With the memorable race that was Geelong, I had to take some time out to recover - both mentally and physically. Took both Monday and Tuesday off training and eased myself back into it by doing my own swim session on Wednesday afternoon.
The body was still a bit stiff and sore but I was able to complete the swim set. I took Thursday off training and just had a big sleep in preparation for the weekend ahead. I decided to do my swim session at MSAC on Friday morning as it is closer to work and I had important tasks to do that morning. Even though I was one of the slower swimmers for the Friday morning (suitable for Advanced and more faster intermediates), it was still a do-able session (3.8km) with the cool down cut short as we only booked the lanes until 7am.
My Saturday's program was 150km ride with a 4km run off the bike. The 4:30am start was good and I rode down to Frankston first from down Bay Rd instead of Black Rock. Heading back to the city, I had some cyclists who rode behind me and kept up with my efforts travelling back. It was good as I tried to hold on to my speed and switching between 2 gears to recover (higher cadence) and then back to harder gear (slower cadence but more harder to push). I did that all the way from Frankston to pretty much Mordialloc along Nepean Hwy.
After I passed Black Rock, I noticed that my ride became noticeably harder and it felt bumpy. I pulled over and realised that I was riding on a flat tyre. I changed the tube over and then realised that my valve was too short for the CO2 pump. A few rode passed asking if I was ok (which I was) but one kindly stopped to help me. First he offered me a long valve tube but he had an extender with a hand pump. With enough air, I walked about 1km+ down to a bike shop to see if they had a floor pump I could use and if I could buy an extender. It worked out that I had to buy a long valve tube and change my tube again and that was the only way to get air in. So my ride had a 40min break in the middle.
I knew that I wasn't going to finish my ride in time for a 4km run off the bike as I needed to attend Tips & Tricks at 12pm. I decided that a 4km run off the bike was more beneficial for my race rather than finishing my 150km. I ended up with 125km + 4km run off the bike. If I didn't have a 40min break in my ride due to mechanical, I would have covered 150km + 4km. No stress.
Sunday was an early start compared to usual. We met at 6am at Sandringham for car pool down to Frankston. As I am not the fastest swimmer and runner, I did a short swim with an early start to my run from Frankston to Sandringham.
I carried my own nutrition with me as I may not be able to meet the support vehicles for water/coke top ups. Had my gel at every 4km and drank a bit of water at every 2km. Had a salt tablet every 45min. It seemed to work OK. It was 27km on my program but the distance from Frankston to Sandringham was about 29.5km. The last few km was hard and luckily I carried an extra gel to get me through. Took me nearly 3 hours to run that distance but it was no surprise, I knew that if I was going to keep a consistent pace, 6min/km was good for me.
Favourite session of the week: Long run on Sunday was my favorite. I was consistent throughout and only stopped 4 times. 2 to stretch out my back, one toilet stop and one refill stop. My confidence about running long distance was increased as my legs held together! Bonus! My nutrition on the run was also practiced and I didn't let the fact that practically everyone in the squad ran past me get me down.
The body was still a bit stiff and sore but I was able to complete the swim set. I took Thursday off training and just had a big sleep in preparation for the weekend ahead. I decided to do my swim session at MSAC on Friday morning as it is closer to work and I had important tasks to do that morning. Even though I was one of the slower swimmers for the Friday morning (suitable for Advanced and more faster intermediates), it was still a do-able session (3.8km) with the cool down cut short as we only booked the lanes until 7am.
My Saturday's program was 150km ride with a 4km run off the bike. The 4:30am start was good and I rode down to Frankston first from down Bay Rd instead of Black Rock. Heading back to the city, I had some cyclists who rode behind me and kept up with my efforts travelling back. It was good as I tried to hold on to my speed and switching between 2 gears to recover (higher cadence) and then back to harder gear (slower cadence but more harder to push). I did that all the way from Frankston to pretty much Mordialloc along Nepean Hwy.
After I passed Black Rock, I noticed that my ride became noticeably harder and it felt bumpy. I pulled over and realised that I was riding on a flat tyre. I changed the tube over and then realised that my valve was too short for the CO2 pump. A few rode passed asking if I was ok (which I was) but one kindly stopped to help me. First he offered me a long valve tube but he had an extender with a hand pump. With enough air, I walked about 1km+ down to a bike shop to see if they had a floor pump I could use and if I could buy an extender. It worked out that I had to buy a long valve tube and change my tube again and that was the only way to get air in. So my ride had a 40min break in the middle.
I knew that I wasn't going to finish my ride in time for a 4km run off the bike as I needed to attend Tips & Tricks at 12pm. I decided that a 4km run off the bike was more beneficial for my race rather than finishing my 150km. I ended up with 125km + 4km run off the bike. If I didn't have a 40min break in my ride due to mechanical, I would have covered 150km + 4km. No stress.
Sunday was an early start compared to usual. We met at 6am at Sandringham for car pool down to Frankston. As I am not the fastest swimmer and runner, I did a short swim with an early start to my run from Frankston to Sandringham.
I carried my own nutrition with me as I may not be able to meet the support vehicles for water/coke top ups. Had my gel at every 4km and drank a bit of water at every 2km. Had a salt tablet every 45min. It seemed to work OK. It was 27km on my program but the distance from Frankston to Sandringham was about 29.5km. The last few km was hard and luckily I carried an extra gel to get me through. Took me nearly 3 hours to run that distance but it was no surprise, I knew that if I was going to keep a consistent pace, 6min/km was good for me.
Favourite session of the week: Long run on Sunday was my favorite. I was consistent throughout and only stopped 4 times. 2 to stretch out my back, one toilet stop and one refill stop. My confidence about running long distance was increased as my legs held together! Bonus! My nutrition on the run was also practiced and I didn't let the fact that practically everyone in the squad ran past me get me down.
Least favourite session of the week: The part about my Saturday long ride where I had to change my tube twice (had a 40min break) was annoying more than anything. I have also received several chaffed areas on my body from Sunday's run, more annoyed. Something else to worry about on training and race day.
Advice of the week: Check your spares for race day. If I didn't have the issues over the weekend and had a flat on race day, I would be stuffed!! My race would have finished as I would not be able to pump air into the tyres even though I had all the equipment.
Thing I’m looking forward to next week: The Bayside sessions start this week so I am looking forward to doing some of the swim and run sessions closer to home! A 5:30am alarm instead of 4:30am for Monday and Wednesday. I will see how I go with swimming in a 25m pool. I know heaps of people train in this situation but I am so use to 50m pools and I can't always do tumble turns.
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