I am now in the taper period, since the long run on Monday I have done one 30 minute run and one 2km open water swim. The rest of the week will probably contain 1 swim, 1 short run and 1 short ride.
Hard or long training sessions overload the body. During subsequent rest/recovery periods, the body heals itself which is referred to as adaption - the newly formed or repaired muscle fibres are stronger than the ones they replace.
After a long Ironman buildup, you typically need a 2 week taper for the race to ensure the adaptions get time to complete. Any extra overload in these last 2 weeks will not have time to adapt and will probably interfere with onging adaptions. So any training during the taper is usually short and easy, designed mainly to stop the body from getting stiff and help you maintain good technique.
You would think that althletes would love the taper period - they no longer need to train hard, but are fit and strong as a result of all the previous training. However without the long and hard training sessions, this times feels like it drags on forever. You are focused on the race and just want to get it over and done with.
My knee continues to improve. There are a few small aches and pains throughout my body but I expect they will clear up as we approach closer to the race. Unfortunately my good friend Bill tore a muscle in his groin at a race last weekend. Unlike me, Bill's training had been fantastic, including a 30km run most weeks, but now he is only a 50/50 chance of being right for the Ironman. So I should be grateful that I will probably start the race under-trained but relatively injury free - much better than being well-trained and injured.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Monday, 12 March 2012
The knee seems to be improving
On Sunday I did a very easy 50km ride and my knee pulled up with no pain at all. This weekend I have gone back to using the foam roller to keep my quads and ITB under control - something I forgot to do when I had the hip injury. I'll need to keep using the foam roller for the next 2 weeks and hopefully with the reduced training load during my taper, my quads and ITB will end up in great shape for the race.
This morning I ran for 2 hours and covered just over 21kms. On one hand it is great to be able to get in another long run, which means that my knee is definitely on the mend (and the hip is pretty much fully healed). Of course 21km is way under the planned 30km long run. But the more frustrating aspect is that it took me 2 hours to run a half marathon and whilst I could have run significantly faster if it was a race, I did not feel like I could run another 21km at the end. Considering I did this run fresh, it would suggest that my aim of a sub 4 hour marathon in the Ironman after a 180km ride is no longer a possibility. I still believe I could achieve this with an uninterrupted block of training, but the injuries have simply robbed me of the required mileage (in fact I believe I could go close to 3h30m). And without a sub 4 hour marathon, the chance of doing a respectable Ironman time has gone, which is extremely disappointing - but maybe good that I am realising this now.
It is not all doom and gloom. I ran the 20km this morning with no nutrition or hydration (I did eat breakfast beforehand). In the race I will be grabbing food and drink every 2km, so hopefully this will make a significant difference. Running a touch slower should also help.
This afternoon I dropped my bike into Cyclespeed to get serviced and had another massage with Burkey. The usual muscles were tight - ITB, quads, calves & hamstrings - but nothing was too bad and in general I seem to be in reasonable shape. I have one more massage booked the Thursday night before the race. Burkey is booked solid with massages for the next 2 weeks, hopefully his magic hands will hold up under the strain.
This week I'll do a couple of 10km runs and concentrate more on swimming. Saturday I plan to join a group swimming the Ironman course at Frankston. Sunday will be a bike ride at the club Velodrome session - this will be my only bike ride before the race. The velodrome will be a good location to test my bike post service and make sure everything is working perfectly. I've got the race wheels (and tyres) on the bike and I won't collect any glass whilst on the velodrome. I will avoid riding on the road with my race tyres. 90% of the Ironman bike leg will be on Eastlink and it would be almost impossible to pick up any glass on Eastlink. So any puncture experienced during the race is most likely glass picked up in the week beforehand or on the couple of roads in Frankston that lead to the start of Eastlink.
In summary, this first week of taper is on reduced training load with a focus on swimming (ironically it will probably be more training than last week). Next week will be an extremely easy training week.
This morning I ran for 2 hours and covered just over 21kms. On one hand it is great to be able to get in another long run, which means that my knee is definitely on the mend (and the hip is pretty much fully healed). Of course 21km is way under the planned 30km long run. But the more frustrating aspect is that it took me 2 hours to run a half marathon and whilst I could have run significantly faster if it was a race, I did not feel like I could run another 21km at the end. Considering I did this run fresh, it would suggest that my aim of a sub 4 hour marathon in the Ironman after a 180km ride is no longer a possibility. I still believe I could achieve this with an uninterrupted block of training, but the injuries have simply robbed me of the required mileage (in fact I believe I could go close to 3h30m). And without a sub 4 hour marathon, the chance of doing a respectable Ironman time has gone, which is extremely disappointing - but maybe good that I am realising this now.
It is not all doom and gloom. I ran the 20km this morning with no nutrition or hydration (I did eat breakfast beforehand). In the race I will be grabbing food and drink every 2km, so hopefully this will make a significant difference. Running a touch slower should also help.
This afternoon I dropped my bike into Cyclespeed to get serviced and had another massage with Burkey. The usual muscles were tight - ITB, quads, calves & hamstrings - but nothing was too bad and in general I seem to be in reasonable shape. I have one more massage booked the Thursday night before the race. Burkey is booked solid with massages for the next 2 weeks, hopefully his magic hands will hold up under the strain.
This week I'll do a couple of 10km runs and concentrate more on swimming. Saturday I plan to join a group swimming the Ironman course at Frankston. Sunday will be a bike ride at the club Velodrome session - this will be my only bike ride before the race. The velodrome will be a good location to test my bike post service and make sure everything is working perfectly. I've got the race wheels (and tyres) on the bike and I won't collect any glass whilst on the velodrome. I will avoid riding on the road with my race tyres. 90% of the Ironman bike leg will be on Eastlink and it would be almost impossible to pick up any glass on Eastlink. So any puncture experienced during the race is most likely glass picked up in the week beforehand or on the couple of roads in Frankston that lead to the start of Eastlink.
In summary, this first week of taper is on reduced training load with a focus on swimming (ironically it will probably be more training than last week). Next week will be an extremely easy training week.
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Approaching Taper
Nagging pain has persisted in my knee. I can still swim, bike and run but my knee does not feel anywhere near as good as it felt a week ago. I'm worried that it will give out during the Ironman run leg and once it gives out I'll be walking the remainder of the race.
Training this week has been pretty leisurely so far. It should not affect my preparation much, as this close to the race you would usually be starting to wind back the volume (although not usually this much). So far I have done 2 swims (5km), 1 ride (65km) and 3 runs (20km). Today's ride was supposed to be longer but I punctured right near the start and therefore lost the pack. Then my knee was getting a little sorer the more I rode and I was keen to run off the bike. The run was only 5km but the knee felt fine, however it has been aching a bit this afternoon.
Tomorrow I'd planned a 100km ride, but I'm now considering riding much less. Monday I plan to try and run for 2 hours (hopefully around 20km) and don't want to do anything to jeopardise this.
Next week will be another easy week. The only planned ride will be on Sunday at the velodrome where I will test out the bike in full race kit (it is being serviced next week). Depending upon how Monday's run goes, I'll probably sneak in a few 10km runs and hopefully several swims. On Saturday morning there is a swim organised at the Frankston (the race venue), so I'll probably do this instead of my usual Saturday group ride (weather dependent).
Training this week has been pretty leisurely so far. It should not affect my preparation much, as this close to the race you would usually be starting to wind back the volume (although not usually this much). So far I have done 2 swims (5km), 1 ride (65km) and 3 runs (20km). Today's ride was supposed to be longer but I punctured right near the start and therefore lost the pack. Then my knee was getting a little sorer the more I rode and I was keen to run off the bike. The run was only 5km but the knee felt fine, however it has been aching a bit this afternoon.
Tomorrow I'd planned a 100km ride, but I'm now considering riding much less. Monday I plan to try and run for 2 hours (hopefully around 20km) and don't want to do anything to jeopardise this.
Next week will be another easy week. The only planned ride will be on Sunday at the velodrome where I will test out the bike in full race kit (it is being serviced next week). Depending upon how Monday's run goes, I'll probably sneak in a few 10km runs and hopefully several swims. On Saturday morning there is a swim organised at the Frankston (the race venue), so I'll probably do this instead of my usual Saturday group ride (weather dependent).
Monday, 5 March 2012
Knee injury flares up again
The weekend just gone (being 3 weeks before Ironman) needed to be a big
weekend of training. My legs felt quite fatigued after the Saturday
bike/run session but I was still determined to do a long ride on the
Sunday.
Despite the constant rain for the first 2 hours of the ride, I managed to clock up 179km and then follow this with an 8.3km run. This lifted the week's training to over 16 hours - it included 3 swims (7.3km), 2 rides (254km), 6 runs (29.8km) and 4 core strength sessions - 305 Slowtwitch points. Not the 20 hours and 400 points I would have liked, but still a pretty decent week of training.
My injured hip handled the big weekend without a problem, but unfortunately my patella tendon injury was not so lucky. The hard Saturday ride followed by the very long Sunday ride stiffened up my quad muscles and when they get tight they pull on the patella tendon. I had intended to run 10km off the 179km ride on Sunday. The run had been going surprisingly well. Despite the very long ride I was easily able to maintain my target run pace and felt no discomfort from my hip. However I experienced 3 short pangs of pain just below my knee within a 30 second period, so I stopped running and walked the rest of the way home.
At first I was devastated, worried that this indicated that I would never be able to finish the run in the Ironman. This was one of my few tests of running off the bike and it had ended with failure. But now I believe it was simply due to my quads and ITBs getting too tight - a combination of the two rides and me neglecting my quads whilst I paid more attention to the hip injury.
I had a physio session for my hip this morning which went well. It would seem the hip injury is becoming a non-factor, but I'll know better once I get some longer runs under my belt (although time is fast running out). Tonight I have a massage booked with Burkey and I'll get him to concentrate on loosening up my quads and ITB.
Even though I have such little time left (considering people usually have a 2 week taper for Ironman), I will still have to tread very carefully with my running this week. Whilst every extra kilometre I can run will help me, any injuries at this stage will not have enough time to recover before the race.
Despite the constant rain for the first 2 hours of the ride, I managed to clock up 179km and then follow this with an 8.3km run. This lifted the week's training to over 16 hours - it included 3 swims (7.3km), 2 rides (254km), 6 runs (29.8km) and 4 core strength sessions - 305 Slowtwitch points. Not the 20 hours and 400 points I would have liked, but still a pretty decent week of training.
My injured hip handled the big weekend without a problem, but unfortunately my patella tendon injury was not so lucky. The hard Saturday ride followed by the very long Sunday ride stiffened up my quad muscles and when they get tight they pull on the patella tendon. I had intended to run 10km off the 179km ride on Sunday. The run had been going surprisingly well. Despite the very long ride I was easily able to maintain my target run pace and felt no discomfort from my hip. However I experienced 3 short pangs of pain just below my knee within a 30 second period, so I stopped running and walked the rest of the way home.
At first I was devastated, worried that this indicated that I would never be able to finish the run in the Ironman. This was one of my few tests of running off the bike and it had ended with failure. But now I believe it was simply due to my quads and ITBs getting too tight - a combination of the two rides and me neglecting my quads whilst I paid more attention to the hip injury.
I had a physio session for my hip this morning which went well. It would seem the hip injury is becoming a non-factor, but I'll know better once I get some longer runs under my belt (although time is fast running out). Tonight I have a massage booked with Burkey and I'll get him to concentrate on loosening up my quads and ITB.
Even though I have such little time left (considering people usually have a 2 week taper for Ironman), I will still have to tread very carefully with my running this week. Whilst every extra kilometre I can run will help me, any injuries at this stage will not have enough time to recover before the race.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Hip Coming Good
The hip is now improving at a good rate which is very encouraging. Wednesday morning's run was only 3.4km, but I ran 5km without pain on Thursday evening (before the swim session) and another 8km off the bike on Saturday morning. The last 2 runs could easily have been longer, but on both occasions I simply ran out of time.
Thursday night's swim did not go as well. Again I was in the 2nd fastest lane, but this time it was really flying, matching pace with the fastest lane. I lasted 2.3km, but had to hop out completely exhausted. This decision was vindicated when I suffered a bad cramping spasm in my feet just trying to get into the car. I'm not too worried about not being able to finish the session, it was my 4th swim in 5 days after a 2 week break, I had run 5km just before the session and the speed of the lane was much faster than usual.
Still suffering from saddle sores and now being able to run and swim again, I stayed off the bike during the week. Saturday morning was a tougher ride than expected due to continually being cutoff from the group due to traffic lights. But despite the extra effort I felt good on the run off the bike, so my bike form must be OK.
Thursday night's swim did not go as well. Again I was in the 2nd fastest lane, but this time it was really flying, matching pace with the fastest lane. I lasted 2.3km, but had to hop out completely exhausted. This decision was vindicated when I suffered a bad cramping spasm in my feet just trying to get into the car. I'm not too worried about not being able to finish the session, it was my 4th swim in 5 days after a 2 week break, I had run 5km just before the session and the speed of the lane was much faster than usual.
Still suffering from saddle sores and now being able to run and swim again, I stayed off the bike during the week. Saturday morning was a tougher ride than expected due to continually being cutoff from the group due to traffic lights. But despite the extra effort I felt good on the run off the bike, so my bike form must be OK.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Slow Progress
My hip has finally improved enough for me to start running again, but I am very limited in how far I can run. On Sunday I ran 1km before the pain forced me to stop. On Monday I managed 2km and 3km on Tuesday. Each time I am forced to stop due to pain, but the distance is increasing if somewhat slower than I would like.
The wound on my hip has now scabbed over, so I am able to recommence swimming. Coincidentally my swimming mileage has matched my run distances with Sunday, Monday and Tuesday seeing swims of 1, 2 & 3kms. I felt very good on the Tuesday session swimming in the 2nd fastest lane at John Van Wisse's session.
Riding has not been affected by swimming and last week I managed 2 Windtrainer sessions, a 141km long ride on Saturday and an easy 40km on Sunday. This brought last week's training time to just under 10 hours - a lot less than the planned 20 hours, but still good considering it only contained 1x1km swim and 1x1km run.
The wound on my hip has now scabbed over, so I am able to recommence swimming. Coincidentally my swimming mileage has matched my run distances with Sunday, Monday and Tuesday seeing swims of 1, 2 & 3kms. I felt very good on the Tuesday session swimming in the 2nd fastest lane at John Van Wisse's session.
Riding has not been affected by swimming and last week I managed 2 Windtrainer sessions, a 141km long ride on Saturday and an easy 40km on Sunday. This brought last week's training time to just under 10 hours - a lot less than the planned 20 hours, but still good considering it only contained 1x1km swim and 1x1km run.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Still Sidelined
I'm still cannot run (hip injury) or swim (open wounds), but I did do a 50min Windtrainer session last night. A windtrainer attaches to the bicycle rear wheel and transforms a standard bike into a stationery bicycle. It is pretty boring and you get extremely hot and sweat lots, but I suspect I'll be doing a lot more of these sessions in the near future.
Yesterday I visited the physio to get my hip/groin issue looked into. When I crashed on the bike (and fell on my hip) I suffered significant trauma to the hip socket. This has resulted in a lot inflammation, bruising and fluid in and around the joint. The pain I experience in the groin and hip flexor region is actually referred pain from the hip joint. Worst case scenario is that I have damaged the inside of the hip socket (I think it's called the Labram) - this would require a major operation to repair, otherwise it would deteriorate and I wouldn't be able to run at all within 5 years. But the physio does not believe this is the case as I have too much movement still available in my hip.
So now I'm on anti-inflammatories, I have daily exercises and stretches to do and I see the Physio again on Friday. Best case scenario I may be OK to re-commence running by Monday. But even with this best case, it will have been 3 weeks since I've run, so I'll have to start back doing much shorter distances. While the Physio thinks I can still do Ironman (assuming the injury responds to the anti-inflammatory) I will not be able to get in the long runs I planned. I will be lucky if I can get my long run back to 20km. So the chances of me being able to run the entire marathon is almost non-existent (extremely disappointing).
Yesterday I visited the physio to get my hip/groin issue looked into. When I crashed on the bike (and fell on my hip) I suffered significant trauma to the hip socket. This has resulted in a lot inflammation, bruising and fluid in and around the joint. The pain I experience in the groin and hip flexor region is actually referred pain from the hip joint. Worst case scenario is that I have damaged the inside of the hip socket (I think it's called the Labram) - this would require a major operation to repair, otherwise it would deteriorate and I wouldn't be able to run at all within 5 years. But the physio does not believe this is the case as I have too much movement still available in my hip.
So now I'm on anti-inflammatories, I have daily exercises and stretches to do and I see the Physio again on Friday. Best case scenario I may be OK to re-commence running by Monday. But even with this best case, it will have been 3 weeks since I've run, so I'll have to start back doing much shorter distances. While the Physio thinks I can still do Ironman (assuming the injury responds to the anti-inflammatory) I will not be able to get in the long runs I planned. I will be lucky if I can get my long run back to 20km. So the chances of me being able to run the entire marathon is almost non-existent (extremely disappointing).
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Fingers Crossed
My injuries are improving but the wound on my hip is still looking pretty nasty and I still cannot run. Walking is fine, but I cannot even run across the road. However even this injury feels like it is slowly getting better and I hope it will only be a few more days until I can go for a short run.
This morning I did the usual bike shop ride except that I took my road bike (tri-bike is still in race setup). The hip was a little stiff but did not hamper my riding. Towards the end of the ride my left knee (original injury) started to ache a little, but not as much as it usually does on this ride. Coming back from Port Melbourne the pace of the ride always picks up and today was no exception, in fact I think it has been getting a little faster every week. I was still in the lead pack as we approached Mordialloc (location of the big sprint), but my calf muscles were starting to ache so I decided to refrain from any sprinting this week. I suspect the calves have stiffened up due to my lack of training.
I rode 91km this morning. Conditions were perfect and I would have loved to have ridden longer, but the saddle sores were causing problems and I didn't want to do something that would stop me riding tomorrow. This afternoon I converted the tri-bike back into training setup (different wheels, brake pads and readjusted the brakes and rear derailluer). It also has a new seat to trial - part of a seat exchange program offered by Cyclespeed bike shop. Hopefully the saddle sores will behave themselves and I'll get in a long ride tomorrow of around 6 hours, but I suspect that is extremely wishful thinking, especially since rain is forecast later in the morning.
The next 3 weeks should ideally be huge training weeks before the 2 week taper leading up to the race. Not being able to run due to injury, not being able to swim due to open wounds and being limited on the bike due to saddle sores is definitely not a good start. So I'll just cross my fingers and hope that my body magically comes good.
This morning I did the usual bike shop ride except that I took my road bike (tri-bike is still in race setup). The hip was a little stiff but did not hamper my riding. Towards the end of the ride my left knee (original injury) started to ache a little, but not as much as it usually does on this ride. Coming back from Port Melbourne the pace of the ride always picks up and today was no exception, in fact I think it has been getting a little faster every week. I was still in the lead pack as we approached Mordialloc (location of the big sprint), but my calf muscles were starting to ache so I decided to refrain from any sprinting this week. I suspect the calves have stiffened up due to my lack of training.
I rode 91km this morning. Conditions were perfect and I would have loved to have ridden longer, but the saddle sores were causing problems and I didn't want to do something that would stop me riding tomorrow. This afternoon I converted the tri-bike back into training setup (different wheels, brake pads and readjusted the brakes and rear derailluer). It also has a new seat to trial - part of a seat exchange program offered by Cyclespeed bike shop. Hopefully the saddle sores will behave themselves and I'll get in a long ride tomorrow of around 6 hours, but I suspect that is extremely wishful thinking, especially since rain is forecast later in the morning.
The next 3 weeks should ideally be huge training weeks before the 2 week taper leading up to the race. Not being able to run due to injury, not being able to swim due to open wounds and being limited on the bike due to saddle sores is definitely not a good start. So I'll just cross my fingers and hope that my body magically comes good.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Disaster
Due to various circumstances I did not get the lead-in week to the Geelong race that I would have liked. Thursday, Wednesday and Friday consisted of a massage, acupuncture and me coaching a training session, but no actual training whatsoever. I had not intended to taper much for Geelong, but I wouldn't do this little on a full taper. The plus side is that the complete rest should of helped my knee injury and the persistent saddle sores.
Even though I wasn't able to train, I did find time to setup the bikes ready for the race. Unlike the Duathlons I competed in earlier in the season, I decided to carry a spare tubular type for this event - you can see it taped under the seat. Tubular tyres are the tube and tyre all in one and unlike the standard clincher tyres, tubulars are glued onto the rim. I also have a Bento box attached to the top tube just behind the headstem and 2 water bottles - one of the frame and one between the aero bars. This is the setup I plan to use for Ironman Melbourne, so the Geelong race is being used as a full dress rehearsal.
Elaine's bike was given set of race wheels and also had a Bento box on the top tube. Changing wheels means readjusting the rear dérailleur so that the gears still work and changing to carbon wheels also means changing and realigning the brake pads. A carbon braking surface needs a different brake pad (usually cork) and the race wheels are usually a different width requiring a realignment. During all this work I also gave both bikes a mini service.
The weather in Melbourne was not too bad over the weekend, but it poured almost non-stop until Sunday lunchtime in Geelong. We were only staying for 2 nights so I didn't take many changes of clothes and nearly everything I brought got completely soaked. Luckily the temperature was still relatively warm and most of the stuff was able to dry out before I needed to wear it again.
Due to my knee injury this was my first triathlon of the season and as always happens, I was a little rusty in my first race. Usually the starter gives a 30 second warning before the gun goes off, but not this time. I was casually chatting to a friend and wasn't even wearing my goggles when the gun sounded. Luckily I was able to get them on as I rushed into the water, but did lose some ground in the process. There were at least 400 people in my wave and in hindsight I should have placed myself much closer to the front (and had my goggles on). My swimming has improved quite a lot recently, but for the whole swim leg I was hemmed in by slower swimmers. I tried unsuccessfully to break through a couple of times, on one occasion receiving a nasty kick to the face (I still have bruises on my nose 3 days later). In the end I decided to simply stay in the pack and have a very easy, if somewhat slow swim. My swim time for the 2km was 36mins - I believe I could have swam at least 2 minutes quicker without tiring myself out.
Once on the bike I realised that my power meter was not working. I decided to use my Garmin FR310xt computer that can be transferred to my wrist for the run instead of the much larger Garmin Edge 800 I had been using in training. But for some reason my power meter was not configured on the FR310xt - things like this always happen in the first race of the season. Unfortunately the first section of the bike course is the most technical with several small hills and lots of tight corners, so trying to go through the menus on the watch without crashing took a bit of effort. Finally at about the 5km mark I had my power meter working and now I could try and ride to a specific power wattage.
I found myself in a rather large group of bikes. Drafting is not allowed in most triathlons (including this one), so in order not to get penalised by the draft busters (Marshalls who ride around the course as pillions on motorcycles), I decided to make my way through the pack. This resulted in a slightly higher wattage than I had planned, but it was not that much higher so I figured it wouldn't matter too much, especially seeing as the bike leg was only 80km.
My main goal for the race was to see how well I could run 20km off the bike. This would be my first long run off a bike for the season and would provide a lot of valuable information for the Ironman in regards to how good my pacing and nutrition was, as well as testing out my injured knee. If I struggled to run 20km off an 80km bike leg, how would I handle 42km after a 180km ride.
I successfully made my way through the first pack and was starting to pick off other riders ahead. My heart rate and power wattage were still about 10% higher than my planned Ironman pace, but way below what I would ride for an Olympic Distance race with a 40km bike leg (and 10km run).
Elaine's Olympic Distance race started about 90mins after mine. It had been raining all morning and this made me worry about punctures because the rain often lifts the glass back up to the surface. I didn't pack a spare tyre for Elaine, she just had a can of pitstop (air & foam which hopefully seals the puncture as well as re-inflating the tyre), but it generally only works about 50% of the time. Several riders had already pulled off to the side to fix punctures and I dreaded Elaine might suffer the same fate.
As I approached the far turn-around on the first lap (about the 25km mark) I could see another pack coming back. They were only about 500m ahead and I figured I could easily bridge that gap. Just before the turnaround the road widens from 2 lanes to 3. When you add the u-turn section in the middle of the road, this equated to a turning circle of about 7 lanes wide. I figured I could take this corner with a bit of speed which would put a bit of gap between me and the riders behind me - I didn't want to drag them up to the next pack as well.
I turned into the corner and was looking where I would exit on the other side when suddenly I was sliding along the ground. It was mid corner that my front wheel slid out and everything had been tracking beautifully till then, so I think it must have been an oil patch on the road that caused my crash. Medical staff immediately rushed over and helped me. There had already been a few crashes at the corner so the Medical staff were ready and waiting. It took them 5 minutes to patch me up, in which time another rider took a big slide in exactly the same spot. Once the medical staff were finished I gingerly hopped back on my bike (which was luckily not damaged) and continued riding for another 55km. My hip especially was very sore, but it loosened up a bit as the ride went on. There were no more packs left, so it was quite a lonely ride from then on and the wattage and heart rate dropped back to Ironman pace. My official bike split was 2h27m, but without the 5 min stop for bandaging it would have been 2h22 - and if I hadn't of crashed I'm confident I would have gone well under 2h20m.
As I rode towards transition I was not confident how my run would go, but figured it was worth a try. Unfortunately as soon as I dismounted I discovered that I must have wrenched a lot of muscles in my upper leg around the groin and hip flexor and running was absolutely impossible. So I simply walked back to the finish line, handed in my timing chip and then proceeded to the Medical tent to get my wounds redressed.
I lost skin on my wrist, elbow, knee and hip and had gravel rash on my shoulder and back. By far the worst injury was to my hip which was not only missing a lot of skin but also swollen up like a softball.
At least this gave me time to watch Elaine finish her race. This was her first Olympic Distance since 2008 and while she was a fair way off her PB, she still managed a good time and after a little deliberation was happy with efforts.
It is Wednesday night, most of my wounds have started to heal, except my hip which still looks very nasty. The swelling has gone down considerably, but has been replaced with a lot of bruising spanning the size of about a volleyball. At the moment I still cannot run, but I'm hoping this situation will start to improve by the weekend.
On the bright side, my knee is actually feeling pretty good - I crashed on the other side of my body.
Even though I wasn't able to train, I did find time to setup the bikes ready for the race. Unlike the Duathlons I competed in earlier in the season, I decided to carry a spare tubular type for this event - you can see it taped under the seat. Tubular tyres are the tube and tyre all in one and unlike the standard clincher tyres, tubulars are glued onto the rim. I also have a Bento box attached to the top tube just behind the headstem and 2 water bottles - one of the frame and one between the aero bars. This is the setup I plan to use for Ironman Melbourne, so the Geelong race is being used as a full dress rehearsal.
Elaine's bike was given set of race wheels and also had a Bento box on the top tube. Changing wheels means readjusting the rear dérailleur so that the gears still work and changing to carbon wheels also means changing and realigning the brake pads. A carbon braking surface needs a different brake pad (usually cork) and the race wheels are usually a different width requiring a realignment. During all this work I also gave both bikes a mini service.
The weather in Melbourne was not too bad over the weekend, but it poured almost non-stop until Sunday lunchtime in Geelong. We were only staying for 2 nights so I didn't take many changes of clothes and nearly everything I brought got completely soaked. Luckily the temperature was still relatively warm and most of the stuff was able to dry out before I needed to wear it again.
Due to my knee injury this was my first triathlon of the season and as always happens, I was a little rusty in my first race. Usually the starter gives a 30 second warning before the gun goes off, but not this time. I was casually chatting to a friend and wasn't even wearing my goggles when the gun sounded. Luckily I was able to get them on as I rushed into the water, but did lose some ground in the process. There were at least 400 people in my wave and in hindsight I should have placed myself much closer to the front (and had my goggles on). My swimming has improved quite a lot recently, but for the whole swim leg I was hemmed in by slower swimmers. I tried unsuccessfully to break through a couple of times, on one occasion receiving a nasty kick to the face (I still have bruises on my nose 3 days later). In the end I decided to simply stay in the pack and have a very easy, if somewhat slow swim. My swim time for the 2km was 36mins - I believe I could have swam at least 2 minutes quicker without tiring myself out.
Once on the bike I realised that my power meter was not working. I decided to use my Garmin FR310xt computer that can be transferred to my wrist for the run instead of the much larger Garmin Edge 800 I had been using in training. But for some reason my power meter was not configured on the FR310xt - things like this always happen in the first race of the season. Unfortunately the first section of the bike course is the most technical with several small hills and lots of tight corners, so trying to go through the menus on the watch without crashing took a bit of effort. Finally at about the 5km mark I had my power meter working and now I could try and ride to a specific power wattage.
I found myself in a rather large group of bikes. Drafting is not allowed in most triathlons (including this one), so in order not to get penalised by the draft busters (Marshalls who ride around the course as pillions on motorcycles), I decided to make my way through the pack. This resulted in a slightly higher wattage than I had planned, but it was not that much higher so I figured it wouldn't matter too much, especially seeing as the bike leg was only 80km.
My main goal for the race was to see how well I could run 20km off the bike. This would be my first long run off a bike for the season and would provide a lot of valuable information for the Ironman in regards to how good my pacing and nutrition was, as well as testing out my injured knee. If I struggled to run 20km off an 80km bike leg, how would I handle 42km after a 180km ride.
I successfully made my way through the first pack and was starting to pick off other riders ahead. My heart rate and power wattage were still about 10% higher than my planned Ironman pace, but way below what I would ride for an Olympic Distance race with a 40km bike leg (and 10km run).
Elaine's Olympic Distance race started about 90mins after mine. It had been raining all morning and this made me worry about punctures because the rain often lifts the glass back up to the surface. I didn't pack a spare tyre for Elaine, she just had a can of pitstop (air & foam which hopefully seals the puncture as well as re-inflating the tyre), but it generally only works about 50% of the time. Several riders had already pulled off to the side to fix punctures and I dreaded Elaine might suffer the same fate.
As I approached the far turn-around on the first lap (about the 25km mark) I could see another pack coming back. They were only about 500m ahead and I figured I could easily bridge that gap. Just before the turnaround the road widens from 2 lanes to 3. When you add the u-turn section in the middle of the road, this equated to a turning circle of about 7 lanes wide. I figured I could take this corner with a bit of speed which would put a bit of gap between me and the riders behind me - I didn't want to drag them up to the next pack as well.
I turned into the corner and was looking where I would exit on the other side when suddenly I was sliding along the ground. It was mid corner that my front wheel slid out and everything had been tracking beautifully till then, so I think it must have been an oil patch on the road that caused my crash. Medical staff immediately rushed over and helped me. There had already been a few crashes at the corner so the Medical staff were ready and waiting. It took them 5 minutes to patch me up, in which time another rider took a big slide in exactly the same spot. Once the medical staff were finished I gingerly hopped back on my bike (which was luckily not damaged) and continued riding for another 55km. My hip especially was very sore, but it loosened up a bit as the ride went on. There were no more packs left, so it was quite a lonely ride from then on and the wattage and heart rate dropped back to Ironman pace. My official bike split was 2h27m, but without the 5 min stop for bandaging it would have been 2h22 - and if I hadn't of crashed I'm confident I would have gone well under 2h20m.
As I rode towards transition I was not confident how my run would go, but figured it was worth a try. Unfortunately as soon as I dismounted I discovered that I must have wrenched a lot of muscles in my upper leg around the groin and hip flexor and running was absolutely impossible. So I simply walked back to the finish line, handed in my timing chip and then proceeded to the Medical tent to get my wounds redressed.
I lost skin on my wrist, elbow, knee and hip and had gravel rash on my shoulder and back. By far the worst injury was to my hip which was not only missing a lot of skin but also swollen up like a softball.
At least this gave me time to watch Elaine finish her race. This was her first Olympic Distance since 2008 and while she was a fair way off her PB, she still managed a good time and after a little deliberation was happy with efforts.
It is Wednesday night, most of my wounds have started to heal, except my hip which still looks very nasty. The swelling has gone down considerably, but has been replaced with a lot of bruising spanning the size of about a volleyball. At the moment I still cannot run, but I'm hoping this situation will start to improve by the weekend.
On the bright side, my knee is actually feeling pretty good - I crashed on the other side of my body.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Geelong Long Course
The Geelong race is this Sunday - I am doing the Long Course race (2km Swim / 80km Bike / 20km Run) and Elaine is doing her first Olympic Distance race (1.5km Swim / 40km Bike / 10km Run) since the Age Group World Championships in 2008.
I had planned to put in a solid week's training only resting on Friday and Saturday as a mini taper for the race. But my body and mind have just not been up to it this week. On Monday night I did a good swimming squad session and I ran 10km on Tuesday and Wednesday, but other than that there has been only been 2 short bay swims. It has been one of my quietest weeks for a while.
.....
When I started writing this blog entry yesterday, I had planned out a lot of stuff that I wanted to write and photos to post. But I encountered so many interruptions that I have completely forgotten what I was about to say. Kind of sums up my week and it doesn't look like it is going to get any better.
I had planned to put in a solid week's training only resting on Friday and Saturday as a mini taper for the race. But my body and mind have just not been up to it this week. On Monday night I did a good swimming squad session and I ran 10km on Tuesday and Wednesday, but other than that there has been only been 2 short bay swims. It has been one of my quietest weeks for a while.
.....
When I started writing this blog entry yesterday, I had planned out a lot of stuff that I wanted to write and photos to post. But I encountered so many interruptions that I have completely forgotten what I was about to say. Kind of sums up my week and it doesn't look like it is going to get any better.
Monday, 6 February 2012
7 Weeks to Go
After a slow start to the week due to the quad strain, I ended up completing my biggest ever training week - 10.3km Swimming, 323km Riding and 40.9km Running - a total of 19h49m of training (405 Slowtwitch points). Yesterday afternoon, despite rain, thunder, lightning and even hail, I did my first ever 2 hour run (21.4km).
My knee still aches (especially on the bike rides), but it is no longer stopping me from training. Generally I am now feeling a lot more confident that I will manage to get in a reasonable amount of training, as evidenced by last week's effort of nearly 20 hours.
Today is a rest day and will only contain one swim tonight. I'll pick up the training load on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before backing off leading into the race at Geelong this Sunday.
My knee still aches (especially on the bike rides), but it is no longer stopping me from training. Generally I am now feeling a lot more confident that I will manage to get in a reasonable amount of training, as evidenced by last week's effort of nearly 20 hours.
Today is a rest day and will only contain one swim tonight. I'll pick up the training load on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before backing off leading into the race at Geelong this Sunday.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Quad Strain and Long Ride
After my long 18km run on Sunday, I pulled up with a sore quad. This put a slight dent in my plans to have a huge training load this week. I tried stretching, foam roller and self massaging, but I couldn't find anything that seemed to improve the quad.
Due to the long drive back from Bright, Monday was always planned as an easy day, but I had a long 120km ride planned for Tuesday morning with Kevin from Gravity Zero. After the Monday night swim squad (where I posted a new 100m FS PB - 1m25s) I decided to go for an easy jog along the beach in the hope this might loosen up my quad. However after continuous pain for 400m it was obvious the run was not going to help. So the Tuesday morning ride was now off the cards.
I tried unsuccessfully to book a Physio appointment on Tuesday, but luckily I was able to score a massage appointment with Burkey. He worked pretty hard on my quad and improved it a lot. Burkey's thought was that I over stretched the muscle during the downhill sections of my long run. I've been avoiding any hills due to my knee, so my muscles probably lack conditioning in this respect and therefore more susceptible to this type of injury.
Feeling better, I decided to do my long ride on Wednesday morning, and instead of 120km, I decided to make it 180km. A loop between Frankston and Port Melbourne is 90km, so I decided doing 2 loops would be the best plan. There were no big hills (good for my injured knee) and I could use my house as an aid station between loops to replace water bottles, nutrition and apply sunscreen and chamois cream.
I didn't feel any discomfort from my quad, Burkey had done a great job with the massage, but my knee was really starting to ache. At about the 40km mark I decided to stop and raise the seat another 3mm. This modification seemed to work, as the pain in my knee did subside a little - hopefully this may be the magic bullet that finally helps me get over the knee injury. It was a stiff headwind all the way to Seaford and I pulled back into home at the 75km mark - I hadn't done the loop up to Frankston yet. There was no pain in my quad, my knee wasn't too bad, but everything felt very average, except my bum which felt outright awful.
The temperature had increased since my early morning start, so I removed my vest & arm warmers, had a toilet stop, applied sunscreen and replaced my Optimiser bottle. Strangely I hadn't touched the sports drink or any of the other nutrition - I think the noise of the traffic early on and then the deafening noise of the headwind caused me to miss a lot of the timer alerts on my bike computer. The stop had been longer than expected, especially after I had to chase the neighbour's cat back out of the house so I could lock up, but the plus side was that I felt quite refreshed when I hopped back on the bike. Of course it helps with you start riding with tail wind again. I had intended to continue onto Franskton, but through force of habit had turned right heading back to Port Melbourne. This meant I would finish this lap with only 150km on the clock and would need to do an extra 30km loop at the end.
Strangely enough the second lap felt better than the first, although the wind had picked up and the ride back to Seaford was particularly difficult. It would have been so easy to end the ride after 150km, but after another quick stop at home I headed out for the last 30km. The ride itself wasn't very fast, only averaging just over 27kph, but I am very satisified and extremely happy to now have a 180km ride under my belt.
Due to the long drive back from Bright, Monday was always planned as an easy day, but I had a long 120km ride planned for Tuesday morning with Kevin from Gravity Zero. After the Monday night swim squad (where I posted a new 100m FS PB - 1m25s) I decided to go for an easy jog along the beach in the hope this might loosen up my quad. However after continuous pain for 400m it was obvious the run was not going to help. So the Tuesday morning ride was now off the cards.
I tried unsuccessfully to book a Physio appointment on Tuesday, but luckily I was able to score a massage appointment with Burkey. He worked pretty hard on my quad and improved it a lot. Burkey's thought was that I over stretched the muscle during the downhill sections of my long run. I've been avoiding any hills due to my knee, so my muscles probably lack conditioning in this respect and therefore more susceptible to this type of injury.
Feeling better, I decided to do my long ride on Wednesday morning, and instead of 120km, I decided to make it 180km. A loop between Frankston and Port Melbourne is 90km, so I decided doing 2 loops would be the best plan. There were no big hills (good for my injured knee) and I could use my house as an aid station between loops to replace water bottles, nutrition and apply sunscreen and chamois cream.
I didn't feel any discomfort from my quad, Burkey had done a great job with the massage, but my knee was really starting to ache. At about the 40km mark I decided to stop and raise the seat another 3mm. This modification seemed to work, as the pain in my knee did subside a little - hopefully this may be the magic bullet that finally helps me get over the knee injury. It was a stiff headwind all the way to Seaford and I pulled back into home at the 75km mark - I hadn't done the loop up to Frankston yet. There was no pain in my quad, my knee wasn't too bad, but everything felt very average, except my bum which felt outright awful.
The temperature had increased since my early morning start, so I removed my vest & arm warmers, had a toilet stop, applied sunscreen and replaced my Optimiser bottle. Strangely I hadn't touched the sports drink or any of the other nutrition - I think the noise of the traffic early on and then the deafening noise of the headwind caused me to miss a lot of the timer alerts on my bike computer. The stop had been longer than expected, especially after I had to chase the neighbour's cat back out of the house so I could lock up, but the plus side was that I felt quite refreshed when I hopped back on the bike. Of course it helps with you start riding with tail wind again. I had intended to continue onto Franskton, but through force of habit had turned right heading back to Port Melbourne. This meant I would finish this lap with only 150km on the clock and would need to do an extra 30km loop at the end.
Strangely enough the second lap felt better than the first, although the wind had picked up and the ride back to Seaford was particularly difficult. It would have been so easy to end the ride after 150km, but after another quick stop at home I headed out for the last 30km. The ride itself wasn't very fast, only averaging just over 27kph, but I am very satisified and extremely happy to now have a 180km ride under my belt.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Big Run Week
I'm currently in Bright for the Alpine Classic but sadly I'm just a spectator because I'm banned from riding hills due to my knee. Elaine has finished her ride up and down Mt Buffalo (70km) and is very happy with efforts. The fact that she still looked relatively fresh at the end bodes well for her Olympic Distance at Geelong in 2 weeks. We are staying in Bright with Jeremy, he is currently still out doing the 200km ride. He popped back in after 130km (Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap) to have a shower and change clothes before heading off to tackle Mt Buffalo. He was looking pretty good (not as fresh as Elaine), but said the heat had been pretty bad. It had taken him 7 hours for the first bit and was hoping to do Mt Buffalo in under 4 hours. So an 11hr mountainous ride is pretty good training for the Ironman bike leg he will be doing as part of a team in Ironman Melbourne. We suspect he'll sign up for the whole race next year.
The week is finished. It only contained 2 bike rides totally 211km and 4 swims for 7.1km. But other than the Race Simulation Event on Thursday, the focus for the week was on running and I did 6 runs in the week including an 18km run today bringing the weekly mileage up to 55km. I'll have to check through my records, but this may be my biggest ever run week.
I ran in my larger runners again, this time wearing the thickest running socks I own. My left foot is fine, but the 2nd toe on my foot now has a huge blister. I don't know if this has resulted because the blister started from Thursday's run or whether it would have happened anyway. Maybe next time I'll try the run with medium thick socks. Even though the blister looks bad, I never felt it on the run. However I'm sure it would have grabbed my attention if I had of run 42km, so this is an issue I need to get on top of before the Ironman (I've since popped the blister).
My knee doesn't really seem to have improved, but more importantly it has not deteriorated. In fact my ITBs and quads are starting to feel worse - I'll definitely need another massage next week. I'm now starting to find that running no longer seems to bother the knee much, so much so that I did two 10km runs on consecutive days without a problem. The main problem at the moment appears to be the bike riding. However this might be aggravated by the fact that the seatpost on my Triathlon bike keeps slipping. I've put some tape on the post so that I can see when it has slipped and I now carry an allen key on my rides so that I can re-adjust it any time. The post only seems to slip about 3 or 4mm, but this seems to be enough to upset my knee. Hopefully I'm now on top of this problem.
If all goes well, next week should be my biggest ever week and possibly the biggest week of the Ironman campaign. Again the focus will be on running (planning a 20km run), but I'm hoping to get in several rides of around 100km and if I'm feeling good I may even do an extra long ride on Sunday. I'm very happy with my swimming at the moment, but realise I have to get the training up to maintain my current form, so there will also be plenty of swim sessions next week as well.
The following week will end with the Geelong Long Distance Triathlon (2km Swim, 80km Bike, 20km Run). This means a mini taper on the Friday & Saturday before the race and around 5 days of recovery after the race.
The week is finished. It only contained 2 bike rides totally 211km and 4 swims for 7.1km. But other than the Race Simulation Event on Thursday, the focus for the week was on running and I did 6 runs in the week including an 18km run today bringing the weekly mileage up to 55km. I'll have to check through my records, but this may be my biggest ever run week.
My knee doesn't really seem to have improved, but more importantly it has not deteriorated. In fact my ITBs and quads are starting to feel worse - I'll definitely need another massage next week. I'm now starting to find that running no longer seems to bother the knee much, so much so that I did two 10km runs on consecutive days without a problem. The main problem at the moment appears to be the bike riding. However this might be aggravated by the fact that the seatpost on my Triathlon bike keeps slipping. I've put some tape on the post so that I can see when it has slipped and I now carry an allen key on my rides so that I can re-adjust it any time. The post only seems to slip about 3 or 4mm, but this seems to be enough to upset my knee. Hopefully I'm now on top of this problem.
If all goes well, next week should be my biggest ever week and possibly the biggest week of the Ironman campaign. Again the focus will be on running (planning a 20km run), but I'm hoping to get in several rides of around 100km and if I'm feeling good I may even do an extra long ride on Sunday. I'm very happy with my swimming at the moment, but realise I have to get the training up to maintain my current form, so there will also be plenty of swim sessions next week as well.
The following week will end with the Geelong Long Distance Triathlon (2km Swim, 80km Bike, 20km Run). This means a mini taper on the Friday & Saturday before the race and around 5 days of recovery after the race.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Race Simulation with Bayside Triathlon Club
Even though I had arranged alternative transportation to the event, my wife Elaine offered to drop me off (a one hour return trip). This was especially generous considering that I needed to be at Sandringham by 6am and Elaine had her own 1.4km Swim event at Brighton which didn't start until 11am. However the offer became even more generous when I realised I had left my drink bottles at home in the fridge, so Elaine had to make 2 trips that morning.
All up there were over 100 triathletes doing the Race Simulation which covered various distances - swim 1.5 to 3km, bike 40 to 150km and run 6 to 18km - or you vary the course as you wished and end up with any distance you desired.
My aim in the swim was to see if I could last the distance without fatiguing and affecting the bike leg and also to see if I could stay in the draft of other swimmers. There were about 30 people doing the 3km swim and for the entire distance I seemed to be able to stay in the main pack (not always easy to tell whilst swimming). I felt my stroke become a little laboured after about 1.5km and due to a minor mistake by the organisers the distance ended up only being about 2.5km. But overall I was very pleased with how my swim went and I came out of the water with other triathletes that are usually a bit faster than me in the water.
The bike leg was another chance for me to practice my pacing to power & heart rate and this time I would be doing it after a swim. It was also a great opportunity to practice my race nutrition plan, especially since they had a 'Special Needs' station (an esky containing water bottles) at the 45km mark of the ride. I started the ride with a sports drink in one bottle and Optimiser in the other. My bottle in the 'Special Needs' esky was another bottle of Optimiser - which is another reason why I was so grateful to Elaine for going back and collecting the bottles from home. For the first 45km I took a few sips of Optimiser every 7.5mins, which worked out perfectly because I just finished the bottle in time to swap it for the new one. After this my watch still beeped every 7.5mins, but I alternated between Optimiser and a Gel Blast. This approach seemed to work out well, especially mentally, because I got a little treat every 7.5mins. In between treats I took the occasional sip of Sports Drink, but probably didn't have enough as the one bottle lasted me the entire ride. I managed to hold the planned power & heart rate (more or less). It was difficult to the undulating terrain (Sandringham to Dromana and back). I was certainly tiring towards the end and due to some very rough roads out near Dromana, my bum was extremely sore. I averaged 30.4kph for the ride which I was a little disappointed with, but it is always much harder when you have to keep stopping at traffic lights and the Ironman course will be a lot smoother and not as hilly.
When I got off the bike my knee was killing me - it was the most sore it has been in quite some time. The path down to the Bayside Clubrooms (where transition was setup) is very steep and as I hobbled down I didn't even think I would get to the end of the path let alone start the run. Once at the Clubrooms I had a quick toilet stop and then set off on the run. Amazingly after the first 100m, the pain in my knee went away. I always run well off the bike and like usual I started off way too fast. I sat on 4m40s pace for the first 4km and felt great, but reality soon hit. I don't know if it was because I had just had a gel, but I started to feel pain in my side. The pain started to fade, my I was not able to get any speed back and the feeling of running easy disappeared as I slowly dropped back to 5m20s pace (the speed I should have been doing from the start). After the first 6km loop I had a drink and took 2 Gel Blasts from my bike for the second leg (deciding to skip the gels). My original plan had been to run 10km (a nice round number) but with the loops being 6km, I thought 12km would be better. But just as I was approaching the 8km mark I felt a very slight twinge in the knee and decided to the cut the lap short and only do 10km. The knee twinge was probably all in my head, but better to be safe than sorry.
As I crossed the finish line I felt pretty good, my last kilometre was back at 5m00s pace (always easier when you know you are finishing). I felt I handled the event really well - very pleased with the swim, a touch disappointed with the bike and satisfied with the run. However fatigue is a funny thing, because 2 hours after the event I suddenly felt completely wiped out and ended up going back to bed for 6 hours.
Things I have learnt from this event:
All up there were over 100 triathletes doing the Race Simulation which covered various distances - swim 1.5 to 3km, bike 40 to 150km and run 6 to 18km - or you vary the course as you wished and end up with any distance you desired.
My aim in the swim was to see if I could last the distance without fatiguing and affecting the bike leg and also to see if I could stay in the draft of other swimmers. There were about 30 people doing the 3km swim and for the entire distance I seemed to be able to stay in the main pack (not always easy to tell whilst swimming). I felt my stroke become a little laboured after about 1.5km and due to a minor mistake by the organisers the distance ended up only being about 2.5km. But overall I was very pleased with how my swim went and I came out of the water with other triathletes that are usually a bit faster than me in the water.
The bike leg was another chance for me to practice my pacing to power & heart rate and this time I would be doing it after a swim. It was also a great opportunity to practice my race nutrition plan, especially since they had a 'Special Needs' station (an esky containing water bottles) at the 45km mark of the ride. I started the ride with a sports drink in one bottle and Optimiser in the other. My bottle in the 'Special Needs' esky was another bottle of Optimiser - which is another reason why I was so grateful to Elaine for going back and collecting the bottles from home. For the first 45km I took a few sips of Optimiser every 7.5mins, which worked out perfectly because I just finished the bottle in time to swap it for the new one. After this my watch still beeped every 7.5mins, but I alternated between Optimiser and a Gel Blast. This approach seemed to work out well, especially mentally, because I got a little treat every 7.5mins. In between treats I took the occasional sip of Sports Drink, but probably didn't have enough as the one bottle lasted me the entire ride. I managed to hold the planned power & heart rate (more or less). It was difficult to the undulating terrain (Sandringham to Dromana and back). I was certainly tiring towards the end and due to some very rough roads out near Dromana, my bum was extremely sore. I averaged 30.4kph for the ride which I was a little disappointed with, but it is always much harder when you have to keep stopping at traffic lights and the Ironman course will be a lot smoother and not as hilly.
When I got off the bike my knee was killing me - it was the most sore it has been in quite some time. The path down to the Bayside Clubrooms (where transition was setup) is very steep and as I hobbled down I didn't even think I would get to the end of the path let alone start the run. Once at the Clubrooms I had a quick toilet stop and then set off on the run. Amazingly after the first 100m, the pain in my knee went away. I always run well off the bike and like usual I started off way too fast. I sat on 4m40s pace for the first 4km and felt great, but reality soon hit. I don't know if it was because I had just had a gel, but I started to feel pain in my side. The pain started to fade, my I was not able to get any speed back and the feeling of running easy disappeared as I slowly dropped back to 5m20s pace (the speed I should have been doing from the start). After the first 6km loop I had a drink and took 2 Gel Blasts from my bike for the second leg (deciding to skip the gels). My original plan had been to run 10km (a nice round number) but with the loops being 6km, I thought 12km would be better. But just as I was approaching the 8km mark I felt a very slight twinge in the knee and decided to the cut the lap short and only do 10km. The knee twinge was probably all in my head, but better to be safe than sorry.
As I crossed the finish line I felt pretty good, my last kilometre was back at 5m00s pace (always easier when you know you are finishing). I felt I handled the event really well - very pleased with the swim, a touch disappointed with the bike and satisfied with the run. However fatigue is a funny thing, because 2 hours after the event I suddenly felt completely wiped out and ended up going back to bed for 6 hours.
Things I have learnt from this event:
- if conditions are good, I should not have any problems with the swim and should be able to sit on someone's toes for the whole distance. I may decide to start next to my friend Steve who is also doing Ironman - he'll probably be a good candidate to draft off.
- my road cycling shoes are no good for fast transitions. They hurt my foot when resting on top and are quite difficult to get in and out of whilst riding. I either need to put my shoes on and off in transition or wear my triathlon cycling shoes.
- the new tri-shorts I recently bought do not solve the saddle sore problem, but they are definitely an improvement over all my other shorts for doing long rides on the Triathlon bike. They also feel great to run in, so at the moment they are the definite choice for the Ironman. The only minor downside is that they are about 1cm shorter in the leg and I now have a 1cm ring of sunburn.
- my nutrition on the bike was pretty good, although I probably need to squeeze in some extra sports drinks. The extra bottles won't be an issue in the race as there'll be plenty of aid stations on the bike leg.
- still need to work out exactly what to put in my Special needs bag for Ironman. Probably a bottle of Optimiser and maybe some Gel Blasts, or the Winners' equivalents that I think taste better.
- need to hold back more at the start of the run. Going too fast early will definitely derail the second half of the marathon.
- I need to practise with gels more on the run to discover whether or not I have a digestion problem with them. On race day, there will be Gel Blasts available at the many aid stations, so it may not be a big issue. But then again I may be sick of Gel Blasts after eating so many of them on the bike leg
- I bought new runners half a size bigger for my long runs, but I still got a small blister on the end of my 2nd toe on my right foot. Maybe I need to wear thicker socks when I run in the larger shoes.
Monday, 23 January 2012
Time to get back into the thick of it
Last week was my recovery week. I did sneak in a long run of 16km and a 3.4km swim, but otherwise it was a pretty easy week. After the 160km ride the week before, I took 5 days off from riding to allow the saddle sores to heal and then did 2 rides on the weekend - 90km on Sat and a very easy 33km on Sunday. There were 6 swims for the week, but 4 of them were only 500m or less.
This week the plan is to up the volume again. Originally I had planned to do a 5km Open Water Swim at the Australia Day event at Brighton, which would be followed by a long ride & run on Fri and another long run on Saturday. But I have decided to do a Race Simulation event with the Bayside Triathlon Club instead - 3km Swim, 150km Bike & 10km Run. The recovery required for this event will bring down the week's volume a little, but I think the experience of the Race Simulation will definitely be worth it. And if I pull up well, I should be able to get in an 18km run on the Sunday.
This week the plan is to up the volume again. Originally I had planned to do a 5km Open Water Swim at the Australia Day event at Brighton, which would be followed by a long ride & run on Fri and another long run on Saturday. But I have decided to do a Race Simulation event with the Bayside Triathlon Club instead - 3km Swim, 150km Bike & 10km Run. The recovery required for this event will bring down the week's volume a little, but I think the experience of the Race Simulation will definitely be worth it. And if I pull up well, I should be able to get in an 18km run on the Sunday.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Another Long Run
I started this week with 3 easy days. Monday and Tuesday consisted of very easy Open Water swims, while Wednesday had a very easy, short run plus a swim. After one easy day I definitely noticed an improvement with my knee. There was no pain walking or even going up and down stairs, although I still could not do a single leg squat without pain. However the second rest day did not see any improvement and by the third day I was starting to stiffen up and experience general aches and pains throughout the body.
As mentioned in earlier blog posts, I tend to experience aches and pains once my run gets to around 10km. When I started to think more about this, I remembered I used to get the same problem when I first started trying to do long, slow runs (years before I suffered my current knee injury). The problem seemed to be that when I ran accordingly to heart rate, my pace was uncomfortably slow. This meant that I was not running with a natural rhythm and it was the bad running form at this slow pace that was causing the muscle soreness. Back then I got around this problem by ignoring heart rate on my long runs and simply running at a relaxed, but more natural pace. As a result, the endurance benefit of improving fat burning efficiency would be lessened, but my legs would be getting the conditioning they needed to survive long runs. With this knowledge I decided to only run to heart rate for runs of 10km or less. This is actually backwards to how most people would advise training, but sometimes you have to adapt to particular situations.
The short 4km run Wednesday afternoon (at a very low HR) felt great and gave me confidence to do a long run on Thursday. Right from the start of the long run, I felt a slight ache on the outside of my left hip. I'm not sure if this is the top of my ITB, my hamstring or something else. The rest of my body felt good so I had no hesitation in completing the planned distance of 16km. Running at a relaxed, natural pace saw my speed sit around 5m10s per km (about 15 secs faster) and my heart rate sat between 140 to 150bpm (around 10 beats higher). I did not feel like the pace was too fast and when I finished the run after 90 minutes I did not feel tired.
There was no pain from the knee at any time during the run, but it has been aching a bit since, as has the hip that was sore on the run. The 2nd and 3rd toe on my left foot is also quite sore - which may mean I need a larger size shoe for my long runs.
Last night I went to John Van Wisse's swim squad at the King Club in Sandringham. These are great sessions and also a good way to gauge how well my swimming is going. It was an unusually small turnout which meant the group only took up 3 lanes (it often takes up 6 lanes, sometimes over 8 people to a lane). I began in the middle lane, but I was swimming so well John moved my up to the fastest lane. He was very impressed and said it was the best he had ever seen me swim. Very encouraging news, however my shoulders are a little sore today. The session was 3km long, plus I also did an extra 400m before the session started.
I'm probably going to have an easy day today to let the body recover from yesterdays long run and swim. How I feel tomorrow morning will determine how hard I train this weekend. With this week scheduled as a recovery week, I feel no pressure to cram in training.
As mentioned in earlier blog posts, I tend to experience aches and pains once my run gets to around 10km. When I started to think more about this, I remembered I used to get the same problem when I first started trying to do long, slow runs (years before I suffered my current knee injury). The problem seemed to be that when I ran accordingly to heart rate, my pace was uncomfortably slow. This meant that I was not running with a natural rhythm and it was the bad running form at this slow pace that was causing the muscle soreness. Back then I got around this problem by ignoring heart rate on my long runs and simply running at a relaxed, but more natural pace. As a result, the endurance benefit of improving fat burning efficiency would be lessened, but my legs would be getting the conditioning they needed to survive long runs. With this knowledge I decided to only run to heart rate for runs of 10km or less. This is actually backwards to how most people would advise training, but sometimes you have to adapt to particular situations.
The short 4km run Wednesday afternoon (at a very low HR) felt great and gave me confidence to do a long run on Thursday. Right from the start of the long run, I felt a slight ache on the outside of my left hip. I'm not sure if this is the top of my ITB, my hamstring or something else. The rest of my body felt good so I had no hesitation in completing the planned distance of 16km. Running at a relaxed, natural pace saw my speed sit around 5m10s per km (about 15 secs faster) and my heart rate sat between 140 to 150bpm (around 10 beats higher). I did not feel like the pace was too fast and when I finished the run after 90 minutes I did not feel tired.
There was no pain from the knee at any time during the run, but it has been aching a bit since, as has the hip that was sore on the run. The 2nd and 3rd toe on my left foot is also quite sore - which may mean I need a larger size shoe for my long runs.
Last night I went to John Van Wisse's swim squad at the King Club in Sandringham. These are great sessions and also a good way to gauge how well my swimming is going. It was an unusually small turnout which meant the group only took up 3 lanes (it often takes up 6 lanes, sometimes over 8 people to a lane). I began in the middle lane, but I was swimming so well John moved my up to the fastest lane. He was very impressed and said it was the best he had ever seen me swim. Very encouraging news, however my shoulders are a little sore today. The session was 3km long, plus I also did an extra 400m before the session started.
I'm probably going to have an easy day today to let the body recover from yesterdays long run and swim. How I feel tomorrow morning will determine how hard I train this weekend. With this week scheduled as a recovery week, I feel no pressure to cram in training.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Recovery
It is only during rest that your body actually improves. If you don't allow your body to rest, you will never improve. Training overloads your muscles resulting in lots of micro tears. During periods of rest, the muscle regenerates and becomes stronger.
How much rest do you need is the big question. I like to leave at least 48 hours between hard training sessions. However sometimes I may deliberately schedule two hard sessions in a row to add extra stress to the body, in which case I would look to follow these with at least 72 hours of easy training or rest.
Active recovery is usually better than passive recovery. At rest, most of our blood is directed to our major organs such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, intestines, etc. During exercise, a large proportion of this blood is redirected to the muscles instead. If you keep the exercise to a very low level you will not do any damage to the muscles, but the extra blood flow will result in the delivery of a lot of extra nutrients and the blow will also clear away a lot of waste product from the muscles such as lactic acid. So very light exercise is better for recovery than complete rest. I find recovery sessions especially useful between two hard sessions.
Mentally we also need a rest. You are far more likely to burn out mentally than physically (physically overtraining affects the heart). Elite athletes who experience heart issues from physically overtraining have typically been doing over 30 hours of training a week for up to 10 years.
Usually I plan each 4th week as an easy recovery week. I will still train, but every session is easy and optional. There is no guilt associated with missing a session during a recovery week. A sure way to tell if a recovery week has been mentally refreshing is if you find yourself getting restless and wanting to train.
After finishing last week with a 14km run and a 160km ride, I am treating the start of this week as recovery. At the moment I am planning 3 days of rest with the intention of doing a long run on Thursday before getting back on the bike for the weekend.
Today my knee is feeling as good as I can remember since the injury. I originally planned to do some short recovery runs, but the improvement in my knee has encouraged me to give it more complete rest. The complete rest should also give the saddle sores, from the 386km on the bike last week, a chance to fully heal.
I have a massage appointment today and a visit to chiropractor tomorrow, so hopefully my body will be in excellent shape to handle the next 3 weeks training leading up to the Long Distance Triathlon in Geelong. Yesterday I swam about 500m whilst coaching an Open Water Swim session. I'll probably do an easy swim today and tomorrow I may do a short recovery run before coaching another Open Water Swim session.
Naturally the weather has been perfect early this week (maybe a touch hot) and the rain is forecast to arrive later in the week just as I get back into training.
How much rest do you need is the big question. I like to leave at least 48 hours between hard training sessions. However sometimes I may deliberately schedule two hard sessions in a row to add extra stress to the body, in which case I would look to follow these with at least 72 hours of easy training or rest.
Active recovery is usually better than passive recovery. At rest, most of our blood is directed to our major organs such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, intestines, etc. During exercise, a large proportion of this blood is redirected to the muscles instead. If you keep the exercise to a very low level you will not do any damage to the muscles, but the extra blood flow will result in the delivery of a lot of extra nutrients and the blow will also clear away a lot of waste product from the muscles such as lactic acid. So very light exercise is better for recovery than complete rest. I find recovery sessions especially useful between two hard sessions.
Mentally we also need a rest. You are far more likely to burn out mentally than physically (physically overtraining affects the heart). Elite athletes who experience heart issues from physically overtraining have typically been doing over 30 hours of training a week for up to 10 years.
Usually I plan each 4th week as an easy recovery week. I will still train, but every session is easy and optional. There is no guilt associated with missing a session during a recovery week. A sure way to tell if a recovery week has been mentally refreshing is if you find yourself getting restless and wanting to train.
After finishing last week with a 14km run and a 160km ride, I am treating the start of this week as recovery. At the moment I am planning 3 days of rest with the intention of doing a long run on Thursday before getting back on the bike for the weekend.
Today my knee is feeling as good as I can remember since the injury. I originally planned to do some short recovery runs, but the improvement in my knee has encouraged me to give it more complete rest. The complete rest should also give the saddle sores, from the 386km on the bike last week, a chance to fully heal.
I have a massage appointment today and a visit to chiropractor tomorrow, so hopefully my body will be in excellent shape to handle the next 3 weeks training leading up to the Long Distance Triathlon in Geelong. Yesterday I swam about 500m whilst coaching an Open Water Swim session. I'll probably do an easy swim today and tomorrow I may do a short recovery run before coaching another Open Water Swim session.
Naturally the weather has been perfect early this week (maybe a touch hot) and the rain is forecast to arrive later in the week just as I get back into training.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
10 weeks to go
I usually start building the training load 12 weeks out from a major event and then become very focused and train hard for the last 8 weeks (that includes up to 2 weeks taper). The Long Distance Triathlon at Geelong is 6 weeks before Ironman Melbourne, so it may change the way I usually formulate the those last 8 weeks, not that I have ever actually trained for an Ironman before.
Despite being greatly hindered by my knee injury, I consider myself to be well into the build stage, if not already in the focussed, hard period usually reserved for the last 8 weeks. Today I completed a 160km solo ride in 5h13m. This takes the week's bike mileage up to 384km and the overall week's training volume up to 18h20m (365 slowtwitch points). Obviously the week was slightly dominated by cycling, but this is the first time I have completed what I would consider an Ironman training week. Hopefully I'll be able to start putting down several of these sort of weeks in succession.
The running this week was a little light on with only 3 runs totalling 27km. but it did show promising signs with a long run of 14km. I now need to continue building upon this distance every week. Disappointingly I only did 3 swims this week due to general fatigue and some lack of motivation - not unexpected in such a big training week. However Friday's swim was 3km and I was still swimming quite strongly towards the end of the session.
At the moment the knee is not ready for a long brick session (run off the bike). It usually feels quite sore once I've finished my rides, but generally comes good the next morning. As a result, I will probably work on increasing the bike and run distances separately. The Geelong triathlon will probably be the first test of running off the bike (20km run after an 80km bike leg).
I also need to work out where to place my recovery periods. Historically I've worked on 3 weeks of hard training and then 1 week off. The timing of the Geelong race makes this approach a little difficult, plus I'm currently hesitant to have a full week off for recovery. At the moment I'm leaning more towards having smaller 3 day recovery periods - during these days I will either swim or have a complete day of rest. How I manage the recovery periods will probably have a major influence upon whether or not my knee injury heals in time.
Friday, 13 January 2012
A long run
I've been having problems getting a long run in. I usually feel fine up to 9 or 10km, but then things start to ache and fearing an injury, I cut my run short.
This morning my knee did not feel great. It was not feeling bad, just sort of OK, which seems to be becoming the norm. The knee doesn't hurt when I walk around, but I can feel it a little going up and down the stairs and I can usually find a sore spot where the tendon attaches to the shin if I poke around. I have had the occasional day when it feels great, but they seem to be getting very rare now that I've upped the training load. I also get occasional days when it feels bad, painful to walk up stairs and very easy to find sore spots anywhere on the knee.
From the very beginning of the run I could feel my knee, but I was determined to finish my planned long run of 14km. After a kilometre or so my knee came good and I fell into a comfortable rhythm. Frustratingly my watch ran out of battery at about the 8km mark - another temptation to finish early, but I continued on. Luckily I knew where I had to run to complete 14km. As usual, I started to feel the knee again at the 10km mark. At first it wasn't bad, but it slowly progressed to mild pain. During the last 2km, my knee was more sore than any previous run because I would have usually stopped, but not today.
Once I stopped running, all signs of pain disappeared and I could not feel anything when I walked back home. Even going up the stairs didn't cause any problems. This was a big relief, but the real test will be how it feels tomorrow morning. I'm coaching the club training session tomorrow morning, so I may turn it into a rest day for me.
I still don't run with a camera, but yesterday a Blue Tongue lizard made an appearance on the path right near our house. So I went back inside to get my phone and took the following pictures. The lizard has a nasty gash on its ear, probably by a dog, and it was covered in ants who were climbing into the wound - appearing to eat the lizard alive from the inside. It was still mildly active, but sadly I don't think it is long for this world. I now suspect the other lizard probably suffered the same fate - a lot of people walk their dogs along this path. I didn't really get a good photo of it and when I tried to put my hand near it to help give you an idea of size, it scuttled away into the bush.
This morning my knee did not feel great. It was not feeling bad, just sort of OK, which seems to be becoming the norm. The knee doesn't hurt when I walk around, but I can feel it a little going up and down the stairs and I can usually find a sore spot where the tendon attaches to the shin if I poke around. I have had the occasional day when it feels great, but they seem to be getting very rare now that I've upped the training load. I also get occasional days when it feels bad, painful to walk up stairs and very easy to find sore spots anywhere on the knee.
From the very beginning of the run I could feel my knee, but I was determined to finish my planned long run of 14km. After a kilometre or so my knee came good and I fell into a comfortable rhythm. Frustratingly my watch ran out of battery at about the 8km mark - another temptation to finish early, but I continued on. Luckily I knew where I had to run to complete 14km. As usual, I started to feel the knee again at the 10km mark. At first it wasn't bad, but it slowly progressed to mild pain. During the last 2km, my knee was more sore than any previous run because I would have usually stopped, but not today.
Once I stopped running, all signs of pain disappeared and I could not feel anything when I walked back home. Even going up the stairs didn't cause any problems. This was a big relief, but the real test will be how it feels tomorrow morning. I'm coaching the club training session tomorrow morning, so I may turn it into a rest day for me.
I still don't run with a camera, but yesterday a Blue Tongue lizard made an appearance on the path right near our house. So I went back inside to get my phone and took the following pictures. The lizard has a nasty gash on its ear, probably by a dog, and it was covered in ants who were climbing into the wound - appearing to eat the lizard alive from the inside. It was still mildly active, but sadly I don't think it is long for this world. I now suspect the other lizard probably suffered the same fate - a lot of people walk their dogs along this path. I didn't really get a good photo of it and when I tried to put my hand near it to help give you an idea of size, it scuttled away into the bush.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Interesting Runs
Things have been getting interesting on my last few runs. I might have to start carrying a camera when I run.
Last Sunday's run began with a bush rat drunkenly staggering across the path, I suspect feeling the affects of a snake bite. On my return trip a few minutes later the rat was still hopelessly tripping over itself. I didn't stop, as I expected there was a snake nearby waiting for its lunch to finally fall over.
A kilometre or so later I came across a very large blue tongue lizard. Upon hearing me approach it initially started to move, but then gave up and decided it was my job to run around it. It was around 45 minutes later that I came back past and the lizard was still lying in the middle of the path. Sadly the next day Elaine discovered that the lizard had died - which does explain why it didn't feel like moving.
This morning we experienced some major storms with extremely strong winds. When I ventured out on my run this afternoon, there were a lot of broken branches and fallen trees across the path making parts of the run more like an obstacle course. Several hundred metres before the end of the path at Frankston the path was completely blocked forcing me to cut the lap slightly short. However before I reached this blockage I ran past a couple having sex on one of the picnic tables - a sure sign that you are approaching Frankston (and not something I would want to have photographed). Fortunately they were gone by the time I came back, but only 20 or so metres passed the picnic table, a huge brown snake (at least 2 metres long and very thick) was sunning itself in the middle of path. I stopped about 5 metres short of the snake while it very casually slivered into the bushes. It was not a scary encounter as evidenced by the fact my watch showed that my heart did not rise - it was simply interesting and far preferable than the scene I encountered on the way out.
Today's run was supposed to be 14km, but my body had other ideas. Early on I felt shin soreness, but decided to continue and the soreness slowly died away. However as I got closer to home my patella tendon started to ache and this was something I was not going to ignore. So my run was cut short at only 9.5km, hopefully I'll feel good enough on Friday to complete the full 14km.
Once I stopped my knee felt fine and has actually felt better since the run than it did in the morning. Am I now being over sensitive about my knee, or did my premature end to the run save any damage from being done. I'm worried that my knee will always start to hurt around 10km, because at some point (very soon) I am going to need to press on, because time is running out.
Last Sunday's run began with a bush rat drunkenly staggering across the path, I suspect feeling the affects of a snake bite. On my return trip a few minutes later the rat was still hopelessly tripping over itself. I didn't stop, as I expected there was a snake nearby waiting for its lunch to finally fall over.
A kilometre or so later I came across a very large blue tongue lizard. Upon hearing me approach it initially started to move, but then gave up and decided it was my job to run around it. It was around 45 minutes later that I came back past and the lizard was still lying in the middle of the path. Sadly the next day Elaine discovered that the lizard had died - which does explain why it didn't feel like moving.
This morning we experienced some major storms with extremely strong winds. When I ventured out on my run this afternoon, there were a lot of broken branches and fallen trees across the path making parts of the run more like an obstacle course. Several hundred metres before the end of the path at Frankston the path was completely blocked forcing me to cut the lap slightly short. However before I reached this blockage I ran past a couple having sex on one of the picnic tables - a sure sign that you are approaching Frankston (and not something I would want to have photographed). Fortunately they were gone by the time I came back, but only 20 or so metres passed the picnic table, a huge brown snake (at least 2 metres long and very thick) was sunning itself in the middle of path. I stopped about 5 metres short of the snake while it very casually slivered into the bushes. It was not a scary encounter as evidenced by the fact my watch showed that my heart did not rise - it was simply interesting and far preferable than the scene I encountered on the way out.
Today's run was supposed to be 14km, but my body had other ideas. Early on I felt shin soreness, but decided to continue and the soreness slowly died away. However as I got closer to home my patella tendon started to ache and this was something I was not going to ignore. So my run was cut short at only 9.5km, hopefully I'll feel good enough on Friday to complete the full 14km.
Once I stopped my knee felt fine and has actually felt better since the run than it did in the morning. Am I now being over sensitive about my knee, or did my premature end to the run save any damage from being done. I'm worried that my knee will always start to hurt around 10km, because at some point (very soon) I am going to need to press on, because time is running out.
Monday, 9 January 2012
A Good Week
The last week saw 15 hours of training involving 4 swims (7.6km), 4 rides (239 km) and 4 runs (31 km). It equated to 304 Slowtwitch Points which makes it the biggest training week so far this season. Unfortunately 300 points is what I look to do each week in the lead up to a Half Ironman, so I still have a bit of work to reach Ironman training levels. In previous Half Ironman training weeks I have achieved the 300 points in only 12 hours of training, which highlights how much slower my training pace has become.
This week has started off well with a 99km ride to Rye. But I'll be limited in what I can do over the next 2 days, as I'll be stuck at home with trades people in the house renovating the warbdrobe in our master bedroom. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak in a small run or two.
I'm planning to get my long run up to 14km this week and weather permitting I'm hoping to get that elusive 5 hour ride done this Sunday. I have numerous coaching commitments this week (and the next 2 weeks following), so training sessions will be that much harder to fit in.
This week has started off well with a 99km ride to Rye. But I'll be limited in what I can do over the next 2 days, as I'll be stuck at home with trades people in the house renovating the warbdrobe in our master bedroom. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak in a small run or two.
I'm planning to get my long run up to 14km this week and weather permitting I'm hoping to get that elusive 5 hour ride done this Sunday. I have numerous coaching commitments this week (and the next 2 weeks following), so training sessions will be that much harder to fit in.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Mild Thigh Soreness
Headed out for a 5 hour ride early yesterday morning. The plan was to head south for 2.5 hours, return home and refill the water bottles before heading off north for another 2.5 hours.
The conditions were perfect, so I headed a bit further south up to McCrae. However on the way way home I felt a little bit of aching in the thigh muscles, mainly the ITB and VMO. Not wanting to risk any more injuries I decided to skip the ride up north and finished up with a 3 hour ride covering 78km. Any tightness in the thigh will put extra pressure on my patella tendon, so I have to be very careful in this area.
I tried to capture the view of Safety Beach as you pass through the hilly section in Mt Martha, but I don't think I did it justice. Hopefully I'll manage a better picture on one of my future rides - this is my favourite riding location, so I go there a lot.
Tonight I have a massage booked with Burkey, so hopefully he can loosen things up and I'll be back in business. Not wanting today to be a complete day of rest, I did a 3km swim session that included a main set of 20x100m Freestyle (every 2nd one was recovery).
The conditions were perfect, so I headed a bit further south up to McCrae. However on the way way home I felt a little bit of aching in the thigh muscles, mainly the ITB and VMO. Not wanting to risk any more injuries I decided to skip the ride up north and finished up with a 3 hour ride covering 78km. Any tightness in the thigh will put extra pressure on my patella tendon, so I have to be very careful in this area.I tried to capture the view of Safety Beach as you pass through the hilly section in Mt Martha, but I don't think I did it justice. Hopefully I'll manage a better picture on one of my future rides - this is my favourite riding location, so I go there a lot.
Tonight I have a massage booked with Burkey, so hopefully he can loosen things up and I'll be back in business. Not wanting today to be a complete day of rest, I did a 3km swim session that included a main set of 20x100m Freestyle (every 2nd one was recovery).
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
81 Days till Ironman
The clock is ticking down fast.
Last week wasn't bad with 12.5 hours of training, but most importantly I got in 33kms of running. Ideally I would be running 60kms a week by now, but 33 is definitely better a massive improvement over the last 3 months.
Today I ran 12.5km. There is 5.5 weeks till the Long Distance Triathlon in Geelong that has a run leg of 20km. I'm a long way behind where I would like to be, but I still think it is workable. I also need to get in a 30km run before Ironman (in 81 days).
The bike is going OK, I did 75km on Monday and hopefully will get in a longer ride tomorrow morning (weather dependent). Compared to other years my bike is going well, but this year I'm doing Ironman and really need to start getting in a lot more distance as I'm still fading very badly after 3 hours of riding). The 200km Alpine Classic Ride on 29th Jan (3.5 weeks to go) now looks extremely unlikely due to my knee. Therefore I'll need to schedule in an alternate 200km ride before Ironman (not looking forward to that - I'll rediscover how sore a bum can get).
Now that I'm getting in more running and riding, swimming has taken a bit of a back seat. I still feel like I'm swimming well, but that won't last unless I start getting back in the pool on a regular basis and start clocking up 10km swim weeks again.
So in summary, up to this point I've done more swimming that I expected, significantly less riding that I hoped and way, way, way less running than I would have liked. But I still think I can get in enough training in the next 81 days to be ready for Ironman - not as ready as I would have liked - but people very rarely are.
Last week wasn't bad with 12.5 hours of training, but most importantly I got in 33kms of running. Ideally I would be running 60kms a week by now, but 33 is definitely better a massive improvement over the last 3 months.
Today I ran 12.5km. There is 5.5 weeks till the Long Distance Triathlon in Geelong that has a run leg of 20km. I'm a long way behind where I would like to be, but I still think it is workable. I also need to get in a 30km run before Ironman (in 81 days).
The bike is going OK, I did 75km on Monday and hopefully will get in a longer ride tomorrow morning (weather dependent). Compared to other years my bike is going well, but this year I'm doing Ironman and really need to start getting in a lot more distance as I'm still fading very badly after 3 hours of riding). The 200km Alpine Classic Ride on 29th Jan (3.5 weeks to go) now looks extremely unlikely due to my knee. Therefore I'll need to schedule in an alternate 200km ride before Ironman (not looking forward to that - I'll rediscover how sore a bum can get).
Now that I'm getting in more running and riding, swimming has taken a bit of a back seat. I still feel like I'm swimming well, but that won't last unless I start getting back in the pool on a regular basis and start clocking up 10km swim weeks again.
So in summary, up to this point I've done more swimming that I expected, significantly less riding that I hoped and way, way, way less running than I would have liked. But I still think I can get in enough training in the next 81 days to be ready for Ironman - not as ready as I would have liked - but people very rarely are.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
A Good Ride
Saturday mornings usually involve joining the local bike shop (Cycling Obsession) ride that starts at 6:30am. I had planned a long ride this morning (5hrs+) which would have meant doing about 3 hours extra at the end, but the knee didn't feel great, so I revised the plans and decided the 2 hour ride would be enough.
The Cycling Obsession rides alternate each week between Mt Martha (hilly) and St Kilda (flat & fast). This week it was St Kilda, but because so many of the riders are also doing Ironman the ride was extended to Port Melbourne - an extra 13kms taking the riding distance up to 78km.
The ride out is usually done at a reasonably easy pace of 30kph, it then picks up on the way back with an especially fast section between Brighton and Mordialloc for about 16kms before cruising back to Seaford. On the way out today we were sitting around 35kph, so I figured we probably had a slight tailwind. I was feeling pretty good and was entertaining ideas of trying to push the pace on the way back, but wasn't so keen on doing this if it was going to be a stiff headwind - the strength of the wind usually picks up as the morning progresses. Very fortuitously, the wind changed direction just before we reached Port Melbourne, so we ended up having a tailwind in both directions - this does not happen very often.
The pace back was moderate until Brighton where Beach Rd starts to open up and is much more bike friendly. Four riders from the bunch took off and immediately generated a gap of over 50m. I charged off to bridge the gap hitting 60kph, but in my eagerness I hit a pothole at speed. The force of the pothole bounced my whole body off the bike - I landed safely on the nose of the saddle, but in doing so pushed the angle of the seat down about 10 degrees. This suddenly made the bike very uncomfortable. Usually I sit on the nose when I'm pushing hard for speed, but now this would result in the seat being way too low. So I had to sit further back than usual to maintain the correct saddle height, but the tilt of the seat meant that any position was not very comfortable. I still managed to bridge the gap, but ironically within a kilometre we got stopped at the South Rd lights and the group was re-united again.
Each time we stopped at lights, I tried to wrench my seat back into position. I managed to improve it, but it was still a few degrees out - workable, but not comfortable. The ride through Sandringham and Black Rock is a little hilly, and seeing as I'm supposed to avoid hills, I didn't think this was a good section to take the lead. Once we made it to Beaumaris I could sense that the leaders were starting to tire, so I charged up to the front of the pack. Unfortunately I charged a little too hard and instantly gapped the pack by about 30m. I eased off to let them catch back up and as soon as I sensed them closing in, I took off.
I was riding at my highest sustainable effort and when I glanced down at my speedo I saw 55kph. However I could not sense any difficulty coming from the riders behind. It was a bit of a dent in my ego that my best efforts were not causing the other riders to push hard to keep up, especially when I thought most of the riders were starting to tire. I kept the speed above 40 going up the Mentone Pub hill, but still no puffing and panting from the riders following. Once up the hill I pushed the speed back over 50 and still no evidence that I was causing any pain, so I signaled for the rider behind to take over the lead.
To my shock, the 2 riders behind were both professional riders from the Porsche Drapac Team (I think they were Amir Rusli & Adiq Othman). They must have passed the pack when I made my initial 30m gap, and I never noticed the lead riders when they caught back up. The 2 Porsche Drapac riders both took turns on the front and then fed back into the back of the pack. The actual Cycling Obsession pack was now about a 3rd of the size with lots of riders having dropped off the back and those remaining were mostly on their last legs after giving everything to stay on the wheels of the pro riders.
After reaching Mordialloc, we cruise across to Station St to wait for the other riders to regroup. However today we only waited about 5 minutes, as it was decided that the slower riders would simply be too far behind after such a fast ride. During the easy ride back to Seaford I started chatting with a friend Kevin from Gravity-Zero. He was continuing on to Mornington to take the distance over 100km. It sounded like a good idea, so I decided to join him. The total ride ended up being 113km in 3h20m. We took the extra ride to Mornington relatively easy, but I was still wrecked trying to ride up MorningStar hill and was very glad once I got home.
I haven't ridden with any intensity in nearly 2 months, so I was very pleased to see that I had not lost much of my top end power. My knee seems to have pulled up well, so all in all I think the ride went very well - and it always feels good to go fast.
The Cycling Obsession rides alternate each week between Mt Martha (hilly) and St Kilda (flat & fast). This week it was St Kilda, but because so many of the riders are also doing Ironman the ride was extended to Port Melbourne - an extra 13kms taking the riding distance up to 78km.
The ride out is usually done at a reasonably easy pace of 30kph, it then picks up on the way back with an especially fast section between Brighton and Mordialloc for about 16kms before cruising back to Seaford. On the way out today we were sitting around 35kph, so I figured we probably had a slight tailwind. I was feeling pretty good and was entertaining ideas of trying to push the pace on the way back, but wasn't so keen on doing this if it was going to be a stiff headwind - the strength of the wind usually picks up as the morning progresses. Very fortuitously, the wind changed direction just before we reached Port Melbourne, so we ended up having a tailwind in both directions - this does not happen very often.
The pace back was moderate until Brighton where Beach Rd starts to open up and is much more bike friendly. Four riders from the bunch took off and immediately generated a gap of over 50m. I charged off to bridge the gap hitting 60kph, but in my eagerness I hit a pothole at speed. The force of the pothole bounced my whole body off the bike - I landed safely on the nose of the saddle, but in doing so pushed the angle of the seat down about 10 degrees. This suddenly made the bike very uncomfortable. Usually I sit on the nose when I'm pushing hard for speed, but now this would result in the seat being way too low. So I had to sit further back than usual to maintain the correct saddle height, but the tilt of the seat meant that any position was not very comfortable. I still managed to bridge the gap, but ironically within a kilometre we got stopped at the South Rd lights and the group was re-united again.
Each time we stopped at lights, I tried to wrench my seat back into position. I managed to improve it, but it was still a few degrees out - workable, but not comfortable. The ride through Sandringham and Black Rock is a little hilly, and seeing as I'm supposed to avoid hills, I didn't think this was a good section to take the lead. Once we made it to Beaumaris I could sense that the leaders were starting to tire, so I charged up to the front of the pack. Unfortunately I charged a little too hard and instantly gapped the pack by about 30m. I eased off to let them catch back up and as soon as I sensed them closing in, I took off.
I was riding at my highest sustainable effort and when I glanced down at my speedo I saw 55kph. However I could not sense any difficulty coming from the riders behind. It was a bit of a dent in my ego that my best efforts were not causing the other riders to push hard to keep up, especially when I thought most of the riders were starting to tire. I kept the speed above 40 going up the Mentone Pub hill, but still no puffing and panting from the riders following. Once up the hill I pushed the speed back over 50 and still no evidence that I was causing any pain, so I signaled for the rider behind to take over the lead.
To my shock, the 2 riders behind were both professional riders from the Porsche Drapac Team (I think they were Amir Rusli & Adiq Othman). They must have passed the pack when I made my initial 30m gap, and I never noticed the lead riders when they caught back up. The 2 Porsche Drapac riders both took turns on the front and then fed back into the back of the pack. The actual Cycling Obsession pack was now about a 3rd of the size with lots of riders having dropped off the back and those remaining were mostly on their last legs after giving everything to stay on the wheels of the pro riders.
After reaching Mordialloc, we cruise across to Station St to wait for the other riders to regroup. However today we only waited about 5 minutes, as it was decided that the slower riders would simply be too far behind after such a fast ride. During the easy ride back to Seaford I started chatting with a friend Kevin from Gravity-Zero. He was continuing on to Mornington to take the distance over 100km. It sounded like a good idea, so I decided to join him. The total ride ended up being 113km in 3h20m. We took the extra ride to Mornington relatively easy, but I was still wrecked trying to ride up MorningStar hill and was very glad once I got home.
I haven't ridden with any intensity in nearly 2 months, so I was very pleased to see that I had not lost much of my top end power. My knee seems to have pulled up well, so all in all I think the ride went very well - and it always feels good to go fast.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Looking Better
Even though the Physio ordered rest, the knee felt good after Saturday's ride, so I continued training for the rest of the week.
Sunday morning was a 3 hour ride to Dromana and back containing a few hilly sections (but not really any hill climbing). The planned open water swim on Monday was canceled due to poor water quality, but I got in 2 good swimming sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, both over 3km in distance. Wednesday's session was an open water swim at Half Moon Bay totaling almost 3.5km, including swimming around Cerebus 3 times - the chop was starting to pick up a little towards the end and I finished feeling absolutely exhausted. I also slotted in two 6km runs (Tue & Thu) and an easy, flat 3 hour ride on Wednesday, although it was a head wind all the way back from Port Melbourne.
I had a rest day on Friday before my appointment with the Sports Medicine Doctor and my knee was feeling quite good - certainly much better than a week ago when I last saw the Physio. The Sports Medicine Doctor is Dr Kal Fried, who is also the Sports Doctor for the Melbourne AFL Football Club. He checked over my knee, looked through my MRI, Ultrasound & XRays and assessed my injury as minor. There are 3 phases of tendon injury and I am still in the first phase regarded as inflammation stage. Cortisone injections are not advisable in this stage as they are more likely to worsen the situation (which is good, because I hate injections).
I was given a prescription for Doxycycline & Ibuprofen and also advised to drink lots of green tea. Hill climbing on the bike is still not allowed, but I am free to continue riding on the flat and allowed to extend my running distance as much as I like - assuming I don't feel any pain in the knee, or any other parts of my legs. And naturally I am encouraged to do as much swimming as I can.
He also gave me a few extra stretches to do and keep attempting the single leg squat exercises I was given by the Physio. If the squats cause pain in the knee, I am to immediately stop. But once I am able to do single leg squats pain free, I am allowed to add hill work to the bike and the run - basically it will mean I am recovered.
This morning I went out for a 10km run, unfortunately I hadn't charged my GPS watch, so the battery ran out after 500m. It felt very strange to run without knowing my speed or heart rate, but after a while I fell into a rhythm. With roughly half a kilometre to go I had to stop and walk due to tightness in my ITB. I suppose it is a good sign that other pains are now appearing before my knee hurts, but it is also evidence that it is going to be a difficult task getting my run mileage up.
The Alpine Classic event in late January now looks very unlikely, but my chances of doing the Long Distance triathlon at Geelong in February and Ironman in March have definitely improved - maybe 70/30 now.
Sunday morning was a 3 hour ride to Dromana and back containing a few hilly sections (but not really any hill climbing). The planned open water swim on Monday was canceled due to poor water quality, but I got in 2 good swimming sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, both over 3km in distance. Wednesday's session was an open water swim at Half Moon Bay totaling almost 3.5km, including swimming around Cerebus 3 times - the chop was starting to pick up a little towards the end and I finished feeling absolutely exhausted. I also slotted in two 6km runs (Tue & Thu) and an easy, flat 3 hour ride on Wednesday, although it was a head wind all the way back from Port Melbourne.
I had a rest day on Friday before my appointment with the Sports Medicine Doctor and my knee was feeling quite good - certainly much better than a week ago when I last saw the Physio. The Sports Medicine Doctor is Dr Kal Fried, who is also the Sports Doctor for the Melbourne AFL Football Club. He checked over my knee, looked through my MRI, Ultrasound & XRays and assessed my injury as minor. There are 3 phases of tendon injury and I am still in the first phase regarded as inflammation stage. Cortisone injections are not advisable in this stage as they are more likely to worsen the situation (which is good, because I hate injections).
I was given a prescription for Doxycycline & Ibuprofen and also advised to drink lots of green tea. Hill climbing on the bike is still not allowed, but I am free to continue riding on the flat and allowed to extend my running distance as much as I like - assuming I don't feel any pain in the knee, or any other parts of my legs. And naturally I am encouraged to do as much swimming as I can.
He also gave me a few extra stretches to do and keep attempting the single leg squat exercises I was given by the Physio. If the squats cause pain in the knee, I am to immediately stop. But once I am able to do single leg squats pain free, I am allowed to add hill work to the bike and the run - basically it will mean I am recovered.
This morning I went out for a 10km run, unfortunately I hadn't charged my GPS watch, so the battery ran out after 500m. It felt very strange to run without knowing my speed or heart rate, but after a while I fell into a rhythm. With roughly half a kilometre to go I had to stop and walk due to tightness in my ITB. I suppose it is a good sign that other pains are now appearing before my knee hurts, but it is also evidence that it is going to be a difficult task getting my run mileage up.
The Alpine Classic event in late January now looks very unlikely, but my chances of doing the Long Distance triathlon at Geelong in February and Ironman in March have definitely improved - maybe 70/30 now.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Out of Action
I saw the Physio yesterday, and I've been ordered to take it easy until I see the Sports Medicine Doctor on Friday. The most likely scenario is that I will get a cortisone injection designed to break up the inflammation in the patella tendon and bursa.
Until Friday I am allowed to do as much swimming as I want (which isn't usually much) and short, easy, flat bike rides. This morning I joined the local bike shop ride. In hindsight, this ride was not slow or flat, but I seemed to pull up well.
With the forced break from running and restricted riding, all of my planned events are in doubt. At the moment I would rate myself less than 50% chance of making the start line for Ironman. But maybe the cortisone injection will work wonders, we can only hope.
Until Friday I am allowed to do as much swimming as I want (which isn't usually much) and short, easy, flat bike rides. This morning I joined the local bike shop ride. In hindsight, this ride was not slow or flat, but I seemed to pull up well.
With the forced break from running and restricted riding, all of my planned events are in doubt. At the moment I would rate myself less than 50% chance of making the start line for Ironman. But maybe the cortisone injection will work wonders, we can only hope.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
100 Days till Ironman
Monday started well with a really good run. However my knee has not been improving as I would have liked and I've skipped sessions every day since Monday hoping the rest will help with the recovery.
I saw the Chiropractor tonight and he suggested that I now have Bursitis. The pain has lowered to where the patella tendon attaches to the bone. I see the Physio on Friday, so I'll know then whether or not he agrees with the Chiro's diagnosis.
I've had 3 reasonable weeks of training - lots of swimming, two long rides and my running is now up to 10km. So one easy week now will do me more good than bad. But I'll be extremely frustrated if I cannot get a long ride in this weekend.
There are 100 days till Ironman. Currently I have probably done more swimming than I expected, and my long ride is not too far off target. However I am literally miles behind in my running. I would expect my long runs to be well over 20km and my weekly mileage to be approaching 60km. Instead my last run was 10km and my total distance for the last 8 weeks has been less than 60km.
I have 46 days before the Alpine Classic ride - my participation is still in doubt, and the Long Distance Triathlon at Geelong is two weeks after the Alpine Classic. These two events will be my best gauge for Ironman. If my knee does not come up for the Alpine Classic or I struggle too much or my knee flares up at the Geelong race, I will probably need to pull out of the Ironman.
At the moment my enthusiasm and confidence is very low, but maybe this is just a side affect of not training.
I saw the Chiropractor tonight and he suggested that I now have Bursitis. The pain has lowered to where the patella tendon attaches to the bone. I see the Physio on Friday, so I'll know then whether or not he agrees with the Chiro's diagnosis.
I've had 3 reasonable weeks of training - lots of swimming, two long rides and my running is now up to 10km. So one easy week now will do me more good than bad. But I'll be extremely frustrated if I cannot get a long ride in this weekend.
There are 100 days till Ironman. Currently I have probably done more swimming than I expected, and my long ride is not too far off target. However I am literally miles behind in my running. I would expect my long runs to be well over 20km and my weekly mileage to be approaching 60km. Instead my last run was 10km and my total distance for the last 8 weeks has been less than 60km.
I have 46 days before the Alpine Classic ride - my participation is still in doubt, and the Long Distance Triathlon at Geelong is two weeks after the Alpine Classic. These two events will be my best gauge for Ironman. If my knee does not come up for the Alpine Classic or I struggle too much or my knee flares up at the Geelong race, I will probably need to pull out of the Ironman.
At the moment my enthusiasm and confidence is very low, but maybe this is just a side affect of not training.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Finally some improvement
I ended last week with an easy weekend. Saturday was a rest day and Sunday contained an easy 40km ride and swim. But I still managed to clock up over 14 hours, thanks largely to the 5 hour ride on Thursday morning. The long ride covered 138km and even though it was done at an easy pace, I still felt quite fatigued during Friday's run and swim which is why I took Saturday off.
When I woke up this morning the knee was OK (not great, just OK), but I was feeling refreshed after an easy weekend and eager to run. I decided to wear a tight tri-top for my run because I've had problems with loose clothing causing static on the heart rate strap resulting in spikes in the reading. Up til now I've tended to run in the heat of the day to help my body acclimatise, but today I decided to run in the cool of the morning. With my run distance now up to 10km I also increased my warmup and cooldown sections from 1km to 2km.
With all the above factors (fresher, no HR spikes, cooler temps, longer warmup) my pace at a heart rate of 137 increased from 5m55s to 5m25s pace. Continually training at your aerobic ceiling (which for me is a heart rate of 137) should over time result in a faster speed for the same heart rate. Frustratingly, up til now my running pace had not improved, even though I had been doing this type of training for over a month. So I was extremely happy to suddenly experience such a sudden leap of improvement.
When I woke up this morning the knee was OK (not great, just OK), but I was feeling refreshed after an easy weekend and eager to run. I decided to wear a tight tri-top for my run because I've had problems with loose clothing causing static on the heart rate strap resulting in spikes in the reading. Up til now I've tended to run in the heat of the day to help my body acclimatise, but today I decided to run in the cool of the morning. With my run distance now up to 10km I also increased my warmup and cooldown sections from 1km to 2km.
With all the above factors (fresher, no HR spikes, cooler temps, longer warmup) my pace at a heart rate of 137 increased from 5m55s to 5m25s pace. Continually training at your aerobic ceiling (which for me is a heart rate of 137) should over time result in a faster speed for the same heart rate. Frustratingly, up til now my running pace had not improved, even though I had been doing this type of training for over a month. So I was extremely happy to suddenly experience such a sudden leap of improvement.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Rest day
I ran 8km on Monday, road 78km yesterday morning and swam 2.2km yesterday afternoon. Today's plan was run 9km and do 2 swims, one in the pool and one in the bay. However the knee was not feeling great this morning - it was not that bad, but I could feel it a little which was a bit disappointing. Usually the morning after a ride day it feels good, so I decided to skip today's run and make it a rest day - except for an easy swim in the bay tonight.
Maybe it is weather related, because my knee seems to only play up when the weather is perfect for training. At least I'll enjoy tonight's open water swim.
Fingers crossed, the knee will feel better tomorrow. I'm planning a ride, the length of which will decide upon how good the knee is feeling. If everything goes OK, I might do as much as 130km - roughly 5 hours.
I've made a few alterations to the tri-bike in preparation for Ironman. I have raised the bars about 15mm, added a bottle cage to the handlebar stem and changed the seat from a Profile Design TriStryke to a ProLogo Nago Evo Tri40.
The new seat is not only more comfortable, but its color scheme better matches the bike - which is very important.
Adding the bottle cage to the stem allows me an extra bottle without having to attach bottle cages behind the seat. I should only need 1 extra bottle for Ironman, as there will be plenty of aid stations on the bike course to get new bottles. It also makes it much easier to access the bottle.
Maybe it is weather related, because my knee seems to only play up when the weather is perfect for training. At least I'll enjoy tonight's open water swim.
Fingers crossed, the knee will feel better tomorrow. I'm planning a ride, the length of which will decide upon how good the knee is feeling. If everything goes OK, I might do as much as 130km - roughly 5 hours.
I've made a few alterations to the tri-bike in preparation for Ironman. I have raised the bars about 15mm, added a bottle cage to the handlebar stem and changed the seat from a Profile Design TriStryke to a ProLogo Nago Evo Tri40.The new seat is not only more comfortable, but its color scheme better matches the bike - which is very important.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Only 16 weeks left
Time flies and the race date is quickly creeping up. My injuries (knee, back & shoulder) have not healed, but are now in a manageable state. I am almost back to full training, but have to monitor the injuries (especially the knee) very carefully. Anymore setbacks at this stage could put the Ironman in doubt, and you get very little refund back from the very expensive entry fee.
All of my current training is at an aerobic zone, which for me means keeping my heart rate under 137bpm. This is sometimes called the fat-burning zone, as when training at this level, most of your energy is sourced from stored fat instead of glycerin, meaning you do not require as many carbs to keep going. In theory, over time my body will become more efficient working in this zone and I'll get faster for the same effort. Above the aerobic zone is referred to as the anaerobic zone. Training anaerobically will build strength and develop more speed and power, but result in a lot more stress on the body and greatly increase the chance of injury. It was the anaerobic work I did during the Duathlon series that resulted in my knee injury.
I am more or less unrestricted in how much swimming I can do, so I have been trying to swim most days. An easy session is around 1500m and the longer sessions are up to 3km. I need to get comfortable swimming 4km and maybe even do a 5km open water race. The shoulder is always sore when I start the swim, but seems to be behaving itself once I'm warmed up. My recent swims have not included any speedwork, so I have not broken any swim PBs. However I am finding that I am posting reasonable 400m freestyle times without a lot of effort, which is a good sign.
When I ride, I am very aware of my knee. It is not really a soreness, but an awareness that the knee is not 100%. I'm told the next morning is the best indicator of how the knee is holding up to training and my knee is usually at its best the day after a ride. The knee actually feels better when I am riding my Triathlon bike due to the steeper seat angle, but unfortunately my bum is not agreeing with the seat on the tri-bike when I go for long rides, so I'm tending to ride more on the road bike. Hopefully this week I'll get to the bike shop and try some different seats. Last Friday I did a very slow 110km in 4h21m - I felt pretty shattered by the end, and my bum still hurts 3 days later. I'm booked in to do the 200km Alpine Classic ride in January which is only 8 weeks away - so I have a lot of work to do here.
Saturday saw my first run without any walk breaks since the MRI. My knee had become quite sore due to a Christmas party on the Friday night, but it seemed to hold out quite well. Generally my knee feels great when I run (completely pain free, not even an awareness), but usually pulls up a touch sore the next morning. I could feel my knee on Sunday, but it was quite minor, so I am still feeling quite positive. I will run 8km today, 9km on Wednesday and hopefully 10km on Friday. While this progression looks great, I need to get my long run up to around 30km before the Ironman. Chances are I'll be racing very much underdone in regards to the run. To keep my heart rate under 137bpm, I currently need to run at around 5m55s pace - this is very (almost uncomfortably) slow, and hopefully this will improve closer to 5m00s pace before the race. I will be disappointed if I cannot at least run at 5m30s pace (3h51m Marathon).
Overall I am a long way behind where I hoped I'd be at this stage, but if my body holds out, I still believe I can get into condition in time. The last 3 weeks have seen me log good training loads - 9.5, 11.25 & 13.5 hours. Due to the easy level of training this has felt quite easy. At first, all the aerobic training actually loosened up my muscles, but as I've extended the amount of time (in particular the long ride), they have started to stiffen up again. It is the stiffness in my quads, ITB and VMO that pull on my patella tendon causing the inflammation, so I will definitely need to pay close attention to this.
All of my current training is at an aerobic zone, which for me means keeping my heart rate under 137bpm. This is sometimes called the fat-burning zone, as when training at this level, most of your energy is sourced from stored fat instead of glycerin, meaning you do not require as many carbs to keep going. In theory, over time my body will become more efficient working in this zone and I'll get faster for the same effort. Above the aerobic zone is referred to as the anaerobic zone. Training anaerobically will build strength and develop more speed and power, but result in a lot more stress on the body and greatly increase the chance of injury. It was the anaerobic work I did during the Duathlon series that resulted in my knee injury.
I am more or less unrestricted in how much swimming I can do, so I have been trying to swim most days. An easy session is around 1500m and the longer sessions are up to 3km. I need to get comfortable swimming 4km and maybe even do a 5km open water race. The shoulder is always sore when I start the swim, but seems to be behaving itself once I'm warmed up. My recent swims have not included any speedwork, so I have not broken any swim PBs. However I am finding that I am posting reasonable 400m freestyle times without a lot of effort, which is a good sign.
When I ride, I am very aware of my knee. It is not really a soreness, but an awareness that the knee is not 100%. I'm told the next morning is the best indicator of how the knee is holding up to training and my knee is usually at its best the day after a ride. The knee actually feels better when I am riding my Triathlon bike due to the steeper seat angle, but unfortunately my bum is not agreeing with the seat on the tri-bike when I go for long rides, so I'm tending to ride more on the road bike. Hopefully this week I'll get to the bike shop and try some different seats. Last Friday I did a very slow 110km in 4h21m - I felt pretty shattered by the end, and my bum still hurts 3 days later. I'm booked in to do the 200km Alpine Classic ride in January which is only 8 weeks away - so I have a lot of work to do here.
Saturday saw my first run without any walk breaks since the MRI. My knee had become quite sore due to a Christmas party on the Friday night, but it seemed to hold out quite well. Generally my knee feels great when I run (completely pain free, not even an awareness), but usually pulls up a touch sore the next morning. I could feel my knee on Sunday, but it was quite minor, so I am still feeling quite positive. I will run 8km today, 9km on Wednesday and hopefully 10km on Friday. While this progression looks great, I need to get my long run up to around 30km before the Ironman. Chances are I'll be racing very much underdone in regards to the run. To keep my heart rate under 137bpm, I currently need to run at around 5m55s pace - this is very (almost uncomfortably) slow, and hopefully this will improve closer to 5m00s pace before the race. I will be disappointed if I cannot at least run at 5m30s pace (3h51m Marathon).
Overall I am a long way behind where I hoped I'd be at this stage, but if my body holds out, I still believe I can get into condition in time. The last 3 weeks have seen me log good training loads - 9.5, 11.25 & 13.5 hours. Due to the easy level of training this has felt quite easy. At first, all the aerobic training actually loosened up my muscles, but as I've extended the amount of time (in particular the long ride), they have started to stiffen up again. It is the stiffness in my quads, ITB and VMO that pull on my patella tendon causing the inflammation, so I will definitely need to pay close attention to this.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
No longer drowning
Swimming has always been by far my weakest leg and it has also been the discipline for which I have always trained the least. So it is not surprising that my swimming ability has remained stagnant whilst I've slowly improved on the bike and run.
However with the frustration of restricted running and cycling due to my knee injury, I have recently spent a lot more time swimming. In fact in the last 17 days I have done 14 swims, 7 bike rides and only 6 walk/run sessions.
For the first time ever my monthly swim mileage (26km) is larger than my run mileage (21km). All of my sessions in November were done at an easy pace while I concentrate on staying in my aerobic zone, so I have not broken any swim PBs. But I definitely feel swimming is becoming easier and I am having no problems backing up swim sessions day after day (ocassionally even 2 sessions in one day)
However with the frustration of restricted running and cycling due to my knee injury, I have recently spent a lot more time swimming. In fact in the last 17 days I have done 14 swims, 7 bike rides and only 6 walk/run sessions.
For the first time ever my monthly swim mileage (26km) is larger than my run mileage (21km). All of my sessions in November were done at an easy pace while I concentrate on staying in my aerobic zone, so I have not broken any swim PBs. But I definitely feel swimming is becoming easier and I am having no problems backing up swim sessions day after day (ocassionally even 2 sessions in one day)
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
A Weighting Game
Elaine bought me 'The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing' by Dr Philip Maffetone for my birthday. Not only does he talk about training, but there is also a large section on diet.
Dr Maffetone's main diet theme is to avoid processed carbohydrates. His advice is that you should not buy food from any of the aisles in supermarket because all that food is not good for you. In particular he singles out Bread, Cereal, Milk, Pasta, White Rice, Desserts and Soft drink. He also does not like fruit juice, potatoes and corn (high GI and too many starches). Instead he wants you to have foods high in protein and dietary fats. You should buy as many different colored vegetables as possible, eggs, nuts, avocados, bacon, cheese, sour cream, meat and fish (wine, coffee & tea).
In fact he attributes nearly every unhealthy symptom (even dental decay) to an overload of processed carbohydrates. He advises a two week test where you try to avoid all carbohydrates to allow your insulin levels to stabilise and your body to adjust. During this time all your unwanted symptoms such as intestinal distress, bloating, irregular bowel movements, insomnia, fatigue should disappear and weight loss also usually occurs. After the 2 weeks, you can slowly start re-introducing carbohydrates and take note of which foods cause symptoms to reappear.
With only 2 weeks before Elaine's work Christmas Party, she was very keen to start the 2 week test straight away. We are now just over a week into the test and Elaine is feeling much better and has lost 2 kilograms. Unfortunately, I discovered this morning that I have lost 3 kilograms, and I didn't have any extra weight that I could afford to lose - I'm now down to 75.9kg (190cm tall). So in the interest of good health I just had 2 Tim Tams and am currently drinking a beer.
Dr Maffetone's main diet theme is to avoid processed carbohydrates. His advice is that you should not buy food from any of the aisles in supermarket because all that food is not good for you. In particular he singles out Bread, Cereal, Milk, Pasta, White Rice, Desserts and Soft drink. He also does not like fruit juice, potatoes and corn (high GI and too many starches). Instead he wants you to have foods high in protein and dietary fats. You should buy as many different colored vegetables as possible, eggs, nuts, avocados, bacon, cheese, sour cream, meat and fish (wine, coffee & tea).
In fact he attributes nearly every unhealthy symptom (even dental decay) to an overload of processed carbohydrates. He advises a two week test where you try to avoid all carbohydrates to allow your insulin levels to stabilise and your body to adjust. During this time all your unwanted symptoms such as intestinal distress, bloating, irregular bowel movements, insomnia, fatigue should disappear and weight loss also usually occurs. After the 2 weeks, you can slowly start re-introducing carbohydrates and take note of which foods cause symptoms to reappear.
With only 2 weeks before Elaine's work Christmas Party, she was very keen to start the 2 week test straight away. We are now just over a week into the test and Elaine is feeling much better and has lost 2 kilograms. Unfortunately, I discovered this morning that I have lost 3 kilograms, and I didn't have any extra weight that I could afford to lose - I'm now down to 75.9kg (190cm tall). So in the interest of good health I just had 2 Tim Tams and am currently drinking a beer.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
A Good Week
I skipped the long ride on Thursday due to my knee, but otherwise had a good week of training. My runs were only short (and slow) run/walks and the longest ride was only 58km, but I got in 6 swim sessions including a 3km swim on Thursday. I had intended longer ride on Saturday, but it poured rain all day, so I did an 80min windtrainer session instead.
All up I did 11 hours of training which included 11.5km of swimming - the most I have ever swam in one week. My run/walk is up to 4.5km and the knee is feeling excellent and getting better each day.
Although my run and ride volumes are no where near where I would like them to be, my injuries appear to be healing and I starting to feel confident that longer ride and run mileage is not far away.
All up I did 11 hours of training which included 11.5km of swimming - the most I have ever swam in one week. My run/walk is up to 4.5km and the knee is feeling excellent and getting better each day.
Although my run and ride volumes are no where near where I would like them to be, my injuries appear to be healing and I starting to feel confident that longer ride and run mileage is not far away.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Putting the Brakes On
This week has been pretty good so far. It is only Thu morning and I've already clocked up 6 hours of training - 4 swims for 6.5km, 2 run/walks totaling over 6km and a 58km ride.
However this morning I can feel the knee a little more. It is not painful, it just seems a little more irritated than it has been in the last week. So I've decided to be cautious and have abandoned today's planned 80km ride - disappointing considering the weather is so good today.
But I'll probably do a swim. Most likely at the Pines swimming pool in Frankston North - a nice 50m outdoor pool. I'm pretty bad at doing any distance in the pool when swimming by myself, but I'm hoping to do 3km.
However this morning I can feel the knee a little more. It is not painful, it just seems a little more irritated than it has been in the last week. So I've decided to be cautious and have abandoned today's planned 80km ride - disappointing considering the weather is so good today.
But I'll probably do a swim. Most likely at the Pines swimming pool in Frankston North - a nice 50m outdoor pool. I'm pretty bad at doing any distance in the pool when swimming by myself, but I'm hoping to do 3km.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Little Things Add Up
As I gradually move back into training mode, it still feels like I've done almost nothing. However my training diary shows over 9 and half hours for the week - which for me is a decent week's training (still a bit off Ironman levels though).
Each training session was relatively short and they were all done at very low intensities, so the stress on my body has been minimal. For the week I did 4 swim sessions totaling over 6km, 3 rides totaling 180km and a single 1.8km run/walk.
Each training session was relatively short and they were all done at very low intensities, so the stress on my body has been minimal. For the week I did 4 swim sessions totaling over 6km, 3 rides totaling 180km and a single 1.8km run/walk.
Friday, 18 November 2011
First Run since the MRI
The Physio has given me permission to start running again - yay !!! Well actually, I have to run/walk.
My first run was for 15 minutes, running for 400m followed by 400m of walking. It was very slow and the walking sections seemed frustratingly long, but it was great to be back running.
I can always feel the knee when I'm riding my bike. It is not really pain, but more of an awareness of a sore knee. Even swimming I can often notice my knee - usually pushing off from the end of the pool, or doing a kick set. However I never felt anything on the run, which must be a good sign.
My first run was for 15 minutes, running for 400m followed by 400m of walking. It was very slow and the walking sections seemed frustratingly long, but it was great to be back running.
I can always feel the knee when I'm riding my bike. It is not really pain, but more of an awareness of a sore knee. Even swimming I can often notice my knee - usually pushing off from the end of the pool, or doing a kick set. However I never felt anything on the run, which must be a good sign.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Eastlink Ride
The weather forecast was good, about 20 degrees with rain and thunderstorms not forecast until the evening. There were several drops of rain on the windscreen during the drive to Ringwood for the ride start, but thankfully there was no rain on the ride.
I arrived at the start line just before 7:30am, but there was already about 1,000 riders ahead of me. They let about 50 riders at a time onto the course, so it took about 15 minutes before I actually started. With the tollway having 3 wide lanes, it was very easy to work my way past the congestion and find some room for myself.
Heading towards Frankston, the speed was very fast with a perfect road surface and generally being downhill with a tailwind. My plan was to keep my Heart Rate below 140bpm and keep my Power around 200 watts - Ironman race pace. I averaged 39kph towards Frankston, but only 27kph on the return trip back to Doncaster and I was averaging the same Heart Rate and Power in both directions. Eastlink is so open that you are very much exposed to any headwind, and the road runs due north until the tunnel, so there is no respite from the wind. My position on the road bike is very relaxed, so theoretically I'll be slightly less affected by the headwind on my Tri-bike - I can only hope.
I could feel the knee injury during the ride, but it was more of an awareness than pain. After about 50km (of the 75km ride), my hamstrings started to feel worn out, a side affect of not having trained in the last 2 weeks.
I iced the knee 3 times during the day after the ride to try and prevent any further inflammation. The good news is that my knee feels great this morning. Usually the knee is very stiff in the morning and slowly loosens up during the day. I cannot remember my knee feeling so good in the morning since I injured it - this bodes very well.
I arrived at the start line just before 7:30am, but there was already about 1,000 riders ahead of me. They let about 50 riders at a time onto the course, so it took about 15 minutes before I actually started. With the tollway having 3 wide lanes, it was very easy to work my way past the congestion and find some room for myself.Heading towards Frankston, the speed was very fast with a perfect road surface and generally being downhill with a tailwind. My plan was to keep my Heart Rate below 140bpm and keep my Power around 200 watts - Ironman race pace. I averaged 39kph towards Frankston, but only 27kph on the return trip back to Doncaster and I was averaging the same Heart Rate and Power in both directions. Eastlink is so open that you are very much exposed to any headwind, and the road runs due north until the tunnel, so there is no respite from the wind. My position on the road bike is very relaxed, so theoretically I'll be slightly less affected by the headwind on my Tri-bike - I can only hope.
I could feel the knee injury during the ride, but it was more of an awareness than pain. After about 50km (of the 75km ride), my hamstrings started to feel worn out, a side affect of not having trained in the last 2 weeks.
I iced the knee 3 times during the day after the ride to try and prevent any further inflammation. The good news is that my knee feels great this morning. Usually the knee is very stiff in the morning and slowly loosens up during the day. I cannot remember my knee feeling so good in the morning since I injured it - this bodes very well.
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Setting up the road bike
I was tempted to go for another ride on Saturday but decided not to risk it and save myself for Sunday's ride. Instead I setup the road bike for Eastlike ride.
My recent rides had been on my Triathlon bike thinking that this put less pressure on my knee due to the different position on the bike. However the Triathlon bike only really feels comfortable when you are going fast, and my comeback from injury needs a lot of short easy rides. Therefore I've decided to revert back to riding on the Road bike. Also the Eastlink Ride does not allow Triathlon Bikes.
I've had the power meter moved from the Triathlon to the Road bike. And just for the Eastlink ride I have put the Zipp wheels on the Road bike. The reason I'm doing the Eastlink Ride is that it is the only opportunity I'll get to ride the Ironman bike course before the race. So it makes sense to do the ride on the wheels I'll be racing with.
I'll remove the Zipp wheels after the ride and revert to my training wheels. But don't the Zipps look good on the Colnago.
My recent rides had been on my Triathlon bike thinking that this put less pressure on my knee due to the different position on the bike. However the Triathlon bike only really feels comfortable when you are going fast, and my comeback from injury needs a lot of short easy rides. Therefore I've decided to revert back to riding on the Road bike. Also the Eastlink Ride does not allow Triathlon Bikes.
I'll remove the Zipp wheels after the ride and revert to my training wheels. But don't the Zipps look good on the Colnago.
Friday, 11 November 2011
Back to light training
Friday was an absolutely beautiful day. As soon as I got home from the Physio, I slopped on some sunscreen and went out for an easy ride. It felt so good to be back training, but I had to make sure I only rode slowly, which is very difficult when you are so excited.
Elaine had bought me some wonderful gifts for my recent birthday including a new bike computer - a Garmin Edge 800. This computer does everything but pedal for you.
I also had just recently bought some new cycling shoes. My previous pair were Triathlon specific with straps that allow you to easily get in and out of the shoes whilst riding the bike (speeds up transitions in a race). However I had heard from several different sources that these shoes are not good for doing lots of long training rides. So I bought a second pair of shoes that are road cycling specific.
Still feeling good, I went down to the Frankston pool and swam almost 2km, most of it without the pool buoy. I can feel that I've lost a lot of fitness and conditioning (and put on weight), but I don't think it will take long to get back into top shape. The only problem is having to take things easy whilst my injuries slowly repair.
Elaine had bought me some wonderful gifts for my recent birthday including a new bike computer - a Garmin Edge 800. This computer does everything but pedal for you.
I also had just recently bought some new cycling shoes. My previous pair were Triathlon specific with straps that allow you to easily get in and out of the shoes whilst riding the bike (speeds up transitions in a race). However I had heard from several different sources that these shoes are not good for doing lots of long training rides. So I bought a second pair of shoes that are road cycling specific.
Still feeling good, I went down to the Frankston pool and swam almost 2km, most of it without the pool buoy. I can feel that I've lost a lot of fitness and conditioning (and put on weight), but I don't think it will take long to get back into top shape. The only problem is having to take things easy whilst my injuries slowly repair.
MRI Results
I pre-booked the Friday morning Physio appointment a week ahead to make sure I didn't have to wait long for the MRI results. Now paranoid about arriving on time, I ended up getting to the Sports Medical Centre 30 minutes early. Unfortunately the receptionist was running late, so everything was delayed in her absence whilst my Physio fumbled around trying to process patient payments - the irony.
The MRI results clearly showed inflammation of the patella tendon. This was the Physio's initial prognosis, and he is not sure why the Ultrasound did not reveal this injury. It seems that Ultrasounds can be a little hit and miss and are very reliant upon the expertise of the person performing the Ultrasound. Whereas the MRIs are always very comprehensive (and much more expensive).
So we are back to the initial plan of light exercise, taping the knee and lots of strength exercises. However I'm to abstain from running for a while.
I am allowed to do the Eastlink Ride on Sunday (one 75km lap of the Eastlink tollway), but only if I ride it at Ironman pace.
The MRI results clearly showed inflammation of the patella tendon. This was the Physio's initial prognosis, and he is not sure why the Ultrasound did not reveal this injury. It seems that Ultrasounds can be a little hit and miss and are very reliant upon the expertise of the person performing the Ultrasound. Whereas the MRIs are always very comprehensive (and much more expensive).
So we are back to the initial plan of light exercise, taping the knee and lots of strength exercises. However I'm to abstain from running for a while.
I am allowed to do the Eastlink Ride on Sunday (one 75km lap of the Eastlink tollway), but only if I ride it at Ironman pace.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
MRI dramas
Tuesday morning I had a physio appointment, but due to the wet weather bringing peak hour traffic to an almost stand-still, I arrived 15 mins late. Therefore the session became more of a quick consultation with no work being done for my injured back or knee. This experience highlighted how important it would be to arrive on time for the MRI this morning.
I allowed an hour's traveling time, which should be ample considering the early appointment time of 7:15am. However when working out what time I had to leave home, I had a complete brain meltdown and somehow thought 6:45am was 1 hour before 7:15am.
A sudden sick feeling entered my stomach when the 7:00am news bulletin came on the radio and I was less than half way there. At first I was in disbelief, still believing I had left so early, but after redoing the time calculations I soon realised my mistake. I could not even ring the MRI centre because my phone had frozen up the night before (now fixed).
Luckily I had decided to allow 1 hour's traveling time. So even though I left 30 mins late, I arrived only 15 mins late. Unfortunately this would still be too late to keep the 7:15am appointment. But fortune was shining upon me, because the 8:00am appointment had arrived early and in my absence had taken my 7:15am timeslot - I wonder if they miscalculated their departure time in the opposite direction.
So after a stressful morning, I ended up getting my MRI after all. Of course they never tell you the results - you have to wait until you see the Physio again.
I allowed an hour's traveling time, which should be ample considering the early appointment time of 7:15am. However when working out what time I had to leave home, I had a complete brain meltdown and somehow thought 6:45am was 1 hour before 7:15am.
A sudden sick feeling entered my stomach when the 7:00am news bulletin came on the radio and I was less than half way there. At first I was in disbelief, still believing I had left so early, but after redoing the time calculations I soon realised my mistake. I could not even ring the MRI centre because my phone had frozen up the night before (now fixed).
Luckily I had decided to allow 1 hour's traveling time. So even though I left 30 mins late, I arrived only 15 mins late. Unfortunately this would still be too late to keep the 7:15am appointment. But fortune was shining upon me, because the 8:00am appointment had arrived early and in my absence had taken my 7:15am timeslot - I wonder if they miscalculated their departure time in the opposite direction.
So after a stressful morning, I ended up getting my MRI after all. Of course they never tell you the results - you have to wait until you see the Physio again.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Ultrasound and X-Ray results are clear
Due to a cancellation, I was able to see the Physio this morning. We pretty much spent the whole session trying to loosen up my back muscles. It does not appear to be a serious injury and I should be right in about 10 days. Unfortunately the Eastlink ride is only 8 days away, so fingers crossed that I'll be OK for the ride.
As for the results from the Ultrasound and X-Ray, other than a build up of fluid they did not reveal any injury. This means we do not know what the problem is and I now need an MRI.
I have a Myotherapy session booked on Sunday (Physio is unavailable), a Physio appointment on Tuesday and the MRI is booked in for Thursday, which means I'll have another Physio appointment Thursday or Friday. So late next week I should have a good idea about all my injuries. Hopefully the complete rest enforced by the combination of knee and back injuries will mean that they heal quicker, one can only hope.
As for the results from the Ultrasound and X-Ray, other than a build up of fluid they did not reveal any injury. This means we do not know what the problem is and I now need an MRI.
I have a Myotherapy session booked on Sunday (Physio is unavailable), a Physio appointment on Tuesday and the MRI is booked in for Thursday, which means I'll have another Physio appointment Thursday or Friday. So late next week I should have a good idea about all my injuries. Hopefully the complete rest enforced by the combination of knee and back injuries will mean that they heal quicker, one can only hope.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
More bad luck
Yesterday I had the Ultrasound and X-ray done on my left knee. However when I tried to make a new appointment with the physio to go over the results, I discovered he is booked out for the rest of the week.
I had intended to swim with a pull buoy every day until my knee recovered and did this on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately I have now injured my back (not training related) and now I can't even get out of a chair, let alone swim. What's more, I can't see my physio because he is booked out for the rest of the week. The back injury feels like a re-occurrence of an injury I suffered in February this year which saw me miss the Portarlington race and 2 or 3 weeks of training.
On the bright side, it is probably better to have 2 injuries at the same time rather than one after the other. As a single rest period should see both injuries recover at once.
I had intended to swim with a pull buoy every day until my knee recovered and did this on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately I have now injured my back (not training related) and now I can't even get out of a chair, let alone swim. What's more, I can't see my physio because he is booked out for the rest of the week. The back injury feels like a re-occurrence of an injury I suffered in February this year which saw me miss the Portarlington race and 2 or 3 weeks of training.
On the bright side, it is probably better to have 2 injuries at the same time rather than one after the other. As a single rest period should see both injuries recover at once.
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