Glorious from all angles

After coming home to hail on my doorstep after Friday night's swim I didn't have high hopes for the weather over the weekend.  How pleasantly surprised I was.

Sat; run: 3:26:03 | 31.8 km | 6:28m/km
I pretty much hung out in bed for most of the morning waiting for the rain to clear. I ran beach side into the city, out along the Yarra to Richmond and back into the city to Flinders Street and caught the train home. At 25km I was hurting. At 27km more so. You get the drift. I did this without music, tried to stay strong mentally while physically felt as though I was crumbling. The walk home from the station was painful to say the least.

Sun; ride: 2:16:24 | 52.2km | 23km/hr
Essentially a recovery ride with a lot of stop starting in and through the city to Kew Boulevard. Nothing like setting course PBs when your legs are shot from the day before.

Rapha #womans100

Recently, cracking the ton on the bike has proven to be a massive mental hurdle for me. But then so has been using hashtags, that's a different story.

Signing up for the Rapha Women's 100 proved to be just the antidote. In all honesty I hoped to see large groups of women on the road. But it wasn't to be. I hope they were all over in Collingwood joining the quasi-official ride.

I, on the other had get out earlier than I ever would so I could make it to work on time. I've been avoiding Beach Rd recently, just to mix things up, for the Women's 100 I got back on it.

Halfway was Mornington and a banana with a bay view. Conditions could not have been more perfect for this time of year. No wind!

10kms to go I was done, recovered with scrambled eggs, cottage cheese and hot sauce with a side serving of natural peanut butter and rice cakes. Then I got to go to work and whinge to my offsider about how hungry I was. I'm always hungry. Nothing new, not like that hashtag!

I got to order the commemorative roundel today, that was a definite highlight. That and I'm heading into a three day weekend...

Sun; ride: 102km | 3:51:18 |  26.5km/hr.

In readiness...

Tomorrow my first sprint tri in quite some years. The goal is to finish. It will be interesting to see where I'm at and set more goals from there. I feel underdone on the running aspect, in that I'm not running the times I was hoping to at this stage. It's a little daunting, but all I have to do is keep moving forward, that's all I ask of myself.

Mon; run: 50:44 |  8km | 6.19m/km
Testing the distance. It feels like it's been a while since I've run this far.

Tues; yoga: Simply flow | 1hr
While I want to move up to power flow, all the simply flow classes I've done of late have certainly been challenging enough!

Wed; ride/run: 1:10:58 | 26.8km | 22.6 km/hr hilly ride followed by 12:58 | 2km | 6.28m/km run. It wasn't overly warm and my feet were numb making for some awkward running. Good practice for Sunday, the forecast is not warm.

Thurs; ride: 1:33:08 | 39.5km | 25.45km/hr. Beach rd ride.

Bass Coast Cycle Challenge 85km recap

The short: 4:01:58  |  91km (the ride itself is 85km, but we rode to the start from our weekend base)

The long: I tagged along with my Mum and a few of her riding buddies for the Bass Coast Challenge, riding to raise awareness about road safety - something that has been close to my heart throughout my career. With recent rostering it felt rather indulgent to have a reasonably weathered Saturday to just ride.

We started out of Inverloch and it wasn't too long before the group split. I was out on my own. After a nice 20km warm up I was climbing "Mt Misery" a 3km climb. 500m to the top we were cheered on by a devil and her cross-dressed Heidi.

I found the second climb of the day to be a touch more brutal, but it was rewarded with gorgeous views of green rolling hill tops and some long descents.

From Wonthaggi back to Inverloch I tacked onto the back of a group. I'm not usually one to do this when riding, given I don't know the quality of rider I'm tacking onto and vice versa but the headwind was brutal and I was feeling less than fresh.


The ride was incredibly well run, plenty of aid stations, stocked well with food (ANZAC biscuits, fruit cake, bananas and oranges) and water (or sports drink) and masses of friendly and supportive volunteers. I'd come back and do this ride in a heartbeat, it's always nice to mix up the scenery and take on a slightly different challenge. It was kind of nice to ride with Mum for a bit, at my own pace for a bit and then regroup. Certainly my longest ride in quite some time and a very satisfying one at that.

Needless to say I slept well that night.

The weekend that was

The weather on the weekend was average at best, Saturday morning I got in a yoga class and then headed to the Mornington Peninsula for a birthday BBQ on Saturday night. I headed down a touch early so I could take in some of the two bays trail - I'd run part of it at the start of the year for the Two Bays 28km trail run and I've been keen to revisit. I started from Greens Bush. It was gorgeously serene. I saw one other person on the trail and heard plenty of bird life around me. I ended up jogging on the flats and walking the rest. It's well signposted and somewhat protected from the rain that was falling. Thankfully it was too cold for snakes.

Sat; yoga: 1 hr | Simply flow. Lots of back bends and hip opening today.
Hiking: 1:05 | 7km

Sun; ride: 1:34:20 | 39.3km | 25km/hr. A strong headwind heading out. Very unusual, but makes the way home super fast and fun! I didn't worry about HR, I just wanted to see what I could do.

Mon; swim: 54:00 | 2200m | 2.27m/100m. Lots of drills and a bit of distance. Cramming my two scheduled swims into one.

Time on my side

I like you night shift I do, but I love me some rest days!

Tues; ride: 1:39:25 | 39.6km | 23.8km/hr.
What a day! Blue skies, no wind, shall I say that again, NO WIND!!!  I headed out with Mum and got to catch up on all her recent holiday news. We stopped for coffee of course. Had I not needed to leave for work by midday I honestly think I would have spent all day on the bike. It was beautiful. My HR average was 143. I didn't exactly stick in Z2, but I did manage some Z4 efforts.

Wed; run: 39:04 | 5km | 7.48m/km.
It was toasty, even at 6:45pm when I started the run. I'd procrastinated all afternoon. My dinner plans were canceled and I had no excuses left. Hard to keep the HR down at 140, but an easy run otherwise.

Thurs; ride/run: 1:16:37 | 28.7km | 22.4km/hr ride followed by 25:28 | 4.2km | 6.45m/km run.
Brick session. It was only meant to be a 15min run at 150 bpm or Z3. But I wanted a bit of time to unleash. To let myself run free, so the rest of the run was done as the race will be done with my HR sky high. Felt good to be working.

In the swim

I'll be honest, swimming is not my fave. There was a time I liked it, but I'm pretty sure that was more to do with my hot instructor than anything else. I try not to think of it as the necessary evil, because it does have its advantages. When it's howling with wind and pouring with rain, swimming indoors becomes the favorable option. It's also a little easier on the body and can aid in recovery. I have access (through work) to a pool that is under-utilised, and free! There is never the need to share a lane and as a result I no longer suffer from "lane rage".

The key to sessions is having a plan. I used to not and ended up swimming many a 1500m+ straight. It has its benefits but not every session. I write out my program and stick it to my water bottle. Then I have less thinking to do at the pool. Less thinking when the blood is elsewhere works for me.

The key to getting there in reasonable time is a dedicated pool bag. With my pull buoy (that doubles as a kick board),  goggles (I swear by Aqua Sphere), moisturizers (the chlorine is drying) deodorant (and stinky) and hair dryer. Not forgetting underwear works a treat if I wear my bathers to the pool too. I have spent far too much of my time looking for errant goggles. Now they live in the bag. The bag lives in the cupboard a cursory check to make sure I've got enough shampoo and I'm off.

Swimming presses my hungry button. I usually pack a few dates (nature's Gu) or a peeled orange that I can tuck into once I'm done.

Sun; brick session ride/run: Bike 1:23:16 | 31.6km | 22.7km/hr
Run 15:04 | 2.18km | 6.54m/km
Bike was all Zone 2, low heart rate. I could have pushed it a little more and still been within the zone. I got to practise a transition dismount. There's some work to do. The run was Zone 3. My heart rate just wanted to climb and climb and climb off the bike. Rein it in. Rein it in.

Mon; swim: 2000m | 48:00 | 2.24m/100m
The first session in a while where I've actually put the work in when it said 'effort'.

Mon; yoga: 1hr. Simply flow.
The danger of doing this prior to night shift means all I want to do when I get home is snooze. 

Excuse me ego | Zone 2 training

The week was more productive than anticipated. I was on a course for work, my second time around and there was pressure to pass - mainly from myself. The travel was long and morning shifts weren't conducive to training, let alone the exhaustion after concentrating all day.

Add to all that the start of a training plan. One that adheres strongly to training in Zone 2, 65-75% of your max heart rate. Basically a rate of training that allows you to breathe through your nose if you wanted to, one that builds endurance and encourages your body to be more efficient at what it's doing.

I've promised myself I'm going to stick with it for a month (potentially longer). It is painfully slow. It is constantly keeping my ego at bay. I know I can go faster, but I will be governed by my heart rate, not by how much faster that person who just passed me is going. The added bonus is that I can do a 2 hour ride prior to work and not be exhausted. I tend to feel ready for the next training session. So that's an early good thing. Go on body, adapt! Do your thing!

Mon: Run;  37:52 | 5km | 7:34/km. 
Steady Z2 run. Had to walk in the last 2kms to keep the HR down. This is my first real run since the Half and there was no ITB pain. Bonus!

Wed: Bike Trainer; 1:05
Majority Z2 plus 5x 3min @ Z4. Watched taped stages of the tour and listened to my fave playlist to keep the boredom at bay. Reward was my guilty pleasure 'The Bachelor'.

Fri: Run; 44:22 | 5.46km | 8:08/km
Warm up 15m @ Z2. Main 2x (4min @ Z4, 3min @ Z2). Cool down Z2.
So much walking. I let my Garmin determine my zones. I'm pretty sure it uses 220- age and as a result the numbers are a bit off because I saw 188bpm at the end of the half. I'll tweak the numbers before the next run.

Fri: Yoga; 1:00 Simply Flow. Lots of hip opening poses and ITB stretching. Felt so good.

Sat: Ride; 2:14:27 | 51.3km | 22.89km/hr
Majority Z2 plus 5x 3min @ Z4. Significantly harder to get into Z4 on the road rather than the trainer, unless of course there's a hill!

1602

Today is what is called a "recovery" day. I finished work early this morning and don't go back until tomorrow. I nap for 3-4 hours in the morning and wake close to midday. I then do whatever I feel capable of doing. Today outside lured and I tested my legs on the bike for the first time in a couple of weeks. I have a crazy notion that I will do a triathlon or two this season. I wanted to experience a short ride, akin to sprint distance triathlon.

This night shift went well. I had a day where chocolate covered licorice and lollies got the better of me, but my eating was back on track the next day. I managed to move 6 days out of 7. Sure, low intensity, but moving nevertheless. Night shift is hard, it's unnatural, isolating and can be depressing. Kindness to oneself during the week is key!

Breakfast: Green smoothies have worked a treat this week. Rolling with the same banana, peanut butter, milk & baby spinach combo today.
Lunch: 1 scrambled egg with cottage cheese and two pieces of toast
Dinner: Roast beetroot, feta, walnut and spinach salad
Snacks: Blood orange, lollies, stewed apple, yoghurt & cacao nibs, green tea, hot chocolate

Ride: 47:33 | 21.5 km | 27.13 km/hr
The tail wind home helped me no end!

Yoga: 1hr
Simply flow. I am starting to see the slightest improvement in my downward dog. It also makes me think more about my body position in day to day life. This is really important for me as poor posture has led to some ongoing pain in my hips and neck of late.  

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

Weekend snapshot

The weekend was filled with good things; dog sitting, swimming, first birthdays and pasta making.

Ride: 36:47 | 16.23km | 26.47km/hr. Commute to work! It's been forever and while this afternoon's ride was awesome, this morning's was a touch stressful given I didn't quite give myself enough time to get to work on time. Thankfully I'm a speedy changer!

Sun; swim: 35:39 | 1600m | 2:14/100m. 300 warm up, 500, 400, 100 breaststroke, 100 free
100 breaststroke, 100 free. Swam outside at Harold Holt given MSAC would have been impossible to get near due to the Grand Prix.

Weekend snapshot

After a tough week of assessments, the weekend was a welcome one, sans study! With the forecast heading up into the high 30Cs we made the call to head down to the beach. I got back on the bike (albeit briefly given I was on the Man's bike and he has deceptively short legs), had a chance to do some meal planning and watched a friend box her way to victory. Two years of losing weight, training hard, becoming a PT, with determination by the bucket load she is a true inspiration. I was so proud!

Run: 43:34 | 7.1km | 6:08/km. Mentally I was so ready for this run. The humidity had disappeared and I just felt ready to get out there. I was thinking along the lines of 12km. But ugh it was a struggle to get to 4km. After 5km I walked and then as it started to rain I ran back. I was well under-fueled.

Sun; ride: 29m | 11km | 22.7km/hr. Not an amazing effort, I put it down to the two hill repeats I finished off with, as well as the fact that the Man's bike is not quite set up to my liking - quad overload. But boy I bet I could make it go with the seat post a little higher. Maybe next time I'll crack the Allen key out.

Advent Challenge: Day 12- 24

It feels like forever! Oh wait, it has been forever.

After finishing up work I was lucky enough to get down to Tassie last week to check out Bruny Island and MONA. Both highly recommended. Then it was all Christmas parties and birthdays and plenty of recovery time. It felt incredibly indulgent to take the week off from exercise, not exactly planned, but I tell you I caught up on sleep and was able to start this week full of beans. And man, those beans quickly ran out, because last night I was exhausted. Lucky I've got another week off ;).

Happy festive season to all!

Day 12. Monday
Beep test: Level 5.6. Not ideal. But I figure when I run it for real with people, I'm going to do better, plus I will take ventolin.

Day 13 - 18
Rest: 6 days of it. Oops. But it feels so good to be well rested.
Day 19. Monday
Vibram run: 10m | 1.69km | 5.56/km. Ugh, asthma put paid to this run.
Strength: 20 min. Bumped up the time due to the short run.

Day 20. Tuesday
Vibram run: 20:28 | 3.65km | 5:37/km. Finished off what I started yesterday.

Day 21. Wednesday
Beep test: Level 8.1. First fitness assessment, happy enough with this. Finished with something left in the tank, so there should be improvement next time.

Day 22-23
Rest.

Day 24. Saturday.
Ride: 1:15:30 | 33.16km | 26.35km/hr. Easy ride. No wind!