Week 1 Ironman 70.3 Training

Capucino from Metriole after swim training ...Pic by Meredith. with her phone camera

WEEK 1
MONDAY
Monday morning was a swim session at Terry Tyzacks pool .i got there early and so started swimming 15 minutes earlier. It was cold , a change from the hot weather of the past 2 weeks.

The session comprised :
Sloe easy warm up of 200m with PB, 300m easy FS and then a further 200m FS .

The session was drills with
50m zipper , 50m free , 50m finger drag , 50m free x 2
100m free and 100m medley x 1

Main set:
400m easy to fast
300m
200m medley
100 fast
repeated
with the 400m and 300m again

cool down 100m easy

total; 3km

In the evening , I ran 9km at a comfy pace which meant running at a pace which i felt comfortable at and could run at indefinitely. It was about a 6.30 minutes per km pace. it was nice and warm but at that pace I was able to run the 5-8 kms I had to do on the first day without much difficulty.


Tuesday
On Tuesday , I was up at 4.30 am and out the door by a quarter to 5 .First day of group training out at Hillaries on the coast .it was a warm up ride of about 14-15km and then 6 hill repeats on a short sharp climb of 400m on 5-6% gradient .I was riding my first bike an Al raceline pave bike with tribars as the requirement was to do the ride on a road bike and that is my only road bike .It was hard and getting the gearing right was a trial and error activity.i dropped my back light and so on the way back from the warm up loop i picked it up and got dropped from the main group and the fast guys lapped me on the hill repeats.but i had to ride to my capability.

It was windy and I felt the extra weight i was  lugging up the hill. That will be the routine for the next few weeks.

In the evening it was run training and it was hot .we did a warm up and then a 3km time trial .i ran a 14.19 which was 1.26 slower than last year in August. again lack of fitness and weight were decisive but I now have a base  to run from.

It is quite a large squad and as I said it helps to have to be somewhere at a fixed time .It motivates me to turn up and train and try my best.

Wednesday
Back to the pool. There was9 of us in lane 1 . i started a few minutes earlier and did 600m warm up with a pull Buoy and paddles .Then a kick board  for 100m and 100m Free style (FS) .The main set comprised  400m at threshold pace , 300m medium , 200m medium , 400m medium ,300m threshold , 200m medium and a cool down I did a kick board 100m and 100m FS.

Total was 2.8km .

Had breakfast at Metriole which i think is better than the other cafe . They make beautiful coffees with nice designs on the top.

In the evening was a rest period .But I will need to do some core work on Friday and again Yoga on Saturday.

Training Lessons

Some useful advice just as I commenced my Training programme for the Busselton Ironman 70.3.

I found this short and succinct article on firstoffthebike titled training lessons.

It is mainly commonsense stuff but a timely reminder.

In summary and much repeated advice :

1. Consistency trumps all
2. Set goals
3. There is no easy way
4. Make rules and deals with yourself
5. Don’t think, just do
6. Don’t travel to training for longer than you’ll be training for
7. Don't judge other people's training

 In addition I am back  doing core work as part of the programme and I plan to mix up the core work with just general  strength work .

This piece on the Livestrong website was useful:


The 20 Best Fitness Tips of All Time

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/553531-the-20-best-fitness-tips-of-all-time/#ixzz1lbglcqmq

The link to the article: 20 best fitness Tips

Rivers to Cross

Many Rivers to Cross- Harry Nilsson..a great singer who won a Grammy for the song Everybody's talking from Midnight Cowboy.


Week One commences tomorrow and I  have been reading and re reading the details for week one. It is light and hopefully will kick start the commitment and routine of the past.

I enjoyed Chuckie V last posting on nutrition a re post. I know what needs to be done but the commitment to a strict diet is a little further down the path I am taking presently.Chuckie is always right . I read his earlier piece on commitment. It is all so true and a further piece he did titled Potential Pretense

Like a dark cloud, potential hangs over the heads of countless numbers of talented athletes. Plenty of people are filled with potential. We all have potential. We are potentially capable of anything. I'm a firm believer that anyone can go sub 9:30 in an Ironman, if they only spent the time to prepare themselves accordingly. But few do. I also believe anyone (possessing enough digits) can learn to play the piano. It might not sound all that good, but I'm sure we could all play the thing if we took the time to learn.


But here's the thing. We don't.

There is the fable about the chicken and the pig:

A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road. The Chicken says, "Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!". Pig replies, "Hm, maybe, what would we call it?". The Chicken responds, "How about 'ham-n-eggs'?".


The Pig thinks for a moment and says, "No thanks. I'd be committed, but you'd only be involved!"[1](WIKIPEDIA)

The two characteristics run hand in hand. Making a commitment is the first stage but we all have caveats and "get out of jail"cards which I wrote about a few days ago under the heading the fifth discipline.It is our excuse to not be committed when the going gets hard. I wax and wane with my capability primarily because of my mental capacity and commitment .I learnt that from my training last year for IMWA 2011 compared to my preparation for Lanzarote which was more committed  . The results will follow with the commitment , the knowledge and the hard work.

As Chuckie adds , we all have the potential to do a 9.30 IM time. Most don't realise that result simply for the lack of the factors above.

It is harder for an age grouper working and with a young family but its hard for everyone. Lots of people still don't understand why do it.I can't answer it other than an inner drive to want to achieve a goal. How hungry I am now at this point is what I am going to find out in the next few months.

Iam several kilograms heavier and pretty unfit. So I have a few months to turn it around but I am coming back with a few years of solid training and commitment.I 've paid the money and I have to Commit.

Fundamentals

The last week of a very ambulatory training sessions and a lack of direction.

 

I have hardly done any training to speak other than swim and a run again. Work , a lack of focus and more importantly a Plan. Nothing to panic about. It is 13 weeks to the Half.Enough time to get into gear.

 

Like all the ills in the World there are many lessons to be drawn from many levels in the World.

 

At Family , village , country and regional levels ,from the perspective of an office or company and from the eye level of a human being in each corner of the world , there are complex and even insoluble problems at first sight but there are fundamental truths and basis for all difficulties.

 

Get the fundamentals right and it is a start.Have a plan and have a goal. , break down the problem, and most importantly be in the right mental frame. Simply put there has to be a desire.

 

Most humankind greatest achievements are from individuals not necessarily with the greatest intellect, that helps but the greatest desire.

 

I listened to a conversation between  Thomas Friedman , an author and New York Times columnist with Orville Schell at the Asia Society ( Video of discussion) Aside form the rather significant topic of the emergence of China and the perceived decline of America, there are many lessons to be learnt.


My Take:

1. Fundamentally without a yearning and a desire , there is no drive .
2. Get the fundamentals right 
3. Learn and be educated

Bigger problems need a collective desire and unified drive and Country goals and great Leadership. China is a case in point , not for the communism but the unleashing of this yearning in the Human spirit pent up for a century.China is capitalism cloaked in authoritarian rule. With all the benefit of Capitalist free market play.

The 3 simple ideas cover huge aspects of life. Take the simple line "where there is a will , there is a way" .It is simplistic but surely if there was a united view to the US deficit , unemployment , the Palestine problem/solution , the Middle east , the rise of fundamentalism , and so on then surely these insoluble issues will be resolved. But clearly in a dynamic planet of several billion people and many countries , there is no will and no united view.

Will isn't sufficient alone , there must be knowledge and the fundamentals , the petri dish with the right culture to nurture and develop. Be it a single individual , a single task or a whole economy.

With so called development of society comes a descent into a vagueness about desire , goals , fundamental values ,and skills and ultimately a lost of the edge and strengths or success. Being a caveman had its disadvantages but there was one goal, survive. To do so , learning to hunt , finding shelter and reproducing.Very fundamental and probably built in desires in early man.

At the person level , I am learning that renewing the desire to train and compete is just as critical as getting back to basics and building the fundamentals properly. All not easy ideals . to bounce back from a difficult race , a balancing act of work , family and training is the conundrum I will confront for the next 13 weeks as many others do. some more successfully .

I start the journey again with a programme from brad .There was a introduction on Tuesday night . A large group of fellow triathletes . For me it is the challenge to improve and the issue is whether there is enough desire to pull it through I am hoping with a the collective force of coach , training group and the rekindling of the desire from the environment, I will get the fundamental right and the perfect race. Sixth Discipline

The Fifth Discipline

I have slowly but surely started to get back into a routine.The emphasis is on slowly but the honey moon ends this week .

I sound much like the spoof clip on Shit Triathletes say doing the rounds on Facebook. Seriously it is very hard to be motivated when the race is 4 months away and it is hot. I have started my swimming and did 2 runs in the hot weather... but no cycling this week despite the best intentions. Laying in bed at 5.30 am was a much more attractive proposition.Not for long though.

I have put in 7.5km of swimming and 17km of running.I also did my Yoga session today and sweated a bucket. I have had to slow down a little with a strained back from my monday evening run.

There is lots going on this month and next.There is the City of Perth Olympic Triathlon tomorrow , Rottnest swim 10km trial , ATTA time trial and WAMC run race and a run trail race as well.All tomorrow.I am just trying to get out of the naturally lazy unmotivated phase which I will get out of as I start  my programme for Busselton Half in February.

The main focus is getting fit and losing the weight I have gained.I am beginning to feel better in the water and so that is a good start.

Today at Helen's Yoga , one of the newbies to Yoga mentioned that she had heard my short talk at North Coast New members evening last year and she felt very inspired and motivated. Felt good as I had at least reached out to one individual.. You cannot fake genuine interest and desire.

Triathlon can be infectious and fun and all encompassing.At times a little too saccharine in taste when you are in a room full of enthusiasm . Its not bad just too much is not a good thing. So I have tempered my joy of the sport so that I don't bore to death the next unsuspecting individual.

The other singularly frustrating part of any activity is the sayings that go . It is inspiring but sometimes just again too much.

In preparation and in keeping with all good Triathletes around, I have managed to prepare not only for the 4 disciplines of racing but the fifth all important one. The excuse.

In no order of importance after the Busselton Half Ironman 2012:

1. I was sick
2. I over trained
3. I under trained
4. I did not taper enough
5. I tapered too much
6. Everyone was drafting
7. I got my nutrition all wrong
8. I did not have enough Nutrition
9. I had too much nutrition
10. It was too hot
11. It was too cold
12. The injury flared up
13. I had a mechanical problem/punctures etc
14. I did not do enough course specific workouts
15. I didn't have the right coach
16. I trained alone
17. I trained in the wrong group
18. I was too heavy going into the race
19. I was too light going into the race
20. I did not take enough salt
21. I took too much electrolytes
22. I could not keep anything down
23. I don't know what happened
24. I just had an off Day
25. I had a new programme
26. I didn't have a programme
27. I can't swim , bike and run
28. I just blew up on the run

But all this is irrelevant if  I win my age group , restore some respect to my performance , and don't get chicked by every female age grouper. ( and pigs will fly)

But if  I don't  I will definitely be using one of these lines .It is in the psyche of a triathlete. Like the off the Internet specific tailored training programme for the triathlete , these great lines will be available at the end of each race . I know I will be hearing them lots of times before the season is over.

Chinese New Year

Today is Chinese New Year Eve. It is the year of the Dragon , the more powerful of the chinese zodiac animals and hence more babies , at least in Chinese culture usually a good year and the Water Dragon  signifies a calmer animal.

This week has been a  rather slow start to training . I had 3 days where  I was very busy with work but otherwise  , this past week marked my return to training.No runs but 2 bike rides ,  2 swims and Yoga.

On Monday I had a hard swim session doing 2.6km with a 900m and 700m and 600 m swim with a warmup of 400m. On Tuesday I joine Exceed riders out at Shelley where it was a flat hour ride with groups of 3 and 4. I hung on to bryce and Stuart and could only take my turn in the front on the return leg of each loop . That was a 2 hour ride with just under 60km .
I had no training for the next 3 days and then on Saturday  I did my first longiah ride .A 90km ride with coffee at the 80km mark. Rode to the narrows where Exceed had its photo session with the new gear and a driver watching us ride along  crashed into the rear of a car stopped at the roundabout . The guys rode round the river and at Cottesloe took off.I could'nt keep up and bryce was behind and I maanged to stick to him an dhe dragged me back into the group. I got dropped again at Point walter a few kilometres further and I was on my own for about 45minutes till i got to Shelley where 2 of the guys had bad falls (one with a broken collar bone). I then rode with the remaining group back to the coffee shop but lost some of the riders when they went through a road closed section and I went round . Managed to get back although it was pretty hot by then.

Exceed tried a new coffee place on Angove Street called Matrio  .Great coffee although I was too done after the ride to eat anything .

After the ride , I watched the Wanaka race on the internet and saw Gina Crawford cross the line winning her fourth Challenge Wanaka title and after having a baby 6 months earlier. I had Yoga in the afternoon and it is helping with getting more flexible and working on my core. Saturday night was the first night i just crashed and did not get up at all. I slept till 6am and then drove to tonys where we drove to Coogee for a swim.It was overcast and as he described it Sharky weather. We still swam .Ran 1.5km down the beach and swam back .It was alittle choppy and unfortunately there were lots of stingers .i got it on both arms and torso. I swam the whole way .

Breakfast was coffee and muffins at Daisies in Cottesloe. It is back into the routine next week.

I now weigh 76kg and training will be gearing up with running back on the menu.I got the January issue of Triathlete Magazine (US) and a timely article after yesterdays crashes , titled "Bouncing back from a bike Crash " There were 5 pointers , the first AVOID A CRASH . How funny .

The other interesting piece was from paul newsome who is local to perth and he wrote a pice for the magazine called "DO YOU KONW YOUR APE INDEX".That is the difference between the length of your arms and your height. I have a difference of 2 inches , my arms  are just 2 inches short of my height. It means that I pretty much have to swim with a higher /faster stroke cadence.  See Arm length and the Ape index .

Finally a piece on  A Physiological View Of What The Human Body Goes Through In An Ironman  again from the Triathlete Website:

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/01/training/a-physiological-view-of-what-the-human-body-goes-through-in-an-ironman-2_46170/2
 
 It's obvious and I have read several articles prety much saying the same . In an ironman , the body is put through a lot but having said that , with proper nutrition and rest , the body equally can recover . it is like all else striking the balance.
 
 
 
 
 
 



The Road less travelled

The Road Not Taken by Robert frost 1916

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The holidays are over . The 5 weeks of doing mainly nothing are over . It has been a complete rest bar the Inter club race on the 18 December and a short swim and run session with Tri Fam Tri buddies in Singapore.

It was a complete change of routine and I slept lots.

I also put on a lot of weight and Iam about 7kgs more now. But the preparation for the Busselton Half Ironman begins next week with the proper training starting in february.

I believe it was a much needed break after IMWA . I am hoping to be able to refocus and set some achievable goals for the Half.

The priotrity will be to get back to base fitness and drop weight.
The next goal is to get to a level of swimming competence I had pre May last year. that will mean a commitment to swimming for the next 4 months.

Then there will be the meat and potatoes of triathlon , my bike and run . Still alot more work on just getting to a level of consistentcy.

This week I started with a short run and a swim on Wednesday.I was pretty much out of shape and struggled . I did a 6 or 7km run followed by a 2.5km swim session. Today it was my first Yoga class. Again I am more inflexible then flexible but we all have to start somewhere.

I will be more consistent with my eating habits and training for 2012. There doesn't have to be major changes , just minotr but critical changes. I am looking forward to the year and the rides and runs and swim sessions.

Starting the year off , I stumbled on a blog titled Mark and Angel Hack Life with many and varied list of wisdom. One such list is 30 things-to-start-doing-for-yourself .

the website Mark and Angel Hack life

The goals are simple , it is the application and commitment that make this road , a road not often travelled . I hope I don't lose my way  .