Week 12 Past the mid point

Sunday evening at the river with Molly

 

A tough week in terms of elevation.

Monday was an easy 10km which I did with 7km followed by a 4 km run in the evening with Molly allowing her to just run freely where she like . She managed to find 3 houses with cats and took me through several laneways .

Tuesday , I had a rest day .

Wednesday I ran in the evening with 8 repeats of Kokoda Track to get an elevation of 480m and then a run to make up the hour managing only 5km

Thursday .Cross fit did snatch squats and squat cleans for 40 minutes .

Friday 1 hour at Mount Street with 10 repeats and 400m

Saturday .A ride with CRT and a great day but turned back at Raffles for a shorter ride and just 55km to allow the legs a rest for the long Sunday session .

Sunday .Just Kokoda repeats 33 right to the top of the hill and that took 4 hours with 15minutes running initially in the rain but the rain cleared and the rest of the time till about 4 hours was spent on the Kokoda trail just grinding up .We did 2280 m and I covered 15.5km.

Total elevation for the week 3000 plus with just 35 kms 

Week 11 March 13- 19 When the going gets tough ....

Chasing Ducks

EAGLES --- EASY PEACEFUL FEELING

The Mid point of training has just passed on 10 March 2017 and it is now the back end of training with a solid 8 weeks before a slow taper before the Ultra Trail Australia 100 in the Blue Mountains

A good solid week of training with a 15km run off the back of the Sunday long run . I split my run with an 8km run in the morning and a 7 km run in the evening with the last 2kms with Molly aka Irondog just to get her running a bit more.

The legs pulled up pretty well..

On Tuesday another wind trainer session with 45 minutes on Zwift with 12 x 30 secs at 380 watts along the way and 2 minutes plus of recovery between.

Wednesday  Just aiming for 3 minutes up Mount Street and easy jog down managed 11 repeats and just 6.5km with 440m elevation .

Thursday Cross fit session  as in the photo.

Friday Another hills session at Jacobs Ladder and Mount Street with 6 repeats of Jacobs and 6 repeats of Mount Street with about 500m of elevation and 4km

Saturday a wet bike ride with CRT , a shortened ride of 60km

Sunday a 5hr run with 1200 m of elevation and managed 26kms just doing lots of Kokoda repeats and DNA and Mount Street and running around Kings Park .

Comparably small volume of running  this week compared to last year with 51 kms and about 2300m of elevation.

Week 10 Are we there yet

 Keep On Running 

Steve Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group

More of Mount Street

Recovery

After the five hour run on Sunday , I am thankful for the Labour Day Monday Holiday and late start.I ran at Reabolt hill doing an easy 8km run it was supposed to be 10km with 600m of elevation but just managed about 300 m.The legs felt tired but mentally I was tired

Tuesday , an easy day with an evening wind trainer session on Zwift riding 20km with 1 minute efforts at over 200 watts.

Wednesday , back at Mount street running 2 minutes up  and easy down for 60 minutes .I managed 13 repeats of Mount street (nearly to the top) for about400m of elevation I would expect and then coffee at the Mount Street Breakfast Bar .

Thursday Crossfit in the evening with 100 squats , 15 toes to bar , 30 GHD , 100 crunches , 70 hollow rocks  , then followed by 1 to 8 repeats of clean and jerks and snatches for a total of 36 repeats of each exercise .

Friday Stairs with the run pack and did 10 repeats of Jacobs Ladder and then coffee at Mount Street. Total distance was just 3km and 450m .Ran a slow 4km in the evening as well .

Saturday had a rest day as my daughter was graduating and so missed the CRT ride.


Sunday .Long run at Kings Park at 5.30am covering 4.5 hours . I ran and walked for 4hr 20 mins and managed 22.5km with 1250m of elevation including 12 repeats of the Kokoda Trail at 71meters and then 10 repeats of Mount street at 40m . The weather was nice and cool and so found it a lot more comfortable than last week.



This week slightly less running with about 43km and 2400m of elevation .

Week 9

Its getting really hot in Perth and I still weigh 75 kgs although the weight fluctuates depending on when I weigh myself . But I have started to lose some fat and feel stronger . The amount of walking up hills and steps is a  lot more than last year.

I am running a lot slower as well

Monday

started with a slow 10km run which I took 78 mins to do so it was really slow.Irondog ran for 3kms with me.

Tuesday I missed cross fit but rode on the wind trainer doing a 15km ride on Zwift .

Wednesday it was back in Kings park running along Forrest and down to Stirling Hwy for as many repeats of a 2km  hill run I could get . Managed 10.5km in 80 mins .

Thursday

Back to Cross fit with a hard session of various exercises over 40 minutes with 5 medicine ball squats after each exercise which included cleans , push press, snatches  ,crunches etc .

Friday.
Morning start at Jacobs ladder with 30 minutes of climbing then 10 minutes of hills ( mount street ) and repeated that for about 4.2km in 70 minutes only. Saturday back with the CRT ride around the river .It was a hot day at 39C and a fast ride with 75 kms . Managed to sneak in the sprint finish at the end of the Stirling Highway section before heading back to Subiaco for coffee.





In the afternoon  crossfit did a 30 minutes session of 75 squats followed by 25 clean and jerks and bur pees and then 25 crunches followed by 20 of the same, 15, 10 and 5 before finishing with 75 squats.

On Sunday , longest run so far .I did a 4.50 mins run with the first 3 hours we ran along the river from Kings Park and back before I did 9 repeats of Kokoda and a few short runs along the paths in Kings Park for a total of 28kms and about 700 to 800 m of elevation and it was really hot at the end .Started at 5.30am and finished at 10.30am.

The weeks are progressing with about 50km in running (low by last years standards ) but with a lot more elevation .This week I hit about 1600m of elevation. 

UltraTrail Australia Week 5-8

Somebody Told Me -The Killers

A Walk in the Park

Sunday's run

Kings Park Every Sunday

The amount of vertical elevation is getting harder and it has been getting hotter.

The second month of training started to ramp up with still low mileage but more elevation .A different approach to last year's trainning. I have also not ben religious on the diet and have lost a little weight more notably around the waist but at 75kgs I am fairly stable but needing to get closer to 70 kg .

Week4 Jan 30th to 5 Feb

Monday

Matilda Bay run

Slow start with a 7.5km easy run .Just tired from Sunday .Was suppose to be a 12lm easy run .

Tuesday

Crossfit session

Crossfit

Wedensday

Hills run and ran from the office to Kings Park where I ran along the bike path ,Malcolm street  and Mount street  all with gradients varying between 5 to 8% and managed just 9km in 80 minutes of running in the heat .

Thursday

skipped crossfit

Friday

Jacobs Ladder

Jacobs Ladder with 10 minute warm up then with the running pack did 30 minutes of stairs and 10 minutes running flat before returning and doing another 30 minutes . Managed 10 repeats of Jacobs Ladder which is 240 steps or 45 metres .Distance a miserly 4.5km

Saturday

I was supposed to ride but slept in

Sunday

Long run with 3.5 hours at Kings Park starting at 6.30am and we did a run for the first hour then repeats of Kokoda and Mount Street getting to about 1200m of elevation although the Garmin says 975m.Distance run 18.5kms only .

Week2  Feb 6 to 12

Pretty much the same with 15 km easy on Monday which I did along the river in the evening.
Then on Wednesday did the same hill repeats but in Kings Park running along May Drive for 11km on a gentler gradient and 200m of elevation .Friday Jacobs ladder again with about 5kmsof running on stairs and nearly 500m of elevation

Sunday 3.5 hours with only 15.5kms but managed 1200m of elevation and lots of repeats on Kokoda

Week 3 Feb13 to 19

Same routine as week 2 and on Sunday was a 4 hour session with 1400 m of elevation and only managed 16kms again with lots of Kokoda trail repeats and some at the DNA tower . I started late and ran by myself for the first hour .

Week 4 Feb 20 to 26

Monday was an easy 16 km run which I did in 2 hours slow. Wednesday hills with 80 or 4 x 20 mins with a rest between and 11km with 200m of elevation .Friday the stairs with 5 km and just 75 minutes with a break along the way.Did Jacobs for the first 30 mins and then ran Mount street for 40 minutes or really hiked up the hill for a distance of 5kms only and 500m of elevation.Saturday started riding again with CRT and did a 75km ride and managed to hang in with group 5 .Then in the afternoon a cross fit session at BorisFit.Sunday the long run but not so long this week with a 2 hour run at Reabolt and coffee at Georges after the run.

The first break in the programme with elevation being the key. I managed about 1500 to 2000m of elevation each week in the past few weeks .  It hopefully gets better because it doesn't get easier.

Ultra Trail Australia...the journey begins Weeks 1-4

My Support Crew

Back on Jacobs Ladder, Perth

Not a bad view

King's Park circa 2017

Its more than two months into the new year , new goals and not so new challenges. I have been slow and tardy in getting my thoughts together and blogging about the start of preparation for the next challenge . The Ultra trail Australia 100km run or NorthFace 100 .

I have had a few easy months off and the weight has come back on . Like me Irondog aka Molly has got lazy . The great challenge is to motivate and move and learn to improve.This race has been a challenge. Despite the best efforts and lots of run training it has thrown up lots of twist...last year the heat and the lack probably of elevation in the run programme made for legs that didn't quite have enough steam to get me through the last 20 kms . I made the cut off but just. This year hopefully with the vertical elevation done , I will get a PB .

The month of January is always the start for the last 3 years at least ,of run training for the ultra trail and with Perth's summer in full swing it is always a shock to the system.

Week 1

Monday 2 January started off with an easy 10.5km run on the flats going slow and taking 95 mins to do it . Tuesday 50 mins cross fit session . Wednesday first hill session at Mount Street with 15 min warm up and then 7 x 2 mins up Mount street and 2  mins recovery followed by 20 mins cool down
Thursday 45 min cross fit session just doing clean and jerks .
Friday Jacob's ladder with 3 x 10 min going up the stairs 2 at a time with 10 min warm up and cool down .Sunday 2 hour session  around Kings Park with trails and not as much vertical elevation.
Total distance 30 plus km .

Week 2

It starts to get harder . Monday an easy 10 km in 80 mins. Wednesday 7 x 3 mins hills with easy recovery and followed by 20 mins cool down . Friday Jacobs ladder with 3 x 12 min up the stairs with a warm up and cool down I managed only  4km . Sunday  2.5 hours with 500m of elevation. Did 8 repeats of Kokoda Trail , 8 repeats of the DNA Tower and One repeat of Mount street with a total of 10kms  In between the runs I rode on Thursday and Saturday and had cross fit on Saturday afternoon.

Week 3
Monday easy run 12.3km done in 100mins
Tuesday had a rest day
Wednesday warmup of 15 mins followed by 7 repeats of Mount street on for 2 mins up and then recovery of 30secs at the bottom and 30 min recovery .Total 65 mins
Thursday rested
Friday 85 mins at Jacobs Ladder with 9 climbs up Jacobs or 12 mins x 3 repeats and 90 secs recovery followed by 30 mins slow jog/recovery.
Saturday Did not ride
Sunday 15km in 3 hours around Kings Park with 5 climbs up Kokoda Trail and 6.5 climbs up Mount Street for an elevation of 685 metres (est)

Week 4

Monday easy run 12.3km done in 100mins again
Tuesday rode 17 km on the wind trainer
Wednesday warm up of 15 mins followed by 8 repeats of Mount street on for 2 mins up and then recovery of 90secs at the bottom and 15 min recovery .Total 65 mins and 7kms
Thursday wind trainer of Zwift with 27kms for 60 minutes.
Friday 90 mins at Jacobs Ladder with 12 climbs up Jacobs or 15 mins x 3 repeats and 90 secs recovery followed by 20 mins slow jog/recovery.
Saturday 70 km ride round the river and got dropped .
Sunday 15km in 3 hours around Kings Park with climbs up Kokoda Trail and climbs up Mount Street for an elevation of over 1000 metres (est)


A start to a 5 month training schedule .It only took me a year to forget how painful this race is.

A sort of Race Report for 2016

Smelling the Roses

Have Faith

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: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn't sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when its all you have got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving,can become the story of your life."

The opening lines to my holiday read , Shantaram ( Man of God's peace) by Gregory David Roberts.
(A quote I took from the book ,Shantaram and referred to in my blog on this day back in 2010)

 Beyond Kona which was the whole purpose of  or at least the start of this Blog on triathlons , training , what next .Well after a bit of recovery it was on to finishing IMWA 2016 my 10th Ironman at Busselton .

This blog is more a brief summary of that race and an overview of the year of racing and the lessons I think I have come away with .No overwhelming truths and no real Eureka moments .

The IMWA was a lesson in how the mind is fundamentally critical in any endeavour .The desire to race was waining but having signed up last year as a requirement for the legacy programme I decided to atleast start and finish .No objectives other than hoping that I would be able to finish in a half decent time .I had a surprisingly good swim despite the lack of keeping up with the training .A 1.25 hr and on par with my swim at Kona with a wetsuit so I had lost a bit of speed .The ride was slowest ever and again my legs just did not work and then translated into a very slow run .No major issues with my nutrition although I struggled with the choices on the run and did not quite like the Endura on the aid stations but I did not carry any Tailwind for the run this year .

Something I will need to consider in future .I finished just under 14hrs and glad I did finish but it was by far ,keeping with the slow times this year , reflective of the dysfunctional way I trained and lacked the focus.. it is time now to recharge and really have a break and rebuild .Life is about accepting that nothing really runs to plan but also trying to learn from these experiences to be better in the future.The hardest skill in this day is the overwhelming amount of information at our disposal and what to take on board and what to ignore.Life is more complicated for that when it is necessary to de-clutter ones training and refocus on what is important.

What the year has taught me is more easily discernible in a not so great year results wise but overwhelminly I take the positives in everything I have experienced .Our lives by the nature of the world and the speed in which information and knowledge (both good and bad and true and untrue ) circulate in this 24 hour cycle of the Internet /electronic media world means that we have to be so much more diligent in cutting true the rubbish and being so much more disciplined.

Irondog with her Kona Finishers m

From my perspective only .What I learnt is both applicable to life as a triathlete and life in general .It is my take on all the lessons I have had to learn and will continue to learn .

1 Be Kind most of all to yourself. Life is far too short and at times hard , to punish yourself when things don't go to plan .Not an excuse for mediocrity but realism.If anything be kind because it is good for the soul and if you believe in karma it surely is the right thing to do for yourself and all around.

Focus

2 Focus and Desire are critical in making any goal work.Sometimes the hardest thing is taking a step back or accepting that life's desires change . The lack of desire and that inner strength to persevere is what makes the difference between a well executed plan and just going through the plan.

Terrence Bozzone ,me and Craig Alexander ,Kona 2016

3 Have a Plan and keep to it.Sticking to it means closing out all unnecessary information and opinions which is harder than you think in this Internet world. lots of great coaches and triathletes to follow but ultimately settle on one and stick with it .

4 following from 3 , once you have a plan then be consistent .Another hard one.My biggest failing this year has been the lack of consistency .

Sleep

5 Sleep more.

6 Eat well and spend as much attention on food and recovery as you would on training . Everyone is different and don't ever diet .In anything a balance measured nutrition plan is always going to be the way to go.The Paleo diet I had at the beginning of the year wasn't really Paleo as I still had about 25percent of my food intake broadly as carbohydrates and I wasn't religious in my nutrition.
The low carb high fat diet

7 Play with your dog .Get a pet.It keeps the Heart rate low. if anything else you learn that there are more important things in life than swim,bike and run.

Underpants run Kona 2016 Having Fun

8 Sometimes just learning to breathe and shutting out the world is a good thing .Meditate .very hard in this frenetic hypoglycemic world.

The list is not a complete panacea for everything ,stress is a real part of life and there is stress I can control and stress that I can't . Just roll with the punches . Heres hoping for a more productive 2017 but everyday Iam just thankful for being able to swim bike run and play with my dog.