7 Weeks to Kona

Total Training Duration - 11hrs 27min (Adaption & Recovery Week)

• Swim - 11.6km
• Ride - 87km
• Run - 60km

 
Adaption week - Time to allow the body to rest and adapt to the training load.

Monday was a much needed day off following the Hazelwood Olympic distance race. 

Swimming on Tuesday was tough. Main set was a mixed pace set of 300's. That hurt. Started off leading out lane 6 but had to hand over the reigns to Peter McConvill. I dropped to the back. It's amazing how a race knocks me around - even an Olympic distance. However, it wasn't 'just' an Olympic distance, it was a flat out race at high intensity. The result - I was completely knackered! I pulled up extremely sore all over after swimming on Tuesday. Sore to the extent that I made some very poor emotionally driven food choices that day. This included several slices of cake (with cream), several muffins and and muesli bars for lunch. We had a birthday at work so the cake and muffins were there for the taking. And it was also Lauren's and Graham Smart's birthday too. Yes, my wife shares the same birth date as Gra Gra!

Beach Rd was the venue Wednesday morning. It was easy down to Mordy and hard back. Fun! I was on the front with Peter Coombe on the way down. Steve Guy made a break on the to get an early jump on the bunch, we let him go, for now. Turned at Mordy then it was fast back. Steve Guy and the other early turners were already on the way back, the chase was on! We established a chase group - Peter Coombe, Johan Moylan, Ralph Glatz, Andrew Maitland, Kyle Robson, Brody Gardner and myself. There were constant breakaways from the group. One would go off the front, get caught, then another would make a break. We swallowed up the early turners one by one. A great morning out. 

Post Beach Rd ride. L-R - Red Bear, myself, Steve Guy, Andrew Maitland, Ralph Glatz & Kyle Robson (photo by Jo Coombe)

Thursday's swim was great. It started off with a tough warm up in the speed suit. As Hawaii is a non wetsuit swim Foz was kind enough to lend me his Blue Seventy speed suit. With technology taken from sharks the speed suit supposedly helps me cut through the water. This was the first time for me swimming with it. It felt like is added a little additional buoyancy around the body but not where I need it - in the legs. It has short legs and is armless. Regardless, if it adds a little extra buoyancy then it's worth wearing. So it's a thumbs up for the speed suit. Anything to help me swim faster.  

Like Tuesday, I started off leading the lane but was relegated back after Paul Burrow was proving unbeatable. We then did something new - deep water starts. We crowded the lanes with around 5 per lane, treaded water facing forward and when Foz said go it was race time! It was slower swimmers at the front, faster at the back. This was fun. On the first few I was able to get some legitimate head slaps into Paul Burrow and not feel guilty, unlike at running training. Unfortunately he was then moved out of the lane, play time was over....but no! Kyle was moved in to replace him. Play time continues. The next start I positioned myself behind Kyle. We waited...GO! I swung the arms, got 'over the barrel' with a few fast strokes, swung the arm forward and grabbed Kyle on the shoulder pulling him back, passed the next 2 swimmers and it was all over red rover! It was underwater time for Kyle and victory for Dale! Another one bites the dust!

Ok, maybe this is slightly exaggerated but it was a fun morning. 

That night there were good numbers for running in the rain. It was a 'quality' session. This means hard and fast. The main set was a 20 min hard lap of the Tan, 5 min easy then 20 min mixed pace consisting of 2 min hard 1.5 min float. I ran with Chris Rancie, Oliver Jones and Red Bear. The way it unfolded was Chris smashed us all and had to loop back to pick us up after each 2 min effort, and that's after he started 10m + behind us. I had to hang onto Ollie and the Bear and eventually faded of the back. I was in struggle town and not feeling to good but got through it.

Friday was a specific Ironman swim set - 40 x 100m on the 1:45 (1:25 pace with 20 seconds rest). Could only do 33 as I had an early meeting at work. When I climbed out of the water my skin was pink! I was sweating so much after the shower that I struggled to apply my facial moisturiser. Yes, you read it correctly, moisturiser also goes in the swim bag each morning. I've obviously been swimming too long with Sam Madden and Graham Smart. 

I was asked a question at swimming this week - why do I wear a swim cap? As I explain to this individual, it's not to keep my hair in place. I train with one because I have to race with one. I just want to get used to always having it on. Simple. 

A school teacher once suggested "there is no such this as a stupid question." I beg to differ....I'm not suggesting the above was a stupid question....you be the judge ;)

Friday was a struggle day. Really tired and lethargic during the day. It had been a busy week with work and then there was the up and coming auction. Didn't give me much time to think about the OD Run on Saturday. Had to do an early start as Saturday was stacked:

• 4:30am - Wake Up
• 5:30am - 3hr OD Run Start
• 9:15am - Auskick with Stirling
• 11:30 - Auction the house
• 1:00pm - Out to lunch for Lauren's birthday

I didn't do the scheduled bike spin prior as I decided to take the extra sleep - I needed to be on my game for the auction. So I started the 3hr run at 5:30am. Red Bear joined me about 10min later after he finished his pre-run ride. It was dark and about 10 degrees, mild for a winter's morning. We had our drink bottles and nutrition laid out. The venue was the Heidelberg loop which is a 2km circuit over the bridge from Studley Park car park. The running up to the 1hr mark was good. We were not tired and could talk. Things get a bit harder after the 1.5hr mark but still ok. By this stage Foz had arrived and the other Fluid teams were there about to start their programs. Ralph Glatz, Peter McConvill, Andrew Rowe and Chris Black were also doing OD runs and had made a start. Great seeing some familiar faces. 

We watched the Moylan v's Gardiner run battle during their ride/run combo. Saw the Coombes and Aaron Keefe commencing their ride out to Kangaroo Ground. Andrew Maitland was smashing out a fast run. Jenny Zenker and Lyndsey Travis formed a run pair and looked like they'd established a solid pace, and then there was Red Bear and myself....... 

The now infamous photo of Red Bear. The one piece tri-suit, the splashing of water, the seductive look from the girl in the background, the Mars bar in hand - some say he didn't even remove the wrapper prior to consuming (the Mars bar). And yes, he wore that tri-suit on Saturday's OD Run and ate Mars bars (photo by Peter McConvill)

  
By now we'd been running for over 2hrs and things were getting hard. The heart rate was steady but the muscles were hurting. Then the 2.5hr mark hits and it's bloody hard. The legs really hurt. My hammys were feeling it and the little hill on the circuit felt like a mountain. But got through it with no real issues. Ended up doing a marathon - 42.2km in 3hrs 13min averaging 4:34min/km at 77% average heart rate.   

Last OD Run => 13 July 13 (6 weeks ago) - 40km in 3hrs 2min averaging 4:33min/km at 78% average heart rate. 

Analysis - Ran slightly slower for slightly longer with a slightly lower heart rate. No real difference on the run. However, after this run (unlike OD runs prior to Ironman Melbourne) I could actually function and not not look like I'd 'run a marathon.' This was where the difference is at. Legs are now much stronger.

Next marathon - Kona!

The Heidelberg loop - 22 laps!

Now time for Auskick. It was quickly get changed and into the car and drive to the oval. Lauren's Dad took Stirling down there to get started. I arrived just as they started warm up. I wasn't going to do much kicking following the morning's marathon. Wanted to be there for the presentations as it was the last Auskick session this season. Stirling was excited, he received his trophy.

The 2 boys with their recent trophies (no he doesn't know what's going on with Essendon at the moment)

With Auskick over it was time for the Auction. It was now out of our hands, nothing more we could do. I had no time to think about it so I wasn't nervous until Lauren and I sat down and the auction started. What happens if the bidding stops in the 'do we hold or sell' zone? Away it went. There were 6 bidders, it went past the reserve, it was on the market and selling. Oh the relief, it was as quick as that! Then SOLD! You beauty! It's done! Relax....

The fun started when it was over

Paperwork done, now time to go for lunch and celebrate Lauren's birthday...and the auction result. Off to the next venue for some more bad food and alcohol choices.

A Toblerone and glass of Chandon to start the celebrations.

It was then time to go home and relax. Ahhhh.

Sunday was a day off training and a sleep in. Then we caught up with friends for more bad food choices at the Templestowe Hotel's all you can eat bistro. Really should have stopped at my second desert. One person asked me if I'm on a special Ironman diet while watching me consume chocolate mouse, ice cream, pavlova and beer.

Then shopping.....

They put a running track in the store. Of course kids are going to run on it. I did tell him off...for not staying within his lane!

A busy week all done. I'm glad to get this one over. There was so much happening I didn't get time to think. Probably better that way.

Received the final training program this week which takes me all the way to Kona.  

We are in the specific race preparation phase. The muscles have been strengthen now its time to make them fast.

Only 4 more weekends of training before we leave. That's it, need to make them count! 

47 DAYS TO RACE DAY

2013 LVTC Winter Triathlon Race Report

It was an early start for the 1hr 45min drive to Hazelwood Pondage near Morwell on Sunday morning. Most of the Fluid Movements team went up on Saturday but we had a clash so drove up Sunday. 

We arrived early so I snagged a good spot in transition. Plenty of room to lay the gear out. With everything ready we did a team warm up run. During the warm up Foz threw out my 'get out of jail' card - he told the group that they should beat me as it is not my distance. Excellent, now I have an excuse for losing or general poor performance. After the run warm up it was wetsuit on and into the water. 

It didn't look like a big field in the water. The temperature was fantastic. Most competitors wore wetsuits, LUNCHBOX was the only one I saw without a wetsuit.

The race organiser provided the race briefing with everyone in the water. The sun was out and we were shielded from the wind, it was actually quite pleasant. 

Then with the briefing over the starter counted three, two, one, then sounded the horn. We we off!

  

SWIM

There were arms everywhere, scratching, fighting, yelling, biting!!!!! Well, not quite, it was a very tame start with everyone giving each other room.  That was until we converged onto the first turning buoy. I had someone come across the front of me who I climbed right over the top of. Managed to get my arm right onto his shoulder and launch myself while giving him (or her?) some underwater time. Totally accidental! 



Around the buoy then got into my rhythm, then received a kick to the face by someone swimming across on a 45 degree angle. No problem, it wasn't a hard kick, found my rhythm again. Now we were swimming into the weather. The water was more choppy in this direction and it was harder to breath. Nothing too difficult and nothing like an ocean swim. Saw Oliver Jones swimming next to me. Recognised the white rimmed goggles that swim with me at South Yarra Sports Centre. If I could stay with him I'll have a good swim. So hung in there managing to draft of the swimmer in front. Held that position until the next turn. Then lost my draft and Ollie. 

At this stage I could feel the cap starting to work its way off. In Ironman Melbourne I had my goggles kicked off multiple times so I wanted to try goggles under the cap. The theory was the cap would hold them on. The goggles were ok but the cap was filling with water and working its way off. Could have ripped it off but thought I'd see how long it would last. The cap was a thinner material than those use in Ironman events so this probably wasn't a good test. Dealing with real issues here!!!

At the completion of the first lap I had dropped off the group I was trying to hold onto. Could see them but just tried to hold a manageable pace and try not to drop too far off. It felt like I was on my own for most of the second lap. Did manage to pass another swimmer but the group in front slowly pulled away. The strange thing was my legs were feeling tired! In the swim? My hip flexors. Very odd. Of course my arms were now tired. I had clear water into the final green buoy. Where is it? I was swimming straight to it! Looked up to sight, BANG! Hit the buoy with a full frontal face press! Found it! Got around it, then it was only one more turn then I'm in. 

Made it round the final buoy and started kicking the legs into shore. I was feeling tired at this point. Was thinking about the transition and how I was going to get out of the water and not stumble - kick the legs, get the blood down there. Close to the shore my hand touched the bottom. Took 3 more strokes to reduce the depth the stood up. The cap was still on, just, so ripped it off and ran up onto the shore. Cleared the water still upright, legs are working!  Goggles up onto the forehead, unzipped the wettie and ripped the arms out. It was like I was the only one there. Couldn't see anyone around me. Ran into transition and to the bike. 

I was 18th overall out of the water, 2nd in my category. With a time of 24:33 - 4 min behind the current race leader, the first person out of the water FM's Jenny Zenker.

T1

In T1 I saw Peter Coombe, Jono Tucker and I think that was Oliver Jones on his way out. Wettie came off the legs ok - put on some extra lube around the ankles which worked well. Normally I'm having a wrestling match with the wettie in T1. I chose to leave the shoes off the bike and put the on in transition. 2 reasons for this. Firstly, I plan to wear socks in Hawaii so will put the shoes on in transition as I did at Melbourne. Secondly, the ground was a bit muddy and rocky. I chose no socks for a faster transition. 

It was shoes on, helmet on (had to fiddle with the clip a little, felt like a long time but was only about 3 seconds extra) then I was off. Over the mount line and onto the bike with no issues, clipped in, up the hill then lift turned onto the bike course. 55 seconds for T1.



BIKE

Ok, now to punish these swimmers!!!! That's always the plan but not always the outcome. 

I was underway. The first sweeping left hander was fast. It was then down hill with a full tail wind. Speed was +50km/hr. My issue at this point was heart rate and breathing. Heart rate had skyrocketed as it always does when I first get on the bike at +90% of max. My breathing was the equivalent. Had to now try and relax myself and bring them back. 

I could see Jono ahead. He had some good distance on me. After the next left hander we were hit with a cross wind and up hill battle. This did nothing to help the breathing and heart rate. 

Saw Krista at this point, said g'day, what a great swim she had! I remember thinking 'why is her face all dirty?' A bit further on I had to clear the sinuses. As the wind was blowing from the left I decided the right was the better option so it wouldn't come back at me. So I covered one nostril and blew out the most mucusy mixture of bodily fluid out of my nose....and all over Johan Moylan who was passing me at that precise moment! His comment back to me as he passed - "lucky I had my visor on!" I didn't know he was there. I was in my usual frame of mind thinking I was the only one out there. Whoops! And his face is also dirty!?!? Didn't we just swim in a freshwater pond?

Johan - I didn't actually apologise properly for that. Sorry mate, reality was it was nothing more than the Pondage water :)

After making it through the next turn and corresponding head wind toward the power station, it was back onto the road toward the transition area. Here we were hit with full cross winds from the right. Johan was only just ahead of me. I remained in the area and powered on and just dealt with the sudden sideways movements from the wind as it hit. I remained close to the middle of the road and checked for cars behind to avoid the wind pushing me off the road. I passed Johan at this point as he was out of the aero. But that was short lived. He passed me once we were over the hill and pulled away. He was riding really well! 

Saw Foz, couldn't hear what he yelled out with all the wind noise. I think he said "your calves look awesome when peddling into the wind." Or something like that, cannot confirm. 

We passed the transition area, people yelling out as we passed. Awesome! The first of 3 laps complete. 

Heart rate was still high for the second lap but breathing was no longer as labored. My original plan was to start with a lower heart rate then work it up. Now realised that wasn't going to happen and it would be quite the opposite. Just kept peddling hard, it's an Olympic distance, just gotta smash it!

Heart rate on the bike

Prior to the race I wasn't certain as to wearing gloves and maybe arm warmers should be on the cards. It was cold and windy but the sun was out. Decided to do neither, the right decision. Was ok all the way and didn't take long to dry out following the swim.

On the third and final lap I passed a few more riders and lapped a few or maybe they were sprint distance riders. It was at the 30km mark that I started feeling more 'comfortable' or more in the zone. Funny about that, only 6km to go. I wasn't going to catch Jono but I saw a rider in Australian colours that I was slowly catching. Had Johan popped? 

It was as we were coming into transition that I saw it was Ollie not Johan. We entered the transition almost together and came across Jono who was already there.  

I had the 6th fastest bike time overall with the fastest in my category (the results said 2nd but it picked up a non-finisher in the bike leg as 1st). Time of 57:22 averaging 37.4km/hr.

T2

Helmet off, bike shoes off then runners on. Not too bad. Foz was yelling "c'mon Dale!" It was Jono exiting transition first, then Ollie, finally me chasing. 31 seconds for T2.



RUN
I was just behind Ollie at the start of the run. When we got onto the road my breathing became laboured and my legs were not too sharp. Right then I knew I would not catch Ollie, while Jono was increasing he distance between us. I just tried not to let Ollie get too far ahead but even on the initial down hill section he was getting away. Was passed by a runner that I remembered passing on the bike. He said hi as he passed, that's ok, he's in a different age group. I had a look behind me to see who else was chasing.....Nothing, no one, AWESOME!! I have some space!

Behind Oliver Jones out of transition

The course then turned right onto a dirt road. Then it was two uphill sections. The first being steep and the second really really steep. The second really hurt. I tried to maintain form and took deep breaths. The closer I got to the top the more wind effected the run was making it really hard. Foz was at the top. He ask how I was, all I could manage was a thumbs up.

Over the hill I could recover. Ollie has stretched his lead and Jono was almost out of sight. At the bottom of the down hill section was the turn around point. Saw Red Bear heading out, I yelled out "Red Bear!" Ok, now have someone else I can try and catch. That wasn't going to happen. Right, gotta hold him! Nope, that wasn't going to happen either!

Turned the corner and hit the hills for the second lap. This one hurt. I really struggled on the second steep section. I'm just not made for hills. Really slowed down and took really deep breaths. Finally over the top, now down hill and on the home stretch. Wanted to pick up pace but struggled, took me a while to recover from that hill.

Once onto the flat section I was back in the game. Could see the finish line and closed some space between me and the young kid who passed me. One final turn and I saw Lauren, Stirling and Peter & Jan Dean cheering everyone home. Awesome - I crossed the finish line and got a big hug from Stirling.

Run time of 37:46 averaging 4:08 min/km. I was 20th overall on the run and 3rd in my category.

Total time 2:01:09 - 14th overall and 1st place in my category - MY FIRST WIN!!!!

Wow that hurt! Not used to that intensity! Oh the pain in my glutes!

Before the race I had a couple of 'wants':

1. Beat last year's time.
2. Finish under 2 hours.
3. First place in my category.

Result - I beat last year's overall time and every individual discipline time in tougher conditions, didn't finish under 2hrs (1min over) but bagged first place in my category. A successful day out!

2013 Result

Last year's result (2012)

2013 Leaderboard

With Coach Sean Foster. This guy knows his stuff! Thanks mate, all's going well.

Awesome!

Great to get a win. Has done a lot for my confidence at this stage of training. Getting down to the home stretch.

Next race - Ironman World Championships, Kona Hawaii

8 Weeks to Kona

Total Training Duration - 11hrs 25min

• Swim - 6km
• Ride - 196km
• Run - 35km

It's race week! 

Spent the whole week thinking about the Olympic distance triathlon this Sunday at Hazelwood Pondage. Hours were down as I missed 2 swim sessions and there was a reduced load due to Sunday's race.

But before I can race well I need to recover from the previous week's training. As noted in last week's blog I had some muscle maintenance massage from Richard Squires.

Massage aftermath...cupping. It wasn't just the legs that were sore this week. I was sore all over.

It was back to the the typical post tough weekend velodrome session on Monday - struggled to get the heart rate up. Chatted to Jo Coombe during a lap, she was also going through the same thing. The effect of a big training week backed up with a big weekend. The legs hurt and I just couldn't push harder. Unlike earlier in the Kona training season I'm no longer concerned with this. With this training load I will never feel like superman every day or be 'best on ground' at every session. It's taken some time but I now get it (slow learner!). 

Swimming had an easier set on Tuesday. Was able to work on some technique - finishing the stroke was the focus. Sean's program for the morning was based around around this. Unfortunately for me the start of my stroke is not that flash either. Sean was right onto me about it, gave me something to work on. 

Lane 6 was full at the start with Ollie, Rad, coach Ritchie (celebrity guest) and myself. Although it wasn't long before Richard moved into lane 7. He did well to slip up a lane without making too much of a fuss that he was too fast for lane 6...even through he hadn't been doing any real training of late. Thanks for being discrete about it. All other lanes looked like the numbers were solid that morning. Graham Smart also graced us with his presence. 

That morning Foz commenced his Kona athlete profiles, I was first up:

I tried something new for lunch on Tuesday - Roll'd. There is normally a queue that extends right outside the store which encourages me to go elsewhere, but today I was early. I ordered what I thought was going to be a Vietnamese chicken roll...that turned out to be a chicken salad with noodles. Got that one wrong, the name of the place threw me. It was still good and gave me the energy for......

Tuesday night's Fartlek - 2 min on and 1.5 min recovery x 7. Ryo, Chris Rancie, Jono Tucker and Mark Johnson (2012 Kona finisher) were in the fast group. Foz told me not to try and keep up, I'm at a greater fatigue level and will pop. Very true, would have killed myself trying...and then popped. Regardless, I attempted to get the jump at the start by taking off 'Gra Gra' style. Only to stumble on the uneven surface...and continue to stumble while trying to stop myself hitting the deck. Must have been funny to watch and with Foz yelling at me it was quite the moment. Not one of my greatest ideas. I felt the hammys stretching and twisting in all directions. I regained my footing and let the fast runners go. Legs were still tired from last week. 

Kew Boulevard was the venue for Wednesday's bike session. I arrived early but then the chain decided it would drop off the chain ring. When this happened a second time at 5:50am I started getting more vocal about my displeasure which included colourful and abusive language toward the bike. Jan Dean identified I was in some 'distress' and offered to shine her light onto my bike. All done, had to thank Jan:

Peter Elliot was there, he asked me how training was going. I said I'm tired and grumpy. Then I read an article on over-training.

The article listed symptoms of over-training to which I have listed my status:

• Get a washed-out feeling - Yep
• Feel tired - All the time
• Get grumpy and experience sudden mood swings - Definitely this week
• Become irrational - As above
• Feel a lack of energy for other activities - Yes
• Suffer from depression - Nope
• Have a decreased appetite - Absolutely not. There is never enough food in the house!
• Get headaches - No...unless hungover
• Get an increased incidence of injuries - Currently unbreakable (touch wood)
• Have trouble sleeping - I'm falling asleep right now...All good here
• Feel a loss of enthusiasm for the sport - Can't get enough of it
• Experience a sudden drop in performance - Getting faster!

Result - All's good, keep training!

The full article is here:
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/08/how-to-identify-and-avoid-over-training/ 




Back to Kew Boulevard ---> Time constraints limited me to 2 laps hard followed by a 15 min run. Legs were STILL sore and tired but the laps were good especially considering the wind. No Strava 'PRs' that morning but still put in solid effort. Had the race wheels on to give them a run before Hazelwood. With that session finished I was now on a taper (of sorts) for the race. 

Had the bike serviced during the day. New bottom bracket, grip tape, cables, brake pads and gears adjusted. Like a new bike, all part of race week. 

Thursday's run was easy pace. My hammys and calves were still a bit tight. Are the legs ever going to loosen up??? Just did a comfortable pace around the Tan. I started early so by the time I met up with the group I was almost done. Had a stretch then ran with Nugget and Mark Johnson to St Kilda Rd then dropped off to run back to the city. It felt good just turning over the tired legs. 

The Weekend
This weekend we had a clash. I'd double booked Hazelwood over a weekend we were catching up with friends who were here from the US. We were going to be staying with them for the weekend but now there was a problem. After identifying this Lauren said:

"It's not a problem, it's all about want you need and what's best for Kona. It doesn't matter that this weekend has been organised for months. My life revolves around you and I will make all the changes necessary to suit your triathlon timetable. Hazelwood is a lovely place and I look forward to the 2 hour drive." 

Ok, maybe that quote is not quite accurate but we did make a compromise. This resulted in a 1 hour bike session Saturday morning (pre-race day spin), Auskick with Stirling, out with our friends for the day, then home that night ready for Hazelwood on Sunday. Easy!


As part of generating the wave of enthusiasm for Hazelwood I posed this photo on Facebook and may have hinted it was Hazelwood Pondage: 


 

Picture of the Iceland geothermal spa

So Saturday I started with a pre-race day 1 hour spin on the bike. Even gave the Bell Javelin aero helmet a test run. Finally decided the pedals were too worn and needed to be replaced (Time i-click). Pulled the set of the roadie and put them on the Trek. Much better, my feet actually stayed clipped in. Everything else was all good.

Stirling and I went to Auskick. The kids had a footy game which they loved, until their attention span expired. A quick change of ends then change of positions to keep them interested. After that we had the post Auskick treats from Wattle Park Bakery - Vanilla slice for Dad and gingerbread man for Stirling. They were so good we went back for another! I'll put that one down to carb loading.

Stirling eating his post Auskick gingerbread man

It was then off to visit our friends from the US. Food consisted of pre-dinner crackling, then roast pork, lamb and more crackling. Desert was chocolate cup cakes, orange & poppy seed cake, tiramisu and macarons. An awesome pre-race dinner!

Pre-dinner crackling

Lamb, pork and more crackling

Race Day!

It was an early start for the family on Sunday with a 1hr 45min(ish) drive to Hazelwood. Stirling's quote at 5:30am - "The only people awake now are triathletes."

The drive to Hazelwood

Arrived early which ensured a good spot in the transition area. Did the team run warm up then it was wet suit on and into the water to turn the arms.

 

Stirling practising his freestyle. It's not unlike my stroke!

Preparing himself for the junior tri program.....and Kona 2037

A great day out. Bagged 1st place in age group 40-49, 14th overall and beat last year's time under tougher conditions (extremely windy). 

My first win!!!! Really happy with that!

With Coach Sean Foster. This guy knows his stuff! Thanks mate, all's going well.

I know the details on the race are brief. I will publish a race report this week so stay tuned sports fans ;-)



Pumped this week after a win!
 

2013 Hawaii Ironman is on 12 October.

54 days to go! That's 8 weeks to race day!

Only 5.5 weeks until we leave for the USA.

9 Weeks to Kona

Total Training Duration - 20hrs 15min

• Swim - 13.7km
• Ride - 282km
• Run - 83km

My legs are back after a much needed week of recovery. 

But there was disappointment from the fan base. My commitments this week caused a delay to the blog being released on the usual Sunday night. Here's what happened...

Sometimes Facebook is awesome! Great post Chris, see you at the Tan.

And tonight (Monday night) I had my regular massage with coach Richard Squires at SYS. Massage is an important part of the training program (any training program). For me, no massage would equal no Kona. The body wouldn't hold up with the training load. That's how serious I take it. Tonight doubled as a race week tune up in preparation for Hazelwood next weekend. After a tough week the legs were tight and took a bit of work. Thanks Richard, see you in 2 weeks....Now time to do this blog....

The Week
It was intervals at the velodrome on Monday that snapped them back. 13 x 3 laps at Vo2Max. Last time I did this was type of set was after a 40km OD run and could only manage 7 reps. This time I finished the lot and did it with speed. Felt good on the bike and on the 20 minute run after. 

It took a full week to recover from the Inverloch training camp. The weekend of Stirling's party food probably helped too (sausage rolls, sushi and chocolate cake). 

Welcome back legs!

Tuesday morning I was back on top of swimming again.

Tuesdays run was a "Mona Fartlek" (named after Steve Moneghetti). Ran with Ryo and Nugget. Unfortunately Henry was resting his knee this week so wasn't running. Ryo took off early in the set so it was up to me and Nugget to pace each other. Felt like I wanted to spew on the last set, must have been the milk and muesli bar I ate beforehand. That combined with the hard pace with Nugget. Got right into the zone to the point where I ran  overtime with a couple efforts without realising. Gotta remember to look at the Garmin!

It was back to the velodrome on Wednesday with more intervals. 8 x 10 laps at lactate threshold then 4 laps rest. It was hard especially after Tuesday's run.  However, I felt strong and averaged 42.4km/hr over the 8 intervals. That night it absolutely hammered down with rain so caught the tram home. 

Thursday swimming was long session - about 4.2km. Very tiring sets with changes of pace. Got through it ok. That night was the 'quality' run session - 7 x 5 minute efforts with increasing rest duration between. I was the only Hawaii athlete there that night so ran solo...except for the last 2 efforts when coach Foz followed me on the bike. He talked me through some running technique with some Hawaii emphasis. I was running hard so just listened. Felt strong on the run - like i could just keep going. Averaged between 3:40 & 3:48min/km over the 5 minute efforts. Finished up with 22.5km over 1 hour 42 minutes. A hard day's work. Didn't make it home for dinner, had to pick up a burrito in the city to smash the appetite. 

On the train home I had 2 drunk guys wanting to talk to me about my bike. I just gave closed one word answers and typed this blog. So they decided to talk to each other about it. One guy explained to his mate that the bike didn't even had front brakes! Might want to look a bit closer....good, they got off...

Friday morning was the Ironman specific swim day - main set 40 x 100m on the 1:55. This allowed me 20 seconds rest swimming at 1:35 pace. Made it through quite well. The last 5 100's I cut back the cycle time by 5 seconds to 1:50. Nailed it! Finished up with about 5.5km. Hungry all day. 


This Month's Strava Challenge - The Gateway

So far in August I have...

• Run 107km = 603rd out of 12,997 runners 
• Cycled 351km = 11,344th out of 53,466 cyclists

The Weekend

Saturday we had 3 groups for the long ride. Main squad hit the Dandenongs for 1:20 repeats, London worlds had a flat ride on Beach Rd and for Hawaii it was Kinglake and Christmas Hills. It was just Steve Guy and myself from the Hawaii crew due to a mix of injury, boys weekend and one slept through his alarm. On the way out I lost a bolt from the front chain ring. Every time I put on pressure while on the small ring it bent and I dropped the chain. On the 3rd time I went into the gutter and my handlebars went forward. Lucky I had a multi-tool to do an emergency handle bar adjustment. I eventually sorted the chain out and pushed on. Steve owned the ride that day, he pulled away on the climbs and I struggled on the lumpy sections after Christmas Hills. Then he ran me harder than I wanted during the run off the bike. It was a rather uncomfortable day made more difficult with bike issues. Steve finished his run after 25 minutes which enabled me to finish at a more comfortable pace. Some days are like that - the legs I found at the beginning of the week were gone again. On the good side at least the sun was out making it a warm winters day. 

It's not like Red Bear to miss a session, but judging by the FB messages the guilt set in. You really needed the sleep mate, take it!

That night we went out to Box Hill for Vietnamese. I ordered honey chicken but received lemon chicken. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I expressed my displeasure to the staff. According to Lauren my reaction was not one of my best moments. I was at the end of a tough day. I did eventually get honey chicken. 

After a solo 60 minute bike along Beach Rd, we had a good crew for Sunday's run. We formed a bunch with Ryo, Nugget, Red Bear, Richard Squires and Graham Smart....Yes you read it correctly....GRAHAM SMART...at training! Ryo, Richard and Graham turned and headed back for a fast paced return. Nugget, Red Bear and myself went long - it was a 2 hour 25 minute run for us.   

The wind was behind us on the way out. Nugget talked us through some Kona tips he learnt from his 2012 adventure. We ran out at 4:28min/km pace. The legs still hurt from the busy run week. We pushed harder against the wind on the return. The final straight after Catani Gardens was very fast with Red Bear taking out the final 'sprint' finish. The return pace was a healthy 4:24 with an overall distance of 32.5km. 

The legs really needed the cold water immersion. I walked into the water with a skinny latte and the iPhone to keep me occupied.

A great way to end a long run

It was then coffee and hot chocolate time with Lauren and Stirling. Then off to the in-laws for dinner. The conversation was Kona as they are coming with us. Can't wait. 

Coffee time with Lauren & Stirling. Tired!

Stirling & I made a tin can robot

2 months to race day......61 days!

We are in the Specific Preparation Phase of Training. 

Really focused on THE RACE!!!