Update on race weight & stuff....

My weight is currently at 56.4kg. This is a 6.6kg weight loss from 63kg (measured on the 10th June 2012 where my body fat % was at 32%). Not sure what my body fat % is currently sitting at but I am sure it is within the healthy range.

My goal was to reach 55kg by Noosa and then holding it for Shepparton but it doesn't appear to be getting there in time - no big deal.

On Friday night, I also attended my work's annual awards night where I was shortlisted for the NDY Excellence Award for Contribution to Society for my charity work as well as encouraging students into the field of engineering (especially for females).

Here is a photo from the night.

Short note - I didn't win.

Pack Pack Pack!

Started to pack for Noosa yesterday.

As we will be training through the week leading up to and the days after the race, there is so much to take!

Cleaned the bike yesterday (using the bike stand which I got from Tim and Nola as an early bday/xmas present) - so easy to use and just makes everything so much easier to handle! Rode around the block and then started to disassemble the bike and wrapped it onto the frame.

BIKE IS PACKED

Oh - before I forget - spent a day at Bunnings as I had to replace the crappy wheels that came with the Scicon bag (I think they have improved the wheels since then) but mine were destroyed from the first use (Noosa last year). Changing over the wheels is not an easy task when you live by yourself and own little to no tools. First I had to undo the nut (had to go to Bunnings to buy a spanner), then undid one wheel - went back to Bunnings to see what I can replace it with - turns out, most wheels have a 4 bolt assembly and not a single 10mm bolt so I could only buy one type. The wheel did not come with nuts and I couldnt reuse the broken ones so I had to buy nuts which could fit onto 10mm bolt. But as the nut just screwed unto the bolt freely - I had to double nut!....there was about 3 visits to Bunnings on Sunday with only 1 purchase of a sausage in bread!

I also bought plumbers insulation in 3 sizes to help protect the frame, forks and handle bars. Due to the size of the bike (small), there is no need for me to remove anything but the wheels - sweet as!

Will start to pack training clothes and normal (civilian) clothes over the next few evenings and hopefully have all my shit together by Tuesday night. Lucy (the little dog) gets to go to someone's house to play for a week.

Started to get anxious thinking about the actual race. Looks like a wetsuit swim too (sad face).

Racing - It's coming!

Within the last few weeks, we have noticed a buzz of excitement and nervousness from the squad - especially for the first timers.

The term first timers applies to all of us - our first triathlon season, our first sprint distance, our first olympic distance, our first half ironman or our first full ironman. I guess we are all a bit nervous and anxious as we are all stepping into an unknown territory and comfort zone.

Ask 99% of the people who train throughout the winter months with the squad, we all really enjoy training through winter. It gets us out off the couch, we are all doing something good for our bodies and we are doing it in the company of like-minded people. Most of us dislike the actual race but we still need it as a goal! I dislike it as it brings out the worst of my anxiety. I also don't enjoy it as it also brings out the (not so nice part) in some people's personalities - how competitive they are. I don't enjoy the competitiveness between squad members and this is something which the coaches remind us all the time to avoid - as it brings out the animosity which is not the atmosphere we want at Tri Alliance.

My first actual triathlon race for 2012-2013 will be happening in 9 more sleeps. It is the Noosa Olympic Distance triathlon held up in QLD (1.5km swim, 40km ride, 10km run). This will be the 2nd time I have participated in this event and my 3rd Olympic Distance Tri.

Speaking to Coach Greg, he wants me to just use this event as a training race. He said to forget about my goal of going under 3 hours as the main focus of the race but race to how I feel and how I would race Shepparton 70.3 two weeks after Noosa.

I will be arriving in Noosa on Wednesday 31st Oct (early). I guess we will just settle in, buy any essentials we need for the next few days and then it will be the start of the training-holiday. We will have an open water swim session in the afternoon over the course which is always good to get familiar with what to spot and where to swim.

Thursday will be a 2 hour ride for Long Course athletes in the morning, rest/recover and then a long run in the afternoon 1-1.5 hours.

Friday, a (very) early morning long (3-4 hour) ride for LC with 20-30 min run off the bike, race registration from 3pm onwards and then it is the swim briefing again followed by a Tri Alliance race briefing.

Saturday will be Tri Alliance photo shoot followed by a very very very easy training session followed by our Tri Alliance pre-race breakfast. Bike check in from 10am onwards (will be doing it late like last year to avoid bikes being moved).

Sunday - race day! (followed by easy 30-45min run after race for LC - not 100% sure on how this is possible). Post race activities will kick off from 4pm onwards.

Monday - afternoon swim

Tuesday - LC will be riding for 1.5 - 2 hours plus a run off the bike. I am not planning on joining in the Melb Cup party so I will use this time for blog updates or just lying on the beach to get an even tan.

Wednesday - Swim in the morning, fly back to Melbourne.

My race start is 8:05am (about an hour later than last year) - flouro yellow swim cap. Hopefully I will be finished before 11am. Fingers crossed I will not be spending too much money at the expo this year!

My quickest Half Marathon - A Race Report

One of my (long term) goals was to run a half marathon under 120min. Some of you reading this post think it's an easy task - something which you (yourself) can do with your eyes closed or even think that it is something which I could smash out. The issue is, running (with speed) is not my strength. I am short (158cm) and I have small legs and no hips so my strides are not very wide and my cadence is actually quite high.

Like one of my squad friends Andy, we are like Diesel engines, we are slow but we are fuel efficient and can last for a long time out there.

The days leading up to the Melbourne Marathon Festival were not ideal. I didn't disclose this to anyone prior to race day as I didn't want to play the sympathy card but I started to have issues with my guts and my left knee. I had a small bout of gastro eating some bad food on Tuesday night and for 24 hours, I could not eat or drink properly and could not keep anything down (or in), even with water. Had a relatively easy training day on Wednesday with only swimming in the morning but it was tough trying to not throw up in the pool. I drank as much electrolytes as I could, when I could. The other thing which started to bother me was my left knee. I started to get a pain on my knee cap which was noticeable when I drive (my manual car). A person like me with no physiological knowledge didn't do anything about - ice, heat, massage?! I didn't have the time nor the cash to see a physio before the weekend so I decided to just back off the load on the knees leading up to the big run.

Thursday evening was a taper run and I just paced myself comfortably at about 6:30min/km pace and did about 7km in 45min with no efforts. The knees were noticeable but nothing too painful to handle.

The days leading up to Sunday were average. My gut started to feel better and I had a small 50km ride on Dale on Saturday with no run off the bike. I didn't let the legs rest as I had a small adventure to Melbourne's Ausbike Expo at the Royal Exhibition Centre. Thankfully I didn't look around too much at bikes and only walked away with small items:

• New messenger bag which I am currently using as a handbag (more practical)
• A cute bicycle necklace
• Aussie Butt Cream
• Nathan fuel belt (2 flask carrier)

I did speak with some of the reps from Look at length regarding one of their full carbon bikes. Currently, I have been eyeing off matt black full carbon bikes (the ones with the carbon weave throughout) and one of them which I had been fantasising about is a Guerciotti Eureka which costs about $7grand with Chorus group set. That bike would be so sweet to ride!

Anyways back to my run...

Typical to the lead up to any major events, I had a pretty bad nightmare about this race. To ensure that this nightmare did not come to fruition, I got to the MCG around 6:30am (my race started at 8am). I had my breakfast in the car and on the way to the G where I dropped off my bag and went to the bathroom twice before making my way casually down to the start line to watch the marathon guys as well as the 10km runners leave. I saw a few Tri Alliance people (past and present) along the start line both running and supporting.

I decided to start on the left side as I needed to pace myself during the warm up. It was a nervous moment for me as I looked around and it appeared that everyone looked so much fitter than me. I felt like a hack in the field.

Because I stop at every drink station, I ran near the 1:50 pace runners (allowing myself a few minutes to walk at the drink stations and to be able to finish under 120min), this proved to be difficult to pace with so I ended up just running to how I felt. I decided to not have my pace showing on my Garmin and ran like how Greg taught us - run to feel and I just had the Time showing so I could note my 5km, 10km times. I saw a few Tri Alliance guys in the field and where/when I could say Good Luck - I did. The first 10km of my run felt great, I noticed that my pace was good (maybe too good so early in the run). The run through Albert Park lake was when my calorie alert first came up at 300Cal and I was no where near a drink station. As I have been experimenting with some nutrition, I decided that I would consume my gel slowly and hopefully enough to last me to the drink station so I could wash it down my dry throat better. My sugar levels were evidently low and this is where I fumbled (with my visor) and dropped my hairclip. To be honest, I don't really wear a visor on my long runs but always do during an actual event. A slight disturbance in my run - I had to pick up my hairclip whilst dodging other runners and walked to the side to fix up my fringe so it would flap on top of my head above the visor (I hate that look). This gave me some time to compose myself but I lost about 30 seconds doing so. The next 5km was good, I had dropped off my pace but kept running. Around the pitt stop at Albert Park was where I saw the 2:00 pace runners on the other side and this is where I panicked as I wanted to stay ahead of this pack! Running on St Kilda Road towards the city, I increased my pace comfortably and thank God it was also slightly downhill.

The loop around the Arts centre was where the wheels came off, I had about 3-4km left to go and I was struggling. I decided to take my last gel for the day at this point to get me through but I had to walk about 10m. The run through the park and the final stretches along St Kilda Rd was where the 2:00 pace runner ran past me. At this point (to be completely honest) I lost the plot. I thought the goal of running a half marathon under 120min was all lost. I nearly cried at my own failure. Had I not trained enough during the year? Did I start too fast? What will people think when I tell them that I didn't achieve this goal? Will I have to do another half marathon again next year to tick off this goal?...until I realised that it was only 1:45 and I had 2+ more km to go. Thank God I could still do basic mathematics I calculated that if I could stick to a 6-6:30min/km I could still get under 2 hours.

I had done this run 2 years ago and completely forgot about the final bridge you had to run up before making a sharp turn to run down the straight and then into the MCG. My legs at this point felt like hot needles pulsating throughout but I knew that I needed to run faster. The faster I could do this, the faster I would finish (below my cut off time).

When we finally reached into the hallowed turf of the G, I took a few deep breaths and sprinted to the end with everything I had. I didn't look pretty at all. When I stopped my Garmin as I crossed the line, I was happy that I did 21.1km under 120min (albeit with only 1:20 to spare).

When I stopped running, I was sweating pretty bad, it had been a hot morning for a run and that was when I started to notice the small painful areas of my body from where chaffing started to occur - on my chest where I had my asthma pump and a small bag for my nurofen, my chest where the heart rate monitor was placed was actually bleeding and under my arms where it rubbed on my singlet was also covered in blood. It was not a pretty sight.

I lined up to retrieve my finishers medal and found some of the guys from TA and we walked outside to where a small group were standing to cheer on the rest of the runners. After standing around for 2-3 hours or so, I decided to head home to soak and eat some real food. The rest of the day was spent on the couch watching Kona DVDs from 2008-2011 and getting updates from friends who are in Kona.

Now that I have ticked off this goal, I am looking forward to Noosa and Shepparton.

1) Noosa - finish this race under 3 hours

2) Shepparton - finish this race (full stop).

I may look into doing the full marathon (alone) next year as I really enjoyed running long distances (especially out at Fairfield) - will assess soon enough when Ollie gets back and I will talk to him about it. I will probably aim to finish a marathon within 4:15-4:30.

My first marathon distance will be after a 3.8km swim and a 180km ride in March with no timing expectations but to be a FINISHER.

Before I forget, the knees were good (enough) during the run and I saw a physio this morning who said that it was just swollen with some bleeding from overuse - ice and voltaren should do the trick.

Kona World Championship winners for 2012 - Pete Jacobs (Aussie) and Leanda Cave (born Aussie but races under GB who is also my personal favorite).

FEAR - Part 2

Following on from my previous post about Fear (of Failure), my second biggest fear that I have in life (and in the sport of Triathlon) is the Fear of the Unknown.

I have a slight OCD tendencies (like any triathlete isn't) - I do have certain routines and I do things a certain way as it comforts me. Whenever I am on some topic ranging from looking at a new bike, wetsuit, training schedule, race, nutrition, rental property, dogs, tattoos, you name it...I will google it to death until I am satisfied that I know everything about it before I make any decision(s) or I find another topic to be obsessed about. I don't like to be placed in a situation where I am not aware of what I have to do or say and I hate being under prepared.

Because of my need to know what is happening all the time - I am a good planner and I rely on facts. I don't like to wing it. I book things in advance as I don't like to leave things to the last minute and expect/rely on people to help you out. Good example of this, is accommodation for triathlons and holidays. With the lack of spare time a triathlete has, why leave these things to the last minute and expect that things will be available? Book it when you register for the event, no need to stress, no need to sleep in cars!

The fear of the unknown is one of the reasons why it has taken me such a long time to be comfortable in the open water. My fear in the open water is not only related to the creatures swimming in it but also the possibility that I will be swimming towards the middle of nowhere and not being able to get back into shore. Whenever we do open water swimming in training, I need to have a marker to swim towards. I would be more comfortable about swimming in deep water towards a marker than swimming along the shallow shoreline without one.

Although I am relatively comfortable now about being in the ocean (conquering my fear when I swam the Big Bay Swim this year 2012 from Port Melbourne to Williamstown), the thought of the unknown of what is floating/swimming beneath my body still freaks me out. I have established several coping mechanisms regarding these thoughts, they include imagining the sea creatures as cartoons (like spongebob square pants) through to singing songs (such as GnR's Sweet Child of Mine) in my head to take my mind off images of dead carcasses or even worse - pools of jellyfishes which may be swimming beneath me. Mind you, the sight of a single jellyfish in the water still freaks me out. Luckily we have had a decreased number of them over the last few years.

I do still have mild anxiety attacks regarding doing things which I have never done before. But I have learnt a few coping mechanisms to help me through. Doing triathlon training and racing itself has set some of those anxieties aside.
The fear of the unknown and the obsessive need to learn about everything has also played a (good) part for me as a coach. I do consider myself a knowledgeable person in terms of giving people advice regarding triathlon. I do have access to all the training programs in the squad ranging from beginners through to advance full ironman so I know what training schedules people are working on and so I can provide advice if people have questions. I won't provide answers unless I am 100% sure of what I am stating is correct - state facts.

I suppose this fear has made me the person that I am today - I pay attention to detail (obsessively), knowledgeable, reliable and like to have things organised well in advanced.

FEAR - Part 1

Fear [noun]: A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined;
This is a very honest and candid post. I have wanted to post this for some time now and I guess after watching this You Tube clip, I finally saw that my fears are not out of the ordinary and what I am feeling is actually normal - hey if these pros have the same fears then it must be right?

See, I have no fear of spiders or bugs, I do have a slight fear in heights but my biggest fears are the fear of failure, the unknown and last and the biggest is being alone.

Due to the length of these entries, I have decided to split it into 3 parts. This one is about the Fear of Failure.

My fear of failure stems from my childhood and being Chinese, the pressure to be the best was driven into us (Chinese kids) since we could count from 1 to 10. All Chinese families strive for their children to the the top of the class, now when you have an entire class of Chinese kids, can you imagine the stress we have about being on top?!

My earliest memories are not pleasant ones unfortunately. I remember this particular day - I wasn't able to memorise my times-tables correctly and all I could remember was my mum being disappointed in me. Now being Chinese (born and grew up in Malaysia until I was 9), you would know your 1 through to 12 times-tables (multiplies) before you would start school. So before the age of 5, I knew them off the top of my head. I still do my mathematics in Chinese (in my head). I find it quicker and now, for the life of me, cannot do any maths if you ask me to say it out loud (in English). Now, what my parents did was not out of the ordinary (for Chinese families) so no need for alarm bells or the need to call anyone to report it, it was just a way of life.

This is why Chinese kids are so good at maths, we know maths before we start school. My fear of failure is not only letting myself down but more importantly - my parents. Whenever we would receive our report cards from school, it would always be the question of "What were you placed in class?" - In Malaysia, all students within a class were placed in rankings. This ranking system would be determined by your homework, tests and exams. I would always be placed in top 3. Top 3 was a pretty big deal but there was extra pressure to be number 1. This meant that you were the smartest in the class and no one else is better than you. From memory, I had been placed in more 2nd positions than 1st or 3rd. I felt that unless I was placed 1st, I was not good enough for my parents and I had failed them in all the sacrifices they had made.
When we first arrived in Australia in 1990, I was struggling with the language and when my parents found out that I was placed in ESL (English as Second Language), they made it clear that I was not to stay in this class for long and I had to study extra hard on the side to get into mainstream English. Mind you, I excelled in maths and was top of the class for Grade 4 that they had to put me into Grade 5/6 maths as I was getting 100% on everything. I did study extra hard in English and did manage to prove to the teachers that I could read and write at a normal Australian level and proved to them (my parents) that I was not a failure.
When I came to Melbourne from living in Papua New Guinea (93-97) for Yr11, my parents made me promise that I would excel in my studies and prove to them that bringing the whole family out of Malaysia was not a waste of money and time. I made sure that I studied hard whilst defending for myself as I was out in Melbourne away from my family. Not only did I have to do well in school, I had a part time job of 20hours/week in order to not burden my parents with the need for financial support. Prior to the release of our Yr12 ENTER scores, I was so stressed that I had failed my parents that I started to look into what I could do after Yr12. Questions in my head were raised - should I have concentrated more on my studies? Did I make the right choices in working to not burden my parents? When I received a score of 95.45, I cried.

Fast forward some years later, this fear of failure is still present in my (triathlon) life. I don't like to fail, especially in front of people. I don't like being laughed at and I don't like to be made a fool. My first ever triathlon would be classified as a failure. It was a disaster from the start (the swim) and that failure drove me to join a triathlon squad to prove to myself that I could finish and finish well. This was in 2010 and believe it or not, I am still proving to myself that I deserve to still do this sport and that I am good enough to be called a triathlete. Not only do I have a fear of failure as a triathlete, I also have a fear of failure as a coach. If I don't do well in my training, my races and also during my coaching sessions, am I really good enough for this sport, do I give it enough respect and also to represent Tri Alliance? Am I a good enough coach if I am not the best in the squad? Am I a good enough triathlete if I just participate in these events rather than having a good crack and actually race one?
My fear of failure is not great for my self confidence. This must change for me to do well in the sport and to push beyond my comfort zone. Coach Greg, Sarah, Ollie and recently my family (yeah, I know, Asian parents encouraging their daughter in sports - rare) have been great in instilling my abilities and always encouraging me to excel beyond what I think are my limits.

I have been told by others that I need to trust in myself, instill some self-belief that my consistent training will allow me to succeed in my triathlon races.

Train. Trust. Succeed.

A Spanner.

A spanner has been thrown into works...

I was suppose to be riding the Kinglake ride this weekend (Saturday) and due to the weather forecast, Supersprint may change it to Sunday.

Thinking about what events I have coming up, I have made an executive decision to no longer do the Kinglake ride and do a long 5 hour ride on the TT bike (Dale) instead as it is what I need for my triathlon races. I also need to spend more time "running off the bike" so I must also include a 3-5km run off the bike on Saturday.

This Sunday will be my last long run before the half marathon next week. Will need to do a (relatively quick) 15km.

This change of plans is also agreed to (as the best for my training) by Coach Greg so it reduces the anxiety I have regarding the choices I make for long course triathlon training.

A post from a newbie

I received a post from the Tri Alliance facebook page which made my day.

There is no secret training formula with running - It's pretty simple but often not taught. I learnt these skills from doing the Tony Benson run sessions about 18 months ago.

• First you need to learn how to run slowly to enable you to run fast
• Jog on the spot - you will be landing forefoot/mid foot. This is the natural way your feet should be landing on the ground
• Use this to propel your body forward
• Arms should be bent around 85 degrees.
• Wrists should be relaxed (like you are holding onto some eggs)
• Elbows to move back (not side to side)
• Run tall
• Always smile

Easy.

Phase Change

Post Apollo Bay Camp, we are now moving into the race (pre)season training phase. The next phase consist more of speed and endurance work and less on strength. Our summer training timetable kicks in the same week as daylight savings and this is where we move our Thursday night sessions to the Elwood Life Saving Club for Combo - bricks (run off bikes and then swim for short course and run and swims for long). Thursday mornings will be a TT ride for long course or a run session for short. As I am part of the Long Course group, there isn't really much of a change in my training schedule other than adding an ocean swim on Thursday evening.

Swim:

There are 4 planned swim sessions in a week - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday (as part of Combo) and Friday morning. I skipped most of the Friday morning swims last season as I was too tired from Thursday evenings. I will try to make it to as many sessions as I can, otherwise I must follow the program on my own after work. No slacking off.

Bike:

Bike sessions are still Tuesday evening windtrainer - ranging from 60-90min. Long course athletes will still have our Thursday morning TT efforts. This will either be laps of Albert Park lake or onto Beach Rd. Our long endurance rides will still be on Saturdays (with a small run off the bike). I will need to juggle between doing my long rides and some of the Saturday coaching sessions with Tri Alliance. It is our busiet time of the year with our association with Supersprint (for the Gatorade Series) and also our 6 week Try-the-Tri program for which we have 5 of them running over 6 months. It maybe that I will need to do a 2 hour ride before 9:30am and then another 2-3 hour ride in the afternoon. Closer to race dates, I will also be taking Wednesday off work to do another long ride in the week.

Looking back, I really didn't do much riding on the TT bike the previous summer and this is something which I will have to change if I want to do well in my races in the coming months.

Run:
Nothing really will change for the run session other than adding more kms and work on speed. It will be the usual Tuesday morning intervals at MSAC, Thursday evening run-swim combo at Elwood and a long run on Sundays at Fairfield/Beach Rd. My plans for running the Melbourne Ironman route is still being sorted out and it will be done over several weekends. I guess I am lucky to live so close to it (22-23km mark was pretty much at my doorstep). After shepparton, I will try to build my distance up to 35-37km prior to Ironman Melbourne. My longest run is 22km.

From experience, I will have good and bad days/weeks in training so I will consult the coaches and assess where I am at on a weekly basis. Injuries have been managed well so far - just muscle soreness/tightness. If I could afford massages I would get them on a weekly basis.

Looking forward to my up and coming events:
Kinglake 115km Ride in 8 days
Half Marathon 21.1km in 17 days
Round the Bay 100km in 24 days
Noosa Olympic Distance Tri in 38 days
Shepparton 70.3 in 52 days
Geelong Long Course in 136 days
.....and the big one - Ironman Melbourne in 178 days

Throw in a couple of ocean swims in Nov for Corporate Games (1km) and Feb for the Big Bay Swim (3.2km) to keep things interesting.

Shep 70.3 - Course Details are out!

A friend pointed out to me that my big head made it into the Shepparton 70.3 website...

I also noticed that the course details are up so I downloaded them and have posted them around my office cubicle and on my fridge.
Swim - this is a one and a bit lap of Kialla Lakes. The swim in the lake is like swimming in milo (with the grainy floatie bits in it too) - hard to see your hand. At least it doesn't stink. The lake must be ok as this event has been held in this location for years.


SWIM COURSE



Ride - 2 laps of this course. It is a very open (but flat) course so some areas are considered fast and others, not as much. There is one drink station on the course and one area where you have to make a sharp U-turn (also where people can cheer you on).



BIKE COURSE



Run - 3 laps of this 7km route. The run is undulating outside of the lake-loop. The good thing about this route is that you run past supporters and they can cheer you on the whole way through.



RUN COURSE



Mental Strength - Apollo Bay Camp Wrap Up.

Whenever I do Plan of Attack for a training - it never goes according to plan...

The itinerary was that I would leave Melbourne in time to check in a do the Friday afternoon run. Because I never sort out my nutrition plan on the Friday (have breakfast around 9am, leave Melbourne around 11:30 and not having lunch whilst driving), I took a gel on a fairly empty stomach about 15min before the (planned) 8km run. 4km in and the cramps and bloat started to happen. A 8km run became 5km which included 1km of walking and 100m of sprinting between car and toilet.  Lessons learnt - don't consume a gel on an empty stomach or you will need to find a toilet very soon.

After the soak in the ocean for the legs, it was a quick dinner and off to our Long Course briefing with Coach Jarrod Evans. The plan for me was a 110km ride from Apollo Bay - Benwerrin (via Lorne) and return with a 12km run off the bike. Jarrod also talked about doing it in accordance to time (duration) rather than distance - for me it was no more than 5 hours on the bike and no more than 1-1.5 hour for the run. It was then back to the house and pack for the next day.

I was trying out a few things out over the weekend - one was consuming gels from a flask rather than from the packets. I have to say - this worked a treat! Not only can I consume the gels easier (a quick squeeze of the flask which delivered more gels than the small opening of the packet) it also was better for the environment - less wrapping and less chances of rubbish being left on the ground when they accidentally drop them when riding. It is also more cost effective to purchase the gels in bulk than it is in their individual packets. This solution is good if you only like one flavour gel when riding. Multiple flask will need to be filled if you like multiple flavours. I will bring 2 flask as I like to also have a caffienated gel during my rides too.

So on Saturday, the ride was 110km - nothing too interesting to report back as I had ridden this route half a dozen times before. The weather was perfect, little to no wind and the sun was also out. Took the arm warmers off after the descent from Benwerrin. I will add that my descents is getting much better. I am more confident about turning left (with the left knee slightly turned outwards) but right turning still felt really unnatural. I found that I can only turn right whilst riding in the middle of the lane to gain much control. Stayed in the large chain ring the entire 110km even up Benwerrin.

The run off the bike was not as graceful. To sum it up - it hurt. Took me nearly 1:10 to do 10km. I was so thirsty that I nearly finished my 3 fuel belt flasks. Not sure if this was normal or not. I tried my hardest to push through the pain and there were a few moments where I had to dig deep and try to salvage my second wind. At the 1 hour mark, I only had walked/jogged about 9km. I needed to find the mental strength to push through the pain and keep running - this is something which I need to work on for the next few weeks. After the run, it was a 15min soak in the ocean, back to the house for lunch (homemade poached eggs on toast) and a quick nap before heading out to the Long Course workshop. We learnt several things from the talks which I will try over the next few weeks leading up to Shep, Geelong and Melbourne. These included warm ups, lead up races, equipment and hydration.

What I also learnt from Jarrod (over our group dinner) was the power to weight ratio. He remembered that my body fat % during Lorne Camp was around 32% (obese) and how I am down to about 28% and he says that losing body fat can also mean a reduction in power which some athletes forget to take into account and the first part which goes when you lose power is in your bike leg. Although you are lighter and can swim and run better - you may not have enough muscle strength for the bike ride which was something which I never considered or even thought about.

The plan for the Sunday was a 90km ride (no one other than advanced Ironman/Half Ironman) were to ride beyond Lavers Hill due to the poor weather conditions and I was relieved at that. As the temperature was around 14, I decided to just wear short bibs, a jersey and arm warmers (similar to Saturday) and this proved to be the wrong choice. It rained overnight and the wind did not calm down. As soon as the ride took you into the Otways, the temperature dropped and the rain started again. I was blown sideways several times and this scared me tremendously. I rode for 1.5 hours in and my heart rate dropped to around 80-90 bpm due to the temperature. I was shivering but I was still pedalling. Jarrod stopped several people around the 1.5 hour mark and asked them to turn around. When he approached me he told me that I had to turn around or else I would die out here, I knew that I didn't look good. He asked if I wanted a lift back and looking back, I should have taken up the offer. Instead, as I didn't want the weather to defeat me, I decided to ride back towards home. The ride back was a nightmare. The conditions were similar to the Kinglake ride of 2011. Not only was I soaked, I was also cold and struggling to keep the bike upright from the cross winds. My heartrate was low and I only ended up burning 800cal over 2.5 hours (when I usually burn around 500cal/hour on a long ride). My teeth were chattering to much, a headache formed from the sides of my jaw. One word - unpleasant. What got me through the tough hour back was remembering what Coach Greg said - you can only control what is controllable. I could not control the weather but I could control my composure and how I dealt with the situation. No tears. I just kept pedaling until I got to the house. It was a nightmare but I still got through it.

There was no run off the bike for me. I got straight into the shower and turned the hot water on and stood there for 30min before I could feel anything. It was then that I noticed that my fingers were aching and realised that I jammed my hand in the door on the way into the house and I didn't noticed it when it happened. I had a heater on in my room and cranked it full ball and had all my warm layers on to warm up. I was physically and mentally done for the weekend. Getting through Sunday morning was a mental challenge which I would like to think I came away with a win. I did what I could (controllable) and there will always be more opportunities for me to ride up to Lavers again. Even on the drive back to Melbourne, I was already planning on a weekend back to Apollo Bay so that I could ride up to Lavers Hill. Will plan this weekend after Shepparton.

So in summary:
Total Rides = 110km + 47km = 157km (63km short of 220km)
Total Runs = 5km + 9km = 14km (18km short of 32km)
Lessons learnt from the weekend regarding training, racing and mental strength = Priceless

Apollo Bay Pre-Season Camp - The Plan of Attack!

This weekend 21st Sept - 22nd Sept will be the Apollo Bay Pre-Season training camp. This will be my first pre-season camp ever but my 3rd training camp for 2012.

Last night, I started to pack for the weekend after tackling a lonely 2km in the pool (with band/pb and paddles) as I will be running this evening and most likely have no energy (mental strength) to think about what to pack. The accomodation I am staying at this time around does not have a clothes dryer and is about 1km from the pier where we soak our legs so I will need to pack multiple sets of cycling clothes and running gear and possible, my single speed bike.

Friday
Planning again to leave Melb around 12 and trying to arrive in Apollo Bay around 3pm - check in and get ready for (my) first training session - 8km flat run.

Saturday
6:30am start - 110km ride from Apollo Bay to Lorne and up to Benwerrin and return to Apollo Bay (hopefully within 5 hours). This time around, I will try to do this distance in a better time compared to the Long Course camp a few months ago - that would be my aim and have enough in me to run 12km off the bike as per the program.

Running off the bike is something which I have not done since March 2012. It will not be pretty - that I can promise but hopefully will give me a kick up the bum to do more runs off the bike from now on.

We will then have a rest before joining VIS coach Jarrod Evans for a workshop on Long Course training and racing at 4pm.

Sunday
A 6:15am start - The ride will be another 110km but heading towards Lavers Hill and turn around at Wyelangta and back to Apollo Bay. Again, there will be another 12km run off the bike. I didn't do this ride last time due to stomach issues and so this weekend, I am determined to do this no matter what.

Check out of our accomodation will be around 3pm and may leave Apollo Bay around 4pm.

If everything goes to plan (no stomach issues this time around), I will aim to do the following:
Ride = 220km
Run = 32km

As I haven't done many hill rides in winter, I am hoping that the 220km ride along the Great Ocean Rd and up Deans Marsh Rd and Lavers Hill will be good enough training for the Kinglake ride on the 6th Oct.

Going to give it all I have this weekend (mentally and physically) - I have nothing to lose, only gains.

Training for an Ironman - Perspective

I am not a professional triathlete. I am an age-grouper. The goals for an Ironman Race (or any race for that matter) should be simple:

1. To make the cutoff time
2. To have fun
3. Enjoy the surroundings,
4. Finish in an upright position with the ability to speak to the volunteers at the finish line.

Personal Best.

I am venturing into new frontiers....I have never put my body into loads like these ever in my life. I guess it is pretty obvious as I have never had to train for a half ironman (or even more, an ironman) before.

My swimming has been coming along well. I have seen improvements and this is evident in my 1km swim time trial this morning where I took off nearly a whole minute from 20:52 to 19:56. It feels great to crack the 20min mark. Albeit that I am still one of the slower swimmers of the long course group, beating my own PB is all that it matters and it gives me more confidence that I am going to be able to swim 3.8km come March. As we come closer to racing season, the long course guys will be incorporating some (pool) swimming on Sunday afternoon. These sessions will be non-coached so its up to me to do these sessions myself (or swim with someone who is willing to train the same time as me).

Over the weekend, I completed my first 120km bike ride (outside of an event - Kinglake Sept 2011) and finished it under 5 hours. Once again, started at my house, then rode up to Port Melbourne (very hard to do efforts when there are people who over take and then drop back) but the ride towards Mt Eliza (via Olivers and Humphries) was great as the roads were not as congested with cyclists and motorist. After Humphries Rd, I turned right and headed towards Mt Eliza instead and this is now I increased my distance (previously 110km was my longest) and turned around at Canadian Bay Rd and towards Black Rock and then home. Next time, will try to ride towards Tyabb Rd in Mornington which may make the ride close to 150km+ This will need to be assessed as riding on the road bike is very different from riding the TT bike. 120km under 5 hours - another PB.

With running, I have been consistent with turning up at Fairfield Park to run with the North group. As we are working towards the Half Marathon (and Shepparton), I have been running 20km+ for the last 3 weekends or so. The week before, Greg wanted me to run a steady 20km but last week he wanted a 10km effort (quicker than race pace for half ironman). Because of these efforts, I was seriously struggling the last 3km of the run with a sore (left) hip. It is something which I need to work on to get a faster half marathon time - it needs to be a race rather than just get through the distance. Being able to run 20km+ 3 weekends in a row is definitely a PB. Never in my mind would I ever have thought that this was something which I could do comfortably.

I won't be doing the run TT this Thursday as I have Apollo Bay training over this weekend. But will be aiming to achieve more PB regarding the distance I will ride and the time it takes for me to complete them. I will need to work on my nutrition better and work out what to take on the bike rides.

Back in the Bikram room on Tuesday morning (no coached run session) and then I will be taking the windtrainer session on Tuesday night and Swim session Wednesday AM. Haven't done Bikram in about 10 months. Hard to fit it in amongst all the training I do and it also cost $20 per session (which I don't have) but will be able to go this week and afford it too. Winner!

Sleep....or the lack thereof.

I have never been a bad sleeper. In my family, I am the only one who can fall asleep anywhere, anytime and in any position (sitting on a couch, on a plane, lying on the floor). I am also a good sleeper - although I sleep in a queen size bed, I have always just laid in one spot from the moment I fall asleep to the moment my alarm goes off.

Ever since my training load increased to a half ironman program, I have noticed that I am not getting enough sleep over the last 2 months or so. I have stopped consuming caffeine after 7pm (this includes gels) to ease my body into a good sleep but this hasn't helped. I try and get into bed by 10-10:30pm but as I return home from training on most nights by 9pm, it doesn't give me much time to unpack, eat, shower (or shower, eat), then pack bags (3-4 bags) and be prepared to sleep by 10pm without rushing like a mad woman.

To ease the rush, I have already started the habit of packing my work clothes for the next week into 5 individual bags, 3 seperate bags with one towel and one swimwear in each for my swim days and my windtrainer bag all during the weekend. Even with some pre-planning, I still feel like my life is still a never ending routine of unpacking and packing.

I know that eating dinner so late at night also doesn't help with sleep as the body is actively processing and metabolising the food I consume, so I have tried having a liquid meal after training as much as I can but there is only so much protein shakes one can tolerate per week.

Due to me morning training sessions, I set my alarm for 4:30am and 4:45am for Monday through to Thursday and 5:00 and 5:15am for a Friday. I have 2 alarms - the first one wakes me up from sleep, the second one tells me to get out of bed. Weekend alarms depend on where we are riding and running.

During the last few months, I have been waking up every 2 hours (or so) with a fright on most nights. My heart rate is so high that sometimes I feel like its going to beat out of my chest. I never remember what day it is so the first thing that I stress about when I wake (in a fright) is what training session I am late for, the next would be if I have packed all of my bags for it and the third is am I really late? The first thought actually scares me quite a bit and this is why I have bought a better clock which has the day on it so I know what day it is straight away. Secondly, I look at the clock and if it is not 4:30am or 5:00am, I go straight to sleep. This sleep fright also happens during my naps on weekends too which is a bit of a worry.  

Recently, I have noticed that the lack of good sleep is affecting my mood when I am awake - this could either be at work or during training. I feel that I lack the energy during work and I am easily agitated (when people ask stupid questions or people at work being immature).

I guess I know that my body (and mind) needs a rest from training. I will try to sleep as much as I can on weekends after long endurance sets. Being prepared over the weekend has helped and must refrain from worrying about training.  I have also started to take Swisse Sleep supplements (as advised by experts) to aid my sleep. Will see how it goes.  

The half marathon is in 32 days (received my bib on Monday), Noosa in 53 days, Shepparton in 67 days, Geelong in 151 and finally, the big one, Melbourne IM in 193 days.