The last 3 weeks have been tumultuous. Circumstances have been less than ideal as far as being able to get consistent training sessions completed. However, greater levels of tolerance from Rachel (+kids) have allowed me to get most of the important training sessions done.
Week SIX - 11th January to 17th January
Monday AM - Ride 35km
Monday PM - Swim 3km
Tuesday PM - Swim 3km, Run 5km (treadmill run @ Gym)
Wednesday PM - Run 10km Sun Valley
Thursday AM - Run 11km treadmill (45mins)
Thursday PM - Ride
Friday AM - Swim 3-4km, Ride 120km.
Friday PM - Run 1hr45min (need to map this one for distance, ~16-18km)
Saturday AM - Ride with Penrith Institute of Sport (PIS) around Cobbitty Loop, 115km, with easy Run off the bike, ~7km.
Sunday AM - Ride with PIS, Bells Line of Rd. This was the first one with the Ironman squad, felt great and enjoyed every single pedal stroke!
I stayed home for the weekend while Rach and the Kids headed off to Holidays on Saturday, making my way down on Sunday afternoon. Holidays consisted of car camping on the South Coast near Jervis Bay. Plenty of relaxation, too much sun, and a little reading.
Week SEVEN - 18th to 24th January - training while camping = bad!
Monday - Rest (weather terrible)
Tuesday AM - Ride 35km around Crookhaven Heads, Culburra and Callala. Some great places for trail running incidentally, Jervis Bay National Park and some state forest areas. Not many hills!
Wednesday PM - Swim ~2.5km. Found a pool at nearby Greenwell Point, a great outdoor 25m pool I had to myself (+ some sea gulls), a little colder than I am used to though.
Thursday AM - Run 6km with Amy.
Friday AM - Ride 18km - Swim 3km - Ride 52km
Headed back home that afternoon to get organised for weekend training sessions and moving house.
Saturday AM - Ride with PIS around Cobbitty again, this time finishing with some fast Time Trials followed by a very sluggish 15km run off the bike. Struggled with the heat and hydration. Walked far too much.
Sat PM - swim cancelled due to moving.
Sunday AM - Bells Line of Rd again with PIS, 160km getting around in 5hr30, struggled.
Week EIGHT - 25th - 31st January
Monday - Rest
Tuesday AM - 42km in Glenbrook National Park for Australia Day Fatass Run. Enjoyed this a lot. Wasn't planning on doing the full marathon, however when Scam headed down Pisgah Ridge I knew he had full intentions of doing the full. Something that was discussed later as Plan B was hatched. I think I needed this one mentally moreso than physically. My long runs have suffered for the last month due to the long rides taking precedence. Felt good to get through this in 4:10 with few complaints.
Tuesday PM - not surprisingly I didn't get the call from The Animal to join him for the firm treadmill session, so I ate food instead.
Wednesday AM - Swim >3km
Wednesday PM - stretches and some core exercise. Legs feeling tight after Tuesdays run.
Thursday AM - 12km on treadmill at 5min/km pace, keeping HR low(ish). Lack the discipline to do this properly.
Friday AM - Swim 3.5km followed by 120km ride with The Prince and The Bro. Headed up to Megalong Valley to see what the hill has to offer. Not much as it turns out! It is a good long hill, but plenty of fast flatter sections to keep the pace up and not much slow grinding efforts. In this regards Bellbird and Tomah are considerably harder. I did enjoy the ride. Had to crank it back to make a massage appointment. Much needed work on the gluts and ITB.
Saturday AM - low point as I missed the morning PIS ride due to back pain, poor sleep and alarm malfunction.
Saturday PM - got a ride in with Paul (bro-in-law), who is about to embark on a foray into the world of triathlon. 60km around the Hawkesbury Loop with Old Bathurst thrown in. Back home with enough time to get up to Springwood Pool for a 3km straight wetsuit swim. Felt good, splits looked OK, not sure if I missed a few laps though, 120 laps in 25m pool and I am bound to forget a few. Glad I could keep pace up over the 3km without feeling fatigue, total time ~42mins.
Got a quick run in the evening around home, 1hr5min.
Sunday AM - made the PIS Bells Line Ride, 160km, 5:35, in a lot of pain for most of the day. Calves, gluts and quads felt like they were on fire. Ran off the bike, 35mins, v. slow pace but focussed on putting one foot in front of another.
Sunday PM - Rest and re-fuel.
Happy with progress. More consistency needed and more discipline with correct training. Apprehensive about February and the increase in intensity and distance, however happy that the body has held up mostly for the last 2 months of fairly hard training.
It seems everyone I speak to is going to be in Port Maquarie for Ironman, which I am both pleased and apprehensive about. I will put this warning out there for those who wish to spectate: if the day is a success you will see tears and if the day is a failure you will also see tears!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Week FIVE - 4th to 10th January 2010
I would have to say, one word that has been thrown around this week would have to be RECOVERY. I most certainly had it firmly planted at the back of my mind throughout the week. With each missed training session I reminded myself that the body has a tendency to go through these recovery cycles. That is, every so often you need to back things off and allow the body to recuperate and regain some strength. The alternative is not back off and potentially getting sick or suffering an injury. I have found that getting this balance right is harder than it would seem. Either way, to be honest my decisions were not made based on this training principle (more on training and programs later). It was based on missing alarms, hitting snooze too many times and simply being unmotivated. Returning back to work mid-week also made it very hard to finish off the week with some decent kms.
After finishing last week with some big days and all 3 long rides including a fair bit of riding in the rain, this week started pretty easy.
Monday - PM Swim, 6km.
Tuesday - PM Run, 10km. (v. slow and tough around Woodford Dam solo)
Wednesday - all day excursion to the Zoo, 10 hours, v. tough. PM swim, 3km.
Thursday - AM run on treadmill with The Animal, 10km Build, 45mins. Jump in the pool straight after for about 1.5km.
Friday - PM Ride, 25km Woodford and Back; Run off the bike, Martin's LO return. 21:45 (PB for this run - negative splits, felt good, leg speed quick after treadmill work)
Saturday - AM missed swim session due to Pool not being open until 8am, so got an easy 6km run around home, felt slow. PM was supposed to be some hill reps on H'bury Hill followed by 10km run off the bike. Plans aborted due to flat tyre, played Volley Ball instead.
Sunday AM - early start for Bells Line of Rd with WXS and Dylan (needs a nickname if he is going to keep featuring in my Blogs). Felt fresh due to reduced load during the week, kept pace slow and concentrated on technique. Finished strong down the hwy and after a slow transition (15min incl. toilet break) headed out during the hottest time of a very hot day for what was supposed to be a 90min run. Change in plans after 40mins due to heat, took on some water at Cripple Creek and walked back to the parent's house, Warrimoo. Felt fine as far as energy and strength was concerned, just couldn't manage the heat. HR stayed low but breathing rate through the roof.
PM swim with ST and WXS. Maybe 3km, 10x100m on 1:30, 1x400m and some kicking drills.
The run and ride kms were reduced this week. Some shorter high intensity stuff was chucked in instead.
After finishing last week with some big days and all 3 long rides including a fair bit of riding in the rain, this week started pretty easy.
Monday - PM Swim, 6km.
Tuesday - PM Run, 10km. (v. slow and tough around Woodford Dam solo)
Wednesday - all day excursion to the Zoo, 10 hours, v. tough. PM swim, 3km.
Thursday - AM run on treadmill with The Animal, 10km Build, 45mins. Jump in the pool straight after for about 1.5km.
Friday - PM Ride, 25km Woodford and Back; Run off the bike, Martin's LO return. 21:45 (PB for this run - negative splits, felt good, leg speed quick after treadmill work)
Saturday - AM missed swim session due to Pool not being open until 8am, so got an easy 6km run around home, felt slow. PM was supposed to be some hill reps on H'bury Hill followed by 10km run off the bike. Plans aborted due to flat tyre, played Volley Ball instead.
Sunday AM - early start for Bells Line of Rd with WXS and Dylan (needs a nickname if he is going to keep featuring in my Blogs). Felt fresh due to reduced load during the week, kept pace slow and concentrated on technique. Finished strong down the hwy and after a slow transition (15min incl. toilet break) headed out during the hottest time of a very hot day for what was supposed to be a 90min run. Change in plans after 40mins due to heat, took on some water at Cripple Creek and walked back to the parent's house, Warrimoo. Felt fine as far as energy and strength was concerned, just couldn't manage the heat. HR stayed low but breathing rate through the roof.
PM swim with ST and WXS. Maybe 3km, 10x100m on 1:30, 1x400m and some kicking drills.
The run and ride kms were reduced this week. Some shorter high intensity stuff was chucked in instead.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Week FOUR - 28th to the 3rd January 2010 [NEW YEAR]
Well, a switch in format for the weekly blog is in order. Because it is far simpler and reduces duplication if I list what I did on each day (besides, it is more intuitive). I am hoping that these blogs will become shorter and shorter as each week becomes simply a repeat of the week prior. That is, the program stays the same and I stay with the program.
After 4 weeks of settling in to the training I think a nice balance has been reached. Admittedly, the time constraints have been relaxed due to holidays. In the same vein as Prince Donges, if someone would like to sponsor me as a hack triathlete attempting an Ironman for the first time, feel free to have your people contact my people. I can guarantee you won't get any media coverage or podium appearances for your money, but we could think of it in a more philanthropic light.
On with it...
Monday:
Ride in the AM - very very heavy rain, torrential at times. Headed up to Woodford and back, getting thoroughly soaked before even getting out of the car port! I think it is about 30km, if that.
Later that morning, the family and I headed up to a brief holiday with lots of friends up at Forrester's Beach, Central Coast.
Tuesday:
Sleep in - thats what you do on Holidays isn't it?
Midday ride around Bateau Bay and Terrigal, perhaps 25km.
Evening Run with Welshy up the biggest hills we could find. 45mins. Decent views.
Wednesday:
Ride in the morning with Welshy and Australia's most recent Tour De France hopeful (unannounced at this stage). Very pleasant, if a little quicker than I am used to, little hit out around some of the National Parks around Terrigal. One or Two decent hills.
Headed back home later that morning - Rach had to be back for a funeral.
Evening swim at Springwood - 4km: 500m warm-up, 30x100m (10 paddle+pull buoy, 10 normal, 10 paddle+pull buoy) on the 1:40, finished the last 6 on the 1:30, swimming at approx 1:25. 500m warm down.
Thursday:
Morning run with the BMMC boys, out to Faulconbridge Pt from the High School and back, under 20km for the round trip.
Late morning swim with The Animal. Decent set (after previous night's swim) consisting of 5x300m on the 6:20. First 2 were fine, last 3 were tough. Enough rest between sets. A few drills and 10x25m sprints to finish up. All up just over 3.5km.
Easy ride that afternoon with The Animal: Faulco - Winmalee - Blaxland - Springwood. 40km, 1.5hr.
Friday:
Broke the routine this week, headed out for easy long ride. The loop has a name, I can't remember it however, ask The Animal. About 94km taking in Northern Rd, Bringelly Rd, M7 Bike Path and M4. Struggled maintaining The Animals pace, many conversations about what 'slow' means were necessary. Cervelo's aren't designed to be ridden at 20km/h, unlike Giants.
Got a run in that afternoon. Heading out for a repeat of Christmas Days run, with the alteration of heading back home once at the top of Sun Valley hill. Yet to explore the goats track that heads out of Sun Valley up to Valley Heights, but expect it to be entertaining. This run took me 99mins, haven't mapped it yet to work out the kms. I suspect between 15 - 18km.
Saturday:
Morning bunch ride with Mr Green et al. This ride would have to be the toughest one for quite a while. Starting with a figure 8 route taking in Old Bathurst Hill (up), Mitchells Pass (down) x3 and Lappo Hill (up), a point system was set up after the first climb. Next stop Nth Richmond, Bowen Mt and Bell Bird Hill. From here it was back to Hawkesbury Hill and home. A quick photo with the boys before the second Torrential Downpour I have had the pleasure of riding in in the last week. It appears the points were unnecessary as The Animal had a clean sweep of all 5 hills. I was somewhat proud of my own performance, managing a podium finish for 4 out of 5 hills. This was a great social ride, the last one with Jason before he heads off to the Sunshine Coast.
Off the bike, The Animal chased me down on the run (I had a much quicker transition) and proceeded to put about 1km into me. Just shy of 10km for this one. Felt slower than the previous week (ride was about 2 hours longer and considerably harder), however roughly maintained my target marathon pace for Ironman (5min/km).
Sunday:
Difficult to get up this morning. Still running late, despite the 1 hour sleep-in granted by The Animal the night before. Headed out on the bike with tired legs and a sore back, for a slow loop around Bells Line of Rd. This would be the second attack on Bell Bird in as many days. I would say she attacked back this time, as I struggled before the hill even began. Managed to roll through and get around in just over 6 hours (I think). Aside from physical fatigue, my 'mental endurance' (as it was so eloquently put mid-ride) was waivering, making this one that much tougher.
Capped off the day with a social swim (ie. more talking than swimming) and spa before cooking up a storm of pasta and rissotto with the wife. My life is all about carbs at the moment.
Despite the disturbances to the routine earlier in the week, it finished strongly.
Some interesting developments this week:
I have managed to lose some decent weight over the last 4 weeks (without any real modification of diet), bringing me down to between 71-72 kg. Target for Port is anything below 70. And I think this will happen with just a little modification of the diet.
Related to the first development, it appears I have sprouted some abdominal muscles. Until now, I had at the back of my mind always thought that I was born without any. They are only small, but they are there!
I'm feeling in a good position re: training at the moment. Things are going to step up in a few more weeks, giving me a little time to adjust to the increased load before it increases again. The body seems to have shaken the viral thing from a few weeks back. My only health issue at the moment seems to be excessive sun exposure. A change in sunscreen may yield some better results, but not making the classic "it's wet and cold I don't need sunscreen" mistake should make a difference.
Tomorrow will be a light day - perhaps some golf, some shopping, cleaning the bike(s), work, etc. Ending with a hard swim session in the evening.
After 4 weeks of settling in to the training I think a nice balance has been reached. Admittedly, the time constraints have been relaxed due to holidays. In the same vein as Prince Donges, if someone would like to sponsor me as a hack triathlete attempting an Ironman for the first time, feel free to have your people contact my people. I can guarantee you won't get any media coverage or podium appearances for your money, but we could think of it in a more philanthropic light.
On with it...
Monday:
Ride in the AM - very very heavy rain, torrential at times. Headed up to Woodford and back, getting thoroughly soaked before even getting out of the car port! I think it is about 30km, if that.
Later that morning, the family and I headed up to a brief holiday with lots of friends up at Forrester's Beach, Central Coast.
Tuesday:
Sleep in - thats what you do on Holidays isn't it?
Midday ride around Bateau Bay and Terrigal, perhaps 25km.
Evening Run with Welshy up the biggest hills we could find. 45mins. Decent views.
Wednesday:
Ride in the morning with Welshy and Australia's most recent Tour De France hopeful (unannounced at this stage). Very pleasant, if a little quicker than I am used to, little hit out around some of the National Parks around Terrigal. One or Two decent hills.
Headed back home later that morning - Rach had to be back for a funeral.
Evening swim at Springwood - 4km: 500m warm-up, 30x100m (10 paddle+pull buoy, 10 normal, 10 paddle+pull buoy) on the 1:40, finished the last 6 on the 1:30, swimming at approx 1:25. 500m warm down.
Thursday:
Morning run with the BMMC boys, out to Faulconbridge Pt from the High School and back, under 20km for the round trip.
Late morning swim with The Animal. Decent set (after previous night's swim) consisting of 5x300m on the 6:20. First 2 were fine, last 3 were tough. Enough rest between sets. A few drills and 10x25m sprints to finish up. All up just over 3.5km.
Easy ride that afternoon with The Animal: Faulco - Winmalee - Blaxland - Springwood. 40km, 1.5hr.
Friday:
Broke the routine this week, headed out for easy long ride. The loop has a name, I can't remember it however, ask The Animal. About 94km taking in Northern Rd, Bringelly Rd, M7 Bike Path and M4. Struggled maintaining The Animals pace, many conversations about what 'slow' means were necessary. Cervelo's aren't designed to be ridden at 20km/h, unlike Giants.
Got a run in that afternoon. Heading out for a repeat of Christmas Days run, with the alteration of heading back home once at the top of Sun Valley hill. Yet to explore the goats track that heads out of Sun Valley up to Valley Heights, but expect it to be entertaining. This run took me 99mins, haven't mapped it yet to work out the kms. I suspect between 15 - 18km.
Saturday:
Morning bunch ride with Mr Green et al. This ride would have to be the toughest one for quite a while. Starting with a figure 8 route taking in Old Bathurst Hill (up), Mitchells Pass (down) x3 and Lappo Hill (up), a point system was set up after the first climb. Next stop Nth Richmond, Bowen Mt and Bell Bird Hill. From here it was back to Hawkesbury Hill and home. A quick photo with the boys before the second Torrential Downpour I have had the pleasure of riding in in the last week. It appears the points were unnecessary as The Animal had a clean sweep of all 5 hills. I was somewhat proud of my own performance, managing a podium finish for 4 out of 5 hills. This was a great social ride, the last one with Jason before he heads off to the Sunshine Coast.
Off the bike, The Animal chased me down on the run (I had a much quicker transition) and proceeded to put about 1km into me. Just shy of 10km for this one. Felt slower than the previous week (ride was about 2 hours longer and considerably harder), however roughly maintained my target marathon pace for Ironman (5min/km).
Sunday:
Difficult to get up this morning. Still running late, despite the 1 hour sleep-in granted by The Animal the night before. Headed out on the bike with tired legs and a sore back, for a slow loop around Bells Line of Rd. This would be the second attack on Bell Bird in as many days. I would say she attacked back this time, as I struggled before the hill even began. Managed to roll through and get around in just over 6 hours (I think). Aside from physical fatigue, my 'mental endurance' (as it was so eloquently put mid-ride) was waivering, making this one that much tougher.
Capped off the day with a social swim (ie. more talking than swimming) and spa before cooking up a storm of pasta and rissotto with the wife. My life is all about carbs at the moment.
Despite the disturbances to the routine earlier in the week, it finished strongly.
Some interesting developments this week:
I have managed to lose some decent weight over the last 4 weeks (without any real modification of diet), bringing me down to between 71-72 kg. Target for Port is anything below 70. And I think this will happen with just a little modification of the diet.
Related to the first development, it appears I have sprouted some abdominal muscles. Until now, I had at the back of my mind always thought that I was born without any. They are only small, but they are there!
I'm feeling in a good position re: training at the moment. Things are going to step up in a few more weeks, giving me a little time to adjust to the increased load before it increases again. The body seems to have shaken the viral thing from a few weeks back. My only health issue at the moment seems to be excessive sun exposure. A change in sunscreen may yield some better results, but not making the classic "it's wet and cold I don't need sunscreen" mistake should make a difference.
Tomorrow will be a light day - perhaps some golf, some shopping, cleaning the bike(s), work, etc. Ending with a hard swim session in the evening.
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