11 Weeks to Kona

 Total Training Duration - 19hrs 28min

• Swim - 9.53km
• Ride - 357km
• Run - 57km

A great week ending with the Inverloch training camp that resulted in another great run time.

 

Monday's velodrome session I could only manage 7 of the 10 scheduled hard efforts. Still had Run Melbourne in my legs. It took me a lap to get going then couldn't hold my effort for all 4 laps. Didn't care too much, still on a high from the run. I'm getting used to this fatigue thing.

Had a massage with coach Ritchie Monday night which I really needed. Not only was I tired from Sunday's run but sore too. Very sore. More sore than the 40km OD run the week prior. 

Legs were still sore on Tuesday. It made kicking hard in the pool, took it easy on the kick set. Just did an easy 45 minute run that night at the Tan. Really struggling to bounce back after Run Melbourne. Ran with Pete & Jo Coombe and Henry Polk. Talked about Kona for a lap - I'm leaving for the USA in 2 months!! 

Backed up the run with tacos and a block of Cadburry Crunchie chocolate. 

The legs were back for the Kew Boulevard session on Wednesday. It was 3 loops flat out, nice and simple (on paper that is). It was tough but the legs felt ok. After a big first lap Steve Guy and myself were yo-yo'ing. He'd pass me up the hill then I had to chase him on the down and flat sections. Made it a great workout on a tough course. Coach Foz was offering inspiration (yelling at us) on the side lines. Backed that up with a 20 minute run off the bike with Chris Rancie and Oliver Jones. 

It was apparently an easier session in the pool on Thursday. It just didn't feel like it. Was still hard work. 

Missed 2 training sessions this week due to work commitments - Thursday night's run and Friday's swim. The swim was an Ironman specific one - 40 x 100m. Don't like missing sessions but sometimes it is unavoidable.

This weekend was a training camp at Inverloch. There were 75 athletes which included tri recruits, sprinters, 70.3, Ironman, London world championships and Hawaii world championships. Each had their own specific program. 

Saturday was an Over Duration (OD) ride for the Hawaii boys. The scheduled 206km ride was made shorter due to road works - safety first! Good call. We had 2 laps of an 87km circuit which included 3 climbs per lap. The entire camp did the first lap. Lap 1 was a Time Trial (TT) up each climb. Climbing is not my strength but still worked hard on each of them. We established a bunch of about 12ish riders which included Ollie, Speedy, Sean Smee, Ralphy, Kyle Robson, Johan, Chris Rancie, Andrew Maitland, Jono, Stephen Hadley & myself. The bunch stretched out on the climbs but came back together on the flat and rolling sections. We made 2 mistakes on the first lap - one was a wrong turn that was corrected, the second was Sean Smee's call when he advised us of a "man and dog" approaching...It was actually a woman. A tough call that gave everyone a laugh. 

We were rolling turns on the flat section home on the first lap so had a good work out. The sprinters and London worlds athletes then had either a run or a shorter second lap. The Hawaii boys + Jono left for the 2nd lap which was a TT at 70.3 pace (80-85% max heart rate). 

I started off feeling good so I put on some early pace. Hit the first climb hard to try and put some distance on Jono and Ralphy. Legs were burning! Got over it and then onto the next climb. Unfortunately I missed the sign telling me to turn right (apparently it had fallen down)...and I went straight. I missed a whole section of the loop which included climb number 2. Upon this realisation I expressed my displeasure in a number of loud yells. In the country no one can hear you scream!  I rejoined the loop further on and continued on after picking up the pace again. As I arrived back early to Inverloch I decided to head out and do the first climb again. I hit it at the 175km mark after pushing through the head wind to get there. I was tired and the start of the climb and completely wrecked at the end. By this stage I struggled to get my heart rate over 80% even though I was still pushing myself. Eventually had to slow it down for the final 15 (or so) km. Completed 200km all up. 

All the others in my house were finished, showered and had eaten lunch by the time I arrived back. The relaxing music was playing on the iPad. This did not help with the enthusiasm to go out and run, but out I went for the 45min easy run. Saw Ralphy finishing up then caught up with Henry. We ran together. 

Saturday's OD ride

• Lap 1 - 90.48km 2:50:17 at 31.88km/hr avg HR 76%
• Lap 2 - 107.8km 3:14:17 at 33.27km/hr avg HR 82%
• Lap 3 - 2.66km 6:06

Total - 200.9km 6:10:41 at 32.52km/hr avg HR 79%. Total elevation gain 2,024m.

I then smashed down a packet of macaroni cheese which is becoming tradition on camp. Squeezed in a quick shower then it was time to do the team TT. I was riding 20km and my team mate Emily Jeffrey then had to run 5km. Really did not want to get back on the bike, would have preferred the run....But ride it was. 

Time trial start. Picture by Sabina Rees on Peter Mc Convill's camera

We went in 15 second intervals on the bike (or when ever there was a break in traffic). The final 3 were Henry, myself then the current MTC TT World Champion 2 years running Ralphy. 

I put in the chase to catch Henry. I was closing in early hoping to get him before the half way point. Meanwhile I kept on the lookout behind me for Ralphy who was chasing me down. Then the legs said no more, those early gains were quickly eroded and I just had to watch Henry disappear into the distance. This cannot be happening!!!!!

Shattered! Henry went on to take the crown - MTC time trial champion! But not without a fight, Ralphy and I were questioning the validity of the result. Accusations were being thrown around - early turning, taking it easy on the OD ride, blood doping, performance enhancements....and I'm yet to question the accuracy and calibration of his Garmin ;) 

But seriously...Well done Henry. A well deserved win. 

Comparison to Torquay TT:

• Torquay Jan 2013 - 24.10km in 35:52 at 40.3km/hr with 163m elevation gain 83% avg HR
• Inverloch Jul 2013 - 21.78km in 13:06 at 38.3km/hr with 150m elevation gain 82% avg HR

Result - At Inverloch I was 2km/hr slower and had less elevation gain. Interesting, but nothing to worry about. Maybe the result of fatigue...who knows.

High five to my team mate Emily Jeffrey (photo by coach Steve Davis)

It was then a cold shower (everyone else used the hot water) then dinner, then bed. No movie for me. 

Sunday morning we started with a 45 minute easy ride. Very pleasant and social. These are the rides where you get to talk to new people. Then it was long run time. I was doing 2 hours 25 minutes starting at 4:45 pace and finishing on 4:00 pace. My plan was to better that with the intention to beat my Wangaratta run pace of 4:19 pace overall. I ran with Jono and Henry. Long runs are always fun at the start when the pace is easier, time for a chat. Last time I ran with Jono he towed me along the beaches of Torquay and Bells on the Ironman Melbourne training camp. 

We started faster that 4:45 pace and steadily got faster. It was around the 21km mark we ramped it up to sub 4:00 pace, we were flying. By this stage I was just ahead of Jono but I could hear him behind me - he always remained close. I kept the pace up in an attempt to hold him off. At the final 30 minute mark I picked up the pace to put some distance between me and this 'young fella' behind me. All was good until around 15 minutes to go when I popped. That's when Jono passed me like I wasn't moving. I tried to hold him but there was no way I could. I'd pushed it hard and there was no more speed in the legs. Jono ran off into the distance. Shattered again!

Finished with 34km in at time of 2:25 averaging 4:15min/km pace. The last hour I held 4:00min/km which was an awesome result. That was as fast as I could have done that day. Really happy with that.

2 hour 25 minute run. L-R myself, coach Jono & Henry (photo by Coach Sean Foster)

Photo by coach Steve Davis

Wangaratta comparison:

• Inverloch Jul 2013 - 34.05km in 2:25:06 at 4:15min/km with 153m elev gain 77% avg MHR
• Wangaratta May 2013 (9 weeks ago) - 31.14km in 2:14:37 at 4:19min/km with 104m elev gain 78% avg MHR  

Result - I ran 4 sec/km faster over a course that had 49m more elevation gain. Maintained 4:00 pace for the final hour. Awesome! 

Then we ate and went down to the beach for an open water swim session. It was cold! We started with a warm up. It was so cold my face hurt. So much that I had to do breast stroke until I could finally hold my face down. After the warm up it was a struggle to get out, I was very wobbly on the legs and a bit dizzy - I actually felt drunk!  Eventually dragged myself out taking deep breaths. We were then given the run down for the swim race. It was 2 laps of a course which included running onto the beach and back in after the first lap. Away we went...I was never going to be with the front swimmers after the morning's run, just had to swim hard as I could. Coming into the beach after the first lap I started porpoising - big cramps in the hammys! Got out then back in for the second lap. Was glad to get that over with. 

It was then off to the pub for a salt & pepper calamari and a side of chips...and mug of coffee. 

The weekend was complete. I had nothing left, no more to offer. I gave it my all!


Well done to all who attended the camp and pushed us all to achieve. It was great to meet some new people. Great job coaches Sean, Steve, Jono and Ritchie. Another awesome camp.


MTC came home with a few KOM's, QOM's and new names all over the local Strava segment rankings:

 

2 months and 13 days to go to Kona.

Running really well and getting faster!



 

12 Weeks to Kona

 Total Training Duration - 13hrs 17min

• Swim - 9.7km
• Ride - 168km
• Run - 52km

Currently sitting 49th in Australia and 191st overall (worldwide) in the M40-44 Ironman Age Group Rankings:

Monday's velodrome bike set was a big gear strength session. We had a busy ride on the track with lots of people and even a few on the wind trainer. A real leg burner that morning. I know it's been a good session when I need to rest when I get to the top of the stairs at work. 

Then a surprise email from the swim coach that afternoon - Ben Street resigned effective immediately!  This was disappointing and sudden. So it was up to Sean Foster to be the swim coach. He ran a tough session. 

Good luck in your future endeavors Ben and thanks for all your coaching. Your passion on the pool deck will be missed.

Hammy's were sore for Tuesday's run following Saturday's OD run (It's always the hammy's after an OD run that are suffering next run back). Lucky it was an easy run for 45 minutes around the Tan. 

Thursday was a 1000m swim time trial. 15:17 was my time to beat from 6 weeks ago. Wanted to get sub 15 minutes, ended up swimming 15:02. Surely I could have found 2 seconds somewhere!  And to make matters worse I finished last of all 8 lanes - that really disappointed me as there's nothing worse than finishing last. Also, I probably had the least improvement over the last 6 weeks compared o the other 7 swimmers. AND a gain of 15 seconds is not even 1 minute over the 3.8km Ironman distance. I did all that training to achieve less than 1 minute improvement?!?! Regardless it's a PB, my best 1000m yet.

Ran a Fartlek session Thursday evening with Henry Polk and Red Bear. We smashed each other, a great hard effort. Finished up running 18km over 1hour 25 minutes. 

A fast one on Thursday's run session

Stretching at the Tan - without Graham Smart! Photo by coach Steve Davis.

Swimming was tough again on Friday. Ollie and I swapped the lead but generally I was following his lead. Could only swim for 1 hour due to an early meeting at work. Still enough to wreck me. Smashed down some donuts that day. 

Stirling has progressed to the next group in swimming this week after a long hiatus from the pool. He definitely likes swimming more that football. We've locked in this term's swimming, it's good to get him back in the pool again. He'll be doing 1:30min/100 pace in no time! 

Me

Stirling

This weekend was the last chance we had to finish work around the house before the sales photos. Couldn't ride with the group as we had heaps to do. I planned an early 4am start with some 1:20 repeats in the Dandenongs. Then it all changed when I arrived home from work. Decided watching the Tour replay on the wind trainier is a much better option. The rain hammering down on the roof convinced me of this. First time I've missed a group ride for a long time. Don't like missing sessions or taking the soft option but this one won't kill me. Had breakfast with Lauren and Stirling then went to Auskick. Turned out to be a great morning. Even watched a video of the Hawaii bike course someone filmed with a bike cam while I was on the trainer. 

On the trainer with little coach in the corner - "You're doing well Dad".

Then I had to move all that!

Then it was Run Melbourne on Sunday and a great morning for running - cool, a clear sky and little wind. Unfortunately got to the start line late after doing a long warm up. Didn't realise how many people do this event. Could hardly see the start line where I slotted in. I was in about wave 6 with people dressed up as spiderman, batman, men dressed as women, etc....This was going to be a tough start. When I did eventually get over the start line I was dodging in, out and around people. There were people stopping to do up shoelaces, handing jumpers over the fence and doing all sorts of things that should be done BEFORE the start. So it was up onto the footpath and away I went. It was the first run I've done where no one passed me.

My half marathon PB was 1:29 set in May 2012. At Geelong 70.3 in February 2013 I did 1:31 after the swim & ride. Today I finished with a PB - 1:23:05 averaging 3:54min/km pace. AWESOME!!! Was 8th in my category (Male 40-49) and 48th overall. Really happy with that result. A good confidence booster.

Spiderman as a Run Melbourne

Was 1st on Strava when I uploaded the run...Dropped down to 3rd when I last looked.

Entered the "winter triathlon" Olympic distance at Hazelwood Pondage on 18 August 2013. Did it last year, it's a great event and will be the first triathlon since Ironman Melbourne. This will effectively be my lead in race for Hawaii (8 weeks before). 


The Wrap Up - 2 PB's made this an epic week. The consistent training is now paying dividends. I'm on a high after Run Melbourne.

2 months and 20 days until race day!

13 Weeks to Kona

 Total Training Duration - 13hrs 37min (Adaption Week)

• Swim - 13.2km (killer swim week)
• Ride - 99km
• Run - 70km

 

Sunrise on the morning of Ironman Melbourne 24 March 2013

This week was adaption or recovery week. No bike session Monday was appreciated. Nice to rest the legs, they needed it! Good programming Foz. 

Had a great swimming session Tuesday. Smashed out the 400's and felt strong. Was a good set with changes of pace. More interesting than just swimming laps. Started the week really positive.

Fartlek run on Tuesday night. Ran home from the city solo. Yarra trail was closed due to safety concerns so did some detouring.

Then.......Wednesday's bike session at Kew was a killer. Not only was it a hard set but it was cold. My fingers hurt and lips were so numb I was struggling with speech. Started riding with Ralph Glatz until I dropped a chain on a hard lap. Got a good workout chasing but was never going to catch him. After two hard full loops (4 laps) we hit Yarra St for hill repeats. Met up with Henry Polk and we did 5 reps. Legs were shattered at the end. Henry ended up with a puncture from a torn tyre side wall - taxi ride home. 

Was tired on Thursday morning at swimming. Most likely due to Wednesday's Kew session. Had to put on the fins to get through the main set, but got there. Thursday night the Hawaii team had the easiest run of all teams at the Tan - only 60 minutes. Nothing too heavy before Saturday's 3 hour OD run. Ran with Henry. 

Friday's swim was a repeat of Thursday as far as energy levels go - flat again. Could feel in the warm up that it was going to be a tough morning. The 15 x 200m main set cooked me. Had to sit out a rep then drop back to last in the lane - just tried to hang on to Speedy. Some weeks are like that in the pool. However, it was a tough swim program this week.

Goggle marks on the head. A regular addition at work 3 days each week.

All squad training was at Buninyong on Saturday doing a bike session on the national championship course. Team Hawaii had the OD run.  

We are about to demolish and rebuild our home so it's time to sell a rental. The tenants moved out this week so the big clean up has begun. As such I couldn't make Buninyong and ran Heidelberg loop. Would have been lonely running but Red Bear, Steve Guy and Henry Polk were there. 

Warmed up with a 60 minute bike around Kew Boulevard then laid out the water bottles and nutrition and started running. Running as a group made the time go quicker - a 3 hour run around a 2km loop would get very boring solo. I have to say it was a very enjoyable run as far as OD runs go. Apart from Steve Guy pushing the pace on the inclines, I felt good and more comfortable than any other OD run prior. It still hurt after the 2 hour mark but the legs are now stronger than prior to Ironman Melbourne. My issue in the run at Melbourne was hammy cramps which started at the 20km mark. Legs need to be stronger this time round...and they are! 

I ran 40km in 3:01:51 for an average of 4:32min/km. It was my fastest ever OD run and my legs didn't feel anywhere near as wrecked as previous runs. A great result.

Just finished 40km. Good job legs!

For recovery - Large meet lovers from Crust Pizza. Ate the lot.

The comparison against past performance:

• Saturday's OD Run (Heidelberg loop) - 40km at 4:32min/km avg for a duration of 3:01:51 at 78%MHR avg or 152bpm
• 8 Dec 12 OD Run (Heidelberg loop) - 33.55km at 4:52min/km for a duration of 2:43:14 at 77%MHR avg or 149bpm
• 19 Jan 13 OD Run (Beach Rd) - 40km at 4:33min/km avg for a duration of 3:03:38 at 81%MHR avg or 158bpm
• 24 March 13 Ironman Melbourne - 42km at 4:56min/km avg for a duration of 3:28:32 at 78%MHR avg or 152bpm

Analysis - Ran much faster with almost the same average heart rate (78% v's 77%) as my previous Heidelberg loop run 7 months earlier. Ran faster with a much lower heart rate (78% v's 81%) than the flat Beach Rd run 6 months earlier. 



Result - I'm now running faster with less effort compared to my lead up to Ironman Melbourne - a great place to be!

 

Saturday's OD Run on the Heidelberg loop - Consistent each lap

Heidelberg loop OD Run 8 Dec 2012 - A surge then a big drop toward the end

Beach Rd OD Run 19 Jan 2013 - Started strong then dropped off

Ironman Melbourne 24 Mar 2013 - Hammy cramps kicked in at the 20km mark. Ran as fast as the legs could go without cramping from that point.

But then there's the Red Bear - Congratulations to the Red Bear who went on to do the marathon that morning for an average of 4:30min/km. Great running mate! Check out the video at 36.5km:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200910602181234


After running 40km it was time for me to start working on a house. A great way to recover after an OD run. 

My last injury - I strained a hammy while moving a washing machine. Had to be VERY careful this weekend. Every move was slow and considered.


 

The real sign board goes up in 2 weeks

 

Bunnings - Always the first stop

Run everywhere mate - Strengthen those legs!

Yes I know the trolley's heavy, just keep pushing!

My job was to remove the overgrown Pittosporum....
 

Before

During

After

Stirling attacked the paving.

Feeling good after adaption week. Results show I'm running faster than ever!


3 months to go until Ironman World Championship - 12 October 2014.

14 Weeks to Kona

Total training duration - 16hrs 55min (low due to mid week illness)

• Swim - 4.3km
• Ride - 296km
• Run - 58km

 On Thursday it was 100 days to go.....

Did my first wind trainer session this season on Monday. Yep, that's how I remember it - boring. Set myself in front of the TV but it's still boring. I prefer the velodrome. I feel I get more out of the session. Regardless, I completed the session, watched the morning news and saw Lauren and Stirling before I left for work. It also made it an easier day on the bike. Monday's bike session usually includes additional duration due to the added commute to and from work. 

Had a massage with Richard Squires that afternoon. Good timing the day after a hilly Kew Boulevard run session. 

That's the last time I let Richard use his teeth!

Into The Routine
The training weeks are now 'routine'. I get up and train, finish work then train. The session intensity and durations vary but the are set on the same day each week. Turn up to training, clock in, train hard, clock out, another tick in the box...NEXT...

The motivation is starting to fade a little. Getting harder to drag myself out of bed. Need to keep the inspiration going. I haven't lost motivation, just starting to fade. Think I need another interim achievement / race / something to give me another spark. It will come I just need to keep pushing through.

One unusual occurrence I'm noticing is I sweat in bed a lot more than normal. To the point where the sheets are saturated - I wake up wet. This also happened while training for Ironman Melbourne. The internet diagnosis suggests it can be brought on from additional physical training. Very uncomfortable to wake up all wet but it comes and goes depending on the weeks. It's been less frequent this time round.





The Training Week

What a typical Tuesday & Thursday night Tan session looks like

Tuesday night's run was good with a 90 minute 'easy' duration. Ran as a group with Oliver Jones, Johan Moylan, Henry Polk and Steve Guy. On the second lap of the Tan Steve and Johan started creeping away as my heart rate was creeping well over the 70-78% MHR range. They ended up looping back to pick up the rest of us before they accelerated away up a hill again. We finished as a group and managed to enjoy some good conversation during the session - proof that we didn't go too hard. All up we ran 4 laps of the Tan plus I ran from work = 19.4km session averaging 4:33min/km pace.

Back to Kew Boulevard Wednesday for a bike strength endurance (SE) session. This included 7 x Yarra St repeats and a big gear lap - a real leg and lung burner. There's nothing fun about Yarra St repeats on it's 20%+ incline. 3 weeks ago I replaced the chain rings - 39-53 to a bigger o'symetric 42-54. This required a new chain which didn't work with the old and worn cassette. So I replaced the 28-11 with a newer 25-11 I had in the shed...It's amazing how much difference a few teeth make at 20%!!! Felt like I had it in the big chain ring. It was tough. Apologies for the bike gearing talk. Probably lost a few people there.

We finished with an easy 30min run off the bike. 

7 x Yarra St repeats

Lauren bought a whole box of fundraiser chocolates this week. After shoveling down most of them early in the week I took the remainder to work to share. Gave away some to the boys at Kew on Wednesday...but then ate the rest before I could share them at work. 

4 rolls for lunch Wednesday

 

Thursday was disappointing. Got up and went to swimming to do the 30 x 100m smash session and couldn't even make it through the warm up. I was trying to push through but had a stomach ache and barely enough energy to turn my arms over. Had a rest mid warm up, tried to continue but just couldn't do it. There was something there niggling in my tummy during the week that hit me in the pool that morning. Ended up going home and back to bed sleeping for most of the day. Missed the run that night and swimming on Friday morning. Really hate missing sessions but there was no way I could train and I knew that rest was the requirement.

But I was back for the paced OD ride on Saturday. This is an Over Duration ride which essentially means a much longer ride than we would normally do in training...in the most increadibly windy conditions!!!! Unfortunately there were only 3 of us doing that ride - Steve Guy and Mark who is another MTC Kona qualifier. As it is done to our own pacing we split after the 25km warm up. Did a paced 180km followed by and easy 20km spin making a 200km ride in 6 hours 6 minutes (actual ride time). The 180km paced portion was 5 hours 18 minutes for an average of 33.9km/hr. 


The comparison against past performance:

• Saturday's OD ride - 180km paced portion - 5:18 avg 33.9km/hr (solo)
• Dec 2012 OD ride - 180km paced portion - 5:27 avg 32.97km/hr (solo)
• Jan 2013 OD ride - 180km portion in Torquay - 5:11 avg 34.68km/hr (bunch ride)
• Mar 2013 Ironman Melbourne bike - 180km 4:52 avg 36.99km/hr (solo)

Analysis - Saturday's 180km paced portion of the OD ride was faster than the comparable Dec 2012 ride. The difference being there was much more wind on Saturday than the Dec 2012 ride but I felt I pushed a lot harder this time (possibly fighting the wind). Am I faster? I'd like to think so. 

The laps:

Lap 1 - 25 km warm up with the wind.
Lap 2 - 90km at Ironman intensity with varying wind direction.
Lap 3 - 25km easy into the wind.
Lap 4 - 40km at 70.3 intensity into the wind.
Lap 5 - 20km easy spin to finish.

The laps on Garmin Connect

After the OD ride followed a 60 minute run off the bike - 13km averaging 4:38min/km. Instead of running along the beach I ran toward the West Gate Bridge for the first time. It kept me away from the wind and was a pleasant change of scenery. Definitely worth doing. 

So after a 6:30am start and a 2:30pm finish it was an 8 hour day out. Glad to get that one under the belt especially given the 2 days of sickness. 

Home from the OD ride

Lauren and I went out for dinner that night. Started out well by me walking into a fixed bar stool. Right into my quad - it really hurt! Then could hardly keep my eyes open......

I'm not drunk, just really really tired (that was my one and only glass of wine). Not my best moment.

 
THEN SUNDAY I BOUNCED RIGHT BACK AND SMASHED THE LONG RUN!!!!! 

Not really. Sunday's 90 minute run was a non-event - 18.8km averaging 4:50min/km. Didn't feel very good, my legs were really hurting. Just took it easy as my body wouldn't let me do any more.


That night we went to Steve Guy's for dinner and had a tour of his awesome new home. We ate fanastic lamb, drank great wine, then ate excellent cake and closed out with some epic TV viewing (Ironman World Championship 2012 and the previous night's TDF final 10km). If you ever get invited to Steve's for dinner, DO IT! He cooks a mean roast lamb.
 
The week's wrap up -  a disappointing mid week illness but good to get the Saturday session complete. I feel the training load finally caught up with me this week. Feeling a bit blah.

Less than 100 days to Kona! Or 3 months 1 week!

GOTTA KEEP GOING ---------->>>>