Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne

Sometimes it's just nice to walk. And that's exactly what we did, through the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne. I've been meaning to get there for years and I'm so glad I finally did. It's beautiful and well worth the visit. There's quite a bit of development/new planting going on I can't wait to see how it all pans out.

Gumboots were handy, an umbrella was a must. I can't wait to go back in springtime when everything is in bloom and the weather is that much nicer to be out and about in. Bikes are also allowed on certain paths, but jogging is not permitted.

And next time I will take a dSLR!

Tues; strength: 15m. Planks & squats
Tues; walk: 30m

Westgate Park

Sunday we jumped in the car and popped over the bridge to explore the bike path/mountain biking under the Westgate bridge. Described elsewhere as "craptacular" we didn't hold high hopes.

It wasn't that bad. But then we hardly had to travel very far to get there. The tracks were muddy, very narrow and winding. And overgrown with weeds, so not quite as pretty as other tracks. We probably wouldn't rush back, but given it's almost on our doorstop I wouldn't be surprised if we return.

Sun: 45m | 10km | 13.33km/hr

You Yangs

Just because I'm on nightshift doesn't mean I've been doing nothing, I swear!
We spent as much time as we could mountain biking. Which, let's face it, wasn't a whole lot of time. Our preference would have been Lysterfield park, but the paths are currently shut due to all the rain that's fallen recently, so we headed to the You Yangs for our second visit. This time exploring the harder Stockyards part of the park. It was certainly more challenging than the Kurrajong Plantation.

I stuck with the blue run and thoroughly enjoyed going down and even coming up it. The man tested himself on a black run and found it to be slightly beyond his skill levels. It'll be a while before I head down a black run!

Sat: 35m | 8.5km | 14.57 km/hr. Knowing I had to work until 2:30am didn't entice me to absolutely exhaust myself!

Monthly totals: June 2012

Bike: 9:05 | 128.5 km

Run: 3:25:02 | 32.82 km

Swim: 8m | 400m

Strength: 7:50

Bike trainer: 50m

Mountain bike: 57:12 (I've started logging my mtb adventures with bike)

Rock climbing: 30m
Stretching: 45m
Walking: 1:10

Weight: +0.3kg. 62kg. Still with Fitday. Still eating too much, but again fewer binge eating episodes. I'm happy with that. Really my intake needs to be as close to 1500 cals as I can. I find posting my daily eats helps with that and gives me ideas of tasty things to eat!

I saw a personal trainer three times this month to work on my form in the gym. It certainly helped cement the fact that I need to work on glute strength.

I set myself a challenge of doing 75 minutes worth of planks in June and I did it. I'm thinking of upping it to 80 mins for July.

I'm reasonably happy where my exercise is sitting considering my schedule has been all over the shop. It repeats again in July but with added night shift, my first time doing night shift at that. The key for me will to make sure I'm getting enough sleep and I'll go from there!

1587

 

These are Monday's eats.

Instead of moaning about my weight gain (I'm up a kilo or two) it was time to do something about it. Everyone knows what they need to do, it's just a matter of knuckling down and for me; eating less. 1500 is my target range.

Breakfast: coffee and a huge piece of toast with jam and cottage cheese.

I was on an afternoon shift, so I had my 'cooked' meal at lunch: salmon with dukkah, steamed veggies with a horseradish/mayo dressing and baked sweet potato chips. Protein at lunch works so well for me.
Dinner: I opted for a wrap so I could essentially eat on the run.

Snacks: gluten free bar, popcorn, tea and an almond milk hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Mon; run: 36:59 | 6.02km | 6.08m/km. It was cold and windy, but satisfying nevertheless.

Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail

5:00:00 | ~78kms | 15.6km/hr

Somehow I missed the fact that this trail was somewhere between 38-40kms ONE way...

I digress.

Last Wednesday I had the whole day to entertain myself, my one day without any plans/appointments/catch-ups. So I decided to head out to Lilydale station, the start of the rail trail. It's well signposted, but for those that need to know, the trail starts at the end of the station car park.

The trail is pretty flat and for the most part, gravel. Not really suited to road bikes. I took the (new to me) Giant Yukon MTB. I passed through forest, farmland and via the old original platform stations which were pretty cool.

There's a couple of toilet stops along the way, as well as places to fill up with water. There's also a couple of cafes on the track, but they're only open Thurs-Sun and I went along on a Wednesday. Super disappointed! I would have happily stopped for a coffee. Multiple times over.

The trail is set up quite well for road crossings, there's only a couple of places that didn't have pedestrian lights.

I didn't love the section from Yarra Junction to Warburton. Partially because I was battling at this stage and partly because you're riding parallel to the Warburton Highway, so it's not quite as peaceful as the rest of the ride.

It was a fairly big relief to reach Warburton. I'd thought about turning back earlier, but then questioned when I'd have time to tackle the ride again, so I persisted.

I was pretty underdone on nutrition. I'd eaten two trail bars in 2.5 hours of riding. Not quite enough for me. I smashed a cauliflower and broccoli pie, a vanilla slice and half a bag of mint leaves at the Warburton bakery and felt a little better.

The ride home took a whole lot of mental energy. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I was dehydrated. By no means was it a hot day, but I'd failed to drink enough. I took my hydration pack so there was no excuse. On the road bike I'm used to sipping on water every 10 mins. But I forgot to do it during this ride. I need to install an odometer, that will act as a visual cue for me.

I also started to get quite uncomfortable, 4+ hours is a long time to be on a bike that you've only ridden a handful of times! I missed the luxury of tri bars and a different hand position.

But I made it and I'd do it all over again knowing that I need to fuel and hydrate a whole lot better than I did.

Tues; run: 50:10 | 8km | 6:15m/km. I'm not quite as exhausted from work as I usually am. Took the opportunity to run, but gave myself permission to go as slow as I needed to, to get the job done. In the end not unhappy with the pace given I've not been running much.
Strength: 25m.

Thurs; personal training/strength: 1:00:00. Focus on good form for upper body/back workouts. Squeeze the scapula!

Lazy ass

One of the first things I organised for my week off was a personal training session. Increased time in the gym has showcased my lack of knowledge when it comes to lifting. I want to learn good form so that I don't injure myself.


Apart from work's gym, I've not stepped inside a gym for years. Mainly because I prefer the outdoors, and partially because I hurt myself many years ago on the rowing machine which took a hell of a lot of rehab. My physio suggested instead of the gym I take up running. Which I did.

 But I tell you what, during winter, training indoors is rather appealing the older I get!

I didn't get a huge training effect from the first session I did, but I was keen to give it another go and booked another session later in the week. The PT I worked with has a strength and conditioning background and the two sessions focused heavily on engaging my glutes - which are super lazy. Some of the exercises also showcased the weakness in my hips, so it's back to these exercises.


By the end of the second session I was barbell box squatting and doing rack deadlifts. I was pretty happy about it. I'm looking forward to the time that I have another opportunity to book a session.

Strength: 35m. A mix of upper body, lower body and abs. Motivation levels were a touch low, but I'm glad I did something.

Time off

I've just had a week off work and this is the first time I've made it to the computer.
I've been out and about and doing stuff, oh yes I have! More about that through the week.

But today I baked ANZAC biscuits for my workmates and made a pretty tasty rice pilaf for dinner - I used dried ginger and dried chili instead of fresh and added green beans at the same time as the prawns - turned out just fine. Other than my glorious run this morning, I took it pretty easy today.

Run; 37:33 | 6km | 6:15m/km. First run in forever! Or about 2-3 weeks. I thought it was going to hurt. It didn't and I really enjoyed it.

Monthly totals: May 2012

Bike: 3:35:08 | 82.25 km

Run: 3:12 | 32.18 km

Swim: 1:01:30 | 3000m

Agility: 25m

Strength: 9:55

Bike trainer: 4:27

Boxing: 30m

Weight: -0.3kg. 61.7kg. I've been tracking my intake on Fitday again. It helps me to be accountable. To question whether I am really hungry. Some days are good, some days are not. I log and I move on. I'm doing my best not to induce guilt. The episodes of binging are decreasing. That's a win.

So the more observant may have noticed that I considerably upped my strength work in May. Since I started the new job I've had access to an amazing (new and free) gym that I've not really used. For the most ridiculous reason; fear. Of what people will think, of not knowing what to do, of looking like a fool doing so. Lamest excuses ever! I so thought I was over that and old enough to know better. Apparently not.

I took aside one of my workmates one day and asked her to run through the equipment with me. She was so very happy to do so. As a result of her patience and my incessant you-tubing of how to perform certain exercises I can happily report I'm a semi-regular gym user!

People still pick me up on my form and I'm totally ok with that. I've booked a Personal Trainer session during my upcoming leave where I hope to learn even better form.

Tuna bowl

Each week my eating improves a little. I have found that while I'm studying at work I do a whole lot better if I have protein for breakfast as well as lunch. This bowl tides me over quite nicely. I steam the veggies the night before, then throw in a small can of 4 bean mix and about 75g of chili tuna. I also like a bit of avocado in there if I've got some.

Swim: 10m | 500m | 2:00m/100m. Relay races in PE. Fun!

Time keeper

If it were my choice, I'd never wear a watch. I didn't for 11 years while at my old job, because when I did I'd sit staring at it wondering why on earth time was at a standstill. However with new career come new requirements, one of them to accurately record the time. Oh and to be on time!

My choice was the Polar FT40 and I don't regret my choice. I wanted something a little less full on than my Garmin 310XT (which I still love) for the pool, stationary biking and any other physical activities asked of me.

I was initially skeptical that the white rubber wrist band wouldn't stay white for very long, but five months down the track it looks like it did the day I got it.

I love the ridiculously easy to read numbers and the fact that you have the option of having the day of the week included in the date format.

For the most part it records my heart rate accurately. It can be a little dodgy in the pool - like most HR monitors I've ever used, but it is far more reliable at recording my HR than my Garmin 310XT is.

For every session it logs calories burned, the percentage of calories burned as fat, how long you were in fat burning zone vs fitness zone, average and max HR.

There's also a fitness test application within the watch to measure aerobic fitness. But lets face I haven't made use of that yet.

Sat; run: 17:06 | 3.07km | 5:34/km. Vibram run. Short & sweet.

Fri; swim: 18:00 | 1000m | 2:00m/100m. Part PE part my own doing.

Thurs; run & strength:: 30:11 | 5.5km | 5:29/km. There's nothing like healthy competition to push the pace. This was in PE class! Half an hour of strength after the run. Shoulders & abs focus.

Wed; strength: 40m. Included 5 min on the bike to warm up. Hard legs session. I could feel my quads burning.

Tues; bike trainer & strength: 55m spin class + 40m back, biceps & abs in the gym.

Choc Berry Protein bars

I also made these chocolate protein bars featured in Jamie Eason's Live fit trainer series. The change I made surrounded the pureed baby food that I've never heard of. Instead I subbed in ~220g of frozen berries. Worked a treat! They are easily portable and make a great pre or post workout snack.

Agility; 25m. Included some pylometric work. 
Bike trainer: 10m | 4km. Warm up. 5 min easy, 5 min of 30s climb, 30s easy.
Strength: 30m. The gym was packed tonight, I did what I could on the equipment and then headed home to finish off the rest of the sets.

Failure to plan

...is planning to fail. So very true when it comes to my eating habits. 
I have to be organised. I have to be prepared, otherwise it leads to poor food choices. Last week proved that. I want to give myself every opportunity to make the right choices. So this weekend, with no study commitments I got into the kitchen.

Hello sweet potato and tuna patties! I based it on this recipe, but made some changes.

• 1 medium (about 400 - 300g) orange sweet potato, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 1 x 425g can tuna chunks in brine, drained
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• freshly ground black pepper 
• handful fresh herbs (basil & parsley from the garden)
• spring onion if you've got it
• Chili flakes if you like it spicy (I forgot and ate mine with tabasco sauce)

Basically cook the sweet potato until it's mashable (either by boiling or microwave) then add everything else & form into patties, then lightly fry in your preferred oil.

The recipe said it served four, but I'd say I'll get five - six lunch servings.
They're in freezer ready to grab during the week. Score!

Sun; ride: 34:30 | 14.8km | 25.9km/hr.
Sat; strength: 20 min

Not a bad week

Compared to the few last weeks I've been so much better with my food intake. Being committed to logging my food on Fitday helps. I've managed to cut back on the mindless eating. It's still there to a degree, but I've really been asking myself if I'm hungry. If I am, I give myself permission to eat. If not, and I still want something I go for a cup of green tea.

I've packed satisfying healthy lunches (hello, veggie filled wrap!) and taken enough snacks (almonds, capsicum, banana) to work so that I'm not so ravenous by the end of the day.

Thurs; commute: 1:00 | 16.7km. Took the slow bike into the city and loved every moment on a reasonably warm Autumn day!

Wed; boxing & strength: 30m & 15m. PE boxing class, love it, it was at the end of the day and we went hard. Additional strength because I could.

Tues; spin class & strength: 43m & 20m. HR based training in spin class. Loved it, reminded me of my hardcore triathlon training days! Additional strength because I could and also because during the day we did 5 mins of burpees. Seriously, 5 minutes. Try it one time. Ouch!

Great Train Race | Puffing Billy

Run: 1:20:40 | 13.2km | 6:07min/km

Pre-race routine:

Drove out to meet P & M at Ferntree Gully station, on the way I ate breakfast that consisted of two crumpets with peanut butter and a coffee. Because M was spectating we decided to carpool to Belgrave, the race start. We stood around for a bit before they started calling competitors.

Run comments:
I could not believe how quickly the first 3 kms went. It was pretty much all downhill, past cheering spectators and beautiful forest.

At about 5km there was a hill that was a real giver. It just kept going and going and going, I ended up having to walk for a little bit.

We were held up by the second train at the last crossing. I wasn't overly disappointed, it was quite fun having all the passengers wave at us. The community involvement in this run is pretty impressive too. People were cheering from their picnic tables, or chairs that they'd set up outside their houses. There was a huge Country Fire Authority and Police presence too.

Running into the finish line was spectacular, the park and trees in all their Autumnal glory. There's a little kicker to the finish line which made it difficult to sprint finish.

Two things struck me about the run - I was surrounded by people the entire time. For so long it was just me at the back with very few other people running as slow as I.

The second was that I estimated I'd come in at 1:20 and actually did. Usually my expectations far exceed my talent.


What would you do differently?
About 30 seconds before the race start I remembered I'd forgotten to eat my clif shots.

Not really knowing the course I held back a touch - not a whole lot, but I wish now I'd pushed harder in the last couple of km. I'll know for next time. There will be a next time. A fun run indeed.

Warm down:
Mmm blackberry gatorade, I'm a fan.

What limited your ability to perform faster?

I've not done a whole lot of run training, let alone hill training. I was buoyed by the fact that I ran a 9.6km last weekend, that had it been extended to 10km would have been a PB. My form appears better without training ;)

Other places: Fitocracy

Fitocracy. I found the app first, then realised there was a full site. Earn points, unlock achievements, beat quests, and slay the laziness dragon is the general gist. It's a great place to log strength. I've never really logged strength at Beginner Triathlete, only the time spent doing it. Fitocracy makes it worthwhile doing so! I find myself doing one more set so I can get the extra points. And on the days I've done nothing, it usually entices me to at least knock out a set of push ups or sit ups. Better than nothing.

If you join, come say Hi!

Other places: Beginner Triathlete

I wanted to do a little feature on other places I log my training. It cycles through, but I glean motivation from each site at different times.

Are you a beginner triathlete? Are you a seasoned triathlete? Whatever the case there is a gluttony of triathlon related information to be found at Beginner Triathlete. I've been logging there since September 2004. I don't love the site design but I absolutely love the amount of information I can get from my training. I can look at that calendar above and know that in April I had 5 full rest days (yellow squares). That looking at the graph my exercise has been tapering severely over the last five weeks. That I have not been consistent at all.

It is an amazing and supportive community there. There's forums, race reports, gear reviews and plenty of people to answer whatever question you may have about triathlon. I can't imagine ever not logging there.

Bike trainer: 30min | 12km | 24km/hr. I totally sweated it out one of the many Biggest Loser episodes I've missed.
Strength: 15m. Arms & chest.

Finding my groove

Post ride/strength lunch. An egg scrambled with cottage cheese, avocado, tomato, onion and spinach on a wholemeal wrap, with a banana, coconut milk & protein powder smoothie. I'm going to find my groove again. Next week is all about sliding back into the usual routine. Study is required, but I should also be able to balance it with plenty of exercise.

I also signed up for a cycling challenge to coincide with the Giro. With no races planned for after tomorrow I should be able to be bike focused!

Ride: 1:02:00 | 25.25km | 24.4km/hr. A little slow, but riding with lots of lights/slow points and didn't really get a chance to get going. 45min of this was in the rain, but with a jacket and warm gloves I was ok. Enough cannot be said for the right gear!

Strength: 10m. Focus mainly on the arms and shoulders. Trying to save my legs for tomorrow's Puffing Billy/Great train race run.

Good things Friday

• I harvested this pomegranate from our tree this morning and plan to enjoy it with some yoghurt later.
• I'm on afternoon shift so I've got the whole morning and a little more to do as I please.
• Part of my morning was spent running. Awesome for two reasons (a) it stopped raining and (b) gosh running, hard but so so good.
• Looking forward to the Puffing Billy run on Sunday.

Run: 53:03 | 8.41km | 6:18/km. 4km of flat, 4km of hills.
Strength: 15 min. Crunches, push ups, shoulder presses, dumbbell flyes, lateral raises.

Wed; strength: 35m. Ahh strength, you save me on rainy days!

Tues; strength: 30m

Mon; strength: 30m

Monthly totals: April 2012

Bike: 5:35:52 | 126.84 km

Run: 7:06:21 | 65.6km

Swim: 29m | 1400m

Agility: 48m

Strength: 1:55

Bike trainer: 2:53:30

Horseriding: 3:00

Mountain bike: 4:40

Walking: 1:23

Weight: Same. 62kg. Stayed the same and I can pretty much repeat last months update of: I struggled with my eating this month. I don't eat a lot during the day due to the discomfort it causes, I then find myself lacking energy to workout after work/class and I go home and eat far too much. Where far too much has resulted in binging.

Access to the free pool saw my swim load diminished, but I'd say April has seen my highest riding and running totals for the year. Happy times! As it gets cooler I foresee even more strength and bike trainer.

Proud owner

Just when you and I thought no more bikes could be added to the stable, it happened. With just a few clicks too. Ever since we adventure raced I've wanted a mountain bike. As harrowing as mountain biking on Mt Buller when snowing was (not recapped here), it's made me more determined to master the mountain bike. Or at least skill up. Doing so would probably require a bike.

And so imagine the excitement when searching eBay we found a XS Giant Yukon mountain bike going for a very good price with no bids ending at auction on Saturday night. SOLD! To the short one. Big grin.

Took it out for a spin yesterday in Lysterfield park. Fun!

Sun; mountain biking: 1:20 | 12km | 9km/hr. Guesstimate at best. Garmin was on and off and on and off. Mainly because we were stopping and starting and stopping and starting. We did part of the trail we raced last November, I was a little tired from my 9.6km run that morning. It feels weird to thrash a bike so much and I still lack confidence. I'm not at all used to the back wheel slipping and it freaks me out. But I'll get there.

Sri Chinmoy Princes Park 9.6km

54:47 | 9.6km | 5:43min/km

Or the morning I had three breakfasts...

Last night I was so tempted to pull the pin on this run. My run training has not been inspiring of late. Melbourne put on the most gorgeous Autumn morning, I couldn't not head out. Not in my mind anyway.

Pre run breakfast: 2x crumpets with jam
Initially I'd signed up for the 15km, that had been changed to a 16km and so I downgraded to the 9.6km. Three laps of Princes park. I hate abhor laps at the best of times. So I just zoned out. I tried to pick people off or stay with them. That's what got me around. Oh and trying to run 5:40m/kms.
Turns out had this been a 10km and I'd maintained pace for another 400m, I would have run a PB.

Post run breakfast: pancake with maple syrup, water and plenty of gatorade.
I saved the banana for our post ride snack. Yea, riding later in the day.
Yay, pancakes. These races do an awesome job catering for the masses.

Walking back to the scooter I noticed a whole lot of yarn bombing. Yarn bomb a bike rack = pure awesomeness.

Post shower breakfast: Seven seeds coffee and a salted caramel cupcake.
Oh man the savoury stuff looked awesome at Besito, but the dehydration was kicking in and I just wasn't that hungry.

Getting there

Another tough week, but in a different way. A late shift and a short change over didn't set the week up all that well. I've been trying to catch up on sleep ever since. The copious amounts of rain haven't helped entice me outdoors either.

But this afternoon I took the bike out and it was glorious. I got to test out one of my new wool jerseys. I was lusting after a classic style wool jersey, initially it was a toss up between Rapha and Road Holland. In the end Road Holland won out due to colour choice (gray and black will always win over white and blue in my wardrobe). We're coming into winter, while I won't go out in the rain, it's inevitable that I'll get caught in it. Gah, road grime can be tough to get out of jerseys! My first every long sleeve jersey was white, it didn't stay that way for long.

Loved the fit and was really comfortable riding today. I think more layers will be required for middle-of-winter riding, but so far so good.

Ride: 1:11:00 | 30km | 25km/hr. Plenty of crosswind action today. Just felt good to be out there.

Not all sweetness and light

The past week has been a tough one.

• I failed an assessment. I accept that I did not plan well enough with my partner and deserved to fail. Thanks to some great teachers I have that process we botched cemented in my brain, for which I am thankful. But it was stressful and the doubt I had within myself was absolutely awful, I was embarrassed by my failure and was bitterly disappointed in myself. The support from my peers was fortifying and in the resit my partner and I got through easily. Relief.

• This is so hard to admit, but ahhh I'm going to type the words: I have been having frequent binge eating episodes again. Trying to bury or mask the anxiety I've had surrounding work and quite often the guilt I feel if I don't feel like running even though I "should".

Why is it hard to admit? Because I love eating healthy produce and honestly the majority of the time I enjoy getting out amongst it running, riding, swimming and the like. I've never regretted a run (ok one, that time my ITB went, but these things happen from time to time) but I definitely regret the overeating.

I mention running in the second dot point because I have two races coming up that I want to be prepared for. That involves training. I don't enter races to win, but to participate - that gentle reminder is useful. 

I want to nip the binging in the bud, it's gone on long enough. Possibly removing sugar from my diet triggered something. It started back then, where I started binging on nuts. At Easter time I added sugar back into my diet and didn't notice too much of a difference with regards to the bloating and gas I get on occasion, but it's since given me a wider range of products to binge on. I'm definitely more aware of sugar in products and I will attempt to minimise its presence in my diet, but not outright avoid it. 

My other issue is that usually by the time I get home from work I'm blindingly hungry. Hands down this is the danger time for binging. To avoid this I think I need to keep some kind of snack in the car/scooter than I can eat prior to going home. Sure it may be an extra 200 cals in my day, but it has to be better than an extra 1000 cals or whatever the binges add up to. Up until this very moment, that logic never crossed my mind. So there is value in (over)sharing. At least for me.

The crazy thing is apart from the occasional stress of assessments, I absolutely love the new career path, yes it's challenging, but it beats the boredom of my old job every single day. With fewer study commitments I have more time to spend with the Man which is better for our relationship. There's encouragement at work to remain fit and I have access to the most amazing gym, pool and spin bikes so training is never boring. I still have an awesome family, fabulous friends and supportive peers. Life really is good, not perfect by any means but really, really good. 

I am ready to walk down the path of healthy choices once again.

Sat; strength: 20m. Hand weights @ home.
Commute: 40m | 14.8km. Slow ride to the footy and back.

Thurs; strength: 20m. Mix of hand weights, body weights & machine.

Wed; strength: 20m. Mix of hand weights, body weights & machine.


Tues; agility: 48m. Fun! Lots of run drills and agility work.
Bike trainer: 40m spin class.

Mon; swim: 29m | 1400m | 2:09m/100m. Set involved 400, 500, 3x (50 easy, 50 hard), 200. No rhyme or reason, just good to be in the water.

T.I.T.S

Time in the saddle, people, time in the saddle. T.I.T.S. Somehow it transpired that last week I worked one day. I had the rest of the week off. I am not complaining because even though I worked Thursday we started the day with a bike trainer session. Friday saw gorgeous blue skies and I decided to get in the saddle for real. I decided that there would be no nutrition fail as I aimed for 50km or two hours, whatever came first.

Sun; run: 1:11:43 | 11km | 6.31m/km. This was meant to be 14km, but at 11 I had to stop and walk home. All sorts of GI issues and I felt so ill that there were moments I thought I was going to lose my breakfast. I'm hoping to get up to 14km prior to my April 29, 15km race.

Sat; cycle: 54:22 | 22.8km | 25.16km/hr. Just a short one to Williamstown. Flew down with a tail wind and battled home in the head wind. The bike is much improved after the cable tightening.

Fri; cycle: 2:05:30 | 49.44km | 23.64km/hr. By no means was this a speedy ride, 40 mins of this is stop/start and extra safety precautions due to trucks. I wasn't tired per se, just a little sore in the lower back, which is a reminder to activate my glutes sooner rather than later. I stopped in at the LBS on the way home, the chain had been catching and it's due for a service. Cable was tightened and the bike is booked in for tuesday.

Thurs; bike trainer: 40 min

Wed; run: 50:11 | 8km | 6:16m/km. Vibram trail run in yarra bend park. Undulations and slightly softer footing were the go. Fitness wise 8km was ok, foot wise I could have pulled up a kilometre short, my feet were starting to hurt. Next time 7km vibram run!

Easter recap: Saturday & Sunday

Sun; ride: 45m | 9.8km | 13.1km/hr. There were ambitious thoughts about riding up the Mt Buller road. However the more I thought about it, the less likely I thought it possible. I'm no where near bike fit. Let alone fit enough to climb for 1:40. So I made a deal with the Man and my friends that they'd give me a head start and pick me up along the way. It was perfect timing. I probably would have made an hour climb, but I was pretty tired at the 40m mark.

Sat; run: Mt Buller Mountain high Fun Run: Buller Breaker 8.9km.
1:09:17 | 9.4km | 7:22m/km. Both P and my Garmin measured 9.4km, I'm taking it! Oh man, the hills, they kill me! It's an improvement, two years ago I did the 6km course and averaged about 10m/km. This year there was still plenty of walking, but clearly a little less and over a longer distance. I felt ok up until the 5km mark and then really struggled. I certainly could have been dressed warmer and I will remember gloves for next time, it was super cold! And the gloves would have been a big help when I tripped and supermaned along the ground, leaving a fair chunk of my palm on the mountain.

Easter recap: Thursday & Friday

Fri; horse riding: 3 hours. This was so much fun. The last horse riding I did was between vineyards on the peninsula and was a little slow going with horses that knew exactly when the trot was coming. This was "Man from Snowy River" country and the views were breathtaking, we climbed and descended steep hills, trotted and cantered (when my horse wasn't being lazy). I'm so keen to do a 5 day horseriding tour, but will need to strengthen my inner thighs and remember to stretch them!

Thurs; jog/run: 54:14 | 8km | 6.47m/km. I was lucky enough to snag a girlfriend who's back from San Fran for a lap of the lake. We took it slow and chatted the whole way. I did an extra 3km at the end at around the 5:40m/km pace as per the session dictated.

Monthly totals: March 2012

 

 It was good to get back on the bike and maintain the swimming, now I just have to pick up the running!

Bike: 1:49:57 | 48.69km

Run: 4:00:15 | 38.82

Swim: 3:01:07 | 8200m

Strength: 1:22

Bike trainer: 1:10

Fitness test: 15m

Massage: 1:15

Race Volunteering: 12:30

Tennis: 40m

 

Weight: +1kg. 62kg. I struggled with my eating this month. I don't eat a lot during the day due to the discomfort it causes, I then find myself lacking energy to workout after work/class and I go home and eat far too much.

While I found cutting sugar out did help some of my bloating issues it certainly didn't entirely rid me of the problem and I'm finding it difficult to pinpoint what is actually causing the bloating. One day I'll eat something and I'll be fine, the next day exactly the same thing and I'll be in all sorts of discomfort. A trip to the doc is in order. Something needs to change.

Reward and stats

Oh yeah!
Not only did I get an extra hour sleep due to daylight saving finishing but my long run is done. Ok, long run was 12km, but I tell you that's the furthest I've run in quite some time. When I looked at the program it suggested a 6:40/km pace. I scoffed, then a kilometre in retracted scoff and figured I'd be lucky to maintain the pace. Also a good reminder to myself that one cannot improve ones running if one does not run.

Pretty happy coming home that there was a cold coconut water waiting in the fridge for me. It went down a treat!

Run: 1:18:25 | 12km | 6:32/km. No ITB issues apparent. That's a win.

Banana Almond pancakes (gluten free & low fructose)

A seriously good start to the day! I added a little granulated sugar because I knew there would be no syrup, just natural yogurt. The pancakes cooked up really well and were lovely, moist and filling. The batch made three pancakes with a 3.5 inch diameter.

Banana Almond pancakes (gluten free & low fructose)
Combine the following:
1 ripe banana mashed
1 egg beaten lightly
1 TBS almond meal
1 TBS brown rice flour (or coconut flour)
1 TBS nut butter (I used natural peanut as it was all I had)
1/4 tsp baking powder

Additional options (I added them all!):
Cinnamon
Vanilla essence
2 tsp cacao nibs
1/4 tsp granulated stevia

Cook as per regular pancakes. The only difference is that bubbles tend not to appear on the surface, so I just flipped them when the outer edge started to firm up.

Strength: 25m. Abs and arms.

Stick o' pain

But good pain! Why oh why has it taken me this long (an estimated 8 years) to get a foam roller? Truth be told my massage therapist and several physios have being suggesting I get one for my ITB for quite some time, but I never got around to it. This year is the first time I've ever used one and oh, I love it. It makes for some good therapy when I can't make it in for a massage.

I've been avoiding running this week. My left hip/ITB is causing me a little grief, even on the bike the other night I could feel it. I'm hesitant to run (a) because I haven't run in a week and I know it will be hard and (b) the ITB flare up. I'll try a run over the weekend.

Swim: 42:28 | 2km | 2:07/100m. 200 warm up. 800, 2x 500. I could feel yesterday's strength session.

Wed; strength: 30m. Mainly abs & upper body.

Tues; bike trainer: 30 mins. I just did my thing on the bike for half an hour, gradually raising HR until I'm ready to get out of the saddle. It was a bit of a sweat fest, but the boys at work told me the next day they were impressed with my calves!

Ironman Melbourne

So Ironman came to Melbourne and it was an honor to be part of the volunteers. Hell yes, the footage made me want to compete. From all reports the bike course was amazing. I did ride Eastlink the weekend they opened it to the public back in the day and it's a seriously smooth surface, to ride 180km on that would be awesome.

Thankfully there were not too many athletes that had to drop out. It made our day easier and it meant we could keep an eye on the finishing chute to congratulate friends who'd had a massive day out on the course.

Top tips for IM watchers/supporters:
• A fully charged phone
• Plenty of water & snacks for the day, sunscreen if required and layers; it is Melbourne.
• If you're meeting your athlete after the recovery area have a designated spot to meet.
• If handing them their phone as they're running down the chute is an option, take it.
• Have a jumper/jacket handy for them once they're done. So. Many. Cold. Athletes. I remember it being the same when I was done, all I wanted was food and to be warm. Getting food was easy...

Strength: 25m. Tired after yesterday, but I figured I could do something while I waited for my mouse batteries to charge.

Sun; race volunteering: 12:30:00. Oh yeah, twelve and a half hours!

Thurs; run: 17:41 | 3km | 5:53/km. I was meant to be meeting a friend but she bailed on me, frustration galore given I'd battled morning traffic to meet her. Did a bit of a lap of the Tan, felt awful, had a stitch running from right abdomen to left shoulder. Walked the rest.

Thurs; cycle: 36:30 | 16.23km | 26.56km/hr. Ahh the luxury of riding to work. I love it!

Fructose free experiment continues

So I'm week three into fructose free. I'm doing my best to avoid it in all processed foods. That said I am having 1-2 pieces of fruit a day; limited to ripe bananas, oranges (now crazy sweet) & berries. Air popped pop corn and red capsicum are my snack saviors.

The Glucodin tablets have hands down been the best find. They are pure glucogen and I've been using them prior to running after work when I'm all out of energy. They do provide an almost instant lift and I haven't found the crash heinous.

I did have a hankering for chocolate and the "...well, naturally" bar was it. It was expensive and not something I'm prepared to purchase readily. There wasn't a whole lot of melt-in-your-mouth like regular chocolate, but it did hit the spot as far as dark chocolate goes.

I made these gluten free pancakes (omitting the oil & maple syrup) and served them with a fructose free salted caramel sauce.

Fructose free Salted Caramel Sauce (with rice syrup)
80g rice malt syrup
100mls cream
25g butter
pinch sea salt

Heat the rice malt syrup until it bubbles and turns a slightly darker colour, remove from heat add cream, butter and salt. Stir until combined.

I couldn't help but experiment over the weekend with some leftover cream. Almost wish I hadn't, it's pretty good!


Tues; ride: 36:40 | 16.23km | 26.56km/hr. Getting there was easy, coming back not so much, particularly into the headwind.