Where am I?.....Soft? Making a come back? Expectations too high?

Where am I? Soft? Making a come back? Expectations too high?


This morning was my first 4 hour ride in a long time and one that had not challenged me since the lead up to Ironman...to be blunt...It shattered me!


The ride took us out to Ipswich and back (thank God not the same way as we went out)


I made the decision to ride to the Chalk and then home after the squad ride to ensure that I made up the 4hrs.


Stats for ride there:

Stats for the main ride:

Stats for the ride home:

Session Reflections:

• It is a day off Spring and the morning are certainly a little warmer...no leg warmers this morning. However, Spring brings out those mad Magpies and I'm sure I have offended them already this season because I was attacked twice this morning....once at Ipswich and then again on my way home...this guy got flesh!

The ride...well....

• I think frustrating would be the best way to describe my cycling efforts this morning...there are a number of things that need to be reflected upon in terms of this frustration:
• These points of frustration are all aimed at myself and piss poor attitude I have had of late in terms of training!
• Is it just a matter of 'hardening up' or there is more....I tend to believe it is more....
• This is my first major ride of this intensity since before Ironman in April...up to now the intensity of the rides have been quite low level. The hills were relentless!
• My weight is of concern and I have decided....I just need to shed the kilos...NOW! I have proven that my performance improves with less weight to carry around.
• Core....to be frank....my attitude toward core has been crap! Of the many sessions of core set in my program not many have been completed....NO MORE!
• The leg strength was lacking.....and toward the end of the ride they were very fatigued and I would drop off the back quite regularly....in fact this happened throughout the ride.
• Nutrition and hydration was not controlled as I would normally do......the 15/30 rule was not applied effectively and I think this was a cause of some of the late fatigue.

Overall a disappointing and poor ride! It has been a real kick up the bum! If I am the achieve my goals for this season then the rot stop here and NOW....time to GET SERIOUS!

Tim's Triathlon Headquarters

You can never have too many plastic boxes....there is a size for everything!



Ah...but the boxes won't help out on the course...or will they?

Long Swim and Cycle

This morning was the first of many bricks for the season. This brick was a Swim/Ride.
The swim was 2.0km approx and it took approximately 35min.

The stats for the ride were as follows:



Session reflections:

• The swim was with a wetsuit and it was a little cool but other then that the conditions were ideal for ocean swimming.
• Swimming south I focussed on my pull and trying to improve the technique in the open water environment.
• On the way North it was working on improving my kick.
• The ride was ok....that's all really have to say.
  

Solid Weekend - Day 1.....Much better!!!

AM Session: Ride Inside

This morning I was lot more motivated....it felt good to get into some hard training!

The stats were as follows:

PM Session: Core strength: 10 push ups; 20 sec prone hold; 20 sec squad hold x 15 then 30 min run @ under 150hr

Completed the core strength and the 30min run.

The stats were as follows:

Going forward ------>

AM Session: Rest

PM Session: Swim Session

Good to be back in the pool.....a good solid session about 2.5km.

Hump Day.....focus....focus...focus!

AM Session: Ride: 30min in 39/18-23; 5 x 5min in 53/14-18 @ 80-90 cadence and 150-165 hr along flat with 5min rec btwn and 10 min w/dwn

AM session just didn't happen......citing lack of sleep and motivation....maybe a bit of laziness!

PM Session: Core strength: 10 push ups; 20 sec prone hold; 20 sec squad hold x 15

There was all good intentions to do core....but it didn't happen....however I did do a 60min run around a course which is dominated with a variety of hills. The stats for the session are as follows:

Session Reflections:

• Still was feeling the affects of Mondays session in the AM
• The goal for my runs and cycles now are to work to HR....under 150bpm for the Run and under 140bpm for the cycle....I am going to be very particular with these limits.
• On a hilly course it is very difficult to keep that HR under the 150bpm....at time I had to walk to get the HR below the 150
• Legs were quite heavy throughout the run

Practical Assessment - Day of Coaching

Today was more occupied with getting prepared for my Level I Triathlon coaching certification.

The AM run session did happen. The Tuesday morning session is one which I have been struggling to do for the past couple of weeks. The lack of motivation, cold mornings; however, I think the major contributing factor is the lack of a regular nights sleep of 8hrs or more. This is not something that I seem to be able to achieve and therefore struggle to get up early the next morning to train.

Throughout the day I was quite sore from last nights core session...particularly my glutes!

At 5.15pm I made my way to the pool to be prepared for the assessment of my swim session. Read through my session plan and got focused on the session.
The session went to plan and I was really happy with the way it went from a coaches perspective and importantly so was the assessor.
Got good feedback from both the squad and the assessor and it was a thumbs up!

Core Strength

AM: Rest
PM: Core Strength

The session tonight was a tough session. An example of some of the character building sessions/cycles:

• 10 push ups and 30sec prone hold
• 10 crunches and 30sec ankle taps
• 30sec dynamic squats and 30sec dynamic lunges
• 10 push ups and 30sec squats

This was a good tough session. The dynamic lunges at the end of the session were the tester. The quads were very fatigued but it felt good and it was a good conditioning session.

Sunday - Long Ride (4hrs) The 1st one for the season!

Long ride this morning...along with taking Group 3 for a 2-2.5hr (all up 4 hours and 104 km)


Session Reflections:

• Cold out - 2degrees
• Legs were a little tired and took a while to get going....quite heavy particularly on the hills
• The butt certainly knows its completed 160km of cycling over the weekend! :-)

Bricks....they are heavy, hard and used to build to a good foundation.

This morning I headed off to do the Brick session with the squad at Slaughter Falls. You can always be guaranteed that if it is at the base of Mt Cootha it's not going to be flat!


The warm up this morning included the ride there and 1 lap of the course that we were doing in the brick:The brick session included 3 laps of a 5km hilly course and then 1 lap of a 2km relatively flat course. This was to be completed twice.

FIRST BRICK REP
The Cycling stats are:

The Run Stats:

SECOND BRICK REP
The Cycling stats are:


The Run Stats:




Session Reflections:

• The first and second reps was pleasing in that I was able to maintain the same time for each of the laps.
• The first lap was completed in the small chain ring, the other 2 utilised the large chain ring when appropriate
• Found that once I had completed a lap utilising the large chain ring I was able to anticipate the gear changes a lot better and therefore the climbs up the short steep inclines were done more efficiently.
• Happy with the HR throughout the session. Good average throughout the cycling reps (152/154bpm) and the run (158bpm)
• Legs were a little heavy throughout the 2nd and 3rd laps of the 2nd cycle rep.
• Core stability was not good throughout the 2nd run rep

Warm Down:

Total Bike: 55.5km

Total Run: 3.6km

Friday.....it's another day of rest!

Thursday...

AM Session: Rest

PM Session: Swim Squad

Good session feeling the passion for the water returning...and its feeling good. A few niggles but that's what toughening up is all about.

Wednesday...Day of Rest

Run TT - 3km

AM Session: 3km TT (Run)

It was up easily and off for the 3km TT. It has been a while since I had done a 3km TT and was intrigued as to where I was at in terms of the shorter distance. In other words...how was my need for speed.....?

Short warm up...stretches and the a number of run throughs....I was set!

The stats from the run are as follows:

Session Reflections:

• A concern is still the pace throughout the TT....starting too fast...I would like to even out the pace...something to work on!
• This time was not a PB but was only 3-4sec off my PB
• Struggled with my breathing over the last 750-500m...maybe still suffering a little from this lingering illness.
• Happy with the time....particularly off little specific and consistent training.
• Indicates that I still have a good base.
  

PM Session: Swim Squad

Session Reflections:

• Felt good in the pool.
• Finding that I am to sustain my kick for longer periods of time.

Rest Week - Monday

AM Session: Rest

PM Session: Core Strength

Core strength session was a corker!

Session Reflections:

• Attitude was better than it has been in the past.
• Believe core strength is the area where I think I can make the most improvements.
• Struggled a little with some of the activities.
• Obliques got a good workout with some of the drills.
• Many push ups were completed.

Cycle TT - 20km

AM Session: Ride- 20km Time Trial and then 90 minutes in small ring after.

The morning start at 6.00am with a warm up ride to the Crit track at Nundah, this was about 9km in about 21min. Once arriving at the track, did a further warm up of 5 laps of the crit track (roughly 6k) in around 11min.

Total Warm up: 15km (32min)

It was then onto the 20km TT:

Session Reflections:

• Probably went out at the start a little too hard...but soon got into the rythym about the 4km mark.
• Throughout the TT I focussed on keeping the cadence between 90-100rpm. However, up the slight hill on the track at time the cadence fell below that target. This is indicated by the slight drop in the cadence chart.
• From 4-14km worked really well...focussing on the pedal stroke and breathing...staying as aero as possible. Keeping the knees close to the cross bar.

PM Session: Run- 30 min @ under 150 hr and 15 min stretch

The afternoon looked like this:

Session Reflections:

• It is all about the HR...focussing on keeping the HR under 150bpm.

New Footwear

It was time to get a pair of new shoes. Went off to Active Stride.
After trying about 6 pairs of shoe I decided on a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 4.

While I was there began an investigation into new gels....trying GU and Accel....the jury is still out on them.

It's all in the MIND!

AM Session: Brick: 3hrs on bike in big ring @ under 150hr and 30 min run off bike group 1

I believe that on camp there was something about differentiating between laziness and tiredness.....here was where I certainly had to differentiate between the two.....and have to say it was probably laziness!

PM Session: Swim: 2km pull buoy swim easy

Completed to 33:07
I completed the first 800m in 13:26 which wasn't bad when my TT for that same distance on Thursday night was 13:22.

Session Reflections:

• Happy with the overall attitude throughout the swim.
• Arms got a little tired and heavy about the 800m mark, however, the power of positive thinking was used to over come this challenge....a lot of talking to myself was required.
• Really focussed on the hand entry for the first 1000m and then my stroke pull for the second 1000m....all good!

Ekka Holiday

Today maybe a day off from work but it was a day off from training.

AM Session: Ride: 60-75 in 39/18-23 @ 90+ cadence and under 150 hr

This morning was a ride without some of my gadetary. No Garmin this morning! And yes I survived the ride!! :-)

I was off early about a 5.20am start and basically rode into the Chalk Hotel via the Ekka (fitting rather) the back out via Newmarket Road all up the ride was about 70min. The HR was kept below 150bpm for all of the ride.

The legs were, at time a little sluggish but as the ride went on they seem to feel better and better.

Happy with the session.

Friday....Harden Up Campaign (Day 1) - Noosa Camp

Arrived at Noosa about 4.00pm and organised my stuff....in boxes of course.


The following goals were set to get out of the weekend at camp:

• To get the motivation back.
• To find the passion for the longer training session (time in the saddle)
• Work on re-establishing the rhythm and efficiency for running long
• Begin to bring the mind and focus back to the training
• Re-establish the enjoyment of the sport

The first session of the camp was a run through the Noosa National Park.

Session Reflections:

• The attitude was one to go and enjoy the run. The Noosa National Park was a location that I had never run before and it is a place that I enjoyed to run and would definitely like to do some more running around. A very scenic running course.
• The pace was good throughout the 15km and the trail environment was one that was relatively low impact on the legs...a good way to start the legs 'turning over' again.
• Running with the John, Jeff and Paul was very enjoyable; for the company and the support throughout the run.
• The trail run also helps in improving strength of joints: Knees and ankles.

Friday....Harden Up Campaign (Day 1)

AM - Ride Inside

PM - Noosa Camp

The morning began with a inside session on the bike. This was the first session at ride inside for quite a while and it was quite a welcome back...a strength session.

The session included the following aspects:

• 10min warmup
• 4 x 8min; big ring at the front; focussing on keeping the cadence around 60rpm with 5 min recovery.
• 10min warm down

Session reflections:

• This was looking like being a struggle, however, mentally I was determined to not let the session beat me.
• There was a strong focus on my pedal stroke...keeping the foot parallel to the floor...keeping the upper body firm and reduce the amount of 'turtle motion'
• Legs came out of the session relatively well...remembering that there is a big weekend ahead.

Hump Day!.....Day of Rest

Well today was one to try and just give my injury a bit of recovery time...it's now a race to get myself right for the weekend.

The running and cycling don't really aggravate the injury and I believe that there is no really issue with continuing going hard with these two disciplines and the freestyle work ok.....

It's just one thing after ANOTHER!

AM: Run: 60-75 mins @ under 155hr and 4 x 60m strides to finish and 15 mins stretch
PM: Swim Squad

The intention of the night before was to go for the run and I was organised and ready to go with all my gear out so I just had to basically jump into my gear and shoes...well...yep....it didn't happen. No excuse...just didn't happen.

Over the past 10 days I have been struggling with a bit of a sore chest around the base of the ribs. Today I finally did something I probably should have done last week...go to the Doctor!!

Up to this point it had been quite painful, especially when I cough or sneeze.

The outcome of the doctor was either a small fracture of the rib or a small tear of the cartilage, either way the Doctor thinks 2 months before it is better...and that's without training. Hmmmm......

With that knowledge it was off to training. Swimming...thought it would be too bad as I went swimming on Saturday and didn't have much of an issue...but on Saturday I didn't have a Medley set to do....I think the Butterfly and breaststroke with fins aggravated it and by the end of the session it was quite painful.

Finding this a little frustrating....It's just one thing after another and I just want to get a good run at the training for a while....this on and off training is just not making me a happy camper...tonight just broke the camel's back!!!

Time for a test.....a core test! This will be interesting!

AM: Rest
PM: Core Strength - 30 min run @ under 155hr prior

The test results:
Push ups: 36
Prone hold: 1.21
Squat hold: 1.51
Leg raises: 108
Underarm hold: 10 sec
Over hand chins: 4
Under hand chins: 6

Steady....focus.....careful now!

AM Session: Ride Inside - drive there

PM Session: Core strength: 10 push ups; 20 sec prone hold; 20 sec squat hold x 15 then 30 min run @ under 150hr

First up...AM session....did not happen....CAUSE - 7.00am work meeting...I will get to Ride Inside at some stage!

PM session....completed the core session....felt good...got through it with little to no real issues. I use the time to focus on the core and developing it....thinking about squeezing the glutes...pulling the belly button in...straight back in the squat holds...knees @ 90...feet shoulder width apart...was a good session...struggled a little in the last 2-3 reps....particularly in the push ups and prone holds....no such problems in the squat holds.

After this was finished it was off on a 30 min run:

Good solid run..again plenty of hills...didn't work the hills as hard as I had on Wednesday.