Challenge Melbourne - the revised plan.

The forecast for Sunday still remains at 41 degrees C and so Supersprint have released contingency plans which includes a greater number of aid stations on course as well as providing ice baths at the end. They have also released a reduced distance race of 1.9km/60km/14km (two laps of the bike and run instead of 3). This is especially for people who will be out of the course for a longer period and for the ones who are under prepared for this event.

I have decided to take this reduced distance change for this Sunday as my running would most likely push my finish time closer to 1pm than 12:30pm. I believe this is the smarter choice for myself (not necessarily for others) for the following:
- This is not my A race (Ironman Melbourne is my big goal).
- I have already raced Shepparton 70.3 in Nov 2013 (my 3rd half Ironman-distance Tri) and comfortable that I am able to complete this distance (even with a shocking run)
- I will be doing the 1.9km swim and 90km bike as part of a team at Geelong70.3 the following week (9th Feb)
- Reduce the stress on my body (extreme heat for longer time compared to others)

The earlier I finish, the quicker I can recover and support others on course may be racing their A-Race or their first half-ironman distance. I am hoping to finish around 11am.

There is also a change in times for race kit pick ups. The tent will be opened from 7 - 10am with course walk through at 9am. I think I will do my short ride early and hope to finish around 6:30-7am. Time to shower, fuel up and get to the site around 8:30am to pick up the kit and get familiar with the course.

Challenge Melbourne - Breaking it down...

So, as I publish this post....there is 5 more sleeps left until Challenge Melbourne. It is a 1.9km/90km/21.1km distance triathlon. It is not a WTC event so we officially can't call it a Half Ironman or 70.3 as WTC own the Ironman name. (Marvel and Kelloggs also own the name but I don't know the rules about it to explain it properly).

The Challenge Series is another set of long course event which covers these distances but managed by a different company. I guess I chose this race over Geelong 70.3 as I had never done a Challenge Series before and have done the Geelong course on several occasions.

So in this event, there is a 1.9km swim, a 90km ride and a 21.1km run. For me - it will be a training event and ticking off some lessons before the big race on the 23rd March.

The swim is one lap of a rectangle course. I have a feeling that it is an anti-clockwise course (with left hand turns). Depending on where they have the timing mats for the swim course, I am aiming to get time of < 40min. This is based on how comfortable I am in my own open water swimming abilities. Brighton can be a difficult swim too based on our past training sessions in not-so-perfect conditions. When it is windy, the waves are high (as it gets deep quickly off the shore) and it did take me forever to reach the buoy. Lets just say I am not comfortable about swimming there by myself. On Monday (26th Jan), I did a super long swim at Mentone, covering 3 sets of (2 x 500m) and so I am comfortable about long distance swimming. If the water is deemed to warm for wetsuit, then I will also be OK (actually preferred).    

The ride is 3 laps of Beach Rd from Brighton through to Mordialloc. If there is a southerly, you will encounter a tail wind heading towards the city and on the last lap towards T2. If there is a northerly, there will be a head wind into T2 and the hard thing that I will need to remember is to not-over-doing the bike as soon as I leave T1. I am hoping to ride an average of 28-30km/hr to get a time below 3:15 for 90km. The temperature is fore casted to be hot-hot-hot so I might store an extra bidon of salt solution on the bike just in case. For 90km, I have never drank more than one bottle (struggle) but will have more than one just in case.

Now, for the 21.1km run....fingers crossed that it can be a good one. I don't think a run can be as bad as my Shepparton 70.3 as currently that is my benchmark for "a run that fell into pieces". Lessons from Shepparton is that I have trained and will race with more salt so my legs and toes won't be seizing up. Based on the long run I did on Sunday, I will need to remember to take gels at every 4km and timing it with the aid stations on course. The great thing about Challenge is that the aid stations are  about every 1.2km (give or take). So I will take a gel at every 3rd aid station (like what I have done at training). This is my plan and will not suit everybody.  

My wave start (looks like it is all the female age groupers) at 6:30am (10min after 6:20am). Fingers crossed to be done by 1pm!

Before the race, there are still a few training sessions. Windtrainer tonight (yay!), pool swim on Wednesday and Friday, swim/bike/run on Thursday. Will assess how long I am out on the road for on Saturday. As much as Challenge Melbourne is a training day, I don't want to race it exhausted and with tired legs. I will need to drop by to pick up race kit and to also do the briefing/walk through to know the course better. 

Looking forward to racing with the new bike and ticking off another challenge (pun-intended).

Brighton Beach - Supersprint



Weekly Reflection 20/01 - 26/01

Another week of training, another step closer towards Ironman. The week that just passed was filled with more good sessions than ones which were not (bonus). Monday started out with a swim in the afternoon at GESAC. I wanted to work more on my band-work in the pool (at my own pace) and to have a stronger core. It was recovery week but there are still extra sessions on for the long course guys. Windtrainer was a good sessions and one of my best for the week. If people ran in the morning, they would do the windtrainer sessions with recovery in mind whilst people who didn't (inc me) would focus more on strength and endurance. EEK!

The session was long and I worked my little butt off. It was the first session with the new tri bike which I have named Foxy (after the Jimi Hendrix song Foxy Lady). I didn't get a good night sleep on Tuesday night and decided to take Wed off swimming as I needed to do a few things at work and at my old place ready to get ready to be rented out.  

I worked from home on Thursday so I had a gym session in the morning (treadmill run + strength session) followed by coaching in the afternoon. We had Scott from XO size down doing demos for the rocket science wetsuits for the Tri Challange athletes.

Rocket Science Wetsuit - I have Elite as the Aquasense didn't come in XS

We spent an hour or so teaching them about porpoising and how to swim out and back in. It was great fun! Sessions like these are great for beginners as it includes little tips and tricks which you would never think about when we are training for a triathlon without any assistance. 

Friday was all about endurance (swimming) with pull buoys, paddles and fins. Loved it. The pool was clean this time around, no poo visible.

As it was recovery week, the Sat ride on the program was shorter, so it was a 130km instead of 150km. Once again, the start to the ride didn't get off to the best start, I forgot my helmet at first for about 500m out the door, then I noticed that my drink bottles were not on the bike the 2nd time I headed out the door. 3rd time lucky!

I decided to do my long run at about 9:30am as I wanted to run when the temperature was warmer. A 24km run was broken down into a bit like this:

0 - 2km - feeling OK, this was where I started to warm up more. In my mind, was looking forward to the long run and reaching a further distance along Nepean Hwy before the turn around.  

2 - 17km - feeling awesome. Held a steady pace and had my nutrition at every 4km (around 20-25min). My turn around point for this day was Chelsea Station (10km from the end of Charman Rd along Beach Rd, 12km from my house)

17 - 20km - started to slow down as the temp started to rise above 30 degrees (C).

20 - 24km - wow! hurt but pushed through to finish.

It took me nearly 2:45 to finish 24km. Towards the end, the temperature affected me. As I had been running with saltstick, I still need to remember to take them at the right time.

Favourite session of the week: Windtrainer on Tuesday evening. Worked on strength and endurance and didn't care/think/worried about how hard the session was. Just finished through with everything I had! I loved this session as I kept positive all the way through.

Least favourite session of the week: The long run on the Sunday was not my best but I am still glad that box was ticked. I had two incidences on the run which I didn't particularly liked.
1) A car turning left nearly ran me over (I had the right of way crossing the street and I was actually in the middle of the road in between the middle island and the curb on the other side). He then proceeded to abuse me verbally and with his horn. Two other people near by came to my help and started to tell the driver off. Yeah I didn't have the most graceful fall but the thought of the driver who thought he had the right of way and would probably proceed on whinging to others about people crossing the road played on my mind for a bit on the run.
2) Got attacked by a random dog who ran out of the property which gave me a short fright. Had to stop mid run to usher the dog back to the gate.

Advice of the week: Start the day with a sense of purpose and end everyday with a sense of accomplishment. I am using this motto for every task I do from training through to work.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: This is the last week before my Challenge Melbourne race on the 2nd Feb. I am looking forward to participating in this inaugural event. The forecast for this is high 30s....fingers crossed for an awesome day!

Weekly Reflection 13/01 - 19/01

First week of work for 2014, Melbourne heat wave and a new bike, that pretty much summed up the week that just passed.

I started my training week with a squad swim at Northcote. It contained some "just bands" and I sank like a sack of potatoes. I float fine when we just stayed still but as soon as we started to swim, my legs didn't want to stay up. I find it hard to hold my core when there is so many things to concentrate on...like swimming to move forward.

We were in for a period of multiple-day heat wave of > 40 degrees and so Monday was already a warm day. I am still coming back from injuries and so I gave some more days to recover from the long run on Sunday. It is not smart to dive straight into 3 sessions a week when I hadn't been running for 2 months. Tuesday afterwork was windtrainer session but due to the heat, we were outside within Albert Park rather than above the indoor pool in MSAC. Yes it was warm and we modified the session to suit. This was followed by another night of little sleep.

On Wednesday, instead of swimming with the squad in the pool, I did my swim about 9pm that night at Mentone (open water). 9pm and there were still hundreds of people at the beach cooling off. I did 1.5km and loved every minute of it. No wetsuit required.

Instead of a run session in the morning, I decided to go to the gym and do my (shortened) run set on the treadmill and then a strength session with weights. In the afternoon, we it was a long open water swim followed by windtrainer session. Due to the heat, Elwood was packed and for the first time ever, I couldn't find a car park close by and had to park practically in the next suburb. I was late by 15min and only did a small swim as my bike wasn't set up properly for the session. It was so refreshing to be swimming without a wetsuit. No jellies seen. The windtrainer session was good as we worked on several race pace efforts. We had to cut the session short due to lightning. Got kinda scary.

I decided against swimming on Friday due to the heat wave and how dirty public pools get and I was right. A squad friend told me a few hours later that there was poo in the pool and lane ropes were vandalised from the day before. Not cool kiddies (and adults who act like kids)!!

Saturday was my maiden voyage on the new TT bike. I decided to get a Giant Trinity Composite W1. No more 650c wheels for me!! This ride didn't really go according to plan. I left the house at 4:30am and had 2 pinch flats within 2km from the house. After I changed my 2nd flat, I noticed that my rear light was flat and my front lights gave me the "I am dying, you didn't charge me the night before you bitch" warning lights. At 5am, it was not safe for me to ride without lights and without any spares so I decided to ride (carefully) home and went back to bed (not because I gave up on the day, just to wait until the sun came out). At 8am, it was "take 2".

The new bike (which is yet to be named) and I got along great. She was comfortable to ride and I did feel the difference in riding a larger frame/wheel set. I felt like I was actually getting somewhere with the cadence I was riding and no different to my road bike.

Sunday was my long run day but I went to an outdoor yoga session in support of a friend who is raising money for Smiling for Smiddy, here is her link and story. The session didn't get off to a good start as my GPS sent me to the other end of Dorset Rd (the Croydon end) rather than Boronia so I was late my 15min. Some of the yoga poses were hard but I loved it. Yoga (to me) is not only to work on your flexibility but also your core and strength in holding yourself upright. The session was in the Tim Neville Arboretum which was a fantastic venue (the weather was great too) and we practiced just in front of the rose bushes. just magic!

I did my run session in the afternoon and a huge lesson learnt from it...(see below). I ran 20km the same manner as last week, ran into the headwind towards Frankston, turned around near Edithvale Station and headed back with the tailwind. I also bought a baby pool so now I can do my ice bath post training.

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Favourite session of the week: Loooooved my open water swim at 9pm on Wednesday night. I don't know if it is considered a training session or not but it was just nice to be in a body of water. Maybe I should work on some speed in open water when I can for the purpose of racing :)

Least favourite session of the week: Not recovering from my sessions (no sleep for so many nights) made things slightly uncomfortable on the bike this weekend. Being out on the road for so long was mentally and physically draining when your body hasn't rested for so many days.

Advice of the week: DO NOT TAKE GELS (CONTAINING CAFFEINE) DURING LONG AFTERNOON RUNS. My God, I was so tired but couldn't fall asleep!!! One of my gels was even a double-shot! My eyes now hurt from not enough sleep.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: I am looking forward to Thursday night when I am coaching the Tri Alliance's Tri Challenge Group. This means that I will need to do my own training in the morning. I always have fun during these sessions and love sharing this sport. It is also good to know them so I can support them during their races. 

In 10 weeks....

In 10 weeks, fingers crossed, I would have completed my 2nd Ironman. The race is on the 23rd March of 2014.

Unlike last year, I really haven't posted much on my thoughts about this race. From Sept 2012 to March 2013, I was training for my first Ironman. Added to that, I only took up long course training and racing within 2012. I reflected much on how my mind and body was coping with the training load and demands of the Ironman race.

The months within 2013 have flown by quick and it was only last night that someone mentioned that we have 10 weeks until the big race. In terms of training, there would probably be around 7 or 8 more long rides and runs left before we start to taper for the big day.

Personally, I am more relaxed about this Ironman than my first. Not because I am already a finisher (it is still a hard event to do), in my heart I know that I can now complete this event. I know that my training load has been around 60% compared to what I did last year, I know that it will hurt so I am not placing any high expectations.

My first aim is to finish (firstly, starting with the full 3.8km swim, unlike the 1.5km completed in 2013). If I get a PB in the bike and the run, I will be satisfied. Towards the end of the ride last year, I was so over the bike leg as I was caught up in the wind change (ended up riding back to Frankston into the headwind for 40km) and a goal time of 6-6:30 (with a ave speed of 28-30km/hr) became 7:30. I was heart broken by the end of the 180km. I enjoyed the run as I was on the way to the finish line, no more to do for the day. Even though I finished my first marathon in 5:05, it was my first and I was grateful that my legs held it together for that long. I don't have super high goals for Ironman 2014 but I would be ecstatic if I finish under 13 hours.

Between now and the 23rd March, I still have to train, lets not forget about that. There is Challenge Melbourne (1.9km/90km/21.1km) on the 2nd Feb, (fingers crossed) a team event for Geelong 70.3 where I am doing the 1.9km swim and the 90km ride on the 9th Feb and the Big Bay Swim 3.2km on the 23rd Feb (will be doing my long run in the afternoon).

So far, I am haven't been and will not be dwelling on race weight. I am concentrating on building my strength and if my body fat % decreases, it will be a bonus. As I had already paid for 2 further sessions of the BodyScan in advanced, I will be booking in for an update (for information only). I am eating real foods and have also been consuming homemade gels during training. As long as I am healthy and get through the races without feeling like I am about to fall to pieces, I will be happy.

Weekly Reflection 06/01 - 12-01

As I am was on annual leave, I have not stuck with the training schedule to a T- rather, I am doing what I can at my own time. My shoulders were getting better and I could actually lift my elbows without the feeling that knives are being twisted within my joints - good news!

On Monday 6th, I did a small 1.5km swim at my local pool followed by a 1 hour session at the gym (started off with 15min on the cross trainer). I have tried to work as much strength into my quads, calves and ankles (for stability) as well as my back muscles.

Tuesday was the first windtrainer session of 2014 and the set consisted of a descending race pace set which I enjoyed. I noticed that my knees were no longer hurting as much so I could do the standing (hard gear) sets without stress. Wednesday was a gorgeous day so instead of a pool swim, I decided to head down to my local beach (about 1.5km from the house) and swam in the clean ocean. The pole to pole distance at my local Mentone beach is further than Elwood and one set of pole to pole (inc swim from shore to the first pole and return) was already 1.2km. I will definitely take advantage of this in the next coming weeks leading up to IM.

Mentone Beach

Thursday was a warm day and I decided to spend some time cleaning my old place (ready for lease) and rode the CX bike up to Elwood for my swim. It was another gorgeous Melbourne day (32 degrees C) and I was in a great mood. I ended up doing 5 pole-to-pole swims (about 2.5km) and it was my longest swim session at Elwood to date. Loved it!! It also showed that my shoulders have come good again and swimming will be back on the cards. After the swim, it was a ride back home into the head wind (18km each way).

Legs were slightly heavy overnight and my plan to ride on Friday instead of Saturday didn't eventuate. See, my brother is visiting us for a week from his posting in Iraq and we were planning on yum cha (11-ish) on Saturday and this would mean that I would have needed to start my ride at 3am, do 150km and then get ready and arrive at Box Hill (an hour from my house) by 11am. I thought I could do my ride on Friday (as I am still on holidays) but after speaking to my parents, we changed plans and I kept to my schedule of the long ride on Saturday.

I didn't end up doing much training on Friday (with my 2.5km open water swim on Thursday) and spent more time cleaning my house.

The long ride on Saturday started at 4:30am and I decided to ride laps to make up for the 150km and to also train (mentally) for the wind conditions (slight Southerly). I rode down to Frankston first (via Black Rock) and then up to Port Melbourne, down to Mordialloc, back up to St Kilda and then home via Black Rock. It ended up being slightly under 150km. I am guessing 2 x Port Melbourne - Frankston will be closer to 180km+ which is what I will be doing in the next coming weeks.

Sunday was spent working (at the Tri Alliance info tent) from 8am - 12pm instead of my morning run. I ended up doing my long run (18km) in the afternoon which was an amazing session (for my standards). 18km non-stop albeit at a very slow (my Ironman run) pace. I ran down towards the Beach (just near Mentone Life Saving Club) from home and ran on the Ironman Melbourne path towards Frankston. The turn around point was around Aspendale and then back home (out and back). Actually, I lied, I did walk and it was up the steep hill past the Mentone Life Saving Club (same route as Ironman Melbourne run). 

Favourite session of the week: This was a toss-up between my long swim (2.5km in open water) and my long run on Sunday. I loved these two sessions as it demonstrated that I am OK to do these sessions (post injuries of shoulder and knees respectively). I felt great and have taken the proper steps in recovery to reach a point that I am now less hesitant about being able to swim-ride-run at Challenge Melbourne and Ironman Melbourne.

Oh! Another great session was my Wed open water swim at Mentone. The water was so clear and clean that I could see my own shadow on the bottom the entire way of my swim. Magic!

Least favourite session of the week: Once again, nothing too drastic. I didn't particularly overly-enjoyed my gym session, it reminded me why I love the sport of Triathlon (being outside). Although being on the cross trainer and treadmill can be boring, it can (and has) helped during rehab and recovery.

Advice of the week: Listen to specialists - be it a physio, coach, instructor etc who you have a working relationship with. You also must give them feedback on how you are doing so they can give you the appropriate advice on how you can tackle the training program you are on.  

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: As this is my first week back at work, I am looking forward to some routine of balancing work and training in a regular week up to the 23rd March. Fingers crossed that my new bike will be ready by Thursday so I can do at least 2 long rides in before Challenge Melbourne.

Weekly Reflection 30/12 - 05/01

Post Hell Week Challenge, I have been doing some recovering and light training to welcome in the New  Year. I did a good open water swim session on the 1st of Jan and have kept up with strength and core sessions when I was not able to do the normal swim sessions. I have seen a Physio about my shoulder and the niggles are as per my previous incidences. After a massage from the Physio, the pain has subsided significantly but I am weary about doing any session with paddles. 

I did my long ride and long run sessions by myself to fit in with family/partner commitments and with watching the baycrits on Sunday. I also did some "just riding" on my new CX bike over the holiday break and enjoyed it very much. 

Mon and Tues, rest and recover. Wednesday - openwater swim and ride CX. Thurs - ride CX bike to Elwood and back. Fri - rest  from training and visited friends and their kids (infants and new borns). Sat - long ride (120km). Sun - long run (15km). 

Favourite session of the week: I loved my long run session. My program was 15km but was advised to see how I am feeling (knees) and 10km was sufficient if I was not feeling 100%. I am happy to report that I did a 15km and felt good. I carried on my run, my water flasks and my nutrition (homemade recipe of 50% rice malt syrup, 30% honey and 20% black strap molasses, lemon juice and salt). I am testing out my Garmin to alert me to when I should be consuming nutrition. See for Melbourne (IM), the stations are set at 2km and I am planning on consuming a gel every 2nd aid station (like last year)....or I could set my alarm at every 300Cal or I could set my alarm at every 30min...not sure what is the best strategy, I guess it would depend on the conditions for the day. After the long run, I went and had a soak at Mentone beach for about 15min but the water has been getting warmer and I must look into buying a 200L plastic drum soon or a baby pool to do my soak.

Least favourite session of the week:  I didn't really have a session I didn't enjoy for the week. I won't search for one for the sake of a weekly reflection.

Advice of the week: I have decided for this year's long rides that I am going to ride laps instead of a long out and back. I have mentioned before - most of the races I do consists of riding laps (Challenge being 3 laps) to build strength in mental discipline. So far so good. Melbourne is also notorious for being windy and like last year's race, I had to deal with the headwind for 75% of my race. I want to ride during these hard conditions and ride by myself (not drafting off others). This is my race, my journey, my efforts.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: It will be my last week of holidays (going back to work on the 13th). My brother comes back from Iraq for a week to visit so I am looking forward to some family time too.

Something which I am looking forward to post March 2014 is getting some bike skills with riding the mountain bike and CX bike. In only a few rides, I am already feeling more confident on the bike and turning with more confidence. I guess with Busselton (in 2015), I will need to be confident in doing turns as there is a few of them on that course.