Week 12 - Week in Review

" There is something in every human being that seeks testing. A yearning to discover just how far one can go, how much one is capable of achieving. From this desire was born the most demanding athletic endurance test ever........- the IronmanTriathlon"

- unknown (but brilliant!) author.

The beginning of 12 weeks...this is the business end of the preparation. The base sessions (swim and bike) up to this point in time have been of great quality and benefit.

Reflecting on 'where I am' at 12 weeks.....

• There has been a real focus on achieving the weight goal for this campaign and it is getting there...in fact I'm smashing it! At the start of 12 weeks I have I am at 82kg....this is the lightest I have ever been at this point in time during an IM campaign.
• Is it making a difference? INDEED it is!!!.....the issues relating to the back (pain in the upper region of the hamstring) is not even coming close to what it has been like. The running has improved since the weight is off...I have literally got rid of 6 kilos of bricks off my body...of course it is going to make a difference....the lighter the better....even helping on the bike too.....that power to weight is improving.
• Related to the this is a new LOVE for the sore strength session....it has assisted with the management of the back injury.
• The long runs and 5-6hr bike rides are now a weekly occurrence. Nutrition is going to be the key with these session.
• I have returned to using a multi-vitamin product that I have used for the previous campaigns. The product is put out by Pharmanex and is a Dietary Supplement called LifePak. Along with this I take the Optimum Omega (EPA and DHA Fish Oils) this works on assisting with the cardiovascular health. The other benefits I find out of using this product, is that I have a lot more energy and  helps with the moments when things get a little tiring....I generally feel better...there could be physiological benefits here too....and the power of positive thought.
• My general frame of mind is ready and raring to go....there is some things to be achieved from this IM campaign and I believe I have the mind set to achieve them.
• This IM campaign I have been working closely with a sports nutritionist to get my general eating under control and it has been one of the reasons for the weight loss. One of the big things I finally got under control was my meal portions....it make such a difference when you reduce the size of your meals and add another couple of healthy snacks here and there

Training this week has been taken to the next level...the volume is there and I'm LOVING it...with nothing holding me back...it is full steam ahead.
I know what needs to be done and there is a commitment to the task....I have feel more ready than I have ever been at this time compared to the other 3 campaigns......look out people!!!


Monday:
AM Session - Rest morning

PM session - 45min core strength and conditioning then an easy 30min run on the treadmill.

Reflections:
Core felt good.
Easy run the legs were a little heavy and a little niggle has developed again in the left calf. Feels like a bit of tightness from the weekend.


Tuesday:

Tuesday now is the day of the LONG RUN! Not a bad thing and the first one was 2.5 hrs through the hills.....welcome back. And a successful return it was. Throughout the run I felt strong and worked at keeping the pace between 5-5.30min pace.

Tuesday evening back in the pool for a cool 3km. I could tell that there hasn't been much time in the pool over the last 10 days, arms a little slow to get going but after about a 1km they kicked in.

Wednesday:

Back to an old favourite.....back to Cootha.

Ride from home to Cootha then onto work, total ride time for the morning 2h30 and approximately 53km. I was able to get 4 reps in at Cootha before I had to head to work. The time on the hill was quality, work hard and hope it pays off.....starting to think it will!!

Wednesday evening, ride home (about 45min/17km) then 75min run off the bike.

Thursday:

Good coached session in he morning. Great numbers.

The evening was a swim, but due to work commitments couldn't get there.

Friday:

Morning off....one of rest...it was the calm before the storm.....

Mooloolaba Camp was upon me.....travelling straight from work to Mooloolaba to begin the camp with a solid run.

Felt good throughout this run...however, maybe a little too hard. 5min pace for the first session of a big weekend may have been a little excessive???? Average HR not too bad maybe again a little high given the relative flatness of the course which I ran over.

Saturday:

The morning began at 5.15am with a very nice 45min ocean swim at Mooloolaba beach. This swim basically cover the Tri course up and then back, swimming approximately 3km.

The it was straight onto the bike with a solid 5.5hr ride. This took us up to Boreen Pt, through Pomona and back through Bli Bli to base. This was not a flat course but was quite a challenging course at times. I thought my legs may have struggled throughout the ride, but I was riding strong, the work during the bike build seems to be paying off. Nutrition and hydration went well, I went back to what I knew works for me.

Saturday afternoon it was on the feet again, pounding the pavement.

The legs now were a little fatigued, but I made sure that I had at least a 1hr nana nap before the run. This did freshen them up, along with some help from the skins....a recovery technique, personally, that works.

After the run it was into the pool and then got back into the skins for the rest of the evening. Spent Friday and Saturday night sleeping in the skins.....makes such a difference!

Before this run we were given the task of running 42km between this session and the long run in the morning...which meant we needed to run approximately 27km Sunday morning...very achievable but recovery this evening is key and a good night's sleep.

Sunday:

Up again and in the water at 5.15am for an ocean swim. Again a 3km swim. And felt soooo good in the water...no wet suit and feeling strong and confident about my swimming.

It now faced me....a 2.5hr run...last session of the camp....the question beckons.....how are the legs going to go......the answer......VERY surprisingly WELL.

It was important that we kept it aerobic and slower than the 5min pace we had been running in the last 2 run session....5.30min pace was the goal....and to say that we nailed it was an understatement. It was HOT out there, hydration and nutrition went well, everything cane together. The was the occasional stop to run the tap over our heads to get the core temperature down but we then forged on.

Throughout the run I focused not only on the pace, but cadence and engaging my core.

The course we ran over here was flat and enabled me to get into a steady rhythm.

Weekly Stats:

Swim: 9km (2h30min)
Bike: 225km (8h19m)

Run: 92km (8h22m)

Core & Strength: 1h15min

Maintenance: 0h



TOTAL: 20hr26min

Week 13 - The Week in Review

Life, to me, is a series of false limits and my challenge as an athlete is to explore those limits."—Lance Armstrong

Recovery Week - in more ways then one.
 
This week was to be a relatively light week, but Tuesday I came down with a Stomach bug and this knock me flat. I slept for a good 20 hours. I had the muscle aches and couldn't keep anything in. It was a good way to drop a bit more weight. This therefore required a number of days to recover from this.
 
Much of the week was regaining the energy level, specifically to be fueled enough for the 200km IM ride on the Saturday. There was a focused effort on ensuring that there was too much of an intake to increase the weight back to unacceptable levels.
 
200km IM Ride - 2011
2011 brings the challenge of the 200km IM ride up Mt Mee and then up and along the Blackall Range. A ride many people will shake their heads at but for the serious IM athlete it is an important part of their preparation. If you can conquer this ride then you can achieve most things in Ironman training and racing.
 
The morning began at 5.00am at Chermside with the pre session preparation. Moving, nutritional and hydration needs into appropriate support vehicles which were going to meet us along the way at particular check points. This is an important aspect of success in this ride...success being defined as finishing the ride upright and relatively well. Fatigue is always going to be an issue with this type of ride, but that's something you have to learn to deal with when it comes to Ironman (in both the training and racing) The art to overcoming fatigue is conditioning your body to deal with it. What better way to teach your body to deal with fatigue but to put your body through such a situation. It is this ride that is falls into this situation.
 
The day was going to be HOT and humid. The preparation and hydration reflected this with plenty of frozen drink bottles. The nutritional preparation was no different to any other training session.
 
The first part of the ride was out to Petrie and it was possible here for the group to keep together (about 15-20 of us) Once we headed out to Dayboro we all began to split up and people focused on their own riding and on what was ahead. Having done this ride twice previously it, I knew what was ahead and I wanted to pace myself in this part of the ride. In this section Rich, Kit and myself worked together to reach the turnoff to Mt Mee. It is here we began the ascent to Mt Mee. The important thing here that was the focus what rhythm. I was on the TT bike so it isn't the best for climbing but my rule is any long ride is to be on the TT, whether or not it had BIG hills in it.
Go to the top...feeling good...at this point I had just completed 2hrs of ride time. At this stage it wasn't too hot, however, the cloud was low and there was a hint of some showers around.
 
The decent down to the daguilar turn off was a little slower as usual as the road was quite wet in parts....safety and staying on the bike is important. The first aid stop was here and it was a matter of topping up the liquids and moving on with the minimal amount of fuss. What I did here was to put a frozen 600ml bottle water bottle in one of my back pockets for 1, to help keep the core temperature down and 2, to give me some nice cool water to drink throughout the next stage of the ride, I find it refreshing and gives the body a bit of a 'kick'.
 
It was then out to Woodford, Peachester, Beewah then onto Landsborough where the next aid stop was available. By this stage of the ride there was regular showers and then bursts of sunshine which, as you can imagine, made it very humid. It was now where mentally and physically I knew I had to dig deep...the climb up to Maleny was relentless, but I found some inner strength and positive energy and thoughts to push hard up the climb and be satisfied at my efforts. I think I lost a kilo going up the hill just is sweat loss. Once to the top, it was a matter of allowing the body recover for a couple of Km's and then work through the rather large undulations that are encountered across the top of the blackall range. For good measure the are a couple to 12% gradient climbs. The trip across the top was rather wet and I endured many heavy showers of rain and the occasional wind gusts.
 
At Montville was the 3rd aid stop, this was in terrencial rain and it followed us all the way down the range from Mapelton. Not the most pleasant decent in the wet with very uneven roads but I survived. Once down into Nambour it was a flat trip home, with the occasional headwind via Bli Bli, Maroochy, Alex and Mooloolaba. The 4th aid stop was outside Alex surf club, this was a very brief stop and there was a real urgency to get to Caloundra. I was on course for a great improvement on last years time.
 
The ride south from Mooloolaba through Kawana to Caloundra was a dream run...tail wind all the way, but boy, did it start to get hot.
 
The ride was complete, we made our way into the race precinct for the Caloundra Tri and it was complete.
 
The Stats:

 
Reflections:

• Mentally I was in a better place. The hills were my friends.
• Was a lot lighter...weight wise.
• Nutrition strategy worked well
• Hydration strategy worked well
• There were a couple of spots where I felt 'flat' but through digging deep and being positive was able to get through these.
• The back got a little sore climbing up from Landsborough, but it was not something that continued throughout the rest of the ride.
• This was the first long ride of this nature on the new TT, the setup was good.
• Completed the ride 45min quicker than last year and was less fatigued.

IM Australia - Bike Course 2011

IM Australia - Run Course 2011