2015 Western Sydney IM70.3

Its been a few weeks since I have posted anything. I guess its because I haven't really done anything exciting. Lots of the same training really. The focus for the last few weeks has been running off the bike. Usually around the 40-90km ride and then a 10-20km run. Distances changing week to week. The rest of the days are the usual swim or runs. The weather here has been all over the place. From really cold to painfully hot.

That's really it up until the race on the weekend. So Saturday I was packed and ready to go. I had no body complaints so no excuses. Adam showed up around 11am and we headed up to the regatta center. As usual there was a lot of people around doing their thing. They had a practice swim that day and the iron kids events. We headed over to rego and signed in. It was inconsistently sprinkling which maybe it annoying but kept it cool. Checked in and the usual shopping for gear completed we headed to lunch and then Richmond for the night.



After the traffic issues getting into the race last year and only having a short setup time we thought that we would stay a little closer to the race and come in from the north as most people come from the south. The motel was nothing fancy but was only 15min drive away.

Sunday morning started at 3:50am. As usual I didn't have a great sleep but enough I guess. A quick breakfast, change, pack and we were on the road about 4:20am. Maybe getting there earlier this time we found that there was very little traffic issues, What we did find that the stupid parking attendants made all the early people park the furthest away. Whats that all about. Turn up last and you get the prime parking. What a joke. Anyway we made it to transition as it opened and had heaps of time to sort out our gear.

Unfortunately the rain was still lightly falling so everything was going to be a little wet.

Being the first group after the professionals I didn't have that long to wait until my group was called to the start. The plan was to start out wide and move in then try to draft for the swim. The hope was that starting out wide I would get into my swim pace and when I moved across I would find others of a similar pace. The race started and I followed my plan. The swim was ok. While I don't mind drafting I find that I am always touching the feet in front while getting touched up from behind. Not hard to deal with but a little annoying when the guy behind pushes your feet down.

Coming out of the water I felt pretty good. I took my time in transition and put on my now wet socks. The plan was to push really hard on the bike so I thought that I would get myself sorted in the first couple of kilometers before putting the power down. After getting on the bike I took a few good peddles to get moving and I felt the inside of both legs twitch. Hmm maybe I kicked more than normal in the swim so this could be fun. Then I bumped my watch button and it told me I was now in transition two. I stopped the watch and then had to put it into ride mode and do everything manually from that point on. Later that would become annoying as I didn't know where I was up to for overall race time. The ride while reasonably flat was still crap bumpy roads. They did change the course this year a little so the first lap had some new parts that I had to see what they were like. Stupidly while I know that the roads are still technically open I wasn't expecting to be almost hit by a truck during the ride. I was heading to the second turn around point on the first lap and I see a truck parked on the side of the road. Not thinking anything of it I just ride up as if I was going to pass it and then to the turn which would have been 20m ahead. Just as I am almost beside it the truck moves and pull out on me. I pull the brakes on quickly. The truck moves 20m up the road and just stops right where I want to be. I almost come to a complete stop before sneaking past it and making the turn. The worst part of it was there is police there doing nothing about the fact that this jerk is just getting in the road.

Anyway moving on past that I pushed as hard as I could. I was taking my tablets to stop cramps and they seemed to work well. Being in the first group there was not many people around. You find the quick guys and girls from the groups below catch you but that's about it really. Near the end of the ride I know I had gone pretty hard. My hips were feeling it and my legs were tired. The sun had started to come out when I got off the bike and while I felt tired I seemed to be ok.

I put on my shoes and race belt and put another packet of tablets in my back pocket. The plan was to go as hard as I can for as long as I can and then just hold on. I knew already didn't have a heap left but I thought that if I can get through the first 7-10kms in one big chunk that would be a great start. I went up the first small hill over a bridge and I felt cramp pain from both quads. Obviously due to me pushing on the bike. Its ok I have felt this before. The first time it almost stopped me. The second I managed it with my tablets. I had planned for this so I felt I was good. Knowing that I was very close to the first aid station I went to get my tablets out of my back pocket and they were gone. Nooooo.. Bugger I had dropped them.What a crapper. Oh well nothing I could do so I moved on. It took some time to to think of how to manage it and I decided that if I increased my run cadence I would then take smaller steps and not land so hard on my legs. Then if I can get a lot of fluid into me I should be able to get through it. While I did feel a few moments of pain during the rest of the run it generally worked. I did make it to the 7 or 8km aid station before I walked so I was happy with that. Then the plan was to run between aid stations where I would walk, take in some nutrition and reset. That's how it was for the rest of the run. The sun was really hot when it was out but we did have some clouds so we were lucky that the heat was not on us all the time. Crossing the line I was done. I found a bag of ice from the medical staff at the finish line and sat down. Actually the medical staff do a good job. At one stage I was in the recovery area and I wanted to get out of the crowds. I found a nice patch of grass and had a lay down on my towel. I started to stretch my leg while laying down and before I knew it I had a medical person over me making sure I was ok. We had a quick chat about some good recovery techniques and then he moved on.

Anyway in the end I was about 17.5min faster than last year which was a good feeling. Its just a shame it hurt so much. haha. Final results.

Nepean Triathlon 2015

Training has been going ok. Nothing exciting to report really. Had a some sick weeks in there but I was luck enough to get over that before the Nepean Triathlon. I had some clear goals set out from last year. I didn't know how I would go with that as I have really only been training for distance but it was good to see.

Anyway the day started off nice. 4:40am wake up and a 7am race start. Lucky it started early as the sun was going to make it hot later in the day. Getting to transition setup we were greeted with some volunteer letting us know that wetsuits are not allowed today and how wonderful that is. I don't know what he was thinking but its always best to swim in a wetsuit. It doesn't worry me either way but if I get the chance I will put one on if nothing else you get a better time. The worst part of no wetsuit was before getting in the water. It was freezing. Being that early and the sun was not really up and the ground was cold and by the time I was in the water my feet were numb.

Usually I stay to the side of the swim pack but I don't know why but I went to middle. All the time I was thinking this could be a stupid idea. Lucky I found some nice gaps and before I know it I was nearer to the front and reasonably free of the crowds. I only had one guy try to crawl over me just after the first turn but apart from that it was a good swim. I felt relaxed and my heart rate was reasonably settled.

I got out of the water and into transition. I pulled the bike off the racks and both elastic bands holding my shoes open and up snapped. Hmm thats annoying but ok my flying start will be a slightly slower push start. haha. The ride course had changed a bit and we had discussed when to take on nutrition. I kept to that plan. I got into a good rhythm and pace early and started to relax. The bike was nice. Once again I hadn't overdone it. Heart rate was good and I felt like I could keep going.

Off the bike my toes were numb again from the wind but they didn't take long to warm up in the run. I passed the first couple of aid stations feeling happy. I know I wasn't running at last years pace but I felt like I had found a pace I could use to get to the end and have some left over for a burst when needed. The heat wasn't the best but it was still early and only a 10km run. In the last 2kms I picked up the pace to finish strong.  I felt like I had made a good effort and was happy it was over.

The final time was 10min behind the plan and here are my excuses. :P

1. It was a non wetsuit swim. Last year we used them
2. The bike course changed so there was more slow sections.
3. I am older.. Haha
   
   

So now the focus is on the IM70.3 in a months time.

Results...

22/9/2015

Just another few weeks of training. Nothing overly exciting happening. I did get my watch back from Garmin. They said it was either the wheel size setting in the watch or the speed and cadence sensor is having issues. So when it was returned I checked the wheel size and that was ok. On my next ride I was watching the current speed and it was going up and down from 0 km/h to 33 km/h while I thought I was being consistent. I stopped and disabled the sensor in the watch so it would have to use GPS for speed. Sure enough my speed suddenly became what I would think was normal and stable. So until I get a new sensor I will continue to use GPS and not know my cadence.

There has been a few tough weeks of training. Lots of riding and very little running. That was until last weekend where I had to do my first run in a while. I was supposed to do  2-2.5hrs and see how I go. It wasn't really good. Legs, knees and feet hurt. I didn't make the 2hrs but I did get 21kms out so I thought that that was a good effort for the day. The next days brick session (ride and run) wasn't the most fun thing I have had to do.

This week is a rest week. I am looking forward to just stretching and easy sessions.

Technology fail

The last few weeks have been a struggle in training. Its not really the distance or effort required anymore but more the motivation to get out there. Its cold, wet and lonely. I have never been a good trainee but not having someone to ride and run with just makes it hard work to get out there. Once I am underway I am ok but getting out of bed on a weekend is not the easiest. Apart from that I have had a bit of a technology fail..

So it all started a couple of weeks ago. I was intending to do a 3hr ride. I know now that's usually about a 90km ride or more depending on how I am going. So mentally I map out where I want to go. Anyway I start out and seem to be going slow. I think that maybe I am having an off day as I am only around the 25km/h average mark. I push a little harder. The average hardly moves. I think I will push to the 30km mark to get the average up. So I push a little harder. Now I know by what gear I am in and my cadence that I should be nailing it. I get to the first turn around and see 26.8km/h or something. I am baffled. I see that that distance is a little short but thats ok it will all work out in the end. I push the next 30kms back towards home. When I get close and about the 2hr mark I give up. I throw in the towel as the average has reduced to 24.8km/h. I am annoyed and tired. I don't know how I could  be going so slow. Also the watch only showed 48kms for what should be about 63kms.

When I get home I let it upload the results thinking the GPS points would be cutting corners etc. Nope it looked perfect. The elevation looked funny but the track was good. Hmm ok I put that down to a bad watch day. I think nothing of it as it is working for everything else.

During the next week I got myself a Garmin virb action camera. Its actually pretty cool. All your ANT+ devices link to it and when editing it will import all that data and you can show it on screen. It also contains GPS and a few other sensors within the device.

So the next weekend comes and I think while this is some really boring video I am going to record my ride. It was supposed to be a fast 60kms and used to gauge my improvement. I didn't want false readings for this one and thought it would be good to see what both devices registered for distance etc. Off I go on my ride. Trying to go as hard as I can without packing it in at the end. The watch was once again killing me. I think the top average speed I got to was 29km/h. Unfortunately I could not look at the virb screen or play with it while riding. I know there is information on it but as it was the first time out for it I didn't know all the buttons yet. In the end I just put my head down and rode. I do like to see where I am at but this time I did not get to.

Once at home I stop both devices. Once again I look at the watch. 48km or so doing about 26km/h. Damn... :( I then look at the screen on the virb. I see a little 32km/h average on screen. Thats a little more like it I think. Inside I upload both .FIT files (the files that Garmin devices create for activities) to Garmin connect. You can see there is a big difference in the results. The virb results are more like I would expect.

So frustrated I email Garmin and search how to hard reset the device. If anyone is interested below are the instructions.

a. Hold POWER BUTTON on for 15 seconds. The device should hopefully start to turn off.

b. Press and hold UP ARROW BUTTON and DOWN ARROW BUTTON
c. Press but don’t hold the POWER BUTTON for a second or so second – device should turn on
d. Wait for 1st beep then release UP ARROW BUTTON
e. Wait for 2nd beep then release DOWN ARROW BUTTON

Today I called Garmin after they replied to my email. They have never heard of such a thing so the watch is being sent back. I did go for a short run today with Adam and both watches had the same reading so maybe the reset fixed it you never know. Guess we will see when i get back. Time to start using the 910xt again for a while. :(

Damn sickness

Its been a few weeks since I last added anything here. So whats happened. Well a few weeks back it all started out well. I had a few good days of training then I got sick. Some stupid cold. Lots of coughing, runny nose and something in the chest. So I took the rest of the week off training and packed myself full of drugs.

The next Saturday I was on a flight out to the Philippines to work for a week. I felt sorry for the guy next to me on the plane as I coughed and sniffled my way through the 8hr flight. I was getting better but a long way from fine. All the poor old guy wanted to do was spend a few weeks in the Philippines looking for girl and here I was maybe making him sick. Landing was a real nice change. The warmth made me feel better. I met a mate who is now living in the Philippines for a drink the night I landed. Was a real good time catching up and talking about the old days etc. It was a long day and night but heaps of fun.

Mike (coach) had given me a rest week while I was away so I had no training to do. I don't think that I would have done anything anyway as I was feeling tired. The trip itself was really good. It would have been better if I was not sick but with all that it was still great. I do like meeting the team as they do take care of me. They are a really good group of people and I enjoy the friendships that I have made. Lucky I have met them before otherwise I would have looked like the sickly Aussie kid. So annoying. I think I was finally starting to feel better the last day I was in town.

Coming back I was able to start training again. It was so hard. Not only was it cold but I seemed to still be struggling from the sickness. I just felt tired and unfit. This week has gone well though. So far I have done everything that I needed to. Still not easy but its getting better. Slowly it is also getting warmer so that will make it nicer. I am just not looking forward to the damn magpies that are going to start attacking soon. Currently there is only swimming and riding. We will start running a bit later in the program. A different approach for me but I am happy to try it.

Cold winter days

Its been cold outside and its hard to get motivated. Anyway the plan is in and I have started running through it. Nothing big at the moment. Actually dropped the running back at the moment which is ok by me as I have been getting treatment for my foot issue. Coach wants to focus on the bike for a while. Swimming is still going well. Not long sessions, only around 1.5km a few times a week. I have also started to use the gym more than before. I want to get into the habit of actually going this time around. Lets see how long that lasts as the gym is not that interesting really.

As far as the foot issue goes I have been fitted with some off the shelf inserts. It seems that I roll my foot inwards on the left side and drop my left hip as I step. I think the physio was telling me I am weak as piss without actually saying it. So with the inserts and some exercises to strengthen both the hip and foot she hopes we can be good. If not we might have to look at more expensive custom inserts. But so far they are ok. I think I am getting better but as I haven't run as much who knows.

Last weekend I got to head out to the multi sport expo. It was the first year it was run. It was pretty small but I hope that they get bigger as the idea is really good. Not enough accessories people which was strange as I assumed they would be over that sort of thing. Maybe having a stand was to expensive or something. Anyway I did pick up some wireless headphones. They seem to be pretty good.

Well 10 months to go now. Fun times ahead.

The training plan

So the last few weeks a couple things have happened. Non training related was my first dirt bike in a long time. That wasn't too bad. I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. We spent the night in the bush camping. I woke up to ice on everything but a great looking day. Was fun getting back out there and it looks like I will be out there again this weekend.

On the training front I spent last week just keeping fit and working with the physio on my foot issue. She has decided that I should get some orthotics to help with some rolling that I do while running. I also drop my hip on the left side as I run so I will need to strengthen that up as well. Apart from all that I have been rolling, taping, stretching and exercising as she requested.

Over the weekend I dropped in to see my coach and talk about the plan. We discussed all my races coming up and my goals. With that he has created my first couple of weeks of my real plan so it has officially started again. So far so good. I also received my plan from the gym's PT. I will try to keep up the gym work a bit more this time. I just need to make it part of my schedule and it should work out. The only issue I see so right now is the 4:30am start to get to the gym while it is so cold outside. Not fun but that's ok.

I also did my first outside ride in a long time on the weekend. It was just short of 50km and it hurt more than I wanted but I got through it. The body just needs to get used to it again.