Salomon 5km Trail Run, Race 1 - Studley Park, Kew

Elaine and I ventured to Studley Park in Kew for our first ever Trail Running Race. We usually do the Kew Duathlon, but will miss it this year because of the Worlds in London, so it was good to discover another race at the same place. Studley Park is a beautiful location on the Yarra River, a small area of wilderness close to the city. Hopefully I'll be able to find and post some photos up later.

Other friends doing the race were Alistair, Courtney, Moran and Kevin. Alistair, Courtney and Moran were all doing the 10.8km race, Kevin had bravely entered the 15km event, whilst Elaine and I chose the 5km (who are the smart ones ?). Unlike normal fun runs, there were limited marshalls on the course directing people. Instead we had to keep our eyes open for coloured arrows and pieces of tape to navigate our way around the course. Last Sunday I did a course recon, but I decided to run the course again as a warmup (lucky it was only 5km) so that I could see exactly where all the direction markers were. I'm not used to this type of racing, and knowing the course would be one less thing I'd have to worry about during the race.

Despite the mercury dropping to 6 degrees (celsius) I still stripped down to shorts and running singlet for the race. Elaine ran in knee length running shorts and a t-shirt. Ideally I would have worn arm warmers and gloves, but hadn't thought of that when I packed my stuff the night before. Luckily the start line was in direct sunlight and I almost warmed up as I waited for our race to start.

Race organisers generally rely upon the competitors to self grade themselves on the start line, but it always amazes me how deluded some people tend to be. I placed my self about 1 metre behind the start line and in front of me walked a father with his son lucky to be 8 years old. Not wanting to trample the poor boy to death, I carefully maneuvered myself in front just before the gun went off only to find the mother had muscled in ahead at the last second. Admittedly she took off fast, but that lasted a whole 20 metres before I had to waste extra energy getting around her and surprisingly never caught sight of her again. In fact I didn't even see her collect any prizes at the presentations, so she must have finished at least 5 minutes behind me.

My pre race plan was to see how long I could stay with the lead pack. As it turns out, the lead pack was one person and he was very fast. After about 200m the rest of us returned to some form of sanity and resorted to a more realistic pace (as opposed to the 3m10s pace we were running).  Once we hit a small hill a pack formed ahead of me (it did not include me). After taking off so fast I didn't want to blow my race in the first kilometre. Before long 2 more runners dropped off the pack and I started reeling them in.  I caught and passed one, but then we hit a downhill and the other runner built a small gap. This pattern continued for the rest of the race - I'd slowly reel him in on the flat, but he'd pull away on the technical sections and hills (up or down). Speaking to Alistair after the race, he experienced the exact same thing. Maybe it's a coincidence that neither of us were wearing trail running shoes (Elaine has already picked out the Salomon Trail Running shoes she wants to buy).

The last kilometre of the race was the most technical. Kind of cruel really, hit you when you are at your weakest. One section of the path becomes narrow and slippery and gets dangerously close to the Yarra. At this point I was glad to be one of the early runners (in the short race) to go through this section, as I didn't fancy trying to get through it after 1,000 other runners had churned it up. In fact Courtney suffered the exact peril I was worried about and was luckily caught and pulled back onto the path by 2 other competitors. Needless to say the last kilometre was not my fastest. The competitor ahead was out of reach (and sight) and there was nobody really threatening me from behind. Under the circumstances it is very difficult to dig deep.

Being the shortest of 3 distances offered on the day, I expected most of the fast runners would be doing the longer races. With this in mind I had targetted an overall top 10 place - I finished 7th overall and 1st in my age group. Elaine finished 3rd in her age group. So we both took home prizes, a nice Salomon Polar Fleece for me and a pair of Salomon Socks for Elaine. My finishing time was 18m35s which I would have been extremely pleased with if my Garmin had not shown a distance of only 4.8km. With so many twists and turns along the trail (and mostly under tree cover), it is understandable that the GPS tracking would miss a fair bit of distance, but I'm not sure if it would miss 200m. Elaine's watch uses a footpod that would have been far more accurate under the circumstances, but sadly the watch's battery went flat this week.



Courtney has switched from Triathlon to Crossfit, so his running form has dropped away and Alistair had been up all night sorting out issues for his daughter overseas. Despite this they both ran quite well. Moran had a great race finishing 9th overall in the 10.8km race, but unfortunately only 6th in his category (so no prizes) and Kevin set a PB in the 15km run.

Icicles

It's been a cold week in Melbourne. No clouds in the sky and nice weather in the middle of the day, but without the cloud cover the overnight lows and morning temperatures have been literally freezing.
- Wed morning ride: 2 degrees Celsius
- Fri morning swim (outdoor pool): -0.1 degrees Celsius
- Sat morning ride: -1.1 degrees Celsius

Last week I pulled up sore after my ride up Arthur's Seat. After having rest days on Sunday and Monday I was feeling great on Tuesday night's run session doing 200s and 400s between 3m15s and 3m20s pace. Being a little over confident I then did the North Rd ride on Wednesday morning - a very fast group ride where I averaged over 43kph for over 17km. Unfortunately my knee pain returned which reduced Wednesday and Thursday nights' runs to recovery runs.

Friday became another unscheduled rest day before the Club ride on Saturday. Did I mention Saturday's ride was cold. Although the temperature only got down to -1.1 (lowest I can ever remember), the 'Feels Like' temperature was -3.3 (and that felt f#&king cold). Elaine bought me a lovely pair of Campagnolo winter gloves several weeks ago which have been fantastic on cold Winter rides, until Saturday. Turns out all their effectiveness disappears once the temperature drops below zero. I cut the ride short at 62km (when the ride conveniently passed my house). Considering that once home, it took over 30 minutes before my hands resembled anything like normal, I think it was an extremely wise decision to end the ride when I did. I'm told your capillaries shrink when your hands get really cold. Once you come back into a warm environment, the blood tries to squeeze through these shrunken capillaries - this is extremely painful. Once home, this extreme pain lasted for over 20 minutes.

To make matters worse, my knees were sore again after the ride. I've been using the foam roller and stretching my quads all week, but I've now discovered that it is my VMO (Vastus Medialis Oblique - shown in blue on the diagram to the right) that are the most tight and sore. In hindsight this is obvious, because the VMO is one of the main muscles used when cycling and I was already pretty sure it was cycling that was causing my problems. I'll now concentrate on massaging my VMO using knuckles, golf balls and any other objects of torture.

Next weekend Elaine and I have a 5km Trail Running Race at Studley Park in Kew. Today I did a course reconnaissance but I still struggled to identify the exact trails we'll be using next week. However I did get in a 12.5km run without any soreness which is very encouraging.

Originally I was planning to train right through without any taper for the Trail Run (what I would refer to as a 'C' race). But with the knee injury I'll now back off the training this week which will effectively result in a taper before the race. Not ideal, but not terrible either.

I'll still do all my swimming sessions, in fact I plan to do an extra swim on Wednesday night. However I'll drop all cycling sessions and only run on Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes an early taper will trigger a premature peak in performance, but with 12 weeks of training left before the World Championships in London I don't think this will be a problem. And getting over the knee injury is far more important.

Mark's training for the Half Marathon at Run Melbourne has been going very well with Mark continuing his excellent habit of following the training program perfectly. I've had a recent addition to the training stables with Stef who is also training for Run Melbourne (she is doing the 10km). After only 1 week it is still very early days, but she's started off very well with a good first week's training. Unfortunately, Elaine's training was non-existent this weekend with a non-triathlon related issue on Saturday and other engagements on Sunday. She was very disappointed to have lost some of her training momentum, but on the bright side, she managed to avoid a ridiculously cold ride on Saturday morning.

Lesson Learnt

Last week I wrote "Unlike running, I very rarely suffer injuries from riding, so I can get away with more intensity". Well those words have come to bite me in the bum. In the last 3 weeks I have done Repeats of Two Bays Rd, The Wall in the Dandenongs and yesterday I rode up Arthurs Seat (once from each direction). It turns out 3 intensive hill rides in 3 weeks just exceeds what my body can handle. I don't have an actual injury (at least I believe I don't), but I had a mild ache in my knees after the ride. Whilst the ache was a bit less today, it was still enough for me to skip my usual Sunday long run, which is very annoying. I'll probably take a rest day on Monday as well, before swimming and running again on Tuesday. London is still 13 weeks away, so a few days off now will not hurt and much better to experience problems now rather than in the last 8 weeks.

In truth the knee pain is probably a combination of all the training I've been doing lately (biking and running). But it is still a timely reminder that cycling is not immune to causing injury. It also emphasizes how important it is too keep my quads and ITBs stretched and loose - more time needed on the foam roller.

Other than pulling up with sore knees, yesterdays ride itself went very well. According to Strava it was my 7th best effort (out of 14) up Balcombe Hill, my first time on record up White Hill Rd and my 2nd best (out of 3) up Arthurs Seat. Being a reasonably long ride with several climbs, I didn't set up to break any records, but I was actually surprised how easy all of the climbs seemed. I think my cycling has improved significantly in the last month.

For nostalgic reasons I took a photo from the same lookout area on Arthurs Seat as I did nearly 2 years ago when I first started my blog - Previous blog post. The view remains the same, but the sign has been replaced and the bike has seen close to 10,000kms.


Elaine posted another 92km ride, this time to Rosebud and back. She didn't do any big climbs but the roads between Frankston and Mt Martha are definitely lumpy - much hillier than her previous long rides up and down Beach Rd. So she is making great progress with her riding and unlike me has not experienced sore knees.

Love a ride in the Dandenongs

Today was the Queen's Birthday public holiday and Clint organised a club ride in the Dandenongs. I love riding in the hills and the Dandenongs is one of my favourite locations.

My recent bike mileage tends to be on the low side compared to other triathletes (and almost non-existant compared to a cyclist). Two factors let me get away with this - firstly I've built a good base by doing a lot of riding over the last 10 years and secondly I now focus on quality over quantity. Regular readers on my blog will notice this is very different to the approach I have taken with my running. Unlike running, I very rarely suffer injuries from riding, so I can get away with more intensity. However the main reason for the lack of bike mileage is the time it takes and also the Melbourne weather in Winter. Once Summer arrives and the days get longer I will definitely be extending my time spent on the bike.

I think of quality on the bike as riding at roughly 3 different speeds. First is easy riding which means riding at a relaxed pace. Second is prolonged efforts of 20 minutes or more at close to threshold pace (which for me is between 260 and 300 watts). Finally the last pace is going hard (300 to 400 watts). The easiest way to go hard is to find a hill. If the climb is between 5 and 8 minutes you can do repeats (refer to VO2Max Intervals). For longer climbs, I simply go as fast as I can. This means I am always trying to set a PB up every significant climb I do. Not only is this great training, it also sets benchmarks and allows you to compare your form against previous rides.

In the Dandenongs, one of these significant climbs is 'The Wall'. Just over 5kms long and averaging about 5% gradient, but with a nasty pinch in the middle that is around 10% for half a kilometre or so. Todays effort was 23 seconds slower than my attempt in December (when I was in pretty good form) but 1m42s quicker than in June last year. So even with my low bike mileage, I am very happy with my current form at this time of the season.

Elaine did a 91km Beach Rd ride on Saturday and followed it up by riding 60kms with Mark in the Dandenongs today. So far in June she has ridden 295km to my 205km. It is amazing what the fear of an upcoming Half Ironman will do to someone's bike mileage.

Replacing Mileage with Speed

I'm now moving into phase II of my running program. Previously it was as many easy miles as I could manage, now I have 2 days of running intensity each week and I'll slot in extra easy runs when I can.

Phase I didn't end as strong as I would have liked. After weeks of 64 & 63kms, I only managed 49km last week. This is because I skipped my usual Wednesday and Friday runs. I never felt injured, but the soreness and general feeling of heaviness was increasing and I decided it was better to be cautious. Still 176km in 3 weeks is way more than I've ever managed before, so overall I am very happy. I've carried this cautious approach over to this week and skipped running on Monday and Wednesday (and may skip Friday as well) - this week's intensity is more important than the mileage.

In Phase II my Tuesday runs will involve short, fast intervals with plenty of recovery in between - what Daniels refers to as Repetitions. So yesterday I did 5 x 200m efforts with 200m recovery after each, followed by a 400m effort - all at Repetition speed which for me is 3m25s per km pace. Even with a 15 minute warmup and 15 minute cooldown run, this is a pretty small session. But being the first speed work of the season, I want to build into it gradually.

My interval times were as follows:
    200m @ 3m15s pace
    200m @ 3m15s pace
    200m @ 3m10s pace
    200m @ 3m00s pace
    200m @ 3m25s pace
    400m @ 3m20s pace

The fifth 200m was the slowest and the only one done at the correct speed. After so much easy running my body was a little too willing to go fast. It may take a while before I get used to running at the correct speeds.

Elaine was given the same set and her intervals were:
    200m @ 4m10s pace
    200m @ 4m09s pace
    200m @ 4m32s pace
    200m @ 4m10s pace
    400m @ 4m29s pace

Her target pace was 5m12s per kilometre, so she was even more eager than me. However in Elaine's case it may be time to promote her to the next speed level (we might actually skip a few). She'll also need to brush up on her counting because she only did 4 (instead of 5) 200m repeats.

Mark has been training for the upcoming Half Marathon at Run Melbourne next month. As usual he has been training very well. Unlike last year when he was training for Ironman, this season I've introduced intensity into his running program. Four weeks ago Mark ran a 1km Time Trial in 5m11s - yesterday he managed a 6 second improvement with a 1km run in 5m05s. Both of these efforts were at the end of speed work session!

If Mark follows his program he will have an easy run tomorrow. But Elaine and I will be doing four 1km efforts at Threshold pace (around Half Marathon pace) with only 200m recovery.

VO2Max Intervals on the Bike

I've had a power meter on my bike for nearly 2 years now and I absolutely love it. It has made a huge difference to pacing, both in training and racing. When training sessions refer to Sprint, Olympic, 70.3 or Ironman efforts, I know exactly the wattage I need to maintain. With fresh legs it is very easy to go out too hard and blow up, but now I know the wattage I can hold in different situations (ie. hill climb or time trial). I often still try and push beyond my limits, but only by a sensible margin so the blow ups are usually only small.

However up til now I've ignored the more scientific training sessions achievable with a power meter. That situation changed today with my VO2Max intervals up a nearby hill on Two Bays Rd in Mt Eliza. In simplistic terms, VO2Max is a measure of how much oxygen your body can process - V = volume, 02 = oxygen, Max = maximum. The ability to process oxygen is probably the most important factor in becoming a good endurance athlete.

Although I refer to it as scientific, this session was actually quite simple. First you need to know your Functional Threshold Power, usually referred to as your FTP - which represents the highest power wattage you can hold for 1 hour (I'll let you use Google to learn more). From your FTP you can calculate your VO2Max training range which is 106-120% of your FTP. I estimate my FTP to be 300 watts, so my VO2Max range is between 318 and 360 watts. The length of each interval needs to be between 5 and 8 minutes. Less than 5 minutes is not long enough to receive the benefit and most people will not be able to hold VO2Max wattage for over 8 minutes.

Now the session itself. You need to find a hill climb that will take somewhere between 5 and 8 minutes and ride up this hill (multiple times) keeping your wattage in the VO2Max range. You will be relatively fresh for the first 2 attempts, so you need to take note of the average wattage for the 3rd attempt. Subtract 5% from this wattage number and that is the power you need to average above for every subsequent interval. As soon as you fail to average this power for a climb hill - your session is over.

The Two Bays Rd climb in Mt Eliza seemed like a good hill for this session. It is about 2km long with an average gradient of 4.7%, but the middle 1km is probably around 6%. I decided to start the first interval from the second speed hump as this is where the gradient starts to pick up. Unfortunately even though I pushed through to the round-a-bout, the lap ended up only being 4m37s long. I started the subsequent laps earlier and my second climb took exactly 5 minutes - perfect.

My first 3 intervals had average power of 348, 348 & 333 watts. So 5% deducted from 333 leaves 316 which is the wattage I needed to keep above for all subsequent climbs. The fourth lap was 332 watts, but on my fifth climb I really struggled and could only maintain 313 watts, so no more climbs. I was exhausted and glad that the ride home was not very long and mostly downhill.

Weight of Mileage

Yet another week with lots of running. The mileage is still coming easily, but the legs are feeling a little heavier. I've got no injuries, but the general aches and pains seem to be a little more frequent. It definitely feels like I am at my body's limit as far as run mileage goes. This coming week will be our last in the foundation building phase before we start adding some intensity.

Elaine's cycling enthusiasm is at an all time high and she produced another 80+km ride. Once again she rode on the Challenge Melbourne bike course, this time she was lucky enough to have Tania as company and Leah has hinted she'd like to join them next time.

I would have liked to have competed in a cycling road race with the Southern Masters on Sunday, but unfortunately my arm injury is still causing problems. It pulled up quite sore from Saturday's 3 hour ride  and is also giving me some trouble during the swim sessions. The injury improved a lot in the first few days, but has not improved so much over the last week.

Run Mileage Clicking Over

I'm still in base training phase, or as Daniels calls it - Foundation and Injury Prevention Training. In regards to running, this means lots of mileage all done at an easy pace. I don't really plan training, I just try to run every day and let how I feel influence the distance. It is usually obvious by the 3km mark if I'm feeling good or not and this determines how far I run (anywhere between 6 and 15km). Of course if I wake up sore - I have a rest day.

This strategy worked well at the start of the pre-season and my weekly run mileages were 44, 54 & 57km before things went off track when I suffered quad soreness from the Long and Hilly Run in the Dandenongs. My legs came good just in time for the Puffing Billy Fun Run, but I needed an easy week to recover from this race.

With the interruptions now behind me, my run training is now back on track and this week I clocked up a career high 64km of running. This mileage came so easy I took Sunday as a rest day even though I didn't feel sore. There was temptation to push my mileage over 70km, but I decided anything over 60km was great and even though I was still feeling good, having a rest day would provide extra insurance against injury (not time to get greedy).

For some athletes 60km in a week would not sound much, but I can remember not long ago when I could not do consecutive 30km run weeks. So I'm extremely happy with how things are going. The only problem has been an arm injury (incurred in non-triathlon related activities). As a result I missed Friday's swim and Saturday's mountain bike session at Lysterfield Park. Hopefully I'll be OK to swim again on Tuesday.

With Elaine having entered her first Half Ironman (Challenge Melbourne in Feb), she now has far more incentive than usual to get back on the bike. This was very much in evidence on Saturday morning when she ventured out and rode 2 laps of the Challenge Melbourne bike course (race will be 3x30km laps). The course is 10kms away so the total riding distance was 80km - her longest ride in 3.5 years.

Ronde de Bayside (Autumn Classic)

Bayside Triathlon Club now holds three bike events per year with Sprint and King Of the Mountain (KOM) points - they are officially referred to as a training session with sections of max effort. Last year I competed in the Bayside Spring Classic and the Ben Griffin Classic. Now I have completed the trilogy with the Ronde de Bayside (aka Bayside Autumn Classic).

Being so early in the season my riding form is close to non-existent, so I wasn't really expecting much. My usual plan under these circumstances is to simply pretend I'm in form and go for everything. Elaine has also done next to no riding, but with the Half Ironman on the horizon she decided to have a go as well. Our house is located at the 20km mark of the ride, so the plan was for Elaine to leave 10 minutes before the group was due to arrive. This would give her a chance to ride up the hills at her own pace before everyone caught up to her in Mt Eliza (or there abouts).

When I caught up with the group, I was surprised how large it was - must have been close to 80 riders. Riding passed my house exactly 10 minutes after Elaine was due to leave, I was hoping she had a good lead on us. In the meantime the first Intermediate Sprint just before Frankston was approaching. I found a good position in the leadout train and was in 4th wheel with about 200 metres to go. In perfect position, I sensed the right moment to launch my attack but the legs simply didn't respond. There was nothing there and all I could do was hold 4th place (points are only awarded to the first 3). The Sprint Points went to Clint, Tom and Will.

Unlike the other events, we skipped Oliver's Hill in this event and went through the back streets of Frankston. However we still had a KOM on Kara St - longer but not quite as steep. I haven't climbed this hill very often, but I thought it would probably suit me. Again I moved into a good position for the start of the climb and again my legs failed me. Within the first 50 metres of the 1km climb it was obvious it just wasn't going to happen, so I eased off to save myself for the rest of the ride. Again Clint and Tom took the honours with Ray in third.

As we rode into Mt Eliza, the group thinned a little as some riders turned back early. I was impressed with Elaine's effort as we hadn't caught her yet. However when we got Mornington and still hadn't seen Elaine, I realised she had obviously left home very late and was actually behind us.

My legs were starting to loosen up a bit and I was considering my chances at the next KOM (Balcombe Hill). The start point begins with a fast descent leading to the bottom of the hill. Tom launched an early attack on the descent and I charged off after him. At the start of the actual climb, Tom was about 30 metres in front and I had a slightly larger gap to the chasers behind.  It is a 2.5km climb, so rather than try and close the gap straight away, I decided to pace myself and just keep Tom in sight. Unfortunately the chasers led my Ray caught me in the first kilometre. I slotted into their draft, but now I was sitting in 4th place and Clint was sitting on my wheel. Even though I was starting to feel better, I was not going to beat Tom, Ray and Clint from this position, so I backed off to save my legs for more efforts later in the ride. At least 20 other riders passed me before the top. This time Tom managed to pip Clint to the line and Ray scored another 3rd place.

We stop at the half way mark at the BP service station in Dromana, but there is a Sprint just before this. Knowing that we would have rest straight afterwards seemed to encourage a lot more riders to compete for points. Young Martin was one of the early riders to set the pace with Clint sitting on his wheel and I was following Clint. Then Darren launched an early attack and scored a handy gap before everyone picked up the pace in pursuit. Lots of riders were passing on the outside and I found myself blocked in. Luckily the road widened just before the Sprint finish and I used this extra space to pass Clint and Martin on the left as I charged for the line. Darren held on for the win, Tom got second and Adam pipped me in a photo finish for third.

Being a triathlete, I know nothing about sprinting. I usually feel like I have all this extra power that is too much to transfer through the pedals. The Dromana Sprint was one of my better efforts and if I hadn't been blocked in could have done much better, but I still couldn't convert all the power available. Maybe it's gear selection, I'm not sure. Hopefully I'll work it out with more practice.

After a quick stop at the BP to fill up water bottles, we headed through the undulating and twisty Mt Martha Esplandade (one of my favourite cycling roads). Having pulled out early in the previous two KOMs, I decided I would ride hard up Beleura Hill regardless of my position. Ironically only Tom and I really put any effort into the contest. Tom beat me easily, I took second and Ray was a distant third. A bit of an anti-climax, but at least I finally got some points on the board.

My legs were definitely feeling better now and I was looking forward to the next sprint in Seaford. This time everything seemed to go right - I was in good position, didn't get blocked in and was sitting in third wheel behind Will and Clint as we approached the last 100m. The problem was that the Sprint finished at a set of pedestrian lights and these lights were now red, so Clint called the Sprint off. Initially I thought this would mean I'd get points for third, but it turns out the Sprint was nullified and no points were awarded.

Still feeling good I continued on past my house and stayed with the ride headed for Black Rock (another 20kms away). Once at Mordialloc there are no more start points, so breakaways are now allowed. There are 3 more Points after Mordialloc - Sprint at Parkers Rd, KOM on Ricketts Point and the finish line at Black Rock. By Mordialloc the group had thinned to about 20 riders and the pace immediately picked up - it was now an 8km race to Black Rock.

We were travelling so fast, Parkers Rd came upon us quicker than I expected and the Sprint happened without me - Clint, Will and Tom took the points. The peleton re-grouped and pace picked up once again. I was feeling OK, but not great and I knew the further I continued on, the further I'd have to ride to get back home, so I pulled the pin at Mentone and skipped Ricketts Point and the finish.

Tom, Clint and Adam scored the KOM points on Ricketts Point and Clint, Will and Tom took the honours on the finish line. Hayley was the first female rider home.

Another great ride organised by Clint. It was very enjoyable and would have been even better if I'd done some training beforehand. Even though Elaine missed the group, she still had a good ride and hopefully this will kick off her ride training.

Geelong or Melbourne

Over the last 4 seasons I have competed in one 'half ironman like' distance race per year. In 2011, Geelong only had an Olympic Distance event so I raced in Torquay, but every other year I have entered the race in Geelong.

It has become our February holiday long weekend (we take Monday off work), something we look forward to each year. Eastern Beach is a beautiful foreshore filled with lovely cafes and restaurants on the waterfront and lots of well priced accommodation located less than 400m from the event site.

During the Geelong Multisport Festival this small (and probably best) area of the town is completely overrun by triathletes. An Event Village contains 50 or so stalls full of desirable tri-gear (and sometimes wine). This year Specialized were conducting free test rides of their bikes - I test rode a Venge whilst Elaine tried a Shiv. The cafes, restaurants and bars are all overflowing with athletes and you are constantly bumping into people you know throughout the whole weekend. There is a great vibe and we always get swept up in the atmosphere of the whole weekend.

Each year our friend Dave travels down to Geelong to watch Elaine and I race. Afterwards we have lunch at the pub before taking our beers to a table on the sidewalk to watch the Elites race in front of us. The transition is literally 2 metres away from our table and the races are designed to continually loop past. We'll then meet up with other athletes for dinner at a restaurant before taking our weary bodies back to the hotel or apartment (often only 200m away). Next morning, after a nice sleep-in, we'll head down for a relaxed breakfast before making plans for the rest of the day - maybe a quick trip across to Torquay before heading home.

Now our February tradition has been turned upside down with the announcement of Challenge Melbourne - a Half Ironman distance race situated at Sandringham. With the race being scheduled one week before the weekend usually occupied by Geelong, it is not feasible to consider doing both races. Personally I think this is dirty tactics by Supersprint (race organisers) and it is the local triathletes that loose out.

The beach at Sandringham is far less protected than Eastern Beach, meaning there is far more chance of rough water during the swim (most people will remember Ironman Melbourne). Also Sandringham has a 500 metre steep uphill run from the beach to transition - swim splits will certainly be significantly slower than Geelong. However the 3 lap bike course between Brighton and Mordialloc on high quality road surface will be much faster (somewhat depending upon the wind). Also the 3 lap run leg will be no where near as hilly as the Geelong course. Even with the more difficult swim, I think overall Sandringham will be a significantly easier and most likely faster course than Geelong.

The hours before and during the race will not be lacking in vibe. But it will be nowhere near the whole weekend experience of Geelong. Even is Saturday registration is compulsory, most people will pop in and out as quickly as possible. And after the race, most people are likely to simply head home. In reality it will be the same as a local Sprint or Olympic race, it will just last longer.

So which race will Elaine and I do ? Whilst not suited to my strengths, I like the Geelong course and enjoy comparing my results from year to year. Elaine and I absolutely love the long weekend away - it is the highlight of our season and the only race for the year our friend Dave comes to watch. However in the end it comes down to cost and when you subtract travel, accommodation, cafes, restaurants and bars - Sandringham will save us some where in the vicinity of $800 (and money is very tight at the moment).

The issue of money will be significant for most of our friends, so I suspect most will choose Melbourne. And having lots of friends doing the same race is a big factor in choosing races. To say the location is local to our Triathlon Club is an understatement, as our club rooms are effectively on the course and only 300m or so from transition.

See you at Challenge Melbourne

PS. Did I mention Challenge Melbourne will be Elaine's first Half Ironman. Geelong used to conduct an Olympic Distance and Half Ironman event at the same time, but not Challenge Melbourne - so Elaine is doing the Half (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run).

Puffing Billy Fun Run

This is a 13.2km fun run where you race a steam train called Puffing Billy from Belgrave to Emerald. I've been on this train numerous times and the trip seems to take forever. I'm sure the race eventuated because someone claimed they could run to Emerald faster than the train. Elaine has raced Puffing Billy three times before, but this was going to be my first attempt.





























Parking at Belgrave is limited, so the best idea is to arrive by metropolitan train - the 8:11am Sunday morning train from Ferntree Gully was packed, I'm sure this only happens once a year. Catching the train is a good way to meet up with people before the race - we met Peter, Tanya, Sarah, Brent and Leigh (Brent's brother). It also gives you the opportunity to have a late toilet stop at the station and avoid the long toilet queues at Belgrave. It doesn't seem to matter how many times you go to the toilet at home, somehow a car trip before a race always makes you need to go again.

We hopped off the train in Belgrave about an hour before the race start (scheduled at 9:30am). It was around 8 degrees Celsius, so we were fairly rugged up. The race organisers will deliver bags to the finish line in Emerald so you can put on warm clothes after the race. But we needed to dump our bags in the truck by 9am which would leave 30 minutes of just wearing our race gear. It was a tough choice of how many clothes to leave on - not being too cold before the race or not overheating whilst running up the long hills in the race. I chose to strip down to shorts and a running singlet and went for an easy warmup run after dropping off my bag to keep warm.

All competitors were asked to assemble in their coloured groups about 15 minutes before race start. Everyone listed their 10km time on the entry form which was used to grade runners into different groups - identified by the colour of your race bib. Brent, Peter and I all had green bibs, which was the 2nd fastest group. Apparently you need a 10km time of around 37 minutes or better to get into the fastest (red) group. With 10 minutes to go, the competitors are led around the corner (theoretically staying in their groups) to line up behind the official start line where we are addressed by the race announcer standing on a fire engine. After a minute's silence in respect to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, we were introduced to the train driver and then Mike Brady sang the national anthem before the race got underway. Note that the train driver has to run to the train from the start line - about 300 metres down a steep hill.

Even though the organisers had done a great job seeding the competitors into different grades, people still move too far up towards the front for their ability (or else they lie about their 10km times). The first three kilometres were frustratingly slow as we were hemmed in behind a horde of runners who were never going to beat the first train. Going a bit slower at the start of a race can sometimes be a good thing, but it actually took more effort to work my way through the crowd - darting into small gaps and continually running the long way around to get past people. Brent was much better at threading his way through and was already out of sight within the first kilometre, whereas Peter was worse than me and probably fell 50m or so behind in the crowd.

After 3kms most of the slow runners were behind me and while the road was still reasonably crowded, it was at least travelling at a good pace so I could settle into a nice rhythm. In the early part of the race the roads are winding and undulating. My first five kilometre splits were 3m55s, 4m15s, 4m18s, 3m49s and 3m44s - noticeable difference after I cleared the slower runners, but the terrain definitely played a part in the slower 2nd and 3rd kilometres. Just after the 5km mark begins a climb that is roughly 2 kms long. For the most part it is not that steep, but the hill is quite consistent and feels like it goes on for quite a way - my 6th and 7th kilometre splits were 4m42s and 5m04s (much slower, but at the same heart rate in the low 170s). It was during this climb that I caught and passed Brent.

The run route passes either side of the railway tracks. Sometimes the train goes over a bridge, but on 4 occasions it is a level crossing. If Puffing Billy beats you to the crossing, you have to wait and watch it go past. This is part of the fun and tactics to the race. The first 3 crossings are fairly vital, if Puffing Billy gets ahead here you are highly unlikely to beat it at the finish. The 4th and final crossing can go either way.

I can't really remember where the first 3 crossings were. The early part of the race seemed to happen really quickly. Initially I was concentrating on threading my way through the crowds and then my focus shifted to my technique and breathing patterns. During this time I was amazed how quickly the kilometre markers seemed to be appearing. After we had finished climbing the big hill, we only had one more level crossing to negotiate and I was starting to get delusions of beating the train. Before the race I didn't give myself much hope, but now I was over half way, feeling good and knew I was still in front. Occasionally we would hear the train's horn, but within the forest I had no idea of how close or far away it was.

My mind was now fixated on beating the train to the last crossing. I'd been told this would pretty much ensure you would win (against the train). Unfortunately every bend in the road started to look like a potential crossing and I would surge each time only to find the tracks turned with the road. The horn was becoming more frequent and starting to sound closer and at the 8.5km mark I could see Puffing Billy approaching. It was now pretty obvious that the train would beat me to the last crossing. Still not giving up on overall victory (against the train) I tactically eased off the pace. My intention was to time it so that I'd arrive at the crossing just after Puffing Billy went past so that I would not have to stop. It was at this point that I was passed by Peter.

At the 9km mark the train had drew level beside me, but it was not actually passing. At first I thought the driver was simply teasing us, as we were running slowly up a hill (not many flat sections in this fun run), but when I looked across at the tracks I saw a 10kph speed limit sign for the train. It was like a race in slow motion, although I think the train was speeding a fraction because 10kph is 6 minutes per kilometre pace and despite the hill we were still running faster than that. In the driver's defence, I suspect it is very difficult to hold an exact speed on a steam train.

The final level crossing arrived just after the 10km mark. I could see a fair number of competitors had been caught and had to wait whilst Puffing Billy went past, but the runners were let through again just as Peter arrived. Unfortunately I backed off a little too much and was still about 100m back by this stage. In previous races (when Elaine has raced), I've caught the train as a spectator and the train has usually stopped for a fair while at the station just after the crossing (up to 5 minutes). The train was stopped at the station as I went over the crossing, but I was horrified to see it head off after only stopping for about 90 seconds. With only 3kms to go, it looked like the train was following the same route as the run. At this point I was resigned to the fact that I would not beat the train. Before the race I wasn't expecting to beat the train, but the first half of the race had gone so well I had started to believe I could.

My 8th, 9th and 10th kilometre splits were 3m55s, 4m19s & 4m37s. After running a very hilly 10km in 42m35s, I was obviously feeling a lot of fatigue. Without the lure of victory (over the train), there was simply not enough incentive to push through to the finish, so I backed off the pace and my heart rate dropped nearly 10bpm as a result. However other runners were now charging. Peter had been one of the few people to pass me in the first 10km, now there was a constant flow of people flying past. We were on a narrow trail and ironically I was now the person getting in the way of other runners. I thought all these people are idiots, there is no way they can beat the train from this position - the race is over, just give up.

I could hear the train's horn in the distance and guessed it was Puffing Billy already at the finish line giving a victory salute. But then I saw the smoke approaching from a different direction. Unbeknownst to me, the tracks take a big detour around the other side of a lake and I was still a chance. With less than a kilometre to go, I picked up my pace and gave it everything I had til the finish. Puffing Billy passed me, but I knew the driver had to stop the train, get off the platform and then run down the finish chute, so I continued running hard.

With Puffing Billy sitting on the Platform, I could hear the excitement of the assembled crowd. The commentator was talking but I couldn't make out what he was saying. There are a few twists and turns in last 100m or so and not much of it is flat either. Finally the finish line appeared and I crossed the timing mat not sure where the driver was. As I walked over to talk to Peter (who finished about 1 minute ahead of me), I heard the commentator announce the driver crossing the line - so I knew I'd WON!!! (by 13 seconds). My last 3 kilometre splits were 4m21s, 4m04s & 3m56s.

Unfortunately Brent was beaten by a few seconds - he saw the driver standing there as he crossed the line. Tanya, Sarah and Elaine all beat the second train (sometimes referred to as the women's train). Although not her fastest Puffing Billy run, this is the first time Elaine has beaten the 2nd train, so she was very happy.

Other Bayside members: Kate, Christian, Simon all had good runs but just missed out on beating the first train. Andrew and Chris (who were graded in the fastest group) beat the train convincingly with times of 49 and 52 minutes respectively - very fast (Peter was 54, I was 55 and Brent was 56 minutes). Mark just missed beating the 2nd train, but still a great effort in his first race since Ironman.

After the race there are 2 priorities: getting some warm clothes on (in the Dandenongs, it is always cold in May), and the next priority is trying to get on board the first train back to Belgrave.

Once rugged up, we all headed back to the platform ready to board the train. As you can see from the photo, the train back was pulled by a diesel instead of a steam engine, but the trip still took over 50 minutes. We had a celebratory lunch and coffee at Belgrave and then continued the celebrations later in the day at Armadale with wine tasting and then a Thai Restaurant.

Getting Back on Track

Training started to get back on track this week. After overcoming the quad soreness and recovering from the weekend's cold, I started the week with an easy 10km run on Monday. I swam Tuesday morning and ran on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Thursday's run felt terrible. My legs felt very heavy and it just wasn't happenining - not ideal with the Puffing Billy run on the weekend. To help freshen up I decided to have a complete rest day on Friday (didn't even swim) and only did a 2 hour ride on Saturday morning. Despite not running quite as much as planned, after Puffing Billy I'll still have clocked up 50km for the week.

My original intention when I signed up for Puffing Billy was to beat the train. Elaine and I did a hill training session back in early March. But since then I have changed my focus to preparing for the Worlds in September. So other than that initial session, there has been no training targetting Puffing Billy. As a result my expectations are not high.

Bayside Awards Night

Saturday night was the Annual Awards Night for the Bayside Triathlon Club. Elaine and I were previously members of the Taylormade Triathlon Club that merged with Bayside last year, so this was the first time we had attended the Bayside event.

Elaine and I enjoyed ourselves very much (even though I was still very sick) and it was great to meet some of the club member's partners who we rarely see.

Obviously a lot of awards were handed out during the night. As part of the merger between the two clubs, the Bruce Burston Award was carried over from Taylormade and won by young Martin (pictured left) - an award previously won by Elaine.  The three Life Members of Taylormade - Jeremy, Sally and Bruce were honoured with Bayside Life Membership as well as three new life members in Christian, Simon and Graeme.

Elaine with  spin instructor Karen and Clint

Naturally there was an award for Outstanding Performance predictably won by Hayley - winning her age group in both the XOSIZE and Gatorade series and well as getting a podium in her age group at the World Championships in Auckland. But most of the awards were more based upon how members contributed to making Bayside a better club. For each category, 3 nominees were listed and then one winner announced. Mark won the award for Commitment based upon his incredible effort to go from the couch to finishing an Ironman. Elaine and I were both nominated for awards but I was beaten by Bill for Community and Elaine and was beaten by Ray for Friendliness. However we didn't go home empty handed as Elaine won the Masterchef Dessert competition for her TiraMisu (pictured above left - the one in the middle with strawberries on top).

Me with new life member Simon

In the president's welcome speech, Adam mentioned that Bayside has grown to now have 350 members. No wonder I have so much trouble remembering everyone's name. There were 80 or so who attended the Awards Night and it was wonderful to mingle with them in a different environment - although being quite sick I did try and keep my distance.

On a final note, during presentations Clint cast doubt that I only do 2 training rides per week. Having looked through my training diary, in the 57 weeks since I did Ironman I have done 68 rides, which means I have only averaged 1.2 rides per week. I do plan to ride more in the next 12 months.

A Flexible Plan

Still suffering very sore quads from the Dandenongs trail run last Saturday, I did no training on Sunday or Monday. At swimming on Tuesday morning, even Clint admitted he was suffering the worst quad pain he could remember. It quickly became obvious this was going to become an unscheduled recovery week - which was probably not such a bad idea.

By Wednesday I could walk up and down stairs with only minor discomfort, so I decided to test out the quads with a short 5km run which went OK. Thursday was a public holiday, so I joined in the club ride on Beach Rd. After what felt like an excellent workout, I was about to head home when Clint convinced me to participate in a short handicapped race from Mentone to Sandringham. The race wasn't very long (just over 8kms), but it was a flat out effort into a decent headwind. By the time I turned to ride home I was completed wrecked, luckily I had a tailwind to carry me home. With the extra riding to and from home, the total distance ended up being 97km - my longest ride since mid Feb. In the last 8 weeks, my running mileage has been double what I've done on the bike, so it was no surprise that I had a fairly sore bum after a 3h15m ride.

I felt fairly average when I got up early Friday morning for swimming. Once at work it quickly became apparent that I had a head cold. I've been remarkably illness free for the last couple of years, so I'm guessing my immune system was weakened after being run down more than expected by Thursday's ride.

Not quite the consistent run mileage I was hoping for, but how many times do things actually go to plan. Next weekend is the Puffing Billy run, so hopefully I'll start to feel better soon and get in a few runs before the race. The week after Puffing Billy is the Bayside Spring Classic bike race. As evidenced by Thursday's ride, I'm nowhere near good riding form (which happens when you stop riding for a while), but I'll still try and race this event as best I can.

Looking further ahead, after the Bayside Sprint Classic I'll revert back to building run mileage with consistent easy runs. This will reduce the later stages of building speed, but at my age that is probably wise anyway. Originally I'd planned to do some Sri Chinmoy Fun Runs and the Half Marathon at Sandy Point. However Elaine is very keen to do some Trail Runs and the Salomon Trail Series is probably a better fit for our lead into the Sprint Triathlon at London in September.

Paying for Stupid Decisions

My plan to follow Phase I of the Daniels' Running Formula had been going really well. Doing every run at an easy pace has made establishing a good run mileage base much easier than expected. Most of my runs have been on trails (rather than concrete footpaths or tarmac bike paths), which greatly reduces the stress through the legs. Not worrying about a weekly (or fortnightly) long run has also helped, as running 20 kms always left me sore for a few days.

I've been looking to run most days, only skipping a day if I feel a little sore. Each day I aim to run between 8 and 12 kms and I judge the distance to run based upon how I feel on the day. Following this strategy I've logged far more run kilometres than ever before and my legs were still feeling great. The last 3 weeks run totals are: 44, 55 & 57 kms.

With everything going so well, why would I do something stupid to ruin things ? The scheduled club training session on Saturday morning was a trail run in the Dandenong Ranges (very hilly rainforest). It would begin with a ascent up the famous 1,000 steps and then continue along trails. Obviously the 1,000 steps section would be very steep, but I assumed (wrongly) that the rest of the run would be more undulating that steep.

Clint handed out maps before we took off for a 15 min warm-up run. I put the map in the pocket of my jacket, but after the warm-up I decided to put the jacket (and map) back in the car before we headed off for the main run - Stupid Mistake Number 1.

The 1,000 steps was more or less as I expected, tough but not too bad, especially since we were still feeling very fresh. After the steps, it was generally downhill but the steep descents were fairly short in distance. As a rule I much prefer going uphill, much less stress on the body. A gentle descent is nice, but as soon as it gets steep your feet land in front of your body to control speed. This really puts a pounding through the quads and knees, both areas of my body that are very susceptible to injury.

As you've probably guessed, the trail soon became steeper. It seemed like we were either going straight up or straight down, there were very few areas where I could just run along normally. The other issue was that we had taken numerous turns and I'd lost all sense of direction and had no idea where we were in relation to the 1,000 steps carpark. With every steep descent, I fell further behind the main group of Clint, Ray, Chris, Paul and Nolwenn. After 6 or 7 kms into the trail I knew it was the right time to turn back but I didn't want to get lost returning by myself. So I simply kept ploughing on - Stupid Mistake Number 2.

I was still plodding along at least 100m behind the main pack when Nolwenn decided she'd had enough. The rest were only going about a kilometre further, so Clint gave Nolwenn his map so she could navigate her way back.  My first wise decision of the day was to accompany Nolwenn on the return journey. We had to refer to the map on several occasions, but in hindsight I think I could have made it back OK unassisted (had I turned back earlier). My second wise decision was to follow Nolwenn's lead and walk up the really steep hills. I knew I would be very sore after the run, but up to this stage I was still feeling relatively good. However even walking up the hills I could feel my calf and achilles were feeling the strain.

In general the way back seemed more uphill than downhill which suited me, but we still had to navigate some very steep descents and my quads were definitely starting to ache. By the time we reached the top of the 1,000 steps the others had caught back up. Clint directed us down the Lyrebird track rather than the 1,000 steps. The Lyrebird track is a path that winds a little more to slightly reduce the gradient. The early section of the Lyrebird track was not too bad and I found I could maintain a relatively comfortable run down. However the gradient soon became much greater and I made Stupid Decision Number 3. Rather than walk down this final very steep section, I tried to keep running. The pain through my quads was immense, but I just wanted to end the run as quick as possible. The run took 2h26m and ended up being 20.2km with over 1,200m of elevation.

My quads ached all Saturday. I was originally planning to enter my first ever cycling road race on the Sunday, but this was starting to look doubtful. I woke up early Sunday morning to get ready but my quads were even worse, so I made my third wise decision of the weekend and went back to bed.

Age Group World Championships Team for London

The email containing the provisional team lists came through at 5am this morning. Elaine was always going to make the team easily, but my chances were not looking so good.

Even though I was fastest qualifier in the selection race I completed, looking at the results I could see a lot of people did multiple selection races. Considering that each race was in a different state, I figured people would not be travelling interstate unless they were looking to qualify for the Australian team. What made it even worse was that the Canberra race (that I did not do) was worth double points, so there were a lot of people ahead of me on the points table. In fact a quick check showed I was ranked equal 24th with 4 other people and they only select the first 20 from each age group.


Anyway, back to the email - both Elaine and I made the team. I was the last person selected, but surprisingly there were only 18 in my age group. Some people raced both the Olympic and Sprint selection races and chose to be on the Olympic Distance team while a few others did multiple races but did not sign up for the Worlds. My first reaction was delight at making the team, but then there was a slight bit of disappointment realising my excellent result at the selection race at Elwood made no difference to my selection.

Slowly Running Further

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm currently following Phase I of Daniels' Running Formula. This means I do all my runs at an easy pace whilst I try to increase my weekly run mileage, which also builds up resistance to injury before introducing intensity.

Rather than mapping out all my runs for the week, I've been running more to feel. The general plan is run every day as long as I feel OK. And the distance of each run is also determined by how I feel - which I usually don't decide until halfway through my run.

Last week ended with a long run of 15km bringing the weekly total to 44km. I've given up the idea of focusing upon a long run during phase I, and this week I managed 6 runs (longest 12km) for a weekly total of 54km. Below I describe how the week unfolded:
  Monday: Easy 8km Run on Seaford Trail after work
  Tuesday: Swam 1.8km, didn't run due to slight soreness
  Wednesday: 12km Run on Seaford Trail before work
  Thursday: 6km whilst coaching run session
  Friday: Swam 1.8km. 9km Lunchtime run along the Gardiners Creek Trail near work
  Saturday: 26km Mountain Bike Ride followed by a 11km Trail Run
  Sunday: Easy 8km Run on the Seaford Trail

As shown above, I skipped the lunchtime run on Tuesday due to mild soreness.  I also skipped a short morning run on Thursday because I could feel a small knot in my achilles going up and down the stairs as I was getting ready for the run. On Sunday I resisted the urge to go for a long run and only did 8km. Hopefully this will set me up well for similar mileage next week.

Daniels suggests 3 weeks at the same mileage before trying any increases. As it takes about 3 weeks for the body to adjust. Originally I'd planned to do 6 weeks of Phase I, but I may extend this period (and reduce all the other phases), if I think I can extend the mileage a little further.

Getting a Little Dirty

The Off Season is a good time to experiment with different forms of training. This weekend the Club held a mountain biking session at Lysterfield Park. Neither Elaine nor I had ever done mountain biking before, so we were quite excited about the session.

Trailmix is a Cafe and Bike shop located within the park that hires mountain bikes out for $35 for two hours, or $50 for the day. We took the two hour option because I was doing a trail run after the ride. The hire bikes are surprisingly good Specialized hard tail mountain bikes (I think Rockhoppers) with 29 inch wheels. Hard tail means they only have front suspension which is perfect for the trails at Lysterfield park.

Once we'd sorted out the hiring, Clint sent the group off to practice on the beginner trail. It is about 500m long with a couple of optional hazards to practice on. The hazards are basically humps (usually a stack of logs covered in dirt) of varying heights and I describe them as optional because on the beginner trail there is an alternative flat path around each hazard. On the first run, I simply followed another club member Peter and we avoided most of the larger humps. As I gained confidence, I learnt to trust the front suspension and found that as long as I had some speed, it was relatively easy to traverse all of the hazards on the beginner trail.

Then we started the session and as soon as we entered the National Park, I completely lost all sense of direction until we finally returned to the car park nearly 2 hours later. The group soon split into 2 groups, with Sarah looking after the slightly slower riders (including Elaine). Talking to Elaine after the ride, she came off a few times (as did all the others in her group), but still loved the session and can't wait to do it again. My group had far less crashes, ironically extra speed (and falsely founded confidence) helps to avoid the accidents. Like Elaine, I also loved the mountain biking and can't wait to get back.

New Season Ahead

Last season I improved in every discipline, but mostly in the swim. It is no coincidence that swimming was the only activity where my training was consistent throughout the whole season, resulting in a total mileage 25% more than my previous biggest. Consequently, my swim splits often outranked my run in the results - thereby now making running my weakest leg. So no surprises my focus through the off season will be my run. Naturally I will try to maintain my consistency with swimming, but I suspect the bike mileage will once again fall off during Winter. It is not as fun riding in the cold and rain, I'm more a solar powered kind of triathlete.

During my recovery from injury and leading up to Ironman, I followed a Maffetone philosophy to run training. Last season I kept some of Maffetone's ideas but leant more towards a Lydiard approach. This upcoming season I'm planning to follow Daniels' run training formula (how could you ignore someone called Jack Daniels).

The first phase of Daniels' Running Formula is Foundation and Injury Prevention (FI). This simply involves 6 weeks of running at an easy pace while I build up my weekly run mileage (I started last week, so I only have 5 weeks left in this phase). Ironically Maffetone and Lydiard's approach in the first 6 weeks would be exactly the same. The main difference is Maffetone is extremely keen on the use of heart rate monitors whereas Daniels prefers to work at a specific pace based on your VDOT score (Lydiard's coaching methodology was formed before the widespread use of heart rate monitors).

Your VDOT score is a simplistic valuation of your VO2max based upon your best race results across different distances. Whereas VO2max represents what you body is potentially capable of, VDOT represents what you have actually achieved. So in a lot of ways the VDOT is a more accurate training tool as it incorporates other unknown factors that affect your performance.

Based upon my best 5km time of 18m45s (in very windy conditions), I calculate my VDOT as 54 (link to Daniels VDOT table). Based upon Elaine's best race results, she would be a 37, but in her current post season condition I think 34 is a more realistic value.

A VDOT of 54 for me means the following training paces:
    Easy: 4m59s per km pace
    Marathon (borderline comfortable): 4m14s per km pace
    Threshold (uncomfortable): 4m00s per km pace
    Interval (hard): 3m41s per km pace
    Repetition (fast): 3m35s per km pace

A current VDOT of 34 for Elaine means the following training paces:
    Easy: 7m10s per km pace
    Marathon (borderline comfortable): 6m13s per km pace
    Threshold (uncomfortable): 5m48s per km pace
    Interval (hard): 5m20s per km pace
    Repetition (fast): 5m05s per km pace

Hopefully Elaine will progress closer to a VDOT of 37
    Easy: 6m43s per km pace
    Marathon (borderline comfortable): 5m48s per km pace
    Threshold (uncomfortable): 5m25s per km pace
    Interval (hard): 5m00s per km pace
    Repetition (fast): 4m43s per km pace

Looking at the different paces, I think Elaine's are spot on, but other than the Interval and Repetition, mine look much faster than what I'm used to (which makes me think I start off with a lower VDOT as well). As Elaine and I will only doing Easy runs for the next 5 weeks, I'll leave the discussion of the other training zones for a later time.

In fours weeks Elaine and I are doing the Puffing Billy Fun Run (13.2km) where we race against the train on a very hilly course in the Dandenongs. Due to the nature of our training plan, we will not be able to target this race. Instead we'll toe the start line without any specific training (although we did do hill repeats 3 weeks ago, before I decided to follow the Daniels Formula). I've also abandoned my plan for the 5km Fun Run at Princes Park the week before.

The full 4 phases of the Running Formula (6 weeks per phase) will take 24 weeks (23 weeks left). This should set us up perfectly for the Age Group World Championships in London where Elaine and I hope to race for Australia in the Sprint Distance Triathlon. In the meantime we hope to do 2 other Fun Runs, a 5 or 10km at the Sri Chinmoy, Princes Park in July and 10km or Half Marathon at the Sandy Point Half in August before the London Triathlon in September. We would have loved to have raced in the Duathlons (especially since I've gone up an age bracket), but the dates simply don't work for us. I am continually amazed at how often the scheduling of these Duathlons clash against other events commonly attended by Triathletes.

After London we have the iconic Noosa Triathlon in November. This is an overpriced Olympic Distance Triathlon at the wrong time of year for Melbournians, but it is such a famous event we figured we needed to do it at least once. Unfortunately peaking for London in September will almost certainly mean we will not be at our best in November. But probably just as well because the very crowded race will make it very difficult to get a good time. Knowing we are just there for the experience the great atmosphere will help us enjoy the day even more. And once we are back soaking in the sunshine at the beach, or sitting at our hotel sipping Expresso Martinis, we'll soon forget our results in the race.

With an unusually packed pre-season by our standards, I haven't given much thought our Summer races yet. Maybe best to see how we feel in Sprint before deciding our schedule. But I expect it will be similar to this year with the XOSIZE Sprint Triathlons and Geelong in February.

Season in Review

Back in May last year (2012) I wrote a Performance Goals blog entry listing my target times for the swim, bike and run. When writing down those times I thought I was being overly ambitious, but decided it was worth aiming high. Publishing the figures to the world can often help with motivation, especially during the closing stages of a race when you are fighting your inner demons that are screaming at you slow down.

This season I raced 2 Duathlons, 4 Sprint Triathlons, 1 Half Ironman and a 5km Fun Run. Still recovering from Ironman and not training much over Winter, I was far from peak fitness for the Duathlons, although I still snuck in for an age group podium at Kew. However I was in good form by Summer and in the Triathlons I smashed nearly all my goal times for every discipline. My one failure was the 1h35m Half Ironman run split that I missed by 3 minutes. This leads into my only other goal failure of not running 5km in under 18m30s - I missed by 15 seconds in a very windy Fun Run at Albert Park Lake.

Elaine raced 4 Duathlons, 1 Mini Triathlon, 4 Sprint Triathlons, 1 Olympic Distance Triathlon and a hilly 7km Fun Run. She won the series in her age group for both the Brooks Duathlon and XOSIZE Triathlon series, only missing the podium once in these 8 races. Her result at the Olympic Distance in Geelong was only a few minutes off her personal best time at Canberra in 2008, but Geelong is a much harder course and I would rate it as her best ever race. Elaine also ran a personal best at the Portsea Twilight Fun Run.

My old Triathlon Club (Taylormade) merged with Bayside at the start of the season. The new amalgamation now had 4 swim sessions a week in the beautiful outdoor 50m pool at the newly constructed GESAC (Glen Eira Sports & Aquatic Centre). I think this had the biggest influence on our good results this year. Moving from an Indoor 25m to an outdoor 50m pool helped both mentally and physically, plus having 2 morning sessions a week was much better than trying find energy and enthusiasm after a hard day at work. Last season I upped my swim mileage for Ironman, but this season I managed to swim an additional 75 kilometres (30% more).

Despite head coach Clint organising lots of great rides, my bike mileage was down by 1,400km (25% less). The quality of these rides must have been good, because my Triathlon bike splits were better than ever. However I believe most of this improvement was from the season before (when I had my biggest bike mileage). I was never able to demonstrate this improvement last season because I was injured (patella tendinitis) and only completed one Triathlon (Ironman Melbourne).

Finally to running. I managed an extra 100km (8% more) over my previous biggest run mileage 2 seasons ago (I was injured most of last season). The biggest difference was that I did a lot more slow running and far less speed work which ironically made me faster. I also suffered a lot less injuries, which translated to more consistency, which is the key to good training.

Below are my actual training figures for the last 52 weeks:

  Swim  251km  (avg 5km/week)
  Bike  4265km  (avg 81km/week)
  Run  1259km  (avg 24km/week)

While the above data looks on the low side (relatively speaking), I started the season off slowly and built up my training as the season progressed (and weather got better). Below are the figures for the 12 weeks leading into my target race at Geelong (a Half Ironman)

  Swim  85km  (avg 7km/week)
  Bike  1634km  (avg 136km/week)
  Run  296km  (avg 33km/week)

Ironman Melbourne from the Sidelines

Even as spectators, Elaine and I arrived early at 6:30am to soak in the atmosphere before the race. Sadly the group atmosphere quickly turned into a general feeling of disappointment when it was announced the swim was being shortened due to rough sea conditions. The smaller swim also meant a delayed start, so more time for the competitors dwell in their discontent. Not quite the pre-race excitement I was hoping to experience.

After grabbing a much needed cappuccino from the coffee van, we managed to meet up with most of our friends who were competing and a lot of others who were spectating. Unfortunately no matter how hard we searched, we couldn't locate Peter - frustrating as we knew he would be more upset than most. Finally we gave up and headed out to find a good viewing position on the pier where we were joined by friends Alan and Steve.

Confusion appeared to reign supreme as we watched swim buoys continually being re-positioned. As a result, the swim start was pushed back even further and the original delay of 30 minutes ended up being almost an hour. From our vantage point on the pier, the conditions looked rough, but not terrible. However it wasn't until we watched the athletes trying to swim against the current that we realised how tough it actually was. Most of the pros and top age groupers powered through, but at the back of the pack it was carnage. Some swimmers lasted less than 5 minutes before being rescued, others stopped to catch their breath and quickly drifted way off course. The life savers were flat out rescuing 22 people and 70 people in total withdrew from the race before the end of the swim.

Looking out past the pier towards the turning buoys we saw pure chaos with swimmers still heading out colliding with people coming back. It wasn't until after the race when we saw a video taken by head coach Clint (YouTube Swim Footage) that showed it was even worse with lots of swimmers using the confusion as an excuse to significantly cut the course. I'm confident in saying that none of my friends or fellow club members were tempted to cheat in this way.

We headed back to shore and found a good position to cheer on our friends as they exited the swim. This time we spotted Peter, in fact we managed to cheer on everyone except Jan who somehow snuck past without us noticing. Despite the very trying conditions, all our friends had pretty good swims, especially Jeremy who came out surprisingly early. After giving up the wait for Jan (who unbeknownst to us had already finished), we headed off to the midway point of the bike. In hindsight, we should have watched people head off on the bike, rather than the swim finish. As we didn't know what our friends were wearing on the bike.

Standing on the footbridge above Eastlink, using binoculars we successfully spotted Jan and Mark and cheered them on as they rode below (at least we now knew Jan had finished the swim). Realising that the height advantage of the footbridge actually made it more difficult to recognise our friends, we moved to the the spectator area on the Princes Hwy on-ramp. Unfortunately the next to pass us were the pros heading back to Frankston, going downhill with a tailwind - I'm guessing they were doing at least 70kph, which made it very difficult to pick them out. Luke Bell was heading a reasonable sized pack that included Crowie, Eneko Lanos and Marino. However I was surprised how big a gap they were leaving between bikes - at least 20 metres, when the legal requirement is only 12.

The main male pro pack was accompanied by a entourage of motorbikes and cameras (and often a helicopter overhead). I was surprised how lonely it was for the pros who were only a few minutes back. A little while later the female pros passed with a smaller entourage. Like the men, the main female contenders were also together. With pre-race favourite Caroline Steffen not getting away like last year, it looked promising for an interesting female race. The lead age groupers were also riding a very solitary race.  I suspect a lot of these guys spend the majority of the bike and run without seeing another competitor.  The next tier of age groupers don't have this problem, as for a while each subsequent pack got bigger and the inevitable drafting became more obvious.

We spent just over 2 hours at the midway point of the bike leg and saw most riders pass twice (once in each direction). There were over 2,000 competitors in the race, but to be honest we witnessed less than 50 riders drafting - all of them in the top 10 to 30% of the field.

We kept a look out for our friends, but not knowing what everyone was wearing, we simply kept our eyes peeled for Bayside tops. Often our friends had passed before we spotted them, so there was a lot of cheering from behind. Unfortunately we missed both Jeremy and Peter, as both were wearing different gear which made the task of spotting far more difficult.

The pro race livened up on the 2nd lap. Marino made a break off the front and the chase pack had split apart with riders like Luke Bell being spat out the back. In the women's race, 47 year old Natasha Badmann also made a break and Caroline Steffen looked to be struggling in 3rd or 4th place. Once we'd seen Mark on his return trip, we headed back home for lunch and watched the race being streamed live on the internet. By this time Marino had extended his lead in the men's race and Corine Abraham had overtaken Natasha Badmann in the women's race. Watching the race live and living on the course itself, I was able to pop out the front and watch each of the runners go past our house. By this time Marino was over 4 minutes ahead, Crowie and Eneko were running together in second with a small gap to Tim Reed who actually appeared to be in the best running form (however he later DNF'd).

Later on Elaine and I sat on directors chairs out on the nature strip watching the athletes go by. Other than a couple of our very fast friends who snuck past while we were still inside, I'm pretty sure we saw everybody else we knew. It would have been great to have a few beers whilst relaxing, but we still had a shift on the aid station to go.


All the club members in Bayside gear were so much easier to spot. At one stage we were looking out for our friend little Di (easy to spot cos she's so small). Once we saw her we launched into a huge cheer. Then we heard Neil call out to us, looking at us with his hands in the air asking 'Where's the love ?'. Sorry Neil, but in our defense you were wearing a plain blue top which didn't exactly stand out.

The tough conditions on the bike spread out the field more than expected. All competitors suffered a tough head wind out to Doncaster (on both laps) which meant a fast tailwind back to Frankston. However this tailwind turned into a cross wind for the slower riders on their last trip back to Frankston. This upset our spectating plans a little and under pressure we didn't adjust our schedule as well as we could have. The last runner to go past our house was Mark. He'd had a tough time on the bike, including dealing with a loose aero bar. Wisely he had stayed calm, did't over exert himself and still looked in good shape as he passed our house.

After this we headed off in the car to St Kilda. Unfortunately when we arrived I checked the live results on my phone to discover we'd missed Peter's finish by a couple of minutes. So we headed back to Hampton and grabbed a cappuccino before rocking up to the Bayside Triathlon Club aid station about 10km from the finish line. In the pro race, Eneko Lanos had dropped Crowie (who finished 3rd) on the run and ended up catching and passing Marino in the last 3km to win the race.  In the women's race Corine Abraham extended her lead on the run with Yvonne Van Vlerken coming second, Caroline Steffen 3rd and Natasha Badmann drifting back to 4th.

From 8 till 11pm, we manned the Bayside Aid station with other members from our Club. There were 3 shifts - we chose the last one. Usually the competitors were in high spirits because they knew they were only 10kms from the finish line, but their physical condition was not always so good. We received lots of thank yous from the competitors, but in truth everyone at the aid station was very happy to be there and drew inspiration from watching the competitors fight their way to the finish.

Once the last competitors had gone through and we'd packed up the aid station, Elaine and I headed to the finish line in St Kilda. It was very much a party atmosphere with the crowd making a huge noise for every competitor that came down the finish chute. Luckily we arrived there in time to see both Jeremy and Mark finish and be told 'YOU ARE AN IRONMAN !'