Total Training Duration - 11hrs 25min
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.
- 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.
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| 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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Pre-dinner crackling |
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| 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."
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| 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.
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| Stirling practising his freestyle. It's not unlike my stroke! |
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| 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!
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| 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.
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