Monday 13 January 2014

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.

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