MELBURN ROOBAIX 2014 - I LOVE MELBURN

As the saying goes....You Only Live Once, the Melburn Roobaix is something everyone in Melburn, who loves feeling like a kid zooming down the side streets on their bike, must put on their "To-Do" list.

This is my 2nd year (last year's write up here and here - same write up, different links) and comparing the two days was like comparing chalk & cheese (mmmmm cheese).

So this year, I decided to leave the single speed "George" hanging in the garage and took "Betty" CX out for a spin. We decided to park the car at Abbotsford as it is approx the half way mark between Hawthorn (start) and Northcote (finish).

We left Abbotsford around 9am and rode down to Hawthorn H.A Smith velodrome ready to register and pick up our 2014 musette race pack. It started to shower but as we were moving, it wasn't too bad. The rain got stronger the closer we go to the start line.

The crowd at registration was not as big as last year, no one wanted to stand around in the rain as I found out 5 seconds after I opened up my race park, the map fell into pieces when it got wet just like the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz.

Betty CX

Crowd at registration

The Canadian and I decided that we would take the red route. I am guessing keeping the many cobblestone routes down to the 12 check points was hard so why not let the public decide where they wanted to go - great idea.

The hill just out of the velodrome proved to be much easier with gears compared to last year when I rode George. The first manifest was an eye opener...when I say eye opener, I meant how cobblestones become slightly slippery when they are wet and I came down pretty hard on my sorry ass. Bleeding knees were hidden by my knee length knicks, a few "yes I am fine" to mask my total embarrassment, I got myself up and going again. Maybe too cocky to start out with - thinking that my bike skills have improved dramatically over the last 12 months with about 3 rides on the mountain bike and a Dirty Gran Fondo event? I was not the only casualty of that section, I was also there when a guy's tubeless tyre blew up like a grenade and also saw a guy with blood down his cheeks - ouch!

A friend of the Canadian, Adam, recognised us and being able to ride with him was the best! He not only could read maps really well, he knew his bike paths better than the Canadian, he was also wearing fingerless gloves so he could access his musette easily.

The second (or third, I forgot) section was memorable, it was NOT flat. I initially could ride up the steep laneway but when the cobble stone section appeared, I was too afraid that I was going to slip so I had to push my bike through the cobblestone climbs. Apparently, there were several falls on this section.

A few hours into the ride, we saw the Bank of Melbourne van and they were handing out FXYO bottles - grabbed one of the last pink ones - YIEWW!

My confidence along the cobblestones increased throughout the day but there were still some sections which were tricky to handle. I got a few "Don't Stop!" and "Keep Left" from other cyclists when I was riding along the cobblestone obstacles slowly but they didn't bother me, if they want to ride past me, they should have good enough skills to do so.

Similar to last year, we stopped after Manifest #9 for a lunch break and we stopped at the Old Bike Shop Cafe. I ordered a pretty big breakfast (again) of eggs, toast, mushrooms, bacon (I heart bacon), avocado and spinach whilst the boys had burgers and philly steak sandwich. We don't know if it was due to the cold and wet weather but the coffee there tasted a.m.a.z.i.n.g! So good that we had more than one each. As we had lunch from about 12:30, we killed nearly two hours in the cafe before we moved off outside. We only had 3 more manifests to go and they are pretty much within 3km, no point finishing too early as we would have had to wait around at the Brunswick velodrome for hours.

Once again the guys at health.com.au were at Manifest 12 for general cheering, photo and a Freddo Frog (which I had to grab quickly and held on with my teeth until the end). Disappointed that people threw so much of the wrappers along the ground in between Manifest 12 and the velodrome (stop 13) tho - tsk tsk tsk kids.

Everytime I saw them - Potassium!

Mr and Mrs White

Compared to last year, we finished each section quite quick. We didn't go as far around Melburn as last year either (I think we ventured further SW). Due to the abundance of sunshine last year, I actually stopped and took way more photos too. This year, the camera came out twice - once at the start and once at the finish. None the less, I still loved every pedal. I only got cold (shivering cold) when we left the cafe, once you got moving, it was fine.

getting rad

Highlights:
- Instead of second guessing the right answers, there was just a single letter at the end of each pave sections, some were tricky to find. After about 6 Manifests, you could kind of guess what it spelt out.
- Another awesome musette!
- Picking up another 2 spare FXYO drink bottles after pack up - scoring 3 in total!
- Photobooth!

- Bike skills getting better
- The never ending rain


Lowlights:
- I didn't win the grand prize (flights to Roubaix, France in May)
- Due to the rain, I wore my vest and you couldn't see my complete matching outfit
- The never ending rain

Will I do this event again next year? Hells Yeah!!! As long as I am in Melburn and I can still ride a bike, I will be there for sure.

Thanks again to the crew at FYXO - without them, it would have been another unmemorable rainy Melburn day.

Weekly Reflection 21/06 - 27/06

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

*que back in time music*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(More than a week's) Reflection 10/06 - 20/06

This week (or fortnight now) has been an odd-ball of days. Having the long weekend and Lorne camp really through the consistency of training out the window. As much as the spike in training during Lorne Camp was a great thing, it also made me tired and out of energy for the next few days post-camp. I think also my injury (broken finger), work stress also got the better of me.

I gave myself a few days off training after camp. As much as the Coaches all advised that we take it easy but continue training, my tiredness just got the better of me. I didn't do any swim sessions the week post camp and only got back into the swing of things on Thursday when I did the run session on Thursday night.

I coached on Saturday morning with the beginners and that was a very good session. I had a beginner who had never ridden with a group before, did a few mini triathlons and the longest ride was 40km from his place in Port Melbourne to Mentone and back. We rode from the Great Provider to Port Melbourne, then down to Mordialloc and then back to the Great Provider. Just a touch over 60km and his longest ride to date. He was pretty happy about that and learnt plenty about road safety, signalling, drinking and eating whilst riding and also what do to when riding up hills.

After the long flat ride, I then went on a little adventure to the You Yangs with my friend Sally (hello Sally!!). I had never been there before and looked forward to this ride. We rode about 80% of the Kurrajong trails and I loved every minute of it. Even when the heavens opened up and it rained heavily, I still had a smile on my face and enjoyed being out on the mountain bike. In a couple of weeks, we may head back there again and ride the easier parts of the Stockyard trails (now I am scared!).

Sally and I - after our rainy ride at You Yangs

The run technique sessions were moved to the afternoon as Coach Rupert was not available that morning. I joined the Fairfield run group instead and was put through the reigns with Coach Greg. I haven't ran with this group in about 6 months and I did noticed the drop in my fitness because of my non-attendance. We did about 12km in total but it was broken down into plenty of hill work, technique, core work, lunges etc. A soak in the Yarra river was also a welcomed recovery routine - my legs are not sore for days after long runs.

I didn't end up going to the re-scheduled run technique session due to my cap sewing commitments - I had 4 caps to make over the weekend.

Navy blue, yellow and white (to match Tri Alliance colours)

 

Black and green for www.krunchies.com.au



The next week was no different in terms of training - I lacked consistency due to work which really sapped up my mood and energy levels. I did the windtrainer session at Mentone on the Tuesday night, swam by myself on Wednesday at GESAC and ran with Rupert on the Thursday night. We ran along the athletic track of the junior school of Mentone Grammar which was great! Enough light for us to see and the track is nice and smooth. Would be great to be able to return there to run again but can be harsh on the joints as the track has very sharp bends.

This weekend, I will be heading out to the hills!!! It will be my first hill ride due to coaching commitments which meant that I have been riding on flat (and not in the most harder efforts). I am also catching up with friends on Sunday so I will commit myself to run in the morning along Beach Rd.

Favourite session of the week: The mountain bike session on Saturday last week - such fun riding in the rain and being on a bike!

Least favourite session of the week: Although I enjoyed the long run session at Fairfield, due to my lack of fitness (and still trying to find my run-nirvana), I felt like a hefer. I have no strength and power (as Coach Greg mentioned) as I haven't been working on them. Can't blame anyone but myself.

Advice of the week: I am really enjoying the mountain biking rides. Will try to cater for this within my training schedule. I want to keep my training fun, as much as it is easier to say this (after I have done several Ironman races) - there is more to life than just triathlon.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: I am actually looking forward to some riding in the hills this weekend. I really need to work on this for the Gran Fondo (Vancouver to Whistler).

Lorne Camp - 2014

Wow....this was my 5th Lorne Camp with Tri Alliance.

2010 - no blog

2011
2012
2013

No matter how many times I have attended Lorne Camp, I learnt something every year. I attended Lorne Camp as a coach for the first time this year. I only attended as an athlete the previous years. I decided that as a coach, I would stay onsite to provide as much support to the athletes as I could.

I decided to head into Lorne on Friday afternoon. The same routine I had been doing the previous years - arrive in time to check in, do the Friday night run, dinner at pub.

Friday was my first "big drive" in my new CX5. I had borrowed a bike trailer from a friend and had my mountain bike and my road bike at the back instead of being inside the car. This was so much more convenient. I could just throw all my bags at the back and not have to worry about playing jigsaw with bikes, bags and boxes.

I arrived in Lorne around 2:30pm, walked up and down the life saving club with all my bags, doona, pillows, bikes. During one of my last trips to the car, I slammed the car door into my left index finger. I haven't really appreciated how much I used my index finger until then - I couldn't really do anything with the left hand without the use of the index finger.

Fractured Finger

So during the camp briefing, we received our packs - gotta say - BEST PACK EVER!!!! Not only did we get heaps of swag from our sponsors, we also received a Tri Alliance visor and some booties (which I didn't own already!).

FREE STUFF!!!!

So after the briefing, it was off to our rooms, get all your stuff ready for the next day. As I have attended this camp on several occasions and have collected several items over my years in triathlon and was able to pack all my clothing/accessories into bags ready to go for the next session - 3 cycling bags, 3 run bags and a swim bag.

I was asleep by 9:30am and the alarm was set for 5:45am as breakfast was to be served by 6am.

For the Saturday, I was riding with Group 2 as an athlete. I started out OK but did realise that my quads were very sore as I couldn't stay in the water to recover as I had to rush to attend the Coaches meeting the night before. Sore quads = slow Ev. In addition to the sore quads, my finger was still throbbing. Every bump on the road could be felt through my finger. I rode on the hoods with the index finger sticking upwards (couldn't bend) and when I needed the brakes or change my gears, I had to lean my hand forward and grip onto the levers with the middle finger onwards. Couldn't really steer the bike properly too as my balance was completely out of whack!

Group 2 - I was coordinated with pink

The program for Group 2 was to ride to Apollo Bay and back within 4 hours. I only did 70km (instead of 90km) as I turned around after 1.5 hours. Into the water I went to recovery and then I went to bed for a nap as I was exhausted.

I woke up for lunch and didn't really have an appetite - not sure if it was the amount of gels I had taken (3 within 3 hours) which is the most I have had since Ironman Day in March), work stress or that I was injured. After lunch, I went back for a sleep and got up in time for the Mizuno talk. Trent from Mizuno gave out free t-shirts! We love free stuff! I don't normally wear t-shirts to run in but I do love my Mizuno shirts.

Before Saturday Run

The Saturday run took us around the caravan park and then up the hills through Lorne. My calves (being tight since last week), were tight from Friday night's Mountain to Surf run. It was not functioning 100% and the hills hurt my calves rather than my quads. The run down the hill was a welcome relief and the run along the flat was also good. After the run, it was a quick rest followed by dinner and then another team meeting.

On Sunday, I was coaching Group 4 for the ride. The plan for the group was 2-2.5 hours in total. My plan was that I would ride up Deans Marsh road after this session and it worked out well as some of my athletes from Group 4 who were stronger riders wanted to challenge themselves and do the same. We also rode up the hill in time with some of the Group 2 and 3 riders.

Myself with some of Group 3 and 4

I had real trouble getting my core temperature up after I ascended down from Benwerrin that I couldn't recover in the water for too long. There was a water session on after lunch and I opted for the Pier to Pub swim - this was the BEST!!! The water was cold but when you started swimming, it was actually refreshing. Sighting was a bit of an issue as the route was slightly on a curve and we also had to dodge the surfers out there.

Pier to Pub Swimmers

My calves were tight and niggly so instead of the run on Sunday, I rode around Lorne on the mountain bike instead. Great fun and can't wait for another mtb session with my friend Sally next weekend - we are heading to the You Yangs!

On Monday, there was only 1 session left to do but I was also coaching. I took group 3 (and 4) out on a neutral ride out for 45min and then we seeded them for a TT ride back to Lorne. I think everyone pushed themselves extra hard as it was the last session for the entire weekend. Everyone did well.

I really love Lorne training camp - it happens early in the winter season that it gives you a good spike in training and a big kick up the bum to the work that needs to be done in the months ahead to get to your potential again.

What I loved:

• Pier to Pub Swim
• The Great Ocean Road!
• The Mountain to Surf run
• The goodie bag

What I didn't like:

• My broken finger
• My stomach - gels....bleg....
• My tight calves - dry needling helped (I do love a dry needling session)
• The endless amounts of washing to be done post camp

Will I do another Lorne Camp? Only time will tell. Another year, over and out.

XX

(Not Quite) Weekly Reflection 02/06 - 05/06

I thought I would get this down before Lorne Camp. This week's training has been tracking well. I had to juggle a few things around but I am glad that I did something everyday.

Due to the hill work we did as part of the Run Technique on Sunday (1st June), my calves pulled up tight and sore on Monday. I tried to massage it out with my thumbs (it was too deep for rollers). I did my swim set on Monday and I doubt that swimming with fins helped it either.

I had my bike in for service so I didn't have a bike to use at windtrainer. I had planned on commuting into work on the CX on Tuesday but the weather turned terrible. I decided to park the ride aside as I couldn't be bothered when Lorne Camp was coming up so soon. I went to the gym instead and did some strength and core work. Since I haven't done much of this for the last few months, the post strength and core soreness were very noticable. So noticeable in fact that I couldn't laugh without feeling my abs were pulling me in.

Swim on Wednesday was back at Mentone and Coach Anna made us (slower lanes) do the following:
Warm up - 300 mix, 200 kick
Main Set - 5 x 200 (various stroke correction techniques), 4 x (150m 75% hard, 100m pb+p breathe 2, 3, 5 7)
Cool Down - 200m (I did breast and back)
As much as remembering what you did for swim training is really boring for some people, I am noting them down as it is different from what I have been doing for the last 4 years. It is a welcoming change and the fact that you don't know what you will be doing is also a novelty. The 25m pool is still a pain in the ass but I am getting used to it.

I didn't do my Thursday afternoon run due to work issues which I won't dwell on. I hate it when everything falls apart - work issues which led to no training which led to being unhappy as either tasks were not completed and letting myself down. I packed like a mad woman on Thursday night. My head was not in the right head-space and I couldn't be bothered making much of my meals which I had planned on doing. I decided to bring both my road bike and Annie (the mountain bike) with me and if I needed to ride to the shops, I could. It ended up being a good thing which I will talk about later.

My side project has been going well. I have been selling a few cycling caps from my own range and setting up the online shop is slowly getting there.

Weekly Reflection 26/05 - 1/06

There was a noticeable drop in temperature over the weekend as the first day of winter settled in. We actually had a great run of 20+ degrees during the week which made the early mornings easier to tackle.

I pretty much trained everyday except for Friday of last week (as per the training schedule). I swam by myself on the Monday at GESAC and followed the program. I do have a few pet-hates and one of them happened at the pool that day. There were 2 fast lanes, 1 medium lane and 2 slow lanes and the rest were reserved for squad. I swim in the fast lane in the suburbs but if I am doing a slow set I will move myself down to medium. During my main set, a couple decided to jump into my lane and continued on swimming breast stroke the entire time. If you can do breaststroke fast, then swimming in the fast lane is acceptable but not when you swim without getting your hair or face wet (yes, those ones). What annoyed me more was when I was going to over take them, they moved over to the right thinking they were doing me a favour which didn't allow me to over take....annoyed! I also had to make sure I swam as close to the lane ropes as possible as they kept kicking me with their wide strokes. As my swim set was over 2km, they ended up getting out after doing a few laps which meant that I didn't have to change lanes mid set - why should I have to move when I am swimming at the right pace? My other pet-hate is when people use my swim toys too which the lady tried to do with my swim fins....like seriously!?

Tuesday I joined the bayside squad for the windtrainer and I swam at Bayside Aquatics on the Wednesday morning. As much as a 25m pool still annoys me, I will set that aside to do these sessions close to home. We worked on stroke correction as well as feeling the water which was a good start to Wednesday morning.

As I mentioned previously, fartlek sessions are not my friend at the moment and that was what we did on Thursday night. After our warm up, we did 10 x (1min on and 1 min off). I was buggered by the 7th and slowed down considerably for the next 2. My legs just didn't want to fire, let alone for a whole min.

I coached on Saturday morning with the beginners ride - only 3 people showed up. We did a 50km ride from St Kilda down to Port Melbourne and then return after Mordialloc. My 2nd run technique session with Rupert on Sunday and we worked on hills.

Favourite session of the week: I am enjoying the run technique sessions at the moment. They are not too intense but they are good in working on the basics.  It was a hill run session and we worked on the following:
1) Steady hill inclines - what technique to use when you are running up a hill which may be long
2) Hill inclines with slow jog recovery - similar to fartlek run sessions with the recovery being a slow job instead of stopping fully.
3) Strength - Steep hill inclines (shorter distances) with recovery jog.

Run Technique with Rupert

Least favourite session of the week: I think due to my pet-peeves at the pool on the Monday night, I didn't particularly enjoyed that swim session as I couldn't get into a rhythm without being kicked in the guts and head and trying to navigate my way around people.

Advice of the week: I am currently not taking on any supplements for energy (gels) during much of my training (no need to). I only took one gel during the week and that was during my long ride as it was about 2.5 hours. No need for the excessive sugar at this stage in training.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: Lorne Camp! WOOT WOOT!

Weekly Reflection 19/05 - 25/05

Last week was pretty hectic - balancing (work) work, life, my side project and training. As I had mentioned before, I have started to get a few things ready for my new adventure. It is not really ready for announcement yet as I am trying to get a few administrative things done.

I didn't have a chance to soak my legs post Sunday's run session and I had DOMS pretty much for 3 days after that. It was only a 9km run and I had DOMS for days - what does that tell you about my fitness? A big CRAP!

So I picked up my Triathlon Truck on Tuesday 20th. It took me nearly 2 days to get used to driving a compact SUV compared to my VW golf. I love the height of the vehicle! On the weekend, I had my bike at the back and there was no need to take the front wheel off! Such a bonus. I am still getting used to driving an auto (been driving manuals since I was 18), the keyless entry and the i-Stop thing...which means that in traffic (or whenever I have the brakes one), the engine of the car stops but starts up again when I have the foot off the brake.

On the training side of things, I haven't been attending the squad swims but have been following the program to a T on my own at GESAC. As we are working on the technique side of things for the next few weeks, I am comfortable about doing these sessions on my own. After camp, I will start the swims again at Northcote/MSAC/Mentone.

Long ride on Saturday was from Hampton Cycles down to Frankston BP and back. The ride was OK, I did struggle with calf cramps when I was advised to work on my stroke (heels down more). It was a pain as I was struggling to keep up whilst I cramped.

Had my first run session on Sunday with Rupert. After the warm up and drills, we learnt the difference between the 4 interval styles of running:

1) Intensive - Short Sprints with long rest
2) Extensive - Longer Sprints within a certain time (once you reach there, your rest time is whatever you gave left within that time frame).
3) Fartlek - Run plays - This is on and off but still running (no stationary or walking rests)
4) Tempo - slightly faster than the long run pace but constant speed.

I was definitely comfortable with the Tempo but struggled with the first 3. My speed was definitely MIA.

Favourite (and Least Favourite) session of the week: Loved my run session on Sunday - Learning the basics and hopefully learn to run faster. I am running with Rupert too on the Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings (when I am not coaching) so I am aiming to keep running as consistent as possible.

When we were doing sprints and fartlek, I was not comfortable at all - my heart rate was high, I just couldn't move my limbs fast. Just really weak in general.

Advice of the week: Time to get some specific strength training into my schedule again. This includes squats and leg presses.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: Aiming to attend a full week's training and ticking off the sessions.

There is no Off-Season...

We (at Tri Alliance) had our first Team Meeting last night. We always have several team meetings every year at different phases of the season. We are just getting into the swing of training (after recovery month) and we let the team know what is happening and how to be your best come race season.

A few things to note, we don't like to call the next few months of training the Off Season as it suggests that we don't do much of the training. We like to refer it as the Winter Training season.

We need to remember the following:

• Having just come off your last race a few months ago and you have now recovered, your body is not performing at its peak so do not despair if a 5km run feels like shit.
• Learn to train slow in order to race fast - this is all about bringing all you need to do down to the basics.
• Swimming - drills, rotations, sculling
• Biking - single legs, pedal stroke position, saddle position
• Running - drills, posture, how your feet land
• S&C - working on your glutes, core, balance
• Don't stray away from the program - if you need to change things around due to work/life commitments, speak to the coaches so you will get a balanced week of training rather than second guessing what sessions to do.
• Stay Consistent - it is the key to everything.
• Eat/Fuel Well - once the sessions get longer, learn what your body can and can't handle (then adjust)
• Sleep - get as much rest as possible. I personally find that if I prepare as much as possible during the weekend, I am able to go to sleep early during the week.
• You are training to race, not race to train.

I wasn't able to joining to long course guys when we broke out into the respective groups as I was coach for the beginners group. We went through some of the key points with the squad who are beginners and emphasised that as long as they stick to the program, make themselves accountable (share your goals with family and friends) and be consistent, they will do fantastic during race season.

My advice to beginners is choose your races wisely, don't do every race on the calendar. Quality over quantity. What is your aim for the season? Ask as many questions as possible.

For me, I will have a few weeks left of transition period before we go into the full training calendar (which includes Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning sessions). Need to work on my strength and endurance in cycling so I can get through the Gran Fondo well and to work on my running so I can speed things up a tad rather than just plod my way through the course.

I haven't had time to update on my side project yet as I still need to get the details down. Pretty much what I am doing is hand-making some cycling wares. At the moment, its cycling caps and musettes (not that popular in the triathlon world) but huge in cycling.

I have set up the email, twitter and facebook accounts and once I get paid, I will organise for a domain name.

Weekly Reflection 12/05 - 18/05

Last week was a great week! I am still on a high from my little project which started on Friday night and eventuated on Sunday evening with a blue print to my final product. See....I have been venturing back to my crafty days of sewing. I have mentioned before about the person I use to be before triathlon training...one of the things I didn't mention was how I use to be really crafty and would make everything from scratch. Anyways, I will update this blog later on the project.

Meanwhile, in the training side of things, getting back into the routine of training on a daily basis has proven to be more harder (not as easy) as I thought even though this is my 3rd year of long course training.

Due to the hectic weekend which consisted of my first off road event, going to Geelong for the MDC and then driving all the way back to Melb for a gathering, I was pooped and needed the sleep in. I decided to do my own swim in the afternoon by myself but did as much of the program as I could.

The next day was a write off. Due to my allergies, I was sneezing too much and burst a vessel in my nasal cavity and didn't go into work or did any training due to a bleeding nose. Sexy, I know. Did my own swim TT on the Wednesday night as I couldn't make it into Northcote in the morning and came out with a 1km TT of 22:08. This is my slowest 1km swim TT but I didn't really expect much - I hadn't been doing any strength work or much swimming over the last 6 weeks. I also had someone else in my lane which wasn't doing a swim TT but luckily we didn't clash. My tumble turns started off well but ended in a mess by the end of the 1km swim - was just a case of CBF.

I thought I was going to be picking up my new car on Thursday afternoon so I didn't plan on attending my run TT. The car thing didn't eventuate so I missed out on running as well as a new car - double boo. I would have had to do a 5km TT as I doubt that I am able to run 10km in under an hour at this point.

I rode with the Bicycle Superstore shop ride on the Friday morning. We started at the shop at 6:45am and instead of turning around with them at St Kilda BP, I continued into work. Luckily there was a Northerly as my legs still felt like they were made out of lead so the ride home in the afternoon was more comfortable.

Long ride with the squad on the Saturday - remind me again to not ride close to the front. Riding at 35km/hr is not sustainable for me. Even had two "pushes" from Coach Ollie as I couldn't keep up. I couldn't drink nor take in nutrition when I was with this group - too much for me! I decided to drop back as I was cramping up bad and rode by myself until a few other squad guys caught up with me. We then rode back into Elwood as a tight group and even had rolling turns at a comfortable and sustainable pace (into the head wind).

I was planning on running from ELSC on the Sunday before joining Kerri's yoga session but I decided to run from home instead so I was able to take a shower before yoga. The plan was a 9km run and for the first 6km, it was fine. I was running at a slow pace but I didn't stop. The last 3km was uncomfortable, I stopped to take breaks and walked. It was my first long run session for the season and I felt tired and very unfit. I then took a quick shower before I headed off to ELSC for the fund raising yoga session.

Favourite session of the week: I really enjoyed my Sunday yoga session (with Karen). It showed that even though I am pretty flexible, I needed to stretch as I was tightening up from training and the lack of massages. I couldn't hold much of the warrior poses as my quads were burning.

Kerri's fund raising page can be found here:

https://italiandolomites.everydayhero.com/au/kerri

I used to do the sun salutation yoga in the morning. I think I will do it again and try to make it a habit.

Least favourite session of the week: My long run on Sunday - made me feel unfit, slow, tired, sore and generally negative about running as a whole. I really have so much to do to be comfortable with running again. Hoping that the run technique course I am doing will help me in the right direction.

Advice of the week: Do what you love - this goes for my side project. I will go into detail when I have my business plan down pat. As for running, it is not something which I love at the moment but when I am comfortable with it (and it has happened a few times before), the feeling you get is amazing!

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: Fingers crossed that I will pick up my car sometime this week. I am also looking forward to my first run technique session on Sunday. I am looking forward to anything that will help my running at the moment.

Dirty Gran Fondo - Professional Pics

I bought some professional photos from the official photographer from the Dirty Gran Fondo event. To put things into perspective, I have yet to purchase my Ironman Melbourne photos! I am more proud of this event as it was something completely out of my comfort zone and it was also my first off-road event.

These were purchased from James Taylor's website.

At the start of the race. I remember trying to keep up with these ladies.
Unfortunately, I was dropped like a sack of potatoes

This was the top of the first hill climb.
I am only smiling here as there was a camera present.

Alright, no more smiling for the camera, now keep on going.....chug chug chug chug

See how much mud there was on my ass....that was only the beginning!

This was taken just before the finish line.
 See the smile on my face - yeah, realised it was the finish line and I actually made it.

Weekly Reflection 05/05 - 11/05

Last week was my first official week back into triathlon training and this is my first official Weekly Reflection entry for this season.

During the transition phase of the calendar, we programmed in 2 sessions per week for each discipline. This excludes the strength and conditioning training which we are suppose to be doing on the side. Because of the Dirty Gran Fondo event on Saturday the 10th, I thought I would add an extra session in there on the bike and so I commuted into work on my CX bike instead of doing the swim on the Wednesday.

The single swim session was done on my own at GESAC on Monday afternoon as I wasn't game enough for the Monday morning swim at Mentone. I coached the Tuesday windtrainer session on Tuesday afternoon which was refreshing - a 35min session instead of the 2 hour sessions we did during peak training for Ironman.

I did my first run session on Thursday night with Rupert in Mentone. My first run session since Ironman. We ran down to Beach Road and did drills in the car park. We did 2 x 10min T3 pace as the main set which could be tricky along the dirt paths through the bushes. For the 2nd set, I ran along the side of the road as I am not good with uneven grounds and for the sake of my safety (this needs another blog entry). All in all, we ran about 7km and it was a good set to ease my legs back into running. I wore my new Newtons shoes for this session and my quads and calves really felt it the next day.

No long run this week as I will be doing the Mothers Day Classic in Geelong.

Favourite session of the week: Dirty Gran Fondo

 

Least favourite session of the week:The first run session back really did hurt (lungs and legs)

Advice of the week: Easier said than done, I should have kept moving during recovery month. I say it year after year but I never do.

Thing I’m looking forward to next week: There are a few things on this week which I am looking forward to. Firstly, a yoga session with Kerri's sister. I went to the first one a few months ago, raising money for Smiling for Smiddy. Secondly, I may be getting my new car too. It will be more "tri-friendly".

The (Very) Dirty Gran Fondo - The Event Report

On 10th May 2014, I did my first off road event (ever!). I have mentioned about this event before the day after I signed up. The days leading up to it was filled with nerves and uncertainty. I have only had 2 rides on my mountain bike - both at Lysterfield with mixed results. Both around 14km and completed just shy of 2 hours.

There were 3 distances for this event. The 90km, the 65km and then the 35km which was the one which I signed up to do due to my ability (or lack thereof).

The day started out early. Registration started at 6:45am and we decided to get there early so we could also prep our bikes. I currently don't have roof racks so the 2 bikes (one small 26" mountain bike and one very large cyclocross) were disassembled and placed in the back of my VW golf. We left the house (Cheltenham) at 5:15am and got to Wandong Football grounds by 6:30am. Registration was pretty straight forward - What is your race number? Here is your race number, done.

Start of the day - event briefing - all smiles

Random dog who decided to take shelter from the rain in our car.

It had been raining since Friday night and continued early Saturday morning and so the grounds were wet and muddy. It was hard to decide what to wear - should I cater for wet weather? cater for comfort as riding warms me up quick? I decided early to wear a rain jacket as there were still showers present. I also wore ear warmers under my Solo riding cap. The briefing started at 7:45am, the ride started at 8am.

We were told to self seed ourselves and I started at the back as I am more comfortable with my own personal space. The first few km were good. It was wet and it took me a while to be comfortable about finding the best line.

The rain tore up some nice paths for us to ride through. When I mean nice, I mean mud several inches thick. I tried to ride through the mud-fest as much I as could. This meant pedalling my little legs out like crazy whilst trying to keep the bike perpendicular to the surface. I kept pedalling until a point where the mud was several inches deep and there was a steep incline. My bike could not move any longer and this was the first part of the course where I had to walk the bike. I also decided before I got back on the bike that I would take off my rain jacket and my ear warmers as I was getting too hot. I knew this part of the course would damage people's bikes as further on the course, I saw hangers, brake pads and even a whole cassette!

Rear wheel. Relatively OK

We were warned about the steep descent at the 8km mark and when I reached it, I hopped off the bike in order to push the bike down. There was no way I could ride down that descent, I would have face planted as I had no idea how to manoeuvre myself down what felt like -25% gradient with plenty of rocks to add to the character.

#BAAW - Annie after the event. Not as muddy due to the rides through puddles.

Once I walked the bike down the road, it was time to hop back on, albeit quite difficult due to the mud caked within my cleats, pedals, brakes, wheels and cranks. I was getting slightly worried at this point as I had been out on the road for nearly an hour and I had only covered 9km. The next few kilometers were good, I found a rhythm and even passed a few people whilst we rode up a few inclines. I noticed around this point that the course with the wet conditions was more suited for mountain bikers rather than cyclocross. We then reached a turn off on the course and started with a gradient of 30% (ave 12%) , I couldn't pedal up this hill no matter how much I tried. It was a tough walk and what seemed like an eternity. I was however entertained by the signs the event organisers placed along the side.

Once we reached the top of the hill, it was a lonely ride amongst the fog and light drizzle until we reached the first feedzone, my halfway mark. I didn't stop for too long here, only filled up my water in my camelbak and ate half a banana. They had a smorgers board here, I saw cheesymite scrolls, cheesecakes, lollies and oreos but didn't have any. At that point (2 hours in), I was in no mood to stop for a picnic and I wasn't sure how my guts would handle real food and there were no toilet stops on the course.

The rest of the course was more fun and manageable. There were some tricky descents but I gained more confidence along the way and rode through them by picking good lines. I rode through some large puddles to clean the mud off my bike but there were some puddles which I had underestimated the depth and my feet were completely immersed.

The final hill came as a real surprise. I pedalled my way up and stayed on the bike the whole way through. At the 27km mark, the route brought us to the loose bitumen road. This part was tricky. I had been fighting the mud flying into my eyes for the first 20km+ but now I had to avoid the bitumen pieces for the next 1km.

The last 6km of the course was the best. Not sure if it was due to the fact that I knew that I was on the way to the finish line or it was because my skills and confidence had increased. There were puddles and mud again (as it was the same path as the one we rode out) but the ride back was much faster.
The very last part of the course took you to a narrow bitumen road before the finishers chute.

I was ecstatic when I crossed the finish line. I made it out to be a bigger deal than it was. It was my first off road event and I had only done a few 14km rides before this day. I couldn't believe that I made my way through the mud and climbed all those hills (glutes still burning today).

There were hot showers available and I got myself cleaned before I hosed the bike down as much as I could and waited a few hours for my partner to come through (he rode the 90km).

The Canadian - much muddier than me.

Things I learnt from this event:

• Mud goes through chamois. As much as some part of the course scared me, my knicks looked like I crapped myself.
• How to handle a mountain bike - it's gears, brakes and speed. Bike skills getting better.
• Carrying a camelbak for hydration worked better than bottles on the bike, especially if eating mud is not part of the recommended diet.
• I need glasses to wear for mountain biking. I didn't have clear ones and spent some time on the ride trying to blink the mud and bitumen out.
• I didn't come DFL - I actually placed 9th out of 15. Fastest was 2:43, my time was 3:51 and the 15th was 4:48. I rode the mountain bike which made it easier. I know that the females who finished after me all rode with cyclocross (credit to them). I stopped for nutrition and had a 5min break at the feedzone.

I loved this event. It was fun and I managed through it unscathed. Will I sign up for another one? In a heart beat! Depending on how I go in the next 12 months, I might sign up for the 65km or I might do the 35km again but on the CX bike.

Thanks to the event organisers.

My Strava can be seen here.

Goals for 2014/15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

Diiiirty Gran Fondo

So last night I bit the bullet and signed up for my first off road event - the Dirty Gran Fondo organised by Bill Hill Events. I am not leaping into anything too drastic! I am just doing the 35km loop instead of the 60km or the 90km.

Considering that I have just started to ride off road and my fitness is also not quiet there to manage 60 or 90km on fire trails, I will give this a go with my mountain bike and maybe next year, I will upgrade to the 60 or 90km or even ride the CX.

I am estimating that I will be finishing this the same time as the 90km racers (the ones who are racing it instead of doing it as a ride) - the fastest was a World Champ Paul Ven Der Ploeg in 3:21 over 90km.

There are a few things I need to sort out before the 10th May - get my bike fixed. My front suspensions are not functioning 100% - currently I have no suspension on my bike. If worse comes to the worse, I may have to take the CX bike.

There are big climbs so I will need to dig deep and spin my little legs out. Part of the 35km loop still goes through Kinglake National park, I don't know how I will fair with the descents but I will try my best to stay confident.

Mother's Day is on 11th May (the next day), I am travelling to Geelong to do the walk with my mum. She has never done anything like this before. She was originally working on this day (she is an aged care nurse) but decided to take a day off and do this walk with me.

Because I'm Happy!

I am in the middle of my holidays at the moment. I am calling it a holiday as (i) I am taking a break from work but more relevant (ii) I am taking a break from triathlon training. Don't get me wrong, I love the sport of triathlon and stepping outside of my comfort zone, after doing the Ironman race in March (for the 2nd time over 12 months), I really needed a break.

I have mentioned before in my last post, I am doing some non-triathlon-training specific bike riding over the month of April. In Australia, we have Easter holidays from Friday 18th through to Monday 21st, then I took 3 days of annual leave and then we have Friday 25th April as ANZAC day public holiday. In total, I am having 10 days off work/training! WINNING! This is the first time I have had a holiday since 2011 when I went travelling in Europe for 3 weeks.

Easter Friday 18th April
My partner works for Bicycle Superstore in Mentone and he organises shop rides from the store every Friday (rain, hail or shine) at 6:45am. I haven't joined this ride due to my swim session on a Friday morning. Due to the public holiday and the bike ride starting at 7:30am instead of the usual 6:45am, I decided it was time I joined this group for a ride and meet new people. The usual ride also loops back around St Kilda (where the BP is) but due to the public holiday, we rode to Port Melbourne and then had a break (breakfast) and then back to the shop.

The average speed on this ride was around 26-30km/hr. Even though we had a few beginners with us, we still had rolling turns.

In the afternoon, we went to the Harrison St velodrome to watch the DDCX (Dirty Deeds Cyclocross) prologue races. Neither of us raced that day but we still went to support. It was (once again) such a great event. Supported by a great cycling community, who are not so caught up with egos. I had friends who had never been to a CX race there and they had such a great time, was an eye opener to the other side of the cycling sphere.

Cyclocross Prologue - C Grade.

Saturday 19th April
This was the first of the latte rides which Tri Alliance has over the month of April. I was down as a coach for the morning. From last week, I noted that one of the girls in the squad needed some attention in riding. I didn't want to leave her behind (like last week) so I decided to ride with her and took the opportunity to teach her some cycling skills.

The ride started from West End Pavilion, up to Port Melbourne and then down to Rickets' Point. There was a faster group who would ride down to Mordialloc and then meeting us at Rickets for a coffee.

There was heavy rain but was isolated around Mordialloc and we (the slower group) missed it completely.

Easter Sunday 20th April
As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to get a MTB session before I ride with the Tri Alliance group on the 27th. Initially, I wanted to go out and do it by myself but my partner ended up coming with me which was a God-send as he taught me so much on the day.

Annie - My mountain bike

I ended up doing about 14km in total but as this is mountain biking and not just riding the fire trails, it took me nearly 2 hours to get through the course. My bike skills were still shaky. I can't do switchbacks on descents but am now able to ride them going uphills. I think it has to do with the speed of the bike. As I am riding uphill, the bike is nice and slow but you are still pedalling like crazy. Going downhill, I have no idea how to handle the bike. I guess it is hard to explain until you try it yourself.

I tried to be confident along the course so I did ride over some obstacles. There was one point on the course where I actually got myself over a set of logs. I guess I thought I had enough skills at hand, but I didn't end up getting myself over the next set of logs and went over the handlebars of the bike. My pubic bone met the head stem of the bike (hard) and I fell head first over the log. My body was tangled up and my partner had to help me out of the bike. Luckily no one was around to have witnessed it. It took a while for the pain to subside before I continued. This happened around 4km from the start and the fact that that I rode around 14km in total showed that I kept at it. It was definitely an out of comfort zone moment.

My confidence on the mountain bike definitely has increased since my last real mountain bike ride 2 years ago. I am still not 100% (not even close) but I am happy to do mountain biking again. To be honest, it was fun. All the bikers on the course are much nicer and everyone said hello. Even though I was out there for nearly 2 hours, it required plenty of mental alertness and I had to decide what to do around each path. Fingers crossed for the 27th April!

A photo of my riding up one of the switchback. 

Bruises on my left leg (day 6)

Easter Monday 21st April

As my body was a bit sorry and sore from my fall on Sunday, I decided to take it easy on the bike and rode the CX bike instead of the roadie. We decided to cruise around our area went on a little adventure. We first rode to Sandringham via the little side streets. After breakfast, we rode to Black Rock via Bluff Road (instead of Beach Road) and visited Le Knicks. The management of this famous shop close to the Black Rock clock tower has changed since late last year. Instead of stocking bargain bins of jerseys and pro-group gear, they are now stocking more quality clothing (than quantity). It was a nice change and more welcoming in my opinion. 

After chatting to the new owner for a bit, we then rode up Balcombe Rd to Watkins Bay coffee shop for another coffee break before we headed home via the side streets. 

Loved this day as we took in the sights of our neighbourhood, checked out the mansions, visited bike shops, ventured through parks, all done on our bikes (no lycra or Garmin in sight). 

Thursday 24th April

I spent my annual leave days with my parents in Geelong. I decided to take to the CX bike to Geelong as I planned on riding bike paths around my parent's place. 

The ride started around 9:30am. I initially rode around the freeway but the bike paths stopped so I decided to turn around and found some bike paths on either side of the Waurn Ponds creek. I rode this path all the way to Barwon river. Instead of riding the same path back, I decided to take different paths where I could and ventured around Deakin uni before heading back home. 

The ride was fantastic. The speed was around 12-18km/hr, relaxed and I took in the sights of the neighbourhood. I felt like a kid again, riding along the bike paths, no pressure of riding in a pack, no pressure of trying to cover certain distances of a program. 

Betty in front of the Barwon River

Swiggly map from Strava showing where I rode

ANZAC Day 25th April

This morning, I joined the Bicycle Superstore shop ride. We started at 8am to cater for people who would have joined any of the dawn services around Melbourne. We started from the shop and stopped at Port Melbourne for breakfast, then we returned to the shop again. Just shy of 50km for this morning. We noticed that even though we rode at 8am, it was still cold (7 degrees C). If you didn't have long fingered gloves, you were suffering. 

So far, I have been on bikes for 6 days out of the 8 with 2 more days remaining of my holiday. The next 2 days, I am planning on riding with the squad on Saturday (Latte Ride) to Mordi and will be returning to Lysterfield on Sunday for Sunday-Funday's mountain biking session. 

I have to say, this has been one of the best holidays I have had. We (my partner and I) didn't go anywhere exotic, we stayed at home, we spent time with each other and on our bikes. I also spent time with my family without the stress of fitting in training sessions. 

The break away from training has been great for my well being. I have enjoyed being outdoors and being on my bike(s) for the love of it. I am happy. XX