Almost there now!

Today was a sad day for our little training group, Andew C (Eddie) came off his bike and has broken his colloar bone and will require surgery! This happened whilst he was riding with Andrew M, Jase and I on our last ride before all participating in the Port Macquaire Half Iron Man next week. Its a real shame, because he has put so much effort into this, and he has been looking forward to this for so long, and to seriously injure himself 1, just 1 week out is terrible! It shows how brittle we really are, and how very careful we need to be when out training....accidents happen so quickly. Whilst Eddie is devastated, his physical injury will heal, and he is already getting 'angry' for IM 2011....a slight hiccup for him in this journey for him, but he has all the motivation to continue on when he is able to and with greater enthusiasm! As I said to him, the boys will be waiting for his return and will be there to give him the support and encouragement to bring him back up to speed! Hang in there Eddie....

As for me this week, well, I had a bloody tough one, and so it should be given this coming week is a taper. Phew.....man, I have had some hard weeks of late, and a lighter one is most welcome. The highlights were tuesdays run, which was a 20km run with 2 x 10min efforts in the middle. When I run on my own, I keep the average pace at 4.30ish, and the efforts were at 3.40 so when I finished up, I was royally rooted! Good set though. The other really though set was a brick session on Thursday morning, which was 70mins on the TT with 5min efforts at 'hurting' levels, followed by a 8km run off the bike, 5km at race pace. I ran the 5km at 3.45 pace and by the end was sore and farked! My shin was giving me a little bit of grief, a niggle caused by me over running. Not that this is Rollo's fault, he tells me to run my longer runs much slower, but I seem to push a little more, so will have to try and follow the advice more in the future....that near half marathon on Tuesday has meant I have pretty much run 4 half marathons in under 2 weeks (all at just over 90mins as well)...plus all the riding and swimming and race pace efforts along the way....no wonder I had some fatigue in the legs!!!

I ran 100mins with Andrew M yesterday which was good, and we followed that up with our usual ocean swim off terrigal beach. It was crystal clear right out to the bouys which made my concerns over sharks a lot less...phew, now I could spot them coming from 50m away!!! And do what....I am still not sure, but at least I could panic for longer I guess! Andrew M suggested I could make history and be the first triathlete attacked by a shark at port this coming weekend, knowing my luck of those animals!!

The ride session today was great! Apart from seeing Eddie come off the bike and wathc him realise his Iron Man dream was over for 2010, which was really sad, the rest of the session was good. It was hard as we had a bunch of 10km efforts along the way to riding just a touch over 80km, and then running 8km off the bike, 4km at 4min pace, so it was really good. As always, i am so grateful to be able to do what I do, and seeing eddie come off and hurt himself made me very aware of really how grateful we should be!

So, the summer of this week is :

Swim : 8.5km (3hours)
Cycle : 130km + 2.5hours on TT - 8hours
Run : 55kms (4.5 hours)
Total : 15.5hours (ish)

One week to go, and man, am I looking forward to downing at least 2 beers for every hour it takes me to finish the Half Iron Man. Its been over 2 weeks since I have had a beer, and anyone who knows me, will know that for a normal person, that is probably the equivalent of 2 years....How many beers will I have next sunday night? Not sure. My wife reckons I will be tanked on 2 only, and if thats all it takes...great, but I think it will be a fair few more than that. I have an idea of the times I would like to achieve, so let me put them out there now. Firstly though, the goal is to simply finish, thats all I need to do, but if I am to put a time against each leg then it is :

1.9km Swim : 30mins
90km Cycle : 3.15hours (definitely a huge stretch for me)
21km Run 100mins

That should get me home in a touch over 5 hours, but there are a few things to consider. Those times are based on great conditions and probably a flat course. Port is not flat, so my cycle will be a lot slower than I would like, but thats also down to me not really being strong enough, but as i said in my last blog, put the stretch goals in, so they are!

Well, I have put my money where my mouth is, and we will see how I go next week. I am pretty nervous, mainly because of the bike, but I'll get a grip and get on with it soon enough....

On another note, Vlad has entered into the WA Iron Man in December, and I am going along to watch...it will be great to once again watch an Iron Man live, and to be able to provide Vlad and Skinny Wiggle support all the way over there.....

So, until next week, which will be my race report....have a good one, and Eddie, get well son!!

Have you been in the Pain Locker?

First things first, last week I said I was 1st out of the water in the Maitland triathlon, which I seriously believed, until the results were released and showed some bloke was 30 odd seconds out of transition ahead of me and the other 3 blokes I ran out with, so no way was I that long in transition, so this guy must be a serious fish...good on him! Still, I came 16th overall in that race, and 4th in my age group...just 4mins behind the guy who was first in the category, and the good thing is the improvement will all come from my bike...I am about 30% behind these guys, so improvments in this discipline will really make me more competitive, so I am stoked!

This last week has also been about the blogs from the Hawaii IronMan. Its been absolutely amazing reading some of the stories coming out of that race, some frmo pro's, others from plebs like me who went there to race against themselves and the course....truly inspiring and really driving home again how hard this Iron Man race is....and thats any of them, because each one no doubt has its own set of tough challanges, and of course, you will always have to deal with the internal battle you have, getting through the negative thoughts, the pain, the highs and lows, the belief or lack there of at times, unplanned issues during the race etc.....finishing this race is no gurantee at all, and the sooner I can prep myself for all of the above and how I will cope with each scenario the better!! For those of you who have some time and want to know how tough the Hawaii Iron Man was very every athlete competing, here are a few blogs worth reading (get a cuppa first, they are long...but very worth it)


We will start with my favourite blog report from Kona, this is the one to read in my opinion, sums up the race and experience so well, sensational & inspiring!
http://forums.transitions.org.au/index.php?showtopic=39636

2nd Favourite is from Macca (a Pro) and he writes this so well, and shows that the pro's do it tough out there to! This is another great read!
http://www.chrismccormack.com/blog/ironmanhawaii


This Blog is by a bloke who did not qualify but got in through the lottery system (maybe I could go this way ;-))
http://forums.transitions.org.au/index.php?showtopic=39729

This one is a kiwi who is pretty strong looking at his times....he did pretty well
http://forums.transitions.org.au/index.php?showtopic=39744

So it will take you a good 15mins to read through those blogs, but they are all very good and I enjoyed reading them. Gooneys certainly gave me a lot of inspiration and belief that I can become an Iron Man next year, with a lot of hard work (thanks Rollo), belief and commitment it shall be done! Oh, and a lot of time spent in the Pain Locker!!

Whats the pain locker I hear you ask! Great, glad you did!! Jason and I were discussing this last week on our run, and the funny thing is, Vlad and i had chatted about this as well..I think we called it something similar....and we were all in agreement, if you cant visit the pain locker often enough, you will not reap the rewards, and the stretch goals will always be slightly out of reach. You need to be prepared to commit to the training, not be scared about hammering yourself, and believe in the training and preparation you have done. I certainly know I visit that locker at every opportunity given and I think Rollo knows that, which is why the hard thing for me is holding back on the bike when all the other strong riders fly past. It happened last weekend, where for 8km of the ride I was pushing well beyond before realising I needed to back off, but luckily I was able to recover on that ride, but a longer ride might not be so forgiving, so I need to be careful....I cant wait to get some confidence on that bloody bike!!

So, Gooneys blog made me 'angry' for the training this week, it fired me up and I think I will use his blog to keep me really motivated over the coming months. It made me this week open the pain locker a few times (well - Rollos program called for it to be fair to), but I threw myself into each session with much vigor and love....because I love doing each one...I love the pushing, I love being out there, thinking about why I do this every day, picturing myself competing in the Half and Full Iron Man races, and really just appreciating that I am able to do this, and have the goals, motivation, time and support from those around me......I am going to be an Iron Man!

Let me put away the tissues and tell you about the past weeks training! I pulled up pretty well after the race last week. Let me put a pluggin in right now about the Compression pants from 2XU. I have worn them heaps this week, and I swear, they help you recover so quickly. My legs have been pummelled this week, and after each set I wore the long 2XU compression pants, and the next day, my legs were pretty much 100%. They really work, and if you want faster recovery timeframes, they are a must! I also use a lean protein to help me recover after each session, so between the pants and the protein, I am pretty much raring to go!

This week consisted of :

Swim - 11km (4hours)
Bike - 7 hours on the TT
Run - 67kms (5 hours)
Total - 15hours

I did 2 brick sessions this week as well, both of them 2 hours on the TT followed by a run. The one I did this morning was really good. I ran off the bike, and decided to mimic the club race I was missing by running hard for 5km and then backing off for the remainder of the run home (5.5km). The good thing is I ran the first 5km in 19min flat, and then the last 5.5km at just over 4min, so got through the 10km in 40mins....not bad for a training set! I was pretty tired at the end of 5km, but I back the pace off to a little over 4min per km and was able to sustain that pace very comfortably!

2 weeks to go to the Port Mac Half Iron man, I am very excited about it, and so is Jase, Eddie and Andrew. It will be awesome to race with these guys, because we do train a fair bit together so it will be good to share the time out there with them, knowing they are out there toughing it out just as I will be!

Safe training out there for all of ya...and if you read this Vlad...mate I am waiting for my week day training partner....c'mon my son!!!

Only 12months since my 1st triathlon!!

Todays blog has to really be about my mate Vlad Shatrov's effort in Hawaii! Today (well in Aus) was the Hawaiin IronMan race, and if you remember he has been training for that for really the past 18months or so, firstly qualifying at first go in Port Mac in April this year, and then training through winter to be able to finish the race today. He left Sydney on Monday morning, giving himself a few days to climatise (sure he would have liked more), but with his new 2XU shop, thats all the time he had to give. I think he could not done much more in terms of preparation, and you can see from the races leading up to this, how much he had done...2 x half marathon PB's and top placings were awesome! anyway, I dont have his report, and I will post that in next weeks blog, and I dont want to steal his thunder, but he finished in a little over 10hours, in very hot (+35 degrees) conditions, so its truly a great achievement for someone who has had some much else to deal with in the lead up to this race. Once he publishes his report, I will link it to mine, because it will be worth reading to try and understand how tough that race is. So, well done Vlad mate....a truly awesome effort mate, inspirational and an example of how with hard work and the right support, stretch goals are achievable....I look forward to having a few beers with you to celebrate your achievement!

Onto my past week now, it was a pretty tough one, but once again, very enjoyable. I did a huge brick session on Wednesday morning (70mins on the Turbo followed by a 6km run off the bike). The run felt so good, and I ran them at pretty much sub 4min pace, so was chuft. On Thursday morning, I had a 100min run, so I drove into work, headed off to centennial park for a few laps. The set also had a bunch of sprints in the middle so it was good. I ended up running 22kms at a pretty decent pace and keeping my HR low, so I was pleased. I felt good, although pretty fatigued in the afternoon. I swam again Frtiday morning with my wetsuit to continue the strenghtening and getting used to using it, before runnning 17km with Jason on Saturday morning. we spoke for most of the run

Today was the Maitland Mid Distance triathlon race which I had not done before, and was really excited as it was the 1ast one of the new season...the distances were 1.5km swim, 55km ride and 12km run. I felt pretty confident of finishing in around 3 to 3.5hours. I came out of the swim first overall (which I was surprised and chuft with), but only came out of transition in 3rd I think because I could not get the wetsuit off :-( (going to have to practice that..any advice anyone?), got absolutely hammered on the bike, I reckon 30 odd people passed me, probably more, and then ran the 12 odd kms at 4mnin pace, so was reallyt chuft with that. I felt pretty strong throughout the run, and in terms of the swim and run, I feel I will be able to hold that pace for the Half Iron Man in 3 weeks, however, no way on the bike! I averaged around the 35km/hr mark for the 55km, still got bludgeoned and was quite tired, so will not be able to hold that speed for 90km. Still, a good hit out, and thoroughly enjoyable. The race was realy well organised, a great turn out, and the course was pretty good to, the swim in a river, the run and ride through farmland, and pretty flat so it was a great race, I certainly enjoyed it.

So, all up this week :

Swim : 2.5hours (8kms)
Cycle : 3hours TT + 1.45hours (55km at race today)
Run : 5hours (62km)
Total : 12.15hours (or there abouts)

SO a pretty decent week, another enjoyable one to. I am pretty knackered, but it will be a drop in the ocean to how those guys who just finished the Hawaiin Man, they will be 100% satisfied, but pretty physically buggered.....and will be for the next few days to!

once again, well done Vlad on your effort mate, real,ly pleased for you!!

That Martian Weather :-(

Well, those bloody dust storms finally caught up with me this week. I thought I had scraped through training in those conditions twice with no effect on me, but alas, that was not to be! I trained in Tuesday morning and felt tight in the chest but dismissed it, but woke up on Wednesday morning to do the brick session and my chest was so tight, I could not fully breath in...it sucked! I dropped the session, and let Rollo know, and he told me to take a few days off, it was a recovery week anyway!
So, no training Wednesday, or Thursday, and then Vlad asked if I was coming to his last big swim set on friday morning before he flits off to Hawaii for one of the toughest races on earth! So, I though bugger it, I will join him and if I struggle will pull out. I also decided to use the wet suit for the first time in the pool as well, it was 5 x 800m session so the wettie would get some good mileage!
Firstly, let me tell you, that 2XU V1 wetsuit is bloody fast! No doubt about it! Man, I felt like I was swimming at the same sorts of speeds I was doing when I was playing waterpolo for Zimbabwe, and doing heaps of swimming. I have felt and thought it was fast in the ocean, but you cant really gauge how fast you are really going because of the currents, waves and constant checking for sharks (well I do anyway), but in the 50m pool....boy, I was racking up the 100m splits in some serious times and comfortably to. We did 4km all up, and whilst I would say I was pretty tired, I was very happy with my efforts and how I felt. I have scrimped and scratched for most of my triathlon gear over the past year, but Vlad, JO and 2XU sorted me with this suit, and boy, wearing quality gear really really makes a differance. The same thing applies to the 2XU run singlets and compression tights.....wearing good the good quality stuff really does make a differance and you can easily feel it, so I am very grateful for having some of this kit....cheers!
The above comments were not a sponsered plug in, not at all, although maybe if I get huuuge hits on this blog I can approach Vlad, but I had an interesting conversation with Miles from work on Monday. He was asking if I was promoting the sport or just my story through this blog..I was primarily telling my story, but he made me realise its my responsibility to not only tell my story, but to help other triathletes looking for things not to do or do, and any information I come across should be shared....to help promote the sport, promote any event or anyone who has the passion (like Vlad and Jo) and interest to keep the sport growing. So on that note...another plug in....for those Coasties...dont forget to sign up for the Central Coast Triathlon on the 18th by clicking here : Central Coast Tri Club

So, for those of you interested in following Vlads progress in Hawaii and during the race, the details can be found on his blog twitter here :

Twitter

Vlads Blog

Some more good news, Andrew Mildren competed in the Gold Coast Half Iron Man today, and he smashed it in 4.57 (apparently, if he posts a report I will link it to my blog next week), but it was somethign like a 60min PB for him...I knew he would do well, so a huge congrats to him! Sensational effort! Steve Mckellar also posted a sub 5hour race which is just fantastic. Testiment to Rollos coaching and programs he sets and delivers for each one of us.....he is truly doing a great job for all the guys on his programs!

So enough about all the others, onto me, so apart from missing 2 days, whcih felt like 2 weeks, I did train every other day, and it was a recovery week. Friday was a good swim set, Tuesday was a good bike set, I had a great run in the rain and wind with jase, Eddie and ALM (Angry Little Man or Allan Pearso) followed by an ocean swim, and then today, I was downstairs on the turbo trainer for an hour and decided because the rain had subsided I would go up to Calga and do the 43km Time Trial. I did it in 1hr 17 so thats a 2min PB, and to be honest, i felt crap the whole way. I thought I was well behind the last time I did one, so was pleasantly surprised. I ran 6km off the bike, and kept the pace at around 4.15 with the HR under 15o again, so felt strong on the run again. The issue is, I am not sure if I can sustain the pace I want for races such as the Half Iron Man on the bike, I am just not strong enough, so its going to be a challange holding back.'

To sum up this week then :

Swim : 10km (4hours)
Run : aprox 30km (2.5hours)
Cycle : 43km + 3hours on TT
Total 9.5hours

So you can easily see it was a recovery week in terms of volume, but remember, I was off for 2 days, so still managed to do some sessions!

Next week, I am competing in the Maitlaind Triathlon festival, its a 1.5km swim, 55km cycle and 12km run...should be fun and maybe a little tough. Nothing however on Vlads effort in Kona, I wish him all the best for the time he is over there and especially the race, I will post any updates on his efforts next week.'

Until then....