I’m taking it a bit easier this week in the run up to the Budgie 100 and the Gong Ride this weekend. Did nothing on Monday as I had to bring the car in for a service, so no sysling commute. Ty was up from Canberra on Tuesday so I skipped my swim session and went for lunch with him instead. Cycled in and out yesterday and today, then went for a short run on the way to today’s swim session.
Got cramps about 40mins into the session, which always seems to happen to me. Obviously not hydrated enough before starting, and the extremely salty water doesn’t help either.S: 1.8km – B: 33.3km – R: 4km400 FS WU5 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:22)3 * 200 FS Pull + Paddles on 3:30 (2:53)6 * 50 IM Order on 60 (47)CrampsTotal: 1800m
A good effort this week. Forgot to write as I went along, so here’s a summary.
Bike: Mon AM around the park with Marc, Wed. AM around the park solo, Fri AM to work via La Perouse, again solo. Marc was supposed to come along but baby troubles intervened.Swim: Tuesday lunch, Mark was in Tasmania and backup coach was a no-show, so did my own thing. Skipped Thurs lunch as was pretty tired.Run: One run on the way to Tuesday’s swim. Uphill bits buggered my calves. Will have to avoid, or walk them next week.S: 2.7km – B: 157.6km – R: 4.5km400 Various WU2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:23)2 * 200 FS on 3:10 (2:52)2 * 300 FS on 4:50 (4:34)2 * 200 FS on 3:10 (2:55)2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)100 Easy8 * 50 FS Pull w/ Paddles on 50 (42)Total: 2700m
Got organised today and put last week’s plan in action. Ran to the pool, did the swim and attempted running back. Problem was the pool is so bloody salty that I was on the verge of cramping by the time the session finished, so I only got halfway back to work before having to stop for a stretch and walk the rest of the way! Still, running felt OK so might try and do some more of it.
The session was a good one. No messing about and constantly moving. Racked up a pretty comfortable 3000m with a few minutes to spare. Stroke felt good and 1:25 pace is no trouble, though I still tire rapidly once I pick the pace up beyond that.S: 3.0km – R: 1.5km500 Free6 * 50 Free on 55 (40)3 * 100 FS on 1:50 (1:25)3 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:25)3 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)100 Fast (1:14)100 Easy3 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:27)3 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:28)3 * 100 FS on 1:50 (1:30)100 Fast (1:25)100 EasyTotal: 3000m
In preparation for the Budgie 100, a 100m Free challenge race amongst a few friends in a couple of weeks, I figured I should get back in a swimming pool and try and get a feel for things again. Not having swum since January means I’m a bit rusty.
Had a look around and decided to join the lunchtime squad sessions at Boy Charlton Pool since they are coached by Mark Newton who knows his stuff and and usually produces a decent workout. The squads I went to last year were a bit useless as the coach knew less than I did and usually churned out almost the same session, week in, week out.So, I went along for my first session yesterday and it was great. Spending your lunchtime swimming in a heated outdoor pool, in 30C under a blazing sun, is a great way to train. I arrived a bit late as I’d got sidetracked at work, and there was a bit of a problem finding Mark as I was expecting someone walking up and down the bank, not leading the lane. Once that was sorted out it was a pretty easy session.I took it pretty easy, as while I’m reasonably aerobically fit, my arms aren’t used to doing any work at all, so they were the weakest link. Still, swimming in salt water helps as it makes me about 5s/100m faster than a pool.I’ve signed up for Tuesday & Thursday lunchtimes and I reckon I’ll run to and from the session next week and not bother having a shower until I get back to work.S: 2300m300 Free5 * 200 Free on 3:30 (3:10)100 Free/100 Back Relax8 * 50 on 1:00 (37)4 * 100 Free Paddles on 1:40 (1:20)Total: 2300m
When I first noticed the sport of triathlon and decided it was something I wanted to do, an Olympic Distance (1.5/40/10) was my goal. After doing my first tri at Kurnell in December (.75/20/5) I got straight on the net and entered the Canberra OD with Kev. The race was yesterday…
I hadn’t done a whole lot of training between Kurnell and New Year, but had got three decent weeks in since then, so I was fairly confident. I’d also bought my first set of aerobars, but my longest ride actually on the bars was only 15km, though I could tell they were fast. I’d got my weekly long run up to 9km too, so I was reasonably confident the run would be OK.Drove down on Saturday and saw quite a few cars heading down with bikes inside or on top. Stopped at the servo in Marulan and noticed quite a few cars with the Watch For Cyclists stickers attached too. We were staying in John’s place so rocked up there, watched Kev do some last minute drivetrain clean & lube, went down and registered and then drove a lap of the bike course to see what we were in for. Looked nice and fast. No hills, but a couple of undulations around the back. That set our mind at ease a bit.Up the next morning and plenty of butterflies. Both of us were novices at the distance so had no idea of what to expect, but we decided to set very rough goals anyway:Me: 2h 25 – 22 swim, 1:13 bike, 50 run.Kev: 2h 40 – 30 swim, 1:25 bike, 45 run.The lake was 27C, so it was no wetsuit which I was delighted about, as I don’t own a wettie and can swim well anyway. Once I had pumped my tyres, got my gear organised and had visited the jacks, the nerves disappeared and it was all calm before the start. I decided to cruise the swim and use it as my warm-up, so once the gun went off I got myself in a bit of clear space and settled in to it. Pretty uneventful, but came out of the water in 24:52 with an AvHR of 159! Too slow and too high a HR, what’s up? Ran up to transition and my hamstrings were close to cramping too which worried me a little. Through transition in 3:19 which is bloody slow, but I can’t do that shoes on the bike thing yet so had to fart around a bit putting them on.Out on the bike, onto the bars and off we go. It took a few kms to shake of the ‘impending cramp’ feeling and after that all was well. I settled in to a nice rhythm on the first lap with a HR hovering around 160 which was roughly what I had intended. Had a gel around Parliament House after the undulations and went through 20km in 34:30 which I was very happy with as it felt pretty easy. Decided to pick up the pace a little on the second lap, since I now knew what to expect, so held 40km/h+ all along Parkes Way and the Tuggeranong Freeway to the Cotter Rd turnoff (apart from the couple of undulations that is). I got out of the saddle to stretch my legs & back on some of the climbs around the back of the course, had another gel, then finished the lap strongly for a 33min split and an on-the-bike time of 1:07:30 (35.5kmh) which is smoking for me. Aerobars rock!Legs felt good too, or at least I thought they did. Threw my trainers on and was about to take off on the run when I got that ‘almost cramp’ thing again, so stopped for a quick stretch. Another 2:30 in transition, so probably some free time improvements to be had there. Once out on the run I was suffering! Felt really shit, legs were like lead and stomach was on the verge of cramping. The race map had indicated only two drinks stations on the run, and both were marked as very close to the start so I was quite worried as to whether I’d survive. I walked the aid stations and knocked back water & sports drink then started trundling away again. At that stage I was wondering whether I was going to finish or not. The sun beating down didn’t help either.Around about the 3km mark I had a lightbulb moment, the fog cleared and the benefits of reading Transitions came to the fore. I remembered that the first bit of the run was supposed to feel like shit, with crap legs etc. etc., so once I knew that then things improved. Well, when I say ‘improved’ I don’t mean that I got any faster, or that I started feeling great or anything that dramatic, I just realised that this was how things were supposed to be. I was just plodding along and seemed to be running around 6min/km, so I was looking at an hour run split which I wasn’t happy about. The run was a plain out-and-back course, so I was hanging for the turnaround point so at least I’d no longer be running away from the finish and I could tell myself it would all be over soon. Finally I rounded a corner, I could see it 400m away and I got to it in 26:15 (AvHR: 171) which was a bit better than I’d expected. I now had 5km spread out before me and I knew where the aid stations were (there were actually more than two) so it became a matter of running to the next station, stopping, drinking, throwing water over myself, and setting off for the next one. I had long ago adopted a 2/2 breathing pattern (breathe in for 2 footfalls, out for 2), trying to suck in as much oxygen as possible and now I added a little mantra of “Light, Relaxed” to try and take my mind off things. “Light” as in ‘run light on your feet’ which was a bit of a joke as I was in serious plod mode, and “Relaxed” as in ‘run relaxed’ which I had at least some hope of achieving, especially since by this stage I just wanted the damn thing over with and didn’t give a toss about anything else. Anyway, this is getting very long winded, so a summary of the last 3km involved cramps, stretching and more plodding. I crossed the line in 2:32:15 by my watch, with the second half of the run taking 27:45 (AvHR: 176) giving me a run split of 54mins.Myself and Tom did a First Aid Course back in December and it came in handy now. I was getting dizzy, so I knew that was a sign that I was dehydrated, a bit overheated, had stopped running too quickly and that I’d faint if I didn’t do something about it. The quickest way to cool someone down is to ice the groin and neck as there’s major blood vessels near the surface, so I threw some ice down my shorts, lay down, raised my legs and leaned them against a tree to make it easier to get blood to my head. John had come down to watch the finish, so he plied me with drinks and a few minutes later I was fine and could stretch my rapidly seizing legs. The two of us walked back to wait for Kev come in. I could see him in the distance and knew it was getting close to 3 hours, so I shouted at him to hurry up. “What’s the hurry?” came the reply, but he got moving once I told him the time. He crossed the line in 2:59:15 or so.So, the end result was that neither of us got close to our predicted times. Kev split 40 for the swim, 1:27 for the bike and transitions and 52 for the run. I managed 24, 1:13 and 54. It was a lot harder than either of us expected. Kev has decided to concentrate on swimming and I need to do a lot more running. Training for the half marathon should sort that out!HR Data GraphUpdate: Official ResultsMe: 188th – 2:32:16 – 24:53 / 1:13:23 / 53:59Kev: 331st – 2:59:18 – 40:10 / 1:27:05 / 52:02S: 4000m – B: 62.1km – R: 10kmWell this week is fairly relaxed. Went for a swim yesterday which went well. Decent pace without too much hassle. As usual, got out after 2.5km.
100 FS200 Catch100 FS200 8FS/8BC100 FS100 Single Arm2 * { 400 FS (last 25 scull) on 6:30 (6:00) 2 * 50 Pull on 1:00 (43) 2 * 50 FS on 55 (43) 100 IM on 2:10 (1.32) }100 Swim DownTotal: 2500mGot my lunchtime swim in today to start of another week. Felt really good and just cruised through the sets. A decent session too, with some good 400s.
2 * { 100 FS 100 Catch 100 8FS/8BC 100 as 25FS/25BC }3 * { 400 FS on 6:30 (5:53) 200 Pull on 3:30 (2:58) }Total: 2600mYesterday was finally almost a proper bike day, free of interruptions. I had cycled in to work although early rain meant I hadn’t done the laps of Centennial that I had planned to do. I cycled home last night and made up for it, incorporating 4 laps of the park into my commute.
This was the first time I got to use my new Profile Design Carbon Stryke aerobars, which I’d had fitted just before Christmas. The general idea is that you get rest your elbows on them, and get your overall bike position changed around to allow this. You end up with more of your weight over the front wheel, which takes a little bit of time to get used to, and far more aerodynamic, meaning you can go faster for the same amount of effort. In my case, I was 3km/h faster around a lap of the park with no extra effort which is a pretty good investment as far as I’m concerned. Time will tell.Today’s lunchtime swim was pretty good. Lots of 200s which was a nice change from the usual fare of 100s. Felt pretty good and relaxed. The swim sessions are recovery sessions as far as I’m concerned, and are far less important than run or bike sessions, so I just use them to loosen out and stretch a bit.800 as: 200 FS 2 * {100 Catch/100 BC} 200 FS3 * { 25K / 175 FS on 3:30 (2:55) 200 Pull on 3:30 (3:00)}2 * { 100IM on 2:00 (1:30) 100BC on 2:00 (1:40) 100 8FS/8BC on 2:00 (1:42) }Total: 2600mA bit of catching up to do here. Last Friday night I went for a 5km run:
S: 2600m – R: 5kmLap, AvHR4:24.0, 1394:33.0, 1504:35.0, 1554:39.8, 1584:38.9, 1604:33.8, 1631min: 125</pre></blockquote><p/><p/>I skipped my bike ride on Saturday morning as I wasn't feeling it up to it. Hit the pool today at lunchtime and felt pretty good, then went for a run this evening. <p/><p/><blockquote class="session"><pre>400 FS<p/>3 * {<p/> 100 K on 2:00 (1:47)<p/> 200 FS on 3:20 (2:46)<p/> 100 BC on 2:00 (1:40) }<p/>2 * {<p/> 4 * 75H/25E on 1:40<p/> 100 IM on 2:00 }<p/>Total: 2600m</pre></blockquote><p/><p/><blockquote class="session"><pre>Lap, AvHR<p/>4:35.2, 142<p/>4:39.1, 153<p/>4:38.5, 157<p/>4:40.9, 159<p/>4:39.0, 162<p/>4:35.8, 164<p/>1min: 127