Bad News and Holidays

Well, I didn't post last week, as I couldn't be bothered and was also very busy. I couldn't be bothered as I found out I won't be going to IM Melbourne. Boo hoo. So I stopped training for 3 days. I was pretty gutted for a day or two there and just could not be stuffed doing anything. It was as if I had no reason to train at all. Then I realised that was not true and I should just harden up and get back on the horse anyway. The other reason was I was so busy getting ready for holidays and working flat out for 10-12 hours per day anyway.

Well here I am now in Strahan, western Tasmania and I have been running everyday since leaving Perth (5 days now). Have spent a few days in Hobart with friends. They live on a big hill (Mt Stuart) 3k from the centre of town and have amazing views. The bad part is, the last 1km to their house is very steep and all uphill. I would guess 10-12% gradient. I ran up Mt Wellington (well the last 12km anyway). There is a race that goes from the casino to the summit and is 21km long. That would be one tough race. The last 12k is at an avg of 8.0 %, according to MapMyRide. It was a really tough run but with very rewarding views.

Tassie is a beautiful place with so much natural beauty and amazing scenery. I have seen so many really cool things around here. Like 2300 year old Huon Pine trees in rain forest in a world heritage listed national park. Macquarie Harbour (2.5 times bigger than Sydney Harbour), Hells Gates and Sarah Island convict ruins. The town itself is very quaint little place and is 'ye olde town' style. The locals are friendly (they know a tourist dollar when they see one). West of town is Ocean beach, which has the freshest air outside of Antarctica - as the next bit of land is 8000km away in Argentina! I ran out there and then ran along a small piece of the 33km long flat and wide beach. It was amazing and the air was fresh!

Uploading photos is slow here, so I will save it for later or at home...

Tomorrow is Cradle Mountain and then up to the North coast

Week 1

Week 1 - Back into it again (already)!

Well this week is my first official week of the 12 week Race Prep phase of my training for IM Melbourne. Also called IM Asia Pacific Championships. The funny thing is, I don't even have a start yet! I still am yet to confirm an entry, through my work and a sponsors slot. I don't know what my chances are yet, so it maybe a short blog! Since my Epic Fail at Busselton IM, I have eased back into it over a 4 week period. 1 week off, then a couple rides and a swim, then in the 3rd week  (Xmas) added a run and then more or less a regular (but fairly easy) week of full training in week 4 for about 14hrs. This is the 5th week since IM and I am back on the program.

I am supposed to be on holidays, but have worked most of the week since New Years. The office is closed so I have got heaps done due to no interruptions, which is great! It also means I have been able to get some good training sessions in during business hours.

On Monday I re-tested my running V-dot with a 5k TT. That was a rude shock! After only running a few times in 4 weeks since Busso IM, it was very hard work. Not surprisingly, I was pretty slow and came in with a 20:38. Lots of room for improvement there!

Tuesday was an early start as I met Bernie at 530am for a long flatish ride. I dragged Bernie and his mate around in howling Easterly winds for about 128km. Was a real good workout in the tri bars. Tuesday afternoon saw me hit he pool after work with the kids and then do some laps. Managed 3.2k, mostly made up of sets of 200's with sprint flavour efforts of 50's, 100's and 150's in each 200.

Wednesday was an easy run for 40' with 6 x 30" strides and a PM ocean swim. Not real good weather for a beach swim, but I slugged away for about 2.5kms or 50'. Going downwind was fun. Got stung by a few stingers too. Shoulda hit the pool instead!

Thursday was my 1st long long, 90min of hard work. Just managed 18km. It was really humid and pretty warm. On Friday I just swam after work at Bold Park. 2.8km of T-Pace work. Last week I set a new PB for my 1k TT of 16:02, so my t-pace was 1:36 per 100m. A tough act to follow. I must have been very fresh for that TT! As I can't seem to match that pace anymore! Avg speed was more like 1:40/100m

Saturday I joined RW for Circuit 1 and then Bernie & I added on another 80min at the end. Was pretty good conditions for cycling and Big Greg and Aaron kept me honest as we put in heaps of efforts at the usual places. I was a bit less than 100% thats for sure. My legs just didn't quite have the zip of last week. Spent a fair bit of time in Zone 4 and heaps of time in Zone 3. I was pretty stuffed after I got home and had breakfast. Had an early night, as Lisa was working from 3pm.

Sunday I got up early (damn it is starting to get light later again!) and rode up to Yanchep. Had a great ride on the outward leg. Discovered a light SE'ly was blowing, after I turn around in Yanchep! Avg speed there was 34.3km/h. When I turned around it was obvious why I felt so good! It was hard work as the breeze was picking up. I popped a couple of No-Doze to sharpen things up a bit and that seemed to help after a while. It was a bit of a slog homewards though. Avg speed for the return trip was 30.2km/h. So overall was a solid 32.2, which isn't bad for a week where I ended up doing 340km. I got within 3k of home and could feel a hunger flat coming on real quick. I started to feel real weak and hungry and was glad to be so close to home. I only had a banana for breakfast but thought I had eaten enough for a 2:43hr ride. Apparently not! I think I dodged a bullet there, as bonking is not cool and can effect you for a couple of days after.

After eating a big bowl of cereal and 3 bits of toast, it was time to take the kids down to Surf Club. I helped out for a while and then just managed to make it to the start line for the Master club swim. My handicap was 3:50, which seems to have moved downwards a tad from last time. I went hard (is there any other way to go?) and got back to the beach and nearly threw up my breakfast! About the right amount of effort then!

So a pretty good start to my program for week 1;

Swim: 9km
Bike: 340km
Run: 37km
Total Time: 16:44hrs