Travelling Blues

Following a number of pretty intense weeks of training, this week was on paper slightly lighter.....looking back at it though, whilst a few of the sessions might not have been as long, there were a number which were really tough...the wednesday brick session was in there (which I love), an interval session on Thursday night, a 10km Time Trial on Saturday, and a long brick session today with Andrew.

I also travelled to Melbourne on Thursday for 2 days of work, a bit of a whirlwind trip, very stressfull work wise, not the work done in the office, but the stuff going on back in Sydney was not exactly helpful....so the interval set Thursday night was hard, in unfamiliar area, and after a long day of work and travel, so not ideal for me. I missed the swim on Friday, because I left my gear back home, but I had done a swim on Tuesday just in case something did actually prevent me from training on Friday, so that was okay. I was really tired on Friday anyway, as I did not sleep well at all. I was up before 6am as well....the body is now so used to being up early :-(

I arrived back in sydney late on friday night, and was up early to meet Andrew for a 5.30am start down at Terrigal, to run 3omins before the 10km TT. I knew as soon as I started running it was going to be a tough hard day at the office, my legs were heavy, my knees were tender, and just not my usual self...raring to go. Well, after about 3km into the race, I was actually considering pulling the pin, I was knackered, had nothing in the tank at all, tired, breathing fard and actually not enjoying myself at all. A few mental battle moments were had, and when I reminded myself that the Iron Man is going to be 4 x the distance, and probably 10 x the pain, I was able to soldier on.....but only running at around the 4min pace. Andrew and Smithy ran like legends and they were awesome to watch surging ahead. In the end, I came through the line in 39.46...nearly 2mins or so off my PB and I was dissapointed. The only good thing I can take from that run was the mental toughness I probably learnt, the run itself was probably my worst in terms of the enjoyment factor....and thats what it is all about, enjoying being out there.
The funny thing was, i got up at 4.50am this morning, felt pretty ordinary again, met up with Andrew and we were to ride 3hours (with hill repeats) and then 8km off the bike run. The ride started with my legs feeling very heavy again, but after about an hour, i was feel heaps better, and rea,lly enjoyed being out there. The hill repeats done with a very slow cadence were awesome...loved doing them, and the interesting thing was how far Andrew and I got up the hills, were were a fair few hundred meters further up the road than we were able to 3 months ago....shows how good the training is we do through Rollo...his programs are the business!
The run off the bike was good, I felt so much better than yesterday, enjoyed the run (even after 70 odd kms on the bike), it was hot, challanging surface with hills, but I loved it, so the week ended on a real high....thank goodness. The only issue is back to work tomorrow, and off to WA for a few days this week....so its going to be stressful again....makes you wander sometimes!

To sum the week up then :

Swim : 9kms (3hours)
Ride : 80kms + 2Hours on TT (5hours)
Run : 50kms (4.5hours)
TOTAL : 12.5hours

So a solid week of training, a pretty stressful week of work, and throw the traveling and heat into the mix, and it has made it pretty tough. Work wise, my least enjoyable week for quite a few months to be honest, and, given the number of hours I work, stressful weeks really take their toll on me, so lets hope this one coming is slightly better. I had not scheduled any time off over Xmas this year, but I am considering it seriously now....would be good to spend time at home with the family I think.

So, perth here I come. I am also going to Bussulton to wathc the Iron Man, Vlad and Tim will be competing in it so it will be good. Its going to be hectic for me travel wise, but I guess thats life sometimes.....so until then...

What a back drop!

I am sitting in the lounge room this evening, thankfully with air conditioning as its still bloody hot outside, with Aus Idol on (sssshhhh....my wife loves it, I just enjoy being in her company!) and boy, what a stage those guys have to sing on. With the opera house, bridge, harbour, darling harbour etc all around, it must be a huge night for all the singers there, from being pretty much no one 6months ago to be signing in front of millions with that back drop.....pretty lucky! They are just lucky the construction of the stage on thursday did not ruin Allan's (ALM) and my run because then there would have trouble!!
Talking about back drops and heat, we had the Central Coast Triathlon monthly race out at Summerland Point. That is also a pretty nice spot to be able to go up to and race at. Having not done too many triathlons and venues, I guess its a pretty uneducated opinion, but I still think its pretty good. Going on the number of competitors today, one has to wander if the venue is sustainable....if the club races continue to sell out and be in the demand they are. There were 150 today at least, a far cry from the 40 or 50 there 12 months ago, and the quality of those racing was pretty good to I think. The morning was pretty hot, although thankfully the sun really cranked it up more towards lunchtime, so by the time I got home it was 40 degrees.....Jase, Andrew, Tim and I rode to the race from The Entrance (35km), did the race and rode back again, and it was humid but not like this afternoon heat wise thank God! Vlad attended the race today, smashed it....come in 1st, he rode and ran like an animal! The only other person remotely close to his effort on the run was some young bloke who run me down with about 500m to go or so, and he flew past me....must have been running close to 3..20min per km splits. I kept seeing him gaining on me on the run, and I was hoping to hold him off, but he blew me away...strong! I think with the way Rollo is training me, the bike for me is only going to get stronger, and thats good, because it means I will come off the bike stronger and fresher...today I was hurting again, which in a sprint distance triathlon you expect that, but I was pretty tired and struggling to get into a rhythm....hopefully the brick sessions will continue to help me with that. Vlad finished in just over 60mins...which is incredible, blew the others away! Good on him!
I dont know the results as yet, but I think the boys I rode up with enjoyed themselves which was good. The other thing to note, is Jase, Andrew and I ran 22kms on Saturday as well, so its not as if we were fresh, but once again, it shows that the programs Rollo gives us work, there was no way 6months ago I woudl have been able to do a run like that the day before a race.....let alone ride up to the bloody thing in the morning!! The other thing to think about is just how tough Kona must be. If you asked me to go out and run just 10km at lunchtime today, i will have told you exactly where to stuff that idea! The race in Kona this year was way above that, and those poor buggers were riding and running in that heat....shit, its a wander so many finish to be honest!

This week was another great one in terms of training. I did some interval training with Vlad, jeez that guy can run....he was doing 2km efforts and I could hardly keep up with him doing half that distance....it will be good to see how fast he can really go when he focus's on one discipline only...he'll smash it! wednesday was an awesome brick session, did a good 2hours on thursday on the bike and then a great swim on friday morning with Vlad and his mate (his mate smashed me in the 800's....ah well)

I am off to Melbourne this week, so its going to be a bit of a disturned training week, whcih for someone like me who thrives on routine is going to be a menace, but hey, I'll cope! I'll just take my running gear and swimmmers with me (note to self, find a pool close by in Melbourne)

So, to sum up this week :

Swim : 9km (3hours)
Bike : 130kms (4hours + 2.5hrs TT)
Run : 45kms (4hours)
Total : 14.5hours

Again, another quality week of training for me, thoroughly enjoyable (most of the time) and ended in a great day out today with the boys at the race....

Thanks to the guys who organised the day today, it was pretty smooth and simple given the number of competitors, and the new Sprint distance was awesome!

Until next week!

Who opened that locker again??

Boy this week has been another full on week, for training, for work, for everything really! Its been so full on right from Monday morning (6am). The Sunday night I did a whole host of changes to our citrix farm, somewhat tested them, and then essentially all night worried about it, so instead of going to swim at 6am, I went into work, and thank god I did as I had to undo all the work I did over the weekend. So, it was a stressful start, and I guess it did not improve much as the week went on.
It was my own fault though for not testing 100% which to be honest, was not like me at all, I fully understand the impact that poor change management and testing can have on the end users, so not sure what got into me. Mind you, as I type this, I am going through the same changes again....this time however, I am fully testing the new steps required.....so lets hope I go swimming tomorrow morning!
I did catch the swim up at lunchtime which was good and then Tuesday was a solid brick session, with a recovery run in the afternoon. Wednesday was a long run, which ended up being a half marathon run in 90mins, and a very tough swim at lunchtime! I then stayed back at work through to 7pm, and popped over Vlads 2XU Paddington store to listen in on one of his monthly workshops, this one delivered by Jamie Hunt (former pro) on what gear we should be buying as triathletes. It was fantastic! Really well delivered, Jamie's knowledge on the deisgn and materials which go into wetsuits and other clothing was excellent, and very very interesting the science that goes into the garments. He might work for 2XU but he delivered it in an unbiased manner....
I also met a chap whose name i wish I had got. He was it seemed an average triathlete like most of us are, although he had already done a number of Half Iron Man races and to his credit a full Iron Man in March. He was so excited about his achievements, so excited to share his experiences with me and so generous with his thoughts. He reminded me what training to Heart rate is all about and why we need and must do it (when the program stipulates this). Something I have not done well on my own of late which is why I visit that bloody pain locker more than I need to. He reminded me how important nutrition is on the bike, even for shorter endurance races, he reminded me that pacing is very important and to not get ahead of myself, and above all, its all about being out there, being able to train, race and enjoy the sport and other triathletes. His first Half Iron Man he pretty much felt like I did, very bad stitch and cramps, he however, ended up with kidney failure and in hospital (he did finish the race), but his story shows how careful we need to be and to ensure we have a proper nutriotion plan and to make sure it is followed during such a long race like Iron Man....the reminder has been saved and will be reviewed weekly on my long rides.....
I got home at 10.30pm, and was up at 3.30am and on the train to hornsby to get out there and ride in to meet Vlad to join him in his recovery ride, which is around centennial. The set was all about cadence for me, so it suited the flats. Well, I ended up doing nearly 80kms which was way too much, but it was pretty good fun and not particulary heavy on the legs. The lunchtime run which consisted of 6 x 1km efforts (done at between 3.30 and 3.46) were really really hard, especially in the heat at lnchtime. I was completely stuffed after that, and was pretty buggered on Friday as well, so the heat ook a whole lot out of me, and makes we wander if I should be doing more running in the afternoons now, to prepare myself for the heat as I will be running mid to late afternoon in March....Rollo - any thoughts??

Saturday Andrew and I ran for a touch over 2 hours, whcih was about 24kms! Today I was not able to join them on the long ride but I did get up at 5am, hoped on the Turbo Trainer for 140mins followed by a 12km run which was great....so all done before 9am, which was nice.

To summerise this week :

Swim - 6.5kms (2hours)
Run - 68kms (6hours)
Cycle - 105kms + 210mins(TT) = 7Hours
TOTAL = 15hours

I was short on the swim this week, which was due to time constraints and a bit of fatigue, but I think my swim is the least of my worries. Not that I am complacent about it, but its the one leg I can consider myself to be pretty reasonable in.

So I feel okay tonight, legs seem to be okay and ready to go for the next week, which ends in a club race....whicih should be fun!

Until then......ciao!

Ignorance was Bliss!

However, having completed the Half Iron Man still just a week ago (cant believe its only been a week, it feels like 2 or 3 already), I was very excited and willing to tell my mates and those who were interested in how the race went for me. The unfortunate thing about the reditions is, you are constantly reminding yourself that you only have 5 months of training before the canon goes off for my target race...the Iron Man which is double what I went through last Sunday! Its not a long time at all, and has made me even more nervous for March! But, I am also sure Rollo will have be prepared and ready, and at least I know now that if you spend too much energy and resources on one leg of this race, you will pay for it somewhere, and it will hurt! I am still bitterly dissappointed with my run time, especially since its certainly stronger than my bike leg. Anyway, I learnt the hard way as I am sure everyone does. Still, it was very good to know that my bike is probably not as bad as I thought it was. I still cannot believe how Rollo had my time spot on..the man is really so good as a coach, and its also very comforting to know that there is someone building programs which have already produced the required results! Thanks Rollo!!

**Note to Rollo** Bring on the intensity mate, I dont want to cramp up or go through the pain like last week so pile it on!!

So, after the race on Sunday, I managed a whopping 3 beers....WTF! That was it! I then got up at 5.30am on Monday, did an easy 1km swim to loosen everything up and spent the day with the family swimming and loitering. It turned out Monday afternoon was the sorest I was to be which was good. I did nothing on Tuesday as we travelled back home, but at home was a program waiting for me....straight back into full training really. I even asked Rollo if he had sent me the right week! Legs were still too tender to run on Thursday, so I rode for 2hours with Vlad instead, nice and easy which was great. we swam at ABC pool together on Friday morning which was an awesome set. Andrew M and I ran together yesterday at Terrigal Trotters followed by an ocean swim in some huge swells! It was actually quite hectic. My fear of sharks was back, some floating bird scared the bejesus out of me, I think I left a log in the wet suit....:-(

The run was actually quite hilly, and at the end of the 18kms I could feel my legs were still fatigued. Andrew and I then rode 90kms this morning, pretty much all in the rain! we were soaked through, but it was good to be out again on the rode and knowing we were already well on our way to being prepared for March next year.

So not a big week in terms of training, but it was still full on given what was on both at home and work.

The summery :

Swim : 8.5km (3hours)
Bike : 70mins TT + 145kms (6hours)
Run : 18kms (100mins)
Total : 10.40hours

Not bad given I raced in a Half Iron Man on the Sunday, and its good, because come March 28th 2010, I am going to need to be 150% prepared both mentally and physically, and I still have a long way to go in both of these aspects!

Iron Man March 2010 here I come!

Phew - done and dusted! Today was the Port Macquarie Half Iron Man race, which also acts as one of the full Iron Man qualification races in Australia, and my target race is the Iron Man here in Port Macquarie on the 28th of March 2010.

To say I was nervous from Saturday afternoon onwards would be an understatement, I was shitting myself. Especially after driving some of the cycle course which turns out to be pretty hilly for the first 10km or so (which was all I drove). So, armed with the thinking that the whole bike course consisted of hills only, and really worried about the cycle leg, I got up at 4am this morning, with my packed bag (I packed and unpacked this bag 3 or 4 times over the past 2 days) and headed off for Transition 1 (T1). I was there at 4.45am, one of the first athletes, christened one of the porta loo's with could very well have been some sort of abominable byproduct of nerves, chicken stir fry and 'Up n Go'! that out the way, I it was 5am, and the bike transition was open. It was awesome to see all that equipment, lined up, realising just how many athletes there were, and then, realising that the full Iron Man has double that number - sensational!!
I finished oggling at the bike porn, and started to get my gear sorted, checked, double checked, checked again, pumped my tyres up and went for a nervous run with andrew and jase. they were pretty relaxed which was good to see. 10mins warm up, back to T1, wetsuit on and into the water to get going. what felt like ages treading water, we were off for the 1.9km swim! I felt very comfortable throughout, except for the leach on my feet and ankles. Gave whoever it was a few boots to sort them out and remind them to do their own work, and I was out of the water in about 23mins. Not sure exact position, but apparently that was pretty much with the front group - great! And I felt fresh still! I was able to easily get into a rythm this time and stretch the stroke out.
Into T1, onto the bike and away we go. Through the hills, HR right up there, and already getting passed by the strong riders. It was great, about 20mins into the ride, you actually get onto a highway which is pretty much flat for 20kms or so, and I sat on about 37km/hr pretty much all the way back to the hills. There was some serious drafting going on, but the draft busters were out in full, and showed a fair few yellow cards throughout the day...I did not get one. This race I did none! 2nd lap I tried to back off to 33km/hr but actually ended up a little faster. Got really hectic cramps going up the steep Flinders hill, and knew I was going to have a tough run. I knew I had over extended myself on the ride and coupled with heat and cramping it was making me worried about running a whole 21km and finishing.
Into T2 with a bike split of about 2.34 (nearly 30mins faster than I had budgted for) couldn't find my runners because some muppet had put his bike in the wrong spot, about 40secs later, swearing at my socks because I had them on upsidedown, gels in the back pockets and we are off. 1st 4 kms at 4.10pace, feeling okay, but breathing heavy with cramps reminding me they are there, I come to the one and only hill on the course, slow down, and start to back the pace right off....I am feeling the fatigue and badly. I finish the 1st lap feeling knackered, over heating, cramping and now with a stitch which is inflicting pain in my gut which limits my ability to take deep breaths! 2nd lap was a dark one for me.....I was doubting my ability to finish, I walked a bit to try and relieve the cramps in the legs and gut, started taking in coke, High5, water at every aid station and pouring heaps of water over myself trying to cool off. My feet were on fire, my head was probably steaming, mouth dry, gut bloated, legs cramping, stomach sore, but with Rollo telling me I was looking strong (yeah right....) I soldiered on. Highlight of lap 2 was an Indian bloke (who looked like Jesus) with budgy smugglers on....what a site, but good on him for doing it. Lap 3, 4 Gels later, coke, High5, lots of cold water over me (my shoes were now sqwelching), stitch gone, cramping residing I was back to sub 5min/km (after being near 6min/km on lap 2) and feeling much much better. I was into a rythm for the 1ast time on the run, and now knew I was going to finish. The question was, in what time? I knew I would be close to 5hours, but it was not until 3km to go that Rollo said "sub 5 hour mate!" I picked the pace up, and like a horse, smelt the finish line. INto the finishers chute....had some ardvaark want to sprint, held him off and through the line in 4.47! WOW! I nearly shed a tear at the releif of finishing....Andrew M was a few mins (4.52) behind me, so a sensational race from him.

INto the medical / recovery tent. The ardvaark who wanted to race the last 100m was poked....needed to be carried in. Serves him right for making me sprint! Good on him for finishing though. A couple of gallons of coke, water melon and ice-cream and fruit salad and NAdrew and I were off to cool off in the water.

Just a quick note...in my opinion, the race organisers did a sensational job. There were 800 fantiastic volunteers (almost one per racer) made everything so smooth and easy. They were all so helpful, and friendly so alot of that experience is down to them making it so good. I will write to the organisers to say thanks, because I dont think people get told enough about the good things they do, we tend to focus on the negative, however, this was nothing but fantastic! Well done and thanks to them all!

Also a quick note thanks to all those who supported me : my family (obvisoulsy), Rollo and Mitchell, Eddie and his family, Tony and Renee, cheers to you all for yelling out and keeping me going.

Unofficially, I came in79th overall, and 24th in my age group which is beyond anything I thought I could do. This race certinaly shows I have a long long long long long way to go to be able to finish a full Iron Man, but Rollo, you have my trust sir! (he predicted I would do between 4.45 and 4.50), the mans knows my level better than I!

SO, the unofficial summery from the race, with my goals I said last week are :

Swim : 23mins (30mins)
Ride : 2hrs 34mins (3hrs 15mins)
Run : 108mins (100mins)

The run was a blow out because I pushed on the ride, but I learnt about that today!

I will post the official results next week, but all in all, a really satisfying day, and I am so pleased and grateful I was able to do it.

Brett