Not letting things rule.

I have a few days left before the Corporate Tri this Sunday (1st March). I just realised that I also have Foo Fighters on this weekend and based on all the Foo Fighters concerts I have been to, it will be a long long long night. I used to go to a lot more concerts back in the day but due to their escalating prices and a lifestyle change, I only tend to pick one or two to attend per year. I always go to Foo Fighters as their concerts are "value for money".

I have started to run with a running group on Tuesday mornings and so far, it has been great. I don't have a need to drive all the way to MSAC for coaching. I get to wake up at 5:15-5:30 for a 6am start and be home at 7:10 to get ready for work (including eating breakfast) before 8:30am. Did I mention that work is only a 10min drive door to door?

What I find with running with a running group is that the sessions are about quality and not quantity. If you are a faster runner, you are able to do more laps than the slower ones. The run sessions work on technique and it is not about a "race". So far, I am doing the Tuesday morning sessions as it is what I am used to. They have a run session also on a Thursday morning but this clashes with the laps I am doing at Albert Park. I may be able to do the run session next week as Albert Park is closed due to the GP.

Last week, I did a casual ride down to Mordialloc and back to Elwood before coaching the new group on Saturday. I swam at Mentone on Sunday around 4pm for about 1km or so. It was a really warm day so it was sans wetsuit. The water wasn't as clear as Elwood on the Thursday night which was strange for both sites. So far I have been doing one session a day which is all I need for now. I am not racing Ironman nor am I aiming for any one of the Gatorade or Team Up races either. I was going to do the Team Up race at Sandringham last Sunday but decided that the anxiety I have about the Corporate Tri is just that - all in my head. I know that I can do a race and there is no expectation that I would be good at it. I decided to not do a practise race before the Corporate Tri - I will just do the actual event and save my money. I think doing a few runs with the run group has helped that too - being able to push myself beyond the comfortable pace.

I will most likely be doing a casual ride down to Mordy on Saturday morning before coaching on Saturday. The registration and bike check in for the corporate tri is on the Saturday which means that it will be a pretty long day for me. Hopefully I can get some rest after that before heading out for Foo Fighters.

I am looking forward to this weekend - be amongst everyone who is doing this event. Its not all about the long distances, not always about going to sessions after sessions and it is not about being better than others.

It's Official - Dirty Gran Fondo

It is now official, I will be participating in the Dirty Gran Fondo on the 17th May 2015. I have not been on the MTB since.....the last DGF?! Or was it the ride I did with Sally a month or so after that?

Anyways, the bike needs to be fixed before I can take it out on the road and I really need to do a few rides before I do this event. Bike skills have not improved. I think due to my big fall in July 2014 where I fell on my face at a CX training course, I have been very hesitant on the bike, even on the roadie.

I have signed up for the 65km course and it may take me up to 6 hours to complete the course, considering it took me over 3 hours to do the 35km. They have changed the course slightly this year which may mean that I am able to ride more of it rather than being shit-scared of the sharp descent.

Anyhoos, looks like a few weekends at Lysterfield and You Yangs will be required to build up my confidence and bike skills.Wish me luck!

Start of Something New!

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes is my favourite motto.

Nothing more true than when I first started out in this sport. I went from a gym-goer (to lose weight) to becoming a person who is confident in triathlons and now a 2 x Ironman Finisher. I first started out doing mini triathlons, then jumped up to sprint distances and then Olympic distances. I was hesitant about my first Olympic distance race due to the 1.5km swim. It wasn't about speed at the time, it was more about being fit enough to get myself through it. The next step for me was to enter into the world of long course triathlons. I initially signed up for my first half-ironman distance (Shepparton 2012) but during that year of training, I had a spot at Melbourne Ironman (March 2013) and I decided to take the opportunity. I trained consistently throughout the year as I wanted to maximise the training provided even if that meant driving 30km to get to a 6am swim session and then driving another 60min to get to work 3 days a week. I attended the most double session days ever - Tuesday a.m. runs combined with p.m. Ergo and Thursday a.m. runs/ergo with p.m. runs/combo. I attended the most group rides even if it meant started out with them and riding as a group for 10min. I started my long rides leading up to my first Ironman at 3:30am so I can maximise the "alone time" on the roads which meant that I finished my rides around 10-11am and maximised my recovery (naps). I monitored what I ate (regiment)  that I was obsessed about the kg on the scales. I was at my fastest/strongest for my swims, rides and my runs as I was consistent.

Leading up to and after 2014 Ironman Melbourne, I did most of my training sessions by myself. I had done one Ironman and knew the training loads leading up to the event. Training for my 2nd Ironman was significantly different. When it was cold and wet, I stayed in bed. I didn't see the "need" to get out there as mentally, I knew what the race was about and I knew that I could get my arse from A to B.

I stopped going to Northcote for my swims as the squad stopped the sessions there so it meant no coach. I personally could not do p.m. swims (at MSAC) as it would meant that I have to stay back at work for 2 hours, train and get home at 9:30-10pm. I would then have to prepare and eat dinner, pack bags for the next day and get to bed around 11pm. I started to swim on my own closer to home - this meant that if I swam in the morning, I could be at work by 8:30am or if I swam in the afternoon, I could be home by 8pm. Much more civilised. With regards to riding, I was pretty consistent as I enjoyed the windtrainer/ergo sessions but long rides were all done on my own unless I was down as a coach for the long rides in the hills. In 2014, I also had a bad fall which meant that I was not able to ride for a month or so and I went on long service leave for 8 weeks. When I returned to training in mid Sept, I was doing my own training as I was significantly behind in training compared to others.  My running was not as consistent as previous years but I still attended as much as I could during winter until my fall in July. 

I am declaring 2015 as a year of change! I am trying new things, changing the way I train so that I can see changes in my training and fingers crossed - results in events. As I now live and work around Bayside, I want to tailor my training around this schedule. I want to minimise travelling but also maximising the coaching available to me.

Currently, due to my commitments with the beginners triathlon coaching I am doing with Tri Alliance, I will continue to support them until the end of the triathlon season and wait until Ironman Melbourne passes. Once the dust settles, I will start my training for the new year. For now, I am enjoying the "keeping active" side of my off-season - be it swimming just at a comfortable pace, riding my bike when the weather is nice and doing plenty of technique work with my running to be a better and faster runner.

Post Race Stuff

About 14 days has passed since Challenge Melbourne. I took a few days off training although physically, I am perfectly fine. As I didn't do 14km out of the 21.1km run as part of Challenge Melbourne, my legs didn't need time to recover or anything like the previous races.

I have been enjoying not training for Ironman this year. It is summer and I am enjoying the weather (when it decides to play nice - typical Melbourne) and all that it brings. As the sun is out, I am enjoying spending time on the beach, riding my bike after work or enjoying the markets.

On the 7th Feb, I joined the Liv Ladies ride. We started at Cafe Racer at 7am and rode down to Mordy as a group. We had a few riders who didn't enjoy a bunch of ladies riding past and so tried to overtake to only be overtaken again once they slowed down after turning off the gas.

Annoyance and a couple of swear words aside, I enjoyed this ride as I don't really get too much opportunity to ride in groups outside of Tri Alliance. More often than not, there is often too much testosterone in the group and we generally don't stay riding as a group as a result. We rarely work as a group which is why I escaped that routine within 2014 - why start the ride as a group, when I end up riding by myself anyway.

On the ride back, we did rolling turns. Hard to do when other cyclist don't want to accept what we are doing, nor do they appreciate the space we needed. There are rolling turns, and there are rolling turns. It doesn't help it when others don't practise it enough to understand the pace and how it may vary throughout the circle. We ended up back at Racer and I bought my first cronut in Aus - delicious chocolate one.

I then raced back to Elwood as I was coaching the try-the-tri group and it was their introduction session. After talking for about an hour or so, we went into the calm water of Elwood Beach. All of them swam to the first pole and back which is quite significant.

That afternoon, I drove down to Geelong to spend a night at my parent's place so I can support the Geelong 70.3 race on Sunday.

One of the girls from Tri Alliance raced as a pro for the first time (we only found out on FB on Saturday) so it made the weekend more exciting. I then realised that it was the first time in 5 years that I haven't raced at Geelong - having done 2 Olympic distances and 2 long course races since 2011.

The Geelong70.3 day itself was perfect for racing - very calm and a cool 23 degrees C. The course has slightly changed from last year which meant that the run was slightly hillier. Everyone had a great day.

Personally, comparing (half iron-distances) Shepparton v Melbourne v Geelong - Melbourne would be the fastest course as there are minimal twists and turns for both the run and rides. For the bike, both Shepparton and Geelong have a few obstacle turns before it gets onto the main roads. I would classify the run at Shepparton to be the most enjoyable - scenic and due to the laps - it is spectator friendly. With regards to the swim - Shepparton would be the easiest although not as buoyant as Melbourne or Geelong due to the location. If PB times is your main goal, then race Challenge Melbourne for that particular satisfaction. Otherwise, I would rate Shepparton as a must-do race over Melbourne and Geelong for its community support and course.

I went for a light swim on Monday evening (8th) - around 1km with pull buoy and then a evening ride on Tuesday (9th), around 45km.  Apart from that, I have done no running due to sciatic pain but I rode the bike down to Elwood on Thursday night for coaching and rode home. Just this morning, I drove down to Frankston with all the IM-Melbourners and swam 1.5km around 33min in perfect conditions. I spent the rest of the day visiting friends and did some housework.

Next on the triathlon cards is the Corporate Tri on the 1st March. Testing out a running group on Tuesday 17th and seeing how they can help break the training routine.

Things I am obsessed with at the moment:

• "Swap Boxes" on YouTube - I don't know why but I can watch them for hours. The concept is that people buy a box of stuff for the other and then they film them opening up the boxes. Kinda like Christmas morning. There are also plenty of scams out there and those are a cracker to watch too.
• Threads and Pedals - I have bought from them for years - earrings, necklaces, gifts for others..
• White watches - I have about 3.
• Wayfearer glasses - I went on Ebay and just bought about 3 pairs of sunnies in different colours - all around $3-5 each. Cheap but they do the job.
• KOMBUCHA! I have been drinking this stuff for about 10 months now. The next step is to brew my own. I have been googling and you-tube-ing this process lately and will invest in a few things over the next week so I can brew my own kombucha - buying the SCOBY on ebay. 
• Vic Market night markets - I make an effort to try something I haven't tasted/experienced before. 

There is always a first....(A Race Report)

What is this first you ask? On Sunday 1st February, I had my first DNF - Did Not Finish.

Warning - contents of this race report contains reference to female things. Read at your own discretion.

The event was the Challenge Melbourne (half iron-distance) triathlon - 1.9km swim. 90km ride and a 21.1km run.

I have mentioned a few times about this "monthly issue" that I have been having the last 2 years or so. This issue has become so bad that some days, I have had to take a sick day(s) off work and/or a non-training routine. I have seen a GP and a specialist and currently am on prescription medication to manage the pain. For the month of Jan/Feb, it happened to fall around the Challenge Melb race event. On Friday night, I was in bed with pain from about 9pm, took meds. On Saturday morning, I should have slept in, instead I took meds and went out for a race re-con which was not a great idea as the session was so short, we finished well before 8am and the race kit pick up was around 10am. I didn't end up taking meds before the race as I wasn't sure how the meds would impact me during the event, would I feel drowsy during the swim and the bike that I would be putting myself and others in danger? I didn't want to risk it.

After picking up the race kit on Saturday around 11am, I went home and slept for the afternoon and to ride out my woes lying horizontally on the bed or floor. Had fish and rice for dinner and a glass of electrolytes for hydration.

On Sunday, the alarm was set at 3:50am. As transition was opened at 5:30am, my plan was to leave the house at 4:20am and get there just after 4:30am to set up, visit toilets and all the usual pre-race shenanigans. Alike last year, transition set up was in the dark - luckily I had a head torch from the Afterglow run to use. Win!

I decided for a minimalist strategy for this race - only carry one bidon of hydration as I never go through a complete bottle during a 90km ride (even at Shepparton) and considering the weather was cold and wet, I would not be sweating as much. I also had a small amount of coke and 6 servings of gels (in 2 separate flasks) all ready on the bike for the day. For the run, I had 3 servings of gels in a flask and a caffeine back-up which I would place in the back pocket. The most significant "minimalist strategy" I had was I raced without a Garmin. I knew on which location I would take nutrition during the run leg - same strategy as Shepparton and during my training run. For the ride, as it was 3 laps, I knew my approx time of reaching each end and so sorted out a strategy of every 30min or just after every U-turn. I just wanted to "do" this event rather than caring about times during the race.

The swim strategy remained as the "M" shape as per the Friday email. I loved the swim! The swells were huge but I did enjoy tackling through it. I saw plenty of people who swam towards the wrong buoys and so I have a feeling that some people would either have a super long time having to back track to the right buoys or their swim times were super fast as they would have missed a few key turns. Lets just say, it was hard to see and people coped in ways which they could. I heard around 70 athletes were pulled out of the water and plenty more opted out of the swim.

I think my swim was around 44min, slow for a 1.9km, I realised that my pace was well below my average and I never thought about my increasing my speed during the race, it was just a matter of "where am I going?...ok, got it, head down"

I didn't find my bike-legs until about 20km into the race. They were just made of lead and my hips were in pain. I enjoyed the bike leg when I could finally push through the harder gears and had snippets of tailwind to assist with my average speed. My right turns were shocking, made worse with the rain - I completed 3 out of 5 of the U-turns without having to unclip out of my pedals. I think my bike leg was around 3:05...the last time I checked for my results.

I knew my run was going to be a painful journey but I wanted to keep going and so I plodded along. The first 3km or so, the area around my hips were ok, but the wheels started to fall apart from about 3.05km through to 7km. I was in so much pain I had to concentrate my energy into not crying rather than holding onto good technique. When I reached the 7km mark of the course, I couldn't manage it any longer. I saw familiar faces and just burst out in tears as I was in so much pain. I decided then and there that I was done for the day and walked out off the course and handed in my timing chip. My race was done for the day.

I hung around for about 2 hours after the race to support the people I knew who were still racing. Luckily, the rest of the squad managed a great day out on the course so it was good to see. There were some first-timers and Challenge Melbourne is a great course for a half iron-distance as the times are fast and would have been a great booster of confidence.

A few take-away comments:

• Work on speed rather than just "get through it with a lower pace"
• Need to get some strength in my core - it may help to manage my pains
• Nutrition strategy was good - not the worse conditions for race day (it was not hot or humid)
• Bikeskills needs work - learn to handle bike better on sharp U turns. My aim is to not unclip out of my shoes for Shepparton 2015.
• Might have to look into taking the pill again to manage my monthly cycles and to manage my pains.

I am glad that I competed to the best of my ability and managed to pull up ok this morning, as I had done 14km less than everyone else. Whats next on the cards? I am taking a few days off training as I have massages and work functions booked in. I will do a few light sessions and will participate in the Liv Ride on Saturday 7th. I will also be travelling down to Geelong to support the other group of athletes competing at the Geelong 70.3 and 5150 event.

I still have 1 more race confirmed for the 1st March (hoping to manage the pains before the event) and may do an olympic distance too. If not, 1st March will be my last triathlon for the season. A 400m swim, 10km ride and a 4km run - this one will hurt!