I've been to the Physio again today and now I need to have an Ultrasound and X-Ray. Both have been booked for Wednesday morning so hopefully I'll know a bit more after that. If the results are not conclusive, I may need an MRI (which is a lot more expensive).
In the meantime I am banned from running and riding, so this weekend's triathlon is definitely off. And the Eastlink ride the weekend after is in doubt. The Eastlink ride is important, because it will be the only chance I get to ride the actual Ironman bike leg.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Friday, 28 October 2011
Oh the Pain !!!
This morning I was awoken by severe pain. If I straightened my leg, excruciating pain ripped through my knee. I tried getting out of bed, but any weight on my leg made it even worse. So I fell back into bed and assumed the fetal position.
Elaine was nice enough to get me an ice pack and 30 minutes later I made the arduous trek to the couch. I could not put any weight on my left leg and I couldn't even hop, because any vibration was just as painful. So I had to use nearby furniture as crutches to help me carefully glide (with an anguished face) to the next room.
Luckily we have a lot of unwatched shows on the set top box, so I spent the morning watching Mad Max and then old episodes of The Office while I waited for the anti-inflammatory gel to do its work. Near the end of Mad Max, he has to kill the baddie and then hobble back to his car after being shot in the knee - I reckon if Max's knee had of hurt as much as mine, he'd of never made it.
Once the anti-inflammatory gel started to work I was able to hop which gave me much needed mobility to do things like go to the toilet and get a cup of coffee. Although obviously carrying coffee while hopping doesn't work, so a little ingenuity was needed to get the coffee cup back to the couch. I spent the afternoon at my computer and it wasn't until 3pm that I could gingerly walk again. It is now just after 6pm and I can walk normally, but still with slight pain.
Any training this weekend looks extremely unlikely and the first Triathlon of the season on 6th November is starting to look in doubt. Other than one tendon in my knee, the rest of me is feeling great, so it is very disappointing not to be able to train, and even more disappointing if I start missing races.
Elaine was nice enough to get me an ice pack and 30 minutes later I made the arduous trek to the couch. I could not put any weight on my left leg and I couldn't even hop, because any vibration was just as painful. So I had to use nearby furniture as crutches to help me carefully glide (with an anguished face) to the next room.
Luckily we have a lot of unwatched shows on the set top box, so I spent the morning watching Mad Max and then old episodes of The Office while I waited for the anti-inflammatory gel to do its work. Near the end of Mad Max, he has to kill the baddie and then hobble back to his car after being shot in the knee - I reckon if Max's knee had of hurt as much as mine, he'd of never made it.
Once the anti-inflammatory gel started to work I was able to hop which gave me much needed mobility to do things like go to the toilet and get a cup of coffee. Although obviously carrying coffee while hopping doesn't work, so a little ingenuity was needed to get the coffee cup back to the couch. I spent the afternoon at my computer and it wasn't until 3pm that I could gingerly walk again. It is now just after 6pm and I can walk normally, but still with slight pain.
Any training this weekend looks extremely unlikely and the first Triathlon of the season on 6th November is starting to look in doubt. Other than one tendon in my knee, the rest of me is feeling great, so it is very disappointing not to be able to train, and even more disappointing if I start missing races.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Reduced Training Week
More beautiful weather and still injured. After a nice run on Sunday, I did a windtrainer and swim session on Monday before being subjected to the dry needing on Tuesday.
I pulled up sore on Tuesday morning, so I didn't do my planned morning run and I was even sorer after the dry needling. Wednesday morning was not much better (so much for the dry needling) so I took another rest day with the only session being a swim with John Van Wisse in the evening. I arrived early and did an extra 800m before the session, resulting in a total swim of 4km - my longest ever swim.
Thursday morning I felt a little better, so decided to try another windtrainer session. Unlike last time, I remembered to tape up my knee and after the session I felt great. Later that day I went out for an easy 8km run (knee still taped) and again experienced no problems and the knee pulled up very well.
If this lasts, I should not lose much conditioning and will soon be back into full training.
I pulled up sore on Tuesday morning, so I didn't do my planned morning run and I was even sorer after the dry needling. Wednesday morning was not much better (so much for the dry needling) so I took another rest day with the only session being a swim with John Van Wisse in the evening. I arrived early and did an extra 800m before the session, resulting in a total swim of 4km - my longest ever swim.
Thursday morning I felt a little better, so decided to try another windtrainer session. Unlike last time, I remembered to tape up my knee and after the session I felt great. Later that day I went out for an easy 8km run (knee still taped) and again experienced no problems and the knee pulled up very well.
If this lasts, I should not lose much conditioning and will soon be back into full training.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Dry Needling
My Physio loves Dry Needling - I hate it.
He finds the tightest and stiffest part of the muscle, inserts an acupuncture like needle and then starts wriggling it around until the muscle suddenly goes twangggg. I jump 6 inches off the table and he looks back at me with a satisfied grin and then looks for the next spot to needle. I suspect he was a dentist in a past life.
Picture the string from a bow and arrow. The archer pulls back the string as far as it will stretch and then releases to produce a mighty twang. Dry needling feels like that twang, except instead of stretching the string, the physio uses his voodoo needle.
Some people I've spoken to reckon dry needling is great, but to me it is the most un-natural thing that has ever happened to me, and it freaks me out. It doesn't help that I usually get the needles into the quadricep (thigh muscle), which on a long legged 6'3" cyclist is a pretty large muscle.
My Physio now blackmails me. If I don't do all my exercises, stretches, foam roller and tennis ball massages every day I'll get more dry needling. The foam roller and especially the tennis ball (rolling back and forth with a tennis ball under the quad with your full weight resting on it) can cause excruciating pain, but at least that sort of pain feels natural.
He finds the tightest and stiffest part of the muscle, inserts an acupuncture like needle and then starts wriggling it around until the muscle suddenly goes twangggg. I jump 6 inches off the table and he looks back at me with a satisfied grin and then looks for the next spot to needle. I suspect he was a dentist in a past life.
Picture the string from a bow and arrow. The archer pulls back the string as far as it will stretch and then releases to produce a mighty twang. Dry needling feels like that twang, except instead of stretching the string, the physio uses his voodoo needle.
Some people I've spoken to reckon dry needling is great, but to me it is the most un-natural thing that has ever happened to me, and it freaks me out. It doesn't help that I usually get the needles into the quadricep (thigh muscle), which on a long legged 6'3" cyclist is a pretty large muscle.
My Physio now blackmails me. If I don't do all my exercises, stretches, foam roller and tennis ball massages every day I'll get more dry needling. The foam roller and especially the tennis ball (rolling back and forth with a tennis ball under the quad with your full weight resting on it) can cause excruciating pain, but at least that sort of pain feels natural.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Injury Update
The sharp pains in the knee have completely gone, but it still aches a lot, especially in the morning or going up stairs. I have been icing the knee twice a day and also applying anti-inflammatory gel. It appears to be improving, but slowly.
As is always the case when you are injured, the weather last week was unbelievably good. So good that I actually swam in the bay on Wednesday afternoon. The official temperature of the bay has risen to 15 degrees (from about 10 over winter), but the water at the Seaford beach is so shallow that it heats up a lot quicker and I'd estimate the temperature to be at least 17, possibly higher. But at least today the weather has had the decency to rain, so I don't feel so bad.
I'm not actually in rest mode, just limited training mode. This is frustrating because I had intended to ramp up the number and length of sessions over this period. My run is currently limited to around 8km, although I am now allowed to add a bit of intensity. The road bike causes pain to my knee, but due to the different geometry I am fine on the triathlon bike but cannot do the long distances. And naturally I am free to do as much swimming as a like (I don't enjoy swimming so much). Last week I still managed 9 hours of training, so hopefully I'll at least be able to maintain most of my fitness and form until my knee fully recovers.
As is always the case when you are injured, the weather last week was unbelievably good. So good that I actually swam in the bay on Wednesday afternoon. The official temperature of the bay has risen to 15 degrees (from about 10 over winter), but the water at the Seaford beach is so shallow that it heats up a lot quicker and I'd estimate the temperature to be at least 17, possibly higher. But at least today the weather has had the decency to rain, so I don't feel so bad.
I'm not actually in rest mode, just limited training mode. This is frustrating because I had intended to ramp up the number and length of sessions over this period. My run is currently limited to around 8km, although I am now allowed to add a bit of intensity. The road bike causes pain to my knee, but due to the different geometry I am fine on the triathlon bike but cannot do the long distances. And naturally I am free to do as much swimming as a like (I don't enjoy swimming so much). Last week I still managed 9 hours of training, so hopefully I'll at least be able to maintain most of my fitness and form until my knee fully recovers.
Friday, 14 October 2011
First Injury of the Season
Unfortunately my knee injury has flared up again. Due to patella tracking problems, I had 3 months off running with boney bruising in the knee after the Torquay Half Ironman in April this year. This time I have strained the ligament that goes under the knee cap on my left leg. Last time it took about a month for the inflamation to die down before I could start the rehabilitation that included strengthening some of the stabilising tendons and getting more flexibility into the muslces that pull on the knee cap. I don't think it is anywhere near as bad this time.
I was so happy with my running form after the last Duathlon. When I tried to run on the Monday and Tuesday after the race, I noticed the stiffness in my legs and rested from running for the rest of the week. Monday this week I did a short, easy recovery run which felt fine, so I then did an 18.6km long run on the Tuesday. The Tuesday run was one of the best long runs I've done - I still had the fluent running action I experienced in the Duathlon and was able to cruise along at a good speed with hardly any effort. The pace for most of the run was under 5 minutes per kilometre and my HR sat in the mid 140's. I felt no issues on the run, but was quite stiff 30 minutes or so afterwards. The right knee felt a little numb, but it didn't really seem anything to worry about. However on Wednesday morning I felt sharp pains just below my left knee, so I booked a physio appointment for later that day.
Naturally the weather this week has been perfect, which is especially frustrating considering the last 2 weeks have been pretty awful. Since Tuesday I have only done 1 swim session on Thursday night. Knowing that I would be quite fresh due to having rested since Tuesday, I moved up into a faster lane - I'm not feeling so fresh anymore. It was always my intention to move up a lane, I had just been delaying it. But I think I'll stay there now as it stops me slacking off.
I have two rides this weekend that I am supposed to take easy, then I'll see the Physio again on Monday. I suspect the injury was caused by some muscles still being too tight from the Duathlon and they then affected my knee on the long run. With any luck I will be running again late next week.
I was so happy with my running form after the last Duathlon. When I tried to run on the Monday and Tuesday after the race, I noticed the stiffness in my legs and rested from running for the rest of the week. Monday this week I did a short, easy recovery run which felt fine, so I then did an 18.6km long run on the Tuesday. The Tuesday run was one of the best long runs I've done - I still had the fluent running action I experienced in the Duathlon and was able to cruise along at a good speed with hardly any effort. The pace for most of the run was under 5 minutes per kilometre and my HR sat in the mid 140's. I felt no issues on the run, but was quite stiff 30 minutes or so afterwards. The right knee felt a little numb, but it didn't really seem anything to worry about. However on Wednesday morning I felt sharp pains just below my left knee, so I booked a physio appointment for later that day.
Naturally the weather this week has been perfect, which is especially frustrating considering the last 2 weeks have been pretty awful. Since Tuesday I have only done 1 swim session on Thursday night. Knowing that I would be quite fresh due to having rested since Tuesday, I moved up into a faster lane - I'm not feeling so fresh anymore. It was always my intention to move up a lane, I had just been delaying it. But I think I'll stay there now as it stops me slacking off.
I have two rides this weekend that I am supposed to take easy, then I'll see the Physio again on Monday. I suspect the injury was caused by some muscles still being too tight from the Duathlon and they then affected my knee on the long run. With any luck I will be running again late next week.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Recovery Week
I've been quite sore since the Duathlon, so I took it pretty easy this week. On Monday I headed out for an easy 5km recovery run, but had to stop and walk after 4.6km due to soreness and the swim session on Monday night was cancelled. Tuesday morning I went for an easy 38km ride and then an easy 10km run Wednesday morning. However during the 3km swim session on Wednesday night I could feel a little soreness in the legs so I skipped my long run on Thursday and had a rest day on Friday as well.
Based upon my Duathlon results, my running and riding is obviously going well although I need to add a lot more distance. But now it is time to up the focus on my swimming which is by far my weakest leg. However even though I am currently only averaging 3 swim sessions a fortnight, my swimming appears to be showing promise. Two Mondays ago I swam a 700m TimeTrial (TT) in 12m05s, two Wednesdays ago I did a 3.8km session (my longest ever session) and this Wednesday I did my last (of 3) 400m TTs in 6m55s - only 15 seconds off my PB. I haven't got any specific time goals for my swim, but if I start breaking my swim TT PBs - I'll be very happy.
Following are some pictures of my local training spots. The first photo shows the road I have to cross from my driveway to get to the bush containing the running track. On the other side of the bush is the beach. Even though it is a highway, it is usually pretty easy to cross.
The photo on the left is the running track. It goes for 5km, so provides a nice 10km loop without having to worry about crossing any roads. There are occasional walkers (often with dogs), but generally you get a pretty clear run and the path is usually wide enough to get past people without causing any problems.
On the right you can see the path heading to beach. It is one of the best beaches in Melbourne with beautiful sand and it is usually completely abandoned, although that may change once the temperature heats up.
This is a photo taken while I was standing in the bay to get the cold water treatment on my legs. I usually do this for 10 minutes after my sessions.
The view shows some buildings in the background which is Frankston - where the Ironman swim leg will be located.
Finally this is the private balcony where I relax after a hard session.
I usually come out here to stretch, but often end up falling asleep.
Based upon my Duathlon results, my running and riding is obviously going well although I need to add a lot more distance. But now it is time to up the focus on my swimming which is by far my weakest leg. However even though I am currently only averaging 3 swim sessions a fortnight, my swimming appears to be showing promise. Two Mondays ago I swam a 700m TimeTrial (TT) in 12m05s, two Wednesdays ago I did a 3.8km session (my longest ever session) and this Wednesday I did my last (of 3) 400m TTs in 6m55s - only 15 seconds off my PB. I haven't got any specific time goals for my swim, but if I start breaking my swim TT PBs - I'll be very happy.
The photo on the left is the running track. It goes for 5km, so provides a nice 10km loop without having to worry about crossing any roads. There are occasional walkers (often with dogs), but generally you get a pretty clear run and the path is usually wide enough to get past people without causing any problems.
On the right you can see the path heading to beach. It is one of the best beaches in Melbourne with beautiful sand and it is usually completely abandoned, although that may change once the temperature heats up.
This is a photo taken while I was standing in the bay to get the cold water treatment on my legs. I usually do this for 10 minutes after my sessions.
The view shows some buildings in the background which is Frankston - where the Ironman swim leg will be located.
Finally this is the private balcony where I relax after a hard session.
I usually come out here to stretch, but often end up falling asleep.
Monday, 3 October 2011
Richmond Duathlon - State Championship
Most Duathlons start at 8am Sunday morning. Certainly the last 10 Richmond races I've attended have all started at 8. When I received the race details via email, I didn't even think to check the start time, so Elaine and I were very surprised to discover the new start time of 9 after arriving at the race location at 6:30am. But at least we got a really good park and a good rack position within transition. However the extra sleep in would have been nice, especially after losing an hour's sleep due to daylight savings and we didn't really enjoy the early morning temperature of 7 degrees. When the race finally got underway at 9 the temperature had snuck up to 12 and there was a moderate wind of around 15-20 kph - pretty good conditions for a race.
Again there was only a small turnout of club members with Peter, Jeff and Elaine doing the Sprint race, the Howards racing in the shorter Dash event and Sally again performing her Technical Official duties. I was expecting to also see Martine, Brady, Matt, Jeremy and Courtney.
My pre-race plan was to go out hard and post a very fast 5km run split and then keep going hard for as long as I could on the 20km bike and second 3km run - I was confident I could beat Aurel (who I had never beaten) this race. I positioned myself 3 rows back from the start line and even though the first run always starts off at breakneck speed, after about 100m I found myself hemmed in. My body wanted to run faster, but a quick check of the pace on my GPS watch showed 3m30s pace which I figured was plenty fast enough, especially since my target pace was 3m45s. I sat in this pack for the next kilometre, but as soon as the group's pace started to drop off I pulled away.
At the first turnaround point on the run I had not spotted Peter or Aurel. I expected Aurel to be ahead and Peter behind me. Around the half way mark I started to close in on a small group of runners and was surprised to see Peter. He usually starts these races very conservatively, but had decided to start this one from the front row and go out hard - I was very impressed. After slowly reeling him in, I eased passed him but only managed to finish the run 11 seconds ahead. This was a PB 5km run time for Peter and at 3m49s pace it was a PB for me as well. My official 5km time was 18:35s, but the course was a touch short. Luckily I was wearing a GPS watch, so I can work out that my actual 5km time would have been 19m05s. I have always believed I could go under 19 minutes for 5km and this effort pretty much proves it because I slowed down in the last 500m to try and save something in my legs for the bike.
Having run so fast (for me) I was seriously worried how much I would have left in my legs for the bike. However the knowledge that Peter was close behind was enough to make me push hard from the beginning. At the turnarounds I would note what position Peter was behind me, and was very much encouraged to discover I was extending my lead each lap. Then at the half way mark of the bike leg I caught and passed another competitor called Sam. Sam is in my age group and has beaten me in every Duathlon we have ever raced together. In Somers he beat me by over 3 minutes and at Kew he finished ahead by 2 minutes. So I never considered myself a threat of ever beating him, but now I had a chance to build a lead on the bike. I have always been a faster bike rider, but he is usually so far ahead after the first run that I don't see him again until the medal presentations. And in the absence of legend David Meade, passing Sam probably meant that I was in the lead of my age group - I could be state champion. With these thoughts acting as inspiration I was able to maintain the hard effort on the bike.
The rule of thumb with race nutrition is that you do not need anything for a race that lasts less than 1 hour. I usually go a little longer than an hour in Sprint Races (Triathlon or Duathlon), so usually have half an energy gel and a few sips of water on the bike. Unfortunately with the later than expected start time, my normal race preparation was thrown around a bit. I spent an hour before the race trying to fill in time and forgot to put the energy gel in the pocket of my tri top. When I realised this, my original thought was that I would run out of energy on the last run, but then I figured the faster I go, the closer my time will be to an hour and therefore the less I will need the nutrition. With this sort of backward thinking I surged on and probably ended up going faster because I didn't waste time eating the gel and drinking water.
On the last lap of the bike my calf muscles started to cramp. Naturally I immediately blamed this on not having my usual gel. But the reality is that I cramped because I had been pushing my muscles much harder than usual. My average power for the ride was 277 watts, 1 watt higher than Kew which is very good considering the very fast first run. With the cramps not going away, I started to have serious doubts about my ability to run a good 3km run and it would need to be one of my best final runs if I was to hold off Sam.
I came into an emptier than usual transition and then headed out on the run. My calf muscles felt like they had been replaced with bricks, but this feeling slowly wore off and after the first 500m I had regained my normal running stride. It felt very slow, but my watch said it was 4m00s pace which should be just enough. At the run turn around I had a good chance to see who was behind me and there was a small pack forming that included Sam. He had already made up a lot of ground and at that point I thought he probably had me. It was a fair distance further back that I saw Peter and further back again that I saw Aurel for the first time in the race.
I now knew that I had both Peter and Aurel comfortably beaten and regardless of what happened, this had definitely been my best race ever. There was a huge temptation to ease off the pace (and therefore lessen the pain), but the thought that I still had a small chance to being state champion kept me going.
The end of the run leg moves off the road and follows a winding trail through bush before opening up for the last 100m to the finish line. Once I was into the bush I knew I was out of sight of my chasers and this would be a big advantage - nothing spurs people on more than being able to see your competitor just ahead. With about 50m of bush left and 150m from the finish line I started my sprint home. I didn't look behind, I just put every ounce of effort into getting to the finish line as quick as I could, but I could still sense that the other runners were right on my heels.
I made it to the finish line without being passed and then immediately started to vomit. Luckily with the later start and no gel or water on the bike it had been over 3 hours since I had consumed anything, so the vomiting ended up only being dry retching - still not really a pretty sight. It only took about 20 seconds for me to regain my composure and I immediately went over to the timing guy to check my result. I could not believe it - 2nd place in my age group. Another competitor Austin, who usually does the Western Suburbs Duathlons, had decided to enter a race in this series for the first time (maybe because it was the state championships) and beat me by 90 seconds. 3rd place was only 2 seconds behind me (another competitor I had never heard of before) and Sam finished in 4th place a further 3 seconds behind - the first time this season Sam didn't finish first or second.
Despite not winning the state championship I am immensely happy with my race - it is definitely my best race ever !!! In the end my finish time of 1h03m02s saw me beat Sam by 5 seconds, Peter by over 3 minutes and Aurel by nearly 5 minutes. The very fast first run by Peter had a negative impact on his bike split and Aurel seemed to have an off day.
Elaine has continually improved throughout the season and her Richmond time was 14 minutes quicker than her first Duathlon of the season at Knox. And naturally she won her age group again making her the state champion and series winner. Peter came 5th in his age group and Jeff 9th.
My training up till now has been mainly focused upon these Duathlons with the intention of peaking for this race, the state championships - I think my training worked. In fact, I am in such good form, it now seems a pity to waste this speed by training for Ironman. The sprint distance races are all about speed over a one hour duration, whereas Ironman is about endurance for an all-day event. Training for the two different types of events is not really compatible. So now the focus of training shifts towards the Alpine Classic ride and Ironman.
My pre-race plan was to go out hard and post a very fast 5km run split and then keep going hard for as long as I could on the 20km bike and second 3km run - I was confident I could beat Aurel (who I had never beaten) this race. I positioned myself 3 rows back from the start line and even though the first run always starts off at breakneck speed, after about 100m I found myself hemmed in. My body wanted to run faster, but a quick check of the pace on my GPS watch showed 3m30s pace which I figured was plenty fast enough, especially since my target pace was 3m45s. I sat in this pack for the next kilometre, but as soon as the group's pace started to drop off I pulled away.
Having run so fast (for me) I was seriously worried how much I would have left in my legs for the bike. However the knowledge that Peter was close behind was enough to make me push hard from the beginning. At the turnarounds I would note what position Peter was behind me, and was very much encouraged to discover I was extending my lead each lap. Then at the half way mark of the bike leg I caught and passed another competitor called Sam. Sam is in my age group and has beaten me in every Duathlon we have ever raced together. In Somers he beat me by over 3 minutes and at Kew he finished ahead by 2 minutes. So I never considered myself a threat of ever beating him, but now I had a chance to build a lead on the bike. I have always been a faster bike rider, but he is usually so far ahead after the first run that I don't see him again until the medal presentations. And in the absence of legend David Meade, passing Sam probably meant that I was in the lead of my age group - I could be state champion. With these thoughts acting as inspiration I was able to maintain the hard effort on the bike.
The rule of thumb with race nutrition is that you do not need anything for a race that lasts less than 1 hour. I usually go a little longer than an hour in Sprint Races (Triathlon or Duathlon), so usually have half an energy gel and a few sips of water on the bike. Unfortunately with the later than expected start time, my normal race preparation was thrown around a bit. I spent an hour before the race trying to fill in time and forgot to put the energy gel in the pocket of my tri top. When I realised this, my original thought was that I would run out of energy on the last run, but then I figured the faster I go, the closer my time will be to an hour and therefore the less I will need the nutrition. With this sort of backward thinking I surged on and probably ended up going faster because I didn't waste time eating the gel and drinking water.
On the last lap of the bike my calf muscles started to cramp. Naturally I immediately blamed this on not having my usual gel. But the reality is that I cramped because I had been pushing my muscles much harder than usual. My average power for the ride was 277 watts, 1 watt higher than Kew which is very good considering the very fast first run. With the cramps not going away, I started to have serious doubts about my ability to run a good 3km run and it would need to be one of my best final runs if I was to hold off Sam.
I came into an emptier than usual transition and then headed out on the run. My calf muscles felt like they had been replaced with bricks, but this feeling slowly wore off and after the first 500m I had regained my normal running stride. It felt very slow, but my watch said it was 4m00s pace which should be just enough. At the run turn around I had a good chance to see who was behind me and there was a small pack forming that included Sam. He had already made up a lot of ground and at that point I thought he probably had me. It was a fair distance further back that I saw Peter and further back again that I saw Aurel for the first time in the race.
I now knew that I had both Peter and Aurel comfortably beaten and regardless of what happened, this had definitely been my best race ever. There was a huge temptation to ease off the pace (and therefore lessen the pain), but the thought that I still had a small chance to being state champion kept me going.
The end of the run leg moves off the road and follows a winding trail through bush before opening up for the last 100m to the finish line. Once I was into the bush I knew I was out of sight of my chasers and this would be a big advantage - nothing spurs people on more than being able to see your competitor just ahead. With about 50m of bush left and 150m from the finish line I started my sprint home. I didn't look behind, I just put every ounce of effort into getting to the finish line as quick as I could, but I could still sense that the other runners were right on my heels.
I made it to the finish line without being passed and then immediately started to vomit. Luckily with the later start and no gel or water on the bike it had been over 3 hours since I had consumed anything, so the vomiting ended up only being dry retching - still not really a pretty sight. It only took about 20 seconds for me to regain my composure and I immediately went over to the timing guy to check my result. I could not believe it - 2nd place in my age group. Another competitor Austin, who usually does the Western Suburbs Duathlons, had decided to enter a race in this series for the first time (maybe because it was the state championships) and beat me by 90 seconds. 3rd place was only 2 seconds behind me (another competitor I had never heard of before) and Sam finished in 4th place a further 3 seconds behind - the first time this season Sam didn't finish first or second.
Despite not winning the state championship I am immensely happy with my race - it is definitely my best race ever !!! In the end my finish time of 1h03m02s saw me beat Sam by 5 seconds, Peter by over 3 minutes and Aurel by nearly 5 minutes. The very fast first run by Peter had a negative impact on his bike split and Aurel seemed to have an off day.
Elaine has continually improved throughout the season and her Richmond time was 14 minutes quicker than her first Duathlon of the season at Knox. And naturally she won her age group again making her the state champion and series winner. Peter came 5th in his age group and Jeff 9th.
My training up till now has been mainly focused upon these Duathlons with the intention of peaking for this race, the state championships - I think my training worked. In fact, I am in such good form, it now seems a pity to waste this speed by training for Ironman. The sprint distance races are all about speed over a one hour duration, whereas Ironman is about endurance for an all-day event. Training for the two different types of events is not really compatible. So now the focus of training shifts towards the Alpine Classic ride and Ironman.
Monday, 26 September 2011
A big week of training
I usually would not taper much for Duathlons, they are really just a way to stay focused during winter. However with the large amount of riding and running I'll be doing for Ironman and the Alpine Classic, I'll lose some of my speed. So I decided to make the most of the Duathlon Sprint races while I had the chance. This means tapering off the training load before each event to make sure I feel fresh.
With only 2 weeks between the Kew and Richmond Duathlons, it meant I only had one week of training before tapering for Richmond. My usual training blocks are 3 weeks followed by a 1 week recovery. Therefore I decided to make this week harder than usual.
The Monday after the Kew Duathlon I did an easy 40km ride and a slow 5km run to try and loosen up the legs. This was then finished off with a relatively easy 1.8km swim session. This worked well and on Tuesday I felt good during my long run of 17km. Elaine and I would usually do our long run on Thursdays, but we switched our schedule due to Elaine's work commitments.
On Wednesday I did another easy 5km recovery run followed by a tough 3km swim session. I don't know if it was the brutally hard Butterfly set, tiredness from the 17km run, residual fatigue from the Duathlon or a combination of all, but I really struggled in the second half of the swim and still felt very fatigued on Thursday.
The Thursday run session was supposed to be a Moneghetti Fartlek session (very hard). But it quickly became evident during the warmup that it simply was not going to happen. I decided to try a kilometre interval at medium intensity to see how I went, but I was nearly 1 min slower than I should have been. So I abandoned the thought of any intensity and changed the session into an easy 8km run. Ironically I was feeling better towards the end of the run, and my speed in the last kilometre was the same as my earlier interval attempt.
On Friday, I scrapped the planned ride and run sessions and had a day of rest before a short but tough Brick session with the club on Saturday morning. The rest had obviously been good for me, because I felt strong and fast in the Brick session. And I still felt good for the club long ride (85km) on the Sunday that included another ride up the front of Arthurs Seat. This time I did the climb in 11m48s compared to 13m07s a month ago. Congratulations must go to Martine who climbed the front of Arthurs Seat for the first time and Elaine who climbed the back (White Hill Rd) for the first time in 3 years.
Even though I skipped several sessions, at 11.5 hours (and 237 Slowtwitch Points) it was still the biggest training week of the season so far. Hopefully my body will slowly adjust to the load and be able to handle the planned 19 hour weeks (398 pts) in the lead up to Ironman.
With only 2 weeks between the Kew and Richmond Duathlons, it meant I only had one week of training before tapering for Richmond. My usual training blocks are 3 weeks followed by a 1 week recovery. Therefore I decided to make this week harder than usual.
The Monday after the Kew Duathlon I did an easy 40km ride and a slow 5km run to try and loosen up the legs. This was then finished off with a relatively easy 1.8km swim session. This worked well and on Tuesday I felt good during my long run of 17km. Elaine and I would usually do our long run on Thursdays, but we switched our schedule due to Elaine's work commitments.
On Wednesday I did another easy 5km recovery run followed by a tough 3km swim session. I don't know if it was the brutally hard Butterfly set, tiredness from the 17km run, residual fatigue from the Duathlon or a combination of all, but I really struggled in the second half of the swim and still felt very fatigued on Thursday.
The Thursday run session was supposed to be a Moneghetti Fartlek session (very hard). But it quickly became evident during the warmup that it simply was not going to happen. I decided to try a kilometre interval at medium intensity to see how I went, but I was nearly 1 min slower than I should have been. So I abandoned the thought of any intensity and changed the session into an easy 8km run. Ironically I was feeling better towards the end of the run, and my speed in the last kilometre was the same as my earlier interval attempt.
On Friday, I scrapped the planned ride and run sessions and had a day of rest before a short but tough Brick session with the club on Saturday morning. The rest had obviously been good for me, because I felt strong and fast in the Brick session. And I still felt good for the club long ride (85km) on the Sunday that included another ride up the front of Arthurs Seat. This time I did the climb in 11m48s compared to 13m07s a month ago. Congratulations must go to Martine who climbed the front of Arthurs Seat for the first time and Elaine who climbed the back (White Hill Rd) for the first time in 3 years.
Even though I skipped several sessions, at 11.5 hours (and 237 Slowtwitch Points) it was still the biggest training week of the season so far. Hopefully my body will slowly adjust to the load and be able to handle the planned 19 hour weeks (398 pts) in the lead up to Ironman.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Kew Boulevard Duathlon
Near perfect conditions greeted us on Sunday morning for the Duathlon at Kew Boulevard, but the morning did not start off well. We left home later than planned which meant we missed out on getting a spot in the Boathouse Carpark next to the start/finish line and registration. So we were forced to park nearly 1 km away.
Unlike most races, getting a good transition spot at Kew has massive advantages as it limits the distance you have to run on bitumen covered in loose gravel in bare feet (or socks). Last time we raced at Kew (2 years ago), a bad transition spot cost me 2nd place, so I was very keen to rack my bike early.
Once parked, I set about getting the bikes and gear ready when my bike pump stopped working. Luckily the people parked next to us lent me theirs. With the tyres fully pumped up and all the gear in a backpack I rode back to the registration area to pick up my race kit. Doing this I discovered that aero helmets do not work very well when wearing backpacks.
After getting my race kit, applying the race numbers (and a quick toilet stop), I put my backpack on and took off for my warm up ride (again suffering the backpack, aero helmet problem). The driveway out of the Boathouse carpark is extremely steep and because my tri-bike is still new I keep forgetting which way the gear levers go. So after several incompetent gear changes, my chain came off. I am pedaling in futility, going nowhere, half way up an extremely steep hill - needless to say I crashed. Luckily a soft backpack comes in handy in these situations and I took half the impact on my backpack, the other half on my left knee - but importantly the bike was OK.
I dusted myself off, checked the bike and then continued on my warm up ride. I would usually do a 10km ride before a duathlon, but due to my anxiety over the transition spot, I reduced the warm up to 4km. When I finally arrived at transition to check in my bike, it was nearly half full. Luckily most people were too lazy to walk up to the 'good' end of transition and there were still a couple of reasonable spots available. Feeling very relieved I then headed to the medical to get my knee cleaned up (they were a little surprised to be treating someone before the race).
I had decided not to have my usual energy gel 10 mins before the race as I'd read this was not considered a good idea. Unfortunately with all the early morning incidents, I'd forgotten to eat my usual pre-race energy bar 1 hour before the event. But I'd had breakfast and a banana, so it should be OK.
The only members of the triathlon club racing were Courtney, Jeremy & Elaine, Sally was acting as Technical Official and Los came down to cheer on Jeremy. Peter and Bill had just raced in the Age Group World Championships in Beijing the weekend before and had not made it back to Melbourne yet. Martine decided the Kew course was too difficult and Jan decided to skip the race at the last moment. I'm not sure what the Howard's excuse was, but I expect it had something to do with the difficulty of the course.
A Sprint Duathlon is 5km run / 20km bike / 3km run. Kew Boulevard does not have any big hills, but it also does not have any flat sections, so you are either going up or down. This applies to both the run and the ride. In fact the worst hill is on the run and we run up that hill 4 times.
The first 5km run is 2 laps (each lap containing the nasty hill). I took the first lap conservatively and then picked up my pace a little on the 2nd lap. This seemed to work well as I drew in sight of competitors that would usually be further ahead at the end of the run. I also had a good lead on Courtney which was something I didn't expect.
I passed a competitor called Aurel on the first lap (of 4) on the bike. Usually I would not pass him till near the end of the bike leg (if at all), so this was a good sign. Aurel has beaten me in every Duathlon, but I've been getting closer. However Aurel has been noticing my improvement and picked up the pace as soon as he saw me pass. Sadly I was not able to pull out of sight and only had a small lead heading into the last run (this was not helped by dropping my chain on the last lap). Running to my bike rack in transition I saw my sunglasses lying next to my runners and cap, which was strange because I alway wear my sunnies on the bike (looks better in the photos). However when I tried to put them on, I discovered I was already wearing mine, these were an identical pair owned by the competitor whose bike rack was next to mine (more time lost).
It took one and half laps (of 2) in the final run for Aurel to catch me. But the hills on the run had destroyed my legs and I had nothing left for a final effort, so he beat me yet again. The good news is that Aurel has moved up an age bracket this season, so it did not affect my place within my age group. The bad news is that David Meade (triathlon & duathlon legend) turned up (he is in my age group) and he won the race overall (a long way ahead of me). But I still managed to score 3rd in my age group, 2 minutes ahead of Courtney who was 4th. I think that is my biggest win over Courtney, but the course suits me better. I expect Courtney will be much tougher to beat at the next race in Richmond which is flat and fast.
Jeremy came 7th in his age group and Elaine won her age group yet again - 3rd time in a row. Elaine only has to finish the last race at Richmond to secure the series win - this usually involves a trophy and sports gear from series sponsor Brooks. It will be the third time Elaine has won the series.
Overall my race went fairly well. My first run was good on a tough course and my second run was only 2 secs a km slower which is probably my best effort to date. The average power on the bike leg was 276 watts (6 watts higher than Somers), but I actually feel I was too conservative and could of ridden harder - the faster than usual 2nd run probably confirms this.
There is only a two week gap to the last Duathlon in Richmond, so this week I have been training hard to try and find some more speed. I ran 17km on Tuesday and am planning to do another Moneghetti Fartlek session this afternoon. The Richmond Duathlon is a week before the Melbourne Marathon and I'm hoping this will keep some of the faster competitors away, allowing me to score a podium in what will be the Victorian State Championships.
On a side note, my weight has dropped further to 77kg (I'd prefer 80). So this morning's shopping included donuts, muffins, Tim Tams and potato chips.
Unlike most races, getting a good transition spot at Kew has massive advantages as it limits the distance you have to run on bitumen covered in loose gravel in bare feet (or socks). Last time we raced at Kew (2 years ago), a bad transition spot cost me 2nd place, so I was very keen to rack my bike early.
Once parked, I set about getting the bikes and gear ready when my bike pump stopped working. Luckily the people parked next to us lent me theirs. With the tyres fully pumped up and all the gear in a backpack I rode back to the registration area to pick up my race kit. Doing this I discovered that aero helmets do not work very well when wearing backpacks.
After getting my race kit, applying the race numbers (and a quick toilet stop), I put my backpack on and took off for my warm up ride (again suffering the backpack, aero helmet problem). The driveway out of the Boathouse carpark is extremely steep and because my tri-bike is still new I keep forgetting which way the gear levers go. So after several incompetent gear changes, my chain came off. I am pedaling in futility, going nowhere, half way up an extremely steep hill - needless to say I crashed. Luckily a soft backpack comes in handy in these situations and I took half the impact on my backpack, the other half on my left knee - but importantly the bike was OK.
I dusted myself off, checked the bike and then continued on my warm up ride. I would usually do a 10km ride before a duathlon, but due to my anxiety over the transition spot, I reduced the warm up to 4km. When I finally arrived at transition to check in my bike, it was nearly half full. Luckily most people were too lazy to walk up to the 'good' end of transition and there were still a couple of reasonable spots available. Feeling very relieved I then headed to the medical to get my knee cleaned up (they were a little surprised to be treating someone before the race).
I had decided not to have my usual energy gel 10 mins before the race as I'd read this was not considered a good idea. Unfortunately with all the early morning incidents, I'd forgotten to eat my usual pre-race energy bar 1 hour before the event. But I'd had breakfast and a banana, so it should be OK.
The only members of the triathlon club racing were Courtney, Jeremy & Elaine, Sally was acting as Technical Official and Los came down to cheer on Jeremy. Peter and Bill had just raced in the Age Group World Championships in Beijing the weekend before and had not made it back to Melbourne yet. Martine decided the Kew course was too difficult and Jan decided to skip the race at the last moment. I'm not sure what the Howard's excuse was, but I expect it had something to do with the difficulty of the course.
A Sprint Duathlon is 5km run / 20km bike / 3km run. Kew Boulevard does not have any big hills, but it also does not have any flat sections, so you are either going up or down. This applies to both the run and the ride. In fact the worst hill is on the run and we run up that hill 4 times.
The first 5km run is 2 laps (each lap containing the nasty hill). I took the first lap conservatively and then picked up my pace a little on the 2nd lap. This seemed to work well as I drew in sight of competitors that would usually be further ahead at the end of the run. I also had a good lead on Courtney which was something I didn't expect.
I passed a competitor called Aurel on the first lap (of 4) on the bike. Usually I would not pass him till near the end of the bike leg (if at all), so this was a good sign. Aurel has beaten me in every Duathlon, but I've been getting closer. However Aurel has been noticing my improvement and picked up the pace as soon as he saw me pass. Sadly I was not able to pull out of sight and only had a small lead heading into the last run (this was not helped by dropping my chain on the last lap). Running to my bike rack in transition I saw my sunglasses lying next to my runners and cap, which was strange because I alway wear my sunnies on the bike (looks better in the photos). However when I tried to put them on, I discovered I was already wearing mine, these were an identical pair owned by the competitor whose bike rack was next to mine (more time lost).
It took one and half laps (of 2) in the final run for Aurel to catch me. But the hills on the run had destroyed my legs and I had nothing left for a final effort, so he beat me yet again. The good news is that Aurel has moved up an age bracket this season, so it did not affect my place within my age group. The bad news is that David Meade (triathlon & duathlon legend) turned up (he is in my age group) and he won the race overall (a long way ahead of me). But I still managed to score 3rd in my age group, 2 minutes ahead of Courtney who was 4th. I think that is my biggest win over Courtney, but the course suits me better. I expect Courtney will be much tougher to beat at the next race in Richmond which is flat and fast.
Jeremy came 7th in his age group and Elaine won her age group yet again - 3rd time in a row. Elaine only has to finish the last race at Richmond to secure the series win - this usually involves a trophy and sports gear from series sponsor Brooks. It will be the third time Elaine has won the series.
Overall my race went fairly well. My first run was good on a tough course and my second run was only 2 secs a km slower which is probably my best effort to date. The average power on the bike leg was 276 watts (6 watts higher than Somers), but I actually feel I was too conservative and could of ridden harder - the faster than usual 2nd run probably confirms this.
There is only a two week gap to the last Duathlon in Richmond, so this week I have been training hard to try and find some more speed. I ran 17km on Tuesday and am planning to do another Moneghetti Fartlek session this afternoon. The Richmond Duathlon is a week before the Melbourne Marathon and I'm hoping this will keep some of the faster competitors away, allowing me to score a podium in what will be the Victorian State Championships.
On a side note, my weight has dropped further to 77kg (I'd prefer 80). So this morning's shopping included donuts, muffins, Tim Tams and potato chips.
Friday, 16 September 2011
Enjoying an easy week before the Duathlon
This weekend is the Duathlon (run/bike/run) at Kew Boulevard, which is an event I have been looking forward to. So I've been taking it easy this week in order to taper for the race. A lot of the stiffness and soreness has disappeared and I'm starting to feel very toey which is probably a good sign. Ideally I would have done an easy mid week ride, but other appointments have prevented this.
I've done two John Van Wisse swim sessions since the last blog entry. Both sessions have been over 3km and I've finished strongly both times. My shoulders always feel sore at the start but warm up as the session goes on. It may be a little while before I'll be able to swim on consecutive nights, but hopefully I'll regularly get in two swims a week for the next month or so.
Last weekend a group of us did the 70km Kinglake Ride. There were about 12 of us that shared a big house a few kilometres out of Whittlesea (the ride start point). Four of us were signed up for the 70km distance (including myself, Elaine and Martine) while the rest were doing the longer 120km ride including Jeremy, Los and Jan who was riding her brand new bike for the first time. Unfortunately the weather was terrible. It was cold, windy and rained pretty much the entire ride including a short burst of hail. I registered for the fast group and intended to sit in the bunch until the big hill at the half way mark of the ride. Unfortunately all the fast riders signed up for the longer ride and I ended up being the only rider in the fast group for the 70km (that started 90 mins later). So it was a lonely ride all by myself with only the lead car 50m in front for company. Not quite what you expect when you enter a ride with over 3000 participants.
Los and her friend Melba completed the full 120km ride, but everybody else from the house cut their ride short by taking the 70km turn off option due to the bad weather. This seemed to be a popular option amongst all riders and I doubt many people ended up riding the full 120km.
Elaine and Martine road together for a lot of their 70km ride, which meant Elaine was able to help Martine fix a puncture - never fun when it is cold and raining. It is probably the longest ride Elaine has done in 18 months, but despite the bad weather she completed the distance comfortably. In fact she did so well that she decided to sign up for the 70km distance at the Alpine Classic in January which involves riding up and down Mt Buffalo. I have signed up for the 200km Alpine Classic Ride which involves 4 mountain passes - Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap & Mt Buffalo. Thanks to Jeremy and Los for inviting us to stay with them at Bright (start point for the Alpine Classic rides).
I've done two John Van Wisse swim sessions since the last blog entry. Both sessions have been over 3km and I've finished strongly both times. My shoulders always feel sore at the start but warm up as the session goes on. It may be a little while before I'll be able to swim on consecutive nights, but hopefully I'll regularly get in two swims a week for the next month or so.
Los and her friend Melba completed the full 120km ride, but everybody else from the house cut their ride short by taking the 70km turn off option due to the bad weather. This seemed to be a popular option amongst all riders and I doubt many people ended up riding the full 120km.
Elaine and Martine road together for a lot of their 70km ride, which meant Elaine was able to help Martine fix a puncture - never fun when it is cold and raining. It is probably the longest ride Elaine has done in 18 months, but despite the bad weather she completed the distance comfortably. In fact she did so well that she decided to sign up for the 70km distance at the Alpine Classic in January which involves riding up and down Mt Buffalo. I have signed up for the 200km Alpine Classic Ride which involves 4 mountain passes - Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap & Mt Buffalo. Thanks to Jeremy and Los for inviting us to stay with them at Bright (start point for the Alpine Classic rides).
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Less than 200 days to go
Even though I have been mainly focusing on my run training, my form on
the bike appears to be very good, whilst my running is still slightly
below expectations. Maybe it is just the affect of having new bikes. Unfortunately I have been neglecting my swim - only
10 sessions in the last 19 weeks, something I'll definitely need to improve upon.
The weekend saw two ride sessions. I have started joining a local ride on Sat morning that leaves at 6:30am from the Seaford bike shop (Cycling Obsession). This is an earlier start that would I would like, but the ride is over by 8:30am leaving me free for the rest of the day. And it is very convenient with the bike shop being just 1km down the road. On Sunday we did a run/bike/run session at Kew Boulevard as a practice for the Duathlon in 2 weeks. My average power for 2 laps of the boulevard was 254 watts with a HR of 145bpm. This compares well against a similar distance at the Somers Duathlon - 270 watts/163bpm (you always go harder in a race).
The weekend saw two ride sessions. I have started joining a local ride on Sat morning that leaves at 6:30am from the Seaford bike shop (Cycling Obsession). This is an earlier start that would I would like, but the ride is over by 8:30am leaving me free for the rest of the day. And it is very convenient with the bike shop being just 1km down the road. On Sunday we did a run/bike/run session at Kew Boulevard as a practice for the Duathlon in 2 weeks. My average power for 2 laps of the boulevard was 254 watts with a HR of 145bpm. This compares well against a similar distance at the Somers Duathlon - 270 watts/163bpm (you always go harder in a race).
In a move to further improve my running, on Tue I decided to do a Moneghetti Fartlek Session (click here for a PDF version). I decided to run the efforts just above my 1500m pace (3m30s/km) and run the recovery float pace at around 5m00s/km. Despite my best efforts I tended to run between 3m35s and 3m40s (the last 2 efforts blew out to 3m50s pace) and while the recovery float pace started at 5m00s pace, it slowly stretched out to 5m30s pace. This is a deceptively difficult session and I was close to vomitting on my cool down run. In fact it took 3 or 4 hours after the run for my stomach to finally settle down. But if the session worked for Mona, it should work for me and hopefully it will get easier (and/or faster) over time.
After the run session I considered wading out into the bay to give the legs a bit of cold water treatment (like the footballers the day after the game), but unfortunately the weather conditions had turned the bay into a surf beach. I drove down to the Ironman swim start at Frankston and took the following photos. Hopefully the water will be calm on race day, because I do not look forward to swimming 3.8km in those conditions.
Tonight I'll be attending my second John Van Wisse swim session for the season. I doubt I will last for the full 3km, but the important thing is that it will be the first week this season that I'll do 2 swims in the one week. I was going over my notes from the Triathlon Coaching course I did 2 years ago and they suggest 6 swims a week when preparing for an Ironman. There is no chance I'll get to 6, but 4 swims a week is a possibility, but that will be a while off.
This weekend Elaine and I will be doing the Kinglake Ride with a group from our Triathlon Club. Elaine, Martine and I will do the shorter 70km option, whilst Jeff, Lee, Jeremy and Los are doing the longer 120km and Jan is still undecided. Last year I did the 120km with Peter and really struggled over the last 40km so opted for the shorter distance this year. However I'm in much better shape than expected and am now regretting not opting for the longer ride, especially when I need more kilometres in my legs in preparation for Ironman.
Bill and Peter are currently over in Beijing for the Age Group World Championships. Peter is doing the Aquathlon and Olympic Distance and Bill is doing the Sprint Distance and then flying to Spain to do the Duathlon. I wish them both the best and although podium finishes against the world's best are extremely unlikely, I'm sure they will place well.
Friday, 2 September 2011
Where am I at now ?
I'm 190cm tall (6'3") and exactly one year ago I weighed in at 86kg, this morning I weighed in at 78.3kg. I consider my ideal race weight for a 1 hour sprint event to be around 78kg, however for a long distance event that could take up to (or over) 12 hours, I would be looking more at 80kg. At this time of year I would usually be around 81-82kg (last year we just came back from an overseas holiday). I haven't been training overly hard and have been eating pretty well, so I expect it is other stresses that have contributed to my weight loss. Something to monitor over the next few months. I might have to start eating pizza for health reasons.
I was wondering today, would I be able to cover any of the individual legs in my current condition. Due to the sore shoulders I am currently experiencing when I swim, the 3.8km would certainly be too far. The 180km bike or Marathon would be possible, but the times would be very slow and I would be a complete wreck afterwards and most likely incur an injury. Even with this knowledge, the swim leg of the Ironman is the one I fear the least. I have never swam 3.8km before, but I've swam over 3km lots of times in training and once I get into regular swim sessions, 3km doesn't seem overly far, so an extra 800m should be relatively easy (I hope).
If we were looking at half distances, I could easily swim 1900m, but it would be slow and I would be sore afterwards. A 90km bike ride would be a piece of cake, I believe I would set a good pace and still be relatively fresh afterwards. The Half Marathon would be a challenge, but having previously run this distances 3 times now (once in a Half Marathon, twice as part of a Half Ironman) I would be confident of posting a reasonable time, definitely within 10 mins of my PB.
But having said all that, I have significant concerns about my Ironman bike leg. I have ridden over 180km twice in my life (210km Around the Bay in a Day in 2003 & 2005) and both times I was absolutely destroyed by the end. I am certainly a better rider now, but in Ironman you need to come off the bike feeling relatively fresh because you still have a marathon to run. My longest ride so far this season was 89km 4 weeks ago, I have a lot of bike training to do.
Some of my fears for the run relate to how fresh I will be off the bike. But most of them are to do with the fact that a Marathon is a really long way and the furthest I have ever run is 23km. I ran 15.4km yesterday (4 laps of the TAN) and it did not feel too bad (other than some nasty chafing), but I'm pretty stiff in the legs and lower back today. If I can get my long run over 30km and my weekly mileage over 60km I should be in OK shape. And the chafing was a result of choosing the wrong shorts for a long run, so no issues there.
I have some short ride sessions this weekend due to Father's Day. Next week will be my last hard week of the current training block ending with the Kinglake ride before taking an easy week leading into the Kew Duathlon. My body is really looking forward to the easy week. Overall I have been keeping the training load reasonably light and just slowly extending my long run. In the next few months I will need to also extend my long ride.
I was wondering today, would I be able to cover any of the individual legs in my current condition. Due to the sore shoulders I am currently experiencing when I swim, the 3.8km would certainly be too far. The 180km bike or Marathon would be possible, but the times would be very slow and I would be a complete wreck afterwards and most likely incur an injury. Even with this knowledge, the swim leg of the Ironman is the one I fear the least. I have never swam 3.8km before, but I've swam over 3km lots of times in training and once I get into regular swim sessions, 3km doesn't seem overly far, so an extra 800m should be relatively easy (I hope).
If we were looking at half distances, I could easily swim 1900m, but it would be slow and I would be sore afterwards. A 90km bike ride would be a piece of cake, I believe I would set a good pace and still be relatively fresh afterwards. The Half Marathon would be a challenge, but having previously run this distances 3 times now (once in a Half Marathon, twice as part of a Half Ironman) I would be confident of posting a reasonable time, definitely within 10 mins of my PB.
But having said all that, I have significant concerns about my Ironman bike leg. I have ridden over 180km twice in my life (210km Around the Bay in a Day in 2003 & 2005) and both times I was absolutely destroyed by the end. I am certainly a better rider now, but in Ironman you need to come off the bike feeling relatively fresh because you still have a marathon to run. My longest ride so far this season was 89km 4 weeks ago, I have a lot of bike training to do.
Some of my fears for the run relate to how fresh I will be off the bike. But most of them are to do with the fact that a Marathon is a really long way and the furthest I have ever run is 23km. I ran 15.4km yesterday (4 laps of the TAN) and it did not feel too bad (other than some nasty chafing), but I'm pretty stiff in the legs and lower back today. If I can get my long run over 30km and my weekly mileage over 60km I should be in OK shape. And the chafing was a result of choosing the wrong shorts for a long run, so no issues there.
I have some short ride sessions this weekend due to Father's Day. Next week will be my last hard week of the current training block ending with the Kinglake ride before taking an easy week leading into the Kew Duathlon. My body is really looking forward to the easy week. Overall I have been keeping the training load reasonably light and just slowly extending my long run. In the next few months I will need to also extend my long ride.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
I'm in !!!
Entries for Ironman Melbourne opened today at 1pm, by 1:07pm all 1500 slots had been taken. The official sellout time may be longer because entrants had 20 mins to complete their registrations and any incomplete entries went back on sale.
Now that I am officially entered, I am surprisingly not stricken with fear. Maybe the insanity required to even contemplate an Ironman has now taken full grip of my senses. Although there is a certain amount of dread when I think about some of the ridiculously long training sessions I'll need to complete.
This week's training was my biggest of the season so far at just under 11 hours and was dominated by 185kms of riding, including 3 categorised climbs (Arthurs Seat, 1 in 20 and The Wall). Of course this distance was done over 3 separate rides, whereas on race day I'll do this in one go, preceded by a very long swim and followed by a marathon - maybe best not to think about this.
Now that I am officially entered, I am surprisingly not stricken with fear. Maybe the insanity required to even contemplate an Ironman has now taken full grip of my senses. Although there is a certain amount of dread when I think about some of the ridiculously long training sessions I'll need to complete.
This week's training was my biggest of the season so far at just under 11 hours and was dominated by 185kms of riding, including 3 categorised climbs (Arthurs Seat, 1 in 20 and The Wall). Of course this distance was done over 3 separate rides, whereas on race day I'll do this in one go, preceded by a very long swim and followed by a marathon - maybe best not to think about this.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Only 4 days before entries go online - decision time
I eased back into training last week after the Duathlon. The legs were stiff for a few days, but actually felt better once I put a bit of run mileage back into them. The week saw 7.5 hours of training which included 35km of running.
This week should see an increase, and I'm expecting around 11 hours largely due to a 3 hour ride today up to the top of Arthurs Seat. Originally I planned to do a short, easy ride of around 40km, but the weather was so good I just kept going and ended up with a hilly 80km. The Arthurs Seat climb is just under 3km with an average gradient of 8%. The picture on the right is from a lookup about 400m from the top.
There have been a few aches and pains, especially in my shoulders from swimmimg, but nothing too serious so far. Hopefully my body will be able to manage the heavy training load - it is certainly going to require a lot of maintenance. At the moment my thoughts on entering Ironman Melbourne are "Yes", but that could change in the next 4 days.
Entries for Ironman Melbourne go on sale at 1pm this Sunday. There has been lots of conjecture about how fast the event will sell out, so I will have to be at my computer and ready to start typing quickly at 1pm.
This week should see an increase, and I'm expecting around 11 hours largely due to a 3 hour ride today up to the top of Arthurs Seat. Originally I planned to do a short, easy ride of around 40km, but the weather was so good I just kept going and ended up with a hilly 80km. The Arthurs Seat climb is just under 3km with an average gradient of 8%. The picture on the right is from a lookup about 400m from the top.There have been a few aches and pains, especially in my shoulders from swimmimg, but nothing too serious so far. Hopefully my body will be able to manage the heavy training load - it is certainly going to require a lot of maintenance. At the moment my thoughts on entering Ironman Melbourne are "Yes", but that could change in the next 4 days.
Entries for Ironman Melbourne go on sale at 1pm this Sunday. There has been lots of conjecture about how fast the event will sell out, so I will have to be at my computer and ready to start typing quickly at 1pm.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Duathlon - Somers
Having had at least one good training week since the last Duathlon at Knox, I decided to pretend I was in good form and race hard from the start. Unfortunately most of field took off ridiculously fast, so I immediately changed strategy and reverted to trying to pace myself as best I could. My first km was run in 3m48s, but the head of the field was already completely out of the sight and there was a decent gap between me and the main pack. Concentrating on maintaining good rhythm I pulled back and passed a handful of competitors and ended with a 5km run split of 20m16s, 72 secs faster than Knox so I was very happy. However this run ended up being ranked 42 out of 82 competitors, so I was in the back half of the field.
After a slow transition, I got to the mount line and realised I still hadn't practised mounting my new tri-bike. Due to the much steeper seat angle, the seat sits a lot higher than my old bike and I was very hesitant to try and leap onto it for the first time in a race, so I settled for a conservative mount.
The Somer's course has a slightly longer bike leg (an extra 2km) and I figured this would probably go in my favour. I set off after my competitors, but with the help of a power meter was able to pace myself much better than in the past. Being able to see your wattage helps prevent you from over exerting up the hills and from slacking off on the downhills and flats. I haven't calculated my FTP yet, but had a rough idea from the 2x5km TTs I did at the velodrome and decided to try and maintain a fairly constant 280 watts. I caught and passed a lot of riders on the 2nd lap (of 2) and was I was definitely happy with my first real hitout on the new bike. I ended up with the 15th fastest bike split overall (and fastest in my age category), which moved me from 42nd to 25th place. My average speed for the 22km bike split was 36.6kph and average wattage was 270. As far as the bike fit went, I think I would actually be more comfortable if the front was a bit lower, but I doubt anything is going to make the seat feel better.
Even though the final run in a sprint duathlon is only 3km, it is always the most painful part of the race and usually the section where my race falls apart. Coming out of T2, I saw I had small lead over Peter and if I could maintain a good rhythm I should be able to hold him off. An average pace of 4m10s saw me lose 8 places in the overall standings, but was enough to hold off Peter who ended up only clawing back 7 seconds.
Elaine won her age group again, Bill and I both scored second places whilst Martine and Jeremy finished in that unlucky 4th place. Peter placed 5th (3 secs behind 4th) and the Howards were very happy with their efforts in the Mini after competing as individuals instead of forming a team.Overall I am extremely pleased with how the race went and suprised to score a 2nd place (other races on the same day no doubt weakened the field in my age group). Hopefully I'll get in 3 solid weeks of training before the Kinglake Ride (a hilly 75km) and be well prepared for the Kew Boulevard Duathlon the week after. The Kew Duathlon is a on a very tough course and is part of the National Series. This means it is a selection race for the Age Group World Championships to be held in France in around Sep 2012 - and Elaine really wants to go to France again.
How Sprint Duathlon form relates to Ironman, I don't know. But I'm in better condition than I expected, and that can only be a good thing.
Friday, 12 August 2011
First good week of training for the season
For the first time this season I completed what I consider a full week's training. It was certainly not a big week, but it contained 1 swim, 3 runs & 3 rides. The runs were an interval run, long run & brick run, whilst the rides consisted of short velodrome TTs, brick and a 90km long ride. The week's mileage was swim 2km, run 24km & bike 130km, which equates to 161 Slowtwitch training points (a big training week for me leading up to a HIM would be 300+ points).
Anyway, that was last week. This week the body feels a little stiff and I decided to taper for this weekend's duathlon. It is pretty lazy to taper after only 1 week of effort, but it pays to listen to your body and gradually introduce training load over the pre-season. If I am any chance of completing an Ironman in March, it is extremely important to stay healthy and injury free.
So far, this week has only consisted of 2 runs, an interval run with lots of hill repeats and a 10km easy run. I usually run my long runs at a comfortable pace, but this time I ran to heart rate, which meant running about 45 secs per kilometre slower. Hopefully my aerobic engine will adapt over time and my pace will increase for the same heart rate. My dream is to be able to run at 5 min pace with a HR of 140 (that would give me a marathon time of 3h31m), but I think I am kidding myself - 5m30s is probably a far more realistic target (3h52s marathon).
I can foresee running to heart rate causing internal conflict during the season as I strive to find speed for the Sprint Distance races. A lot of triathletes simply avoid the shorter races when training for Ironman, but I think this would make the season too boring. There is nothing quite like smashing yourself in a short race. The quality of the field is usually less, so there is always the chance of a podium and you are usually fully recovered within a day or so.
I'm looking forward to the Duathlon this Sunday. I don't think I'll have much run speed (or endurance), but I'm excited to see what sort of time I can post of my new tri-bike. The front tyre that punctured last race has been replaced and I've swapped the rear Zipp 808 for my disk wheel, I think the bike looks really good.
Of course I will almost certainly not learn from my puncture last race and will again race without a spare or even a can of pitstop. Sometimes vanity is our own worst enemy.
Anyway, that was last week. This week the body feels a little stiff and I decided to taper for this weekend's duathlon. It is pretty lazy to taper after only 1 week of effort, but it pays to listen to your body and gradually introduce training load over the pre-season. If I am any chance of completing an Ironman in March, it is extremely important to stay healthy and injury free.
So far, this week has only consisted of 2 runs, an interval run with lots of hill repeats and a 10km easy run. I usually run my long runs at a comfortable pace, but this time I ran to heart rate, which meant running about 45 secs per kilometre slower. Hopefully my aerobic engine will adapt over time and my pace will increase for the same heart rate. My dream is to be able to run at 5 min pace with a HR of 140 (that would give me a marathon time of 3h31m), but I think I am kidding myself - 5m30s is probably a far more realistic target (3h52s marathon).
I can foresee running to heart rate causing internal conflict during the season as I strive to find speed for the Sprint Distance races. A lot of triathletes simply avoid the shorter races when training for Ironman, but I think this would make the season too boring. There is nothing quite like smashing yourself in a short race. The quality of the field is usually less, so there is always the chance of a podium and you are usually fully recovered within a day or so.
Of course I will almost certainly not learn from my puncture last race and will again race without a spare or even a can of pitstop. Sometimes vanity is our own worst enemy.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Ironman Melbourne is announced
I had never considered doing an Ironman. Rumours about Ironman Melbourne had been circulating for over 12 months, and I'll admit that an Ironman race in my home town had caught my interest. But all the rumours had mentioned Docklands as the location, and having previously lived in an apartment at Docklands I had no intention of ever swimming in that water.
But with the official announcement of Ironman Melbourne came the previously unmentioned location of Frankston. This is a location very close to where I live, in fact it will be the closest a Triathlon has ever been to my house. Maybe this is a sign.
I still think the event is utter madness and I still do not believe I am capable of completing such a ridiculously long event. But I find myself seriously considering the idea. Even my wife Elaine is suggesting I give it some thought.
Entries go online on 28th August, so I have another 20 days to decide if I want to do something really stupid
But with the official announcement of Ironman Melbourne came the previously unmentioned location of Frankston. This is a location very close to where I live, in fact it will be the closest a Triathlon has ever been to my house. Maybe this is a sign.
I still think the event is utter madness and I still do not believe I am capable of completing such a ridiculously long event. But I find myself seriously considering the idea. Even my wife Elaine is suggesting I give it some thought.
Entries go online on 28th August, so I have another 20 days to decide if I want to do something really stupid
Quick Time Trials
After missing out on most of the Duathlon's bike leg due to a puncture, I decided to do two 5km Time Trials at the Velodrome just to see what sort of form I was in, and also to get some riding time on the new Tri-Bike.
I put training wheels on and wore a normal road helmet, as this is how I've performed all my TTs in the past. The session was very simple, 5km warmup, 5km TT, 5km recovery, 5km TT, 5km cooldown.
Usually at this point of the season my TT avg speeds would be around 38 & 36kph. But on the new bike they were 40.6 and 39.2kph (power was 304 and 295 watts). I don't believe I am in any better form that usual, I think the new bike is simply that much faster. Previously I only had a road bike with tri-bars, and going by this test, a tri-bike has meant an extra 2kph.
I am now really looking forward to the next race.
I put training wheels on and wore a normal road helmet, as this is how I've performed all my TTs in the past. The session was very simple, 5km warmup, 5km TT, 5km recovery, 5km TT, 5km cooldown.
Usually at this point of the season my TT avg speeds would be around 38 & 36kph. But on the new bike they were 40.6 and 39.2kph (power was 304 and 295 watts). I don't believe I am in any better form that usual, I think the new bike is simply that much faster. Previously I only had a road bike with tri-bars, and going by this test, a tri-bike has meant an extra 2kph.
I am now really looking forward to the next race.
Duathlon - Knox
Neither Elaine nor I were in good condition. I had only been back running for 2 weeks, and Elaine had done even less. But last year I kept on waiting until I had fitness before entering a race and ended up missing every Duathlon. So I figured we would just do the races and see how we went. Plus I'd also strongly suggested to one of the athletes I was coaching, Jan, that she do the Duathlon, so it would be good for us to be there and give her some support.
I ran the first 5km in 21m28s which is about 2 mins off my best, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to run that well off such a tiny running base. I was just over a minute behind two mates from the Triathlon Club, Courtney and Peter and wondered if I could catch them on the bike leg.
This was my first ride of the new Tri Bike, it was raining and the course was very technical with heaps of corners, so I took it very easy on the first lap. The bike handled really well and I decided I would push a little harder each lap, unfortunately just near the end of the first lap (of 5) I got a puncture. The new bike had looked so beautiful I had decided not to hang anything off it (like a spare tubular), so the puncture meant the end of the race. Sadly Jan also suffered a puncture and like me did not carry a spare.
Elaine was lucky with a weak field in her age group and scored a win, whilst Courtney and Peter did not share the same luck and both finished 4th.
I ran the first 5km in 21m28s which is about 2 mins off my best, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to run that well off such a tiny running base. I was just over a minute behind two mates from the Triathlon Club, Courtney and Peter and wondered if I could catch them on the bike leg.
This was my first ride of the new Tri Bike, it was raining and the course was very technical with heaps of corners, so I took it very easy on the first lap. The bike handled really well and I decided I would push a little harder each lap, unfortunately just near the end of the first lap (of 5) I got a puncture. The new bike had looked so beautiful I had decided not to hang anything off it (like a spare tubular), so the puncture meant the end of the race. Sadly Jan also suffered a puncture and like me did not carry a spare.
Elaine was lucky with a weak field in her age group and scored a win, whilst Courtney and Peter did not share the same luck and both finished 4th.
Initial plans for the season
With the 2011/12 season upon us, I decided to do a Long Distance triathlon (2/80/20) in Geelong. My previous 2 HIM attempts had seen me really struggle towards the end of the run and I thought the slightly shorter distance might go in my favour. Not that I was expecting to get anywhere near the age group podium, I just wanted to be able to finish the run strongly and post a good time.
The HIM at Torquay in April had left me with boney bruising in the knee due to patella tracking problems. It had taken 3 months to get back to running, but I was confident I now had this under control and would be able to clock the mileage required for the long distance triathlon in Feb 2012. Plus we had both just bought new road bikes and I also got a new triathlon bike, so I was eager to find out how much faster I could go.
Elaine had been taking it easy triathlon (and training) wise over the last 2 years. Some of this was due to illness, and some of it was just to have a break. However she was now keen to get back into it, and had picked the Olympic Distance race at Geelong (same day and location as my Long Distance) as her target race for the season.
The plan was do Sprint Duathlons in winter and Sprint Triathlons in Summer as lead up races to our target event. We might also do a 10km fun run in October, I didn't believe either of us would be in good enough condition to do the Half Marathon at that point.
Elaine had been taking it easy triathlon (and training) wise over the last 2 years. Some of this was due to illness, and some of it was just to have a break. However she was now keen to get back into it, and had picked the Olympic Distance race at Geelong (same day and location as my Long Distance) as her target race for the season.The plan was do Sprint Duathlons in winter and Sprint Triathlons in Summer as lead up races to our target event. We might also do a 10km fun run in October, I didn't believe either of us would be in good enough condition to do the Half Marathon at that point.
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