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.

Slow, Steady, Strength

As I am no longer following the program of my previous squad and not being on a personalised program from my current club, I need to program in my own Build, Taper and Recovery days/weeks. I am really enjoying taking control of my program - making it to suit me (with some mentoring feedback) and my circumstances. If I enter an event on a particular weekend, I need to manage my body before and after the event so I can get back on my feet and train again.

I am calling May as my first month of training for my 2015-2016 season. So far, I have programmed 2 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs and 2 strength sessions a week. Due to my goal of being a stronger runner for the Shepparton triathlon, my run sessions are currently my "must do" sessions along with my strength.

Tuesday pm for the next 6-7 weeks a skills/drills program which I have paid an additional fee for with Tim O’Shaughnessy as the coach. Thursday pm is tempo running at Duncan McKinnon reserve with Bayside Coach Rob and the long run sessions at the moment have been done by myself on trails and entering running events which I am loving. One weekend will be endurance (trail running) and the next will be speed/pace (run events or trail events).

Cycling at the moment hasn't been the best - the weather hasn't been kind nor providing the safest conditions out there. I don't mind riding in the wind and rain, I do worry about cars and how crazy they get when the weather turns bad. I am loving my spin classes at GESAC, I think I have mentioned that before.

Swimming is something which I need to stay consistent on. Even though it is something which doesn't make or break a race, being quicker by 5min is all I am after for Shepparton to achieve my goal. I am yet to swim with Bayside on Tuesday and Friday and this is a small goal which I am trying to achieve within the month of May. I am not enjoying swimming as much as before as I am conflicted between the different coaches and their respective style of swimming as well as coaching.

I have the Dirty Gran Fondo this Sunday so I have not programmed a long road ride or run this weekend. The event will be my long ride. It will be a long day in the saddle considering that last year, I finished the 35km just under 4 hours and this year, I have entered the 65km. There will be plenty of grinding up hills and I will try my best to ride rather than walk up the 1300+ elevation for the 65km.  It will also give me a chance to work on my bike strength too.

The DGF shirt I ordered

Shaking Things Up

Last week, I decided that I needed to try out more sessions Bayside Tri Club have on offer. I had only attended the Monday and Wednesday pm swim sessions since I joined in April. Their training schedule (can be seen on their website) are:

Monday - pm Swim
Tuesday - am Swim, pm Run
Wednesday - am Road Ride, pm Swim
Thursday - am Spin, pm Run
Friday - am Swim
Saturday and Sunday - long rides, long runs, events, brick sessions

I attended the Tuesday pm run session out at Sandy athletics track for the first time on Tuesday 21st. I didn't perform as high intensity as others as I am slowly getting my run up again. I ended up doing about 8km intervals within the hour.

Thursday am is the 45min spin class at GESAC (where we swim) and the class was pretty good. As it is a short 45min, I will try to put in as much effort as I can. During my first session, I didn't start off with too high resistance or intensity as I wasn't sure how my body would cope. I still had some DOMS from the Tuesday pm run session so it was not the most easiest session for me but I made it. In the next coming weeks, I will push harder gears knowing that I felt comfortable during the first session.

GESAC Spin Room

 I am yet to train during the following sessions:

• Tuesday am Swims
• Wednesday am Road Ride
• Thursday pm Run (not happening until May 7th)
• Friday am Swims
• Saturday and Sunday long runs and rides

Why haven't I done the sessions listed above? The (very honest) reason is my anxiety has been playing up lately. Some nights, I worry about how I would go to the point of having bad nightmares during the night, being woken up in a fright with sweat and a throbbing body and then not being able to fall asleep until 4-5am. This is why I haven't had a chance to try out most of the morning sessions due to bad sleep the night before and worrying. I really need to get over this fear, to just suck it up and just turn up and train!

Easier said than done but I will try my best.

What a difference a change makes...

So I officially paid my coaching fees to my new squad on Sunday 29th so I could train with them starting on Monday 30th March. With anything "new" in my life, I stressed about it to no end.

I had bad dreams the day before - the usual, being late and being out of my depth. Due to the training session being held in the afternoon, I kept stressing about how I would go for hours. I am happy to report that I survived the session and I can't wait for the next one - winning!

The coach for the Monday's swim session was named Neil. He is a swim coach rather than one who does triathlons. You can tell the difference between the two types - swim coaches tend to use less "toys" and more on technique and swimming at different levels of speeds. This was what I had experienced when I tried out JVW and Coach Anna's sessions within the last 12 months. No paddles, hardly any pull buoys, some fins. It is what I call swimming naked - nothing but your arms and legs.

I decided to swim in the last lane - I guess it has always been what the slower you are, the closer to the wall you swim in. I am guessing it is for the coach and guidance, so they can walk up and down the side and monitor how you are going. Once someone masters the swim, they then move to the more advanced lanes - less coaching needed.

The warm up was short. I had done 100m already before the coach arrived and he asked that we do a further 200m. Then the next was sets of 200m done with different drills. We started off with fingertip drags where the coach said that my left arm is not lifting high but swinging across like a windmill - no wonder I tend to hit people on the other lane. This was followed by fist and free every 25m, catch ups and then single arms.

He does teach the "old school" swim technique of doing the "S" shape in the water where as the newer school of swimming doesn't teach that anymore and it is more about the bend in the elbows and creating a barrel straight down your body (No more S). This will be something which I have to manage as it does conflict with that I had learnt over the last 5 years. We then put on fins for the next 4 x 1000m doing front, back and side kicks for every 100m.

We then went into the 2nd main set which was to swim 400 fast, 200 recovery, 200 fast, 200 recovery, 100 fast. This part I struggled with especially when I haven't swam in 2 months apart from a 400m swim a few days before the corporate triathlon. I didn't really do a cool down because I was stuffed. First session back and I swam 2.6km. It was so refreshing to swim with a squad again. I worked hard at the session as someone was watching out for my technique. It was also good to swim with others in the lane who are on the same drills and speed.

From what I have been told, Neil takes the Monday and Wednesday sessions and these work on technique. The next (non-swimming) squad session is the Wednesday morning road ride. I took this route on Saturday afternoon and I found that riding down towards Carrum takes 30min and I assume that if the training session takes an hour - it is a straight out and back.

I struggled to get up and be motivated for the run session this morning - my dry and chesty cough was still lingering. I may also be tired from swimming the night before. This is something which I have crossed off my training list as a "not achieved" and fingers crossed, I will do a run on Thursday morning. 

I am joining the Bayside ladies for a dinner on Thursday night, I am looking forward to this. 

Draft for 2015-2016

With my last long course triathlon race in about 4 more days (eeeeeek!!!) for this 2014/15 season, I am drafting down some key goals for the year leading to and including the 2015-16 triathlon season. Like my previous years, my personal thoughts on goals are that they must/are realistic - I don't commit to something even if it is in writing unless I know that I can include it in my schedule/lifestyle.

Balance and core values - I am not going to be racing another Ironman for the season. Personally, this lifestyle is not sustainable. You do miss out on so much of what is out there, outside of triathlon, if you immerse yourself in just swimming, riding, running and recovering hour after hour, day after day, week after week, year after year. Energy is not the only factor for Ironman-distance training, it is also the finance factor which does add up. I would rather put my energy and money into my life outside of triathlon - such as travel (and not just to the same locations, related to triathlons or not, year after year), food experiences, movies, shows etc etc. Another thing I have noticed with Ironman racing is that it takes a really long time to not only recover from the event itself but also getting back into the swing of training again.

Goals and Events
Lets talk sports goals for the year - I have already signed up for Challenge Shepparton in November. I really enjoyed the race last year and now will work towards improving on the same event (with a bit more training). This will be my main motivator over the chilly winter months to get out there and do some training! I don't find swimming to be a big problem with regards to training without the squad. Motivation and enjoyment for running is what I need so as much as I can, train with the squad. I have looked into running with a run squad on Tuesday mornings - the reason for this is to try something new and I will more likely to turn up to this session where a coach is present than a session where a group of people rock up and do whatever that is on the program.

Another event which I have signed up to is the Mornington Running Festival on the 6th September, running the half marathon. I really do enjoy the half marathon distances - be it a road event or trail.

Over the weekend of 17th May 2015, I will either do the Dirty Gran Fondo event or the Great Ocean Road half marathon. I am undecided between the two. Hopefully I can get my skills up enough to do the DGF event, otherwise, I will do the run.

After Challenge Melbourne, I will be doing a corporate tri as part of a team. I haven't done a sprint race since 2011!!!! My shortest race has been the Noosa Olympic distances, I don't know how to race fast anymore. I am really shitting myself, especially for the run, how the hell am I going to run 4km fast after I have just ridden 10km full ball? I don't think I have any fast twitch muscles left.

Some key goals which I would like to achieve in the next 12 months:
- Run a half marathon under 2 hours. I am finding that with my distance increasing to accommodate the requirements of running a marathon for Ironman, my speed has dropped significantly. I might key in a race in October for this goal, otherwise it will be the Mornington event in Sept. I haven't achieved this goal since Oct 2012 leading up to Shepparton where my fitness was at its peak.
- I want to sign up for a 100 x 100m swim challenge in 2015. It will be just a matter of finding an event which does not compromise my other goals. If there isn't an event, I will just need to find 3.5 hours out of my day, find out what the rules are and hopefully get a helper to count laps and witness.
- Race an olympic distance triathlon under 3 hours. I have only done 3 olympic distances races - all at Noosa. I know it is hard to compare apples with apples so I will not compare this with my previous races. An olympic distance race done in Melbourne will most likely be a wetsuit swim, the ride will not include the Garmin Hill climb and the temperature and humidity will most likely not be as high as Noosa. I will pencil this in for a 2016 event.

Key Sessions
- Continue with Lady Bombs hot laps at Albert Park lake. I found these sessions to be of great value especially in working on strength and speed.
- Strength and core session on Mondays - coordinate with swim session. It doesn't have to be long, 2o to 30 min will suffice.
- This will sound like a record player but the long rides and long runs are important for long course racing. As much as I can, I will make it to the sessions, especially long runs at Fairfield with Greg. I enjoy these sessions as I don't feel like I am running by myself. We tend to work on technique and hill work which is beneficial for me.

On the blog side of things - I am hoping to get it up and running again. It helps me keep tabs on how I am going and I guess this is evident over the last 4 months or so - stopped training, stopped blogging and in turn, stopped being excited about training...

I am in love....

.....with open water swimming.

I have never hesitated with swimming, other than waking up early to join a squad swim (50km drive from my house). I love how my body glides through the water. I love that my joints don't hurt like they do when I run or ride. I love how I am always hungry after a good swim set.

Before I arrived to Australia in the early 90s, I feared the water. This may have been attributed to the fact that I nearly drowned at the age of 7. The image of "seeing the light" and choking on water is still vivid in my mind.

I finally learnt how to "not drown" at the age of 12 during school PE classes but I never really "understood" how to swim until the age of 29 when I joined a squad. It's not just about waving your arms through the water and kicking as fast and hard as you can, it is all about creating as much "resistance" so you push your way through.

I am comfortable about doing my own swim sets. This may be because I have started to enjoy training on my own without the pressure of a "group". Sometimes the competitiveness of others really ruins my day, how they have to be in front, always the fastest, strongest and best when at the end of the day, triathlon is an individual sport, your only competitor is yourself. Don't get me wrong, I love coming to sessions when I can, the squad is almost a second family but sometimes, I just don't want to use my energy on anything/anyone else but myself.

Now that the weather is getting warmer (bearable to be swimming in the ocean), I have been getting out and swimming at Mentone beach a few times a week. I love this beach so much better than Elwood.
- It is so much cleaner - you can see the sandbed below and sometimes when the sun is out, you can also see your shadow
- Pole to pole distance is approx 500m
- There are hot showers available to the public
- Its about 1km from my house

The last few times I have gone swimming at Mentone, I have encountered some jellies. Very unpleasant indeed and I am trying to overcome the anxiety of seeing them in their habitat.




Mentone Beach - Tuesday 5th Nov 2014



 



In recent times, I have been using my swims as a means of tuning out and de-stressing. Unlike running or riding where you actually have to pay attention to where you are going unless you want to fall flat on your face, swimming, even if it is laps of the pool allows me to just do something with little thought.

 

I know that my pace is not quite there for a "race" but it doesn't bother me. It's about doing what makes me happy.

Weekly Reflection - 28/6 - 4/7

Boy I had a pretty fun week! Due to the Roobaix on Sunday, I swapped my run day to the Saturday. It was recovery week so there were no big rides and we had time trials instead - so running by myself was a good enough compromise.

On Saturday morning, I actually slept in for a bit...I had my phone in my hand and clicked on a link which a friend posted about "running when you feel like you run like a hefer" - this is me. After spending about 5min reading the article, I got my sorry ass out of bed and went for my long run. For some reason, my July training timetable was not available to me but I remembered that it was about 12-13km. I decided from the start that I would try to run the entire way. I decided to pace myself so I would not be too tired. Happy to report that this run was a success! I didn't feel like death and I ran the entire 13km (apart from stopping at lights etc). The pace was slow (we are talking 6min-7min/km) but whatevs...I got through it. My energy levels were good and even when I carried nutrition on me, I decided to not take any and worked on my "fat adaptation" but made sure that I properly fuelled myself with a ratio of proteins, fats and carbs post run.

Sunday was Roobaix day! Rain, hail and a little bit of sunshine! Read all about it here...Best Day in the year. (the following pictures were downloaded from health.com.au taken by Simon Pollock simon@gtvone.com)



Check out my rad corning skillz

This would have been the part where I fell
and just got back onto the bike...

Riding in the rain...

I swam on my own at GESAC on Monday evening, legs and shoulders not OK due to my fall on the bike the previous day. Tuesday's windtrainer saw us back at MSAC due to the closure of Bayside Aquatics due to the school holidays. MSAC, saaaaah hawt! I hand delivered a few cycling caps to people at the session whom I haven't seen in a while which was good.

The swim sessions out at Northcote have discontinued so we had the last session there on Wednesday morning. This was followed by breakfast at Penny Farthing. We haven't done this in about 6 months. The Northcote pool is out of my way but it is a gorgeous pool to swim in especially on a sunny day.

Coach Rupert's Thursday night run session was good as he combined his (own) group. We did a few intervals after our warm up and stride through. I rolled my ankle (again!) during the warm up but it was not too bad during the main set.

As the MSAC pool is out of action at the moment, I decided to swim at Prahran pool this morning. Not too expensive - $5.90 for entry (GESAC is $9.00!!). The pool has a really really shallow end with a sudden drop in depth at the deep end. Very similar to the old Brunswick pool. I did my own set this morning but followed the program to a T. I love the Friday endurance swims - hardly any thinking - just swim! After a 1km warm up (600F, 4 x 100F (25 sculls, 75 free)), the program had 16 x 100 PB&B. I can't count past 5 so I broke the set down to 4 x (4 x 100) - does anyone else have trouble counting laps? Cool down was 400 back stroke. I swam in the double lane for the first time ever....I was sticking to the left but had to ask someone what the etiquette was to double lanes - so it seems that you still stick to the left but as this lane is for "various" speeds, you have the space to over take them in the middle. I think there was about 7 people in the double lane this morning and I was the only female. Men don't like to be chick'd, that's all I have to say from my experience this morning.

So I thought I was taking the ride at Studley Park this weekend but that's next week. This weekend, I will be joining the main crew at Kinglake starting from Eltham Station. I only rode up Kinglake once last year (with much anxiety) so lets see how I go in the morning! I will join the crew on Sunday for the long run but we will start at the Duathlon location instead of Fairfield carpark.

Favourite session of the week: Gotta be the Roobaix.

Least favourite session of the week: I wouldn't say it was a session which I didn't like - more that I was the most uncomfortable. During last Sunday's Roobaix, we stopped at the cafe for lunch/break. As we were riding the entire time, we didn't feel cold even during the rain and hail. I was shivering when we got started as we had to put the wet layers back on.

Advice of the week: Wool rocks! Wear wool gloves and socks during cold runs and rides - keeps you warm but wicks away sweat so you don't shiver. I am wearing merino socks under my colourful socks during my rides because I have #sockgame.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: I am actually looking forward to the long ride and runs this weekend! We are also trialing g a non-coached Tuesday morning session at the athletics track with a few TA people who live around the area.

Weekly Reflection 21/06 - 27/06

I actually had one of my biggest training sessions followed by a week of doing pretty much sweet f-all. How is this possible you may question? Well let me take you back to last Saturday....

*que back in time music*

As I mentioned in my last entry, I was doing my first hilly ride on Sat 21st June. I had been rostered on to take the beginners ride for the last 2 months which consisted mainly of:
- 50km flat ride on Beach Rd
- About 2 and a half hours (we stop at Mordialloc)
- Small chain ring so I can keep the group together as much as possible.

I have a Gran Fondo event coming up in September and I have not done any strength work on the bike this year at all. So last Saturday I met with the group at Wantirna Mall as an athlete. What ended up happening was that I was placed to supervise a few athletes who had never ridden out there before and therefore I couldn't leave them out in the hills by themselves. I didn't end up riding down Devil's elbow or The Wall as I took some other athletes up and down 1-in-20. I didn't mind as I was familiar with 1-in-20 and could work on my strength there. 65km (program said 3-3.5 hours) and I was done for the day. It was my first hilly ride (enjoyed it) but it was a tough session. I was buggered for the rest of the day but had to make cycling caps which people had ordered during the week (6 in total).

Sunday was a write off, I was so exhausted from Saturday that I decided to sleep in until I met up with friends for brunch at 10am. After brunch, we headed off to Darebin Parklands to watch the Dirty Deeds cyclocross races. Everytime I watch these races, I want to do an event (in a non-Elite category) but then I realise....that I have no bike skills. Maybe next year after a few more months on the MTB?

The only training session I have done the entire week was an attempt at my 1km swim time trial at GESAC. As I did my first of 2014 swim time trial there, I thought it was a good idea to benchmark myself in the same pool. Little did I know that the boiler at the pool had broken down that day and the water was no heated! Bayside Tri Squad who trained there all were issued an email about it and they decided to change this session into a wetsuit swim session - that's how cold it was!!! As much as I tried to warm up during the warm up session, I was still shivering before the time trial. I thought to myself - lets just see what happens, if I get a better time, good, if it is slower, don't dwell on it.

I pretty much swam with goosebumps on my entire body for the whole 1km and came out with a time of 22:12 (4 seconds slower than my last attempt) - this could be due to my lack of swim squad attendance as I had been swimming at my own pace for the last few weeks or it could be due to the water temperature....who knows?!

This may be an exaggeration of how cold the GESAC pool was....

This weekend I have the Melburn Roobaix (CAN'T WAIT). I will be riding Betty (the CX Bike) this year. Need to sort out my kit for the event.

In two minds about what to do for Saturday training. I know I need to do a run session (must be done on the Saturday) yet I need to also do some bike strength training in the hills. The Roobaix on Sunday although will be a few hours on the bike, it's a fun event.

Favourite session of the week: Hilly Ride in the Dandenongs on the Saturday! It is still my favourite route to ride.

Least favourite session of the week: My 1km swim time trial! The water was just way too cold, I had goosebumps from start to finish....and I only did 2 session for the entire week so if one was my favourite, the other had to be the not-favourite.

Advice of the week: As much as this week is a recovery week, I do need to harden up and just go to early morning (light training) sessions rather than sleeping in and not doing anything for days....

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: MELBURN ROOBAIX!!!!!!!! Last year's event write up can be found here....(and here on FXYO's page) CAN'T WAIT!

Goals for 2014/15

I am coming towards the end of my "recovery month". I had already spoken briefly about my goals for the next season before. Next week will be the start of transition week into the training schedule for the squad.

Like every athlete, I do have strengths and weaknesses. Not everything about strengths and weaknesses about the swim, bike and the run. Different from the last 2 years of training, I won't be doing a full Ironman within the next season. I will be doing a few 1.9/90/21.1km races with a few shorter distances thrown in for fun.

Here are a few things I would like to work on over the winter months to get me ready for the events ahead.

Cycling
I am going to do the a Gran Fondo ride in Canada in September. As much as I won't be racing this event, I would still want to get through the route well. There are hills (it is a Gran Fondo after all) and so it would be a matter of working on the strength on the bike and be more confident in descents.

What does this mean in Evalin's land, more hilly rides over winter. If the weather is shocking and my anxiety is too much to handle, assess early and rearrange training times and stick to it. I may need to get out later in the day or swap training days around.

Remain consistent with the windtrainer sessions on Tuesday evenings and when the Thursday morning rides happen again, be more vigilant and attend these sessions, even when I can't stick to the pack.

On the non-tri-related side of cycling...do at least one mountain bike ride a fortnight. This will help me with my bike skills as well as keeping my training fun. If I can, commute to work at least once a fortnight - this is something which I have enjoyed immensely over the last month.

My goal is to be able to ride < 3hrs during a half distance triathlon. This requires that my average speed needs to be > 31km/hr over the full 90km. 

Swimming
I will start official swim training on 3rd May 2014. I have used the program from the previous years (been with the squad since 2010) on my own. I wasn't sure if the Mentone squad would be swimming with the Tri Alliance program and wasn't in the motivation/mood to do a proper swim session just yet.

I am pretty comfortable with swimming and where it has advanced over the years. I do however want to work on my speed (strength and endurance).

My goal is to be able to swim < 35min for a 1.9km as part of a half distance triathlon.

Running
Over the last 12 months, my enthusiasm for Tuesday morning runs at MSAC were non-existent to the point where I only attended 2 sessions before the Bayside ones started (also only attended 3 of those). With the sessions being more available around Mentone, this will make it more convenient for me to attend as well as decreasing travel time in between work, home and training.

I may need to work on the basics again with some Run Technique work as well as turning up to Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon sessions more consistently. With regards to running events, I haven't committed myself to Run Melbourne or Melbourne Marathon events yet. I might look at the smaller running events to save money as well as gauging how I will be travelling towards my goal.

Remember throughout the year that my main goal for 2014/15 is to run under 2 hours for 21.1km (after swimming 1.9km and riding 90km). One thing I need to monitor will be monitoring and management of my injuries. Achieving this goal is not easy for me. It took me 3 years of running half marathons to get a sub 2 hour (1:58) a few years ago. I have not been able to achieve it since.

 

Apart from having Challenge Shepparton and Challenge Melbourne as my main races of 2014/15, I am looking forward to doing the corporate triathlon in March (400m/10km/4km). There will most likely be an Olympic distance tri in Dec/Jan, looking forward to cracking the 3 hour mark again.

For a half ironman-distance race, a goal of under 6 hours is on the cards. Close to 5:45 would be a goal to aim for with cycling and running as my main areas of improvement.

Rain Rain...

The skies are so grey, it makes the day go by so much more slower (insert sad face, still at work).

Lucky for me, this is the month of April when I do pretty much F-all and not stress about the "training bank".

So what has been happening over the week? I did a 1.7km with the squad on Monday night. Even though it was only 1.7km, I didn't get home until 9:30pm. As much as I would love a sleep in on a Monday morning, I don't think the evening swim sessions will be sustainable for me.

I rode into work on the CX bike on Tuesday morning. Didn't look at the weather forecast much and the heavens opened up by mid morning which resulted in a train ride home in the afternoon, my first one in about 4 years! It hasn't stopped raining since Tuesday and so I really haven't done much riding. If it remains to be wet over the weekend, it would be ideal as I am planning on doing a few rides on the CX bike and practicing my skills (mainly in the mounting and carrying bike over barriers).

I decided not to go to do the 1000 steps this year as I want to do a few things around the house on Sunday.

Fingers crossed that the weather is OK for the Liv/Giant & Tri Alliance ladies ride on Saturday morning. I am looking forward to a casual ride to Mordialloc.

On a non-triathlon-training side of things, I have signed up to Kelly Brothers for my fresh fruit and vegetable delivery. At the moment I have signed up for a fortnightly delivery but I think we may have to do a weekly as we are absolutely loving the vegetables we have and the fact that I am planning my meals around the vegetables. Blown away by the amount of fruit and vegs that came in the box. There is about 3 layers of fruit and veg under what is shown on the photo below. For $45 a box, its a great buy!!

 

 

They say that with triathlon, your weakest discipline is what you "let go" first during recovery and what you "take up" last amongst the training schedule after your recovery period. This is very true in my world. Apart from the odd scoot when I crossed the road, I have not done any running/jogging of any kind. I am thinking a new pair of shoes will encourage me more? :)

 

A visit to the bikram room will be on the cards this weekend. I am looking forward to spending 90min in a hot and humid environment, stretching and sweating it out.

Weekly Reflection 06/01 - 12-01

As I am was on annual leave, I have not stuck with the training schedule to a T- rather, I am doing what I can at my own time. My shoulders were getting better and I could actually lift my elbows without the feeling that knives are being twisted within my joints - good news!

On Monday 6th, I did a small 1.5km swim at my local pool followed by a 1 hour session at the gym (started off with 15min on the cross trainer). I have tried to work as much strength into my quads, calves and ankles (for stability) as well as my back muscles.

Tuesday was the first windtrainer session of 2014 and the set consisted of a descending race pace set which I enjoyed. I noticed that my knees were no longer hurting as much so I could do the standing (hard gear) sets without stress. Wednesday was a gorgeous day so instead of a pool swim, I decided to head down to my local beach (about 1.5km from the house) and swam in the clean ocean. The pole to pole distance at my local Mentone beach is further than Elwood and one set of pole to pole (inc swim from shore to the first pole and return) was already 1.2km. I will definitely take advantage of this in the next coming weeks leading up to IM.

Mentone Beach

Thursday was a warm day and I decided to spend some time cleaning my old place (ready for lease) and rode the CX bike up to Elwood for my swim. It was another gorgeous Melbourne day (32 degrees C) and I was in a great mood. I ended up doing 5 pole-to-pole swims (about 2.5km) and it was my longest swim session at Elwood to date. Loved it!! It also showed that my shoulders have come good again and swimming will be back on the cards. After the swim, it was a ride back home into the head wind (18km each way).

Legs were slightly heavy overnight and my plan to ride on Friday instead of Saturday didn't eventuate. See, my brother is visiting us for a week from his posting in Iraq and we were planning on yum cha (11-ish) on Saturday and this would mean that I would have needed to start my ride at 3am, do 150km and then get ready and arrive at Box Hill (an hour from my house) by 11am. I thought I could do my ride on Friday (as I am still on holidays) but after speaking to my parents, we changed plans and I kept to my schedule of the long ride on Saturday.

I didn't end up doing much training on Friday (with my 2.5km open water swim on Thursday) and spent more time cleaning my house.

The long ride on Saturday started at 4:30am and I decided to ride laps to make up for the 150km and to also train (mentally) for the wind conditions (slight Southerly). I rode down to Frankston first (via Black Rock) and then up to Port Melbourne, down to Mordialloc, back up to St Kilda and then home via Black Rock. It ended up being slightly under 150km. I am guessing 2 x Port Melbourne - Frankston will be closer to 180km+ which is what I will be doing in the next coming weeks.

Sunday was spent working (at the Tri Alliance info tent) from 8am - 12pm instead of my morning run. I ended up doing my long run (18km) in the afternoon which was an amazing session (for my standards). 18km non-stop albeit at a very slow (my Ironman run) pace. I ran down towards the Beach (just near Mentone Life Saving Club) from home and ran on the Ironman Melbourne path towards Frankston. The turn around point was around Aspendale and then back home (out and back). Actually, I lied, I did walk and it was up the steep hill past the Mentone Life Saving Club (same route as Ironman Melbourne run). 

Favourite session of the week: This was a toss-up between my long swim (2.5km in open water) and my long run on Sunday. I loved these two sessions as it demonstrated that I am OK to do these sessions (post injuries of shoulder and knees respectively). I felt great and have taken the proper steps in recovery to reach a point that I am now less hesitant about being able to swim-ride-run at Challenge Melbourne and Ironman Melbourne.

Oh! Another great session was my Wed open water swim at Mentone. The water was so clear and clean that I could see my own shadow on the bottom the entire way of my swim. Magic!

Least favourite session of the week: Once again, nothing too drastic. I didn't particularly overly-enjoyed my gym session, it reminded me why I love the sport of Triathlon (being outside). Although being on the cross trainer and treadmill can be boring, it can (and has) helped during rehab and recovery.

Advice of the week: Listen to specialists - be it a physio, coach, instructor etc who you have a working relationship with. You also must give them feedback on how you are doing so they can give you the appropriate advice on how you can tackle the training program you are on.  

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: As this is my first week back at work, I am looking forward to some routine of balancing work and training in a regular week up to the 23rd March. Fingers crossed that my new bike will be ready by Thursday so I can do at least 2 long rides in before Challenge Melbourne.

A Fornight's Reflection 11/11 - 24/11

Due to my Shepparton 70.3 race on Sunday 17th Nov, staying in Shepparton until Monday, I had completely forgot about this post until Thursday afternoon. I figured it was too late then and would compress two Weekly Reflection's post into the one.

The main crux of the fortnight was my Shepparton 70.3 race and my 1km Open Water swim for Corporate Games. I haven't really done any training in between these apart from the occasional swim and massage.

I went to the Liv/Giant event on Tuesday 19th instead of a recovery spin. It was organised by Giant and Witsup.com. There was Charlotte McShane, Erin Densham and Hanna Whiteside on the panel and the night was moderated by Jo (Giant) and Stef (Witsup). We had a good insight (not all great news, but that's life) from triathlon - training and racing through to some women's issues in the sport from politics and how bodies react.

On Wednesday 20th, I did a light swim in the afternoon and it wasn't pretty. My body (post Shepp) was just tired and stiff. It took be about 1.5km to get comfortable in the water. A massage also helped to loosen up my muscles. I coached on Thursday evening (no training of my own) followed by another light swim on Friday after work just to make sure that everything is a-ok for my swim on Saturday.

On Saturday, I did the 1km swim in choppy conditions and came 2nd. I know my time was slower than last year but last year had picture perfect flat conditions. The turning buoys were also much bigger last year. This year they had small cans (practically the size of milo tins). So hard to see when the waves are tall.

2nd Place for 1km Swim

 Apart from that, I went and supported at the Gatorade Series Race 1 event on Sunday. It was a good day where some first timers did their first ever triathlon whilst others (more seasonal athletes) achieved massive PBs considering the swim was a bit of a misery due to poor weather conditions. Everyone had a great day. Some of the core squad members also had PBs for this race showing that training over the off season does pay off.

Favourite session of the week: My 2nd Shepparton Race.

Least favourite session of the week: My recovery swim session on Wednesday 20th was a struggle. Even using the pull buoy and just moving the arms proved to be a bit of a chore. I did some kicking to get some movement in the legs and it was just a struggle. Usually, when I am swimming by myself, I place myself in the Fast Lane at my local pool (being in suburbia) but for this session, I had to do most of it in the Medium Lane.

Advice of the week: Something which I liked hearing about at the Liv/Giant event was that everyone has good and bad days. Learning to listen to the right people is also something interesting. There is no rule book on how to become a perfect triathlete. You have to go through your own journey.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: This week, I am trying to get back into the groove of training again. This point onwards will be my training build towards Ironman Melbourne. There are 17 weekends left until Ironman but there may only be about 15 long rides left to do. Rides will go back up to the 120-180km distances and depending on the coaches, they may still place me in the "first timers" category regarding training load and intensity. I am comfortable about this as it is not about the label of the program that I am in but rather how I am able to get through them and how quick I recover for the next.

Going beyond comfort zone

From my side project.

http://100thingstriathlon.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/95-beyond-the-comfort-zone/


My Side Project - 100 things to love about triathlon

I have started a side project - it is a not-so-serious look into the sport of triathlon.

Its called 100 Things to Love about Triathlon. I am hoping to update these at least once a week.  

Hope you enjoy reading these updates.

x Ev

Weekly Reflection 30/09 - 06/10

The week in training hasn't been the hustle and bustle it was suppose to be. The big ride of Sunday 29th Sept killed me and I was dead to the world. I didn't end up swimming on Monday morning with the squad but swam by myself later in the afternoon. I finished the set but it wasn't completed with the love of swimming, rather it was just to get through the set. The ankle is still swollen and so I laid off running until my lame attempt on Thursday night. Windtrainer was good and loving getting back into race pace and in TT position.

Got some abdominal and back cramps on Wednesday morning so I stayed in bed with pain killers for most of the day. When the pain subsided, I had enough strength to head over to the car dealers for a test drive of my next car (fingers crossed) and then to pick up my new wettie for the 2013-2014 season. I decided to try out the Rocket Science Elite wettie. I grabbed a size S and tried it out on Saturday. I might have a go at the XS as I like my wetties tight and I hate collecting water whilst swimming.

I am back doing water running for my running side of things until this swollen ankle stops hurting when I walk. It's not the most interesting thing to do but it gets me through when others are running on the road like a normal human being. After my water running on Sunday, I headed over to Richmond to watch the duathlon. I had a few friends from the squad who were racing.

Mark S, Xavier F, Ryan B and Belinda G - Podium finishers at the Duathlon

It was the first race I have been to since the last Gatorade series in March and so it struck to me that I will be racing a triathlon in about 4 weeks! eeek!

Favourite session of the week: Friday morning endurance swim was my favourite. I love these sessions when I am swimming the long sets without having to get my heart rate up too high doing sprint work. I know I am suppose to do more sprint work but I really do love (just) swimming. We did:

Warm Up - 800m (yeah, loooong warm up)
Main Set - 3 x (4 x 100m @ T3-4, 400m @ T2-3) - consisting of 1st free, 2nd pb & paddles, 3rd Fins
Cool Down - 400 back

Lets just say a large coffee was needed after this swim session.

Oh! Before I forget, Friday was one of the best days for the week. Not only did I have a really good swim session, a great coffeee and breakfast (at my fave after swim haunts - Penny Farthing on High St Northcote) but I also won a Liv/Giant wallet off a competition on Facebook. We had to name 3 Liv/Giant 2014 models - I named Brava (CX), Envie (road) and Trinity (TT). Then a few girls just copied what I said (exactly) and some won wallets too. I don't think many would know what the Brava bike was :)

Least favourite session(s) of the week: I think I had more sessions I didn't enjoy more than I loved....
1) Monday pm swim - not only was I tired, I was just getting through the motions of the set without much intention or positivity.
2) Thursday pm run - 3km of pain and an even more swollen ankle now because of it.
3) Saturday windtrainer (instead of a long ride) - due to my ankle I wasn't confident at being out on the roads with the crazy winds. It was 1.5 hours of windtrainer watching Shawshank Redemption.  

Advice of the week: I am finding that any training session will always be a good one when there is  intention. Take the Monday swim session as an example - I didn't enjoy the session as I was just rolling through the motions of the set. I didn't have an aim, therefore I didn't feel like I achieved any goals of the session. Always ask myself - What do I want to get out of this session?

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: It is recovery again! It is also taper week for the Melbourne Marathon weekend. As I am not doing any real running, I will still do my run sessions but will do them in the pool (water running).

We will also start the summer training timetable this week. This means Thursday night combo session at Elwood - this means open water swims and a windtrainer session!

Tumbly Turns

I mentioned after my last swim time trial that I was going to work on my tumble turns so that I could improve on my swim time (read - faster speed and increase efficiency). So for the last 6 or so weeks, I taught myself how to do tumble turns - by watching youtube videos and practising them when I was swimming by myself (without the squad).

I think I have the tumble turn thing at 80%. I am getting more comfortable when I approach the wall but I think I do need to speed it up a bit rather than holding back. I am doing my somersaults comfortably, enough that I my feet are landing against the wall however I have been told that I tuck myself in too much (must correct that soon) and I really have no idea what I am doing with my arms really...

I know from looking at the youtube clips that you are suppose to leave them by your side and they stay at that position the entire way through so I am slowly getting the hang of it and slowly learning to approach the turn better.

I don't think I really pushed myself hard enough in the swim this morning as I wasn't feeling out of breath or my arms and back were not aching much but happy to say that I did do tumble turns at each end and I am happy to report that I have taken 30sec off my previous time trial and I did manage to just sneak in under 20min for a 1km swim with a time of 19:58 (fastest being 19:56). 

Source

That was the last scheduled time trial for Tri Alliance for the season. We may do more but they will be the unofficial ones. The swim coach suggested that we could do them with fins one day and see what difference it makes as people often push harder. I know that I took nearly 4min off my swim time with fins on for a 1km.

The Little Things...

As this week is recover/TT week, the intensity during training have been slightly decreased. Tuesday and Thursdays were a sleep-in for most whilst others stuck to their marathon programs (event in 10 weeks). There were two sessions this week which have made a difference for my personally.

Swim Time Trials 
This happened on Wednesday 7th August. Before the swim TT, I thought my life ended....here is the story. I left my house at the usual time of 5:10am from Mentone to Northcote for my 6am swim session. I crossed the Nepean Hwy intersection (with South Rd) and a car who went through the intersection at high speeds and nearly took my car out.

Just to clarify, I was going through the intersection because I had the right of way, I was behind a car already in the intersection and we both had the green light. The car which took me out must have no seen/noticed that he/she had a red. It was like in the movies where you see a car heading straight at your car along the drivers side...I went through the intersection fine as he/she must have realised and drove around me very swiftly. I didn't stop after I had passed the intersection, I just kept driving and just thought to myself...shit, I nearly died.

So my swim TT was not at my 100%, I was still shaken up but I tried to ignore that and just went along with the program. The swim TT was 1km. I have no issues or hesitations in doing the swim TT (compared to run or ride TT). I guess with my anxiety, everything about the swim TT was controllable - I won't be able to hurt myself in doing so. The first few hundred meters I was trying to get my speed up and I found it hard as my shoulders were tight from my swim set on Monday (I ended up doing my own set at GESAC on Monday afternoon). I found myself spending too much time at the ends of the pool with stopping and turning - I must improve on this. I need to be more confident in doing tumble turns sans fins.

My swim TT ended up being 20:27 (still not as fast as my fastest time of 19:52) but it is 5 seconds faster than my previous time. The fast people in my squad swim close to the 17min mark and I know that I am no where near that calibre. I think there is one more swim TT left for the year before the racing season kicks off again and I will work extra hard to get under 20min.

Running with Core 
On Thursday, I went back to Essendon and ran with Coach Greg. I haven't ran with the North group in a few weeks due to bad weather when the session was cancelled, coaching at the Tan for a few weeks and I think there was one week where I was sick. As it was recovery week, we worked on our technique which was great. Greg asked us to run with our hands on our heads.

At first, I was just running without realising how much we have to hold our core to stop us from swinging from side to side. I have always been swinging my shoulders (my right) slightly and I have been trying to keep it still as much as I have started running with Tri Alliance.

With the whole running with hands on your head thing, you have to concentrate hard at activating the core to stop your hips and shoulders from swinging. After running about  8 or so km "on and off", my running became easier as I could feel how much of a better runner I am when my posture is correct and I am activating my core.

At work, I already sit up pretty straight on my chair as I don't tend to lean back against my chair. Why? Because my legs are too short and when I lend back against the chair, my legs don't touch the ground. I sometimes rotate my chair with my fit-ball too. In addition, everynight I pretty much go through my lower core floor excercises whilst I watch TV (and use the foam rollers on my legs and back) so I will just continue doing those movements.

Underwater video of my swim

I am the 2nd swimmer in this video - yellow swim cap with the Tri Alliance "cammo" swimming briefs.

Enter-Catch-Push

Over the last few days, I have had the privilege of receiving some valuable feedback in my swimming. Last Friday was the last session for Ryan's 6 week stroke correction classes and he did some underwater filming and gave us some (visual) feedback on what we actually looked like as appose to what we imagined we were doing...

The dolphin-like strokes I thought I was trying to do was quickly dispelled... it was not a pretty sight.

Feedback I received from Ryan was:

• When I get lazy/tired, my hands tend to enter towards the centre line when they are suppose to enter at shoulder width in front. I must be more conscious of where the hands (and fingers) enter.
• My catch is good but needs to start earlier. I must use my elbows as a lever early and don't let the elbows drop too soon. More under-water freestyle or doggie paddling will help.
• My hands are not exiting the water too early so I am utilising the enter stroke under the water.

This morning, we had Coach Ollie at Northcote who did more filming and providing us with more feedback. During the single arm strokes, he started to film us already without us knowing. I was working on my left arm more this morning as it has always been my weak arm and so the feedback was that the stroke was good. My hands were entering correctly and my fingers were on the downstroke (catch) and then my elbows were kept high. During the 8 x 100m paddle with pull buoy and bands (one of my favorite combinations), he started to do some more filming. Feedback I received from Ollie was:

• My palms need to stay perpendicular to the horizon as much as possible - this will ensure that I am using all the resistance of the water to propel me forward. I found this helpful but hard to adopt as I would need to bend my wrist in time to enter the water fingertips (tips of paddles) first.
• Keep elbows high for longer. Due to the resistance of the paddles, at certain points of some of the strokes, I let my elbows drop to be more comfortable and this defeats the purpose of the stroke.
• Activate my back muscles more - do more band work.

Having visual feedback definitely made a difference over the last few days. I am not sure if we will receive the videos. If I do, I will post them here....only if I don't look like a pasty white whale.

Swimming Improvements

This morning, I did another 1km swim TT at Northcote. Happy to report that I took nearly 1min off my time from about 5 weeks ago down to 20:32 (from 21:23). My best time was around 19:52. I know that I can get closer to that time as there were many factors which affected my ability to swim at my pace this morning (won't go into too much) but it was nothing I could control.

Motivation to be a better swimmer

I will continue on working on my upper body strength and being consistent at the swim session.