Never a backward step

Season to date
Sandypoint half marathon - broke the 100 minute mark
Melbourne Marathon - 17 minute personal best time
Shepparton Challenge - 8th fastest bike time in my age group, broke the 5 hour mark
Morningtom Long course - solid ride and then ran out the final leg (last year I had to walk the hills)
Everything was going to plan.

This week I had my next catch up with my dietician. I see Margaret about once a month to touch base and ensure my body composition changes are on track with my race results and goals. It had been a couple of weeks since my last event so recovery had been the order of the day, and it showed on the sscles! A gain of 3kg and the subsequent skinfolds tests proved the increase was not due to muscle mass. Seems I had spent a little too much effort taking it easy whilst continuing to consume my normal peak training nutrition intake (and probably more if I'm honest)

Whoops

With that wakeup call and a revised eating plan (some of the sessions catered for were actually not in my training program) I am refocused and ready to roll!
Besides, in the morning, "Hell Week" begins

I guess I'll call my backward step a lead in to a running start

Back to the hills

The past four years, the end of March has meant Melbourne Ironman. In its inaugural year I worked the aide station at the 28km mark of the marathon for 13 hours, the following three years I competed in the race (never once spending more time on course than that first year) and had entered the race again for 2016 less than 24 hours after crossing the finish line.

Now that the race has been canned the plans have changed, my season is still building to a full Ironman race but we're travelling interstate for it this time, heading over the border to Port Macquarie. The change of venue also means my training peak will be shifted back six weeks, March 20 is now the date for the Warrnambool Sufferfest (where I'll compete for the fourth time and chase an outside chance of the Triple Crown!) and Ironman Australia will be held on the 3rd of May.

Our training programs are always mapped out with the target races in mind and periodised with strength work being the early foundation. Now that we are effectively a month and a half earlier in the season's build we are also taking this opportunity to move back into the hills to add more to that foundation. 

After a month or so on the fast and flat Beach road, I was keen for the hitout to see if the legs still had it. The ride on my program was scheduled as 100km with a 6/7km climb and I was meeting the crew for a 6am rollout so I retired early and set the alarm in preparation.

At least, that's what I thought I had done.

Waking at 5:38am on the couch beside my silent phone suggested otherwise. Seems that, whilst I meant to set the alarm on my phone (and was pretty sure it had already been done because it's one of my usual early starts) I had instead just crashed on the couch.

New plan,

There was no time to get the meeting point by 6am but, I could get close and and then catch up.

Out of "bed", dressed and ready to roll in record time I headed out and hit the point where my commute intersected with the ride route a few minutes after the time I estimated the group was due to pass through. There was no one in sight but I figured they must be close so I turned toward the Dandenongs and searched the road ahead for bike taillights and behind for blinking headlights trying to work out if I was chasing the group or if they'd been delayed.

Two hours into the ride I still hadn't seen another cyclist on my heading so I figured I must have been later than I'd thought so just settled into a solo raid into the "Nongs"

Up the Devil's Elbows tapping out a tempo of 55rpm with the power meter hovering in the low to mid 300s I was doing OK. Looking at my heart rate though, I was getting close to my limit as II quickly reached, then passed through 160bpm.

Devil's is probably half the distance I was scheduled to climb and, at the top there is a decision point, continue straight for some rolling hills on the way to the top of the "1 in 20" climb or, turn left to prolong the effort on the "One tree hill" ascent. As I approached it I made the call to go straight, this was my return to the hills and I was coming off the back of a pretty hefty race program. Best policy was obviously to ease back in afterall. Crossing the intersection I ran back through the plan for the day in my head, 100km with a 6 to 7km climb. Looking down at my wrist I spied my Ironman Melbourne race number band (yes, I'm still wearing it) and I thought to myself, "this is the road to Kona"

I signalled and quickly turned left.

Over One tree I looped back to descend the Elbows and head for home with the job done, and that's when I found them. The group that I had been chasing all morning. Stopped at the same intersection but heading in opposing directions. I guess they left later than I had thought...

Flat number 2

I declined to offer to join them, instead sticking to the program and continued home... for a few hundred meters. My first flat tire for ages! 

Located the puncture and patched it with one of my special repair stickers and was on the road again just grateful I hadn't punctured coming down that mountain road 5 minutes earlier.

There were 30 km left to ride to fulfil my training goal for the day, I managed a further two and a half before I was again sidelined with a rear tire flat.

The sticker was still holding firm and the source of this new leak was more elusive so I resorted to replacing it instead and crossed my fingers that, whatever had been causing the problems was thwarted by new rubber (I had checked the inside of the tire and rim and couldn't find any sign of the culprit)

Fortunately, I bucked the trend of things coming in threes and arrived home without further incident.

Tomorrow there is a long run scheduled but we are hitting the road early to support some team mates racing in the Ballarat 70.3 event then returning in time for the team's Christmas do. Guess I'll be completing an evening run, it is another step on the road to Kona

Time for a change

When I started this blog a few years ago I was trying to document my journey to my first Ironman finish, an achievement that hadn't even been on my radar when I initially dipped my toe into the sport of triathlon. After the first one I rolled the die and signed up again with the goal to go faster. It was a good plan but it was a bit same same leaving me little to add to the ongoing blog and therefore the entries have became fewer and farther between. It became a bit reminiscent of Dale Kerrigan. Hey everyone, I did another long run in place of; "Dad, I dug another hole"

A bit has changed since those early days and so I'm now dusting off the old blog and bringing up to date with my new focus and have changed the name of the blog's address.

Welcome to the first post in "Clydesdale2Kona"

In my last post I talked about looking towards earning an Ironman World Championship slot and long time readers will know that I once received an email from WTC congratulating me on qualifying (I was not the only one to get that message in error) This is still the target and in the past 6 months there have been a couple of milestone achievements along that road.

My goals following season 2014/15

This is an image of the goals I laid out after the last season of racing. I had just completed my third Ironman race and clocked time relatively close to the slowest Kona qualifier in my age category (90 minutes ahead of me) I'd then backed up this race and closed out the season with two Olympic distance triathlons with finish times some 20 minutes better than any previous season. Clearly I had raced a little conservatively at IM Melbourne if able to bounce back straight away, though, on the day the heat and dryness had made it feel like I was on the limit.

After consultations with Coach Ollie we had decided the mini-goal would be to really take on the marathon so my first A race would be the Melbourne marathon. Last year I had finally better the the four hour mark and dropped my personal best by 15 minutes to clock a 3:45 marathon. Ollie set the new bar by that margin again, giving me the task of chasing a 3:30 race. Excellent conditions and a little V.I.P . treatment on the day made for a near perfect race. Going back over my official 5km splits shows almost clinical precision with each marker being within roughly within a minute of each other and a finish time of 3:24 (+ change).

Milestone 1 checked off!

Message from The Wife

The first triathlon season 20215/16 had the family returning to Shepparton and Ollie resetting the days focus. "I don't care about the run, I don't care about the swim, nail the bike" and he gave me the task of covering the 90km bike course in a time of 2:15 (equivalent of holding a constant pace of 40km/h!) Another great day with some wind on course but, with Ollie's assurance I was capable and some inspiration words from The Wife I went out hard and tried to stick it there. The first lap was definitely faster than the second and, though I put it all in I ended up short of the target by 10 minutes. Looking back at the results however paints a better picture. Exiting the water I was in 50th in my category, by the end of the ride I was 6th. Between T2 and T2 I had chased down and passed 44 fellow competitors. Further, there were only three guys that actually rode a 2:15 or better and they were in the Elite category so I am well pleased with my 2:25 (Incidentally, this also translates to a 20 min cycle PB as well)

Knowing I had clocked a good time I fought through leg cramps on the run and in doing was able to tick off a second item from my post season goals list. It had taken several attempts over the past 3 seasons but finally I had broken the 5 hour barrier for a 703 race and set a 15 minute PB for the distance

Tomorrow is another race day, this time just down the road for the Mornington Long Course triathlon and here the goal is simple, hold it to 75% on the bike then run it out. Last year this course dealt my ego a blow when I was unable to run the hills. having to walk the for three of the four laps. (Quietly, The Wife just wants me to focus on getting hole without vomiting all over the car like last year)

We'll see who gets their wish soon enough!!

So, that's my update, mini goals ticking along in pursuit of a larger, much grander one. 

With luck and the determination to stick with it, something that had always seemed impossible may not be too far into the future. 

Clydesdale to Kona.

A pictured, painted by numbers.

Numbers;

Here are a few to start with.

• 40 - The age I was when I first attempted the Ironman distance
• 121 - My division rank from my latest Ironman
• 90 - The number of minutes between my finish time and that of the slowest World Qualifier

Recently I stopped in and had a meeting with Ollie, Head Coach of Tri Alliance, the topic of discussion was numbers and how we are going to reduce some of them.
My goals in triathlon are now high but before this meeting I had no measure to apply to them. I knew what I needed to achieve but not what I could change to actually achieve it. During our meeting we looked at the numbers above and the numbers from my most recent Ironman finish and from that came up with some new figures.

• 14 - Minutes to improve in the swim
• 35 - The km/h I'll need to average during the bike leg
• 3:45 - The fastest marathon I've ever done, I'll need to go at least this fast again, but at the end of my race

This constitutes some fairly big improvements so the next point was to work out how the achieve these targets. It's one thing to identify the potential areas for gain and an entirely different proposition to actually realising them. Here's another factor to consider, the further away from a big goal you are the easier it is to take large steps towards that goal. If you think of a pyramid, the of which represents where you want to be. You start at the base of this pyramid and begin working your way up the middle. At any point on the journey, the width of the diagram equates to the number of options you have to take the next step. The width can also indicate the potential gain these options could deliver when applied. For example, when I started my journey I was completing mini and fun distance triathlons in swimming shorts and a rash-vest, I was riding a mountain bike with slick tyres and weighed over 110kg. At that time, a simple change to some more specific race gear, a lighter bike or a better diet would have made a huge difference in my finish times. Heck, a pair of elastic laces in my shoes would have meant a couple of minutes!
Now that I am closer to the capstone of my goal's pyramid (and yet so much further to go) the gains become more difficult to capture.

• 3:30 - Goal time for the Melbourne marathon later this year
• 80 - Maximum race weight when I hit the start line
• 3 - The count Ironman finished I have to my name to date

This year we are really targeting the marathon.
The reason for this decision are twofold; firstly, there is a large margin for improvement in my run time (possible up to half the time I need could be stripped from my finish time here) and secondly, run strength translates across to cycling therefore dropping time in the run should also bring an improvement in the bike leg.
In the past I have been accused of racing every race on the calendar. It's true, I do love racing and there are a number of events that I can claim to have never missed, moving forward I need to ensure I am focussing on hitting training milestones instead of just racing volume. I think I'll continue to enter a number of events but will go into them with a view of what phase of training I'm in and really focus on what I need to get out of it instead of just looking at the finish times. This could mean I really focus one leg or skill of an event, or simply cruise through an event if during a recovery period. (I  don't think there's every a period in my training build where I'll be idle)
Training peaks, Strava, Stages - Two of these I already have, the third I am looking into. I've had a Strava account for a while now and upgraded it to the premium option to gain access to the "Suffer Fest" cycling videos. Training Peaks is new for me but I gather my account there can link with Coach Ollie in order to monitor and retarget my training plan. Heart rate is a cheap measure to train to but is readily effected by outside influences and therefore not a reliable gauge of effort, the new king here is a power meter. Stages power meters look to be a good, cost effective option here and there are a couple new players entering the market at a similar price point. I'm currently weighing up the options and balancing the pros versus the investment required as, though power meters are considerably cheaper these days I'd still need to fork over at least $500 so this remains an area of discussion.

• 93.9 - Sum of 8 skin folds measured in millimetres
• 89.7 - Weight in kilograms
• 10.1 - Reduction of skin fold tests in 5 months

These are the measurements taken at my most recent check-in with Margs (my sports nutritionist) When I weighed in at Ironman Melbourne in March I tipped the scales at 94kg, having put on roughly 4kg in the fortnight leading into the event. When I started my fitness kick probably 10 years ago, this I would have been very close to 130kg and and had my waist circumference recorded at an equal number in cm. At the time I was signing up for personal training through a work challenge. During my interview with the trainer I remember him making the comment he was concerned I wasn't going to take the exercise program seriously and just not follow through with it. (Note: I stuck out the 10 week challenge and actually retained a membership with Anthony for a couple of years after it finished)
Body composition management will play a large part of achieving my goal and I'll be bringing my training program to my nutritionist so we can create a complimentary fuelling program.

• 140.6 - Miles in an Ironman race
• 5512 - Miles between Melbourne and Kona (as the crow flies)
• 3 - The number of years Ollie reckons I need to get there

Dream big. Work hard. Crush boundaries.

Most importantly, do what you love, share it with the people you love.
That is number one.

I'm with the band

So, let's chat about my wrist.
Ironman Melbourne is now more than a month in the past and there has been some debate of recent about whether it's the proper time to have removed the event numbers from bikes and helmets. There have been points raised on both sides of that argument and I'm yet to hear the definitive answer to the question. (Personally, I tend to leave the flag on my seat post until I need to replace it with the next one) Though that question remains open there is a second debate I may have inadvertently opened that is far more one-sided in the opinions and it relates to my wrist. The number is no longer on my helmet as I have raced twice since but the flag remains on my seat post and, I am still wearing my race band. When I posted a photo of my band a week or so ago some thought it was a joke, and when others saw it recently there was a suggestion it should be cut off whilst I sleep. The suggestion may have been offered in jest only (...I think!) but I thought I might take a moment to explain myself.
While many like to sport their achievements for all to see (and I don't mind people knowing mine either) this is not why I have chosen to keep my wrist band for the time being. No, this little indulgence is just for me and fortunately, I don't really mind being thought of as a bit of an oddball.
Here's the deal, when I started triathloning I only did so because the guy that introduced the notion to me mentioned they were only mini races, I had no idea such a thing existed. At the time I had no intention of attempting any challenge greater than the sprint distance, and it took me two years to get there. When I took on my first sprint race season I figured maybe I might try for an Olympic distance race at some point. A year later I decided on a bit of a progression plan to build toward attempting a long course race, with stepping stones of completing a marathon to lead into a half Ironman race.
It was only after achieving a couple of successful long course triathlons that I even considered looking at the full Ironman distance and a far leap from where I started those years ago.
After my second Ironman race I really wanted to dig in and race my third go around this year and was looking to make some waves. The extra effort netted another 30 minutes and left me 90 minutes* off punching my ticket to the big dance in Kona. To now, a World Championship slot was always a bit of a pipe dream but it's now become a real goal and one I am really wanting to chase.
Last year I was looking for big gains and along the way I achieved half of the time I was looking for and a third of the time I need to now find to be in contention for the race on the Big Island. With this in mind, I am seeking any gains from a number of places, training, strength, nutrition, weight-loss, body composition maintenance, and motivation. As I eluded to at the beginning of this post, the season is a long way off and there are a lot of early mornings, many trying sessions, difficult conditions to brave and the lolly jar at the office to avoid (mostly!) and this little souvenir around my wrist is currently serving as a ready reminder of the goals I have set and the reason for the sacrifices I am prepared to make to get there.
I realise there will come a time I must cut this trinket off and add it to the collection I keep, but for now I am using it to keep me focused whilst the target is over the horizon and, whilst it's serving that purpose, I think I'll just leave it be.

*(like to say just 90 minutes but I realise that's another massive leap to attain!)

Running after dark

Week one of more than I care to count of the build to Ironman number four has now come and gone and it's time for another update.
Due to another tattoo I'm not allowed to swim just yet and I'm not allowed to sweat too heavily whilst it heals so I'm just easing back into training.
I guess the week started with me first night-time running event that did not involve several dance stops (Supersprint's Neon Run was a blast though!) and it was a novel race as well. Starting at the same moment globally the Wings For Life race has an unattainable finish line residing 100km away from the start line and a chase car that clocks competitors out as it relentlessly pursues the runners until all are caught.

Dave, Ellie and I sporting high vis and headlamps waiting to start

I posted last week that I had estimated a pace I thought I could maintain for the duration of my race, based upon limited training and recovery month relaxation and that their calculator had used this number to predict I would get caught at the 23km marker. On the night however, things did not go exactly as planned as I found myself in the start chute at the pointy end with a lot of open tarmac in front of me. That clear space seemed as a red flag to a bull and I found I was cruising well quicker than the 5:18/km pace I had plugged into the calculator. What's more, I felt fairly comfortable to hold it together and just focused on keeping my technique solid. Hands lose swinging my arms from the shoulder in straight arcs in the direction I was traveling (no rotation across the body) and light foot strike. This got me through the half marathon distance in what might have been a personal best (1:42 and change) and surpassing my 23km target still safely ahead of the chase car. The first turn around point for this race fell at around 27km on the course maps so this was where I set my sights. This was also where we would lose our closed roads and have to transition to the sidewalk and was also the location of the second of two railway crossings. The roads may have been closed but the train lines were definitely not and we were under strict instructions to stop if the level crossings were closed. I had been lucky with the first one as the train had rolled through about two minutes before I had arrived there but, as I was approaching the second the bikes indicating the chase car was imminent arrived and the bells were sounding. Chase car 200 metres behind and a closed boom gate just ahead it looked like I was going to have this small victory snatched away by unlucky circumstance. As I hit the intersection and crossed the road to the pedestrian gates the lights and bells ceased and the marshal cleared the path for us and we shot across the tracks, making the turn towards where we had started. The chase car also made the crossing unhindered and therefore remained right there. As it's headlight lit my high vis vest I sprinted for the 28km marker passing it seconds before the chase car's arrival ended my race and the beginning of my walk to the nearest event bus stop to ferry us back to the start and our gear bags.
My official race finish has me at 27.98km with my Garmin awarded a further 100 meters and an average pace of 4:58/km for that distance.

All in all, it was a cool event to be involved in and I only have two recommendations for next year. Firstly, the space blankets they handed out for warmth were greatly appreciated but would have served better if made available on the bus rather than back at the event village. I was OK when I finished, sitting on the bus for 10 - 15 minutes I was getting a little cold but the 25 - 30 minute ride back I was frozen and shaking pretty badly. Second initiative, again for the bus, I'm pretty sure the guy I was sitting next to would have appreciated a vomit bag. I leave it at that.

Rest time is over

It's apparently called "Fat April", the month that follows the end of the triathlon season when the racing and training is done and we get a chance to relax and regroup.

The training program shows several entries of "Morning off" and "45 minute walk" or "light jog", our long rides are punctuated with a coffee stop and non triathlon activities replace the usual Sunday long run.

My most recent race season had consisted of a total of seven triathlons (two Olympic, four long course and an Ironman), a half, a full marathon and one charity ultra marathon, all squeezed into the space of seven months so the chance to tackle the 1000 steps, try a my hand at a bit of Yoga and sleep in was a welcome change.

Now, officially April is done and the final "tour de Latte" was this morning and the long steady build for another season begins on Monday but I have one finally fun and different activity planned before all that.

The Wings for Life run is unique for a couple of reasons, firstly, it is being held in 33 cites around the world with each event scheduled with a local start time scheduled so all competitors hit the track simultaneously. Several years ago I entered the Nike "Human Race" which was similar in that events were held world wide over a 10km course and you could see how you ranked globally, yet, each race only happened on the same date, not time. This leads to the second difference, the simultaneous starting pistol means this will be a night time run for us racing in Australia. For us, the gun goes at 9pm and our race kit included a head torch and a high-visibility vest as compulsory items to wear on course. The final thing cool about this race is that we are not racing towards the finish line, instead, we are actually running away from it and there are two ways to complete it. You either run the full possible distance of 100km (not likely!), or, get passed en route by the rolling finish vehicle.
Thirty minutes after the official race start the "catcher car" heads out along the course behind us, when it rolls passed, your race is over. According to the provided calculator, a pace of 5:18 per km will result in a run of 23km. The calculation handles the steady and scheduled pace increments of the catcher car but does not take into account my lack of any significant running for several weeks so, I may not get the projected 2 hour race that the on-line numbers predict.
Whatever happens, tonight's race will include several firsts for me and it should be a pretty cool event to be a part of and a fitting close to recovery month.

Tomorrow, we begin again.

Welcome aboard

This is a quick update to touch base and to bring you all into the circle of influence.
I discussed my recent hit out at Ironman Melbourne, how I wasn't entirely happy with the outcome and hinted that I am chasing something bigger.
Last night I attended the Tri Alliance Advanced Goal setting session, below is what I penned during the evening.

In other news, today I received my updated nutrition plan from Margret at Fuel Right Nutrition (specifically tailored to my current training load) with the view to:

• Improve Metabolic Efficiency
• Adopt a daily nutrition plan with a focus on balancing your blood glucose (sugar) levels
• Periodise your nutrition so that it supports your physical training cycle
• Decrease body fat, increase lean body mass
• Ensure adequate macro and micro nutrient intake to fuel training, maintain health and well-being and support body composition goals

As read down the page, these refer to: Full Ironman, half Ironman, and a stand-alone marathon.

At the moment, the targets I have set are not S.M.A.R.T. as described by that goal setting methodology. They are Specific, Measurable but the Achievable and Realistic questions need to be weighted against the final letter of the acronym as I'm not sure of the Time frame I need to allow.

For this I will need to speak to my coach and together we'll work out where my gains will come from, what to focus my effort on to make them and from this, what progression rate is possible. Once the trajectory is defined and applied to these goals I will create the road map of steps, tools and skills I need to acquire to achieve them.

Now that you're up to speed, and I plan to keep you all updated with regular posts of my body composition measurements (and photos? Is that something people want??) along with my training/racing results as we continue on this journey.

Welcome aboard.

Big weekend - Season closed - Time for sleep

With my "A race" in the rear view and the 2014/15 season coming to a close there was time left for one final race, the Olympic distance race being held just down the road in Mordialloc. The venue for this race could hardly be closer to home, the run course is actually my usual weekend long run, and yet it's the first time I've raced there. It's kind of weird to compete at a new race but know it so well!
Anyway, since Ironman and then the final race of the Gatorade series, I'm supposed to be in the middle of my recovery month (colloquially known as "Fat April") so for the past two weeks I have done very little training. I guess the most I've done has been carry my swimming gear to the office and home again (unused), threaten to set up the windtrainer in the lounge room for a spin set (then not) and then one evening strength and technique run session (on the coldest, windiest night we've had for a long time). That single session was last Tuesday so today and add to that the big Saturday schedule* I had, hitting out today for an Oly was never going to pretty, but the season is over for so long so any opportunity to get after it is worth it.


Normally for a race I like to make sure I've got everything set aside and packed at least a day prior, but we were going to be out all day Saturday so it was Friday evening after work the I began the process. Tri-shorts, bumblebee top and race shoes - check. Bike shoes (still attached to pedals actually) and helmet - check, check. In passing, test tyres on the race bike. It's just been sitting in the spare room for a fortnight so this is just a formality - except that the rear is now dead flat! How the hell did that happen? Testing it with a track pump quickly shows that it's a serious leak and not just me letting the air out at some point. I have several spare tubes so it's just a quick change - except that this is my disk wheel and the fancy, long stem tubes I bought for my standard race wheels don't allow space in the cut-out to pump them up. I need to find a regular tube instead, something I used to own in bulk but, now that I need it can't possible locate. An hour passes and later in the evening than I want to be up I find what I need and quickly fix the fault (from the placement of the puncture my guess is the problem came from where the rim liner completes it's loop, there might be a bit of an edge there) Now that the microwave clock tells me Friday is over I figure the same is due for my waking hours - except that a moment after I climb into bed I realise I need to shave. This may seem a strange epiphany but it's related to the next item on my weekend's full schedule. In a few short hours I am booked to take The Kids to the Supanova comic convention and it was pointed out to me, the character I was "Cosplaying" didn't have a beard. I'd spent a bunch of time adding wire to a tie to allow me to shape it and finding an appropriate hat to hide the mohawk I'm still sporting that I'd totally forgotten the facial hair. There was so much else to do I figure I should at least get this one thing seen to now rather than add it to the list for later. I own a new set of electric clippers with a shaving attachment so I figure this shouldn't take too long anyway - except, I hadn't realised that once finished I would then also have to unblock the bathroom sink. I have no idea how, when, or why the drain was so congested that the water refused to drain when I pulled the plug, all I know is that my day just got longer. Clearing the obvious junk from the top of the system doesn't fix this either, neither does plunging it so I have to step up my game. Clear the shelves under the sink, remove the shelf and place bucket. Remove the trap plumbing and clean out these pipes as well. Put the unit back together and also mop up all the water that missed the bucket, replace everything onto the shelves and run the water again to admire my awesome handiwork - except, the water is still not draining. Time for some chemical intervention, but first, need to clear the standing water so, clear the shelves, place bucket, remove trap plumbing, replace trap plumbing, shelves and content, towel up all the water and then, follow instructions on the Draino tub. Looks like I have to wait for this to work so, instead of just watching my bathroom sink efferves I figure I may as well pack the rest of my race gear. Towel, talc and creams, wetsuit and (a late inclusion because I totally forgot I needed them) my goggles all go into the bag. Time to check the sink and, whilst I'm passing, yup, the rear tyre is still solid. Crisis averted, the chemical has worked where manual labour had failed, time to get some sleep.
It is now 2am

Hanging out with my nephew, Matty, at Supanova.
My kids took off as soon as we arrived...

Saturday begins for the family, and recommences after a short intermission for me, with an early wake up call. I'm taking The Kids to the Supanova comic convention at the Royal Showgrounds and you can't do this without disguising yourself as some fictional character. This also takes time, so I reluctantly roll out of my cosy bed top wake the youngsters. From much experience I know this can be a difficult prospect and includes much discussion and coaxing - except, excitement to dress-up seems to be have greater appeal than a day at school and I discover both kids are already up and well under way with their morning rituals. The Girl is attending as "Lady Loki" and The Boy as some guy from the game he is currently playing on his laptop. Secretly, I think he has picked his character as a means to wear a collared shirt and to commandeer my new leather jacket (an article of clothing that had found a home in his room for the past week and been warn twice - even though the weather hadn't warranted a jacket)

The Girl was in her element

Out of the house on time with a target to get there before the doors open, because I have discovered the tickets I purchased on-line to save time are for the wrong day of the convention and therefore I have another issue to fix. We arrive as planned and have met up with the rest of the family that we are attending with and get through the gates after spending a little quality time in discussions with the ticket booth staff.
"Here you go Kids, here is some money" it turns out is a magic phrase that causes teenagers to vanish, they both took off to do their own thing leaving me to escort my nephew Matty though the crowds of fictional characters and stage makeup (he was a zombie)
After 4 hours of wandering around I put the call out, it's time to leave, we need to get home or we'll be late for the next event of the weekend an open air screening of Top Gun (first time The Kids have seen it so, the late night was justified)





Turns out we arrived at the venue early and the host of the evening was running late. He's a mate of mine so I jumped in to help out. The cinema was a portable set-up with a large inflatable frame to hold a big projector screen. We laid the the thing out and turned on the pumps only to discover we'd gotten it backwards. Shut it down and the drag the thing around and over itself. Fire up the pumps and soon discover that it's all twisted and, with the pressure if the tubes, I can't fix it. so we shut it down again. Much trial and error followed, as did several failed attempts to re-inflate the thing. Finally Scot pointed out we had the screen upside down. Armed with this knowledge it was a quick fix and I'll have you know, we had it setup and ready to roll with only seven more deflate/re-inflate episodes. The sun went down and Maverick and Goose took to the skies - except when Goose didn't - and the kids really enjoyed it. The Girl cried, The Boy got teary eyed and then it was time to go home. It was a double billed screening but, the kids and I were just done and I still had a race to run in the morning.

The race - the Team Up Triathlon at Mordi put on a great day with no wind to speak (happy with that as I really could not be bothered switching out my disk wheel) and the temperature was not too low either. After the big day we'd had, The Wife was not sticking around to watch today, it was a drop and run back to the warmth of bed for her.
The water was flat and a bit fresh bit that was to be expected, it was also really clear so the L shape swim went by pretty comfortable with what might be a personal best time for me. That is despite nearly losing my goggles right off the gun as I dived into some dude's armpit as he porpoised diagonally across me. just over. I got into transition to discover there weren't too many bikes around - not great...
28 minutes for the 1.5km

Out onto the bike and I decided to press a bit, again, this was the last race for a while so, If I blew up due to the effort there was heaps of time to rest before next time. Averaging 36km/h over the 40km distance was OK, the final return to transition actually saw a headwind kick up so it got a bit difficult. .I must say, I was feeling the effort in my glutes and I'm taking this as positive as we're instructed to use these muscles to drive through  the crank so, I guess that training is starting to pay dividends. (alternatively, could just be residual pain from Coach Greg's run strength session...) Rolled into transition and racked to discover there weren't many bikes around - better!
1 hour, 10 minutes for the ride

To this point the race was going well and i started out on that familiar run holding a 4:40m/km which is not bad for me. It wasn't long until the effort of the day and the lack of training began to hurt and then, a kilometer from the turn, we had to tackle The Hill. Rising from the beach trail to the road above through three switchbacks and finishing off with set of stairs meant that kilometer ate up a full 5:20. Recovering over the next K was a further 5 minutes before I refound my feet and I got back on track
Finished the run with a average pace of 5:41 per k and a time of 48 minutes
Total race time: 2 hours, 28 minutes, only 3 minute slower than the last one 2 weeks earlier

Trying to remember and implement the tips from Greg's technique session
High heel lift - better; arm swing - not so much

Where to from here?

This is long overdue but it's again time to dust of this blog and start writing again.
Also past due is my race report so I guess I'll start there.

Recently I completed my third full Ironman race at the Asia Pacific Championship race in Melbourne and, by all accounts I had a successful outing with a personal best in the each leg, crossing the finish line 30 minutes earlier than last year. About this time last year I sat in a goal setting session with the club and penned a target for this race and signed my name to it. The magic number was ten hours, thirty minutes, more than an hour faster. Part of the exercise was to ensure the goal was actually attainable and should be interrogated occasionally to validate this. Late in the year I realised that, though I was making steady progress, when I broke down the race into the legs and assigned expected times to them the math never equated to the target I had set, therefore the goal was changed accordingly to anything under the 11 hour mark. This was based upon a swim between seventy and seventy-five minutes, a bike leg of about five and a half hours then a sub four hour marathon. When I crossed the finish line in St Kilda I had stopped the clock 14 minutes over my reset target. My swim and ride had been very close to expectation but the heat and high UV seem to have equated to a slower run (a result seen by most of the field). 1:14/5:38/4:14 plus transition times.

In my racing "career" spanning the past seven years I have progressed from the short, fun races (sometimes referred to as "enticer" races), through the challenge of the Olympic distance race and have found my niche in the long course world of half and full Iron distance triathlon. Along the way I have also dropped out of the Clydesdales ranks, shifting from a racing weight in triple digits to mid to high 80's. Over the course of these years I have inadvertently collected a number of tools and steadily built a band of collaborators to advance my efforts and hone my race day outings. Each link in this chain has brought me closer to the pointy end of the field. Five years ago, when I stepped up to Sprint distance races I joined the team at Tri Alliance and soon learned the benefits of a structured training plan. I was enrolled as a social member which allowed for 3 sessions a week, I used this to focus on getting to a more efficient swimming stroke, and a combo session to mix things up. It wasn't long before I turned my attention to longer races and decided to upgrade my membership accordingly. A daily targeted program had me completing Olympic and half Iron distance races. Another season saw me competing at this distance as well, now firmly in the middle of the pack. Setting my sights higher meant I needed to begin limiting my losses on the run course, an OK swimmer, decent cyclist meant that I spent the final third of my races watching guys branded with my category letter blowing past as I'd tumble down the standings. A six week running technique course with Tony Benson gave me a few tools to work on and had almost immediate impact as I finally broke the two hour barrier for a half marathon and then subsequently repeated this feat and the conclusion of the Shepparton 70.3.
The next item I added to my training arsenal was the strength program that had always been a link in my Tri Alliance calendar but I had never fully utilised and again I saw improvements in my results.

Each addition to my toolbox and supporter I add to my crew has brought me to this point some of the greatest changes have come courtesy of my most recent acquisition, my sports nutritionist. As the kilometers are added to the course map and race day becomes longer fueling becomes a super important fourth discipline that cannot be ignored. Everybody is different and therefore there is no one generic fueling plan that works for everyone. Sweat loss rate, gut function, metabolic rates and the volume and types of foods/fluids that can be effectively process are all different from athlete to athlete. When you consider the fact that, during the course of an endurance event there is no way to fully replace the fuel you are burning, the most effective method of limiting those losses becomes so important. Longer training sessions, higher intensities and the need to remain consistent for extended build periods all lead to the requirement to be adequately fuelled before and during the sessions and then to recover for the next one.

Over the past 8 months or so we've modified my diet and have had regular body composition measurements to track the progress, we've completed a sweat test to quantify my electrolyte requirements create an effective hydration plan tailored specifically for me (inadequate hydration actually derailed my initial foray into long course racing where my legs cramped upon exiting T2 after a pretty good time on the swim and ride) and have also set up a race day nutrition plan. Over the course of this time the testing has shown that my body fat percentage has decreased steadily and my weight has also decreased yet when I weighed in at registration a few weeks ago the scales read a flat 95kg.

It has been a few weeks since I clocked my thirty minute personal best and have also added a second record at the Olympic distance (18 minutes) and have had time to reflect on what went well and where I could have improved further. I know I did well but I also know I could have done better and it was with this in mind that I contacted Margaret at Fuel Right Nutrition and head coach Ollie from Tri Alliance to find the next steps to launch to the next level. Together, with my ever supportive family and my directeur sportif (sometimes known as The Wife) we are already working on the plan of attack for the 2015/16 season.

The band is together, the goals are being set aggressively, all that's left is to follow the advice and execute. It's time to get fast.