Summer in Melbourne - it comes and goes. When it is here, it is praised. You can see it all over social media. When he leaves, it leaves a great gap in our hearts - the sky is grey, the winds are howling, it stops traffic.
The last week or so demonstrated the two sides of Melbourne weather. We had glorious days where your skin gets a nice tan from being out on a bike ride through to days when you get kicked out of a pool due to lightning and thunder.
I aim to start swimming with the GESAC crew on Monday and Wednesday mornings but this was not the case this week due to the lightning storm. For once this year, I did the Bayside group Rebel Run which starts at 5:45am outside Mentone Grammar. It was a 35-40min recovery run and I knew that I could do that - it is how I roll. I had a shocker of a run session on Sunday. My hayfever was sky high and I only managed to get out of bed at 10am and only managing a 10km run. Mind you, I did my longest ride (and run off the bike) last Saturday for this season - a whooping 110km followed by a 3+km rotb (20min)!
Instead of a pool swim on Wednesday, I opted for an open water swim at Mentone after work. I had just bought a new wetsuit (I promise this being my last one) and wanted to try it out. It took me 45min or so to put the wetsuit on and needed help with the zip - thanks lady with the dog.
I didn't have any plans for the swim. It was just out to the pole and then trying to reach the next. My swim was cut short because I got freaked out by jellyfish! Seriously....you would think that after years of open water swimming, I would be ok with them by now. I guess I wasn't expecting them to be present so early in the season! Instead, I swim towards the shore and just floated about. Reports of the new wetsuit compared to my Rocket Science - it is more buoyant, I can actually "feel" the water with my arms, higher neckline (choke-like), longer in the legs, significantly harder to put on and take off. Maybe because I like to wear my wetsuits tight and have gone for a smaller size than the chart recommends. For my RocketScience, I have gone for a XS when the chart recommends that I wear a M. I hate collecting water when I swim. For the new wettie, I have opted for a S instead of M.
It was a very lonely Lady Bombs session on Thursday morning. Most of the ladies are now in Noosa racing the tri this Sunday. There were a few who still wanted to ride but opted out. I was going to do this ride no matter what. It's my favourite session on the week - now above Windtrainer Tuesday.
As I was by myself, I could do my own "set". The set was:
Lap 1 - Warm up
Lap 2 - Race at Pits, Hard gear along Queens Rd
Lap 3 - Race at Pits, Easiest gear, very fast pedalling
Lap 4 = Lap 2
Lap 5 = Lap 3
Lap 6 = Lap 2
Lap 7 - Cool down - I like to use this as my technique sessions so I did 50 left leg, 50 right and 20 both legs. I like to add pedalling with single legs in my sessions - it works on the pulling action as well as encouraging a smoother stroke. Added bonus, you can get to work on the core.
Didn't get to train on Thursday evening as I was coaching the Try the Tri group - we did open water swimming.
Due to the long weekend and coaching commitments, I will be doing my long run on the Saturday before coaching, then trying to fit my ride and rotb on Sunday.
My weekends are pretty jam packed at the moment. Trying to finish off two more cycling caps, some online work on my side projects and also trying to visit friends. I am squeezing in a visit to the parents as well (being the great daughter and all).
Happy Long Weekend!
Friday 31 October 2014
Friday 24 October 2014
Ride2Work and Around the Bay week.
Last week was "bike week" in Victoria - we had Ride2Work day on Wednesday 15th and then it was Around the Bay on Sunday 19th.
Due to R2W, my training had to accommodate, not because I was forced to, but I genuinely love this day! I did a 5km run on Monday evening (a lap around Albert Park lake) and tried out the Tuesday morning swim session with Des. I enjoyed being back with the squad and bringing things back to basics but after just completed the 2nd swim session this morning, I think I may need to jump to the next level up. Real poo poo as I like my swims done in the morning and not start at 7:30pm at night. Will talk about that more later.
Wednesday I rode into work the quicker way through Port Melbourne and South Melbourne (around 30km, 1 hour) but the ride home took me nearly 1:45 to ride 35km due to travelling through Port Melbourne business park and into the headwind pretty much from Port down to Sandringham. My legs were trashed by the end as I was riding on the roads (rather than bike path) and into 40km/h winds.
I was too buggered from Wednesday's ride that I didn't end up doing my lady bombs session on Thursday morning, instead I slept in and did a pretty good Elwood combo session that night. The swim as suppose to be a long one but due to the wind and chop, we only did 500m over and through the cold waves (I loved it!). I then ran a good and steady pace of 4km into the headwind and 4km with the tail wind with Caroline.
The weekend consisted of a 100km ride on Saturday and a 14km run on the Sunday. My long rides and runs have not been meeting the program but for now, it is what I can do having had a break from it for so long. Due to the wind, I only managed 100km within 4 hours. The program had 4-5 hours or 130km. With the run, the program said 18km, I am still getting there and slowly increasing my distance. My pace is great for the first 10km or so but something happens after this and I just lose interest and motivation in my runs and just end up jog/walking the last few km. I didn't end up doing a long swim on Sunday afternoon as I had to do a few things for work.
As it was Around the Bay on Sunday, I ran along Beach Road and got amongst the people who were riding. There was an amazingly strong Northerly so people who were riding towards the city from Sorrento/Frankston way copped it bad. There was one guy who was pedalling with one leg, he must have such a strong core to be able to balance and only ride with one leg - amazing!
So there is about 26 days left until Shepparton. My swims are going good. It is something which I enjoy doing as it doesn't hurt my joints. Cycling is coming along and riding 100km is comfortable for me, it is just a matter of trying not to get bored. Running is slow but steady, never been a good runner so I have no expectations and I am realistic about what I can do.
I need to re-think about my training week as I don't think swimming on Tuesday mornings will benefit me. I have been advised by Des to move up a group. I need to either join a swim squad on the Monday and Wednesday mornings (I think GESAC has squad training) or swim late with the Tri Alliance squad during Monday and Wednesday evenings. There is also a swim with JVW open water on Wednesday evenings (starts on the 5th Dec) as well as Elwood Combo on Thursday evenings and Sunday (my own swim at Mentone). GAH too many options!!
I want to monitor how my legs handle the running load - I know that 2 sessions a week is just tipping the pain/load scale at the moment. It really depends on what the set consists of and how my technique holds up. I do find that I get more niggles during the interval sets compared to the long endurance runs.
Loving my Thursday Lady Bombs so will want to work my training around this to ensure that I keep motivated with cycling. Long ride on Saturdays are a must, this is to ensure that I have the volume in my legs. Something which I have been questioning, is it better to:
1) Ride 100km and work on a solid run off the bike?
2) Ride 130km, small run off the bike. This ride is nearly 50% increase beyond the actual race (only doing half distances)?
Has anyone looked into this theory or has all the coaching trends just worked off others and stuck with the volume and time on the bike as a priority?
Since returning from holidays, I have been able to train more consistently as the days go by. The training schedule leading up to Shepparton was a balancing act between work, training and being stupidly tired due to the load and demands. Fingers crossed that the weeks leading up to Challenge Melbourne will be more efficient.
Next weekend is Noosa weekend. For the first time in 3 years, I have decided to stay in Melbourne over that weekend. Its will be good as:
1) Don't spend more money
2) Train through the weekend
Projects are coming along great and it keeps me bust amongst all other things.
Due to R2W, my training had to accommodate, not because I was forced to, but I genuinely love this day! I did a 5km run on Monday evening (a lap around Albert Park lake) and tried out the Tuesday morning swim session with Des. I enjoyed being back with the squad and bringing things back to basics but after just completed the 2nd swim session this morning, I think I may need to jump to the next level up. Real poo poo as I like my swims done in the morning and not start at 7:30pm at night. Will talk about that more later.
Wednesday I rode into work the quicker way through Port Melbourne and South Melbourne (around 30km, 1 hour) but the ride home took me nearly 1:45 to ride 35km due to travelling through Port Melbourne business park and into the headwind pretty much from Port down to Sandringham. My legs were trashed by the end as I was riding on the roads (rather than bike path) and into 40km/h winds.
I was too buggered from Wednesday's ride that I didn't end up doing my lady bombs session on Thursday morning, instead I slept in and did a pretty good Elwood combo session that night. The swim as suppose to be a long one but due to the wind and chop, we only did 500m over and through the cold waves (I loved it!). I then ran a good and steady pace of 4km into the headwind and 4km with the tail wind with Caroline.
The weekend consisted of a 100km ride on Saturday and a 14km run on the Sunday. My long rides and runs have not been meeting the program but for now, it is what I can do having had a break from it for so long. Due to the wind, I only managed 100km within 4 hours. The program had 4-5 hours or 130km. With the run, the program said 18km, I am still getting there and slowly increasing my distance. My pace is great for the first 10km or so but something happens after this and I just lose interest and motivation in my runs and just end up jog/walking the last few km. I didn't end up doing a long swim on Sunday afternoon as I had to do a few things for work.
As it was Around the Bay on Sunday, I ran along Beach Road and got amongst the people who were riding. There was an amazingly strong Northerly so people who were riding towards the city from Sorrento/Frankston way copped it bad. There was one guy who was pedalling with one leg, he must have such a strong core to be able to balance and only ride with one leg - amazing!
So there is about 26 days left until Shepparton. My swims are going good. It is something which I enjoy doing as it doesn't hurt my joints. Cycling is coming along and riding 100km is comfortable for me, it is just a matter of trying not to get bored. Running is slow but steady, never been a good runner so I have no expectations and I am realistic about what I can do.
I need to re-think about my training week as I don't think swimming on Tuesday mornings will benefit me. I have been advised by Des to move up a group. I need to either join a swim squad on the Monday and Wednesday mornings (I think GESAC has squad training) or swim late with the Tri Alliance squad during Monday and Wednesday evenings. There is also a swim with JVW open water on Wednesday evenings (starts on the 5th Dec) as well as Elwood Combo on Thursday evenings and Sunday (my own swim at Mentone). GAH too many options!!
I want to monitor how my legs handle the running load - I know that 2 sessions a week is just tipping the pain/load scale at the moment. It really depends on what the set consists of and how my technique holds up. I do find that I get more niggles during the interval sets compared to the long endurance runs.
Loving my Thursday Lady Bombs so will want to work my training around this to ensure that I keep motivated with cycling. Long ride on Saturdays are a must, this is to ensure that I have the volume in my legs. Something which I have been questioning, is it better to:
1) Ride 100km and work on a solid run off the bike?
2) Ride 130km, small run off the bike. This ride is nearly 50% increase beyond the actual race (only doing half distances)?
Has anyone looked into this theory or has all the coaching trends just worked off others and stuck with the volume and time on the bike as a priority?
Since returning from holidays, I have been able to train more consistently as the days go by. The training schedule leading up to Shepparton was a balancing act between work, training and being stupidly tired due to the load and demands. Fingers crossed that the weeks leading up to Challenge Melbourne will be more efficient.
Next weekend is Noosa weekend. For the first time in 3 years, I have decided to stay in Melbourne over that weekend. Its will be good as:
1) Don't spend more money
2) Train through the weekend
Projects are coming along great and it keeps me bust amongst all other things.
Monday 13 October 2014
Reflection and Obesession
Well, I really haven't been keeping this training log up to date. This would be directly related to the amount of effort I am also putting into my training and inversely related to the amount of effort I am putting into "life outside of triathlon".
I have cut down my training to pretty much one session a day (apart from Thursdays) and 5-6 days a week. I am finding it great as I get to have more than 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night, get to spend time with my partner (and dog) and I can put an effort into my mini projects.
Recently, I have also decided to sell a few things online as I have no longer any need for them. This includes any "extra" bikes I have lying around the house. I have sold Dale (the Cannondale Slice TT) and will be selling my single speed George. I need to pay off debts as well as saving up for a dual suspension mountain bike (a Liv Lust).
With regards to mini projects, I am doing a few things:
- Continue with my side project of custom made cycling wares - https://bikelove.co
- Learning about Global Responsible Initiative (reporting) and being able to provide this service
- Tidying up a few things regarding my future qualifications
Things I have been obsessed about recently:
I have done two Lady Bomb rides in a row and have loved them. As much as I am suppose to be doing a run session Thursday morning, I am going to change it to Lady Bombs in the morning and will follow this up with a run and swim at Elwood.
With regards the Sunday plan of open water swim followed by a run at Elwood, I will speak to the coaches about doing this at my own time and around Mentone. What I will most likely do is do a long run first followed by an endurance swim at which I get to complete the distance on the program at my own pace.
Anyways, due to the time I need to set aside for my side projects, my training-life will need to take a back seat. I am ok with it as I have achieved my big races and they are ticked off my bucket list.
I have cut down my training to pretty much one session a day (apart from Thursdays) and 5-6 days a week. I am finding it great as I get to have more than 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night, get to spend time with my partner (and dog) and I can put an effort into my mini projects.
Recently, I have also decided to sell a few things online as I have no longer any need for them. This includes any "extra" bikes I have lying around the house. I have sold Dale (the Cannondale Slice TT) and will be selling my single speed George. I need to pay off debts as well as saving up for a dual suspension mountain bike (a Liv Lust).
 |
| Bye bye Dale! |
- Continue with my side project of custom made cycling wares - https://bikelove.co
- Learning about Global Responsible Initiative (reporting) and being able to provide this service
- Tidying up a few things regarding my future qualifications
Things I have been obsessed about recently:
- Toasted marshmellows - ever since the Canadian and I came back from holidays, we have been treating ourselves to toasted marshmellows (on the gas stove) pretty much on a daily basis. We both love it. We each pretty well in general over all meals so this is our little treat.
- Buzzfeed videos - especially the ones about Buzzfeed staff trying out foods/drinks from other Countries.
- Oil Pulling - I read about this practise a while ago and never actually did it. Since I returned from holidays, I decided to give it a crack. The first few days were terrible, I gagged so much but now, I do it on a daily basis first thing in the morning. I have to admit I tend not to do it for the full 20min, 10min my average. I use coconut oil.
- Butter (and/or cream) in my coffee - Love the cream served in coffee when I was overseas and just continued with it. I am also adding some butter with my milk frother in the morning at home. Coffee to a new level.
- Maple syrup.
- A Liv (Giant) Lust bike. This will be my next bike but I am only planning on obtaining this after February.
- The new Funkita range of bathers. I want at least 2 of them. I have made a promise with a friend that I must do 6 sessions in a row to qualify a purchase.
I have done two Lady Bomb rides in a row and have loved them. As much as I am suppose to be doing a run session Thursday morning, I am going to change it to Lady Bombs in the morning and will follow this up with a run and swim at Elwood.
With regards the Sunday plan of open water swim followed by a run at Elwood, I will speak to the coaches about doing this at my own time and around Mentone. What I will most likely do is do a long run first followed by an endurance swim at which I get to complete the distance on the program at my own pace.
Anyways, due to the time I need to set aside for my side projects, my training-life will need to take a back seat. I am ok with it as I have achieved my big races and they are ticked off my bucket list.
Thursday 2 October 2014
Getting back on the training wagon 18/9 - 02/10
Since my arrival back into Melbourne on the 18th
of September, I have been trying to get myself back to cementing some
manageable routines. No point striving to squeeze too many training sessions in
with life and not able to give 100% to anything.
I wanted to get myself back swimming but not joining the squad just yet. I am pretty much starting from square one – not having done any swimming since July when I had my bike crash. I had a splash here and there when I was on holidays but not actual swimming.
The first session was on Monday 22nd, where I just headed down to GESAC after work and aimed to do a 1km. This ended up being about 1.4km albeit that I had to deal with many people in the Medium lane swimming different speeds and doing different strokes (inc breast stroke...in the medium lane). I tried to not let it get to me too much and just swam past people where I could. I wasn't able to move to the fast lane as it already contained too many people too.
I had to drop my car off to get serviced on Tuesday so what I ended up doing was riding into work from the dealership (only around 3km) and then riding home that afternoon (35km). The ride home was horrid. The weather being fantastic, brought people onto the beach in the hundreds which meant that people were walking all over the shop from about Port Melbourne through to Sandringham (pretty much where I turned off). Riding through St Kilda was a nightmare! I was careful and personally, the bell works much better than a voice and the general public are very blaze about voices but a bike bell is distinct enough. As I was on the CX bike, I don't ride on the main road as I am not able to ride at a great speed compared to the road bike.
Back in the pool on the Friday and kinda (but not really) smashed out a 2.4km. It was really 6 x 400m with F (warm up), F & P, PB & P, F & P, F and then cool down which I incorporated paddles and fins doing backstroke. The swim was done on the Friday night and I had the entire lane to myself.
Due to the Grand Final (Hawks back-to-back premiers yiewwww!!!), I did my long run Saturday morning. I aimed at a 10km first seeing that I haven’t ran since June and only had 2 short runs in Canada (both being 6km each with plenty of stops) during my holidays. I ended up doing 12km at a really slow but consistent pace. No way can I pull off a half marathon now.
With no bike to ride on the Sunday, I decided to just do house things like unpack from my holiday, clean, sort out closet (culling), played with the dog.
It is now the 2nd week back at work/life and it is going good so far. I did my own swim on the Monday night and windtrainer on the Tuesday with the squad. Could not put in 100% towards windtrainer as it was my first session back and the set was a shock to the system, so much so I took Wednesday off as a recovery session for my legs as well due to the lack of sleep.
I attended by first “Lady Bombs” session – this is a session started up by some of the girls from the squad I am with. We are currently riding laps of Albert Park lake. I did a few of these sessions last season before they changed the program to have a run session instead. This morning 2nd Oct, some of us ended up riding 7 laps.
During my holidays, I didn’t train and this was done on purpose. I had worked hard with a company for the last 8 years and I had long service leave accrued. It doesn’t come overnight and nowadays, who stays with the same company for more than 5 years? I wanted to spend quality time this holiday with my partner (and his family) and not seclude myself in a swim, ride or run apart from the Gran Fondo which we both entered and finished.
So far I have paid for 2 triathlon events – Challenge Shepparton 16th November and Challenge Melbourne on the 1st February 2015 (jumping up to the 35-39 category). These are not my “goal races”, they are my events. I am not going to put so much pressure on myself and about times. This is also a reason why I haven’t pulled out of Shepparton (an event about 5 weeks away....) as I haven’t set expectations for this, I know that I am able to finish the event, I know that it will hurt (what race hasn’t) and I will complete it. Challenge Melbourne is 4 months away but once again, no pressure, it is just an event.
Since being back, I have signed up for the Afterglow Trail Run. It is a half marathon from Point Addis to Torquay. The run starts at 6:30pm and it is compulsory for all competitors to have a head torch (need to buy a head torch).
There is the Giant Odessey on the same weekend as Melbourne Ironman. If I do this, I will sign up for the 50km (not 100km) but this will mean that I will need to get some MTB riding in between now and then, it is not an easy event, nothing like the Dirty Gran Fondo. I might do some riding the same weekend as the Afterglow run out at the You Yangs.
Apart of two triathlons and a trail run, there may other events on the cards. Won't dwell on them too much for now.
Tonight is the last Thursday night run session before we move back to Elwood for the Thursday afternoon combo sessions starting next week. It will be my first run session with the squad in over 3 months. I will take it nice and slow, my legs are pretty smashed for Lady Bombs this morning.
Least favourite session of the week: Windtrainer on Tuesday - I just couldn't keep up with the intensity since I haven't been training in that environment (humid) and around that intensity in months. I felt dehydrated on Wednesday morning even after I drank about 1.5 litres of electrolytes after the session. Must reset my mindset for this session next week and concentrate better at technique.
Advice of the week: Slow, steady, smart.
I wanted to get myself back swimming but not joining the squad just yet. I am pretty much starting from square one – not having done any swimming since July when I had my bike crash. I had a splash here and there when I was on holidays but not actual swimming.
The first session was on Monday 22nd, where I just headed down to GESAC after work and aimed to do a 1km. This ended up being about 1.4km albeit that I had to deal with many people in the Medium lane swimming different speeds and doing different strokes (inc breast stroke...in the medium lane). I tried to not let it get to me too much and just swam past people where I could. I wasn't able to move to the fast lane as it already contained too many people too.
I had to drop my car off to get serviced on Tuesday so what I ended up doing was riding into work from the dealership (only around 3km) and then riding home that afternoon (35km). The ride home was horrid. The weather being fantastic, brought people onto the beach in the hundreds which meant that people were walking all over the shop from about Port Melbourne through to Sandringham (pretty much where I turned off). Riding through St Kilda was a nightmare! I was careful and personally, the bell works much better than a voice and the general public are very blaze about voices but a bike bell is distinct enough. As I was on the CX bike, I don't ride on the main road as I am not able to ride at a great speed compared to the road bike.
Back in the pool on the Friday and kinda (but not really) smashed out a 2.4km. It was really 6 x 400m with F (warm up), F & P, PB & P, F & P, F and then cool down which I incorporated paddles and fins doing backstroke. The swim was done on the Friday night and I had the entire lane to myself.
Due to the Grand Final (Hawks back-to-back premiers yiewwww!!!), I did my long run Saturday morning. I aimed at a 10km first seeing that I haven’t ran since June and only had 2 short runs in Canada (both being 6km each with plenty of stops) during my holidays. I ended up doing 12km at a really slow but consistent pace. No way can I pull off a half marathon now.
With no bike to ride on the Sunday, I decided to just do house things like unpack from my holiday, clean, sort out closet (culling), played with the dog.
It is now the 2nd week back at work/life and it is going good so far. I did my own swim on the Monday night and windtrainer on the Tuesday with the squad. Could not put in 100% towards windtrainer as it was my first session back and the set was a shock to the system, so much so I took Wednesday off as a recovery session for my legs as well due to the lack of sleep.
I attended by first “Lady Bombs” session – this is a session started up by some of the girls from the squad I am with. We are currently riding laps of Albert Park lake. I did a few of these sessions last season before they changed the program to have a run session instead. This morning 2nd Oct, some of us ended up riding 7 laps.
During my holidays, I didn’t train and this was done on purpose. I had worked hard with a company for the last 8 years and I had long service leave accrued. It doesn’t come overnight and nowadays, who stays with the same company for more than 5 years? I wanted to spend quality time this holiday with my partner (and his family) and not seclude myself in a swim, ride or run apart from the Gran Fondo which we both entered and finished.
So far I have paid for 2 triathlon events – Challenge Shepparton 16th November and Challenge Melbourne on the 1st February 2015 (jumping up to the 35-39 category). These are not my “goal races”, they are my events. I am not going to put so much pressure on myself and about times. This is also a reason why I haven’t pulled out of Shepparton (an event about 5 weeks away....) as I haven’t set expectations for this, I know that I am able to finish the event, I know that it will hurt (what race hasn’t) and I will complete it. Challenge Melbourne is 4 months away but once again, no pressure, it is just an event.
Since being back, I have signed up for the Afterglow Trail Run. It is a half marathon from Point Addis to Torquay. The run starts at 6:30pm and it is compulsory for all competitors to have a head torch (need to buy a head torch).
There is the Giant Odessey on the same weekend as Melbourne Ironman. If I do this, I will sign up for the 50km (not 100km) but this will mean that I will need to get some MTB riding in between now and then, it is not an easy event, nothing like the Dirty Gran Fondo. I might do some riding the same weekend as the Afterglow run out at the You Yangs.
Apart of two triathlons and a trail run, there may other events on the cards. Won't dwell on them too much for now.
Tonight is the last Thursday night run session before we move back to Elwood for the Thursday afternoon combo sessions starting next week. It will be my first run session with the squad in over 3 months. I will take it nice and slow, my legs are pretty smashed for Lady Bombs this morning.
Favourite session of the week: Loved my first Lady Bombs session. There was no tough love handed out which I actually appreciated. At the moment, I just want to get back into training without the pressure. First session out on the road with the TT Bike (Foxy) since Ironman in March. I even cleaned it for the first time on the Sunday since the race. We did race efforts, sprints, hardest gear with plenty of recovery breaks in between.
Least favourite session of the week: Windtrainer on Tuesday - I just couldn't keep up with the intensity since I haven't been training in that environment (humid) and around that intensity in months. I felt dehydrated on Wednesday morning even after I drank about 1.5 litres of electrolytes after the session. Must reset my mindset for this session next week and concentrate better at technique.
Advice of the week: Slow, steady, smart.
Thing I’m looking forward to next week: After tonight's run session, I am looking forward to my Friday swim which I am committing myself to do in the morning so I don't stuff up my sleep for the Saturday morning ride which I am coaching. Having to be there by 6:20am - I am deciding if I should ride in so I can do my run off the bike from home or drive to Elwood and do it from there...
I am also in two minds about where I should do my long run. Head to Fairfield to run/support the duathlon or have a sleep in and do my run around home...decisions decisions...
I am also in two minds about where I should do my long run. Head to Fairfield to run/support the duathlon or have a sleep in and do my run around home...decisions decisions...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)