Nothing changes if nothing changes

So I have mentioned a few times about change and this year, I am making plenty of it...

The change of work has been great so far. I am enjoying not spending too much time in the car travelling and I am finding that I have plenty of energy (and time) at the end of the day to either spend it with my partner or go for a ride.

With regards to training, I am mixing things up a bit. I have started to run with the Run Like Crazy crew in Mentone. I have missed 2 weeks due to DOMs and being sick but endeavour to head back next week. I am going to run with them and mix it up a bit with triathlon squad training.

With regards to squad training, I will train more for my schedule and location. I am going to be making drastic changes and this will start in April. In the non-scheduled gaps of my calendar, I am going to commit myself to strength and core work - even if it is just 30min.

I am also going to be managing some of my training based on my body's feedback. I am not going to do double run-ride days twice a week (maybe for the first few weeks?) I find that due to the loads on my joints, I am not able to recover and train the next day at my full potential.

This week's training will be significantly decreased due to work commitments -  I have a 2 day conference on in the city. The first day will start at 8:30am and there is an evening networking session which ends around 10pm. The second day starts at 7am with a breakfast event which I have signed up to. Then that night, I have tickets for The Lion King with my family. On Thursday, I have a workshop in the city which will start at 8am and end at 4:30pm. I guess the only thing I can fit in will be a Tuesday morning run followed by a rush to get ready for the first day of the conference. Training on Wednesday will not be possible and I may do an open water swim on Thursday evening.

I did a few bike rides last week which I loved. A cruisey ride on Monday followed by a quick evening ride on Tuesday. For the rest of the week, I was busy with work but I did a ride on Saturday along the Portarlington Tri course followed by an open water swim (sans wetsuit) around the pier which I loved.

On Sunday, I supported the Tri Alliance squad at the Portarlington triathlon.

I have also committed myself to a huge goal in 2016. I think this goal exceeds the Ironman event. Reason being - there is a cut off time and many people I know who are good athletes, just make it within this time. Training for this event will require me to step out of my comfort zone. More on this later....

Australian Super Corporate Duathlon

Yesterday, I had done my last triathlon event for the 2014-15 season. It actually was a duathlon as it rained more than 10mm over 24 hours so they replaced the 400m swim with a 800m beach run instead.

Fact: I have only ever entered into 3 corporate triathlons and all 3 have been changed to duathlons due to conditions (2011, 2012 and 2015). I am the bad luck charm for the corporate triathlons.

Saturday 28th February
I had a really bad sleep on Friday night so I didn't end up doing a ride on Saturday morning. I caught up on sleep and went straight into Elwood for coaching of the Try the Tri group. We did some basic bike knowledge and tried to change a tube. As the bike was brand new (just bought from the shop), taking off the tyre was a major issue and it took forever! Putting the tyre back onto the bike was also an issue. We made it at the end. The second part of the session was teaching the girls (this was an all female group) about running with their bikes holding onto the saddle only with one hand.

Once we got that part of the session done, we did some basic transition set up and they practised going into T1 and handling their bikes off the mount bars both off the saddle and their handle bars - this enables them to realise the difference it makes when you have your bike mounted from the saddle or the handle bars.

After the coaching session, I hung around for our team mate to arrive so we could arrange the order of the race and checked our bikes into the compound overnight.

I went out for lunch and then it was a nap before we headed out to see Foo Fighters. I am not sure what the hell happened to the city and the traffic but it was worse than peak hour during the week. It took us forever to get through Kings Way and there was an issue that the barriers were removed for the entrance into the GP so cars were entering the lake but had to turn around.

Parking at Etihad was so expensive - $30! We got there just before Foo Fighters played and we missed Rise Against.

The actual concert itself was fantastic. The downside was that our seats was right next to the aisle which people used to enter into GA which meant that our view was constantly blocked by people walking up and down. FF played for nearly 3 hours.

Once the concert finished, the journey home was the worse I have ever had. It took us an hour to get out of the Etihad carpark as there were no parking attendants and no one had any idea how to get out. Once we got out of the carpark, it was then traffic along Kings St, it took us more than an hour to get through <1km and once we got over the bridge near Crown Casino, I used the side streets in South Melbourne to get onto Nepean Hwy to get home. We didn't get to bed until close to 2:30am, not ideal when you have to wake up at 5am in the morning.

Sunday 1st March
Once the alarm went off at 5am, I got my shit together and got a lift into Elwood. We arranged for a 6:15am meet-up to get into transition together. We were notified that the swim had been replaced with a 800m run and based on my past experiences, it would be a beach run so I opted to be bare feet for the first run.

Kathryn, me and Suze

The set up didn't change much from a triathlon as I had my running gear all in the compound. I was the 3rd person in my team but luckily Kathryn is a pretty gun triathlete so she completed her race around 40min. The 2nd person in our team was Suze and then me. I waited in the team-handover section for about 15min (I got in early) before it was my turn to race. The run on the blue carpet was good. I ran past people as I like running bare feet (considering I didn't run in shoes until I reached Aus in 1997). When I got to the sand, it was a pretty slow run as I am not able to have a long stride. I once again ran past people once we got out of the sand into T1.

T1 was pretty uneventful. I don't do flying mounts.

The ride itself was short and sweet. I rode past many. There were so many people who were not riding on the left side of the road so in terms of overtaking - I tried my best. I only had 2 people passed me on the bike and they looked like they were triathletes - they had TT bikes. I got out of my shoes a few hundred metres from the finish like, something which I haven't done in so many seasons. I didn't do a proper dismount.


The run hurt and I am glad I started to run with the running group. I was out of breath on the run and it did hurt. I don't run fast and it showed.

I finished the event under an hour which was my aim. I was the slowest in my team but I also ran the furthest.

A few pointers out of this event:

• Try again next year????
• I wore the new Tri Alliance race suit for the first time during this event. No lubrication of the suit was applied but I wasn't racing very far at all. 
• This just demonstrated the importance of doing interval sessions for both the bike and the run. As I had been doing interval rides on the Thursday morning, it helped with the speed. Due to the lack of interval runs, this showed in my lack of speed.

Not letting things rule.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's Official - Dirty Gran Fondo

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

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

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

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

Start of Something New!

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes is my favourite motto.

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

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

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

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

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

Post Race Stuff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Things I am obsessed with at the moment:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A few take-away comments:

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

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

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

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...

Two more weeks.....really??

In two weeks, I have Challenge Melbourne! It is a half-distance triathlon - 1.9km swim, 90km ride and a half marathon. After Challenge Shepparton, I said that I would train better to get a better result for Challenge Melbourne. Two weeks to go for this event and I must admit whole heartedly that I have not done this.

A few things have come about since Shepparton. I did a trail run event which was fantastic. I resigned from my previous employer whom I had been with for 8.5 years on the 1st December. Since I resigned, I have had to spend time to train/handover projects and also do some prep work for the next role. I had mentioned that the new work is really close to my home - this has been great since I started on the 13th Jan.

So my brother and his wife (the ones who now live in Japan) came to Melbourne for 10 days on the 21st Dec. We spent a few days down at Rye and visited some touristy places down at Mornington. We went to the strawberry farm and up at Arthurs Seat. I did one run (of about 7km) around Mornington through the trails which I enjoyed.

I only did one ride over the Hell Week period which was the unofficial Christmas Day ride of about 70km, ride to the start, around to Black Rock, then to Pete and Sharon's house for breakfast and coffee and then a ride home. I didn't do too much after that but spent time with the family.

I didn't really follow the training program much but did a few 100km rides before work started for the year. A few swims in the sun and now I have a nice shade of tan in contrast to shape of my bathers. I did a few "long" runs since the start of the training program and just finished the longest run since my trail run last Nov this morning.

My training program has now settled down to the following until Challenge Melbourne:

Mon - Morning swim at GESAC before work starting at 5:45am.
Tues - Morning intervals most likely at Mentone rather than MSAC as my working day starts at 8am. Tuesday will most likely be a road ride as we can't do windtrainer yet due to the school closures.
Wed - Open water swims in the morning or same as Monday.
Thurs - Ladybombs in the morning, afternoon run intervals at Elwood.
Fri - Endurance swims at GESAC
Sat - Long ride.
Sun - Long Run

This weekend was the peak week for training so the ride, run off the bike and the long run was the longest distance. I did a 100km ride and no more. The program had 130km but I had too many things to balance up. I did however did my longest and best run in ages this morning. We did 3 laps of the Challenge Melbourne run course which was great for mental boost. We didn't end up swimming due to the conditions (being shit...)

I am really looking forward to Challenge Melbourne - it being the last long course event for the season and start to enjoy being out on the bike doing short rides and not "training" and spending time on being a friend, partner, daughter and sister.

New Role in the New Year!

I can finally announce (to the audience who read my blogs) that I have resigned from my current role and will be moving to another company in the new year. How does this impact on my training life? Plenty!

• The office of this company is 3km from my house.
• This means that on recovery days, I am able to sleep in closer to the start of the working day as it takes me 30min to walk, 15min slow ride (pub bike speed), 5min drive.
• This means that I can do my swim sets in the morning and be at work in 5min (pool being 3km from work) or drive home to shower/breakfast and then get to work on Mondays and Wednesdays.
• There is a pretty sweet park nearby which means that I can do my runs there in the mornings or during my lunch breaks.
• There are plenty of parking onsite so I don't have to pay nearly $6K/year for parking - money which can go towards more sweet cycling gear. #sockdoping #newkitday

In general, I am looking forwards to this change. I have been with my current employer for 8.5 years. In my new role, I will be in a leadership role and implementing some training and support for this company which is something which I am excited about.

One of the reasons why I took on this role is the company's core values which they spoke about on day 1 of the job interview. As some of you may know, core values is something which I am a strong believer of. If you have strong core values in life - be it family, work or training, things will be held together and be sustainable (sustained life).

I start this role on the 13th Jan 2015. My last long course race is on the 1st Feb 2015 - 3 weeks after I start this new role. Fingers crossed that I am able to balance out work and training within the first few weeks of starting out there.

I am so looking forward to joining this new company - I will be contributing to their sustainability which is something I am passionate about. Can't wait!

Afterglow Trail Run - The Race Report

On Saturday night (29th Nov 2014), I participated in my first trail run event. I had signed up for this event back in September - Afterglow. My friend Sally signed up for this event and posted on Facebook if anyone wants to also sign up for a bit of run on the trails. This event was unique in the way that the run starts around 6:30pm and the cut off was around 10:30pm. As the run is at dusk and most will finish after sunset, it was compulsory that all participants run with a head torch.

With this in mind, I bought a head torch and some minimalist trail running shoes. I practiced running with the head torch soon after receiving them but I hadn't trained  in the minimalist trail shoes other than the odd walk with the dog. I decided that as I ran with my Mizuno shoes recently, even during the Challenge Shepparton (half) and the course description mentioned that the course was not too technical and suitable for road runners too, I decided to fore-go the trail shoes and just run with my Mizunos.

After Challenge Shepp, I hadn't done any running at all.....like zero! So like all events, I was hesitant about this as I had not done a trail event before and I was not familiar with the route at all.

The weekend came too soon. I planned on arriving at my parents house as it was around 15min from Torquay. I got down to Torquay around 2pm and picked up my race bib. I tried the course fuel which was called Tailwind and I really enjoyed it. I will look at purchasing some to use for training and to use during the events.

Sally arrived at my parents place around 5pm and we quickly got ready and left the house around 5:30pm. We got on the shuttle bus which took us to Point Addis around 6:40pm. The slow wave started first around 6:50pm (the faster wave around 7:15pm).

When the announcer called the start, most people sped off. I decided to just run at my pace as I know that I have 21km left for the day. The first part of the run was on bitumen and then into the beach trail. The single track path was good but the course was congested due to the single track and the amount of people in the wave.

The group started to spread out once the course started to get slightly technical and there was the first major climb along with rocks and roots to get over. At this point, I wasn't running too much but tried to not dwell on the rocks for too long.

After the climb, there was a false flat and then the descents was a really steep one. Soon after this was another climb, oh boy!...

I started to get into a good rhythm around the 5km mark. I thought to myself how fun this trail running is. I am running at a great pace, I felt great, I am enjoying the sights and sounds and I was not in too much pain.

The aid stations were simple but they provided everything you needed - water, tailwind fuel, lollies, nuts and chocolates. I ate some red lollies and filled up my bottle with some Tailwind. Around this point was when I had my first gel for the day - around 6km mark. I didn't swallow all my gel in one go so ran with it for a while until I realised that I sprayed about a teaspoon out of the packet into my hair, face and my hands.

The rest of the run was fantastic - the course changed throughout - from sand, dirt, path, road and more. The scenery was also fantastic. You had the ocean on your right and the noise of the waves splashing along the shore just made it memorable.

There were sections of the main path which was filled with soft sand, these sections I found to be the most difficult as your energy would just be drained out trying to push off the soft surface. Every step you took, your feet would sink about 10-20cm.

The route took you past the finish line then onto the beach. Before I reached this point, I decided to run with a head torch as someone ran past me with one and I noticed the difference when the light shone on the path. The run along the beach was around 2-3km. It was actually very surreal seeing a path of light along the beach. Then the run became interesting as we literally had to "climb" onto the sand dunes to get to the path. The climb was the worse - all hands and knees onto the sand dune which resulted in sand getting everywhere!

The rest of the run was in the direction of the finish line. I knew we had about 2km to go and wanted to finish strong. I ended up running past a few people at this point which was a great feeling as I had something left in the tank. The last 500m was at a great pace and I brought everything out and finished the event with nothing left in me.

My final results for this event:

Official Time: 2:35:35
Overall: 210/250
Gender: 88/115
Category (Female 21-35): 33/42

Pretty happy with the results considering I had finished a half iron-distance triathlon 2 weeks prior, had zero run training in between and this being my first trail run event. I will definitely sign up to this event again.

My toes cramped up once through the event but I increased my intake of my hydration (Shotz solution) and that seemed to help. I chaffed around my chest with my sports bra and there are several scabs now. I don't have any blisters as I wore my 1000mile socks along with my bright orange Ten Speed Hero socks.

Things to note before the next event:
- Might look into a backpack hydration system - I will see how my arms swing along the side.
- Will buy some Tailwind to use in training and in racing
- Training (trail) in my minimalist shoes as they are light and I have to throw my Mizuno shoes away soon as they are 18months old.

Recovery Week

So it has been more than a week since my Challenge Shepparton event (1.9/90/21.1) and I think my body has finally recovered and I am about to start another build into another half-iron-distance event.

My next (triathlon) event is Challenge Melbourne (1.9/90/21.1) and it's on the 1st February 2014. I have also put my name down for the corporate triathlon on the 1st March. So far, what have I been up to?

Monday 17th - Massage
Tuesday 18th - Nothing
Wednesday 19th - Nothing
Thursday 20th - Lady bombs (Recovery) and open water swim
Friday 21st - Nothing
Saturday 22nd - 1km open water swim for corporate games. I think my time was around 24min. This is slow!
Sunday 23rd - Nothing

I have a 21-22km trail run event on Saturday evening. I am planning on doing a 50-70km ride (may not be on the TT bike) to turn the legs as I don't want to smash myself before a half marathon. On Sunday, I will see what I feel like doing...I won't get back to Melbourne in time for the Sunday ride with the crew. Might do an open water swim or something....who knows. I might even just go exploring on my CX bike...

Anyways, this week's training has not gone off with a good start. My swim session today was cancelled due to the possibility of thunderstorms (pool was closed) then I couldn't do the afternoon session as I have an appointment.

My Tuesday's training will be determined by the weather. If the weather forecast is great, I will be riding into work, early due to a 8am meeting and this will also cover off a bike session in the pm. Wednesday will be "back to pool" day with a gym session thrown in as I need to work on my strength. Thursday will be a bike session in the morning and then open water swim and run. Friday may be an endurance swim or a gym session.

As far as nutrition is concerned. Our fruit and veg orders are back so we are consuming plenty of fresh fruit and veg everyday. I am finding myself only consuming gels/supplements during my Saturday and Sunday training days. All other days are done without gels for which I am okay with. My nutrition during Challenge Shepparton was pretty much spot on so there isn't really anything I would change about it.

I am looking forward to Challenge Melbourne. I really had fun last year albeit it was a shortened race and it was a bloody warm day.

Challenge Shepparton - The "Event" Report

So my first long course event for this season was done and dusted on Sunday 16th November. Challenge Shepparton (half iron-distance) on a new course in Shepparton, VIC.

I signed up for this event early this year and used it as an incentive to get back into training from my leave. I had about 6 weeks to train for this event after an 8 week long service leave holiday and 3 more weeks of non-training due to a bike crash.

We did a short ride, run and swim on Saturday and checked in our bikes around lunch. I made my way back to the cabin to rest my legs and had a good nap. I tend to nap the day before. I find that as I don't have enough sleep the night before a race, I figured I can be "rested" if I nap the day before. It also kills the nerves too which is a bonus.

I am sure the 1300+ competitors were awake during the storms the night before the event. I was woken up at about 1am in the morning due to the loud noises the torrential rain made around the cabin. I was so grateful that we were in a cabin compared to poor souls who pitched tents in the caravan park.

I had my alarm set at 3:40 and again at 4am. First things first, put on my tri-suit, timing band on my ankles, had breakfast of a peanut butter banana sandwich (literally, cut banana in half, apply peanut butter, close banana), applied numbering tattoos on arms, legs and packed up my hydration into my bags. I left the caravan park at 4:45 and got to the lake around 4:50am. I stood around with about a dozen or so other competitors for a few minutes before they opened up transition at 5am.

I haven't set up a transition since February of this year. It felt weird having all your things lined up and ready to go instead of stuffing them into transition bags. Due to the rain, I folded my towels in a way that it covered my gear from being (too) wet. I decided to wear socks for the run as I wanted to be as comfortable as I could and I haven't been training sans socks for over 12 months. It took me about 20min to get ready and walked through the expo. Luckily one of the pop-up tri shops was opened so I purchased some arm warmers and went back into transition and had them ready.

I walked back to the TA Taj and saw that plenty of tri clubs had their tents blown over. One even had their tent into the lake. I wet-suited up around 6:15am and waited around for the start. The elites were supposed to go off at 6:30 but was delayed by 10min as they needed to clear the roads. Waiting around for the start was worse due to the freezing conditions and the non-stop rain. Once we were in the water, it was a relief as the lake was actually warm.

The siren blew and off we went. I must have not pressed the right button on my Garmin. No swim recorded and I stuffed up my multisport-button-pressing-thing. The swim felt long and I had a few issues with direction. Turning around the buoys almost at 360 angle made it hard for me to get my bearings right. The last part of the swim where you headed towards swim exit I got a bit lost.

Swim - 41:08 (36/40).

Once I got out of my wettie and put on my usual cycling gear - helmet, shoes, I had to put on my arm warmers too. So grateful for being able to purchase those early that morning! My wheels were rubbing against my brakes which annoyed me so I had to stop and adjust them before I mounted the bike.

The bike leg was an out and back with a little detour through a small town. The direction of the bike route meant that you would hit a head wind going south but will be riding with the tail wind back into Shepp. The roads were very very bumpy. Plenty of nutrition and accessories were found along the way. Plenty of canisters on the roads from the bumps and plenty of drink cages and hydration systems were also strewn on the road. It was hard to pick a line to best place yourself as you don't want to "hog the road". My wrist, arms and back ached from the bumps and still do now 3 days after the event.

Riding into the headwind is not my favourite thing to do. I need to work on my strength more and be able to ride in the large chain ring without compromising my legs. It's a balancing act between spinning out at a high cadence, small chain ring and not going very fast versus riding in the large chain ring, slower cadence but going at a higher speed. Something I will need to work on over the next few weeks. Riding into the head wind was very demoralising. Hundreds of people rode past me. I was only able to ride past about 10. Another thing I need to work on is the sharp U turns - I had to unclip out of the pedal. Lacking bike skills big time.

Riding with the tail wind was amazing. On the second lap back into Shepp, I was riding on the hardest gear for about 20km all the way. It felt great and I was powering past people who seemed to have lost concentration/motivation/energy. I made myself concentrate on my strokes and played a little game of "left leg, right leg".

Bike - 3:25:30 (37/40)

I really enjoyed the run. Maybe because I drank coke on the course and that really changed my perception on a huge level. I actually had to stop off at the toilets on the first lap as I thought I had shat my pants. I didn't want to be that person. Luckily, what I was "feeling" was just paw-paw ointment I applied early in the morning to prevent chaffing and not poo! I timed myself to consume gel at a point on the course and that worked out well. I walked through all the aid stations and had coke and water. I had two salt tablets on course too. My feet cramped twice on the run, once around the 2km mark and once again around the 19km mark.

I walked probably around 50m in total and only through aid stations and up some of the inclines of the course (albeit very very small inclines). I felt good on the run. I would put this towards the amount of caffeine consumed.

Run - 2:14:08 (36/40)

Overall, my position was 35/40 for Females 30-34 with a total time of 6:26:51. This was my last race in this age category as I will be in 35-39 for Challenge Melbourne.

Considering the lack of training I did before this event, I am actually very happy about my results. I am happy that I have come out of it relatively injury free apart from being sore - quads, back and wrists. My nutrition was bang-on, maybe need to increase the hydration part as I only consumed about 600ml of my hydration over 90km. I am not a huge sweater and I still went to the bathroom on course.

Things to note/improve/fix:

• Secure my gel flask on my top tube better. I had it strapped over an old head band with zip ties but due to the shape of the top tube and the rain, the flask rotated around the top tube during the ride. I also chaffed along my thigh from my legs rubbing against the head-band material. I need to visit Clark Rubber to buy some neoprene.
• Work on my intensity! I found myself getting into a "relaxed" mode during the swim and need to get faster. Need to do more strength work on the bike and interval running to get some speed up. 
• Continue with Lady Bombs ride on Thursday morning - my favourite session.
• Book in more massages. I had my pre race massage on Friday and again on the Monday. I haven't had a massage since May as I feel like a bit of a hack for not doing much training. Massages help with muscle recovery and prevents injuries.

My goal is to ultimately finish a half-iron-distance race under 6 hours - this can only be done if I can increase my average speed on the bike to ride 90km under 3 hours and run 21.1km under 2 hours. As long as I keep the swim < 40min and transition < 10min in total, I should get there one day.

For now, it's a few days rest. I have a trail run on the 29th Nov and the next event is on the 1st Feb (Challenge Melbourne).

1 more sleep!

I won't lie, the nerves are starting to set in with the "event" this weekend. I can't believe that on Sunday, I will be doing a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and a half marathon....

What I find funny is that I have done probably more training within the last few days than I have since I returned from holidays! My swims are coming along fine. I know that I can get through the 1.9km swim. The ride will be something which I just have to "mentally"get through - try not to get bored and lose momentum and motivation. The run will be the most challenging. Running is in no way looking like where it should be leading up to a half marathon. My longest run since Ironman Melbourne is a 15km. I have no idea how I am going to handle my nutrition and hydration on the day. I have been training with a hydration belt and because this is just an "event" for me, I don't know if I should be wearing it on the day or just rely on the course availability.

I arrived in Shepparton on Friday afternoon. I actually left the house around 3pm which is late for the usual. I guess as we don't have a familiarisation swim anymore on the Friday, I decided to take my time. I started to pack for the weekend after my morning massage. I haven't done a triathlon in a while so I stumbled around the house trying to figure out what I actually need on the day.

Once I got all my sh#t together, I drove up to Shepparon and got to my caravan park cabin around 6pm. Challenge Shepparton had their registration opened from 4-7pm but I was too tired once I got all organised.

This morning, we did a small ride, a small run followed by a small swim. The event is very different from the Shepparton races of previous years. The race is no longer around Kialla. It is around Victoria Lake Park. The swim is in Victoria Lake, the water is nice and warm, much clearer than Kialla and doesn't taste as "muddy". The ride is around the back past the town of Toolamba. Depending on the direction of the wind, it may be a long day in the office. The ride this morning was not easy for me. I couldn't keep up with the main group - they were riding 30-35km/hr into the head wind and I didn't want to push myself too much before an event. The ride back into Shepparton was much better. No head wind and we were able to do a few TT efforts.

Did a lap of the lake after the ride. It was a nice run and I am hoping that I will be able to pace myself well to get through 21km.

I am not doing this event for a "time" but I am hoping to stick with my plan of getting through this day so I can recover well enough for my training for the trail run on the 29th and training leading up to Challenge Melbourne.

See you on the other side.

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.