PICTURES Over The Past Few Weeks

Cottesloe after a Sunday swim in September

Coffee and Muffin at John Street Cafe, Cottesloe.

The bottom of Narrows Bridge looking out to Perth City and the start of my Freeway bike rides

Sun setting after the First North Coast Aquathon for the season

Talking to the Members 

North Coast Tri Club Information Evening , 16 October 2010.(picture by Dennis Gump)

Kamikaze Butterflies and the Long Ride

Mt Henry Bridge

I am glad its Sunday .Its a rest day and my body needs it.Its been a busy week work , training and otherwise.

I had my Friday easy run in the evening and watched the aquathon and the spectacular sunset.The ocean was calm and great for an evening race. I got the bike ready for the long ride down the freeway . I do get a little too familiar with these rides and preparation tends to suffer. Didn't pump up the wheels as they looked firm enough. for fuel I had 4 gels , a concentrate of Gatorade 6 scoops worth, dates and jelly beans , 1 fruit bar and a banana with 2 bidons and my aerobar mounted water container.

That was about 2 litres of water and  420 to 480g of carbohydrates which should be enough.

Got up late and started off from the narrows after 6.30am .The wind was already blustering about and I was averaging just under 30 till Mt Henry Bridge.I could not get my HR monitor to work so I stopped my garmin but that did not seem to fix the problem. Hence two maps below. The ride down was great and I averaged about 33.8kph to the end of the freeway bike path with most of a tailwind. It was the ride back that was hard.It did not relent for the whole way back .I had a detour to the Caltex station on Safety Bay road and had another two bidons of  water and had my fruit bar and a short rest watching the weird people at the station. There were heavily tattooed guys , biker characters , a driver with a stretch hummer .It was a busy intersection of people travelling south or coming back into Perth.

I had also passed lots of cyclist riding I believe for make a wish and they blocked  the whole cycle path so it was a little hard going getting pass a stream of cyclist . As I headed back , the winds would from time to time become gusts and I could feel my bike move across. It was on the way back when a orange /black butterfly came tumbling straight into me and it looked like it had no control over the gust of wind carrying it like a car rolling many times and then splat . Its gone. I am glad I am not a butterfly on the cycle path just a crazy cyclist.
At that point I was seriously contemplating why I was cycling in this headwind .It was hard work to keep focus.








I got back to the narrows in pretty good shape . I actually managed to keep up with a cyclist from canning bridge and then passed him as he hung on to me till the narrows. But the legs felt like jelly.As I forgot my running shoes , I had to drive home and then do the run .It was already noon and warm. I had not had anything to eat or drink and unfortunately about 3 km into the run got really lightheaded . Managed to jog back slowly and get some food into me quickly but didn't do an hour easy run. Lesson learnt , keep eating even after the ride. I was starving by the time I got home.

I had a short break and nap before getting ready for the NCTC Info night . It was a great afternoon and hopefully the new members got something out from the session.

Run  54 km or 5 hrs
cycle: 280km or 9.15 hrs
swim ; 6.8 km or 3 hrs

The hard week

I wanted to be as current as I could with my blog but as the training load increased and work has made it difficult.

Having  been through the build up to an Ironman I know what to expect from the programme .The long runs have built up to 2 hrs and the Tuesday ride is now 1.5 hrs hard at threshold.I did my long run on Sunday evening as it gives me time to recover on Monday.I did a straight swim session for 40 minutes and did not swim with the squad in the evening.

I had a North Coast Meeting in the evening but could not make it .

Tuesday is always the hard day with a hard cycle session.i managed to get to Nedlands by 5.30am and started the session with Michelle and Jeremy. Kept up and took my turn for the whole time.Michelle was tiring and hung on which was unusual for her. I felt reasonably comfortable and strong .we averaged 34.5kph with my ride to Nedlands included so we were riding a bit faster than 34.5kph.




I managed approximately 68km .It was a good mornings work and gave me some confidence that my cycling is improving .

Wednesday was harder as I was still feeling the effects of Tuesdays ride and decided to double up my training in the afternoon.I did my interval run of 6 x 1km at threshold and managed approximately 15km in 1.20hr.I then did the squad swim session..Did 2.5km for the session.

Thursday I decided to ride to Birwood and see if i could catch the exceed riders .they were gone but I caught up with them a few minutes later and they were doing hill repeats and so I joined them .I was doing a high  cadence ride and it was hard spinning up the inclines with everyone in their big chain ring.My legs were smashed after the session even though that wasn't the intent.It is to build the aerobic system without tiring the legs. Again did about 65km with the ride home.

Friday , did my swim in the morning with speed work and enjoyed the session. managed only 2.3 km In the evening I did an 1.05 run along the coast and watched the NCTC Aquathon. It has been a hard week with the long ride on Saturday.

With many other commitments my time management has had to be spot on .

Finally , on a bumper sticker I saw on a car it said " Please Lord , help me become the person my dog thinks I am"

I thought about it and an an apt variation for me would be " Please Lord help me be the triathlete I want to be"

EASY WEEK

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WHILST MY MAIN COMPUTER has crashed , the week has been an easy one as far as training goes .I am waiting for a new computer and hopefully by the end of the week I will it all set up and ready .Hence pictures I have taken have not been loaded on my blog.

I have continued with training but it has all been light accept for the swimming.which is as usual.

In brief , I had an easy 1.15 run on Monday with no swim as I swam on Sunday .Did a 11.60km run very slow. Then on Tuesday rode around the river and on Wednesday swam in the morning and then did my run in the evening with 12 x 30 sec efforts in the 1.05 run..On Thursday I rode around the river again but from home and cycled home after work as well. Friday  I ran an hour easy at lunch time and then had my swim training .The lunch time run was hot but otherwise a good easy run.

On Saturday , I again rode from home round the river.Tony had a puncture and returned early and we continued till I lost the group and then jumped on the CRT group and rode till Mt Henry Bridge and then back to Claremont before meeting up with everyone and heading to Subiaco .Had coffee and a muffin before cycling home.It was pretty warm especially with my long sleeve cycling jersey.

It was a rush to get to Sorrento to marshall the Sorento challenge a 1.2 km swim, 7km paddle and 7km run.
It was a great day for a race ,perfect water conditions and no wind but the run was warm..I got a bit of sunburn just standing near the turnaround for the run course.

The hard week starts next . Today I watched the Ironman Championship in Kona . Great Inspiration and well done to Chris McCormack and Miranda Carfrae and everyone who got to the big dance in Kona.  

Run : 3.20 or 34 km
bike: 7.5 hrs or 200km
swim: 2.15 or 5.2km

A Spring Day

Sunday 4 October 2010 


I felt pretty rested after yesterdays hard session. Whilst Sunday is a rest day , I did go for a swim at the Cott with tony.It was a beautiful day .Clear skies , no wind , a slight swell and lots of stingers ...but we did not know that till we got in.It was quite cold as well. I did feel more comfortable in the sea and managed to get to OBH without zig zagging .We did swim a bit further out to avoid the swell.We then continued on to the Blue Duck Cafe and then hit the stingers clustering right in the sea off the Blue Duck Cafe. Exactly where they were last week. We then swam back with lots of discomfort around the face and ears where I got most of the stingers.It would have been a 1.5-1.7km swim in about 45 mins.

Got changed and initially went to John Street Cafe for coffee and muffins but service was pretty bad ie. no one took our order so we went to Georges in City beach and met up with Trevor .The rest of the day was just spent hanging around the house with the kids and going with Jonathan to the Park . Looking forward to the easy week .Ross sent a short message with the programme for October.

" John,  

You know the drill, going shorter this year and hopefully fresher for you. Keep at it .

Ross     

PS You probably do not know how much the others talk about you and the way you have improved over the years. Sometimes people do not want to say it to your face but they are all very impressed with what you have achieved. Just thought you would want to know."

It is nice to know and its all about staying the distance.Most of all , I enjoy the sessions with the squad it makes all the training more enjoyable.

A WINDY RIDE

Saturdays ride is always my toughest training day . Today was no different . It was to be a 4 hr ride at sub threshold and run off the bike.

Again it was the AFL Finals today after the draw last week.I had a late start ,starting at 6.20am .I was feeling alot better than last week although a half hour into the ride my HR was still pretty low .I was hovering around 130-135 and needed to be at 140-45. That was a real struggle for the rest of the ride.About 25km into the ride ,Jay came up and joined me.he was only riding 90km and I rode with him for about 40 mins before he turned around.We were doing a good pace and  I thought I would be able to do a good average speed.But as I continued down the freeway bike track, the headwind just got worse and it was a struggle.By the 60km mark I was riding at an average 29.5 kph.After the turn around it improved and I was able to get my average speed up to 32.4 kph .It was hard and I could not get my HR up much.There wasn't too many cyclist out and several inline skaters about.

I managed to complete the ride in 3.51 as my return speed was faster than the ride down because of the effect of the headwind going down. I did a 30 min run off the bike and the legs felt good although they were pretty tired and hurting in the last hour of the ride.It was good to be off the bike.

It was a hard session and I was pretty spent for the rest of the day.Had lunch at IKEA and was dozing off .
At least next week is an easy week before the hard work starts. Ross sent the October programme and it goes up a notch .

Bike : 280km  or approx. 9.5hours
Run : 4.15 or 45 km
swim : 2.15 hrs
total: 15.50

The meat and potatoes programme

It has been a busy and tiring week .With work , family and training i have been a little too tired to blog for the past 5 days. Apologies.

Training has been good.Monday the 27 September was a public holiday so i deviated from the training programe of Ross and did an easy ride round the river with Tony , Keith , Tim and Trevor. I did my swim on Sunday and my long run as well . I reasoned that as long as I have over 24 hours rest between my Saturday ride and long ride I am fine.It gives me a good recovery period for Tuesdays hard session.This week was a rest week fro the rest of the group so there was only 3 of us doing a hard ride .I stuck behind Alistair and managed a34kph average with my slow ride out to nedlands .It was easier as I just had to stay behind Alistair but he was going harder than my usual group.Michelle was not well and did not show. Jeremy was ill and he rode. I managed to stay with Alistair for the whole hour.Tony was doing laps in Nedlands but I did not see him.

Met the rest of the group at Tiger Lily's for breakfast.

Wednesday ,  I did my running in the morning but misread the programe and did the 1.15 session with 2 x 20 min at thresshold.should have been 20 minutes at medium pace.In the evening ,returned to the Inglewood pool for the first time after the shutdown . It was nice and warm.. Did  a 2.6km session. Felt strong and managed to keep up in lane one.





On Thursday , the weather had changed and it was overcast , cool and drizzling. .I set off on my own to ride round the river and do 5 x 10m efforts.unfortunately I found it hard to get my HR up and in Cottesloe I got a puncture .a first on the road since October last year. I manage to change the tube but could not pump up the tyre .Eventually a cyclist came to my rescue and gave me his gas cylinder .I managed to ride round Fremantle and back to the city without another puncture. I then rode home in the evening makingit a ride of just under 70km

.

Friday , was the first Aquathon for the North Coast Tri Club.I therefore had to do my swim session in the morning.it was a 2.7km session.

warm up
200m PB
200 free and 100 medley x 2

50 chicken wings, 50m finger drag and 50 free x 4  did 2)

main session

200 free ,150 free , 100 medley and 50 x3 at various paces.

cool down
kick and free 100 m.

The whole group is back in the pool. As the office was having a staff meeting and lunch I finished work a little earlier and had a nice barberque lunch.I got up to the Sorento Life saving Club where we have our Aquathon series..I did a 1hour run before the race started and it was a beautiful Perth day with lots of people about walking, cycling and on the beach. It was a bit blustery at times. helped out with the time recording for the race.It was quite a windy day and the race was a 400m swim and 3.2 km run.the water was  probably cold and there were stingers about. everyone got through safely. lots of first timers as well. there was 38 starters.

Got a sausage roll and then it was off home to prepare for Saturdays Ride.