Paul’s Week 12 – ending 25/09/11 – Fully Loaded & Bloated

Swim – 5.8k (2 x sessions)

Bike – 196.2k (1 Spin Class/Home Session, 2 x road sessions )

Run – 45k (1 x interval run, 1 x long/aerobic runs, 1 X bloated run !! )

Total –    15:06 hours

Monday – Spin + Home Spin Session

Couldn’t face another RTR ride or back down the freeway path.... plus weather was still little wet, so with no guilt’s decided to have a spin fest tonight – spin class at the Arena & then onto the home trainer at 7.30pm for another 90 min Spinerval set...

Spin Class was ok, legs pretty beat up from Sunday but once got going was ok. Got home at 7pm and can honestly say it’s the first time in 12 weeks that I didn’t really want to do a session. Given that this was a tack on set and also, I know I never really get maximum efforts from these home sessions, I really did think to give it a miss but then I thought that I wasn’t sick or injured and there would be plenty of CBF times coming. So got on with it, hopped on the trainer plugged in Spinervals Time Trial Special and went thru the motions. Probably junk miles (which are even less counted when they are done on a trainer!!) but wanted to get my head around a 2 hour effort after the big run Sunday. Stats are pretty pathetic – 114 avg heart rate !! but by the 20 minute mark I was pretty damn fatigue so not as good a hitout as a road ride but in my eyes still a recordable session

Spin Class:

time – 0:55

avg hr – 135

max hr – 158

Home Trainer:

time – 0:57

avg hr – 114

max hr – 143

Tuesday – AM Swim + PM Interval Run

AM – Swim

400’s today again, nothing exciting to report except the pool door attendant nazi that would not allow us in unless it was 5:30:01am....

dist – 3.1k

time – 1:02

PM – Interval Run

Been busy so haven’t had a chance to write these up and has been a day or so...

Intervals were 5 x 1km efforts at 10k pace. Well this one was done on a little street around here known as Struggle Street......after the first effort I knew it was going to get ugly. Legs were just heavy and I struggled to get a 4.00 min pace even on the very first one and it dropped significantly over the later ones. Heart rate wasn’t climbing either so a the load in the legs over the past few days is obviously taking its toll. Finished the run and remember thinking Thursday’s 2 hour run is going to be uglier........if not the ugliest run ever !!

dist – 13k

time – 1:03

avg hr – 138

max hr – 156

Wednesday –  Bike

Rolled out from work at 4.37am – ouch !! Wanted to get at least 2.5 or 3 hours in hence the early start. Plus roads were nice and quite (no sh!t !!) Checked radar at 3.00am when I woke and some quick calcs worked out that I’d probably have 2 hours of wet free riding....so I made the decision to get wet if need be and toughen up

RTR route with Stock Rd and Mosman Park golf course included, Leighton & Cottesloe was a struggle as the wind was head on....some good efforts along Victoria Av & Mounts Bay with the wind slightly behind at that stage. Got to Mt Henry and rolled down the ramp to head to Shelley loop. Started to lightly rain, then by the time I started the loop proper it was coming down quite considerably, so much so I giggled to myself how bloody wet I was and thought – geez I’m proud of myself staying out in this freezing wet cold morning !! ha ha !! ........couple of times I had to get out of aero position as the wind gusts picked up and as I’m only about 70kg was a bit afraid of slipping and going down !

So wet Rat back at work for a nice how shower and that warm fuzzy feeling of another decent hit out completed

dist – 78k

time – 2:44

avg speed –  28.4km/h

avg hr – 128

max hr – 150

Thursday – Long Run & Swim

AM – Long Run

Big run this morning, planning to head west from work near the Raffles and see where it takes me !! Made it to the Bicton Baths after rolling thru Blackwall Reach...never been thru there so was quite nice to see some different scenery. Tho’ on turning and going back into the little undulations was a little tough with 13k or so in the legs.

Thought I might have gone a little further than Sundays run as it was 10 mins longer but did stop a couple of times and noticed I was shuffling a bit slower than normal that I made myself pick up pace. Pretty happy with result and nutrition spot on, 2 gels, handful of jelly beans and 2 flasks of Gatorade on the fuel belt. As Daz says, will have to add the other two flasks on for any further runs. Hoping to back this run up with a 70 minute run Friday arvo and see how legs feel on Saturday morning...will see how I pull up

Pretty chuffed with run even tho’ a bit slower than expected but this and Sundays run gives me a good base for the next few weeks

dist – 24k

time – 2:10

avg hr – 134

max hr – 170

PM – Swim

200’s tonight...no dramas getting in the pool – was actually looking forward to it

No Entourage or Suits so bit of a nothing night !!..legs feeling ok considering the mornings run. Tomoro’s extra run might be a different story

dist – 2.7k

time – 0:54

Friday – Run – Aerobic – 70min planned

Wanted to get a 60-70 min run in to load the legs up for Saturdays ride and also was having a rest day Sunday for my birthday which mean’t a run short for the week if I didn’t get out tonight. Ellie had a top gun swim race session at the Arena so was going to go after that. She did brilliantly and got pb’s in each of her 3 races, her breast stroke is coming along fantastically and can’t wait to see how she goes when she starts competitive swimming soon. Once again volunteered for time keeping as no parents put their hands up – we waited to see if any new ones did but alas no, same parents again. Coach Tiff got stuck in afterwards to all the parents and hopefully next time we’ll see some new faces doing it

Got out finally about 5.20pm and headed south down the freeway path. Got about 4k in and my bloody guts started to bloat up again...damn, this is getting annoying !! This got worse as I kept going and thought this is fookn ridiculous....turned at about 25 mins but was stop start all the way back as I  trying to work thru the pain in my abdomen. Not sure what is causes this as I had stopped eating about 2.5 hours before so maybe it’s because I’m sitting down for the day ??..... who knows but if it happens again I’ll have to look into it further.

Got back to Arena.......finally, picked up Bridie from her squad and home to get bike ready for Saturdays 4.5 hour ride

dist – 8-9k ??

time – 0:57

avg hr – 135

max hr – 152

Saturday – Bike – Long

Legs certainly felt fatigued & loaded on waking but surprisingly didn’t seem to affect the ride at the start, must be used to having the legs feel this way. Rode with Runners World Crew for Reabold Repeats which included twice up the Zamia path then a nice little figure 8 around the golf course/Bold Park. Managed to get 4 full laps in and hung onto Daz most of the way even if he was a few meters up the road.

Said goodbye to the crew who were off or breakie (thought it was sad, cos I’d really love breakfast !! ha ha !!) Me, Daz and Bernie then headed out to the coast and around the river, down the Shelley Loop and back to the Narrows. I farewelled Daz and Bern who were riding back to their places and I had another 30 mins to do so rolled down to Mt Henry then back to Runners World to pick the car.

Again felt pretty good for the ride and the only struggle was going back out to Mt Henry and back but felt reasonably ok at the end – no back pain, neck pain.

Rushed home, haircuts for me and the boof and lazy Saturday arvo taking the dog for a quick walk, 40 min nap (in Bridie’s bed as she had bloody Justin Bieber cranked on the big screen) dinner and asleep in front of the Pirates Of The Caribbean number 206 or something like that...not enough oomph in the story to keep me awake !!

dist – 118k

time – 4:18

avg speed –  28.7km/h

avg hr – 132

max hr – 209 ?? wtf !!

Sunday – Recovery Day – and...my birthday !! 21 again – for the second time ! :O)

Slept in til 8am !! oh yeah – well,.... dozed in and out from about 5am as you do....kids came in so got up, had bacon, pancakes and maple syrup – all in one !! yeah !!

Some great pressies – especially my new Oakley’s !! can’t wait to try them out, nice Ben Sherman shirt as well which I also can’t wait to wear. Kids washed the car as they want extra cash for the Royal Show coming up so I helped out with that too (...as only I know how to wash a car properly in our house !! ha ha !!)

Off to Hillarys for a great lunch, few beers and a very quick walk around – too full and bloated to do anything else (good bloated this time !!) home by 3.30 – movie and then sleep on the couch !! Great day all round for me and thanks to Shell and the kids for a fantastic day out !!!......pity every Sunday wasn’t a birthday !

Cheers

Paul

Feelin the Heat

Week 8 PJ ‘s Training Summary 19-9-11 to 25-9-11
Week 2 of IM specific training this week. The plan is some strength sets in the pool, more ME and FTP on the bike and run focus is building durability. Long run will be +5% on last week.
Monday
I was a bit confused (still a bit gaga from the weekends training ) about the programme for the week so didn’t do my second long run this morning. Then I sat at work and reflected on what I had done or rather not done. As it happened Sam was crook at school so I had to go pick him up and take him home. After I had done so I thought screw it I’m not going back to work for just a few hours and hit the streets for the second part of my long run. I ran from home down North Lake Rd to the river and took a left and headed to Pt Walter. Legs were very heavy but came good once I got in to a rhythm. I got to Pt Walter in 40 min perfect. 1 hr 20 min and 14.4k. Some showers came through but it was quite warm. I got home and checked on Sam. He was fine after eating something. After half an hour I headed down to Melville pool for a swim set. Lots of short sprints and band work. Arms and shoulders sore initially I think from being in the aero position for so long on Saturday.
Tuesday
After a clarification email from Fluro regarding my long run, we made a plan to have an easy day today and again tomorrow after the 2 day run block. “World Champs” was to be a recovery ride and I left 15 minutes in front of the groupo. The boys caught me at the Christchurch lights so I ran the gauntlet with Fluro, Rosco and Rob Mac. The boys seemed a bit sluggish getting up the first hill but apparently the pace had been on big time. We beat the groupo back to Freo and I threw the run shoes on for another brick session. 20 min out and 20 min back @ 5 min/k pace. That was it for the day. I put my skins on under my work pants to help with the recovery.
Wednesday
A bit strange not getting up early to run but I’m happy to take the sleep in. Fluro is keen to get me to run long either on Wednesday or Friday before the long ride but not this week. There was no way I was up for a 2hr 10 min run today anyway. A bit of shit was flying amongst the Freo guys via email today. It happened when an email of Fluro’s bagging out the Tuesday World Champs saying that the slower group 2 guys are holding back the fast boys who want to cut sick, got inadvertantely sent to Bobby the group 2 boss! he forwarded it on to everyone !! Fook me there was a backlash !! Can’t wait till next week it’s gonna be on for one and all !!!
Another strength set at the pool. Arms and shoulders were much better today. 2.6 k all up. I got home and just wanted to eat the fridge out I was that bloody hungry.
Thursday
I woke up this morning with tight and sore hip flexors and glutes. I had some time spare so stretched for a while which helped. We met at the Left Bank for TT’s on our Pt Walter circuit. A few of the group 2 guys rode past the lefty and there was a bit of friendly banter about the email, hahaaa !!!! The session for me was one circuit at IM effort (zone 2) on the bars and seated the whole way including the Pt Walter and Reserve St hills. TT2 and TT3 were same but at HIM effort (zone 3). The rest of the crew had to do 1@ 80% FTP and 2@ 100%. I heard my name bleating out along Bourke Drive on the return trip first interval. It was Rat out his long run hiding in the bushes with his river dwelling rellies. You looked good in my calf sleeves mate. Lots of pikers on coffee today so just Fluro, Dunc and I sat at 9 Seeds. Good though because I was able to sort out some program stuff with Fluro and make a plan for the Saturday ride. Group 1 Rocco ride it is.
Friday
Rest day although once again I had planned to swim in the arvo. Sam and Rugby ruined that plan. I had to pick Sam up from the train station and when we got home the Australia v USA game was on. This was much more appealing than the black line in the pool.
We finally got the details sorted for our Port Douglas holiday today. Jenn, Sam and I are flying out Sunday week for a week of sun and relaxation. It has been a drama of epic proportions thanks to the incompetence of the travel agent we have to book through. This guy could not organise his way through a wet paper bag and has the silk tongue of a car salesman. What can you do when it’s a freebee? I think an email to the competition organisers might be in order though on our return.
Saturday
A glorious morning very still but cool initially. I met the Freo group 1 boys at the Raff’s for a 6:00am start. Tom, Rosco and Fluro had already been for a warm up out to Shelley Bridge and back. Rosco looked shattered and the ride hadn’t started !! 8 of us left on the dot and we were soon in to a steady 36k/hr average. I hung a few metres off the back of the group and didn’t take any turns, as per instructions. Dave Wrighton was starting to struggle with the pace at Wally Bridge and was soon after spat out. We waited up for him near the servo on Safety Bay Rd. Fluro checked in with me to see if I was dialling in where I needed to. We headed into Rocco and I was hanging on just fine. I felt much stronger today I think because of easy days on Tuesday and Thursday and of course Friday rest day. After a pit stop near the CBH grain terminal we were off heading towards Freo. I was dreading the hill climb at Coogee Beach because it is long and deceptively hard. Last time I got dropped there. Luckily the pace wasn’t too bad up the hill except for the usual 3 suspects who sprinted up !! The Marine Terrace was contested by Tom, Fluro, Alex and PZ. I didn’t have much left in the legs. Coffee and huge berry muffin at Troppo’s. 37k/hr average for the loop so happy with that.
After devouring more food when I got home I got a few chores done and headed for the pool to get a 2.7k set in. It was important to be home by 4pm for the rugby, the All Blacks were playing their hardest pool game against their boggie team France. Very fortunate channel 9 were broadcasting it live on GEM. The beer fridge was well stocked and snacks were on. A great result with the AB’s dominating every aspect of the game and sending a message out to all other countries. NZ 37 def Fr 17.
Sunday
I had mapped out a 24k course for today’s long run which was a circuit rather than an “out and back” that I usually do. Fluro wanted me to run an undulating course and it certainly was. From home down Nth Lake Rd to the river, along Melville Beach, up to Wireless Hill, along to Garden City, back to Melville Beach, to Canning Bridge, Mt Henry Bridge, Leach Hwy, Murdoch and back home. I got out early, just after 6:00am in order to get done and dusted by 8:30am. The weather was much nicer than last Sunday’s debacle. The aim was Z2 on the flats, Z3 on the hills and lift the pace downhill. The fatigue started to kick in after about an hour and the hills took some sting out but I got through ok. 2 hrs 15 min and 24k in the bank. We had a bit of a kick back and domestic chore kind of day. Got the dog down to Waylen Bay for an outing which she absolutely loves. Roast chicken and apple and peach pie in the Webber to finish.

I found this week not as tough as last but the quads, itb, glutes, and lower back are giving me some grief. I will get an appointment with Tony next week to see if he can iron me out.


14hrs 21min all up. Swim 8.0k, Bike 203.7k, Run 57.5k

12. Interrupted Week Pt 2 - 25/9/11

The 2nd week of my interrupted training went OK, considering I spent 3 days in Sydney. It started with an interval run that took me across the harbour bridge, around the Rocks area, past the Opera house and around the harbour next to the Botanical Gardens. The pedestrian access on the harbour bridge is about 1.5km long. So I did 2 of them, with a recovery in North Sydney and then a 2 k effort around the harbour. Ended up doing 14k. It was such a nice run, so picturesque. I missed my scheduled swim, but had snuck in an extra swim last week, so it evened out over the 2 weeks! One of the speakers that day was Paul de Greer - that navy clearance diver who got munched by a shark in Sydney harbour a couple of years ago. He was an amazing speaker. Missing one leg and one hand, he has achieved so much and inspired so many. That night we had another function - Moonlight in Marrakesh - which as the name implies, had a Moroccan theme. Belly dancers, fire twirlers and live snakes. Also lots of yummy food and (free) beer. I bailed early (945pm) and hit the hay. These nights of partying and getting up for training were taking there toll.

Tuesday was the last day of the convention and there was going to be a late night, so I made sure I got both a run and a swim in. I had a pretty easy run with just 8 x 30" strides and did 10k. After the last session of the day I headed straight over to the Ian Thorpe pool and was joined by my work mate Geoff. We saw Geoff (Skippy) Huegill as we came in - he looked like a big bloke, but pretty fit. I churned out 2.2k and was pretty satisfied. That night was the Gala Dinner with surprise entertainment. So we all got dressed up and headed over to the convention centre. I was quite disappointed that the only beer was Crownies - again. Seriously, who drinks that crap? So I went straight to the red wine. After main course the entertainment started - and it was a cracker! AC/DC cover band, starring Dave Gleeson and Angry Anderson. They went off! Half the delegates didn't like it, but I loved it. I just wish they had of played Thunderstruck! Anway, ended up at a bar down the street after that as it was still early (1030) and QBE were shouting, so I switched to the vodkas. Was a great night.

Wednesday dawned and I made a half attempt to get up and go for a run, decided sleep was better for me and got back into bed. I had to leave the hotel by 8am, so didn't have much time anyway. Had brekky at the Qantas club lounge, which made me feel a bit better. We flew home and I kipped a little on the plane. Eventually my bag came out on the baggage carousel and I went and jumped in my car and was home by 2:50pm, just in time to go and pick the kids up from school. It was great to see all my girls again. Had an early night that night.

Thursday long run - scheduled 1:50hrs, including 2 x 12' zone 4 and 20' z3 pace. I had fairly fresh legs, as I had done nothing on Wednesday. So I felt pretty good. My Polar told me I ran 24.6k @ 4:32 pace, which seemed a bit too good to be true. So I checked the calibration with MapMyRide on the iPhone on Fri and it showed I was about 1.5% out or 500m. So it was still a pretty fair effort. Hopefully I can keep that up as the fatigue accumulates in my legs over the next 10 weeks.

Friday I took the dog for an easy run before work, to make up for the missed brick run on Wed. (I also missed my interval bike ride). Then I went for a swim at lunchtime and belted out 2.4km. It was another glorious day for swimming, except Bold Park are doing renovations and I had to get changed in a demountable shower block, which was a bit of a pain.

My long ride was a combo of RW and extra kays with Rat and Bernster. Butch decreed we do Reabold Hill figure 8's, which is a bit tough on the TT rig. I treated it as interval work and went pretty hard, loading up the legs as much as possible. Then the three of us headed off. We went anti-clockwise RTR and then did the Shelley loop. I felt great for the main part of the Shelley loop, sitting on about 35km/h and 94rpm with the HR at about 68% of max. That would be nice in IM! By the time I got home I had done 127km and it had clocked over 4:31hrs. I was going to do a brick run, but was stuffed. That was my longest ride since the Red Sky Ride in Feb/Mar. The week had caught up with me and so I went to bed at 830 and slept like a baby for 9 hours!

On Sunday I did a solo ride up to Yanchep and back. I was a bit ginger when I first sat on my saddle after yesterdays effort. Then the legs didn't want to do any work. It was going to be a long day! The conditions were perfect so I buckled down and just broke up the ride into chunks. 1st goal was to just warm up (10km) then Rats place (25km) and then the nice hot mix road for the last 15k to Yanchep. It was a constant effort. I saw very few other cyclists on the way out. I got to the roundabout in 1:20 @ 32.6km/h avg. I had a quick stop to remove my gillet and eat some food and then back I headed. It was still perfect conditions with barely a puff of breeze. I used my small goals again on the way back and time seemed to go a bit quicker. But it was hard work and mentally challenging to keep the effort up. My bum was complaining, my legs were tiring and I started to feel pretty stuffed. I wanted a -ve split, so I started doing some calcs in my head and it was going to be close. As it turned out, I managed to do it fairly easy, with a 1:18hr split for the return journey. I then had to get changed and head off on a short brick run. I grabbed the dog and Issy rode her bike with me. The legs felt OK, but I just felt general fatigue. As it turned out, the dog found the pace a bit quick and so did Isabel! Weak as water!

So it turned out my week was actually pretty decent - 2 rides, 2 swims & 5 runs...

Swim - 4.6k
Ride - 215k
Run - 59k
Time - 13:16hrs

11. Messed up wk Pt 1 - Week 1 of 12 Race Prep - Dazz

Well this week was the official beginning of the 12 week Race Prep phase for me. But as the name of this weeks post implies, it was interrupted somewhat. I had to fly to Sydney on Sat morning for a convention. The 29th annual NIBA convention at Darling Harbour. 900 insurance brokers from around Australia converged to party for 4 days...more on that later.

I managed to get 4/4/2 as swims/runs/rides. The riding was lacking this week due to missing most of my weekend.

The week started pretty well, except I was pretty sore from the previous days Cyclo Sportif TTT, so I skipped my run and just swam 2.0k at lunchtime with Rod. It was a beautiful day to be outside too. On Tuesday I did Mondays interval run as 3 x 1.6k Z4 efforts, which turned out an avg of 4:00 flat pace and nearly 11k all up. I managed to sneak another lunchtime swim in and did my full 2.4k planned swim. Soon I will have to switch to after work, as there is not enough time at lunchtime for anymore distance.

The nasty hacking cough was still with me somewhat, but I tried another TT on the bike anyway. Managed a decent effort for 30', but was not very good really. Avg HR was 82% of max, which was slightly better than the last attempt. I need to really do these in Herdsmen Business Park on the RW circuit to get good data. And be healthy too. I got back after 65' ride and did a short run off the bike for 7.5km as a 'steady state' effort. I have just read PJ's blog for this week and can totally identify with his comments about his running off the bike putting you into 'race mode' somewhat.

Thursday saw me pound the pavement for my weekly long run. I am really happy with this time slot for my long run, I reckon the quality is so much higher than Sunday. Anyway, I ran a 1:45hr out and back to just past Hillary's marina and avg'd 4:42 pace for 22.4km. I have started using the fuel belt with 2 bottles, but will have to add more next week. I also have had one gel or a small handful of lollies.

Friday rolled around and I just swam, 3 main sets as 200,300,200 then 6x100 -ve split and finally 5x50 as 25h/25e. Saturday was supposed to be a 4hr ride, but due to flying out to Sydney, I had to leave home by 9-ish. So I decided to just do a RTR as ABP. I did 60km and the first 42k @ 34.6km/h (to the Narrows) before the pace slowed due to traffic/road conditions etc. I felt real good too. I am sure that was best ever avg speed from home to teh narrows (via Freo). I used to do that ride all the time in training when I worked in the CBD. I then had to race home and get ready to fly out. Saw the girls for brekky and Izzy cooked me scrambled eggs and toast while I showered, which was cool! Then quick kisses and cuddles for all and I drove off to the airport.

That night, I found myself on a 3 storey glass sided ferry cruising Sydney harbour and watching NRL, the RWC and the mighty WC Eagles in the AFL semi finals. The weather was magnificent and balmy. Did I mention free beer too? It was unreal! Shame the Wallabies let the evening down. But boy, did the Eagles give good value for money with a thrilling 3 pt win over the Blues! The game came down to the wire and my heart rate went through the roof as the last quarter went for 36min!!! What a great night. Insurance brokers know how to party hard thats for sure. I did switch to water after half time, as the Asahi's were goin down way to easy! I think I got back to my hotel room around 1130, which was early by the standards of my colleagues! But I did want to run on Sunday.

I woke up pretty foggy on Sunday morning but forced myself vertical by 630am. I hate hangovers so much these days. I felt pretty average, but pulled on the running gear anyway. Sunday in Sydney was also the annual Festival of Running - which included a marathon, a half-marathon and several other distances. It seemed all these races surrounded the CBD and Darling Harbour. So everywhere I went, there was a race on and barriers and traffic wardens and cops etc etc. The weather was over 20 degrees at 7am and got to 30 later in the day. Plus I was pretty dehydrated, so I only managed about 6.5 kay before I headed back to Darling Harbour. Sydney is such a beautiful city to run around. The harbour, the bridge, the opera house etc make a great back drop. I went to a bunch of sessions, but the best one for the day was the comedian, author & film maker Anh Do. He was very funny indeed. Plus he had a remarkable story of coming to Australia as a refugee in the early 70's and how he succeeded against all odds. Very inspiring. I skipped happy hour (and more free beer) in favour of a swim. I had spotted what looked like a pool on the way to my hotel and so I discovered the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre in Pyrmont, just 1km up the road. It was a pretty new and fairly nice pool with 8 lanes and kiddies pools etc. I banged out 1.7km with no pull buoy and it felt pretty good. I usually do at least a big chunk of each swim with that particular little device.

So from there it was off to another function "Moonlight in Marrkesh" which was a real hoot. Belly dancers, fire eaters / twirlers etc and free beer and yummy food. I bailed early on this one and left at about 10pm, as I hoped to do more running on Monday. Plus, I heard you need to pace your self on these conventions...

Weekly totals were;
Swim: 9.5k
Ride: 92k
Run: 47k
Hours: 9:15

Next week is the 2nd interrupted week due to my Sydney trip.

Let's build a PJ monster

Week 7 PJ ‘s Training Summary 12-9-11 to 18-9-11
The comment on Fluro’s email this week was “ Gidday PJ… are you ready to rumble ? ” looks like it’s business time. Week 1 of IM specific training coming up. The plan is to get straight into absorbing IM specific volume on the run. On the bike a combo of ME and still some FTP work which will be dialled back over the next few weeks. Key bike session is a 5 hour ride Saturday backed up with a key 2 hour run Sunday and 1hr 20 min run Monday to back that up. Holy crap !!!!
Just reflecting after seeing Joules at Freo yesterday…..what fantastic people I have had the pleasure of meeting and training with through this fantastic sport, some who are very near and dear friends.


Monday
Evening was a swim set at Melville Pool. After a warm up it was 4 sets of 6 x 100’s. After the second set I looked up at the next lane and thought I know you….it was Jenn !! She had come down to do a kilometre. I was watching her plod up and down and thought gee I wish I could do that !!! Good set 2.7k all up.
Tuesday
A brick session was the plan for this morning. “World Champs” first up. I had to roll out 5 minutes before the groupo and do 4 efforts of 10 minutes at FTHR. I got down early for a 20 min warm up. Fluro turned up early on his TT bike as well. His plan was to start 4 mins after the group. All went well and I got to Canning Bridge and they hadn’t caught me. I reached the Narrows and still no group. They should have got me by now. So I hit Mounts Bay solo and my last 10 min effort finished just after Steve’s Hill. I was recovering up the Jutland Parade hill when I heard my name shouted out. The boys shot past me in numbers with Fluro going hard on the front. I couldn’t believe he had caught them. He is so bloody strong on the bike at the moment. I managed to jump on the back and hang on till Christchurch. 4 of us “ran the Gauntlet” but the group beat us today. We could see them just up the road but couldn’t catch them. My legs still felt heavy today. Still feeling the effects of Saturday’s hills ride. The plan was to run off the bike so I threw the bike in the back of the car at the Left Bank, swapped shoes and headed out along the path on the river’s edge towards Leeuwin Barracks. I went out way too quick, it was supposed to be easy out. There is something mental about running off the bike…..as if your brain assumes you’re racing. I just got my pacing right at John Tonkin Park and there was a familiar face running the other way. It was Butch.We exchanged pleasantary’s and he decided to turn around and run with me. He was telling me how the fellow Amigos had smashed up the group on Saturday by riding so hard…..were your ears burning Amigos ?? I said farewell at the Bicton Pool and put in 6 strides on the way back. I past Richard Stacey heading home on his bike, presumably after coffee, which I had forfeited in lieu of the run.
Wednesday
A rolling course run today, Z2 on the flats, Z3 uphill and hard on the downhills. I decided to run from work out to Melville Beach and back. That way I could get a few rollers in at Pt Heathcote and Pt Dundas ( Majestic ). Conditions were perfect for running. It was overcast, quite warm, a full moon was shining and there was no wind. The river was like a mirror. My heart rate seemed all over the shop today. It was hard to get up to Z2 initially and then later I had trouble keeping it out of Z3. I got down to the Melville Beach Car Park and bugger me if it wasn’t Butch running the other way…..again !! He was a long way from home and had either run a long way or had parked his car somewhere. What’s going on Butch ?? not secret training for IM by any chance are you ?? Funny watching people walking, jogging etc. I was surprised how so many of them looked grumpy. How could you be? out in such magic conditions at the best time of the day ?? I finished off well and felt like I had chased some lactate out of the legs with that run. One hour all up.
A long pool session tonight, 3.6k. I got down there at 3:30pm hoping to get the majority of it done before it got too busy. A young girl I have aquainted was in the lane. She is training for the Uni Games. Omg this girl is soo fast. I just try and keep out of her way. A lot of bouy work in this set so I got through it fine. Some floaters came in the fast lane. Seriously pisses me off. Time they started policing this at Melville. I may have to vent on some pool attendant. You swimming slow ?? stick to the slower lanes. 1hour 20 min all up.
Thursday
I woke up this morning sore up the outside of both quads. ITB’s I think. Bugger because Thursday is big interval day. I got down to the Left Bank a bit early so I could have a decent warm up and get some blood flowing into the legs. At 5:30am we headed to Christchurch Grammar to do our bike TT’s on our Claremont course. First up was a 20 minute TT. I headed out first but the legs were heavy. The road was wet too. Down to Steve’s at Nedlands and back to Christchurch to finish. Next up was a 10 minute effort to Steve’s. I was off first again. I managed 35k/hr av for TT1 and TT2. Not my best effort for that course but all I could push out today. The last TT was to be a 4 man TT from Steve’s back to Christchurch. The plan was 1 minute only each on the front. We took off but by the time we hit the Jutland Parade hill there was just Rosco and I left. We had dropped Dave and Dr Rick. Rosco picked up the pace and I managed to see it through with him for a 36.6k/hr av. We regrouped and headed back to Freo along the “Princess Highway”. On to Curtain Ave and the boys put the pedal to the metal. Down to Leighton and Tom was on the front. Oh crap !! We managed to hang on until the footbridge where Rick (in front of me) dropped off the back. I went around him but just couldn’t catch the others by then. No coffee today, everyone had places to be. Total 47k 1hour 32 min.
Wow, the legs were sore and sorry every time I got up from my desk today. I was wondering how I would get through run intervals this evening. The plan was 6/400’s@ 5k pace and 4/200’s @ 3k pace. We warmed up and things loosened up nicely. I was able to get through the session fine with good consistent numbers.
Friday
Rest day but I wanted to get my third swim set in today so that I didn’t have to do it tomorrow after an epic five hour ride. The All Black v Japan game wasn’t being broadcast free to air either so that may have swayed me the other way. The set was 4k but when I went to get changed before I left work I realised I had everything except my Budgie Smugglers…..doh !!!! realizing I couldn’t get away with swimming in undies at Melville I had to go home first then head down to the pool. Mental note:- pack a bag of spare gear and leave in the car. End result was I dropped 1k off the session as it was 5:45pm when I had done 3k.

Saturday
The plan was to do a five hour freeway path ride today. I was to hook up with fellow Amigo Paulie and Dr Rick who would join us for an hour or so. This was the first decent session I have done with Rat in this campaign. I saw this as a good opportunity to trial a few different things regarding nutrition. I had 2 bidons of Gatorade on the back and a bidon of Shotz electrolyte on the front. I put the Bento box on and had a Power Bar, 3 gels and 4 Marmite sandwiches packed in. I rode from home down to Pt Walter for a warm up then down to the Raff’s to meet the boys at 6:30 am. We were soon on our way and locked in to IM mode . We had some IM efforts to do so after South Street and the new Hospital we were into it. HR was well down and we were clocking along nicely at 34-35 k/hr. I’m thinking that this is a bit easy, Rat was thinking the same. Doh !!! then I twigged….we had a tailwind and were gonna do it tough on the way back. The nutrition went really well. The Marmite sanga’s were great. Rick did point out though that if I was going to use them on race day it would be hard stopping them from turning into toast. I may have to try other savoury options. We hooked up with Andy Fagan aka the “Fooker “ for a while. He was out for a “spin” down as far as Baldivis. We let him go because his “spin” pace had us gagging and we were deviating from the plan. Rick had peeled off by this stage so it was down to the Rat and I. Great to have a chat and a laugh. We turned right on 2 ½ hours from the Raff’s which had us within sight of the Pinjarra Road overpass. Bang !!! yep straight in to a headwind. This was going to be hard yakka. We soon kicked in to a 20 minute big gear interval which really took the sting out of my legs. After a 10 min RI it was supposed to be a 40 min interval at HIM pace but we struggled to pull this off into the wind. That was a long 40 minutes and the rest of the ride we dialled back to IM effort back to the Raff’s. Rat was heading to work. Don’t know how he could after that. I headed straight home to refuel as it was nearly 11am. A good session, we were lucky with the weather too. 5 hr 4 min and 153k in the bank. The time went quickly with the chat and the intervals. A good hit out. The legs felt surprisingly good. I got straight in to cooking up some eggs and beans, coffee and a muffin to replentish the 2700 odd calories I had expended. I was hoping to get a Nana nap in the arvo but it didn’t happen because there was more rugby to watch South Africa v Fiji followed by Australia v Ireland. Soo glad I got my 3rd swim in Friday arvo !!
Sunday
Day 1 of a 2 day long run session. The plan was to do a 2 hour run this morning and back it up with 1 hour 20 min run tomorrow. There were two hurdles for me to get over before I could execute this plan. The first was the fatigue in my legs and the second was the extreme weather due to the massive front that was coming through……bugger !! I didn’t have to think about it for long just get out there and get it done. I put on the number 2 tri suit for comfort, fuel belt and headed out the door into the pissing rain. The wind was behind me going out so just the driving rain to contend with. The legs were tight but I just went out easy and found my rhythm and things were soon turning over ok. After 50 minutes the fatigue started to kick in. I ran past the Raff’s and under Canning Bridge. The turn ended up being at Helm Street. Heading back I turned around Heathcote into Waylen Bay and the wind hit me. Bloody hell it was honking through at about 30 knots. I got around Majestic Point and copped the full brunt, even stronger coming across the Melville Water. A gust took me right across the boardwalk just about flattened me. The waves along Melville Beach were about a metre high hitting the beach. The rain was coming in horizontally and stinging my face. The leg fatigue was really kicking in. This was turning into a mental game. I thought to myself yep this is what the Amigos talk about on the IM run. I know how it feels now. Fluro’s words came to mind
“ What you need to be doing is experiencing and dialing into the fatigue that will creep into your body………..”
Shit yes……I was there coach. I made it home 2 hr 2 min and 22k later all in lower Z2. This was the hardest training run I have ever done anywhere, anytime.
Reflection post run “ Am I up for this IM ? Am I tough enough ?? “
A long and hard week on the track for the first IM specific week.


16hrs 45min all up. Swim 9.3k, Bike 252k, Run 48.3k

Paul’s Week 11 – ending 18/09/11 – The Centipedes Go Long

Swim – 5.6k (2 x sessions)

Bike – 262k (3 x road sessions )

Run – 47.7k (1 x interval run, 2 x long/aerobic runs )

Total –    14:28 hours

Monday – Bike – easy RTR

Think I did this one whilst I was asleep ! Made sure I got up early to get a decent start from work being Week 1 of IM Focus thingy !! Nothing exciting today....legs felt good, and more daylight so things are getting better on that front... tho’ probably just means I’ll start earlier !!

dist – 52.3k

time – 1:43

avg speed –  30.3km/h

avg hr – 137

max hr – n/a (reading over 228 !)

Exceptionally tired tonight for some reason...can’t work out why – hadn’t really done too much in the last 24 hours so will keep an eye of how I’m feeling. In bed early to try and get 8 hours sleep – might be what I need

Tuesday – AM Swim + PM Interval Run

AM – Swim

Stuffed up the session this morning – wondered why I was all done by 6.23am ! Was supposed to do 3.3k but must’ve missed a 400 in there somewhere...doing lots of 200 pulls and a bit of sighting 50’s.......oh well, still happy that was nearly an hour. Sussing out with Bridie’s swim coach if she can come down on a Tuesday morning whilst I’m there, maybe in a few weeks...not that I’ve told Bridester any of this yet – that will impress her having to get up at 5am !! ha ha !!

dist – 2.9k – I think ......lost count somewhere?

time – 0:53

PM – Interval Run

Well, a run to sorta remember and take something from.......

Got the foot pod on to see if I could hit some pace targets...planned 6 x 500m (5k pace) with 500m recovery.

On downloading the data looks like calibration is pretty spot on (checked against mapmyrun) and the laps showed I was on average 4.10 pace for the efforts. That was until the last two..... the cottage cheese and sustagen I had for afternoon tea wasn’t liking sitting still in my guts !! ...........all I can say was I was too scared to take my headphones off and hear what the hell was going on in my belly !! ...not good.. Had to stop a few times and reset, was ok moving at a slower pace but could feel my guts getting bigger and bigger by bloating the further I went

Decided to push on and still try and get the last 17’ paced effort but in the end it only resulted in me slowing down and only just hanging onto some half decent form...could be good IM training if all goes pear shaped by the time the run comes on the day, as I’m sure there’ll be some nutrition issues along the way

One for the memory banks....don’t eat cottage cheese before a run, eat at least 2 hours before session.....but, when things start going south – try and keep focused and do the best in a bad situation...

dist – 10.7k

time – 1:03

avg hr – 135

max hr – 162

Wednesday –  Bike PM

First early day finish at work for a training session since 2006 ! Felt just like yesterday......or the day before......or like any of the other sessions that seem to be mingling into one lately !

Headed off at 2.30pm to the Narrows to turn around and head straight back down to freeway south for a total of 2.5 hours all up. Got an annoying noise coming from my right shoe (have flipped over to my new Shimano TR-50’s that have only been worn about 4 times)....stopped a few times but all I could work out was it’s a cleat noise thing and is not rhythmic – ie. seems to be at different positions...tried squirting water on it and everything but no luck...oh well would just have to get used to a nice click every pedal stroke for the next 2 hours !

Well, eventful ride as far as a boring trip down a 35k plus 2 lane bike path can go......had a guy suck my wheel pretty much from Leach Hwy who, no matter how many times I pulled up and let him go past and get some distance to aero ride solo, he managed to ‘not’ put enough effort in and I’d end up over taking him again. This went on for about 3 more times and I got shitty and sat up right when he got onto my wheel.......think he got the message and fookd off ahead, not before I caught him again but then he turned off. Can’t work out guys like that – no way I’d latch onto a complete stranger’s wheel out of courtesy........and, he looked like a handy rider too with massive quads so he obviously knew what he was doing......(fooking hate wheel suckers)

Turned at Mundijong after a hour solid from the Raff’s and then got 10 mins back up the road and things started to get to a struggle....the middle of my neck was starting to play up and couldn’t quite get comfortable. Started to think that Saturdays planned 4 hour freeway ride is going to be a bloody basket case at this rate. Legs felt fine and only a couple of undulations where I felt fatigued, so apart from the neck thing felt pretty good. Might get Phabbie to add a spacer back into the head set – it’s a little aggressive at the moment and may not be ideal for a 6 hour IM ride

Anyway back to my story – another couple of kays up the road and a motorbike is coming the other way with two aboriginal kids with no helmets on it...great I think, what the hell is going to happen here...as it goes they just flew past and said nothing. Another 10 mins and I’m heading up to a guy walking in the same direction, with another rider coming the other way....the guy’s wearing a big coat and literally swinging what I thought was a baseball bat, but on closer inspection on passing looked like a piece of wood with insulation tape wrapped around it !! ...maybe he’s got it for self defence perhaps but was glad to roll by him with no incident..............so, as usual the Freeway Path has thrown up some interesting sights as it did last time I ventured down there.......love to hate this section of Perth’s ‘safer’ riding areas...will see what Saturday morning brings !!

Back to work by 5.15pm, showered and off to pick up Bridie from swimming. Felt good after and neck seemed to settle, and legs feeling ok

dist – 78k

time – 2:27

avg speed –  32.3km/h

avg hr – 135

max hr – n/a

Thursday – Aerobic Run & Swim

AM – Run

Out by 5.15am, down to the bowling club at Melville. Back at pace and finished strong – tried to negative split the effort and managed by 1 minute !!

dist – 13k

time – 1:00

avg hr – 145

max hr – 154

PM – Swim

Not too bad for lane space this arvo – only 2 others in the fast lane who were pretty much matching my laps for speed, only had to wait a couple extra seconds so got some good sets in. Pretty impressed with 100’s now as well as 200’s – 400’s...you’re not my favourite anymore, sorry

300 WU

-100 free, 100 pull, 2 x 50 (25 hard, 25 easy)

6 x 100 hard

6 x 100 (50 hard, 50 easy)

6 x 100 (25 sprint, 75 easy)

6 x 100(25 easy, 50 hard, 25 easy)

20-30 sec RI

2700 total

dist – 2.7k

time – 0:57

The 100’s ranged from 1.37 at the start to 1.43 at the end – pretty consistent throughout which was happy about. Saw Bob Edwards from North Coast in the next lane and was chatting about our training, he’s just had a knee op and is limited on his running. Hopefully he’ll be able to get some kays in before the big day

Home by 7.00pm and last ever Entourage :O(  ......finished a bit flat and rushed if you ask me... but hey, was good while it lasted...was certainly a hi-light of my TV viewing over the last year or so playing catch up on all the past seasons. Hopefully there’ll be a Ari spin off series, certainly left in the balance that way..

Friday – Rest Day

Had the worst night sleep – must’ve sweated buckets and hardly got any decent deep sleep.... woke with a bit of a sore throat so will try and dose up on some extra vitamin c throughout the day

Shell’s birthday today but got swim pick up as Bridester on the 50’s challenge week at squads so swimming every night this week and one last big session tomoro morning

Saturday – Bike – Long

First of the long bike rides planned over the next few weeks. Had to get this one locked in and make sure I actually got out onto the road and not woos out because of the weather.

Dropped Bridie at swimming at 5.45am (last of her Challenge week sessions – they had a epic 5k session planned) met PJ at the Raffles with Rick Bond and we headed freewaysouth and see what was in store for 2 hours out and 2 hours back ! PJ had already done 30 mins prior and Rick was only coming for an hour

Met the Lil’ Fooker along the way (Andy Fagan) and rode with him for a bit, was good to catch up as hadn’t seen him for ages. He left at Baldivis and me and PJ carried on into the unknown ! (well for me anyways !!)

Great ride chatting alongside each other and saw a few other TT peeps out there doing the same. Think we had a tail wind as we are struggling to get heart rates up and maintained a avg 32.8 with no effort for a fair chunk of the time. Got just short of Pinjarra Rd, turned and straight back into a head wind – chuckled to each other about how pathetic we’d been on the way down, got the heads down in aero position and dug in for the long haul back

PJ’s coach had planned some good efforts which we followed spot on for each and both pretty chuffed with our our results. 4 x 20 min 2-3k above race pace with 10 min rest, then a 20 min big gear effort and 40 min half ironman pace effort - heading back right into the wind was tough but not un-comfortable. Think we actually snagged a top day for the weather as could imagine some of the path sections would get quite exposed and difficult. Neck was ok, no dramas and my shoe noise has disappeared after I tightened the cleat and sprayed the pedal with some lube. Was supposed to take some Voltaren tablets just in case my neck played up but when I got home Shell pointed out I had got them out of the packet but forgotten to take them as they were still sitting on the bench !! So maybe it was a placebo effect !

Hundreds of centipedes were out in full force all over the path............ they tend to screw with your eyes a bit as you are not sure you’re looking at moving cracks in the concrete but then realise they are moving things so you then realise you are not hallucinating !! I tend to only notice these little creatures when I’m switching to going long (...as far as I can tell) so I reckon they must peak the same as us triathletes !! Reckon I squished a few but all’s fair in love and war..

Couple of other hi-lights, saw the same kids on the motorbike on the way back and also the wheel sucker too coming the other way.....small world !! Back at work for 11am and worked til 3pm feeling tired but not overly shattered

dist – 132.2k

time – 4:15

avg speed –  31.4km/h

avg hr – 136

max hr – 161

Popped into shops on way home and grabbed some Mexican hats for the kids for the race come December (Aiden just loved his !! ha ha !!)

Quick 20 minute nap and Thai take away for dinner. Bridie smashed her swim session this morning, the champions of the challenge (who attended each night and did all cycles) are being notified on Tuesday, think she did about 22k of swimming for the week and no complaining......top job kiddo, very proud !!

Sunday – Long Run

With a 2 hour run planned and Shelley having to attend netball presentation breakfast at 8.30am this one was going to call for a military timing precision. I woke at 5am to wind, rain and apparently hail (according to Ellie....mmm..) so some quick figures in my head and a check on Weatherzone which said rain was easing later in the morning I decided to get back into bed and run later.

Got out of bed at 8am after a good sleep in, Shell had just left with Bridie so breakie with Aiden and Ellie I decided we could go to the Arena for a quick swim before catching the netball awards later. (saw up on the Arena Swim Club board that Bridie and 2 other boys were the Inters Challenge Champions !!.... well sorted !!) All done by 11.30 and was home and gear on ready to run at 12. Drove down to Burns Beach for a change of scenery and that coastal path is always good for undulating efforts....parked car, got out got all my lucky gonks on (ipod, fuel belt, glasses, compress tights blah blah) and realised the bloody path was shut for road works !! ahhh...remember reading something in the local paper about that !! doh. Back in the car and decided to try my luck down in Iluka and see if open there....all ok and open, so started from one of the car parks. (hope I’d remember which one on the way back !! ha ha !)

I can honestly say I have never ran in such windy conditions, a few times I actually had to side step back onto the path after being blown enough to mis-step... !! Pretty exposed along the start of the run as the Burns Coastal path hugs pretty close to the dunes and limestone cliffs. Punched along and got a rhythm going finally and was confident of getting a decent 2 hour effort done and dusted. Only saw a few other people out obviously because of the conditions, usually it’s a mobbed Sunday walkers paradise !! Got wet a couple of times as some small showers passed thru (could actually see them come across the ocean !) was lucky I decided to use some band aids for the old nipples so laughed in mother nature’s face that she could throw anything at me !!

Got to Hillarys then past for another 8 minutes to turn just before the first Sorrento hill started, lapped the watch and got focused to keep pace going til the end. There are 100m markers along most of the part I ran that someone has kindly spray painted starting at the Hillarys car park. These were great to lap the watch on each kilometre and was averaging about 4.50-5.00 min kays which was pretty happy with. Got tougher about 1.30 done but pushed thru and managed to finish with a 1 min negative split (this may have been wind assisted on the way back) Gpt nutrition spot on with 3 gels and some jelly beans with gatorade

Plenty more black centipedes squirming along the red path all doing their thing, but mainly they looked like they were heading east ...as opposed to Saturdays ride where they all looked lost going every which way !!

dist – 24k

time – 1:59

avg hr – 141

max hr – 155

Home by 3pm and veg’d out, watched a couple of movies with skins on and legs up. Laughed out loud with Shell’s watching Muppets Take Manhattan. You name it – I ate it...lucky the cat was on the move cos’ I probably would’ve had a nibble if he stayed still......

another Sunday, another weekend and another week .....gone in a flash !

Cheers

Paul