Lazy Week

Starting tomorrow or the next day I shall no longer procrastinate.

Chuckie V

The week started out promising enough but after Wednesday I rapidly fell into a bit of a hole as far as motivation.I skipped my ride on Thursday and swimming and my long ride . It was hot and I just did not have any motivation to do much.I ran on Friday and did a longish run on Sunday from home to the City to watch the City of Perth Triathlon. It was 1.20 and I estimate about 14 to 15km .

It was really hot and there were a few DNFs as well as one open athlete was taken to the hospital suffering from heatstroke I presume.

I did another slower run in the evening of about 9 km in 53 minutes . Legs were not sore and by the end of the run the sun was gone and there were clouds rolling in but the much anticipate cyclone Bianca had fizzled out ...thankfully.

I feel much better and looking forward to the week ahead to get more positive and trying to get my pace on the bike and run up.

Australia Day

The week was shorter with a holiday mid week.Australia Day fall on Wednesday.Its a break from work. A wonderful warm day in Perth and lots  on at the beach and the foreshore with fireworks in the evening.

I spent it swimmimg at Cottesloe and did little else .it was a busy morning on the beach I got to the beach just after 7am and saw the group had already started off from the beach.i just took my time and swam down to the Blue Duck cafe and then turned around .The water was clear and calm . lots of swimmers were about and I saw Jasmin after my swim.i met up with the group at the cafe and had coffee.The best part of the session.it was a  leisurely half hour swim .

On Monday I had my usual swim session but felt really sluggish and slow.I did the evening session and did not get a chance to run. On Tuesday , I showed up at Nedlands and everyone else was at Shelley. I did not get the message but did my hour on my own.Towed a cyclist for a lap and then chased a group for the second and was on my own for the last.It was hard but managed to get an average with my slow ride to Nedlands of 31.7kph. I then met up with everyone at Tiger Lilys for breakfast.

On Tuesday arvo I did a run session at the new stadium / track behind Challenge stadium and was my first session but Brad was away so I just followed what everyone else was doing and did a warm up and the 3 x 10min at threshold. ,followed by a cool down. It was very comfortable running on the track and watching all the athletes  training.

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I have begun to give Ross feedback on each week and I feel my running is coming along well but my cycling and swimming have obviously slacken off from the break .I will need to refocus on these .

I have read the Macca interview on firstoffthebike at First off the Bike as well as Dave Scotts interview
Dave Scott- triathlon Monument. Both great interviews .

Here is just one part that is so relevant to all those training for an ironman:

"What do you think the most common mistake that your average Ironman age group or amateur makes?



Well, if we're talking about Ironman athletes, and when people finally step up and say, "I want to do an Ironman race," most of them think more is better. If I can put in more time, more distance, more kilometres, I'm going to be a better athlete and it's a licence to go slow and I think a lot of athletes are able to work out at a moderate aerobic pace and especially all of the workouts, so kind of that pace, and they forget to, you know, keep that intensity up which is really the trigger mechanism even for Ironman distance races. So that they can optimise their efficiency, not only in their intake of fuel but, you know, the muscle aggravation. So the single biggest mistake is just going along for the sake of going along and people do this year round, and I'm not foregoing the comment that, you know, people have to put in X distance to do well at that race length, but they don't need to do it 12 months out of the year."

Juan Pelota : A swim Analysis

This is great ...swim analysis by Paul Newsome of none other than Lance "I am doing Kona"Armstrong.

All the more reason to be in Kona this year .

Whats enjoyable about training and that Sexy Ride

The week has flown by . On Friday sitting in the Fremantle office at 5pm drinking a glass of wine when my boss asked me what am I doing on the weekend . I told him I was doing a 120km bike ride. He asked me "So you must enjoy it"

I hesitated. I didn't say anything . I didn't know what to say . I don't think the correct term is enjoy. It would be strange if I enjoyed the pain I feel and the stress I feel everytime I subject myself to a hard session. I think a more accurate term is Cathartic.

Word Origin & History
cathartic
1612, of medicines, from L. catharticus , from Gk. kathartikos "fit for cleansing, purgative," from katharsis "purging, cleansing" (see catharsis). General sense is from 1672.


Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

I certainly have more time than brains in moments of lapsed judgment in repeating the painful process of swim ,bike and run with minute improvement and many moments of backsliding embarrasingly for all to see.

So I drink my wine and I am not convincing in the  Ï really love this triathlon biz""stakes. I am a wannabe.
In moments of reflection , I still ask myself why am I doing this .Especially at the end of the week as I head towards the long ride and run on Saturday . Its lonely , long and unrepenting. But like a moth to the flame I go .

My week is incomplete without that one counterbalance to the normality of work  and of family , it is the little adrenaline rush and escapism from my other normal world.Here Iam alone , in my thoughts and doubts and strengths and stresses. It doesn't have to be enjoyable just cathartic.

My boss would not comprehend the punishment I subject myself and many other triathletes subject themselves to . It is nearly the road to calvary /salvation you must walk to justify the high you attain in fulfilling and crossing that finish line. It wouldn't be the same if I had skipped all my training and just rolled up to the start line and did the race . Probably would hurt more but I would not have gone through the experience of every moment of preparation.

It moulds and makes me who I am .

Week 2 was very much the continuation of one and I had my 3 serves of swimming , only to remind me how weak a swimmer I am .we had bigger numbers in the squad and lots of fast swimmers. I am relegated to the back of lane 3 . The slowest. Monday evening I ran for an hour and then did my swim session . Did about 2.2km .

On Tuesday we had a change of location and did our ride at Shelley off Mt Henry Bridge. It was an earlier start to get there before 6 am and we started off in groups of 3 . I rode with Joe and Rod and it was 3 laps and a bit at a hard pace.I clocked over 40kph and averaged  35kph. my legs were sore from Saturday and so after the ride I could feel the soreness. I ran on Tueday evening for 40 minutes to make up for my shorter run on Monday .


I spoke to Ross and I am switching my interval runs to Tuesday so that I can run in a group as I need to be pushed. He was ok with that change.

On Wednesday I had a meeting in the evening so I had my swim in the morning and again did a hard session of 2.5km with a long set of  800m, 600, 300, and 2 x 100 after a warm up of 400m and a cooldown of 200

I was tired and dizzy .I did my run at lunchtime and it was hot about 32C and ran round Kings Park and then to the running Centre on Hay street to get my welcome pack and free $20 voucher. which will go towards some compression gear.

Thursday , It was an early start to get to Nedlands for a bike run session. I got to do the long run and shorter bike leg which was a 10km bike circuit. There were at least 12 plus 4 just doing the ride. I had a hard time getting my bike legs to work and lots of problem getting my feet into my bike shoes . The usual inattentive drivers coming into a roundabout oblivious to the fact that I had right off way. I ended up last in the exercise.

I rode home in the evening and did about 65km in total. Nothing like the 150km Rod Marton did on Tuesday .He estimated that he would do over 400km this week.

Friday , I did my swim session in the morning .Ross was off to Canberra to race so Cara took the session. Again I did at least 2.5km  with a 800m warm up and then 3 x 200,100,100 set and then a cool down .

I had a run on Friday but decided to do a longer Saturday run off the bike. Hence the wine at 5pm

Rob P had rung me on Friday and suggested riding up Redhill and doing Death Valley.I was already going to do that ride and so I readily agreed.Met him at Reid /Alexander drive at 6.45am .It was rather late but Rob suggested a late start. I  rode down Reid Hwy and then back to meet up with him .We rode comfortably to Toodyay Road and then up Redhill where we regrouped.by then Rob wasn't feeling too well and decided to head home.I soldiered on into O'Brien Road and the 35km loop of hills . Came out at reserve Road and headed to the town of Gidgeegannup and had a coke and then rode down and back.there wasn't anyone about accept for a few bikers and the odd car. No roos or other wildlife about.It was pretty hot and as I puffed my way through each hill I had time to think and meditate.Mostly I was trying to work out how many hills did I have to climb. It was endless in the morning heat and there was absolutely noone about .I saw 2 cars and 2 bikes in 2 hours.....which is a good thing.

I got home at about 10.45am pretty tired .I ran off the bike for 40 min and it was really hot .The bike leg was just over 4.15 and pretty slow going with the hills.

So what is enjoyable about training .At the moment not a lot .Its slow and painful but cathartic.

Log:
Bike: 9.25 / 230km
run: 3 hours
swim 7km/3hrs approx 30km

The End

It was the end of the break , my trip to Singapore , the end of  2010 and I finished my holiday read ...Shataram by Gregory  David Roberts.

In the end it was a very enjoyable thought provoking book.I think the tale weaved by the writer was enjoyable if at times far fetched , a rose tinted view of life in Mumbai in the slums and the under belly of the vast city but all story tellers and writers are describing a perspective ... theirs. But I enjoyed the book tremendously and recommend it for the enjoyable thought provoking book it is.

I will wait for his next book and the movie .

The opening paragraph :

 "It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free"

is not only a great opening paragraph but I thought was equally adaptable .

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about Triathlons and Ironman , but the heart of it came in an instant , while I was racing in the heat and wind that swirled round me suffocating my thoughts . I realised , somehow , through the screaming in my mind , that even  in the pain of my racing , I was still free to ...

My long ride on Saturday  was my first long ride after Busselton .It was suppose to be a 120km ride down the freeway but  I did head for kalamunda.I started off with Tarnia and SJ who were riding 160km and I followed them to the turn off to Roe Highway.I then had to do 60km at threshold and decided to push harder.I left them behind as they were doing a much longer ride .It wasn't too hard as I had a good tailwind.But as I got to Welshpool Road it did get harder.

By the time I got to the base of the hill it was heart pounding hard for me. I was doing a 12kph pace Half way up the hill and two cyclist came bounding pass me and then they slowed right down before accelerating up .I got to the end of Welshpool Road and then turned towards Kalamunda and rode along Canning Road before turning around at Lesmurdie Road and heading back to the Freeway .  I managed to clock 70kph coming down the hill . I rode down the freeway and then back to the Narrows. My quads were gone and after 75-80km I was struggling because of my quads. Even my arms were sore. I was also getting twinges of cramps on my right leg and it was cramping towards the end.





After Canning Hwy bridge I met up with Kevin Seah and we had good chat back to the Narrows. Kevin is training for the Singapore 70.3 .

I ran off the bike for15 minutes and I was done. I was dead tired  . The only thought passing my mind was the screaming pain and tiredness all through my body.

Routine

Th holidays are over and it is back to work. There is the comfort in being back amongst routine and the reluctance to return to the mundane existence that is routine in work and in play.

What sets each year apart for me is the continous change in my work ie the clients and the cases , and in my recreation , the races I select and the process of planning the campaign.

Lanzarote now looms as the immediate major race for the first half of 2011. I am now in week 2 of my training programme having missed my first week whilst on holiday.It was hard returning to the routine and my programme is starting at a not so leisurely pace.I already have longish rides on the weekend and this week I had some difficulty with the swim sessions.It was nice to see familiar faces at Exceed.

On monday I ran in the arvo and it was hot ....35C and then did my swim session.A slow 2.2 km session. Ross said this was an easy week but it did not feel that way. Tuesday got up early and was at the Nedlands start at 6am with the largest group Exceed has had. Michelle was back after a triumphant win at Busso and  so was everyone else from the break. We did a threshold session to the first roundabout and than cruised back repeating the loop 3 times for a hard /easy 1 hour session.I  hung on at the back and my quads were hurting after 3 weeks of no cycling and 6 weeks of minimal activity.



On Wednesday it was a morning swim session with Cara Suiter taking the session and again did a 2.2km . I was really tired and did not run in the evening . I also skipped Thursdays ride  and ran at 12 noon .It was hot and did a relatively hard session with 6 x 2min at threshold pace.Got my HR to 80% for the 2 minutes before it dropped to 75%. .I did a swim session on Friday and again decided to do my run on Sunday . I need  to ease into my training.

Saturday is reserved for the long ride and I plan to keep to the plan as best I can but try and tackle my sleep and eating habits.

Evaluation

Outside Candylicious, World Resorts Casino , Sentosa

After the New Year I have enjoyed the no training regime and holidays but have started planning for the start of my training for Lanzarote. I have had a call from one other triathlete racing in Lanzarote and hopefully I will meet up and be able to start planning the logistics of getting there and the accommodation.


At the same time trolling the various tri websites I came across the endurance nation website tri specific and Christian Manetta's piece on planning and evaluation.
They are really worth while from a personal and athletic point of view.


He states:
"Here are a few you could ask yourself now if you haven't got round to some personal planning:

What did I do really well this year?
What areas do I still need to work on or address?
In an ideal situation, what should I be doing more of?
In an ideal situation, what should I be doing less of? "


My answers

1 I think I have improved on my cycling and my nutrition regime in training and racing was very good.


2 I still need to work on my training/work balance , my weight ,swimming and keep improve on my cycling.

3 In an ideal situation, I will be getting more one on one direction on my swimming  and running  , cooking more fresh and organic food ,and sleeping more .

4 In an ideal situation I will be working less and losing weight.


On a positive front I have not gained any weight despite the great food and non training for the past week.


Looking forward to starting the training program and just getting back into a routine. As Christian says the choices I make are within my control and If I am to improve it is within my control to make the changes I need to make .

New Years Day at Tanjung Beach

the run after the swim ...Enrico and Sin Guan Tuan in the lead

and getting further ahead

Tanjung Beach , Sentosa Island , where we swam

The hardcore triathletes who showed up for the swim and run

At the finish (picture by Richard Leong )

There were mainly two groups at  Sentosa Island on 1.1.11 .It was the first day of the next decade , with the symbolic 4 ones. There was the party revelers trying to head  home and much the worse for wear after the all nighter at Siloso beach.and then there was the group from Tri Family Forum who rocked up for a swim and run at 8am .

I met Mathew Wong ,  whose Blog is titled You,Me and Tesky which  I read , and he led the swim group through their paces .It was a beautiful and hot morning. My first swim for a  few weeks. Feeling a bit rusty and slow but otherwise a great start to the day and the year. 

A good mix of experience and newbies preparing for the Singapore biathlon. I was thrilled to meet some of the triathletes in Singapore .

The run was along the road from the beach to the round about 2 kms .It was quick and I managed a 5min pace for the run of about 4.5km .

We then had a quick change and headed off for breakfast at Vivocity  .After the rest of the group left I had a quick coffee with Enrico .The discussions revolved around the obvious subject and Ironman Hawaii , blogs and training and so on . After the get together I headed to Little India for lunch with the family.

Lunch at Gugul vegetarian restaurant at Upper Dickinson Road

I got my training programe and it is an easy start although I will not be able to do my ride sessions .The emphasis will be on just building on last year and trying to get the weight down.(just not in Singapore )