So the lack of updating this blog pretty much shows how difficult I have found it fitting in work and training, there has not been a heap of time for anything else.
Since my last post, I seemed to recover well from the marathon, although I lost a bit more biking time than I would have liked over the marathon taper/recovery period.
Since then the focus has been on the bike, running has purely been about trying to maintain fitness, but I have not done any really long runs instead opting for 2 x 20km ish type runs per week, I’ve definitely found this approach to leave my legs a little fresher for my other sessions.
Racing wise, I had my first ever podium at the first XOSIZE race, set up by a decent swim and a really strong bike. Given a lack of much speed work on the run, a 5km run really hurt, I was pleased to pick up one place in my age group on the run, and didn’t get overtaken by anyone with the end result that I came third so was really pleased with that.
I’ve also ticked off Half-Ironman number 4, after worrying about the weather conditions, race day turned out to be a cracker, not too hot, hardly any wind and the course is flat and fast so I was confident in getting a pb and finally ducking under that 5 hour mark.
The swim went well, that is actually one of my stronger legs now relative to others, I got in a rhythm early and although it was a little annoying having to weave through slower swimmers from earlier wave starts, it was pretty uneventful and I was happy to be at the swim exit in about 31.5 minutes. I took my time through transition, I was running through my routine that I will use in Busselton which involved a change into bike kit, was out within a few minutes and on my way.
The bike was fast, I settled into my planned race effort and was moving along at around 37-38km/h. I stuck to the planned pacing and concentrated on getting the nutrition in and felt pretty good. I managed to maintain an average speed for the whole bike leg of 37.5km/h so heading back into T2 I knew I had the sub 5 and a pb nailed as the race clock was just on 3 hours.
The first lap of the 3 lap run course seemed to pass by pretty quickly, I settled into a relatively comfortable heart rate and just kept ticking the km’s off. I slowed gradually throughout the run which probably showed a bit of my lack of running but nothing that I was too worried about. I was conscious of not destroying my legs only 3 weeks out from the Ironman but was certainly pretty happy to stop when I got to the finish line, crossing the line in 4.39.09.
Since then I have had another week and a bit of big bike km’s and have now settled nicely into the taper. The Melbourne weather is forcing me to taper well, wet and windy today so not taking the risk of heading out on the bike.
Not too much more I can do now, I’m looking forward to heading over to Busselton on Wednesday and getting on with the race!
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Friday, 15 October 2010
Melbourne marathon
Didn’t go quite as planned but if I take a step back and just look at the overall time, 3.22 something, I am still pleased. If I remember where I have come from over the last 3 years that is still a damn good effort.
If I analyse the race a little closer though I definitely take away something to work on.
With a half marathon pb of 1.29 I had set out a pacing plan to run a 3.10 marathon, that involved trying to hit halfway in about 1.34 allowing for a little fatigue in the second half. I got nice and close to the front at the start so didn’t have too many slower runners to get past, although I did still manage to turn my ankle on the edge of the road after about 400m, not an ideal start!
The first 15k or so was just a non-event, I started relatively easy, my pace plan was to knock of the k’s around the 4.25-4.30 mark, no faster, and that was going just fine, I felt great, heart rate was under control and close to where I wanted it, all was good. Bit of a weird feeling really, I felt like I was travelling to the actual race rather than running in it, I knew it was going to get harder I was just waiting for it to kick in.
Sadly, without me really noticing anything in particular, my km splits started dropping around the 22km mark. Having hit the half marathon point pretty much on schedule, my heart rate was still the same but I could not start to feel stiffness in my legs and my heart rate fell as the pace dropped off. This trend basically continued for the rest of the race, no dramatic ‘hitting the wall’ type incidents, just a gradual dropping in pace first to 4.40minkm’s then 4.50s then 5’s. At the 32km point I knew that I could still run 5 min km’s and make it around the 3.15 mark but sadly the decline continued until the best I could manage were 5.30-5.40min/km.
The decline in pace was matched by decline in heart rate which to me shows that it was not such an issue with cardio fitness but more a muscular problem. For the last 15km my legs felt like they were on the verge of cramping and I had a few occasions where I had sharp pains in either calves of quads that were not much fun.
So all in all a good learning experience, a marathon pb by quite some way and a nice benchmark to beat next time out!
This week has been all about recovery, I’m starting to feel fresh again so next week the last block of build to the Ironman really starts...
If I analyse the race a little closer though I definitely take away something to work on.
With a half marathon pb of 1.29 I had set out a pacing plan to run a 3.10 marathon, that involved trying to hit halfway in about 1.34 allowing for a little fatigue in the second half. I got nice and close to the front at the start so didn’t have too many slower runners to get past, although I did still manage to turn my ankle on the edge of the road after about 400m, not an ideal start!
The first 15k or so was just a non-event, I started relatively easy, my pace plan was to knock of the k’s around the 4.25-4.30 mark, no faster, and that was going just fine, I felt great, heart rate was under control and close to where I wanted it, all was good. Bit of a weird feeling really, I felt like I was travelling to the actual race rather than running in it, I knew it was going to get harder I was just waiting for it to kick in.
Sadly, without me really noticing anything in particular, my km splits started dropping around the 22km mark. Having hit the half marathon point pretty much on schedule, my heart rate was still the same but I could not start to feel stiffness in my legs and my heart rate fell as the pace dropped off. This trend basically continued for the rest of the race, no dramatic ‘hitting the wall’ type incidents, just a gradual dropping in pace first to 4.40minkm’s then 4.50s then 5’s. At the 32km point I knew that I could still run 5 min km’s and make it around the 3.15 mark but sadly the decline continued until the best I could manage were 5.30-5.40min/km.
The decline in pace was matched by decline in heart rate which to me shows that it was not such an issue with cardio fitness but more a muscular problem. For the last 15km my legs felt like they were on the verge of cramping and I had a few occasions where I had sharp pains in either calves of quads that were not much fun.
So all in all a good learning experience, a marathon pb by quite some way and a nice benchmark to beat next time out!
This week has been all about recovery, I’m starting to feel fresh again so next week the last block of build to the Ironman really starts...
Monday, 20 September 2010
Apollo Bay Training Camp
A late addition to the plan ended up being a tough weekend. Luckily I toned down my training on Thursday and Friday of last week to try and give myself a chance to be a bit fresher for the challenges that were to lie ahead. All I knew was the format was expecting to be something like 150km ride + 20 km run each day.
Things I actually learnt were as follows:
1. The Otway ‘rainforest’ is called that for a very good reason
2. It’s not just magpies that attack cyclists
3. The wind is not my friend
For anyone not living or from Australia I need to clarify point 2, some of you will think “attacked by a little bird, don’t be soft” – please refer to link below and see what we have to put up with. This is one of those things that when you see someone else getting hit, side splittingly funny, when it is you, not so much!!
However, the little bugger that decided to attack me did it after 20km into a roaring headwind and by all accounts from those behind me I did not even flinch, such was my pain and suffering due to hatred of the headwind!!
Anyway; a brief summary of each day:
Saturday
Tried to start easy but felt rubbish, first hill was ok, slow but nothing too bad, long headwind section nearly destroyed me, was in an unhappy place at the time! Thankfully the Coke doctor was able to help me out and I managed to get through the long undulating climb through Forest and enjoyed the descent into Skenes creek.
Here’s a map of the ride, wind was from the southwest so no surprise that the second half was tough
A quick change into some clean and dry clothes and then out for a run, it felt very easy for the first few k’s until I remembered that I had a massive tail wind behind me, reality struck on the way back but I got through it ok, was back in town with 18.5km on the clock and decided that was enough.
Then legs in ocean, and an hour laying down before destroying a parma in the pub for dinner and then into bed by about 9.30.
Sunday
More of the same, although this time up the first climb I felt a little fresher caught everyone in front of me to the top of the second climb, Lavers Hill. Nice work by Ollie riding the whole day in the big chain ring, I think my knees would have exploded! Unsure of the turnaround point, Ollie and I decided to call it after 69km at the top of yet another hill! The weather for the ride back to Lavers Hill was miserable and everytime I thought I was nearly at the top, another hill popped up. The Pepsi doctor was in surgery today and he brought his friend Mr Snickers to help re-fuel at the top before a cold but fast descent and just one more hill until Apollo Bay.
We also took on Wild Dog Creek Road, sections at the top nearly 20% in gradients were tough but the views were stunning, had to stop when the road ran out. Here’s the profile of the ride:
Another change and out for the final run, felt terrible this time but just tried to tick off each km, was in my own little world and managed to get through it, another 18km done.
Another trip into the ocean to cool the legs then a hot shower and a red-bull fuelled drive home.
Totals for the weekend were 320km of riding including 5,100m of vertical climbing (12 hours 30 mins) and 36km running (3 hours 5 mins). Fair to say that I slept pretty well last night, not too sore today but have had a day off completely to help the recovery. I’m pleased with the way that I ran off the bike, getting that Ironman marathon time down under the 4 hour mark doesn’t seem quite such a long way away now, just need to make sure I deal with the heat well come race time, because this weekend gave me no practice with that!
Friday, 17 September 2010
And the winner is....
So clearly some of you are stalking me or actually put a bit of thought into it, Lynne wins the prize for being within 1km of the correct bike distance and closest to the overall total!!
Actual totals are:
Swim – 204km
Bike – 5,999km
Run – 1,463km
Total – 7,666km
Miranda was closest with swim and run but clearly I talk up my biking a lot more (or you were looking at your own stats!!) which meant that in total Lynne was the closest. Voucher will be winging its way to you soon (possibly via Kev so make sure he doesn’t steal it)!
Training this past week has been tough, a big weekend with a 165km ride and a 31km run and I’ve backed that up with 49km of running in the last 3 days. Marathon prep is coming together, had a nasty set of 15 x 1km to get through on Tuesday at just quicker than goal marathon pace (with 1 min rest in between each) and actually managed it a lot easier than I thought I would, thanks to the nice wind blowing me home!
As Erika decided to go back to the UK for a week to attend her nan’s funeral I thought I’d tag along to the Tri-Alliance training camp in Apollo Bay this weekend, sounds like the plan is for a ride of 130-150k in the hills each day followed by a 20km run off the bike, I think I will eat and sleep well on Sunday after that! Should be a good chance to practice race day nutrition and pacing and remembering what it is like running on very tired legs, hopefully the weather hold up ok.
Following the camp I’ll have a couple of easy days and then hopefully hit my last really big week of running in prep for the marathon before having a bit of a taper. The goal is to run 4.25-4.30/km pace which would give me a 3.06-3.10 marathon, am actually really looking forward to it as hopefully I will get to start the race feeling fresh (more on this another time), somewhat different to most of my training runs and my 2 previous marathons where I have had a 7 hour swim/bike warm up and 30 degrees plus to contend with for the start of the run!
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