Rode in and out of work on Wednesday, including a few laps of the park. This time I was on my own, rather than riding at the back of a bunch and it required a bit more effort for a bit less speed. Did a weights session yesterday which went pretty well, and preceded it with a 2.5km warm-up run. This afternoon it was time for a swim which didn’t go too well. I just felt really sluggish and couldn’t get any feel for the water and just got quite tired quite quickly. It’s probably a combination of not being in the water for the previous three weeks, going to the Friday session instead of Monday (fresh after the weekend) and being a bit stiff after weights yesterday.

100 BC/ 200 FS/ 100 BC
3 * 200 FS on 2:50 (2:45)
4 * 50 FS on 60 (45)
3 * 50 FS on 55 (45)
3 * 50 FS on 50 (45)
400 FS on 6:00 (5:55)
300 Swim Down
Total: 2200m

S: 2200m – B: 45.2km – R: 2.5km – W: 2 sessions

I did my first ever adventure race at the weekend and it was great fun. It was a team event, each team consisting of two people, so Becs got roped into being my teammate and we entered in the Mixed category. Given that neither of us had ever done an event before, we enrolled in the training day which was held the day before the race.

Saturday morning dawned to a light drizzle which put a bit of a dampener on things, but we drove down to the Royal National Park with only a vague idea of what lay in store for us. We knew it was a training day, but I wasn’t sure whether they’d have us running around all day or not. As it turned out it was quite relaxed. We spent the morning learning the basics of navigation; how to use a compass, plot your location on a map and then navigate to your destination. We wouldn’t actually need much navigation skills for the race, but they’ll come in handy at some stage in the future. We also got plenty of tips for route planning, and got advised to arrive early so we’d have plenty of time to annotate our map with our chosen route and some navigation clues.

After that it was a spot of lunch, followed by the rudiment of mountain biking (which I already knew) and the basics of kayaking. Having been on the kayaking course previously I thought I was well prepared, but as the kayak we’d be using in the race was only half the length of a sea kayak, and also inflatable, it spun on a dime, so most of the what we’d learnt on the kayaking course no longer applied. If we tried using the ‘torso rotation’ method of paddling, the kayak just spun underneath us! It had rained on and off all day, so I ended up soaking wet and freezing by the time I got home. I’d have to prepare better for race day!

The alarm went off on race day at 5:20 and I could hear the rain outside. “OK,” I thought to myself, “it’s going to be a mud fest!” After a quick bowl of cereal I packed up my gear, making sure I brought a complete change of clothes for after the race. Becs picked me up a little after 6:00 and we made it down to the Royal shortly after 7:00, dropped off our bikes at the bike transition, then got a great park near the start and registered nice and early. We picked the map and race instructions out of the bag and headed back to the car to plot our route around the course.

8:40 saw us standing in the rain listening to the race briefing, feeling surprisingly relaxed. Probably worrying more about the weather than the race itself! The gun went off at 8:56 and we sauntered off at the back of the pack. Our first checkpoint was about 1.5km up the Hacking River and we had to row to get there. I started off the rowing, though launching the boat amongst about 10-15 other teams meant that the first few minutes were spent trying not to crash into someone. Becs navigated out to the checkpoint which was a lot further than it had looked on the map and it took us about half an hour to reach it. We punched our card, then turned to head back to the boat shed. We considered swapping places and letting Becs row for a bit, but decided against trying to swap places for fear of ending up in the water. I’d remembered that the current flows fastest in the centre of the river, so we did our best to stay away from the banks and it only took about 20mins to get back to the boat shed.

The second section was all running, with a further three checkpoints to navigate to. Our preparation in the car paid off as we knew almost exactly where we were going, though as it involved gaining and then losing about 100m in altitude, my legs weren’t too happy with the whole operation. Carrying about 5kg of stuff in my backpack didn’t really help either. I was pretty pleased after nabbing the 4th checkpoint until I realised we had to run back up to the Visitor’s Centre to start the bike legs. Anyone who has driven into the Royal National Park knows that the hill down to the weir is bloody steep, so can imagine having to run back up it. The road was off-limits, so we had to use and adjacent walking trail which consisted mostly of steps. I decided from the start that I was going to walk it and Becs was happy to oblige, though I suspect I was holding her up as trailwalking is her strong point.

By this stage we’d been going for almost two hours and I was feeling a bit tired. I’d been drinking water regularly and had eaten a Mars & a breakfast bar, but it was now time to bring out the heavy artillery in the form of a Gu Energy Gel. It was quite tasty, but I didn’t get any sugar rush from it. However, I soon forgot about being tired and it was only an hour later that I realised that I’d been charging around the place without issue, so they obviously work very well!

We finally made it to the bike transition at the Visitor’s Centre, checked in with the course marshalls and jumped on the bikes for the MTB leg. There was mud everywhere so we had a great time charging through the puddles and just getting completely spattered with dirt. Becs took a turn at navigating, but I ruied it a bit by taking off down what I thought was the right track, but turned out to be the wrong one. Luckily we didn’t end up too far from our desired destination so we didn’t really lose any time.

There was one tricky section of the course which was a steep downhill. Given the conditions you’d fall over if you went too slow, but you couldn’t go too fast either as there were other teams walking uphill towards us. We made it down at a reasonable pace without issue, clicked off our 7th checkpoint and started the long walk up the hill on the other side. Cycling up wasn’t really an option as there was so much mud it was almost impossible to get traction. The 8th checkpoint was at the school near Grays Point, where we ditched the bikes and ran (well walked) through suburbia to the local boat ramp for the kayaing leg, stopping en route to explain to some kids what was going on. After all, there were plenty of mud-covered lunatics running back and forth through their streets.

The kayak leg was a pain in the arse as the kayaks were inflatable. The recommendation was to put the heavier person in the back, so that left Becs up front. Given the weight difference between us the boat actually bent in the middle! Ideally we should have been kneeling up and leaning slightly forward, but I wasn’t able to kneel due to my recurring foot issue. It hadn’t been bothering me during the race, but it seems to be triggered by stretching my foot, so sitting on it was almost certain to aggravate the problem. I ended up sitting on my arse, in probably the least efficient paddling position. Thankfully the leg was only about 30mins long, after which we ran back to the school, picked up the bikes and entered the great unknown.

In an effort to prevent any cheating, the last six checkpoints were not marked on competitor’s maps and had to be acquired on course. As we picked up the bikes, the course marshall showed us his map with the next checkpoint marked on it and we were off. It was now just one long MTB dirt fest to the finish. At each remaining checkpoint there was the hole punch to mark your control card, and a map with the next checkpoint marked on it. We flew around the rest of the course, apart from a hiccup at checkpoint 12, where some kind soul had stolen both the hole punch and the map showing the location of checkpoint 13. Thankfully some volunteers were on hand to explain the situation and point out CP13 on our map.

CP13, CP14 and CP15 followed in rapid succession, with us passing a couple of mixed teams en route. CP15 was the last checkpoint, and all that remained was to ride to the road and speed downhill back to the weir. There was another mixed team right in front of us, so we hammered downhill and managed to pass them. We dumped our bikes in the last bike transition, shouted our team number to the marshalls and asked “Is that it? Are we finished?”. The response was “What does your course card tell you to do.” Unfortunately it said we had to run back to where we’d started the race, a distance of about 1km. Off we went, but my knees were in bits at this stage and my run more closely resembled a hobble. The teams we’d passed on the downhill sauntered past us and there was nothing we could do. We crossed the line with big grins on our faces with my watch reading 4hrs 34mins. Happy Days ;-)

We’ll definitely do another one.

Got out of bed to celebrate my birthday with a run – 3.2km around the local park in 19:45 which is a bit slower than normal as I was feeling a bit sluggish. Weighed in at 88.3kg @ 17.5% fat which means I’ve put on a bit of muscle over the last few weeks. The gym is paying off ;-)

Hit the pool for a swim at lunch, so I can now relax with a few beers this evening.

400 FS
100 IM
2 * 100 Form
2 * {
    50 K/ 100 Pull/ 200 FS on 6:15
    100 Form on 2:00 }
3 * {
    200 FS on 3:20
    100 8FS/8BC on 1:50
    25Easy/25Med/25Easy/25Sprint on 1:40 }
Total: 2800m
(skipped the first 200m of last set)

Wk10: S: 2800m – R: 3.2km

Went to the gym yesterday morning and had no issues with my foot. However, after going for a run last night I noticed a bruise just above my heel. No idea what it’s from as I didn’t bang it off anything. Since it’s not sore to the touch I decided to ignore it and crawled out of bed at 6am for another run this morning. It was bloody cold, but my Icebreaker vest kept me nice and toasty.

I ran 3.2km last night and 4km this morning at a pretty comfortable pace. I measured an intermediate 2.6km at about 13:15, so that’s a 10km in approx 52mins. When I got home, however, there was a bit more bruising, so I’ll have to lay of the running for a while and let whatever the problem is heal. Pissed off.

Wk9: S: 2700m – R: 7.2km – W: 2 sessions

A bit late this one, but last weekend I went for a 5km run on Saturday morning with Jacqui and a friend of hers, the myself and Jacqui went on a shorter 2.5km run on Sunday morning.

Wk7: R: 7.5km – W: 2 sessions

I got back on the bike yesterday after a bit of a layoff. I had prepared on Wednesday by buying a dayglo yellow sleveless vest so I’d stand out like a sore thumb in trafffic. It’s certainly bright! I had intended cycling in to work and doing a few laps in Centennial Park on the way, but by the time I had rounded up all my bike gear it was too late, so I just cycled down to the ferry.

Did a few laps around CP on the way home instead, with the intention of keeping my HR below 140, but I was going relatively quick at an average HR of 120 which I was quite suprised about, so I just stuck at that. Once home I got organised and went out for a run, but only got half-way through it before my leg started seizing up a bit. I should probably have stretched after getting off the bike. I’d also done a run the previous evening which was probably a factor as well.

Crawled out of bed this morning and went ot the gym. Wasn’t particularly keen, but by the time the bus got into town I’d woken up a bit more. Hopefully I can get a run in tonight, and one more tomorrow morning and then the week is over.

Wk6: S: 2900m – B: 33.6km – R: 8km – W: 3 sessions

Got two good runs in, one last night and another this morning. Caught the sunrise which was great. The cliffs heading down towards Bondi looked beautiful; all pinky orange. The world looks good at that time of the morning. Anyway, two runs, each 3.3km in around 19mins. Nice and comfortable, with HR around 150. Even leaving work a bit early, it’s dark by the time I get to run in the evening, so it’s a bit nervous in a couple of dark places, not being able to see where I’m placing my feet and just having to trust that I don’t end up twisting my ankle. Might end up running on concrete soon to avoid that – though that carries its own issues.

Anyway, the plan is to get five runs every week from now on, so I hope to do another one tonight, take tomorrow off and then run on Friday evening and Saturday morning. If I can stick to 5 * 3.3km runs for the next few weeks and get used to it, I can gradually up the distances from there.

Wk6: S: 2900m – R: 6.6km – W: 1 session

I did another run on Friday morning last week, and had intended going for a quick run on Saturday morning and writing a post to document both of them then, but instead I went on the beers with Nathan and took the piss out of him as we watched the Queensland Reds (Nathan) get beaten by the NSW Waratahs (me) for the first time ever in the Super 12.

I also racked up a quick weights session on Friday arvo before the pub.

Wk5: R: 10km – W: 1 session

Was a bit tired after the kayaking on Sunday, so I skipped Monday’s swim and Tuesday’s weights session. Went for a 3.3km run last night and another tonight though. It’s taking me about 19mins with a fairly relaxed HR of 150.

I’m weighing in at 87.6kg at the moment, up almost a kilo from two weeks ago, which is probably a combination of eating too much crap food while in Canberra last week and the big feed in Hurricanes last night for Tom’s birthday.

Wk5: R: 6.6km

Got a short 3km run in on the hotel treadmill last night. Legs are feeling a bit tired today, but I’ve a couple of days off now so that’s OK.

Wk4: R: 8km

I’m down in Canberra this week so it will be a rest week. Ran 5km at 11kmh on the treadmill in the hotel gym last night which went pretty well. Felt pretty comfortable, though it’s a bit harder than running outside as there’s no breeze to keep me cool.

On Thursday we’re off for a few drinks followed by a trip to the cinema for A Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galazy, so I’ll go for another 3km run this evening.

Wk4: R: 5km

Jacqui headed off to New York for two weeks yesterday so I have the place to myself for a while. I plan on taking it easy and getting some training it.

Wne to the gym yesterday after work for my final gym session of the week. It’s definitely progressing well and I can feel the benefits already. Had a quiet night in front of the TV, then got up relatively early this morning for a run.

It was pretty warm by the time I set off. The thermometer on my watch said 31C but I don’t think it was that high! I did 6 laps of the park which works out at 5km, in 27:10. I started off a bit too fast, so while I usually keep my HR around 150 on my runs, this time it finished up around 165, though I’m sure heat and dehydration played a role as well. It had dropped to 130 a minute after the end of the run, which is a decent drop and one measure of fitness. I’m just not sure where a 35bpm drop ranks on the fitness scale and whether it’s the total drop which is important, or the final HR dropped to.

So, that’s another week over. I might go for a short run tomorrow morning to make up for the one I missed yesterday, or possibly a short bike ride…

Wk3: S: 3100m – R: 10km – W: 3 sessions

I got some good training in yesterday. Did weights in the morning to make up for missing the session on Monday, only to confirm that I really don’t like doing weights in the morning. It just feels wrong. Couple that with the fact that I had to step up from 1 set of 30 reps to 2 × 25 and my enthusiasm levels were even lower. Doesn’t look like I’ll have much of a choice seeing as how swimming and weights have to clash on one day a week otherwise, so might as well make it early in the week and get it over with.

Went for a run last night, and then again this morning. 3 laps of the park (2.5km) each time. Average lap time of 4:40, meaing 10.7kmh at a HR of 145.

Wk3: S: 3100m – R: 5km – W: 1 session

I got the speed sensor set up on my MTB yesterday so I took it up to the park to measure my run lap. Turns out it’s 840m, so my average run speed works out at 11km/h, and I’ll have to revise the distances for last week.

Got up this morning, and while Jacqui went off to her exercise class, I went for my last run of the week. Felt pretty good, so did 4 laps this time instead of 2, for a total time of 20mins and approximately 3.6km.

There was a film crew at Diamond Bay who seemed to be filming a Toyota commercial. There was a Kluger and a RAV4 parked right at the cliff edge and a couple of guys with surfboards around, so it will be interesting to see what the final result comes out as.

WK2: S: 100m – R: 7.2km – W: 3 sessions

Last week, at the start of Fitness Phase 2, I decided that I’d try getting up earlier in the morning so I’d have more time to do stuff. After about 10.30pm there’s nothing interesting on TV (apart from Lateline maybe) so there’s not much point staying up. I figured that I’d start getting up at 6 and go to bed around 10.30 and see how that worked out.

The plan was to do some exercise in the morning before going in to work, but I’ve been a bit knackered so I usually just go straight in to work, arriving around 7am. It sounds crazy, but the plus side is that I can clock off around 4pm, exercise then instead and still be home at a reasonable hour.

It’s all been working out well so far, and I’m slowly getting used to crawling out of bed at that hour. This morning was the first time I managed to do some morning exercise as I went for my short run again. I put the iPod Shuffle on the arm-band and off I went. It’s pretty nice being out and about at that hour, with the sun low in the sky and some classical music for company. There’s a surprising number of people around as well, with lots of chicks doing their power-walking and a group of dog owners chatting while their pets ran around barking at each other. I could get used to this.

Oh yeah, the run was the same as Tuesday. About 10mins, 2 laps, average lap time of 4:45. I’ll take the MTB out tonight to measure the loop if I get time.

Wk 2: R: 3.2km – W: 2 sessions

I haven’t done any running for ages, so I decided that it was about time I got back into it. Went for a short run around the park last night after work, and seeing as how I’m so crap at it I decided to limit myself to 10mins or so and build up from there. The intention is to get three 10min runs in this week, and then increase by about 5mins per week from there. I did just over two laps of the park at an average time of 4m 50s.

I’ve no idea how long a lap of the park is, so I decided to time a lap of the marked rugby pitch, then find out what the dimensions of a rugby pitch are and work my speed out from that (nerd)! So, doing all the calcuations gives me a run speed of 11.25km/h, and 1 lap distance of 900m. Given that rugby dimensions are not set in stone, and that I used the maximum, my speed is probably a little slower, but I’ll get my bike computer set up on my MTB and use that to figure the distance out once and for all.

Week 2: R: 1.8km – W: 1 session

Got another core session in this morning and followed that up with a run this evening. I did 5 comfortable laps of the local park in a time of 22:51. I’d estimate that the distance was approximately 4km, but I suppose I’ll have to take the bike up and measure it some day soon.

S:2400m – B: 15km – R: 7.5km – 3 core

Got a lot done in the last two days. I’ve been waking up with a sore lower back on and off for the last couple of months. Nothing serious, just a bit of an ache that goes away pretty soon after getting up. Nevertheless, I was wondering what was causing it, since I hadn’t done myself an injury that I could recall. After doing a bit of reading up on general training I’ve figured it out. Since I’m doing a fair bit of cycling and running, my hip flexors are getting a good workout. They tend to pull my pelvis/lower spine forward, and my abdominals would tend to pull it back. However, I can’t remember the last time I did a sit-up, so my abs are seriously weak and it’s most likely this imbalance which is causing the problem.

This week is the first week back training after the New Year, so I decided to incorporate some ‘core’ work, ie: exercises to strengthen the torso area, back and front. Did them on Monday, got up on Tuesday and did them again, then cycled into work and home again, then went for a 20min run last night. According to the scales this morning I’ve lost 2kg since Monday which gets me back to pre-Christmas weight, though it must be just a loss of water. Anyway, I’ll take it.

B: 15km – R: 3.5km – 2 core sessions

Cycled in and out of work on Tuesday, with a few bonus laps of the Park on the way home. Got some reasonably quick laps in (6:58) without too much effort. When I got home I decided to go for a run straight off the bike to see what it was like – bloody weird. HR was about 8-10bpm higher than normal and it just felt a little odd. Had intended to do 5km, but stopped after 2.5 as my legs were knackered. Winding down the training now for Christmas. no more swimming and not much cycling. Will try to keep some running going as that’s my weak area.

S: 2500m – B: 26.4km – R: 7.6km