calf muscles. I cannot imagine how I would have felt if I tried to go for a run.

We were running late after swimming and I was in big danger of missing my train. As Elaine dropped me off, the boom gates went down indicating the train was approaching. I charged across the road and ran down the tunnel that goes under the tracks to the station. Having to dodge around a guy handing out election leaflets, I stumbled on the downhill and landed on my outstretched hands, sliding a foot or so along the rough bitumen. After a second or two of shock (and a fair bit of pain), I picked myself up and continued to the railway platform only to discover that the boom gates went down for a train going the other way. My train had already left a minute or so ago.

I washed my hands in the toilet basin as best I could and then hopped on the next train. Sitting quietly on the train with my fingers pressed together in a prayer like gesture, the blood slowly dripped from my hands creating a small pool of blood on the floor of the carriage. Not that anybody else in the crowded train seemed to care.

At Richmond station (where I change trains), I took the following photos. As you can tell, the right hand is significantly worse than the left. With the training camp coming up this weekend, I was planning to do more swimming this week. That plan is now gone, hopefully my hands will have healed enough for me to still swim on Friday morning. And hopefully I'll be able to fit my cycling gloves on for the 3 days of riding in the mountains.

Easy Weekend

After Thursday night's run, I pulled up quite sore in the shins. Despite my many areas of injury and soreness, I rarely experience problems with my shins. So I decided to completely skip any running for the weekend.

Saturday morning I was coaching a ride/run session (often referred to as a brick session). It involved a one hour ride followed by a 24 minute run, completed up to 3 times. Most of the athletes were riding 30km and running 6km each set, therefore a session total of 90km on the bike and 18km running (a very big session, less than half the athletes completed all 3 sets). Even without my shin soreness, I could not have completed that much running at my current level of conditioning, but it is a session I look forward to doing in the future. As coach I needed to lock up the clubrooms after the last rider left and have it unlocked again before they returned. I also needed to stay and mind over the gear and bikes whilst everyone was running. I managed to sneak in a 40 minute ride during the first two sets, so a total of 38km. Not as much as I would have liked, but probably good me for to give my body a rest. Ironically, combined with Wednesday's ride to and from work and the 45km ride on Sunday, this week ended up being my biggest cycling mileage of the season so far (which says more about how little cycling I've done since Ironman).

The distance was not really enough to assess the new Cobb saddle, although I think it is the longest I have ridden on it. My current assessment remains the same - better than the previous saddles, but still not completely comfortable. I think the biggest question is how well will it go on a 3 hour ride - we'll have to wait and see.

With the big training camp in Bright next weekend, Elaine still needed more practice riding in the hills, so we headed to the Dandenongs (a good way to avoid the hordes of riders doing Around the Bay). Elaine managed to climb Mt Dandenong from the bottom to the top. Starting with Devil's Elbow (steeper than what she'll do in Bright), we continued up to Sky High (with photos to prove it). We then descended via the 1 in 20, a much nicer (less steep) descent than the Devil's Elbow.

The weather remained good for our ride, although a little cold in places. As we approached our car parked in Ferntree Gully the wind started to noticeably pick up. Mid afternoon it rained fairly consistently and we even got hail as evening approached. During these deteriorating weather conditions I watched a fairly constant stream of cyclists pass by our house as they neared the finish of the Around the Bay in Day ride (210km). Elaine and I have done this ride twice before and I doubt we'll ever do it again. Watching the riders struggle home in the rain, cold and wind only re-enforced our idea to avoid this particular event.

This morning we have several friends competing in the Age Group World Championships in Auckland. The Sprint Distance race has already been completed, but the Olympic Distance is still in progress as I write this. The Club's head coach Clint was hoping to win his age group (which he did in Beijing last year), but only managed 6th place this year. Bill managed 28th position in his age group after tearing his groin muscle about 6 weeks out and then breaking his toe and cracking his tailbone about 3 weeks out.

Nursing the Body through

My body is in desperate need of a massage, but funds are a bit low at the moment so I'm to train without antagonising my muscles too much.

So far this week has been relatively easy. Monday night Elaine and I jogged a slow 2.7km recovery run and then stood waist deep in the bay for 10 minutes to add to the recovery affect. Recently there has been a few warmer days and the temperature of the bay has noticeably improved, unfortunately standing in the bay works better when it is colder.

Elaine missed the Tuesday morning swim due to another interstate work trip. A pity, because the weather made it feel like summer and half through the session 5 or so hot air balloons slowly drifted overhead. They were so low, it looked like they were sent to spy on our training session. The swim sessions themselves are often 3.5 to 4km in distance and I never complete the session due to fatigue or time constraints. With Elaine absent, the time constraints were now gone and I was keen to see how much of the session I could get through. Ironically it was an unusually easy day and the full session ended up only being 2.8km. Less than I usually do, but I still finished feeling pretty tired.

Wednesday was Ride To Work Day. Again Elaine missed out due to still being interstate. The Hawthorn Velodrome on the Gardiners Creek Trail is only about 200m past my usual turnout, but Wednesday morning they were offering free food and coffee to all cyclists, so I happily made a small detour. The food was plentiful and tasty and the coffee (from a coffee van) was delicious and served in a huge cup - very much worth the detour. After eating a beautiful (and very large) fruit scone and finishing my coffee I continued the last 2km to work where I enjoyed another treat of muffins and croissants put on for those who rode to work. The total mileage to and from work was just over 70km.

Tonight I'm coaching a run session. Hopefully I'll get in 8 or so kilometres myself. Friday morning will be the usual swim and then I'm coaching a ride/run session on Saturday.

The Saturday session involves 3 one hour rides, each followed by a 30 minute run. I don't intend to do much running, but I'll use the ride portions to further test the new Cobb saddle on my tri-bike.

A Weekend of Almosts

The weekend started with a wetsuit swim at the pool. After a 500m warmup and 2x50m practice starts (over 30 swimmers in 2 lanes with the middle lane rope removed), we had a 1500m Time Trial. I was expecting 4x50m practise starts and what I thought was the 3rd start turned out to be the beginning of the 1500m TT. So I didn't take note of the start time and therefore do not know how long it took me to swim the 1500m.

I was aiming to break 25 minutes for the 1500m and I believe I was pretty close (but will never know). I swam really well, easily passing swimmers I usually struggle to keep up with when swimming without a wetsuit. However I started to struggle in the last 200m. It was a little disappointing not to stay strong for the full distance, but I was extremely happy with my form for the first 1300m.

Straight after the swim we headed out for a 3 hour ride. The first 20km was ridden at a reasonable pace aided by a nice tailwind. Turning at Mordialloc I hammered it into the headwind back to Port Melbourne with an ever increasing pack forming behind me. Most of the other riders in the group continued onto Frankston, but I dislike this section of road and didn't fancy the idea of riding into a headwind all the way back from Frankston. A very sound idea, unfortunately by the time we reached Port Melbourne the wind had turned and it was a headwind from Port Melbourne back to Brighton. This also meant that those who continued onto Frankston ended up with a tailwind in both directions.

My plan was to do a hard 80km. The ride ended up being 78km, but I ran out of steam after 60km (partly due to the headwind both ways) and cruised the last 20km back to GESAC. Also the intended 3 hour ride ended up being only 2.5 hours of actual riding time.

On Sunday I snuck away from the Hawaii Ironman coverage to fit in a 15.6km run. For the first 13km I felt fantastic, effortlessly running at or below 5m20s pace whilst keeping my heart rate around 137bpm. Unfortunately the in last 2.8km my form and pace fell away and my pace dropped to 5m46s per kilometre for the same heart rate.

In summary, I almost held a good pace for the entire 1500m swim, I almost maintained a great intensity for the length of the 78km ride and almost felt great for full distance of the long run. A simple solution is more mileage.

My current condition would be perfect for a Sprint distance race, OK for an Olympic Distance, but still underdone for a Half Ironman. The Geelong Half Ironman isn't till February, so I've still got plenty of time.

Sleep Walking

I have been sleep deprived for the last 8 days, rising from bed 6 times at 5am or early:
- 5am: Friday morning swim
- 4:45am: Saturday Kinglake ride
- 5am: Sunday Duathlon (Elaine raced)
- 6am: sleep in before work
- 5am: Tuesay morning swim
- 6am: sleep in before work
- 4am: Thursday dropping off Elaine for flight to Sydney
- 5am: Friday morning swim

I usually try and get to bed before 9:30pm, unfortunately this has not happened once in the last week. In fact I've been lucky to have been in bed before 11pm.

Tomorrow morning I'll be up early again for an early morning swim and Sunday morning I'll be up early to follow the Hawaii Ironman (World Championships) via the Internet.

After the hard ride on Saturday and a season longest run of 15km on Sunday I decided to take a slightly easier week. A good decision in hindsight considering the lack of sleep.

I'll ramp training back up this weekend with a swim and 3 hour ride on Saturday followed by a 16km run on Sunday. This should give me about 8.5km swimming (3rd time in 4 weeks that my swimming mileage will be over 8km), 80km cycling and 30km of running, all up around 10 hours. Not bad for an easy week.

Kinglake Ride 2012

Last year it was cold, very windy, raining and hail. This year they moved the date from Winter to Spring and it was only raining and a little bit cold.

Last year I entered the shorter 70km ride and registered myself in the fastest group (red wrist band), unfortunately I was the only rider to do this and completed the entire event by myself. This year I entered the longer 115km event and registered myself in the second fastest group (green wrist band). Numbers seemed to be down this year after several years of bad weather and there were only 2 riders with red bands and about 20 with green bands. When I first rode this event with my friend Peter several years ago, there seemed to be countless top riders and it was an effort to stay in the peleton. Today the front group comprised of weekend warriors with a little bike ability, with possibly 2 riders of any actual talent. I've posted photos taken from the event website. Neither Elaine nor I feature in any of the photos. They obviously selected groups that were not wearing vests over the event jersey, so even the above start photo is from the 70km ride (an hour after mine), as every rider in the front group of the long ride was wearing a vest.

The lead pack of about 20 took off and immediately set a cracking pace. Every time I looked down at my computer we were doing around 45kph. This was a fair bit faster than I expected, but it was pretty easy holding on at the back, I suspect we were also being assisted by a tailwind. As different riders took their turns at the front, the pace slowed a little and we tended to settle between high 30's and low 40's. The early part of the ride contains a lot of small rolling hills, none of the climbs were significant but some of the descents were quite fast. In the first 20km, it was actually the descents that whittled the pack down leaving only 7 riders from the original number of around 20.

With the smaller pack and the major hill getting closer, the speed dropped off considerably. Ironically it tended to be the descents where I had to put in the effort to stay with the group. The main hill is referred to as the Will Walker (or Kinglake) climb. Before this hill is a steeper but much shorter climb. I was surprised to notice most of the riders appeared to struggle a little up this hill, which made me think I might fare well up the main hill.

Once we started the main hill, a younger rider shot to the front. Expecting him to make a charge I quickly moved into position behind him, but disappointingly he just set a tempo pace. I found this pace a little slow, so after 100m or so I took over the lead and set a pace more to my liking, hoping that I would dislodge most of the other riders. Sitting around 310 watts, 98 rpm, 160 bpm and 22 kph, I felt pretty comfortable. Unfortunately I could still sense riders behind me, but I was confident I could hold this effort level for the entire climb (could they ?).

2km into the climb and my effort faltered just slightly. I probably dropped 1kph, but this was enough of a sign for the rider behind me to take over the lead. He didn't ride much faster than me, but I didn't think I had it in me to follow him at that pace, especially with 5km of climbing still to go. Seeing my hesitation, the next rider jumped onto the lead rider quickly leaving a gap to me in 3rd. A quick look over my shoulder saw one other rider about 40m back and clear road behind him. Knowing that I had decimated the pack made me feel better. Having lost the chance of being first up the climb, I figured 3rd place would still be a great achievement.

Another kilometre into the ride and my calf muscle was starting to cramp. Slowing down slightly eased the pain, but it returned any time I started to redeliver the power. This slight drop in pace allowed the trailing rider to slowly bridge the gap. He caught me and we rode together for a while until the gradient started to rise. I knew this steeper section was coming and had deliberately not been riding in my lowest gear - it is depressing when the road gets steeper and you are already in your lowest gear. The other rider seemed to struggle a little on this steeper section and dropped back behind me.

Disaster, a puncture in my rear tyre. I don't know how long it had been going down, but climbing was becoming more difficult and a quick check of my tyres showed the rear had definitely lost pressure - bummer. It was too cold to remove my gloves, so the change of tubes was probably a little slower than it should have been. I examined the tyre and found the culprit - it looked like a small piece of slate (it fell off my finger before I got a good look). Getting rid of the reason for a puncture is important, otherwise the same thorn or piece of glass will simply puncture the next tube as well. The next rider was at least a minute behind me, but it took me 10 minutes to change tubes, so there were 30 or 40 riders ahead of me by the time I got started again. The extra 10 minutes are also included in the Strava segment, so despite having a quicker riding time (21m02s) than last year (42s quicker), I didn't improve my Strava standings.

Having only packed one spare tube I decided it would be unwise to continue on the longer ride without a spare. So at the top of the hill I took the turn for the shorter 70km ride. It was raining and I haven't been doing any long training rides recently, so chances are I would have taken the shorter option anyway (although 3rd place may have encouraged me to continue), but using the lack of spare tubes excuse sounds much better.

The official 70km ride starts 1 hour after the longer 115km ride. I arrived back at the finish way too early. There was no commentator, no photographer and they were still filling the show bags. So I just quietly snuck through and racked my bike. Luckily one of the officials noticed me and gave me a show bag. I spoke to the organiser Dave Hanson after the ride and he said I should have simply called the support vehicle for a spare tube - but that would not have overcome the lack of training, the cold and rain and the fact that I was over 10 minutes behind the leaders.

On the event website they have the first two riders from the 115km ride - the same two that rode away from me on the climb, as well as a photo of the first two 70km riders (who I'm confident would have been slower than me even with my 10 min pitstop). Last year I was officially the first rider home in the 70km ride, but no photo. I shouldn't be complaining, because I don't like my photo being shown (despite occasionally posting them on this blog). It's funny how you feel disappointed at missing out, despite not wanting want you are missing.

Elaine had an excellent ride. She chose the 70km ride option, but on my advice snuck into the last wave of the 115km ride (which left 1 hour before her official wave) so that she wouldn't finish too late. Even amongst the riders doing the longer option (who are typically stronger riders) she still managed to pass a few up the big hill. Elaine certainly didn't find the ride easy (it is not suppose to be), but hopefully she'll have enough energy left to race the Duathlon tomorrow. I'm not silly enough to attempt this sort of lunacy, but then again I'm not looking to win the series (which involves good prizes).