Week 12 - 6 To Go

3 Shark Attacks in 2 months of the WA Coast ?



Week 12 draws to a close with an easy ride of 35plus km with Kings park thrown in for good measure. The legs did not feel as sore accept on all the climbs between home and Shenton Park. I had a good dead tired sleep but got up at 2 am and then went back to sleep for a few more hours .It was another early rise and I left home at 6 am to cycle to Tony's place. The news this week like 2 weeks earlier has been the death of a diver off Rottnest island due to a suspect shark attack . Despite the fear of swimming in the ocean , we had all decided to get back in the water .It was decided we would swim at Coogee beach .A little further than Cottesloe but a sheltered shallow bay with 2 jetty's exactly 1.5km apart.

I rode to Tony's place via King's park , doing a loop and a slow hard climb on the City side of King's Park. It was a great Perth morning with little traffic about. Just did not like the hills dotted along the route. Got to Tony's place and with Hanna drove to Coogee about a 30 minute drive.


Trevor was not swimming with a sore back and so it was just the 4 of us.Tony , Les , Hanna and myself. I had issues with my new goggles not getting a seal and had to stop several times to adjust the goggles. The others were moving further away. I did eventually manage to fix the goggles and claw back into the group and finish past everyone . We then decided to swim back at least as far as we could go .Hanna swam part of the way and the rest of us swam back . It was pointless getting out so I swam all the way back. I hugged the shoreline and it was really shallow. The Coogee Beach Life Saving Club were running the children's training sessions on the beach so it was looking pretty active by the time we got back. I felt better swimming back and it was the first 3km swim in the ocean since Lanzarote.


We headed to Daisies at Cottesloe for the compulsory Coffee and Muffins. The cafe at Coogee unfortunately did not have muffins. It was then back to Tony's place and my cycle home. The legs were really hurting on the short climbs.


I take away some comfort in the last 3 weeks of training with some steady improvements despite the mental motivation roller coaster.


The positives are:


I have managed to compress 3 days of nearly cycling 250kms this weekend and my legs feel better than last year.
I have not been too rigid with my training and not felt too guilty. Life is too short to stress the small stuff.
I have had a few good solid runs and feel much better running off the bike.
My weight is hovering at 70kgs.


With 6 weeks to go , I am comfortable with progress. I have lacked the structure and speed work on the bike but it has been a long season and I think the body was just getting a little worn down. I am looking forward to the easy week and hope to consolidate the small gains.

Week 12
Bike : 249km or 8.28 hrs
Run: 50km or 4.35 hrs
Swim : 8.6km or 3.35 hrs

Total : 15.98 hrs