The Nepean triathlon

The Nepean triathlon is Australia's oldest triathlon. The current distance is 1km swim, 30km ride, 10km run. Second week into the race season and this is the second event. A little longer than the club race but not a heap. Held at the regatta centre again. The difference with this race and the club race is the ride heads out on the streets and the run is laps around the lake. An advantage of this race heading out on the streets is it follows a similar path to the 70.3 ride I have at the end of November.

It was another early start. Everything going as planned. At rego they printed your age group on your calf so you know who you are competing against. It was another wetsuit optional race. My wave was once again about last to head off. I started a little slower than normal hoping that I could get into a more controlled pace than last week. Soon I was back into my normal pace but I was close to the end of the swim so that was good. Once again I was hoping I was ahead of Mike. I jogged out of the water a little faster than last week.

Getting into transition I could see Mike's bike was still there. Woohoo I am in front. I do what I need to and get out of there as fast as I can. Out of transition I jump on the bike and start to peddle. I try to keep a good pace without overdoing it. About 1km into the ride I have Mike passing me. Damn it that's way too soon. I duck in behind him and get a little draft happening before I decide I should let him go. From there on I am trying to just keep a good pace while keeping the heart rate down. Sure it was little disheartening to see a hill half way around the ride. Lucky it wasn't that big. Apart from some guy not knowing how to stay to one side when being passed and almost running me into a cone it was a pretty uneventful ride. I had lost touch with Mike and the others I knew competing were also nowhere to be seen. But as I was feeling good I was happy so far.

I jumped off the bike and ran into transition. I could see Mike had left already so I took some extra time to put my socks on for the longer run. It didn't take much longer. The run started and once again it was faster than my normal pace. I slowed down a little during the first lap so I could make it to the end. The sun was out and it was now really hot. The drinks stations became a mouthful of water and the rest of the cup tipped over my head. After the first lap I started to think about if I could make it at the current pace. It was still fast for me and the heat was taking its toll. That's where I try to convince myself that 5km is less than 25min running. I can do that. Its not even half a training run. I remember with 3.5km to go thinking I should be done in about 18min. Easy you can do this. Just keep the legs going. I ran for what seemed like ages, looked at the watch and thought damn it I have only run 500m. This is going to be harder than I think. But then I see something that cheered me up. Not far ahead of me was Mike. Yay I can see him and I seem to be catching him. I get right behind him with about 2.5 km to go. We had just past a drink station so there is a small group of people. I start to consider what to do. Do I say hello and have a chat. Maybe he will speed up to beat me if I do. Do I follow a small group past him and hope he does not see me. If I do that he might still see me and then I am just rude and he still might speed up. Either way I could be in trouble here. I don't want to leave it to late in case he kicks at the end but I also don't know if I have much more in me.

Well I decide to say hi. We always high five as we pass each other and try to cheer each other on so I decided not to be sneaky. We have a little chat about how we are going and soon I hear him say he will see me at the end. I was pulling away. Don't look back I kept thinking to myself. I might give it away that I am hurting. Knowing that we are close and that we only have a short distance to go I push even harder. I can see the line down the end of the path. I am just hoping that I have made enough of a gap to keep him away. I cross the line, grab my medal and get out of the road. I can't talk as I am done. I need a drink and to get out of the heat. Walking to the drinks I see a guy using a hose to fill the drink buckets. Lucky for me he was willing to hose me down. It helped. A few drink and a little sit down in the shade and I was feeling a lot better. Damn it was hot.

With a time of 1:53:53 it was the fastest race I have done. The bike was super fast at 37.54km/h average and a pace of 4:38 per km on the run I was really happy. Now I just need to slow that down a little and get through the next race which will be the longest race I have ever done.

Race season has started

Yep that's right the racing has started. Two weeks and two races are now done and dusted. Lucky for me the first three races I am doing this season are at the same location which I am very familiar with. Based at the Sydney international regatta centre in Penrith which is the home of the Hills tri club.

The first race of the season was a Hills club race. Distance is a standard sprint. 750m swim, 20km ride, 5km run. Shouldn't be a big deal with all the training I have been doing. Normally our club races are in the afternoon once the heat of the day has gone but this one was early morning. I like that as it gets it done and you have the rest of the day to do what you like. With my bike stripped down to the bare essentials for a short race I was ready to go.

Ready to race

View of the swim leg

It was a perfect morning for the race. It did feel a little cold at the start but no wind and with the sun coming up it was going to get warm later. The wetsuit optional call went out while we were setting up which always makes me happy. With the bike racked it was time for the long walk down to the start point.

This race is a straight swim. So the long walk to the start and looking all the way down to the finish can be a spirit buster until you get used to it. Its not as fun as when you have a few turns to think about. Anyway soon we were in the water and racing. My group being the older males is always the last to leave but soon we were catching some of the slower swimmers. My race typically revolves around trying to see if I can keep up with my old trainer Mike. We like to start a bit away from the rest and get a good run down the lake. I took off at the start trying to make sure I did not fall to far behind Mike. But I lost him. I didn't know if he was ahead or behind but he was gone. Half way through I was hoping that I didn't go out to hard. I find it hard to pace myself on the swim. I just swim stupid and feel it when I get to the end. I tried to calm down and swim relaxed but that's easier said than done.

I exit the water puffing away as always. I don't run right away. I walk out of the water undoing the wetsuit and make sure that I am not the guy that falls over as they stand up. As I start to speed up to a nice jog into transition I see Mike run past me crossing the timing mat 1 sec ahead. He made sure he gave me a little crap as he past me just to rub it in. We both strip down and grab our bikes and head off. This is the first time I had my shoes set on the bike and was going to try a flying start. Being closer to Mike than I ever have gave me some hope that if I could just get close enough I might finally beat him. Well I jump on my bike get both feet in and peddle up a small hill. When I get to the top I do up my straps and look up for Mike. Yeah 20m ahead and leaving me behind. The guy is a beast on the bike. My heart is racing, I am short on breath and I start to realise that my hopes of catching him and maybe cheating a little off him is rapidly becoming less of an option. But not to worry if I go hard enough I might be able to get him on the run. Well thats what I tell myself. By the 5km mark I start to wonder why am I doing this. Whats wrong with me. I question my training and wonder how am I every going to make the full ironman if I can't even complete a sprint without this much pain. I do everything I can to slow my heart rate and get myself under control. Yeah maybe I should have slowed the legs down but knowing I was falling behind that's not an option. I never said I was smart.

Soon the ride came to an end. No I had not been able to calm down but I thought that if I get into a good run then it would all work out. Looking in transition I see the normal view. Mikes bike neatly racked and him gone. Damn it. Oh well I rack my stuff, put on my shoes and head off for the run. It's a two lap run up and back on a path. So you get to see everyone a few time. The run starts off a little fast for me. It tends to happen as you try to keep up with people. I try to slow a little which does work but its still hard. I push on and see Mike as he passes going the other way. I then try to work out how far behind I am. The state I am in I wouldn't have been able to count to 10. The rest of the first is pretty much the same. Some people pass me and I pass others. I look at my watch and I am still travelling at a fast speed for me. I just assume that if I just put my head down I could make it to the end like this. I actually start to feel better for a while. Then I hear someone catching me. As he gets along side me some guy says "you are a hard man the catch 47". Yes that was my number. We chat for a moment about how the race is going. While I am being nice on the outside all I can think of is you bastard why do you sound so fresh. If I was hard to catch why don't you sounds like you are struggling. Anyway he soon continues on and leaves me to push to the end. I come across the line with nothing left. When I finally got myself settled I checked out my time. Faster than last years times by about 6min. That cheered me up a little. I later found out that I was only 49 seconds behind Mike. Yes he beat me again but I was getting closer. My run really help out.

Build phase 1

Wow its been a while since I can added anything in here. So whats happened the last few weeks. Well the build phase. Everything is harder and wow can I say some of it was very hard. As I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands than what I am already doing we just do the same timings but add difficulty.

I remember one swim race prep session I struggled to even keep the timings. Well I say struggled to keep the timings. I actually didn't. I had to have a couple of longer breaks than I was supposed too. I made it to the end but man was I in pain. I will say I was happy that the coach had a go at that session and also found it very difficult. Made me feel better about my effort.

The magpies are still out and about causing trouble. It can't be much longer till they bugger off. Our club organised an open water swim at the regatta center where the 70.3 will be run. It was good to get in the water and have more time in the wetsuit. The water was a little cold but not to bad. I am back there this week for the clubs first race of the season.

Last week I spent four days in Malaysia. It kind of ruined the normal weekend training. I had to use a spin bike and treadmill for the Saturdays brick session. Wow what a pain that was. Hot, boring and just not right. I don't know how people do that sort of thing all the time. Then Sunday I didn't do anything as I had a big night out on Saturday. Monday after I got in I missed the swim as I couldn't keep myself awake. But all up I guess I didn't miss a heap. I tried to get as much in during the start of the week as I could. Even went for a run at 5:30am the morning of the flight out.

Training in Malaysia

This week is another recovery week before the next build phase. Time to take it easy with training and let the body recover. So it should be fun. Plus with the Hills tri club race one on Sunday its going to be a good week. Then next week we have the Nepean triathlon which is in-between a sprint and an olympic distance. Then its the final push to the 70.3.

On the injuries front everything seems to be pretty good. Nothing stopping me from doing what I need too.

Now for something crazy. I left Australia and it was 33°C. I come back four days later and its low 20's. The second night I am back and it snows in the mountains an hour away from home. We don't have that much snow there even during winter. Just crazy. I think last year we had bush fires in the mountains. The world has gone crazy. :)

Bye bye base phase

What a great week. Nothing like the joys of having a recovery week. I would have to look back and see if it was an easier recovery week or the same as normal but to me it felt the best. It could have been that the week before was really hard. I don't know but I am happy with this week. I was reduced to only doing two of everything this week. woohoo. With that I see the end of the base phase. Its hard to explain so here is the plan.

Well there it is the full 40 week program that is going to get me to the finish line. Well that's the plan anyway. :) Next part is the build phase. I don't know what that means for my days yet until tomorrow night when I get my new schedule. My assumption is that it will be longer, harder and faster sessions.

I have started receiving countdown emails for the 70.3 in November. Only 10 weeks to go. So exciting. This is the first time that they have held a 70.3 in Sydney so it should be fun. The course has been published online and as it is only 30min drive from home it looks like we will be making a trip up that way to ride the bike section. The swim and run I already know as its where my club holds its races but the ride heads out into the streets so I have not done that part yet.

I have been going over the race schedule. They seem to have a nice spread of activities over the three days. I have to rack my bike the day before so that will give me some time out there looking at the store, expo, transition tour and race video. I might try to get out early enough to watch the ironkids race as well. May as well cheer the young ones on. Then Sunday the race is on at 6am. That will mean I can finish before lunch and have the rest of the day to moan about how much my body hurts. haha.

Apart from that excitement I have entered the first club race in four weeks time followed by the Nepean Tri the week after. Both are shorter distances but should give my gear and transition a good shakedown.

Last week I purchased my new wetsuit. I have been looking around for some time at what I want to get. In the end it came down to fit and the service of the people at the Aquashop in Gordon. I don't know if the top down zipper is going to be a pain or not as you can't do it up yourself but we will see. One thing is it stops someone from undoing my wetsuit during the swim so that is a good thing.

I am taking it out for a test run in the ocean this weekend so we will see how it goes. I don't know why I am heading into the water this early after winter. Doing an IM makes me think I have lost my marbles so maybe this confirms it.

All up the weather has been changing for the better. Warmer days are happening. The magpies are still swooping but I have worked out that if I ride with a mate they don't get us. Maybe he is my lucky charm.

On another note a good friend Amy is doing her first ever triathlon this weekend. She chose to do the olympic distance which is crazy for a first crack but I know she will do well. I am kind of jealous I am not joining her or even getting to cheer her on from the sidelines but seeing as I am nowhere near San Diego it makes it hard to get there. haha. So on that note I end this entry with my final words being.. Go Amy!!

Winter is over.

Last week marked the end of another winter. Not all bad really. Lots of sun to keep the training pleasant. Sure it was a little cold at times but at least it wasn't always raining. Yes the last couple of weeks has been almost non stop rain but I guess we needed it so it all works out in the end.

My physio sessions have been going well. We are down to fortnightly sessions although I did run and ride this weekend without any pain so I don't think I will be needing the physio for much longer. Yay. Always a win in my books. I also believe that I found a good masseuse. She seemed to know all the right places to prod and poke. Also she explains what she has found and what I can do to prevent being so tight. So that was a win as well.

The easy week didn't turn out to be as easy as I had hoped. I don't know what I was looking for. Maybe a couple of days of watching movies. :P Anyway it was easier than the previous week and the weeks that have followed. Training generally is going well. I am still eager to get out there and do an event though. My biggest pain about the training right now is the magpies and plovers. Damn stupid bird breading time. I might have a backwards sense of caution or something as we are supposed to have most of the worlds deadliest snakes and spiders but what I worry about while riding and running is getting pecked on the head by some stupid bird. So far I have been swooped twice while running and had three birds chase me while riding. I find if you go fast enough they can't get a shot at you and will just follow from above. Either way I get out of rhythm and it annoys me to have to look over my shoulder. I can only hope that the next eight weeks go by fast so they will stop. If they don't they might find themselves on the wrong end of a piece of lead.

The training is getting harder but nothing that I wasn't expecting. I now have to do three sessions of everything. In total a little over 11hrs of training for the week. Weekends have been hard to do anything after training. I get so tired that I tend to want to sit around and watch some sport on TV. But with the first of the races around the corner it will be more fun soon. Sunday was another group training session. It was fun as it was different. I don't know what you would call it but we sort of named it a transition session. We got ready like we were leaving T1 and headed out of the coaches driveway where we mounted the bikes. Then did about a 20min ride at reasonable pace out and back to his place where we had to dismount, complete T2 and run off for about 5min. We did that four times. Yes it got a little competitive each round as the pace and talk started to pick up. But it was fun. I started doing different styles of flying mounts which I have not really tried before. I am happy I never fell on my head and I think that I have found something that will work for me. I have to practice a bit more and get everything right before I really feel comfortable but it will get there. Not that I think I will be doing that in the IM.

Well I guess its time for more training..... Swim, bike, run, repeat...

So far away yet so close

Well its been a little while since I updated here. What been happening is a good question but probably easy to answer. In short just training. :)

So I have been going to the physio once a week for my knee issues. Its getting better but not there yet. I really look forward to the day I can run again and the only pain I have is muscle pain because I used them. I hate the pain here or there because of some stupid stretching I wasn't doing enough of or something similar. Anyway I think we will get there one day. So for now its more stretching and strength work from the physio.

IM training is going well. This week is a hard week. The weekends 3.5hr ride and 100min run are going to be tough but I know that next week will be an easy week in the rotation so I look forward to that. All other training is just moving along as expected. I am tired a lot of the time and days are almost blurring into each other. I guess that's what its like when it is non stop.

I did get a chance to change it up last weekend. I got to run in the city2surf. For those who might read this and don't know what it is then basically its 70,000 people running from the middle of Sydney 14km's out to Bondi beach. I have done it three times now and this is the first time I have not had to walk. Its strange how the mind works. There was a few sections I remember being very painful and long. I had images in my head of roads that I hated in the past. But when you feel good while running those same sections seemed short. Anyway I was happy with my result of 66min. I took almost 20min off my previous best time. I would have liked to beat my mate Fil who I work with and is known as the flash but he is just a little too fast for me. Maybe another time. I guess it shows what real training can do.

Well while the IM is still 206 days away I started thinking about some of the other events that I have signed up for. Really I have 2 months till my first triathlon event. After that I will be doing at least one a month until the big day. So I guess we are not far away until I get to change it up and see how my training has been going. I guess I am looking forward to that time of year. It is the best time. I am not a great trainee but I know it is needed.

Stupid injuries

So its been a sad few weeks. I started to get some pain in both knees. So much so I couldn't do all the training that I wanted to do. So I thought I should go and see the physio. Yeah maybe I could have gone sooner but I usually just try to get through it and hope that whatever is annoying me will go away.

Well it seems that the cause of the pain was the kneecap not being in the correct location (groove) as it should be and is rubbing against some other part of the knee that it shouldn't. Yes I am very technical with my explanation I know. Anyway the reason its not sitting correctly is the muscle in my legs in the front of my hip that go down the leg and attach to the kneecap are very tight. So with a little elbowing into some tender part of my leg I seemed to have a bit of relief. But unfortunately I wish that one session of pain was going to be enough but it wasn't. I now have to spend many hours of the day rolling my legs and laying with a tennis ball on some tender muscles. Lucky Dee has lent me the use of her elbow most nights while watching TV. She might even enjoy it as it brings me pain and when she laughs about something the slight bounce in her body pushes her elbow into my leg even more.

The good news is it seems to be slowly getting better. It has fallen into line with the end of a 4 week training cycle so I get to have a more relaxed week this week and the coach said I can miss a couple of sessions here and there without any real set back.

Apart from the injury I have been amazed at the stupidness of some of the shops around here. On the weekend I went for a drive to look at a tri wetsuit. It was an hour away as they are the only people anywhere close by that has the brand that I was looking at. I could not fault the lady at the Aquashop in Gordon. She let me try it on. Talked to me about some of the cheaper options and generally listened to what I had to say. So far out of three brands I have in mind they are now on the top. A lot of that has to do with service and I will drive the hour to buy it instead of purchasing online or anything like that. So when I went to leave I thought about dropping past a triathlon specific shop and looking at some tri bike shoes which I had read about. Once again this is brand that not everyone stocks and the tri shop is the closest to home that have it. This is where the good service of the day ended.

Knowing I have to almost pass the shop on the way home it was a good excuse to have a look. I remembered the shop was closing for renovations so I gave them a call first to see if they were around still as a store or now only online. The shop owner said that yes they were seeing people in his wife's yoga studio and he would have the shoes I was after. So I turned up to the shop, tried on the shoes. Had a bit of a chat as you do but nothing special. He said they should feel snug but not too tight as the foot will swell. Nothing I have not heard before but always good information. The shoes were ok but nothing special. My current ones are more comfortable but as these can be molded to the foot so they could be the best shoe ever I don't know. Anyway I was not ready to purchase as I have other things I want to do and look at first so I thank him and go to put my shoes back on. He says so are you going to take them acting like its a done deal. I said I was going to look at others and if I decide to buy them I would be back. He then told me that he should have said on the phone that there was a $50 fitting fee. I told him that yes he should have told me and its unfortunate that he didn't. He explained that I was going to order them online like so many people do and he would be out of business if he didn't charge these fee's. I thought that's sad but really its not my issue. I told him that I was not out to buy shoes today and I only came past to have a look as it was on my way home. I did explain this a few times on the phone and while trying on the shoes. I said that if I spend $200 on shoes without talking to my wife about it first I would be in trouble. Yes a slight joke but honestly as a couple you should discuss these things first. He replied with if he let me out of this shop without getting his $50 his wife would not be happy either and that he would have to call her and see if that was ok. I said well you have to do what you have to do. He then said that if I can't afford $200 shoes then I am in the wrong sport. I really don't think that he understands the full story. Its not that I can't afford to spend $200 but I do like to talk to my wife about it, look at all my options and also not be pressured into it. He also tried to use the guilt trip of him having to get the shoes out of wherever they were so I could have a look. I mean is it my fault that he is renovating his store. Really he tried every tactic to get me to pay him some money. So anyway I walked out without paying a thing thinking what a f@#k head.

So if anyone ever is in Oatley NSW and wants tri gear DO NOT go see The Triathlon Shop (trigearonline.com.au) as he is a jerk and should be out of business with that kind of service. While you are at it you may as well boycott Gracefully fit yoga as if his wife runs her business the same she can go to hell as well. I hate to see a triathlon shop go out of business as we don't have many around but if you are going to run one like he does then screw that shop.

So that was stupid shop one. The next is where I get my gels from. They are cheaper than the rest but they have no idea how to run an internet shop. I have made a few orders and delivery is fast and good when they get it right but when they don't pray to god as he is the only one that seems to be able to help. I have learned never to call the 1800 number for them. You get a answering service but no matter what option you select the phone just rings and rings. If you call the interstate one they answer but when you ask for who you want they are always in a meeting. No matter what time of day. I think they just have meetings. Anyway I was informed they would call me back and as they have new staff because the last guy left as he was a joke I would actually get a call back. Well sure enough they called me back this time. Yay. I was basically asking why my order had the status as part paid when I did select that option. They said that they could only supply half the order so only charged me half the amount. I was cool with that and sure enough I got what I had paid for. So far so good. Anyway a few days later I get a call from them asking if they can have my card number again to charge me for the rest of the order. They told me that they sent the complete order when they realised they actually had all the stock and now wanted their money. I informed them that I did not receive my full order and I don't believe that they sent it and relayed my conversation i had with them a few days before. They said they would find out when the extra stuff was sent and get back to me. So far I have not heard from them again. If I do get the extra stuff I will call them and let them know but its just crazy they are so messed up for the professional business that they say they are. I mean where is the online store that checks stock from a database etc like most online stores have. Just crazy. Anyway I have ranted enough.

On a brighter note while the mornings are cold the days here are really nice. Maybe not if you were a farmer relying on water but for me and my training its wonderful. Even last night I got off the train after work and I noticed it was brighter than a few weeks before so I can start to tell that summer is coming. Woohoo.

Pyrmont bridge in the morning