Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
"Painful, but not serious"
This was the quote from my chiro, Dr Peter McGlynn on Monday when I 1/2 walked, 1/2 staggered into his clinic on Monday.
My week has been an easy one and this has forced an early taper, albeit by a few days. But with plenty of swimming, a small ride and run to date, things are back on plan.
I write this, as I am never one to make excuses...either I was good enough or I was not!!
Last weekend after punching out a solid 36k run on Saturday with Trav, Arch & Benny followed by an open water swim and an easy hour on the bike in the afternoon I was all pumped looking towards Busso in two weeks (at that time). Headed off to the movies in the afternoon and conceded to bed early with the plan of a 6 hour ride on the Sunday with the boys. (Last one in training for the year).
Feeling like I needed a sleep in, and having nothing planned for the day, I decided that I would get my ride done during the late morning/mid afternoon. This is where things went wrong....I did a quick sweep of the lounge floor and moved a few chairs. On returning the chairs, which I did incorrectly, I slumped to the floor in extreme agony after hurting my lower back.
Lucky I had great support there to help me get over to the couch to try and lay down. Thanks Carla :-). Our conversation soon turned to the Ironman with both having experienced a few ironman's between us (10) our focus was not about the training that I have done (every boxed ticked until that point) it was more about getting treatment to get me there in the best shape.
My first phone call was to Andrew (Coach) who reassured me that the training had been done. From there he rang his good mate/chiro Dr Peter McGlynn to org to get me there first thing Monday. Pain killers were my food of choice Sunday to try and get the body to relax and the pain to settle.
That night I headed to bed and looked in the mirror only to realise that my head was directly over my right side of the body as my back had spasmed to that point. I headed in to see Dr Peter who diagnosed me with a L5 Vertebrae injury which resulted in reaction to my S1 nerve system, which decides if you have power in your legs or not.....something that you need in a Triathlon. His quote (which did ease my mind) was "It is painful, but not serious." Dr Peter has been fantastic in explaining how it happened and what I need to do to recover from it and has given me full confidence that with the right treatment, both by him and myself it will stay in place moving forward.
After 2 Chiro treatments and 2 massages this week, my back is close to 100%. I have been well looked after and know that I am going to hit Busso as originally planned. I have a couple of small testers over the weekend and have already completed a couple.
My week has been an easy one and this has forced an early taper, albeit by a few days. But with plenty of swimming, a small ride and run to date, things are back on plan.
For once I have been smart about recovery and listening to what I should be doing to aid this....maybe I am getting wiser!?!?!
The weekend involves a med-long ride with a small run, followed by a sprint distance race on Sunday. After lengthy discussions with Dr Peter and Coach Andrew, I know that this is the best thing for me, both for confidence and for race strategy.
For Now...
X-Man
PS.....The definition of stupidity??
Doing the same thing over and expecting different results.
I can relate this to triathletes who stick to the same coach and the same program and expect a different result.
Woof Woof
Monday, November 15, 2010
Final Lead up race completed....
So, my final lead up race for Ironman...in 3 weeks....has been done and dusted in what was rated as a reasonable success even though I didn't feel as if I had my best performance.
The short stuff:
Swim - fatigued early 28.48mins (not quiet where I wanted it)
Bike - took a while for the legs to get going 2hr 15min 12 sec (9th fastest for the day)
Run - felt like I struggled, although only 1 min from pb 1hr 27min 28sec.
Total - 4hr 11min 28 sec, although a pb by 7min, not my best race so far.
7th in age group....23rd overall....(Tough age group this year.)
The long stuff:
Although I was not entirely happy with the feel of the race, I am extremely happy that even though things did not feel like they were working in my favour, I still managed to achieve a PB, albeit a fast day all round.
The Swim:
Found myself up the front at the start and was very comfortable starting here. With the horn sounding, I did my usual thing and started strongly. I found myself sitting on the 2nd place person at the start of the swim and felt really comfortable, HR was low (on reflection of garmin), arms felt good and I avoided the rough and tumble of a mid pack start.
I rounded the first buoy, still sitting in third and with a little bit of mis-direction had to fight to find the feet again. The zero visibility in the water did not make this easy and with catching the group in front, I lost the feet. So, holding pace and concentrating on technique, I cruised through for the next 200-300metres comfortable, then my arms began to fatigue fast. This was a new feeling for me as I have been swimming solidly in the pool, punching out consistent times. I then decided to ease a little and wait for the next pack to swallow me up and drag me around the reminder of the course. Now for some reason, I struggled to even hang onto this group and my arms kept fatiguing.
I managed to grab the third group and exit the water with them. I had a good transition and got onto the bike, feeling ok, but not quite happy with my swim.....28.48 sec (about 1 minute behind where I wanted to be)
The Bike:
The plan was to try a different race nutrition tactic with a high intensity. If it worked at 1/2 Ironman intensity, I would be confident of it working at Ironman intensity. I found the drafting to be terrible as the conditions were perfect for racing and I dragged a pack of 25-30 riders around for most part to the point where I caught the leader in my age group and he asked "How many friends did I bring with me??" My response was, "Only about 30 odd!!" The TO was with us and she did absolutely nothing except ask me to ride faster so that they could not sit on my wheel??? WTF is the go with that?? Ave of over 40kph, my legs don't go faster than that!! So I just stayed on the front to keep my race honest. But don't you love the clowns that think that 40-41kph is not fast enough and they come to the front and then realise that they can only ride 38kph solo......hmmmmmm!?!?! So anyway I was happy with my bike time and the new race nutrition that was tried and tested for the race.
2hr 15min + change (including transitions)
The Run:
I started out feeling ok, but admittedly the legs were heavy(from the heavy training in the lead up) and started the stitch around the 3k mark...I managed to run it out, but I just never really felt comfortable all day in the run. I did try different nutrition also and was happy with the result and know that it will help in the Ironman. I did blow out a little towards the end and the goal was the hold sub 4.30min k pace when I did "pop". My worst km time was 4min 26sec and was very happy that was where I found some comfort. If I can hold that pace for the Ironman, I will be happy.
Although I was only 1 min behind my pb time from Gold Coast 4 weeks away in the run, it was a surprise as I thought my time would have been lucky to break 90mins this time round. There is positive and negative results here for some, but all positive for me. Feeling like crap and still not far from my pb in the run after a pb ride and an average swim, I am happy where things are at.
The overall:
Another pb for all courses and a 12min pb at Shepparton gives me confidence that there is still room for improvements in the final 3 weeks, although I am very happy with where things are at.
4hrs 11min +
As we all have leading into an Ironman, I have sussed out the main rivals for Ironman and have come to the conclusion that to ensure a spot this year, a SUB 9hr is required. The big question is.....Do I have that in me??
From last years field, 3rd, 5th, 6th & 11th are racing. Along with a few who recently completed Hawaii a few weeks back and the winners of the 1/2 Ironman races this year. I know for sure that my age group is going to have a cracking field and a perfectly planned and executed race plan will go along way in obtaining the goal.
For now I will keep listening to the Dogs barking away whilst I fine tune my reace plan.
X-Man
The short stuff:
Swim - fatigued early 28.48mins (not quiet where I wanted it)
Bike - took a while for the legs to get going 2hr 15min 12 sec (9th fastest for the day)
Run - felt like I struggled, although only 1 min from pb 1hr 27min 28sec.
Total - 4hr 11min 28 sec, although a pb by 7min, not my best race so far.
7th in age group....23rd overall....(Tough age group this year.)
The long stuff:
Although I was not entirely happy with the feel of the race, I am extremely happy that even though things did not feel like they were working in my favour, I still managed to achieve a PB, albeit a fast day all round.
The Swim:
Found myself up the front at the start and was very comfortable starting here. With the horn sounding, I did my usual thing and started strongly. I found myself sitting on the 2nd place person at the start of the swim and felt really comfortable, HR was low (on reflection of garmin), arms felt good and I avoided the rough and tumble of a mid pack start.
I rounded the first buoy, still sitting in third and with a little bit of mis-direction had to fight to find the feet again. The zero visibility in the water did not make this easy and with catching the group in front, I lost the feet. So, holding pace and concentrating on technique, I cruised through for the next 200-300metres comfortable, then my arms began to fatigue fast. This was a new feeling for me as I have been swimming solidly in the pool, punching out consistent times. I then decided to ease a little and wait for the next pack to swallow me up and drag me around the reminder of the course. Now for some reason, I struggled to even hang onto this group and my arms kept fatiguing.
I managed to grab the third group and exit the water with them. I had a good transition and got onto the bike, feeling ok, but not quite happy with my swim.....28.48 sec (about 1 minute behind where I wanted to be)
The Bike:
The plan was to try a different race nutrition tactic with a high intensity. If it worked at 1/2 Ironman intensity, I would be confident of it working at Ironman intensity. I found the drafting to be terrible as the conditions were perfect for racing and I dragged a pack of 25-30 riders around for most part to the point where I caught the leader in my age group and he asked "How many friends did I bring with me??" My response was, "Only about 30 odd!!" The TO was with us and she did absolutely nothing except ask me to ride faster so that they could not sit on my wheel??? WTF is the go with that?? Ave of over 40kph, my legs don't go faster than that!! So I just stayed on the front to keep my race honest. But don't you love the clowns that think that 40-41kph is not fast enough and they come to the front and then realise that they can only ride 38kph solo......hmmmmmm!?!?! So anyway I was happy with my bike time and the new race nutrition that was tried and tested for the race.
2hr 15min + change (including transitions)
The Run:
I started out feeling ok, but admittedly the legs were heavy(from the heavy training in the lead up) and started the stitch around the 3k mark...I managed to run it out, but I just never really felt comfortable all day in the run. I did try different nutrition also and was happy with the result and know that it will help in the Ironman. I did blow out a little towards the end and the goal was the hold sub 4.30min k pace when I did "pop". My worst km time was 4min 26sec and was very happy that was where I found some comfort. If I can hold that pace for the Ironman, I will be happy.
Although I was only 1 min behind my pb time from Gold Coast 4 weeks away in the run, it was a surprise as I thought my time would have been lucky to break 90mins this time round. There is positive and negative results here for some, but all positive for me. Feeling like crap and still not far from my pb in the run after a pb ride and an average swim, I am happy where things are at.
The overall:
Another pb for all courses and a 12min pb at Shepparton gives me confidence that there is still room for improvements in the final 3 weeks, although I am very happy with where things are at.
4hrs 11min +
As we all have leading into an Ironman, I have sussed out the main rivals for Ironman and have come to the conclusion that to ensure a spot this year, a SUB 9hr is required. The big question is.....Do I have that in me??
From last years field, 3rd, 5th, 6th & 11th are racing. Along with a few who recently completed Hawaii a few weeks back and the winners of the 1/2 Ironman races this year. I know for sure that my age group is going to have a cracking field and a perfectly planned and executed race plan will go along way in obtaining the goal.
For now I will keep listening to the Dogs barking away whilst I fine tune my reace plan.
X-Man
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Another week done or Another week closer??
Depends which way you look at things.....for me...it is another week closer to WA Ironman, another week closer to have a crack and at that Kona spot that has eluded me for the past 3 attempts. Another week closer to putting all my hard work to the test, the new program, the new direction and the new result!!
I have set goals for the race, which are very achievable and with 4 more weeks of consistent training at the right levels, I am 100% sure that these will be ticked off race day.
For someone who hasn't done the work, I know that they will be thinking that it is closer for a bad reason as it means that time will be catching up and the mind will start to wonder have I done enough work??? Did I really need to miss that session??? Why didn't I get on the mag trainer when it was wet???
How many boxes have you ticked??
Me....I can tick off every single box that has been placed in front of me. Sometimes the training has not been pretty, but I have still managed to get the most out of the session based on how I felt. The previous weekend was the summit of the training which included a 190k ride with a 100k TT Ironman effort (including 3 punctures), followed by a run on the Saturday. That afternoon I was treated to a fantastic picnic for my birthday in the botanical gardens in Melbourne. That evening was spent at a Greek restaurant in Richmond followed by many a cold beer at a nearby Hotel after.
Sunday began with a sleep in, followed by a fantastic breakfast, then training commenced again. A 33k run around the city of Melbourne, which included the gardens that we spent time in the day before relaxing. Not this training day. A ride followed shortly after, then a cold water recovery. A great weekend was had and thanks :-).
Things are still on track, last Thursday I decided to have a crit race to get some idea of where my legs are at. The short story goes.....Tried to help Stormy escape for the first 30 odd mins by holding up the bunch, but to no avail as they were determined to keep him in sight......The final 30 mins involved me breaking away to take a solo victory. I know that Stormy did the same for me what I tried to do for him. Cheers....again!! So for me, no more B Grade EVER, so I was told....Next race will be A grade, just unsure when that will be!!
This weekend will be my final lead up race, being the Shapparton Half Ironman. This race holds no real significance to me. I am going out there to finalise a few new ideas that I have been putting into place in training and will give me a good indication if these will be going forward into Ironman. A solid performance is what I am after, I don't expect to have a result like my previous 2 races as this is far from my "A" race, prob more of a "D" race, a hard training day in race situation.
Regardless of the outcome (time), as long as I complete all the little testing and am happy with them, the race will be a success, not for the season, but for the lead up.
Anyway, the weather is nice and I have punctures to replace. And I am loving the fact that the dogs are barking louder and more as the races get closer.....They must know everything is going fast and strong.
For now...
X-Man
I have set goals for the race, which are very achievable and with 4 more weeks of consistent training at the right levels, I am 100% sure that these will be ticked off race day.
For someone who hasn't done the work, I know that they will be thinking that it is closer for a bad reason as it means that time will be catching up and the mind will start to wonder have I done enough work??? Did I really need to miss that session??? Why didn't I get on the mag trainer when it was wet???
How many boxes have you ticked??
Me....I can tick off every single box that has been placed in front of me. Sometimes the training has not been pretty, but I have still managed to get the most out of the session based on how I felt. The previous weekend was the summit of the training which included a 190k ride with a 100k TT Ironman effort (including 3 punctures), followed by a run on the Saturday. That afternoon I was treated to a fantastic picnic for my birthday in the botanical gardens in Melbourne. That evening was spent at a Greek restaurant in Richmond followed by many a cold beer at a nearby Hotel after.
Sunday began with a sleep in, followed by a fantastic breakfast, then training commenced again. A 33k run around the city of Melbourne, which included the gardens that we spent time in the day before relaxing. Not this training day. A ride followed shortly after, then a cold water recovery. A great weekend was had and thanks :-).
Things are still on track, last Thursday I decided to have a crit race to get some idea of where my legs are at. The short story goes.....Tried to help Stormy escape for the first 30 odd mins by holding up the bunch, but to no avail as they were determined to keep him in sight......The final 30 mins involved me breaking away to take a solo victory. I know that Stormy did the same for me what I tried to do for him. Cheers....again!! So for me, no more B Grade EVER, so I was told....Next race will be A grade, just unsure when that will be!!
This weekend will be my final lead up race, being the Shapparton Half Ironman. This race holds no real significance to me. I am going out there to finalise a few new ideas that I have been putting into place in training and will give me a good indication if these will be going forward into Ironman. A solid performance is what I am after, I don't expect to have a result like my previous 2 races as this is far from my "A" race, prob more of a "D" race, a hard training day in race situation.
Regardless of the outcome (time), as long as I complete all the little testing and am happy with them, the race will be a success, not for the season, but for the lead up.
Anyway, the weather is nice and I have punctures to replace. And I am loving the fact that the dogs are barking louder and more as the races get closer.....They must know everything is going fast and strong.
For now...
X-Man
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Training Camp Round Up.
So, after attending my first real training camp at http://www.tritrainingcamps.com.au/ down at Lorne I have felt like it was definitely a worth while experience. Matt and crew did a fantastic job in hosting us and running a fantastic four days. The only down side was the weather on the first two days making some of the training a little less intense than originally planned.
Without going into too much detail, the camp was solid and the legs definitely were feeling the pinch on the last day especially after a 10k TT effort up a 6% gradient hill, then followed by a race pace 1hr 30min run, in which I managed 21.12k. I was very happy with this after the weekend which involved over 300k riding, 80k running and approx 8k swimming.
The crew that went to the camp were good fun which made for a relaxed atmosphere and with Special guest Greg Stewart (First Australian to Podium at Kona) along with Dr Ken Davis who went through some mental aspects of triathlons, the camp was more than beneficial. I cannot forget to mention Ironman guru Peter Coulson, who was very insightful in many aspects of triathlons along with life and then also Matt "Dr Phil" Pascall, who not only ran another very successful camp but did some relationship mentoring with Eugene....(Those who were there will understand).
I would be more than happy to recommend this camp to all levels of triathletes who want to get away in the most suitable environment to train, recover and relax.
So with 4 1/2 weeks away to WA, I am just starting to feel like I am in the shape that I want to be in, still knowing that I have more to give and more to improve over this time.
I know the dogs are barking a lot right now, so I will leave that to them, whilst we go and train and prepare.
For now...
X-Man
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