The South Western Sydney 70.3

Race weekend didn't start out the best. I had a short 30min easy ride and then a 10min easy run to do on the Saturday. All at a slow pace. I had the bike setup in full race mode with the carbon wheels etc. I assumed this would be a good chance to make sure everything was running smooth and I am glad I did. I left the house and headed up the hill. I could hear a little rubbing from the front brake. Not a big issue really so I stopped and checked everything was in place and lined up ok. Moved the brake across a little and started out again. Shortly I had to brake for a corner and once again the brake started rubbing. This time I moved it while riding and kept going. This went on for a couple of km's when I got annoyed and knew something just wasn't right. I have never seen this before. I stopped and had a closer look. Then I noticed it. It seems that when I crashed the other week I had damaged the front left caliper. It was not releasing like it should. Maybe the race wheels are slightly wider or as they are carbon you hear it more but either way I had a problem.

I headed back home without completing my training for the day and pulled it apart to see if I can fix it. I had bent the spring so I was out of luck. I tried the local specialized store but as with all bike shops in my area they don't stock the TT range so no spare parts. I had no way to fix it and didn't know what to do. I decided that I would just have to make sure I didn't use the front brake. I mean its a race so I shouldn't be braking anyway. 

With that small set back as sorted as it was going to get I waited for Adam to show up and we went to check-in the bikes and go through the registration process. Getting there a little before rego time we had a chance to look through the ironman store. I had a feeling that if I didn't get my shopping done that day I would not have a chance on race day. I found some cool stuff. They had towels and shirts with all the competitors name printed on them so never having my name on a shirt or towel I thought that I better get those.

The names are in the m-dot logo

After we registered we racked our bikes. I don't know what it is with some people but they just don't have any real care about how they rack their bikes and how it will affect other people. The girl across from me racked her bike so it was basically sticking out my side and my bike no matter how I positioned it would not fit. A quick chat to the marshal and they swapped her bike around. While not required we thought that we would take the transition tour. It gave us something to do. I knew I would not be winning so I knew I could just follow the crowd on the day. With that complete we headed over to see the compulsory race brief video and then looked through more of the expo. After that we went home to relax and make sure we were sorted for the race.

Race day was an early start. We were up by 3:45am. Having to be there by 5am we needed to be on the road by 4:10am. That makes it a hard day to begin with. But it does give you time to have something to eat and know it will be digested before the race starts. Lucky we left close to the time we wanted as just before the entrance we hit traffic. Loads of it. Everyone trying to get in. While it was moving reasonably time was ticking away. We only have until 5:45am when transition would close to get our setup complete. We made it in there but didn't have long and time seemed to fly by. Before I knew it they were pushing us to leave. Lucky I have everything sorted. All I needed now was to drop my bag off and have one last bathroom stop before heading to the start line. Yeah I should have done that earlier also. Damn line was long. Because of that I just made it in time for Adams start group. They were already in the water and moving to start position. I knew I was 22min behind is group so I had time to warm up still. No rush. They moved through the groups reasonably fast and before I know it I was in the water waiting for my start.

I don't know what happened but 30 seconds before our start there was a call for assistance and a rush of people to help someone in our group. I didn't get to see much apart from them pulling him into the boat as our race started. I guess the race waits for no one. We were off. I held a nice steady pace for most of the swim. I was happy with it in the end. Yeah not the fastest I could have done but I got out of the water feeling like I had done a good swim. 

In transition I could see that Adam had gone so I wondered how long it would take me to catch him. I had hoped I had taken a good chunk of time from him in the swim and hoped I would see him not to far down the road. Anyway I jumped on the bike and got into a nice pace. Not to fast but I could still feel it in the legs. As usual some guys came blasting past and others I caught. I tried to keep my mind occupied knowing that it was going to be a long ride. I started to eat my food early on as I had planned and knowing the day would be hot got more drink in me than I normally did during training. Not long before the first turn around I saw Adam heading the other way. We called out encouragement and kept going, At the first turn around I made sure I didn't use the front break and headed off after Adam. On my way back I saw Mike who had started 3min after me was closing in as he normally does on the bike. I knew it would not be long before I was seeing him pass me. By the second turnaround before heading back to complete the first loop I had not seen Adam nor had I heard him call anything out. Strange but it can happen. So I didn't know how far he was ahead of me. Heading back Mike finally caught me. Later than I thought he would so I felt pretty good. Actually I was feeling good about almost all of the ride. My heart rate was down most of the time. Sure my legs and hips had some pain by the end but then again I knew I had good pace. Finishing the first lap you get to see the crowd but its not long before you are back out and relatively alone. It did take about 60kms but I did catch Adam. I know I should have not been concerned with it but as always if you have someone to chase you will. Adam must have had a good ride for me to take so long to get him and yes his results showed he had. Nothing much happened for the rest of the bike leg really. Coming into the finish of the bike I felt a small twinge in my leg where I had experienced cramps before in Husky. I knew I had some tablets for cramps and took them as soon as I could on the run.

Transition 2 and I get to my position. I did have a space to my left where some guy had not shown up so I put my gear close to my bike on that side to give myself a little more room. Unfortunately I found the jerk next to me had his swim gear all over my runners etc. I threw his gear to the side and changed. The run started well but the temperature was picking up. I didn't go out to hard which made for a nice change. About 4kms in and the heat was getting to me. I started to take on as many fluids as I could but that gave me what felt like a stitch but not a bad one. So from that point on I was trying to manage my intake of fluid so that I could keep going on. I knew in the heat and the way I was feeling I was not going to run the whole way like I had hoped. I had gone into survival mode. I wasn't alone. Almost everyone around me was doing the run/walk/run technique. The heat had really picked up and I was trying to run all the way between aid stations and walk while I took in fluids. As the run went on it became slightly longer walks and a lot harder to motivate the body to start running again. I found I had a standard process at the aid stations as well. Grab a water in one hand, then grab the ice and shove it down the tri suit. Grab a coke or electrolyte drink and take a mouthful. Dump the rest of that and grab a water at the final aid table. Now with the two waters dump the warmer of the two over your head and then take a few sips of the last one before dumping that on my head as well. I don't know if that's how I should have done it but it was all I could think about. Having ice melting around your junk while running is rather interesting the first time but soon I was only thinking about getting to the end and not where the ice was. I did find that if you tip the ice down the back of your suit at some stage one piece will work its way to your crack and running with ice in your crack is not that fun.

One thing about the run is you did get to see other people on the two and a half loop course that doubled back on itself a few times. This can be good as you get to say hi but when Adam is running with a smile on his face and you are struggling you kind of wonder what you are doing wrong. What really happened is Adam was also having a great run. Damn him. Finally I made it to the last 2kms and really the final aid station I was going to use before the finish. I could see the end. I walked about 100m to the hoses they were using to cool people down and that was my mark to start running. I was determined not to walk any longer. As I got closer I could feel I was going to make it all the way without having to stop but I knew I didn't have my normal ability to speed up at the end. I just kept the same pace and finished it off. Making the finish carpet was great. Sure I was in pain but I was happy I had done it. It might have been ugly but it was done. I got my medal, took my shoes off and jumped into the lake to cool off.

While I know the full ironman is going to be harder I have been told we will not have the same heat which will be nice. :)

Race week (70.3)

The week of the 70.3. Not a bad week at all. Still only one rest day but all sessions have reduced in time and effort. Sure its not like I am walking around town as training. It still has some pain but nothing like it was. The body is recovering nicely. Kind of a shame as my excuses are dwindling. I am trying to do as much stretching and rolling as I can. I want to get as much of the tightness out of my body as I can.

Tomorrow is registration day and then its the race. I know my start time and have confirmed my name is on the list...

Race number and name confirmed.

I have my bike setup and bags packed. First thing tomorrow I have a 30min ride and 10 min run brick session so it will be a good last chance to make sure the bike is still running smooth with the race wheels on. Nutrition is sorted so there is not much more to do but have some good dinners and sleep.

I think everyone has been watching the weather. Its been a little strange this week. Started out very hot last weekend. Since then we have had rain, winds and colder days but they are saying it will be hot again on Sunday. Not going to be a pleasant run if it is but then again I don't expect by that time in the race that I will be enjoying it anyway. :)

I believe that anyone can track me during the race by going to ironman.com or ironmanlive.com. We will see on the day. I guess my next post will be a post race recap.

Taper time. :)

Something I have been looking forward to is the taper. After some tough weeks its nice to see the plan have a few shorter sessions. Sure they still have some intensity in them but now they only hurt for a short period of time.

Last weekend I tested some new nutrition ideas during my long bike ride. Vegemite sandwich, snakes and chicos. The sandwich was ok. I decided I need to cut the crust off to make for less chewing. Sure its only bread but its harder than you think when you are breathing a little heavier than normal. The snakes are fine but you have to hold it and bite as you go. Not that bad but if its hot I think I might get sticky fingers after a while. The chicos seem to be good. They are bite sized and they are not sweet so with all the other sweet gels etc they are a good change.

I think that I am ready to tackle the half ironman on the weekend but the usual thoughts go through my head wondering if I will make it. How hard will it be. But I know I have done the training so I should be ok. I started packing the tri bag last night. Checked off most of the items I knew I would not use between now and the race. Put it all aside. I will prep the bike one night this week ready for a short 30min ride on Saturday morning. Just to make sure it is running smooth as silk.

After my test ride I will be heading to the course to check the bike in and do all the registration and mandatory tasks. Hopefully get some time in the expo to look around and check out the items in the ironman store. I am not fast enough to finish the race and shop on the Sunday so I will get my shopping done early. That way Sunday is just a relaxed race day.

Lets hope the weather will not be 45degC like it was yesterday.

Injury and recovery

So we are getting into the final stages of training before the ironman 70.3. I am looking forward to it in a way. I was into the final hard build week trying to make the most of it. They say the better you train the easier the race will be. So not wanting to interrupt my training I decided to skip the club race, train like I should and marshal during the club event.

The week had been hard but nothing that I had not expected. Saturday came and I got up early for my run. I had a 110min run to do. I assumed that I would get close to the 21km mark. Everything started off well. My heart rate was sitting nice in zone 2. I was running faster than I thought I was going to but I was happy with how I was feeling. About 50min in I started to feel a bit of a pain down near the achilles  or lower part of the calf. At first it wasn't too bad so I thought it would go away. Another 5min in and I knew something wasn't right. I started to walk and run when I felt better. I soon realised that wasn't going to work so I made a call and got picked up. How disappointing. Only three weeks from a major event and I can't run.

Back home I waited for the physio to open and called to get an appointment asap. Luckily my usual physio was available that morning. She said it was good I stopped as it was only a small tear. The only issue I had was she wasn't sure if it was the achilles or calf. She hoped for the calf as it would mend faster. Knowing I had a 110km ride tomorrow she said do a test ride that night to see if I had pain. If I did I was not allowed to ride and if not then I was good to go on Sunday. She also strapped it and recommended using a calf support. I was told that if all goes well I should be ready for the next race. Lucky for me there was no pain on the test ride.

Sunday I went out for the long ride. No pain so that was good. Well no pain apart from the usual pain from the ride itself. That night I told the coach about the injury and my recovery week got even easier since I was not allowed to run. My usual runs became walks. While that's good I felt like I wasn't doing enough.

At the second physio appointment on Wednesday my leg was feeling better which probably means it was the calf. I had been resting it as much as I could so while it felt better I still did not know. The physio checked me out and was happy with the progress. I was told that I was allowed to test run but not too much. Basically doing some easy strides during my walking sessions. Also I was given some exercises to do. Thursday would be my first opportunity to test it out. The walk / run started out ok. Nothing special and reasonably slow. I don't know if it was in my head or not but I kept thinking is that pain I am feeling? Hmm I was obviously worried about it. All that afternoon I was testing it and checking for pain.

 Saturday Adam and I did a special trip to ride the 70.3 bike course for one lap. The real thing is going to be a two lap event but as it was an easy week one lap fit in well. Its a reasonably flat course with only really one small hill. I think its going to be a fast paced ride. I am so glad I don't have to navigate during the race. The night before I had taken note of a few turns that we need to do. The far end of the ride course which I did know is kind of a Y shape. You head out to the left before coming half way back and going out to the right. I don't know if that was well explained but anyway. Riding along looking for the first turnaround point and well all I can say is I missed it. We ended up getting to a town we didn't think we should see so we stopped and checked Google maps. Sure enough we were 5km past the first point. Well done Stefan. Well we did find the turn point on the way back. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful really. We did see a bunch of people riding the course.

Today was the longer run day. Well this time it was a 60min walk / run. I did think about just making it a slow run and found it hard to convince myself to do what the physio said. Lucky for me I stuck to the plan. I just thought that if I screw this up I am an idiot. Well when I say plan I guess there was nothing set in stone apart from take it easy. In the end I decided to run for 1km and then walk till I get to the 10min mark. So I knew I would do 6km plus whatever I walked. All I can say is walking when you feel you should be running is so hard to do. I got through it and felt good that I had no pain.

So two weeks to go..

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. :)