Training in Europe.

01/08/2007

It is about time to make an addition to the training blog, so it is what I have managed in the past month.

Managed a couple of easy 1-2 hour rides in the Austrian towns of Salzburg and Kitzbuhel. It was very easy/reasonably priced to hire the bikes and they had the best cycling tracks I have come across.

Also managed a swim over the course in the little lake in Kitzbuhel and it was just the right temperature without a wetsuit.

In England the best training was a 1 hour session at a fitness centre running on a tread mill and a very easy swim. The fitness centres single visit rate was o.k considering it was a good facility and was less than the 10 pounds I recall for a similiar one in North-West England 5 years ago.

I always believe it is better to keep some light training ticking over than doing nothing. Would like to have done a swim on the Salford course but it was a bit too cold for no wetsuit. There is usually a training time scheduled for the age group triathletes to swim the course prior to the event as otherwise it would look strange to see someone swimming in a Manchester canal.

Am sitting in a YHA hostel in Nice/France and the day has finally cooled down so I had better get out and do a run. Am trying to reflect on what other training has been done in the past month; did manage a couple of decent runs along the beach in Tarifa, but that was 3 weeks ago.

Have some more specific training planned in the upcoming weeks but will go into this when it is closer. Will make sure to get some images of the mountain bike training planned in 2 weeks time.

Am very close to booking into doing an ironman training camp in New Zealand at the end of November also, for a bit of fine tuning. Will go into this later also.

 

This was the one beach I used for training in Spain in the evenings when it was cooler and the crowds had gone away.

To see some kite boarding action from the world series photographed at this beach click here.

 

 

 

 

 

Training while travelling in Europe. 26/08/2007

The image above(right), showing what happens when the track isn't stuck to.

 

When the pack with the camera gear was taken off, the balancing was tricky!....excuse.... excuse......

 

 

Maintaining some fitness would be a better description as training(to me), implies making improvements and following some sort of plan.

Since the last posts(3 weeks ago), have managed the following :

- 5 swims on different days, including 3 decent swims in calm bays in the South of France of about 3km. If you find yourself with time to spare in Nice, 'Ville France' is a very nice sandy beach to relax on and the water is very flat in this bay also for swimming.

- cycling on three days, including 2 good days of mountain biking in the English Lakes District. Shown below is some photos from the trip made to the Lakes District with a friend who does Ironman races.

- 5 or more runs. This included 2 long runs in Hamburg, the first of which I ran myself to a standstill. Carried on running with very heavy legs(exhausted quads), but no niggling injuries. Really think this was some of the best training as imagine it will simulate how the legs could feel in an Ironman. Ran to a standstill after the second lap of the large lake in Hamurg's centre. It is a very pleasant run and on the second day things went much better over the same distance of 16+ km's.

 

While travelling I enjoy going out for a run once settled into a new area. Running is a great way to see some more of an area, as is cycling.

Below is a series of shots from the Lakes District in England. Have fond memories of this area, having worked there for a year back in 2001/2002.

 

My cycling companion on a stretch of open road. The view from this road is shown in the enlarged image below. Was following the cyclist with the camera, so the background of this image isn't so clear.	A couple of fellow mountain bikers showing how it is done.

 

 

By the way have put my name down to do the Ironman training camp in November with John Hellemans and the swim coach guy from Christchurch(Rolly Chrighton). Have experienced both these guys training styles before and have no doubts about their committment. New Zealand triathletes are doing well on the world stage because the country is contusive to outdoor activity and there is a good knowledge base for certain sports. Smaller countries have the benefit of this knowledge being diseminated to all those with the right mindset to do well.

This blog is my personal thoughts and passions, as is often the case for other peoples blogs, so the next paragraph may seem unrelated to some on what ironman/triathlon coaching is all about.

In my view New Zealand(my nationality), is the home of the best Sheep shearers(machine) in the world and I was fortunate enough to experience the best coaches at this also. New Zealand has turned shearing into a sport. Before going on, I should state that this is due to focusing on it, and because inexpensive training is available to all through a larger organisation. So why bring this up? Because it has been described to me that the world record attempts(and successes) for the 9 hour days is like doing two marathons back to back. It is an endurance sport involving the whole body like ironman, and like ironman it has its own techniques to success. Also I discuss it because the New Zealand coaches were hands on and their knowledge and had me going incredibly well. Didn't stick with it(for reasons I won't go into), but basically the teaching was all technique. They would tap the learner on the hand when the technique was out by a fraction(done sparingly). Have heard this technique being used similiarly by swim coaches using a stick to get the timing right for teaching young swimmers in particular. This sort of coaching, plus a bit of verbal advice would be useful and invaluable to perfect the swimming technique. Men are much more powerfully built in the upper body, but even so the Womans world record times aren't that far off indicating that technique and dynamics involving slicing through the water are involved.

 

 

 

My last night in Europe on this trip and some reflection.

09/09/2007

Am sitting in a cafe in Copenhagen making this entry(it is my second visit here on this trip). It is pretty much my favourite city in Europe and is a good model to others. The people are friendly and they keep healthy. Read today that 36% of them bike to work and the city leaders want to increase this above 60%. The bikes are free to hire in Copenhagens centre. Like England I noticed alot of police activity around certain important places, but guess that is a sign of the times(several terrorism attacks in the past weeks). Didn't use a bike in Copenhagen but managed a couple of runs along the canals.

The above city model of cycling reminded me of catching up with a friend in Paris a month back. Was waiting outside my accomadation and didn't even see him approach but for the screech of bike tyres. He pulled up and after the usual welcoming said, "I'll get a bike for you", so he sorted it for me and we were off. The bike thing is a new city initiative and is a great idea. Couldn't keep up with him on the bike but it was good. The bikes are heavy but the city is flat and it helped that I had someone to follow. He really treated me so well, showing me the sites and shouting me lunch. Later that evening he and his wife picked me up at my hotel and took me to a jazz club, his friends had paid for the Champagne when I went to get it.

My other french friends treated me equally well and one even put me up in his central Paris home/photo studio on my last night there. The other had me stay for 4 nights in Southern France and treated me great also. Unreal!!

My England based South African friend also went out of his way to accomadate me, and together with all the rest making this trip great for me.

Have managed do some training most days and even lost weight due to eating less. Been very busy travelling and photographing such that I didn't get time to eat. Also running out of the local currency in the different parts of Europe recently and not wanting to exchange more. Did have some luck finding 50 euros in a Spanish city last week. Would have given it to the police but it was just a single rolled up note. Walked past a homeless person soon after and felt sad so gave 10 euros away. It wasn't much but the hotel in this city was the most expensive of my trip. Have been sheltered from this in New Zealand. Well made me feel better so it wasn't too altruistic. Managed some runs along the beaches and rivers of the towns in North Spain and felt pretty good.

 

 

 

 

The last month of my travels.

15/10/2007

After leaving Europe I spent one week in Beijing, China, then one week in South Korea then two weeks in Bali. So below will go into what training was acheived.

Beijing : absolutely no training, however was quite exhausted after one week here. Stayed in the YHA opposite the central train station. Everytime I got my breathing up a bit, could feel my lungs clogging up with the polltued air, so this didn't encourage me to go running. The stay in Beijing is the only city where I haven't at least managed a run, as logistically it was difficult..

Did run after the bus at the airport however when it left for central Beijing with my backpack on board and not me. Was only 10 meters away paying for the bus ticket when it took off at a great rate of knots. The trip deteriorated after this(see ITU Beijing race report) even though I got my backpack back. A lady at the station radioed the bus and got it to wait at a stop down the road. Had expectatations that Beijing would be the most interesting part of my 4 month travels and it was, but not for all the right reasons.

The most enjojable part of the stop in China was the trip to the Zoo(above left is the Panda and at right another species of Chinese Bear). To see more of the Chinese wildlife click here.

 

On to South Korea. Straight away it felt like I was back to civilisation. Caught a train 5 hours South to Ulsan and stayed with a friend; well he introduced me as a friend of his brothers but still looked after me superbly. His identical brother is actually a guy I spend alot of time with and even more since we bought a boat together; every weekend him, his wife and boy and myself are out on Lake Wakatipu fishing or doing water sports. Didn't know about his identical brother to I saw a picture of him finishing a half marathon in a quick time. Very strange seeing double of your mate. So had a run planned but it didn't eventuate and instead we played tennis, which was great and a refreshing change. The next evening we travelled to Busan where one of his wifes friends was opening a new Nightclub, so it was a long night of free beers. Was taken along to try the Korean hot bathes which was a memorable experience, but it felt a bit strange walking around nude with lots of people around, then trying to sleep on a floor without a mat(as they do).

Anyway a two week break from training was good to freshen me up, so onto Bali.

Managed to get some good training sessions done in Bali and this comprised 5 runs along the beaches ranging from 40-80mins. And 4 sea swims of 30-40mins. Was thinking about it at the time and that is I would never do sea swims in New Zealand or Australia(don't like Sharks), even though there are some very safe beaches. Met up with a couple of girls in Bali and travelled around the island with them and the beaches were contusive to swimming where we stayed. One of the girls was very keen to walk to top of a Volcano to see the sun rise so I was happy to go along. This was no doubt great fitness training so have posted a picture heree to prove we made it..

Above is a travel companion and myself with a lake and rice fields in the foreground, pictured with the rising sun. It was an early start with the aid of a flash light, to make it to the volcanoes summit on time.

Must admit I had more energy and felt healthier after the week with my friend pictured above, and it lasted till now( 2 weeks later). Maybe have felt stronger over the past two weeks because I was living in my own house with my own space or maybe it was taking some genuine time-out in Bali for 2 weeks. Took posession of a property back in back in 2002 but have never lived in it, so it was a new experience to stay in my own place.

So now have been back in N.Z for 8days and clocked up some 200kms on the bike including 3 good runs directly after cycling. Also managed several more decent runs up to 80mins duration and a couple of swims. This was all done in Tauranga where I stopped off to sort out the tenancy of my house. Fortunately my mate that lives around the corner is training to do the 160km Taupo cycle race in late November so have had a motivated training partner. This weekend we plan to do a 100km ride and he is a bit apprehensive even though it is his idea(we both need the mileage). Tomorow however the plan is to to photograph a local surf competition and run a couple of laps of the Mount. It has been snowing to low levels in the South of New Zealand the past week so am contemplating some wind trainer time coming up.

Bought a bike off a cousin in the USA and got him to send it to Tauranga, so this worked out well, and it is good to get some use out of this purchase. It was so well kept it looks brand new, at least thats what customs said when they imposed another $220 duty on it. Ironman and triathlon is not cheap, so have started setting some time lines to wind down my competing. Will still keep cycling and running and swimming on a regluar basis though. Am actually feeling in really good shape with no injuries to speak of, so looking forward to a few hard workouts.

 

 

 

 

 

Good tapering ideas here.

I am just an everyday competitor, but have been lucky to get advice from some of the best guys in the sport. In my build-up to qualifying for the competitive 30-35 age group category(olympic distance triathlon in 2003), I made up my own training plan(using John Hellemans and Dave Scott's books). However I did talk with Scott Molina about half a dozen times and asked for a few tips. One that I remember well was about the taper in the last week before a big event. He advised no hard running in at least the last 5 days before an event, which sounds reasonable to me considering it still leaves the athlete open to a few fast bike and swim reps. Talked with a middle distance runner(Commonwealth medallist), about the last week taper and he said that they run right up to a couple of days before the big event.

Scott also put me onto the N.Z high performance coach at the time who helped make a plan for me for the next 5 months, so I can't say thanks enough.

So you can run hard right up to a few days before the big event, but why would you? I say this because in triathlon you have the option to do some fast repeats in the two other components right up to the last couple of days. Having been around six ITU world cups in the past year was surprised to see some athletes working out(running) right up to the evening before raceday. These athletes didn't kick butt the following day, so my take on it is to do a light swim the day before the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distractions(?) and some psychology in my build up to my first iron-distance event. 28/10/2007

 

Distractions with a ? because I am not certain if they are beneficial or non-beneficial.

No training and still no training programme for me since the last post. First day back in the Southern Lakes district of N.Z catching up with my mate and we are out in our little boat at 6am in the morning(like right up to the last day I left home some 20 weeks ago). So the boating is a big challenge to me freeing up time for my training. Had the best days fishing today on the boat catching 6 fish in the most pristine conditions. Could have gone out water ski-ing in the afternoon with him and his wife, but have to put some limits on myself.

Enough of the above but hopefully it keeps my life in balance. Do most of my training by myself, so need some social activity and boating in the most tranquil/clean place in the world fits the bill. The cleaness in this area is mostly due to no industry and few people. Yes I was horified coming from here and going to see the polution of Europes waterways in 1996.

Knowing the course and conditions removes some unknown and leaves a bit of extra energy to put into race day.

Got home and there is snow to low levels, which is making think of ski-ing more than triathlon. Have been thinking how disappointed I am not to have some good action ski shots to post on this photo based website. So below is a couple of photos I got a friend to take back in 2003 of myself ski-ing. This was great fitness training and to see more ski photos click here.

 

Posting this image is one way to get over my desire to be in the mountains and hopefully move on from this distracting urge since getting home. This photo looks just o.k to me on my 12inch laptop screen, but viewed it on a mates 19inch screen the otherday and was amazed(the image was bigger and it looked much more impressive).

It was a tough climb to get to the start point of this run(spot the orange figure amongst the rocks. Since 2002 I have focused alot of my energies to sporting activities. The ski-ing was part of a break in N.Z before heading back to Europe to play for a French rugby club. In 2001/2002 I worked in my profession in England and got enough savings together to free myself up to follow my interests more. Lasted to half way through the rugby season before getting the urge to go back to N.Z for Xmas and the Summer(and a girl friend at the time).

Here is an original quote from me, "The only mountains I will climb up are the ones I can ski down". Come up with this one a few years ago to sound cool and got a smile a few times when saying it. There is no doubt in my mind that ski-ing deep powder high in the mountains is cool!

Much more inspirational than my quote is that of Edmund Hillary on summiting Mt Everest for the first time with Sherpa Tenzing which was, "We knocked the bastard off". Might remember that one we I get to the finish line of my first ironman.

 

Used all the above fitness/strengthening to qualify for the World champs Triathlon held in my home area of Queenstown Lakes several months later. Was a bit slow in updating my gear so did it on my old 5 speed tri bike I bought secondhand back in 1986(was about the last qualifyer). Was and still is a good columbus steel frame bike, even though some people might say otherwise. Also transferred the clip-on aero bars from it to the new race bike my cousin sorted for me just after the 2003 World Champs. They are the original Scott aerobars and are still going strong.

Remembering some of the training I have done prior is giving me a psychological boost that I can acheive my goal(completing an ironman) and is reason enough to remind myself of 2003/04..

Writing down my thoughts is helping me focus on how I want to go about training to achieve the above goal.

 

 

 

 

 

The Challenge Wanaka Iron Distance event is feeling pretty imminent.

02/01/2008

Seventeen days and counting down if anyone needed reminding. Have managed to clock up two decent rides and two short course triathlons in the past week. The two rides were my favourite and were on the road from Queenstown to Glenorchy. Great as not much traffic, tough rolling hills and calm weather on the day not to mention the scenery which made it(this was the original 'Challenge Wanaka' course but it would have been very tough in an event where getting every entrant is going to be important).

The second short tri went better overall today but I must have went out too fast in the swim because I was gasping for breath only 150m's into it. Even though the short tri's were not really very relevant race simulations, some usefulness come out of them. In both I felt really good after the events and did extra training soon after. Had planned to go out hard in the swim to test myself, but think the unfamiliarity of slightly different water temperature and water clarity might have unsettled me a bit(in the second short tri). Lake Hayes where I have been doing all my open water swimming has become very cloudy due to an agal bloom several weeks before Xmas. It was like over-stimulation seeing the lake(Dunstan) bottom so clearly and had me feeling giddy(resulting in breathlessness).

Am still a bit short on swim fitness so hope to get some more in the next 2 weeks. Would very much like to do the two short aquathons (link here) , but will miss both by a day. Have been swimming open water a bit but not in Lake Wanaka, however now I will make sure to do several swims there before the event!!

Don't want to say too much more before the event as it is a bit unknown, but a calm day will help. Talked to Matt Tuck and his wife and it is a shame they couldn't hold onto the event, but it should still be the same for all us everyday/amateur entrants. Matt did the swim section of the 'Dunstan tri' today along with several others without a wetsuit which certainly shows a bit of character.

Just confirmed you can do a decent amount of mileage with a cold(strangely hayfever like symtoms but nasal only), but recommend if you do then listen to your body carefully. Also on a day off training recently I managed to get a bit much sun which hit me(mild sun stroke and a sore throat soon after). Am starting to come round to the idea that all the kids must where hats when they go outside in N.Z schools. Was quite surprised to see this a couple years ago while doing a one year teaching diploma and taking a primary school class for a physical education lesson.

I tend to learn more by doing stuff than by listening to advice, but will say have read all round the internet on blogs and ironman advice so hopefully it is sinking in. There is alot to getting an ironman right. The guy I did a few rides with other the Xmas break has completed an ironman and reckoned the race was like the reward for all the training(that is, the hardest part is all the hours of training).

My father said to me the otherday, 'is doing this ironman a lifetime goal?'. Really doing a half ironman was a goal I had some 17 years ago and achieving this in 2004(4 hrs 38mins) really completed any long term goal I had. So doing a full iron distance event is exceeding my goal and it is only that a race has come to my home area that I am doing it. The training time and logistics of the whole ironman thing is so costly and all time consuming. Coming from the very South of N.Z(where I grew up) and still live mostly, it is costly to travel and prepare well for events 1000's of Kms away. Doing this upcoming 'Challenge Wanaka' event is a choice I am happy with but at the same time am mindful that it can be a bit of a selfesh choice to focus so much time to it.

 

Better run and todays thought is to 'take care out there on the roads', which I am sure you all give some thought at times.

 

 

 

 

Tapering.

05/01/2008

The posts from now to the event in 2 weeks are going to be a bit more of a diary of my taper. Haven't been following a programme because all the time I am trying to build up mileage and really do as much as my time and body allowed. So the details being recorded over the the final 2 week taper are really for my reference(maybe they will be interesting when the results of my efforts on the 19th are concluded.

Did approximately a 150+km ride yesterday in very good cycling conditions. My heart rate(HR) sat around 132 for the first half and then sat around 136 for the second half(slight head wind). My resting is around 58bpm. Wasn't recording speed but it would have been like 28-29km/hr average.

Interestingly enough my resting HR was around 38bpm leading up to qualifying for the age group world champs triathlon in March 2003.

Really I am not into a whole lot of technical data but it did make me feel good getting some feedback at the recent ironman camp in Wanaka. Will try and post the data later, but the feedback I got was positive(useful) for the following reasons. Going up a very tough climb to the the top of the 'Crown Range' my HR was kept pretty constant around 150bpm. During the rest of the cycle and 21km run on that day my HR rate was steady/constant and it makes sense to me that it should be steady/consistent over steady/consistent terrain in training.

So the advice was to keep my HR between 140-160bpm during the ironman, which also sounds reasonable to me. I really liked the HR feedback and do think it is a helpful tool in training for such a long event. It really proved to me that just listening to how my body was feeling and going with that is probably not enough. Am thinking to wear it on the bike to stop myself getting carried away early on in the bike. The reason for this is to try and at least run/jog the entire marathon. Advice in the training camp was that the run times will be much better if a steady run without stoppages can be acheived. Of course this is obvious but it helps me to set my goals and focus.

I wasn't going to use/buy a HR monitor but my sister gave me a Kathmandu one for Xmas. She said she just walked around the shop(camping gear mostly) and it was the only thing she could see to get. Reckon this is one of the better and best timed pressies I've received and never mentioned it prior unless she read my blog. Well it certainly made my 5-6hr ride yesterday go by quickly(seemed like only 2hrs).

Really on the ride above I was feeling stronger than ever and got off and felt very light for a 5km run soon after. The day after(today) I did a decent swim and felt only average when doing a run several hours later. This is not a one off and my swim fitness is along way off how I am feeling on the bike. Warning to myself is to be a bit cautious in the swim otherwise it could make for a long day.

Below are images of decent Ironman physiques to 'kick butt' and put out a quick time.

 

 

 

 

Taper update.

Above is the bike I will be using. Good bike this, so thankyou to my cousin Peter who was based in the USA with a pro-triathlon team for selling it to me. It was second hand but all the components, cranks etc were brand new so it hums along. Brought the wheels separately.

 

 

 

 

08/01/2008

Did a 3km swim this morning at about 8am over last years swim course. It went well as conditions were perfect, however I was pretty tired after completing it. Put the tiredness down the previous day of a solid 4 hours training, but it is probably tiredness from the big volume of training squeezed in over the past 2 weeks. Now I am at work and feeling very queasy(unsettled stomach). Will have a day off training tomorow. Also putting some of the tiredness down to camping out the last two nights. Slept on a thin foam underlay, but it was pretty darn hard(no falling back to sleep once the Sun come up in my tent). Maybe I need to toughen up and those two nights would have acheived that. 'No pain, no gain' is an old saying but holds true for many things. Have sorted my stopping place over the events duration after some debacle but it is looking better now.

Rested up a couple of hours in bed at my parents and my own home on my drive/way to working a long night shift. Pushed it to the max, so have 10 days to feel better. Am not eating very much at all, but am optimistic.

Am ending up writing more now that I have some spare time with 10 days to go. Oh well it is all a bit self indulgent but hopefully a good record for myself if I prepare for an Iron Distance event again.

Am sitting here feeling a few aches and pains but none are niggling at my hip. This hip niggle I've had is the strangest thing and only felt it recently for a few minutes after sorting out the debacle of my accomadation for the event duration. The slow talking guy(new management since my booking several weeks ago) absolutely drained the living energy out of me over 15 mins of sorting it out. I kept calm but inside my energy was being totally drained and it was interesting(good in my eyes) that the guy waiting behind me made a harsh call on him. That is the only time I have felt my hip in the past two weeks, which is indicating to me a muscular weakness problem. Have worked 8 years in my profession as a mixed veterinarian so I like to work through all the differential diagnosis of problems and deal with them myself whenever possible. It has now been just over 4 years since I was doing mixed vet practice but still feel confident the knowledge is there. Also my training included a BSc majoring in physiology.

Here are some race times on a perfect day that would leave me feeling satisfied with my first ironman:

- under 70 min swim,

- average of 34Km/hr bike or more,

-under 3 hr 40min run.

Have not had a cycle computer/speedometer on my bike for the past 6 weeks so am not sure really how fast I am going. On the day I will be going by feel and watching my HR to keep it below 145bpm(average). Maybe I could use a higher HR target but if that is the case the run should be better than I expect.

Not sure how realistic the above is but like, to have some idea in my mind of the days outcome.

NOTE to myself:

-Don't forget pacing and all aspects of the nutrition !!

 

 

 

 

Am writing this from the camping ground/park in Wanaka, having just completed a good days training. The day started with a 1 hour swim in a very choppy Lake Wanaka over where the course roughly goes. Then after a 40min break eating and tampering with the bike I set off to the base of Treble Cone and back(last part of the course). Then after another 40min break like before, one lap of the run course was completed. Wanted to have done the run tomorow with a swim but time wise it would be tricky as I work a night shift tomorow.

The run was done at about 1hr 40min half ironman pace and my HR sat around 142bpm to begin and got up towards 150bpm for the last 4kms. Up the small hill segment my HR sat around 160bpm. Will remember these results for raceday and try not to exceed them by more than about 10bpm.

By chance John Hellemans was near where I finished so had a quick word with him. Certainly everything from today on will be done in the easy zone and he advised not to overcook the fitness from now. Overcooking it would be easy enough for me as am still feeling leaps in improvement which I put down to loosing a bit of excess body fat(in part). Am very tempted to try and fit one or two 3-4 hours easy rides in the last 10 days as this seems to burn off the calories with the least chance of breaking down for me. Will do one 3-4 hour ride(or a couple of shorter rides) for sure but the other long ride won't happen due to my work commitments.

Haven't been following a training programme as stated below but am well aware of the volumes of each discipline required. Writing it down and not acheiving it would be too tough for me at present. Instead I am just choosing to go 100% by feeling . If I had written to do a 4, 5 and 6 hour ride all in the past two weeks then the thought of it would have been enough to make me worry. As it turned out asking another guy to do some training with me helped my motivation alot I would say(alsohe had completed one ironman before so I tried to take in what he had to say as we biked along). Every bit of advice has been helpful in some way so I thank all those that have contributed.

 

 

 

 

10/01/2008

45 min swim today. Rest day yesterday.

Morning resting HR was 50bpm so somehow it has dropped 8 beats from when I did the Ironman training camp 6 weeks ago. Either it has dropped because I am fitter or possibly was already fatigued going into that camp. Am thinking it was fatigue as run myself to a standstill(at 30kms)twice in the 7 days prior to that camp.

Cycling long helps me burn off more calories than I consume but running gives me more aerobic fitness for the time put in.

In both the runs described above I run myself to a standstill with 1-2km left to run. Still have trouble working out if it is due to energy deficiency or muscle soreness, but whatever I liked doing these runs. Running is the one discipline I have kept constant over the past 20 years and would be running at least twice a week all that time. My fitness and body weight can still vary alot even with running all my life. Sure there would have been some weeks or even months when I had breaks but have been pretty consistent.

Am pretty sure both those long runs were around 30km and were slow(3 hours). I know the distances because have previously measured them. It doesn't concern me that I couldn't keep running after about 29km on either occasion. It is going to be a pleasant surprise for me if I can run the whole 42km at Wanaka. My confidence in doing so is high unless I get carried away on the bike.

I believe anyone can bonk if they push to hard and don't want to be close to that happening until late in the marathon.

Was doing that slightly excessive running(described above) because it was best use of my time and yes I agree it is unconventional. Some people ask me 'have you ever done a marathon?'. No I haven't but I have run longer than 4 hours on many occasions. The best day was in about 1991 when we did a 20km plus training run at a quick pace. Several hours after that a guy who was running sub 3 hour marathons come along and persuaded me to run again. It was another 20km plus run at a fast pace. Did alot of running that year and the muscle memory is always there. Well maybe not that long; the last half marathon I did was the 2005 Christchurch in just over 1 hr 24mins.

It is great that there are alot of quality events around these days, but there is still something to be said about getting out there and finding adventures away from the crowds. Remember being dropped off in Mace Town some 20 years ago and running out over 'big hill'(a 3 hour run for me), with nothing but stream water to get by. I wasn't the only 'crazy' person out there as met another guy doing the full loop from Arrowtown to my start point and back. Asked this guy what the small pack was for and he said it was to carry some rocks. Wouldn't carry rocks myself and these days would take some food supplies, but what I am saying is don't forget about real adventures. You don't need someone to hold your hand all the time and you may just find your own adventure is just as rewarding. For me it always was anyway. Can see myself going back to multisport racing including more personal adventures/challenges.

 

Am trying to come up with a plan for after Wanaka. Was very close to entering the Taupo ironman tonight and see it closes tomorow night. I just couldn't justify the cost of entry, travel and time off work to do it. I will be on weekend roster at my job then and my pay is too good to turn away. Boy I really want to do Taupo this year and think they should leave entries open to after Wanaka. Will definitely do at least one more race in the next few months and train to peak for this as well. In fact my main goal after Wanaka is to maintain my training and build on it even though the right race isn't available near my home base.

 

 

 

 

 

11/01/2008

Morning resting HR of 46. Really it is dropping so will be keeping a close eye on this.

Before saying how tired I still was this morning the following is important to remember. Up to Xmas was working a 4 x 10hours roster/week starting at 5.30am. Since the New Year I am now working the same 4 x 10hours but starting at 4.30pm. So am now going to bed at about 3.30am. Fortunately have arranged it so I only have to work one night next week which should give me time to work around the jet lag effect.

This morning I had my big smoothy and due to time constraints headed out for a run about 40 mins later. Couldn't even run as was very tired all over but more so in the upper body. So instead went for a ride and did an easy 1 1/2 hours and afterwards I could run better. Did sleep 8 hours but put it down to working through the night and going to sleep about 3.30am. Also put this in because some of my family don't think I work hard enough. My current veterinary work is for N.Z Food Safety Authority-Verification Agency, and have chosen to go on a 7 month seasonal contract.

 

 

12/01/2008

45 min swim.

One thought about my preparation that I would try and change for next time is to incorporate more swim then bike training(contiguous). Have'nt done this because of logistics, but next time would do 1 hour swims followed by varying length rides up to 6 hours duration, then very short runs.

 

 

13/01/2008

2 hour ride in strong wind followed by and easy 20min run. Morning resting HR has now been very consistent at 48bpm for past 3 days.

 

 

 

Taper update.

14/01/2008

40 min easy swim and 50 min easy run. This will be my last run of anything more than 15 mins. Feeling like this is one of the better pre-race preparations I have had in the physical sense.

To be honest I expect the last 10 kms of the run to be the toughest if I have paced myself well. For the last 10km, I have got some mental/thought scenarios planned to go through if it is getting really tough. Have done a 9 hour continuous race many years ago so this will be the toughest/longest enduarance event for me.

The above is much of the reasoning to be more focussed than usual about the event/race in 5 days. At the same time am relaxed in that I am preparing as well as possible(within time constraints) to complete this thing.

In fact 'event' is the word for me to use and 'race' is referring to the professionals.

 

 

 

 

16/01/2008

1 hour ride in perfect(hot and calm) conditions. Just arrived to my families home to stop a night and what do I see, a big picture and story in the local paper of one of the local guys competing. The headlines on the sports page says, XYZ(athletes name) eyes 'reward' for hard yards.

It lists his training and past acheivements which including cycling, duathlon and triathlon etc........... Mind you it doesn't say he has done the 'Tour of Southland' cycle race 6 times which is a useful background.

Anyway started feeling nervous but resolved it quickly for a couple of reasons:

Firstly reminded myself of what I had written below, that I never compare myself to others or at least aim not to.

Secondly was good that I had managed to do a 5 hour and 4 hour ride with this guy just a few weeks back and we both managed to hold it together on some tougher terrain. Anyway it states the number of hours he trained a week for the past 6 months. Now not trying to compare but I prefer Normann Stadler's response to time spent training which was something like a "6-7 week build-up". Obviously there was alot more than this, but this was the real focused time getting things right(thats my interpretation).

Anyway my own situation has been more like getting the last 7 weeks or so right. Obviously my build-up or base is different from a pro's and anyone else for that matter. I do feel as though my own training put alot of emphasis on trying to run long before 2 months ago, and think to do it this way again. Or another way to put it is that I think to do slightly less running in the final 6-7 week build-up than what is typically advised.

The above is just my personal thoughts and am not recommending it as hard advice to follow, but rather saying think through it on your own individual basis.

Update on some of my vital statistics is that my weight is now sitting at 85kgs. About 8 weeks ago it was sitting at around 88kgs, so am feeling happy with this weight loss. In 2003 when at my fittest level, my weight was 82kgs. Body weight and getting it right for yourself is very important in this sport as far as I am concerned.

 

This is a picture of Wanaka showing where the the swim course will go. Took this image 2 weeks ago after just swimming across this bay and back. It was a bit rougher out there than what this image shows. Am hoping for a calm day. Took the image as someone from the public was passing by to give the image some idea of depth. it was just taken as a quick snap shot as the focus of the day was training.

There has been alot of traffic to this page so am starting to think what I can do to keep it interesting. Have looked at a few blogs recently and the ones that list all the training out and nothing else were a bit boring to me. So not surprised if some read this for a while then get bored with it.

 

 

 

Taper update.

17 & 18/01/2008

Morning resting HR sitting around 44bpm. Completed an easy 20 min swim over part of the course on the 18th.

 

 

 

 

Race Day 'Challenge Wanaka' 2008.

19/01/2008

Photos will be posted on a separate event page tomorow evening New Zealand time.

Firstly must say a big thankyou to my sister who took all but a few of the photos used here and on the events page while I was competing.

In the mean time you can see great images of the course an event from last year by clicking here.

 

Finished the race in 11 hours and 12 mins. So happy enough for my first time.

Myself crossing the line, taken just over a minute after finishing.

Really I enjoyed the hot weather(35.3 degrees was recorded at 4pm).

Held back in the swim and completed it in 60 mins 23sec. Felt like I was holding back but was probably going the right speed for the day ahead. There was no starting hooter so the last call was 10 secs and after waiting more than that, everyone just took off. Swimming in this beautiful clear lake was one of my most enjoyable swims ever. Didn't feel like getting out and wouldn't mind doing a race that had a longer swim and maybe a shorter bike/run.

Did stop twice in the swim because my swim cap had become loose. The first stop I pulled it a bit but not enough as was worried about my goggles coming off. A bit later at about half way I stopped and sorted it by pulling it tight with both hands on either side. The caps were very generous in size an one woman from a team told me after the race of her cap coming completely off in the swim(resulting in 57min or so of having hair swirling over her goggles).

Water temperature was very nice(just right for me), at 18.6 degrees celcius.

Myself(starting to look back to see if anyone is coming in behind) and Dave who by chance was staying at the same accomadation lodge. The day before we did a 20min swim on the course at the same time. In the transition tent while I was wasting time opening my power bar wrapper he accidently put my cap/goggles in his bag. It was fortunate coincidence that I knew him. My favourite goggles ever are hard to replace.

Bike time of 5hrs 43mins 6 secs or close to 31.6km/hr. Am happy with this time as it is a reasonably tough course.

Went reasonably hard on the bike from the outset. Revised my target HR zones back to the 140-160bpm range. Most of the time was just under the 160bpm. Went a bit harder than planned as the day was perfectly calm and great cycling conditions. The guy mentioned in earlier posts that I was fortunate to do some rides with over Christmas had an awesome ride(35km/hr) and a good race overall(second in the same category as myself).

The first 100km of the cycle course is relatively flat then it starts getting into a few more small gradual hills. Felt really strong on all the hills and for all of the ride. But as soon as I went over 160bpm started to feel it so had to drop it back anyway.

Could say went too hard on the bike going by how the run went.

Ended up averaging 32km/hr for the 180km ride so pleased with that as the course is tough enough.

 

Run time of 4hours 22mins 23 sec. Some room for improvement here.

Ran comfortably through the first 10kms then started getting muscle soreness and very tender kneecaps. The kneecap soreness is a new one to me. Tried to maintain my running technique but pretty sure the muscle soreness resulted in my run technique falling away. Muscle soreness has been a problem for me during training and sets in quite of at 30kms or so, so it wasn't unexpected. Talked to another guy after the event who posted a fast 9 hrs 54 min and he said a sore knee held him back a bit on the run also, and he hadn't had this problem before either.

The last 10kms of the run was the hardest and I did walk short sections of several uphill sections and the aid stations. Up until the the 10km or so had managed to run non-stop and through the transitions but my stride was getting more like a shuffle at about 25kms.

HR during the run was sitting around an average of 132bpm, so going by this was running well within my fitness capabilities. Muscle soreness was the biggest thing slowing me down and put some of this down to damage caused by going harder than before on the 180km bike. Certainly some short term small injuries were done to the leg muscles and there were some very sore points identifiable on the massage table post race. Soreness caused by a variety of factors, but I will need to train more and keep my weight at 85kgs or lower to be able to run train effectively.

Added salt to my electrolyte fuel belt bottle and it wasn't such a good idea as it made them unpleasant to drink. Will try using some sort of salt tablet next time.

Both transitions combined was 6 min 30 sec. First transition involved a couple of 100m's run and also wasted about a minute. Couldn't open my power bar wrapper as had melted it previously. While mucking about the guy beside me accidently took my goggles. Fortunately he was staying at the same accomadation as me so I knew him and got them back after the race.

Hey 42kms is a decent run after going hard on the bike for 180kms. Ended up 12th in my age category out of 33 so happy enough with my times for my first ever full iron distance race.

Pre-race weight measured as 85kgs and post race of 84kgs so was happy that I had got my fluid intake right. The day was very hot from about midday on with a recorded high of 35.5 degree celcius at 4pm. Fortunately many of the locals were out with there hoses to wet us down or had set up the cold water hoses to work like a shower and I took advantage of all of these. After the first lap of the run my goal was just to get to the next aid station and refuel. Coke and ice got me through the last 15kms or so. Also I submerged myself in the cool water of the river on the second lap of the run which was well worth it.

Looking back to my sister and giving her some advice on the photos to get. The leading men had just finished at the time of this image, which was taken just after I went through 21kms and off loaded my fuel belt. Would like to get it back but don't think I will see it again. Sure I said my bag number when handing it over, but hey it is no big deal.

Looks like I was already close to shuffle run style in the above image. It was certainly a shuffle run technique to get through the last 15kms for me.

It felt great to cross the finish line and I think everyone who finished it is awesome. It was nice conditions for the race and the first pro was 8 hours 47mins, so it would rate as one of the tougher bike/run courses around over this distance. Fastest team was 8 hours and 12mins.

My preparation before the event was such that I was excited and feeling in good shape at the start line. Didn't get a good nights sleep before it but was still well rested. Got to sleep about 8.45pm and at 11.45pm got a text message which woke me. Didn't get back to sleep to about 4am and was up again at 5am feeling a bit tired but soon was feeling good. Have now turned the sound off my messages. The problems sleeping is also tied to the fact I had come off a night shift at work(3.30am finish time).

Overall it was a great day and alot of fun. The course is great and highly recommend it. Will be doing it again someday for sure. The organisers and supporters were incredible also.

 

Am looking forward to a bit of relaxing lake fishing and water ski-ing over the next couple of weeks.

 

 

 

 

Post race thoughts.

22/01/2008

Well the endorphins are still running through my body so still on a high. Endorphins after all is one of the big lures that hooks us in once we complete such endurance events as a 3.8, 180, 42.2.

And all the muscle soreness had pretty much disapeared by the time I got up today.

Unfortunately am working all the midweek days that the aquathons are on in Wanaka so will look further a field for some open water swimming events. Would really like to do the one in Corsair Bay in Christchurch but am working and have already taken more days off than I am owed.

The group that did the 'Altitude Training Camp' back in late November come up with some good results. Many of the participants at it were already very acomplished ironman/triathletes which says alot. They turned up because of the quality and value of the camp to a major degree.That is my plug for them as they plan to make it an annual thing.

Overall placings including pro individuals from the camp were:

4th womans,

9th, 14th, 18th, 28th, 38th(myself), 58th, 61st, 91st. There were 120 individuals at starting line.

Am missing one of the group but am trying to show the diversity of us. Can say they dealt with us well as a group and individually(it was kept to 10 plus the instructors).

At this camp during the nutrition talk, I said that my pre-race breakfast would be a big smoothy made of 1 and half litres of milk. All mixed up it was just over a litre and actually only had about half a litre of milk in it, so my mind was playing tricks on me. I also had 3 or 4 weetbix and feel good about my pre-race meal. The smoothy had a punnet of strawberries and 2 big organic eggs in it.

Spoke with another guy who was a bit disapointed with his result and he said he only had a couple of slices of toast for the pre-race breakfast and something else small. No where near enough for such a big day in my mind. Have heard the pre-race breakfast of N.Z's top pro was quite substantial so I would go with that.

 

 

 

 

Recovery 2 days after.

19/01/2008

The social occasion/function put on after the event was just superb and everyone looked to be having a blast.

Have a bit of muscle soreness still. Muscle soreness is what is slowing me down in the run, and was aware of this happening in my long training runs also. That is at about 28km on training runs the muscle soreness sets in. Will be looking into the cause of this but think it is a matter of keeping my weight down and doing some more mileage. Wearing strong/solid training shoes and running trails should also help.

There are some swim/run events coming up soon on the Wanaka shorefront, and you can click here for the times of the events. I am hoping to make it along to a couple of them.

My post-race thoughts is that I will definitely do this 'Challenge Wanaka' iron-distance event again in future. Maybe not next year though beacause am looking at some other events including 'Challenge Roth' and 'Ironman WA'.

Morning resting HR the day after the race was 58bpm or was that 68bpm?(memory failure also). Anyway will take it again in a few days to see if it is settling down. Certainly it was indicating the body needed some serious rest the day after.

 

 

 

 

 

First post-race training.

24/01/2008

Did a 30 min swim yesterday and it felt like I was gliding along better than usual. Still haven't managed a run or bike but will try and do some easy ones tomorow.

Searched all over the internet trying to work out some future races, and decided will try and get along to Gore this Saturday and do the 'quarter ironman' race the Southland tri club have going on.

Took my resting HR this morning and it is dropping back; sitting at 48bpm.

 

 

 

Post-race thoughts.

 

Going from doing shorter olympic distance style triathlons to an event like ironman takes some knowledge. It is all pretty much out there if you have time to search it out. One mistake I made was attacking the uphill sections of the 180km bike a bit hard. Felt strong on the bike so rode it the same way I always have in olympic distance races. The result was tearing to some tendons in the proximal insertion of my gastronemius muscles. These minor tears didn't stop me training post-Wanaka, but they have slowed me down. Ouch.....