JAGGAD Women's 100

This morning, I completed the Women's 100 hosted by Jaggad. There are several Women's 100 rides all around the world and the Jaggad was one which I joined.

I picked up my jersey on Saturday morning after my KX Pilates session. This was my 2nd pilates session and it was much more demanding than the first so I am thinking that either I booked into the wrong session or the instructor (who is a replacement for the usual) could have confused the classes around...anyways, I completed it and pushed my body beyond it's comfort zone. The strength session have helped to adjust with the load especially around the shoulders and arms.

The 100km was something out of my comfort zone. I have not been on the bike for 100km since....before Ironman of 2014 but I had been on the saddle for more than 5 hours. I drove to Elwood Life Saving Club around 6:45am and got ready. I have been using Velotoze for a few weeks now and this morning, I wore the black ones which I bought on Saturday (update - they were shredded by the end of the ride). A couple of the girls and I rode to the start and there were already plenty of ladies there for the ride. At the start of the ride, I got caught up in the fast paced group, we rode at speeds up to 45km/hr. I decided that I needed to step back so once I got to Mordialloc, I slowed down and rode with other girls I knew who rode the hills on Saturday and didn't want to smash themselves either. Once we go to the back of Oliver's hill, I couldn't keep up but I knew which way to go so once I did the right turn, people then rode past me again who took the wrong turn. I had never ridden on Walkers Road before (off Humphries Road) then to Canadian Bay road towards Two Bays.

I have gone down Two Bays Road before and always thought that it was a steep hill that I would not be strong enough to climb but today I climbed it with little issues. I was waiting on the sharp pinch or the surprise incline but I stayed in my saddle the entire way and just pushed the little legs along. On the way back, I followed a group who turned off at Overport Road instead of going all the way down Humphries Road (and then down Oliver's). I really enjoyed the Overport Road way as it was a nice descent through small rolling hills. The wind picked up when we reached Nepean Hwy and I ended up just riding with a girl named Ania from Frankston back to St Kilda. We took rolling turns but as I carried nutrition on me, I could pedal more out the front and we rotated when I wanted a rest.

It was a tough ride back to St Kilda. If it wasn't for this event, I don't think I would have pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. Even though I stayed in the small chain ring, I was either in the middle of the cassette or my small 11 cog. I pushed through the wind by putting my head down and just pedalled and counted in my head to stop getting bored.

We ended up riding up Barkly Street instead of riding down to BP in St Kilda. The finish was at Tom's Organic and we had a serve of yoghurt with some muesli. I then rode back to Elwood with the girls I started with and then that was that.

This event brought me out of my comfort zone. I pushed myself in terms of distance, strength and intensity, something which I hadn't done in a while. It was great during the ride knowing that the girls I rode passed or the group who rode passed me were part of the same group/event. I know that I am not the strongest cyclist and there is so much more work I need to do both on and off the bike from now until September (Amy's Gran Fondo), October (Around the Bay), November (Challenge Shepparton) and then the big event in March (3 Peaks). A positive out of today which I am happy about is that I am looking forward to improving myself. I didn't throw in the towel or my bike after the event.  Super pumped to improve.

12 Week Strength - Complete

Yesterday 22nd July, I had just completed my last session of my 12 week strength program. I completed it in a gym which I hadn't been before (Anytime Fitness in Port Melbourne) and worked with whatever they provided. I have to say, having used 4 different facilities within the last 12 weeks, the one in Cheltenham is definitely the best - good layout and equipment availability. The one in Port Melbourne I have to say is the one I like the least, the weights are old and the increments are strange as they are still in pounds, the squat rack was strange, medicine balls were huge and benches were also old and manky. First world problems and I digress...

So for the last week of the 12 week program, my weights are at its maximum but the reps are reduced down to 6. For my pinnacle sets, I was at 65kg for my squats (nearly at my own weight), dead lifts at 50kg and split squats at 50kg.Within my supersets, chest press at 2 x 10kg, step ups carrying 2 x 10kg, shoulder press at 2 x 8kg, single arm dumbbell row at 15kg, barbell bend-over row at 35kg and bicep curls at 2 x 8kg. My plank is at 2min but I am only able to do this once, the second one I can reach 1:40. Side planks at 1:15 (the right better than left). With regards to my weight, it went back up in the wrong direction last week which is disheartening but with my measurements which will be done on Monday, I am hoping to hear good news. Will update how I am progressing.

This morning, after my morning spin class, my legs are shaking. It could be a combination of fatigued legs from Sunday's run (DOMS still throbbing through) and heavy loads from the strength sessions. Fingers crossed that it will subside before Sunday's ride.

Chicks who ride 100km

The Womens100 is happening this Sunday. This initiative was started by Rapha (I think from what I read when it first started 3 years ago) where females ride for 100km - you can do this within the organised groups or do this on your own. It is just a day to get out there and ride.

This time last year, I signed up for the Rapha100 ride but didn't end up riding as I fell off my bike on a CX course and hit my head hard and smashed my face. I missed out last year and hated it as I saw on social media the photos of the group rides (both from Rapha and Jaggad) and I was envious.

This year, I decided to sign up for the Jaggad Womens100 and fingers crossed, the weather will be kind to us. I am looking forward to riding with my friends down Beach Road. Luckily, the people who registered through the Jaggad website receive a free Jaggad limited edition Womens100 jersey which I am super excited about! I love cycling kits (as you know). I will most likely pick up my jersey on Saturday morning.

The ride starts at 7:30 at The Milk Bar (Jaggad Shop) in Elwood and we will head down over Oliver's Hill and then up to Tom Organic in St Kilda for a small feed.

3 Peaks Entered.

So this morning, I entered the 3 Peaks Falls Creek event. On 13th March 2016, I have to complete a 235km loop starting from Falls Creek to Towonga Gap) then up to Hotham, then through Omeo then back up Falls Creek. The total elevation for this event is greater than 4700m and I have to do it all under 13 hours.

 

This will be a very tough event to do - much more tougher than anything I have ever done but I am up for the challenge ahead. 

I decided in February 2015 that I was going to do this event after speaking to a friend of mine about it just before his 2nd attempt in March of this year. 

I researched into it for weeks before I told a few people close to me that I was going to sign up for this event. I don't get swept up in the whole "inspirational" stuff after watching Youtube or reading reports - I know it is hard work and it will put a toll on the body. This event (for me) is not about the glory of crossing the finishing line or about how much you can brag - this is something which I detests about the Ironman culture, it is about putting a goal ahead so I can focus and put plans into place ahead. Lets face it, it will be 13 hours on the saddle, it is not a joke.

Sri Chimnoy - 10km Race Report

After a shaky week, I actually made it on the starting line of the Sri Chimnoy event this morning. Pretty much the day after I posted about getting stronger and previewing the 10km Sri Chimnoy event, I came down with a bit of a cold on Tuesday and from that day on, my body went into shut down including throbbing migraines which cemented me in bed all day on Friday.

Throughout the week, I completed my 2 strength sessions and a spin on Thursday morning, no swim sessions were completed during the week. So a goal for the next week is to attend at least 2 sessions of swimming. I did a long flat ride on Saturday with a friend who hadn't been out on the bike for 2 months so the speed was doable - we were able to talk throughout the ride. As I was sick on Tuesday and Thursday, I didn't end up doing any interval run sessions which I was disappointed about.

With all that mid week body-fail occurrences, I bit the bullet and drove to Parkville at 7am this morning so I could pick up my race number and run the 10km at 8:10am. This morning was the coldest morning in 18 years. It was below zero at Cheltenham and by the time I drove into Parkville, the temperature didn't really change much. For the first time ever, I did the run in a long sleeve, vest, beanie and gloves. I have never ran in a vest before but I was glad I prepared for it.

When I arrived I saw the 30km runners go off at 7:30am and the 21km runners at 8am. Shortly after, it was the 10km and 5km runners' turn. Within the first 2km of the run, I felt good. I was running past a dozen or so runners but I am guessing they were not "placed" properly at the start rather than me being a better runner.

For years now, whenever I run pass a drink station, I feel like I have to stop and hydrate. I feel like if I don't take the opportunity, I would dehydrate and regret it. I don't know if I need to stop and take a cup of water but as I am training to not carry a hydration belt, I feel like I need to always drink at the aid stations. I need to gauge the distance of the aid stations at Sandy Point and train for it.

Like the event in April, I had a gel 15min before the start and that was it. I was planning on a PB for this distance so I knew that I would finish under 60min. I forgot about my "auto pause" function on my garmin watch so the final time might be a bit off as I stopped for drink stations and the watch "paused" whenever I would run under the overpass. But I am happy to report that I finished under 58min. I will wait for the official result during the week. In April, I finished the 10km in 59:30 and I was pushing it that day as I really wanted to finish under an hour.

This morning, there were several factors which may have contributed to my run time:

• The morning temperature being so cold, it took me about 4km to properly warm up. 
• I might have put too much intensity into the first 5km as by the 7km mark, I was fatigued
• My legs were still fatigued from the strength work I had been doing during the week (it is the last 2 weeks which means the weights are going up) and from the ride the day before. 
• My body shutting down during the week meant that I wasn't able to do any runs during the week.
• I am still battling the mental war of pushing beyond my comfort zone. Although I wanted to push myself beyond my comfort zone, at some points around the course, without realising it, I slowed down as I was hurting. 

In the next few weeks before the Sandy Point event in August, I will work on the following:

• Pacing myself closer to 5:20-5:30 pace so I can complete the 21.1km under 2 hours. 
• Attend run sessions with the club
• Learn how to use my Garmin better with pacing
• Continue the core and strength work

I have 35 more days until this event. It is not going to be an easy ride but I will work towards that goal.

OFFICIAL TIME (update):
10km - 57:39 85/129 - 65%
Females - 33/70 - 47% (fastest 40:53)
Females 18 - 39 - 17/37 - 46% (fastest 44:15)

Faster and Stronger.

This weekend, if everything falls into plan, I will be running again at Princes Park and see if I have made any improvements since April. The Sandy Point event is only 6 weekends away and I need to (1) Get my body over the line over 21km distance and (2) Do it within 2 hours.

Having done the most gruesome event of my life at Run Forrest, I am confident enough that my legs can move over 21km but the harder thing I need to accomplish is to do it fast, and not fall flat (both energy and on my face).  So this weekend, instead of doing the Salomon Trail run at Plenty Gorge or the Trail+ Run at You Yangs, I will be running 10km fast and trying to beat my previous time of 59min. I am going to push beyond my 10km comfort zone.

In terms of strength work, things are looking up. My barbell squats are at 60kg (@6 reps), split squats at 45kg, single arm row at 14kg, front planks at 1:45, side planks at 1:30 and feeling much stronger when I am riding and running (comparatively to last year) and can see a decrease in my weight of 0.5kg/week over the last 3 weeks.

Look at those quads!

 This blog is not a brag about how fast or strong I am currently (not as the title is suggesting) but more of a reflection on what I am doing to get there. I will always be below the 50% (more often than not around 75%) placing in my age group/category, this is something which is known fact. There is nothing I can change about it as I have to work for a living and triathlon/events don't define who I am.

I want to be a better me and these are just some things I am doing to help me get there:

• Strength work - I have been very consistent with this since I started 11 weeks ago. 
• Keeping a training diary which I share only with my partner and my mentor/advisor (I don't have a coach). 
• I am training on a week-on, week-off plan. This works for me and enables me to put my energy into training knowing that I have a lighter week ahead. The plan of 2 build weeks followed by 1 week recovery which I was training on for the last 5 years worked for a year or so but more often than not lead to inconsistent training sessions as a result of being exhausted.
• As part of my "checking in" process, I reflect on the previous week and am honest about what I did and didn't do and put in place, the plan for the week ahead. 
• Signing up for events throughout the year to make my rides and runs accountable. 
• Signing up for events out of my comfort zone such as Dirty Gran Fondo, Dirty Duathlons, trail runs in the hills,
• I am flexible in my training. I don't get caught up and dwell at not being able to do sessions due to work commitments or not feeling 100%. I am putting myself ahead of training.

Due to the horrific weather we have been having in Melbourne lately, I had a "break" in training routine.  Instead of the usual hilly long ride on Saturday became a back to back spin/rpm sessions at GESAC and a treadmill run instead of my planned 20km. The reason for this post - I needed to reflect on how much I have done within the last 3 months and looking positively ahead.

The 3 peaks event opens next Monday. The thought of the event does scare me - putting myself on the saddle for 13 hours....almost double my longest time on a bike in March 2013. It will be a huge challenge but something which I am attempting happily. 

Looking Ahead - August

For the month of August, I will concentrate on my (fast) flat runs (and less trail runs). This is because I have committed myself to the Sandy Point half marathon and aiming to do this run in less than 2 hours. Running has never been my drug of choice. In the past, the longer the distance, the more I tend to “pace” myself so I can run as much of the distance as I can and refrain from walking. This time around, I need to train hard and race fast. 

Sandy Point Half Marathon on the 23^rd August is a B race on my calendar of events (not just an event I have entered so I can get out of bed and be accountable for my run).  The day before the run, I will most likely just spin my legs out on a bike along Beach Road for 50km or so (after a good sleep in), go to a church for a friend’s wedding ceremony and rest my legs for the rest of the day. I haven’t run a half marathon under 2 hours since October 2013. 


I am working on my strength elsewhere in my program so I will drop off trail runs or stair climbs leading up to August. To build on speed, my Tuesday and Thursday run sessions will be my crucial sessions for the week and Thursday being a double-session along with GESAC spin in the morning. 

Bayside will be hosting a duathlon race on the 2nd August and I will volunteer for this event and squeeze in my long run most likely on the day before (1st August) leaving the Sunday for a recovery spin on the bike. 

I will be off on holidays from the 24th August through to the 5th September and will be coming back to Amy's Gran Fondo and the Dirty Gran Fondo (more on this next month).

Melburn Roobaix 2015

I am still walking around with a smile on my face from Sunday (28th June 2015). Several great things happened on that day. Firstly, I became an aunt for the first time! My (younger) brother and his wife had a baby boy (yet to be named) and secondly, I participated in my 3rd Melburn Roobaix!

My first event write up can be seen here and the second (much wetter) Roobaix can be see here.

I have to say, this year was my favourite for several reasons:

• There was a single route (last year had 2) so we were able to follow crowds and be entertained the entire day, much more fun.
• There were only 10 manifests instead of 13 (2013) and 12 (2014) and so we were able to stop for chats, coffee and lunch for longer in between. 
• The weather was perfect. 

So the day started out like last year, we parked the car at Abbotsford (kinda in between the start and finish) and rode down to the start along the Yarra with a few dozen others. You know people are here for the Roobaix by the bikes they ride and the costumes they wear.

Once we got there, we lined up to grab our musettes and waited in line for the coffee for about 10min until we decided to just start the event and hopefully grab a coffee at a cafe along the way.

His and Hers

The questions they had at the end of the cobbles were interesting as some were not directly at the end of the laneways which saw a few confused looks and large groups wondering around. The first manifest was a prime example - at the end of the cobblestone laneway was an opened (public) carpark and and not undercover. The first question was how many undercover carparks were there? It was not until we rode a bit further up and saw the small flags and realised that the questions was related to private undercover parking. Sneaky sneaky!

After this, we headed up to Coffee Supreme and stopped for a coffee and picked up our Roobaix drink bottles - one of the highlights of every event, something I can use which reminds me of how fun I always have at these events. They gave you a choice of white, silver or clear. I chose silver whilst the Canadian chose clear.

A latte and a stroopwafel later (we packed stroopwafel as they were on sale from Coles - $1.8 for a packet of 4) for the whole "European" vibe-thing, we headed off to the next manifest stop.

Coffee Supreme!

I don't really remeber much in between manifest 9 through to 6 - they were all really fun and riding through side streets made you appreciate the different types of houses there are around Melbourne. I know somewhere in between, we had free donuts from All Day Donuts and they were awesome!

Manifest 5 was in North Melbourne, similar to 2013 where we carried our bikes up the stairs. Similar to 2013, we stopped near Newmart station for lunch. A slow lunch and a coffee later, we set off to complete the remaining 4 sections.

We then bumped into some of our friends from the Bicycle Superstore group and we rode on and off with them for the rest of the day until we got to the velodrome.

I did half a lap around the velodrome and we settled down and waited for Andy to make the announcements for the prizes. I had a tear in my eye when they announced the winner of the major Roobaix prize which is the trip to watch the actual Paris Roubaix - it was an (older) lady and she was so shocked and surprised when they called out her name. She is also the first female winner since forever.

The Melburne Roobaix is the highlight of the year for me. It is just such a fun day as it is no way near competitive. No one cares if you are the fastest although many people race their mates through the cobblestone sections. It's about cyclists supporting other cyclists as I saw a guy come down from his bike at the tram tracks near Ikea and another coming off at the bridge and plenty of people making sure they were both ok. It's about bike riding for fun with a few coffee stops, donuts, chats and plenty of laughter in between.

Best. Day. Ever.

PS - Plenty of compliments for the Fondo kit I wore for the day!

Training Update

This entry is to keep you all up to date with my training as I am not doing regular reflection pieces as much as before especially having done Ironman. 

I will go through the swim, bike, run, strength and miscellaneous attributes regarding triathlon.  

I have a confession; I am yet to join the squad for the Tuesday and Friday morning sessions. I am still freaking out about doing these sessions with them as I have no concept on how these sessions are being conducted. I have been told that they are different from the Monday and Wednesday session but as Bayside don’t really have progression plan like Tri Alliance (in order to accommodate everyone and their respective races throughout the year), I am scared of stepping into swim session where we are to swim more than 3km. The longest session I have done (on my own) is a quality 2.7km following Swim Smooth programs which I purchased a few weeks ago. I purchased the Level 2 Olympic/Half Ironman program which comes with 35 lessons. I am enjoying them so far as it is structured differently to the swim sessions I have been doing for the last 5 years. I haven’t returned to CF Racing swim sessions as it is slightly out of the way for me and if I sleep in on a Monday morning and I complete my strength session on Monday night. I am not too worried about the swim sessions this time around other than completing at least 2 sessions a week with > 2.5km per session.

Cycling has been coming along slowly but surely. The spin classes at GESAC are really good and the work I get to do on strength have been much better than the windtrainer sessions I used to do. Although these sessions are short, the intensity is much more than a bike will ever on a windtrainer, unless you would don’t mind breaking your bike in half or shredding your tyres. I am also able to do some training on spin bikes at my gym if miss a session or if the weather ever turns stupid ugly. I might have to download a few spinerval programs so I can watch the iPad on the spin bikes rather than staring into space or the people running on treadmills in front of me. 

So far, I have done two Dandenong rides and planning on a 3rd this weekend since the start of June. I really do enjoy these hilly rides where I can tune out and just pedal along. It has been a while since I have placed myself in the strength work “hurt box”, but I am actually happy. In the month of July, I will venture out to Kinglake to mix things up a bit although I find that there are more hilly variations around The Dandenongs. I might have to look into hill repeats of Kinglake to make up for the distance and time. I do need to work on my cadence as well as my strength. Staying in the large chain ring works on strength where as being in the small chain ring will reduce fatigue in the legs and enable hill climbs to be more efficient. 

With running, I have had ups and downs. I have been trying to be consistent with the events I am entering on the weekends to keep my long runs accountable, however I don’t know if I am mentally or physically exhausted (or both) from some of the events that my attendance on the Tuesday nights have not been too consistent. I think I have 1 more sessions with Tim and I really don’t want to miss out on anymore as I think his lessons are valuable. In July, I have to decide if I am going to run Sri Chimnoy (flat) 10km and see if I can beat my previous time of 59min or do Salomon Trail Run in Plenty Gorge where I will be running 17km and it will be hilly. I will decide closer to the weekend.   

My strength work has been great. I know that I am getting stronger in the legs and core. Currently on Week 8 of my 12 week program. I am getting more toned but my clothes however have not been fitting as well as before. My shoulders, arms and thighs have increased in measurement so I have resorted to buying new clothes and wishing that I had kept some of my pre-triathlon clothes. My weight (on the scales) have been increasing and sometimes I weigh enough to compete in the Athenas category (70kg+) and I am only 156cm tall. Part of me is slightly sad that the reason why I kicked myself out of the “out of shape/unift” rut was so that I can lose weight and aim towards <60kg but I seem to be creeping up the other way. The other (more logistic and scientific) side of me knows that in order to have strength for the bike and run, you need muscle mass and muscle weights more than fat etc etc....I also know that I do carry excess fat around my stomach area and this will be something which I am looking forward to getting rid off in the next 4-5 months. The only time I ever see the fat around my stomach practically gone is around the month before every Ironman race and this is not a very realistic and sustainable means of being toned. Currently, I have 2 sessions of strength programmed into my schedule and this may increase to 3 sessions after Shepparton to work towards 3 Peaks. The 3^rd session may not necessarily be working with weights but could be Pilates Reformer. 

In order to get down to my race weight of <60kg, I need to be more conscious of my food intake and aim for a 2kg weight loss/month. I have been making a conscious effort in drinking up to 2 litres of hydration a day – from electrolytes, coconut water, green tea through to just plain water. I snack of dried apricots and almonds if I feel peckish. I don’t restrict myself to fruits – there is so much noise out there on how fructose (sugars in fruits) makes you fat but seriously, have you ever come across an obese person who consumed too much fruit? I have cut down my coffees to 2 a day and quite often than not, 1 or none over the weekend. With the advice from Chris, I am consuming complex carbohydrates (as much as I can control) within 2 hours of a training session, this includes rice, pasta, pizza, potatoes and sweet potatoes. I tend to head home for lunch so I can have a high protein meal with eggs, tofu or chicken with vegetables and that satisfies me. My partner loves his carbs and luckily for him, they are introduced after training sessions for dinner as I am doing more training sessions after work. 

It has been a while that I have been able to do some form of training everyday of the week. I may have only one day per week off during recovery weeks wherever a massage is booked in place of a session. I am guessing that as strength work is programmed into my schedule and they take 30-45min to complete (and being indoors), I am less likely to “skip” a training session. If I ever have a sleep in due to exhaustion or need to head into work early and miss out on a session, I will make up for it (on the same day) with a gym session on the treadmill or the spin bikes.

Post Shepparton, I will step up the frequency of cycling whilst decreasing the training sessions for swimming and running down to 1 each per week (no long sessions). I will talk about this more closer to November and manage after Shepparton towards 3 Peaks. 

Working towards 3 Peaks (entries open in July), I have already signed up for the following:

Amy's Gran Fondo - 120km (110km + 10km Benwerrin descent) on 13th September. 

Around the Bay – 210km anti clockwise on 11^th October. 

I may sign up to the Audax Alpine Classic in January as part of the training preparation as well. 

Hope this entry is keeping you guys up to date on my training and journey towards a meaningful season of events.

Hilly Rides and the Salomon Series Trail Run (Studley Park)

So this morning, I ran my 3rd ever (official) trail run event. I didn't do a "preview" like I did the previous events because I wasn't sure if I was actually going to do this event and which distance I was going to actually race.

I am still recovering from Run Forest. That event broke me and brought me out of my comfort zone by a mile. I wasn't sure if I was going to do another trail run for a while but I really need to stay consistent with running in order to achieve my goal of a half marathon < 2 hours (road race). I bit the bullet and signed up for the long course on the 11th June. I had a bit of a breakthrough run on Tuesday evening so I knew that running was on the right track.

As this was a "run" and not a "race", I still went out on my hilly ride on Saturday. My friend Dale and I have decided to make the next 12 months count in terms of our cycling goals and both have signed up for some events to pick up our game. I did my first "hilly" ride last week (13th) up at the Dandenongs by myself. I wanted to ride at my own pace as I couldn't ride with the tri squad as they were doing a 130km ride from GESAC and then through to Dandenongs and then doing a loop at Emerald - this would have been too much for me and would be left out on the highway by myself which is unsafe. I am happy that I did this ride last week as it set my expectations for the Dandenong ride for this week and I could pull back slightly without compromising my bike strength work.

I did a similar ride yesterday with Dale but without the SkyHigh loop which is an extra 6km or so. We started around 7:15am and the temperature was hovering zero degrees. It was hard to breathe as it was that cold, Luckily I had a buff, beanie, deFeet gloves and booties, knee warmers, wool socks, arm warmers, base layers and a vest over my normal cycling attire. We ended up with 2.5 hours and around 43km. I ended up riding up 1-in-20 in the big chain ring which was comfortable enough so I know that my strength work is coming along well. Whilst we rode repeats of the 1-in-20, a few guys were attempting their everesting attempts. They started at 3am and estimated that they would finish around midnight with 35 laps of the 1-in-20.

Next week, we will aim to do more than 3 hours and maybe try Sky High and Devil's elbow (which I am yet to tackle).

With the trail run, I had planned on arriving around 7:40am (an hour before race start) so I can pick up my race number, visit toilet, drop off bag, warm up the legs before race start. Tried to sleep at 10pm but was still awake at 10:30pm. The alarm was set at 6:30am so I can leave the house at 7am.

When I got there, the temperature was so cold that I dug around the car hoping to find a pair of gloves  (which I did) and wore for the entire event. I caught up with a few Tri Alliance friends and chatted with them for a while before the start.

The actual run was pretty good although I had some bad moments - my shoe laces came undone twice, I rolled my ankles once and towards the last 4km, the fast 10km guys were finishing which meant that I had to stop mid run to get out of their way as the paths are narrow along the Yarra. I ran pretty much most of the trail except for the steep stair climbs and some of the rocky descents which I was careful so I don't roll my ankles again. I really liked my Mizuno Hayates and they worked well on some of the slippery surfaces. The course wasn't muddy and I would rate the difficulty of the Studley Park course as a 10th of Run Forest.

I had a gel at about 8:30am with the next at 45min and 30min mark along with about 300ml of hydration over 15km. Although it was a freezing morning, I was sweating due to the Ultimate Direction vest and on the insides of my elbows as I was wearing a long sleeve. I kept my gloves on the entire time and I was able to use it to wipe the sweat off my face.

My goal was to finish the run under 1:45 and my time was 1:40:11 so I am pretty happy with that time. If I was to run 15km by myself, I would have finished it around the 2 hour mark with plenty of walks in between.

My Stats
Overall placing for long course run: 439/460
Gender placing: 166/182
Category 20 - 39: 103/110

I know the pacing wasn't great and might have some fatigue in the legs due to the hilly ride (especially spending much time in the large chain ring) but this is not an A race for me but just a motivator to keep running.

Next week, I will do the run session on the Tuesday and Thursday as the weekend will be about cycling with a long hilly ride on Saturday followed by Melburn Roobaix on Sunday. It is also my rest week so I am not getting too worried about it. I am still yet to decide if I am to run Race 2 of the Salomon Series or TrailX in July.

Strength Training - Intro and Update

I am currently on Week 6 of my strength program and absolutely loving it! Why? Some reasons why I have put down to:

• The temperature of Melbourne is getting pretty chilly and not being outside is slightly comforting. I have become more of a fair-weather athlete after a few years....
• I am seeing huge improvements in the following:
• Holding my core
• The weights I am lifting, carrying and how comfortable I am with the movements.
• Although the scales are not heading towards the right direction, I am feeling that I am getting more toned especially around the stomach area. 
• I am reporting to Chris (Excite) about my progress and I am being accountable.
• I am not in a group situation and being deflated about being too fat or slow. I am not surrounded by people who are constantly being competitive, will leave this to the guys at the gym. 

My program (without giving away too much IP) consists of warm up, pinnacle movements, then a superset, followed by core work.

Warm up is about rolling my muscles out, using a stick to introduce movement in my joints around my shoulders and back. I then use the foam roller to warm up my legs especially the quads and calves. 

The pinnacle set is where I do squats and dead lifts with weights and barbells. I started out with 35kg in my squats and now have moved onto 50kg. Deadlifts I have increased from 25kg to 35kg. I have very short legs and quad dominant so I am really enjoying the squats. I am getting better at my deadlifts (both single legs and standard) but I needed work on my technique due to my hyper-mobility through the shoulders. 

I do my strength training every Monday and Wednesday. The superset varies between the two days and how fast I am able to breeze through these sets depends on how busy the gym gets. 

After the superset, I end the session off with core work which consists of planking and crunches. On Wednesday, I often do a bit more pilates core work as this day ends quicker. 

I mentioned before that my weight (what I see on the scales) are creeping the other way, I am also seeing that some of my clothes are not fitting as well as before but have been told that this will go down as I lose more fat whilst I gain muscle. 

I should have taken photos of what my body looks like from Day 1 but didn’t have the chance to. Hopefully I will get a body scan soon and be able to compare data.

Calluses from 7 weeks of strength training.

Run Forrest - Race Report

Yesterday, 7th June, I competed in my hardest event to date. I have never been pushed so much out of my comfort zone before - this event was the toughest in my life.

We got into Forrest by about 9:10am which gave me 20min to put on my socks, shoes, pack my hydration bag and run down to the start to pick up registration and go to the toilet. They said that registration was opened from 7:00 - 9:30am but the line to pick up the numbers went on and on. Not sure what happened, maybe they were understaffed but I think they had extra help when they realised that people were still waiting to pick up their race numbers by 9:45am. I still hadn't gone to the toilet yet at 9:50am and luckily people who were racing the 10km who started at 10:30am let us in the long line.

I didn't really pay attention to the race briefing as I was in the toilet line and just finished in time to run to the start and off I went. The start of the race was good. Everyone was in a good and comfortable pace. The first part of the event where I walked was when the route came back to race area and up the hill. I jogged as much as I could but the 1km climb so close to the start of the event got to me and about 30 other people.

We ran through some lush fern covered narrow paths where I felt the pressure of the pace. The path was too narrow for people to pass and due to the ferns, it was hard to step aside. Where I could, I stepped aside for the faster people to get around me as at this point (3km), the constant hill climbs caused my legs to be heavy. We then ran down a path and then onto the dam walls with amazing scenery. The volume of water in the dam was just unbelievable.

At about the 7km mark, the faster runners were actually running the other way, that was how strong some of these regular trail runners were. The constant hills were tricky especially when some of the paths were slippery and with some areas needed your hands for support.

Pretty much where there were climbs, I either walked or jogged/walked up ungracefully. I remember the 12km mark where I walked for the longest distance for the entire event, the climb was constant and felt like it went on forever.

The last 5km was tolerable as it was downhill but with some of the most trickiest paths to get through. There were many hands for support action happening and where I could feel a blister on the feet. The blister on the bottom of the foot felt like I was stepping on a piece of glass with every downward path. I stopped at this point to also check that there was nothing in the socks which was causing the pain apart from the blister. At this point, 3 guys ran passed me but luckily I caught up to and passed them soon after. The last part of the run was the hardest as I had to run past the finish line but in a different direction with a great monster of a climb 1km from the finish line. The last climb proved to be too much for my little legs that I had to run up the hill backwards.

The last 1km was a relief. It was downhill and I knew that I was close to finish. Unfortunately I didn't finish the 21km within the 3 hours as I had planned. I finished in 3:02 which wasn't too bad I suppose. 3 hours out running/walking/climbing was a long time out there, I don't even ride for that duration or climb that much in elevation!

My Ultimate Direction vest - awesome!

I downloaded my Garmin and here are some stats:
Total time: 3:02.05
Total moving time: 2:58.03
Average pace: 8:44min/km
Average moving pace: 8:33min/km
Elevation gain: 1,773m
Maximum elevation: 372m

Nutrition - I had 4 gels in total. One at the start, pretty much as soon as I exited the toilet stop and onto the start, then 3 during the race, one at every 45min or so.

Comments/Lessons:

• Although I ran 21km and it was the hardest event I had ever done (harder than Ironman), I am glad I did this distance rather than the 10km. Although 10km would have been manageable, driving all the way to Forrest for 10km was too much to ask. 
• This event was out of my comfort zone by a huge mile but I am glad I did it. 
• Need to work on more hill running, my legs felt weak - similar to riding along Beach Road month after month and finding any climb a real slog. 
• Although the hydration vest was good, there was a bit of chaffing due to my elbows rubbing against the side of the bag. I found accessing the bottles from the front much easier than from the back. 
• I think I could go half a size bigger in my trail shoes - I wore 2 pairs of socks (3 layers in total) and this was what caused the blister as my feet were squeezed together. 
• I don't know if I will do this event next year...I will have to gain super strength in running to be able to take at least 15min off my time. 

Run Forrest - The Preview

This Sunday (7th June) - I will be doing the Run Forrest 21km trail event. I thought as I am not going to training camp this year (first time in 6 years) that I would still do some training which gets me out of my comfort zone.

The event is held at Forrest (in Victoria) and the 21km will be a tough one as it utilises the mountain bike trails which is usually accessible only by mountain bikers (not opened to walkers/runners). There will be hills, fast descents, rocky tracks on both fire roads as well as single track trails. I am looking forward to this event as it will be more "trails" than my previous trail run (Afterglow Run in Nov 2014). 

There will be a few things which I will take into account:

• My time will be between 2:30 - 3 hours considering the terrain of this event and my current level of fitness. I will run at a pace I am comfortable with and trying my hardest to not roll my ankles. I also finished the Afterglow run in 2:35.
• I am going to use my Ultimate Direction running vest for the first time - This is not a "race" so technically, I am not trying anything new...I will report on the pros and cons of wearing a hydration vest compared to my trusty belt.
• This will be my longest run since January 2015 (2 weeks before Challenge Melbourne). 
• I will enjoy the scenery as much as I can - I heard it is beautiful out there. 

 

On Saturday (6th), I will ride Beach Rd but I will make sure that I recover well after the ride by soaking in the bay to reduce inflammation and lactic build up. I don't want the same thing to occur on the run as last week.  Once I am recovered, I will pack and head over to Geelong to stay with my parents so that the drive down to Forrest will be about 1.5 hours (rather than 3.5 hours).

Wish me luck!

Looking Ahead - July

In terms of events, July appears to be a more calm one compared to May and June....so far.  It will be the middle of winter but I will take advantage of this "quieter" month to do more cycling strength work such as hilly rides without stressing out about how I will recover and be ready for the next day's events.

Events
On the 19th July weekend - There are 3 running races on

• Trails+ - You Yangs 15km Trail Run
• Salomon Trail Series - Plenty Gorge 17km Trail Run
• Sri Chimnoy - Princess Park 10km or 21.1km

Closer to the weekend and see how I am travelling with regards to my health and fitness, I will decide on which run event to sign up to. I know that Bayside will sign up for the Sri Chimnoy as it is one of the key events which the run training we have been doing leads up to however I do need to build some strength with trail running so it will most likely be the trails. TBC.

26th July - The next event which I have within the month of July is the Womens100 Ride with Jaggad. This time last year, I fell off a bike onto my head/face which stopped me from participating. I am looking forward to this ride and being amongst this women's cycling movement. It is on the same day as Run Melbourne but I think that joining smaller runs events during the year is sufficient enough for me. Will do a run the day before this ride and ensure that I recover well before the 100km ride the next day.

Small Goals/Key Sessions

• For the month of July, I will be in phase 3 of my strength program with Chris (Excite). I am not finding it hard to stay motivated with these sessions as I am really seeing the benefits and the improvement. The sessions are done in the gym so it doesn't depend on the weather.

Dirty Duathlon - My Race Report

So this morning, I completed my first official duathlon! The forecast was showers/gale force and I heard all this on Saturday night which woke me up several times. In the morning, I got all my things together and got my hydration sorted before I left the house. Apple maps advised me that it would take approx 40min to get to the You Yangs park from Armstrong Creek but it ended up taking approx 30min to get there. I arrived just as the parking area opened and I realised that parking was in a private property (like, someone's front yard). I got the bike out of the car and applied lube to the chain as nothing had been done to the bike since my Dirty Gran Fondo ride, got my bags together and rode to the venue.

I was so early to the race venue that by the time I picked up my race pack, put the race number on the bike, set up my transition and visited the toilet, I still had 45min left to kill before race briefing so I just sat at the stage area (the only area to sit) and just killed time on social media.

With 15min left until race start, I had my pre race gel for the day and took my bag to storage. We were ushered to the start and then it was "off we go".

The start was slightly uphill so my heart rate shot up quick. After a few hundred meters or so, I realised that my legs were just heavy and didn't want to move...I was so frustrated, I could run faster than what I was doing but the legs just didn't want to play! I knew what I had done wrong - I did a 80km ride on Saturday and as much as half of the ride was done at <20km/hr (with the Liv Ride), the other half was also done with intensity. When I came home from the ride, I didn't recover well, I didn't ice my legs and I didn't spend time on the rollers. I paid the price and lessons were learnt.

During the first run, I noticed that I was second last in the race. When I finished the 5km run, I was so glad to get onto the bike. I had ridden this course before. It's not too technical and when you have good bike skills, you can do this bike course very well as it can be flowing fast. For me, I don't have the confidence and enough bike skills to handle myself at high speeds so I still applied brakes. I actually rode through some of the areas which I never did during my previous rides so that was something which I am extremely proud of. I actually "raced" the bike leg as much as I could. I had no one around me the entire time as the first run really blew my time out big time. Whilst I was going passed the marshals, I was telling them that I could be last or second last on the course.

I was a bit disappointed that the bike finished and I had to do a run. It is only 4km but my legs were still not coming out to play. I jogged the first 1km and my legs just collapsed under me that I had to stop and walk on and off for 2km in between. With 1km left to go in the run leg, the volunteer started to ride with me - my emotions at this point was mixed....One side of me was just shattered, I came to realise that I am THE LAST PERSON on the course (the other guy must have pulled out) knowing that I was the only one left last was just a huge slap in the face (not intentionally of course). But the other side of this emotion was actually a positive one - he was actually encouraging so I kept my run accountable. I think as I was the only one out there for a while, it felt like any run I was doing by myself - not stepping out of my comfort zone and stopping whenever I liked but with him there, I made sure that I was just running and stopped thinking about how shit I was feeling.

I finished the 4km run in about 27min which was ridiculous. When I crossed the line, they announced that I was the last person across the line and when I went to the bike storage, it was the only bag left on the table, I walked over to the transition area to grab my things and my bike was the last one left - everyone had gone home. I mentioned in my last post that I was sure that I was going to place last again but I guess I am reflecting on this more and how I shouldn't be (satisfied at being last)!

Lessons Learnt/Comments:

• I need to still train through these non A races. This means that I need to take care of my body better and recover better in preparation for the next day's event. 
• Do runs off the bike. In the next level of my training, I will start to incorporate Wednesday morning rides so I will try as much as I can to do runs off the bike. For now, I will somehow do this after my Thursday morning spin class and my Saturday long rides. 
• Wore the SOAS tri shorts for the first time. My stomach is still huge at the moment so the shorts are rolling down my stomach. This was frustrating me during my run. I am still to try and race with the entire SOAS tri top and shorts. Waiting for the warmer months do try this. 
• I wore thick wool socks with a pair of cycling socks as I thought it would be cold. This was an overkill and will not be doing this next weekend for Run Forrest. 
• For the terrain, I would not recommend trail shoes - normal runners is sufficient as the run is over the fire trails and not forrest trails or single track. 
• I rode without gloves and I found it fine for this event.

Race Stats:

Run 1 = 33min, 

Bike + Transition = 1:11

Run 2 = 27min

I placed DFL for the entire event - 79th for all the people who turned up and finished for the day. 10/10 for females 19-35, 21/21 for all females.