All Packed and Ready to Go

This week was mostly spent packing. The combination of bike, race gear and warm clothes for our post race holiday in Iceland meant fitting into luggage weight requirements was always going to be a very big struggle. We bought new bike boxes which are 5kgs lighter than our old ones. At $199 each, we actually saved money because 5kg of excess baggage costs $250. Plus the new bike boxes are much better and far easier to get bikes into. You can see my bike disassembled and packed in the photo on the right. In this configuration it only weighed 20kg, but I managed to squeeze in another 6.5kg of gear into the box including bike shoes, runners, wetsuit and a lot of the warm clothes for Iceland. This allowed me to get my other bag down to 8.5kg which meant we still have to purchase an extra 5kg of excess baggage (but at least we didn't have to buy 10kg each).

Those more mathematically minded would have noticed I was right on the limit of 35kg (standard 30kg + 5kg excess). Elaine's baggage was very similar, although she has less in her bike box and more in other bag. Knowing we were right on the limit, I tried to put as many heavy objects in my carry-on bag, including the bike pedals. At 7kg, my carry-on is nearly as heavy as my checked-in bag. It was a nervous time as they weighed our bags at check-in. I kept a sneaky hand on the bike boxes as they were being weighed to try and hide a few grams. It must have worked as they were passed without question saving us a fair bit of money because excess baggage costs even more when you have to pay at check-in. You can see our baggage in the photo on the left (our carry-on bags are not shown in the photo).

We are sitting in one of the airport cafes as I write this. Powerpoints and Free Wifi, why can't all cafes have this. Having checked in, snuck in under baggage weight requirements, passed through security and passport control we can now relax. The only stressful aspect left is our luggage arriving with us at London.

Bayside Classic 2013

Last Friday I cut my swim session short due to a very sore shoulder. That combined with a persistent knee injury that has been causing me grief over the last few weeks did not fill me with confidence coming into the Bayside Triathlon Club's ride event known as the Bayside Classic.

The event is not an official race, but rather a club ride with designated Sprint Points and King of the Mountains (KOM) as well as an overall winner at the finish line. There are 3 of these events each year (with different titles) and you can follow the links to see how I fared in the last 4 such rides: Ronde de Bayside (Autumn Classic) May 2013, Ben Griffin Classic Dec 2012, Bayside Classic Aug 2012. In summary, I do reasonably well in the King of the Mountains, struggle in the Sprints and never actually make it to the finish line.

The Bayside Classic version starts at the Clocktower and travels all the way to top of Arthur's Seat (very steep 3km climb) in Dromana. In total 120km with 4 KOMs, 4 Intermediate Sprints and a final Sprint finish back in Beaumaris. Not wanting to get up extra early and drive to Beaumaris, I started from my house in Seaford and rode back towards Beaumaris until I saw the peleton approaching. I joined the group in Aspendale. One of my biggest competitors from the previous events, Tom, had just secured his Professional Triathlon Licence and was preparing for his first Pro race in the Gold Coast. I noticed he wasn't part of the group and some of my confidence was starting to creep back.

The first Sprint is in Seaford just before we reach Frankston. I had no strategy for the Sprint (and I wonder why I never do well), but I thought I had positioned myself well on the riight side of the pack two wheels from the front. The rider in front did not look like someone who would be a serious contender, however my thinking was I could jump onto the wheel of anyone good that went past.

Clint made the early jump, but he found a gap on the left down the inside. Most of the serious contenders had been sitting on Clint's wheel and were now charging off after him, whilst I was still stuck on the outside. I stayed in the draft hoping the rider in front would join in the charge, but he wasn't really up to it and I soon realised any further action was just a waste of effort. Despite appearing to charge too early, Clint was simply too strong for everyone else and comfortably won the first Sprint (I didn't notice who got the minor placings).

Next was the Oliver's Hill KOM. A very short (about 600m) but very steep hill as you head out of Frankston towards Mt Eliza. After the peleton regrouped I moved up towards the front and sat behind Ray in about 3rd wheel. Again I had no plan, but I figured Ray was probably my biggest threat so I decided to keep an eye on him. About 200m before the hill starts, Young Martin raced passed making a solo charge at the KOM. I immediately jumped onto his wheel and sat on him as we pulled a nice gap on everyone else. I was pretty confident of being able to outride Martin up the hill, but was very happy for him to do all the early work. Less than halfway up Martin showed the first signs of struggling, so I moved to the front and Martin slotted in behind me. I was feeling pretty good at this stage thinking this was going to be the easiest KOM ever, when another rider from the group (who I don't know) sped past like I was standing still. I knew the early speed before the hill had sapped some of our energy and slowed the second half of our ascent, but I've never seen anyone go up Oliver's Hill as fast as this new Mystery Rider. I continued to push, but Young Martin dropped away. The Mystery Rider won the KOM (4 points), I took second (2 points) another rider pipped Martin for 3rd (1 point).

I knew it wasn't my best effort up Oliver's Hill, but my legs now felt completely spent. Strava shows it as my 2nd best time, so it was a better effort than I probably realised, but I was certainly feeling the aftermath. The next KOM was Balcombe Hill and gratefully this was another 20kms away, so a bit of time to try and recuperate. The peleton stopped for a touch on the other side of Mt Eliza just so the group could re-form back together. Riding through Mornington I caught up with Jen and even though it was her first proper group ride with the club, she looked like she was going extremely well. She does a lot of mileage on the bike, including riding to work several times a week and it shows in her riding ability.

In previous events I have tried to gap the field early with a charge at Balcombe Hill, but it has never worked very well, so I decided I would play it cool this time. Ray took the lead with Clint on his wheel followed by me. The early pace was pretty comfortable, so much so that I yelled at Ray to try and go faster. Balcombe Hill is about 3km long with a small false flat in the middle. The second half is not quite as steep as the first, but you need to save energy in the first half to find the speed at the end. About halfway up the first section Ray started to apply some effort and pulled a gap on Clint. I immediately passed Clint and rode back onto Ray's wheel. In hindsight I think Clint deliberately let the gap appear because he wanted me in front.

Ray completely misjudged his effort and blew up as soon as we reached the false flat forcing me to take the lead, something I was not planning to do until much later. Now on the slightly less steep section, I held a good tempo pace as I tried to put a gap on the riders behind. I could hear another rider sitting right behind me and judging by the level of puffing, he was suffering less than me. I just assumed it was the Mystery Rider from Oliver's Hill and he would fly past at any minute, so I was already focussing on riding for 2nd place. With about 500m to go the rider behind made his move, but it was Andrew on his new bike (he had taken his old bike into Cyclespeed for a service and walked out with a shiny new one - happens a lot). Andrew effortlessly put a good gap on me and I instantly knew I was no chance of reigning him in. I couldn't hear anyone behind me, so I figured I was still good for 2nd place. Then for the 2nd time in the day, another rider flew past. This time it was Clint making a huge charge for the line. By this stage Andrew had a good gap and I didn't give Clint a chance, but he caught Andrew metres before the finish and took the KOM (4 points). Andrew was second (2 points) and I was third (1 point). According to Strava this was my equal 2nd best effort up this climb.

Now I was really wrecked. Luckily the group took it very easy and I limped along near the back of the pack. The next Sprint was on Boundary Rd not far from the base of Arthur's Seat. I was very happy to sit back and take no part whatsoever. In fact I didn't even bother looking to see who won (probably Clint).

A disused Chair lift is situated at the bottom of Arthur's Seat and cyclists often meet in its carpark. We starting hearing reports that someone had crashed near where the Sprint was, so Clint got us all to wait while he worked out what had happened. Everyone seemed pretty happy to get some extra rest and it also gave all the slower riders a chance to rejoin the group.

I strategically positioned myself for the restart, but did too well and found myself leading the climb up Arthur's Seat. There were 10 or so riders behind me, but I could tell Griff was sitting right on my wheel. This is a tough climb and going too hard early will almost certainly mean dying before the end. So rather than try and inflict pain on my pursuers, I simply found a comfortable rhythm and grinded my way up the hill. The riders behind slowly dropped off one by one, but Griff held firm never letting me build a gap. Then at the half way mark he took the lead and very slowly started to pull away. The gap never really got that big and I just concentrated on holding my rhythm. A little further on and there were only 3 riders left in the hunt. Griff had a 20 metre gap to me and Andrew (on his new bike) was another 20 metres or so adrift. I hadn't given Andrew's new bike a good look, but I knew he usually rode with a compact crank and the steepness of the climb would definitely be playing to his advantage. However I also knew that the gradient drops off a little in the last 500m and if he hadn't passed me before that, I would be too strong once his advantage had disappeared. By the time we reached the slightly less steep section, Griff's lead was closer to 50m. I started applying the power, but so was Griff. At least I was holding off Andrew. In the last 100m Griff appeared to be struggling and I was closing the gap quickly, but the finish line appeared too soon and Griff took the KOM (4 points). Speaking to him later, he said he eased off once he realised I was too far behind to catch him. I took second (2 points) and Andrew took 3rd (1 point) with a large gap to fourth place.

The Arthur's Seat Strava segment I usually look at starts at the gate which is before the Carpark. Having waited several minutes, this segment was not going to reflect my actual climbing time, but luckily there are numerous other segments for the climb, some which start after the carpark. Despite feeling absolute crap after my Oliver's and Balcombe Hill efforts, I recorded my fastest Strava time up Oliver's Hill. I don't know if this is my fastest time ever, because I only have 4 attempts (out of about 20) recorded on Strava.

With three 2nd places and a 3rd I was now leading the King of the Mountains classification. However with 4 points for 1st place, a win for Griff, Clint or the Mystery Rider on the last KOM would take the title off me.

The plan was for everyone to ride to Mornington and re-group at Main St. Being well ahead of most people up the climb had its advantages, because I could slowly cruise the 20km into Mornington. The Mt Martha twisties along the Esplanade is one of my favourite cycling roads and I usually ride this section as fast as I can. On this occasional I crept along putting in just enough effort to get myself up each of the hills (the headwind didn't help).

The ride back down Arthur's Seat was quite slippery from overnight rain. I rode down very slowly as I offered encouragement to those still climbing. Unfortunately Hayley (one of the star Triathletes in the club) had a fairly bad crash on one of the corners and ended up in Frankston Hospital. I believe she is fine now, but will probably need to buy a new helmet. Mick also crashed on the decent (last corner), but survived the incident with only a few scrapes and bruises.

After a short wait at Mornington we headed towards the last KOM of the ride - Beleura Hill. At only 800m long it is a very short hill, but it has a nasty pinch in the middle that must be around 20% gradient. As we headed off, Darren started to pull a gap on the rest of the field so I immediately rode up to his wheel. He didn't seem to be going very fast, but I wanted to conserve as much energy as I could before I hit the steepest section. I kept waiting for him to launch an attack, but I suspect he was never really intending to contest the KOM and was just riding tempo as the easiest way to ascend the hill. I couldn't wait any longer and eventually had to make the jump. I had a gap to the group but nowhere near as big as I would have liked. As I hit the pinch I changed down gears to try and spin up, but this is when both Griff and Andrew charged out of the pack. I sprinted up the steep pinch as fast as I could, but in hindsight I should have been in a harder gear. Griff took the lead as we turned the corner and I jumped onto his wheel. He was unable to pull a gap on me, but I was also unable to pass. So Griff got another KOM (4 points), I got yet another 2nd place (2 points) and Andrew came 3rd (1 point). According the Strava, this was my 2nd best effort up Beleura Hill.

With his win on the final climb Griff pipped me for the King of the Mountain title with a total of 8 points, I came 2nd (7 points) with Clint, the Mystery Rider and Andrew all on 4 points in equal 3rd.

The next 15kms back to Frankston was a major struggle, however I wasn't alone. The main peleton was a fraction of its original size with lots of riders having hit the wall. The rest of us were limping back at a very leisurely pace. Halfway back, Clint caught up to Young Martin and myself and signalled for us to sit on his wheel as he gave us a draft back (it was headwind all the way to Frankston). We were flying along when we caught up to James and Leah. I had to laugh when he gave the same drafting signal to them. This was Leah's first real group ride so I imagine she would be feeling absolutely shattered by this stage and Clint was suggesting she jump on our wheel as we sped past down a hill at over 50kph.

We regrouped at the Frankston BP service station before heading off again. The next Sprint starts just after the BP and the lead group managed to get the jump on the rest of us out of the service station. I sat on Clint's wheel as he tried to close the gap, but we didn't catch back up until after the Sprint had finished. Completely disinterested by this stage, I have no idea who won.

At this point we were less than 5km from my home as I was completely spent. Clint had earlier asked me if I was going to continue to the finish at which time I said 'depends how I feel'. Well now I knew exactly how I felt and I was definitely dropping out.

Overall I was a bit disappointed not to take out the King of the Mountains. But looking at my Strava results, they weren't too bad. And I've never been in this kind of form in August/September before. So I'm not at my peak, but I'm not too far off it either.

Salomon Trail Running Race 3 - Silvan (Dandenongs)

Elaine and I won't be attending to the last event in Anglesea, so this was our last Trail Running Race of the season. Situated next to the Silvan Dam in the Dandenongs, this was supposedly the toughest course of the series and at 7.3km it was also longer than the previous two Short Course races we had completed.

I had won my age group in the first 2 races, but my overall finishing positions have been 7th and 1st. A first place in this race would see we wrap up the overall series win (based upon your best 3 results out of the 4 races). So the pressure was on. The toughness of the Plenty course had helped me win, so a difficult course in the Dandenongs would be in my favour.

Similar to the Saturday before the Plenty race, I did a reasonably hard ride the day before the race. Getting close to the London Triathlon, I cannot afford to have a weekend of light training, even it includes a race. I also did a course recon on the morning before the race. At Kew I jogged the entire 5km course. At Plenty I jogged the course either side of the river crossings. However the longer distance of the Silvan race meant my race warmup was even longer. But I now knew the course well, very important if I ended up in the lead and also handy knowledge for race tactics.

Unlike the previous two races other competitors were very hesitant to move up to the front before the start line. In fact the race organisers had to encourage people to move more forwards. This gave me a bit of confidence thinking that there may not be many fast runners in the field.

When the gun went off, an older competitor raced to the front. His running style was anything but flowing and he looked quite comical with his arms and legs moving a million miles an hour. Predictably he ran out of steam after about 200 metres. I was about to assume the lead when another younger competitor (in the orange top) moved out in front, so I simply sat behind him instead. This new leader's running style looked very good. I found the pace quite comfortable (certainly slower than the hectic start of the last 2 races) and the chorus of puffing from behind was definitely starting to thin out.

At about the 500 metre mark I could hear one competitor sitting right behind me and 2 or 3 a little further back. With the rising gradient, everyone's breathing was getting heavier and I didn't need to look behind to know where people were. This first hill lasted about a kilometre, climbing about 75 metres. The lead runner was travelling well up this hill and I found I needed to dig a little to keep in touch. As we crested the hill I sensed a hint of weakness, so immediately took the lead and tried to establish a gap.

Having already run the course earlier that morning, I knew we were in for some technical descents before the 'Hill From Hell' around the 4.75km mark. Whoever crested this hill first was most likely to win the race because the last 1.6km of the race was a fast, slightly downhill (but not technical) sprint to the finish. Technical descents are my weakness. I'm not great up hills, but my strength is recovery after the hills. Unfortunately my strength was nullified by the fact the hard hill was too far into the race followed by an easy finish. So I needed to build a lead before we hit the technical descents.

As I raced back down the trail through the ferns, jumping over fallen trees, I would sense the occasional gap to my 2 pursuers, but the gap never lasted for long. By the time we hit the technical descent section they were both right on my heels. It didn't take them long to realise this was my weakness and even though the trail was single track they still managed to pass and then pull away. I'd occasionally steal a glance behind me, but the I had a good gap over the next competitor. I was pretty much all alone in 3rd place.

As we reached the 'Hill from Hell', the 2 leaders were about 40 metres ahead and I had a bigger gap to the 4th place competitor behind. The young runner had lost the lead to the other competitor who had been sitting in 3rd place during the first few kilometres. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill I could see both of them above him walking. The older competitor was putting in occasional run efforts and had already built a gap to 2nd place. I started running up, but it was almost like peer pressure forced me to start walking. Even walking I was making steady progress on the two ahead, especially 2nd place. I tried small sections of the running, but the slope was quite slippery and I found myself often slipping, even with my trail runners. Walking meant I could place the whole foot down and get better grip, because when running up a hill - only your forefoot makes contact with the ground.

The 'Hill from Hell' rose over 70 metres in 300 metres distance. That's an average gradient of around 23%. Halfway up the hill I moved into 2nd place. I was walking at this stage, but still significantly faster than the other guy. I could see first place walking up ahead and this is where I should have made a charge. If I had of passed him up the hill, I think I would have won the psychological battle and taken any easy win (relatively speaking). However with my leg muscles burning and a heart rate of 174bpm the little voice inside my head convinced me to consolidate 2nd position and don't risk blowing up.

Even though I continued to make ground on the leader, he crested the hill first and then built a small gap down the initial very steep descent. Once on the more level ground I could see him ahead running very well. The gap was only about 30 metres, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch him. Behind me, third place was not even in sight, so I simply held a good rhythm through to the finish. 2nd place overall and first in my category. Elaine had a good race finishing equal fourth out of 20 competitors in her age group. Even though there were no river crossings in this event, she still loved the race and her slightly more aggressive trail runners (ie. bigger tread) were perfect on this course.

With three wins (out of 3) in my age group, I have an unbeatable lead for the series win. My 2nd place overall means I'm most likely, but not certain to take the overall series win (there is one competitor who can knock me off if he wins the last race). However I've since discovered that the Overall Series Prize (a $600 GPS watch) only applies to the Long Course event. So I'm no longer quite so down upon myself for not winning. And I did win a great Salomon top for winning my age group.

Club members Alan and Francisco came down for their first race. Not really appreciating the difficulty of the course (despite me warning them), they entered to 15km Medium Course. They didn't appreciated the difficulty by the end, but they both had great races with Alan winning the battle (the loser had to refund the other's entry fee).

Courtney was relegated to spectator duty as a result of nasty shin injury during one of his Crossfit sessions. His wife Petra did very well in the Medium course event, as did our friend Moran. Our friend Kevin entered the Long Course series and battled his way through the 21km hill fest in just over 2 hours and 20 minutes - a great achievement in what must have been an extraordinarily tough course.

Winter Triathlon, Hazelwood Pondage

On Sunday, Elaine and I ventured out to the Latrobe Valley to compete in the Hazelwood Winter Triathlon. The Hazelwood Pondage is used as a cooling device for the Power Station, which keeps the water in the Pondage warm all year round. We had never done this race before, but had heard a lot about it over the years. It is very famous as a warmup race before heading off to do a triathlon overseas or interstate - which of course is perfect preparation for our London race in 4 weeks time. We figured the Pondage itself (other than being warmer) would be quite similar to the Serpentine in Hyde Park and where else were we going to do an open water swim. Note that we do have several friends who swim in the bay all year round, but with current water temperatures of around 9 degrees Celsius, that just sounds silly.

There were 3 races on offer - Olympic Distance, Sprint Distance and a Fun Distance.  We chose the Sprint Distance (500m swim, 24km bike, 5.1km run), as that was closest to what we'll be racing in London. Our race didn't start til 10am, but with registration and transition only open between 7:30 and 8:40am, we still had to arrive early. So that meant a 6am departure, it was going to be a long day.

I would describe the race organisation as casual and minimalist but still effective. The relaxed atmosphere spread to the competitors and pre-race people were just aimlessly wandering around and casually chatting amongst themselves (not a race face in sight). There were no bag compounds, bike checking or transition security. In fact the transition area wasn't even really fenced off.  Everyone just casually wandered in and out.  And with the course being all left turns as it circumnavigated the pond, they didn't need any road closures either, just one marshall per corner.

The longer Olympic Distance race started at 9am, so this gave us a good chance to see where the swim went and how transition worked. Club members Matt, Ray and Peter were racing in the Olympic, so we watched them head off on the bike leg before starting to get ready for our race. As we entered the water for our warmup swim, the water was around the temperature of an indoor pool, but definitely a different colour. It was so brown, you couldn't see your own hand in front of you. Nonetheless, it seemed quite nice to swim in.

We gathered in the water around a small concrete jetty as the race organiser explained the course. He then instructed us to line up before he sounded the starting horn. Unfortunately some of us were stupid enough to actually line up, whilst others just remained treading water 10 metres or so in front, thereby getting a nice head start. Already 10 metres off the front, I then realised I'd positioned myself badly and was continually being pushed off direction by swimmers coming from my left. I only breathe to my right, so I couldn't see these swimmers coming until they were hitting me. I spent the first half of the swim trying to avoid other swimmers who had no sense of direction. It wasn't till the half way mark that I found a good set of toes to sit on and had a cruisey swim back into shore. Not one of my better swims, but I didn't waste much energy and it was good to make mistakes now rather than in London.

In transition the wetsuit came off easily and I was quickly onto my bike.

Did I mention it was windy. It was windy when we arrived and got windier as we waited for our race to start. Now as we were heading out on our bikes, the wind picked up yet another notch.  I was scared trying to get my feet into my bike shoes. And even once I'd successfully done this, I was pretty much terrified for the whole bike leg as most of my energy seemed to be directed at staying on the road. There was one corner where I leant the bike over to turn and the wind went under my bike and picked up the front wheel moving it 6 inches across the road. It felt like I was in the motions of crashing. How I stayed on the bike I'll never know. Needless to say I crawled through this corner on the second lap. Happily nobody passed my on the bike leg. I was keeping an eye out for both Martins, but it turns out I beat both of them on the swim, so I never saw them. In fact being a looped course means you don't see many people at all - I never saw Elaine or either Martin for the entire race.

If it wasn't for the continual strong wind gusts, I think I would have really liked this bike course. It was undulating with only one hill I needed to swap into the small chain ring for and the road surface was not as bad as I'd been led to believe (or maybe everything else seemed great compared to the horrible wind).

Coming into transition I could see that there were only 2 bikes in the Sprint transition, meaning I was probably in third place (with no security, it was possible some Sprint competitors put their bikes in the Olympic section). Keen to start the run I raced over, racked my bike and removed my helmet in fast time and then tried to slip on my runners. Usually my runners go on very easy, but today I simply couldn't get them on - it was as though they had shrunk. As I looked at them, they did seem very small and then I tried to remember when I changed to using green laces.  Suddenly I realised I was standing in Elaine's transition spot. She has the same runners as me, except smaller and with green laces (my laces are red) - my transition area was 2 spots over. So I grabbed my bike and ran over to my spot and strangely enough my runners slipped on effortlessly.

Heading out onto the run, I had another competitor on my heels thanks to all the time I wasted in transition. The track up to the road is a mild up hill. It wasn't particularly steep, but I didn't want to spike my heart rate too early so I held my efforts in check and the other competitor took this opportunity to pass me. Once on the road, the next 2 kilometres are reasonably flat as you run along the edge of the road to the turn-around point. I found the running pretty easy through this section. The other competitor was maintaining a 20 to 30 metre gap on me, but didn't push the pace as my Garmin showed my speed was pretty good and my heart rate was already up to where I expected.

At the halfway mark, the course turns onto a dirt road for the journey back. I had heard the dirt road contained the hill and quickly discovered that the hill started pretty much straight away. My pace slowed and the other competitor started to increase the gap. However I was now picking off other competitors. Unfortunately they were obviously Olympic Distance competitors, so passing them had no effect on the result of my race. This first hill was just a short and mild one. It was like the dirt road was just helping to prepare you for what lay ahead. In all there are actually 3 hills, each one longer and steeper than the one before and that final one is a bit of a killer. The good news is that once over the top it is all downhill to the finish line.

Overall I finished in 4th place and first in my age group. Both Martins scored 2nd places in their age groups and Elaine won hers. In the Olympic Distance, Ray came second in his age group.

Overall, a great hit out before London. It was a tough course in very tough conditions, but my speed was still reasonable, so obviously my training has been working well.

The Countdown to London has Started

Our team uniforms arrived on Friday, so everything is starting to feel a little more real. Today is Monday, 5th August which means there is just under 6 weeks (40 days) till the race in London on Friday, 13th September (what could go wrong on Friday 13th). Elaine's one piece is shown on the left, while I opted for the two piece on the right. Being tall and skinny it is difficult to find one piece trisuits that fit. There was no opportunity to try on any of the gear for size before ordering, so we had to work out our sizes off the size chart, so I chose the safer option and elected for the two piece. The medium size pants fit well, but I could have probably gone a size small top. Further below on the right is a photo of the team casual gear that we will need to wear in the parade and possibly some other official functions.

Since the 1st August Elaine and I have been avoiding alcohol and sugary treats (like chocolate biscuits and icecream). Particularly cruel when one of our wine deliveries arrived on 2nd August. Alcohol and sugar inhibit muscle recovery, so hopefully our new stricter diet will help us get in more training hours without injury. And it will make our post-race holiday more enjoyable when our diet restrictions disappear.

Between now and London we have a Sprint Triathlon in the Labtrobe Valley and the third race of the Salomon Trail Running Series at Silvan in the Dandenongs. The Labtrobe Valley race is referred to as the Winter Triathlon. The swim takes place in the Hazelwood pondage that is kept warm by the power station (not sure if that is a good thing). This should provide excellent preparation for London, especially a wetsuit swim in fresh water similar to the Serpentine in Hyde Park. According to the Salomon race preview, the trail run at Silvan will be even tougher than Plenty Gorge. Difficult to imagine considering Plenty Gorge was the toughest course I have ever done. Apparently the Silvan course has a hill from hell that rises 120m over 1.1km.

Recently I've been on a bit of a swim focus, somewhat forced due to niggling soreness in my legs. In July I swam a total of 38km - my biggest ever month of swimming. I'm hoping to do similar in August, but with more running and cycling thrown in. With the Trail Running races my running form seems to be OK, but cycling appears to still be a bit off from my peak.

On Saturday we did the Club Ride/Run Repeats session. Elaine, Merryn and myself started with a 1 hour ride and 30 minute run, followed by 3 sets of 20 min ride/10 min runs - all up a 3 hour session. Stef, who is training for short course, did the 3 sets of 20/10 ride/runs (90 min session). This is the first time Elaine, Merryn and Steff have done the Ride/Run sessions and they all surprised themselves on how well they did. Unfortunately Stef had a minor bike accident - a gust of wind blew her over whilst stationery. But nothing serious and she should not miss any training as a result (but a nice bruise is developing around the knee area). Mark and Jen would have also done the session, but Mark was sick and Jen was away.

Special sessions this week are the Wednesday night swim with video analysis and a Saturday morning ride in the Dandenongs. Hopefully I'll also get a fair bit of running in, including a long run on Sunday.

Salomon Trail Run, Race 2 - Yellow Gum Park, Plenty Gorge

In the last Trail Run at Kew, I won my age group and finished 7th overall. But I still didn't feel confident about doing well at the Plenty Gorge. Looking at the race brochure, it appeared to be a far more technical course with lots of very steep hills, river crossings, true off road running and very little flat. Plus due to recent leg soreness, my recent training has not been as good, and I was worried I might have lost some running form.

Before the race Elaine and I did a course recon checking out the start and finish sections of the race. We didn't venture into the middle section as this would have involved river crossings and we didn't want to get our feet wet before the race.

On the right is a photo I took of the first river crossing. It is probably only a creek, but river crossing sounds better and that's what it said on the race brochure. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but the path leading down to the river is almost a sheer drop of about 3 metres and the river is knee deep. There is a rope strung up across the river that is difficult to see in the photo, so I've included a photo of the 2nd river crossing from the race website that better illustrates how the rope assists in the river crossing.

It was Elaine's idea to enter the Trail Running Series and the river crossings were one of the main reasons for her wanting to do the races, so she was extremely excited about the event. To her the knee deep water level made it even better.

Once again I positioned myself close to the front as we assembled near the start line (the same father with his young son were also right up the front again, but I wrote enough about that last time). Once the gun went off there was a mad dash down the first hill. I made a conscious effort to go out easier this time and let the small leading pack gap me by 10 metres or so. The gravel path was slightly winding as it descended down towards the level of the creek and it seemed some of the initially fast competitors found this a little too technical and I soon closed the gap to the leaders, or maybe they simply went out too fast. Looking at Strava after the race it showed I did my 2nd fastest 400m. Closer inspection showed I ran the first 400m at 3m00s pace, so the guys ahead were obviously flying.

One of the reasons the pack took off so quickly is that the first river crossing at the 700m mark was the start of the single track section. This mean that whoever you were stuck behind was potentially going to slow you up for the next 500m of very technical terrain. I was in roughly 5th position as we hit water. After scrambling down the 3 metre drop, I jumped straight into the river. I could sense the girl behind me hesitated, creating a gap and slowing down everyone behind her. This gap only got bigger as the race went on.

I exited the river on the heels of a young lad about 16 or 17 years old. Unlike Elaine and I who purchased new trail runners after the last race, the young lad was wearing normal runners and was struggling to find grip as we ascended a very steep, slippery and technical hill. We had gapped the girl behind and I was actually grateful for the slightly slower pace as it let me get my breath back. The guys ahead were pulling away, but the course was so difficult I didn't really care. Near the top I found an opportunity to pass only to discover two of the guys ahead had almost stopped due to exhaustion, so I ended up passing all three.
Once at the top, the trail opened up onto a paddock and I could just see a runner about 50 metres ahead. The run through the paddock was still up hill. With the exhaustion from the very steep climb I was struggling to go much faster than 6m30s pace, but was still pulling away from the three I just passed who were now barely moving.

For the next three kilometres or so I was very much running solo with only kangaroos for company (and some of the biggest kangaroos I've ever seen). Every now and again I'd catch a glimpse of the runner ahead. He had a lead of close to 200m, but every time I saw him he was looking around at me, so I knew he was hurting. At this stage I thought I might be in 3rd place overall. It was hard to tell, as the ascent after the river crossing was so tough I was experiencing tunnel vision and had no idea exactly how many were ahead.

The terrain was continually changing. Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes running through open paddocks, then running along a trail, dirt roads and sometimes simply following the blue ribbons (tied to tree branches) as we crashed through the bush. Most of the time my heart rate was very close to max. My aim was to limit the damage on the difficult sections and try to recover enough to recapture a good pace on the easier bits.

Not long after the 2nd river crossing, I ran past the drink station where they told me I was actually in 2nd place overall - very exciting. With just over 2kms to go, the leader still had a good 200m on me (and mostly out of sight), so I didn't consider the win a possibility. I hadn't seen anyone behind me for a while, so I figured the gap to third place must be around 300m or so. Due to my pre-race course recon, I knew there were several tough hills to go and that one of them was brutal. So my main focus now was not blow up and risk losing 2nd place.

About 500m past the drink station was the brutal hill. During my recon, it was so steep it was very difficult to walk down, now I had to race up it. At the bottom I could see the leader walking near the top. He wasn't looking good, but I wasn't feeling great and I knew I'd feel worse after climbing the hill. I ran (or slowly jogged) the first 20 metres or so before reverting to a walk. It wasn't a particularly fast walk, in fact my hands were on my knees trying to assist in the effort of ascending. I was almost half way up when the leader finally summitted the top and turned onto the flatter trail. I was glad to see him go, as it made me feel less guilty for walking (or crawling) up the hill. I occasionally looked back to see if anyone was close, but it wasn't until I was at the very top that I saw the next competitor finally reach the base of the climb. My 2nd place should be safe now as long as I didn't try to go too fast.

The next section was mixtures of flat and slightly downhill, a welcome relief after the extremely tough hill climb. Then I turned a corner to see the leader stopped by the side of the trail throwing up. He looked up as I passed then vommitted again - I was now in the lead with about one kilometre to go.  There was one tough and one medium hill left. The previous leader would probably be back in the race soon, so I had to take advantage of this lead. But my energy reserves were low and I was forced to walk up the next tough hill. Looking back once at the top, nobody else was in sight and this gave me a bit of extra energy.

The last 500m or so was more or less a victory lap. Numerous spectators were lining the course cheering me on and I knew I had an insurmountable gap. Then with less than 100m to go, I snagged my running shorts on a nail sticking out of post as I made the final turn. There was a moment of panic thinking I might end up finishing the race with no pants, but luckily it only took a couple of seconds to unsnag myself and I was back on my way and crossed the finish line with a 30 second gap to second.

As expected Elaine loved the race. It was far more brutal than she expected, but the river crossings made up for the tough hills. Elaine came 4th in her age group only 25 seconds behind 3rd place and 71 seconds behind 2nd. Our friend Moran came 4th place overall (and 3rd in his age group) in the Medium Distance race and looked suitably wrecked as he approached the finish line. In fact in both races it has taken Moran about 5 minutes after the race before he has recovered enough to even talk. Courtney also did the Middle Distance event whilst Kevin braved the Long Distance. It took Kevin just over 2 hours to finish. I cannot even imagine how difficult it would have been to race for that long over such a brutal course.

After winning a Salomon polar fleece last race, this time I won a $75 gift voucher at FootPro. Ironically after Elaine and I purchased our new trail runners from that store.

Time for a Rest

There is now 8 weeks to go until the Age Group World Championships in London. Actually the Sprint Race is on the Friday, so there is 2 days less than 8 weeks to go. The countdown is on !

In the past I've said I only need 5 weeks to get ready for a Sprint Race. Being the World Championships, I tried to start my program further out, but I think I went too hard too early. The result is I'm already sore and in desperate need of a recovery week already. The main issue is my old knee injury (patella tendinopathy) triggered by overly tight quad muscles, but my calf and hamstring muscles are also very tight and sore. Unfortunately financial issues have meant I've been skipping my usual monthly massage and it has come back to bite me in a big way.

On a positive note I managed 4 swim sessions this week for a total of 11.2km in the pool this week. Biggest swim mileage since November 2011 and second biggest swim week ever. My swim form has been frustratingly poor this season, but coach Craig picked up a technique flaw this morning which will hopefully turn things around.

Elaine is also struggling a little at the moment. Currently doing extra studies she has found it difficult to get to bed early. Being tired is not a great start when it comes to training, but other factors have also got in the way. Attempting her usual ride to work last Wednesday, Elaine suffered 2 punctures when she rode over a rock in the dark. It was not a good week for punctures and I experienced a flat tyre in the car this weekend.

Including Elaine I now have 4 athletes I'm writing programs for (Elaine, Mark, Stef and Jen). Coincidently they all have last names beginning with Mc, maybe we should be called Team Mac. Another girl Merryn is about to sign up, but she doesn't have a Mac surname (she'll have to just be an honorary Mac).

Mark, Stef and Jen were all entered in Run Melbourne today. Mark completed the Half Marathon in 2h12m, Stef the 10km in 54 mins and I haven't been able to find the results for Jen's 5km run yet. Mark and Stef just missed their PB times, but the Run Melbourne course is quite tough (ie. hilly) and according to Stef's feedback report it was very crowded which made it difficult to post a good time.

Elaine and I are both competing in the 2nd race of the Salomon Trail Run next Sunday. It will be at Plenty Gorge and going by the Race Information Booklet will be a far more technical race than Kew (lucky we bought new trail running shoes). We'll probably have an easy week leading up to the weekend. Not so much because of the upcoming race, but more because our bodies need a rest.

Been Busy

It's been a little gap since I last posted, things have been busy. Last weekend we helped out with Duathlon run by our Triathlon Club. It was an early start to get race site set up, we performed marshalling duties during the race, then afterwards we packed everything up into the truck, but it didn't end there. Back at the clubrooms we unpacked the truck (probably the toughest job of the day) and then headed to Brown Cow for a well deserved lunch with Bill, Jenny, Matt, Martin and Christian.

After lunch Elaine and I headed to FootPro in Malvern to buy some trail runners (XOSIZE don't sell trail runners). We got away with wearing our Newton runners at Kew, but the next race at Plenty looks a lot more technical (including two creek crossings) so we figured we'd definitely be better off with more appropriate footwear. Elaine bought some Salomon runners, whilst I opted for a pair of Inov8 TrailRocs.

Mine are the blue and lime ones on the right and Elaine's the black and red on the left. Elaine's Salomon runners have more serious off road tread and will almost certainly be better suited if the trails get muddy. But I preferred the lightness of the Inov8 runners and also liked the versatility of a less serious tread pattern. I'll be able to happily wear mine on firm trails, whereas Elaine's will need a softer surface for the tread to sink into.

At just over 11.5 hours, this week has been one my bigger training loads. Other than a week in mid June that included a long ride on the Queen's Birthday holiday, this has been my biggest week since January. I backed off the running with only 3 runs totally 27km. However I did 7.3 km of swimming over three swims and three days of riding for 163km. And most of the soreness from the previous weeks has started to disappear.

It hasn't all been serious training time. This week we ventured off into the city to celebrate Elaine's birthday. We stayed at the Mercure Hotel in Queens Rd (opposite Albert Park lake), enjoyed a Whisky tasting session in the city followed by a lovely 3 course meal at the Marriott before being chauffeur driven back to the Mercure in a nice 7 series BMW.

As I write this. I am enjoying one of the beautiful Single Malts we purchased after the Whisky Tasting.

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).