Paul’s Week 21 (1 Week To Go) – ending 27/11/11 – Peaking To A Sub 12 Hours On My Feet ??

Swim – 5.5k (2 x sessions)

Bike – 50.7k (1 x spin session, 1 x road session )
Run –  27k (1 x long run, 1 x short run )
 

Total –  7:15 hours

Monday – Rest Day

Same as last week – Monday was supposed to be Spin Class but something came up and buggered if I can remember what it was !!

 Shit tapering is hard...that constant feeling that you haven’t done enough am I fit enough, beer guts still there...blah blah... what’s worrying is I can’t even remember the key sessions I’ve done, they’re all a bloody blur now...must re-read blog and reset a bit !

Tuesday – AM – Recovery Swim

Got wet !

dist – 3.0k
time – 1:00

Wednesday –  AM Run  PM Spin Class

 AM Run

Ran with PJ – along Melville again and once more great company and time just flew by...think we were both eager to do more but now is not the time — maybe after if we decide to do a marathon !!

dist –11.5k

time – 1:00

avg hr – 133

max hr – 144 

PM Spin Class

Edgars class again tonight. Was a little concerned to back up a run day with a spin class but all ok, again fatigued a touch but still managed some good efforts

 time – 0:55

avg hr – n/a

max hr – n/a

 Thursday – AM Swim  PM Run

AM Swim

Got wet.... again ! Not many to go....

dist – 2.5k

time – 0:49 

PM Run

Last run around the Bridges here at work. Fairly warmish but not overly un-comfortable !

dist – 8.5k

time – 0:45

avg hr – 136

max hr – 146

 Friday – Rest Day  

Saturday – Bike (Runners World)

Rolled out with the crew and was pretty relaxed knowing we had not much to do. Butch tried to disrupt my 5 months of training by hitting my wheel as we climbed up Havelock St, luckily I was alright and he managed to stay upright

Got to Mosman Park and the crew turned down to the river to complete their efforts along each of the streets along to the golf course. Daz, PJ myself and Bernie rolled out to Port Beach and efforts up Leighton, Eric St and then back along Victoria Ave. One funny moment Bernie smacked his head onto a parked cars kayak...very amusing !!

There a group of 3 roadies came past at one point – one on a old school steely bike with no helmet and looking a lot like Greg Lemond. I couldn’t resist and figured I was probably never going to be as fit again so I chased them down and smashed past with them dropping off on by one – heart rate max’d at 181 and was scary stuff but felt good to put in a burst

 Back to the Food Store to chat with Phabbie Phil and present him with some lovely rose petals as Runners World are now considering being sponsored by the Good Samaritans given the huge amounts of caring and sharing that has been going on lately...waking Phl up at 3am every morning worrying about the direction we are all heading...

 

dist – 50k

time – ??

avg speed –   ?km/h

avg hr – ?

max hr – 181 – chasing down Greg LeMond

Sold Spin Bike on Triwa site so garage is back to normal. Got back what I payed so all good, didn’t really utilise to it’s best ability but luckily the rides I did doing the program seemed to fall into a fine weather pattern for the week !! Result !!....and...no Tough Love !! Bonus !

 Sunday – Run

dist –8k

time – 0:40

avg hr – n/a

max hr – n/a

 Well, had a interesting day – woke at 4.45am – out the door for a nice little 8k run...even walked a bit along Quinns Beach and took the morning in to reflect on how this all started 5 months ago..very nice morning out

 Got home, got kids up at 6.30am, breakfast then in the car off to the Arena for our swim club race day. Well, I’d put my hand up for marshalling help and man, I spent the next 8 hours on my feet going back and forth about 200m in a constant loop...amongst the absolute chaos of a swim meet we all managed to get 260 odd kids into their races and only one barny over a heat that didn’t start in time (not one I was controlling thank god)

Arena kids warming up far side of pool

Got home at 5pm and I have never felt so tired and stressed – even after some of the half ironman’s I have done over the years.

 So there you go,....including waking early to run, it was a similar amount of time I’ll be out on course next week I reckon !! - sub 12 hours on my feet and I feel like I’ve already had my big day out – just not as many kays....same again next Sunday thanks just with a little bit of pain, grit and determination please...

 

Next week is race day...

....got a few things to sort out before hand --- writing lists of things to take, when to pick up kids from school, do that to bike, get this out of training bag, work out wake up time on race day and time to leave etc etc ...and more importantly -- time to start deciding on what paces and plan I’m going to try and go with on the day – hopefully I can try and keep it simple and rule number one will be to definitely enjoy it.......

Til next time...........

Cheers

Paul

Repair, adapt and grow

Week’s to go 2 PJ ‘s Training Summary 21-11-11 to 27-11-11

Time to dial back the volume while still maintaining the intensity. The body will be beginning the repair, adapt and grow phase. I will be paying attention to my health as the immune system is very low at this point in the campaign. I have been taking Ecanasia tablets to avoid coughs and colds and eating lots of fruit to keep the vitamin C intake up. I have started taking magnesium as well. Problem is it has been upsetting my guts and it goes right through me. My work mates are not appreciating it !!
Taper does your head in. Every little niggle plays on your mind as a potential injury, every sniff is a potential man cold. The mind games continue….”you’re not training enough, you’re losing fitness, you’re not at your race weight” etc etc. Actually I fully intended to back off the food a bit but I am just still hungry all the time.
Monday
A good set in the pool tonight. 1500 build to start followed by some hard 200’s and 100’s to finish. 2.7k all up.
Tuesday
Ground Hog day as this was pretty much identical to last Tuesday. A brick session riding around the River ahead of the group and a run off the bike from the Left Bank. Only a 30 minute run today though.
I got my last massage today at the hands of Tony Bence. My quads were still tight and he gave my hip flexors some attention as well.
I got the TT bike in for the nervous service today and will pick up Thursday at lunch.
Wednesday
A good run this morning from work with AmigoRat. We hadn’t run together for a while so it was good to have the company. I was supposed to do and hour and a half but my legs were feeling pretty crappola after the massage so I was happy to turn around on Melville Beach and head back for one hour all up.
Only 3 swims all up this week so I opted not to swim this evening. The key swim for me this week will be the open water on Saturday.
Thursday
Sam’s birthday today so I opted to take the day off today. Fluro said to try and get 2 rest days in this week but there was too much to do so this would be it.
I picked up the bike at lunch time so all ready to go now.
Friday
Just an evening swim today. The pool was nice and quiet. I cut the session short however because Sam wanted to go to JB Hifi to cash in the voucher his sister gave him for his birthday present.
1.8k all up but felt really good in the pool.
Saturday
The plan today was to hook up with the Amigos and start out with the Runners World crew. They were doing Mosman Park hill repeats so we opted out of that and headed down to Freo. We then headed back up the coast to Cott and then inland to Dalkeith for 2 Warrahtah loop repeats. We put a few efforts in. Rat pumped the skinny rat legs for a super effort up the Jutland Parade hill with a couple of roadie wheel suckers on his tail. Looked piss funny from behind. We couldn’t wait to get back for coffee and breakfast at the Food Store in West Perth. That was the goal for today’s session. Great to catch up with the RW crew and enjoy the banter and “caring and sharing”.
I managed a few domestic chores like getting some loads of washing out before heading out to Champion Lakes for the last IM training open water swim. Today we were going to swim in the boat lanes. These are marked with white buoys with red buoys at every 250m so pretty easy to measure your swim !! I decided to swim down for a kilometer and back. Going back was straight into a strong southerly wind and the lake was pretty rough with lots of spray and wind chop. This was just what I wanted. Good training. I was swimming back along the lane rope and I suddenly whacked into something. I thought I had hit a buoy head on….but it was a woman swimming the other way. Scared the crap out of me !!! I just didn’t see her coming, you couldn’t see much with the spray that was coming up. We laughed it off…..this great body of water with 2 people in it that managed to hit into one another. This was a good swim very happy it was a bit rough. 2k all up.
Saturday night I joined the Freo/Fluro crew for a few beers and dinner at the Swan Yacht Club as a farewell for Fluro and wife Katrina who are moving to Melbourne in a few weeks. A shame to see them go but Katrina wants to be closer to her family and Fluro ain’t one for putting roots down anywhere. A good turn out with Rosco, Tom, Alex, Dave W, Rob Mac, Matt, Dr Rick, and various wives enjoying a very cool night outside on the riverbank. I opted out at 9:30pm as I was really tired.
Sunday
I was up bright eyed and busy tailed this morning. I got out for a 45 min run at 6:15am. Amazing how fresh the legs feel. We got down to the Melville Bowling Club and had to turn to head back. Didn’t seem right turning so early. I’m so used to climbing the hills back to our place on heavy legs that it was surreal bounding up them feeling so fresh.
I spent some time today laying out some gear to pack. I also finished off the bike prep by changing the tubes to brand new ones, giving it a last clean and packing the two saddlebags with spare tubes, cylinders and tyre levers. Bike now ready to go. I also bought a hands free head lamp from Bunnings to use in transition on race day.
It is great to for the body to be feeling so fresh this week. The mind is going flat out though thinking of the things that need to be done before heading down to Busso.

Totals:- Swim 6.5k, Bike 97k, Run 26k 8 hours 8 min

21. Taper Kicks In - Dazz 27/11/11

This week is the proper start to my taper. I expect it to be a bit of a roller coaster, as my body adjusts to less work. But with less than 2 weeks to go, I am getting a bit excited!

Monday
I still am with out my polar watch, so using my iPhone I did an interval run today. It was just the one (!) effort of 1.6k z4. I went to a local oval to do it, to try and reduce the impact on my foot, which after surf club yesterday was a bit sore again. I felt ordinary and as per usual coughed my guts up big time! Finished the session with 9k in 44min and my legs felt trashed. Which is a bit ordinary for that distance of work out.

Tuesday
The easterly winds were howling this morning as I went for a ride. I did 3 x 6min z4 efforts, but they were more likely z3. I had to rely on perceived effort, but I am sure my HR didn't get to z4. I ended up doing 30km in 1:02hrs. The kennel cough was very ordinary after the 1st effort, but settled down a bit after that. I hope it doesn't effect me on race day. I skipped a 30' run on the program, cause I couldn't be stuffed. Less is more in taper! I dropped my bike in to Phil yesterday and picked it up today, so the nervous service is done. Another box ticked!

Wednesday
I went to the pool on the way to work today. I was supposed to do 3.4k, but was a bit pushed for time and mostly I felt crappy, so I cut it short and only did 2.2k. I did 3x600 at a pace somewhere near RR -2" pace. But with no watch I really don't know. My arms felt weak and I was a bit out of sorts. At lunch time I was back at RW (3 days in a row!) to pick up my Polar after getting a new battery put in it. I sure am glad to see it again. Doing everything using PE is hard!

Thursday
Went to the "Radical Reels" outdoor adventure film festival with a few mates last night - it was awesome! The mountain biking was fantastic. But I did have a pretty late night. I pumped myself up a bit last night to try and have a good quality run this morning. I could 'feel' my left arch but it wasn't painful, but I erred on the side of caution and cut my 70min run back to 58min (12k). I was constantly slowing myself down, as I was trying to run at IM race pace. I was pretty hot and coughed a bit, as the last couple days have been real stinkers. I think my legs have started to feel a bit better at last, as I had the hint of a spring in my step. I wouldn't say I felt great by any means, but I didn't feel too bad, so that is a positive sign. It certainly wasn't a very long run thats for sure.

Friday
Early run with the dog, including uphill strides. I felt pretty good. The very humid change that came through over night meant that I didn't cough, virtually at all! It was great. My legs had a bit of zip in them today also. I think I may have turned the taper corner! Hopefully, this is the point where I start to feel good and have heaps of vim and vigour! Anyway, I ran for about 7k. I got back by about 6am and had some breakfast and got my stuff ready for work and the pool - where I went on the way to the office.

I was very keen to have a good swim and was feeling mentally very positive. The plan was a 1/2 IM swim RR. So after a short w/up hit it for 1.9k non-stop. This I managed to do quite easily! I felt strong and I think getting the instant feedback about pace really helped me too. I avg'd 1:43's for the 1.9k (32:43) which is a pace I'd be reasonably happy with for the Busso 70.3! Total set 2.3km in 39min

Friday night was a work function - lawn bowls - at Lake Monger bowling club. What a hoot that was. I was no "Crackerjack", but had a heap of fun. That would make a great night for a bunch of mates too I reckon.

Saturday
Back to RW for a semi-RW group ride this morning. The 3 Amigo's and Bernie decided to do our own thang somewhat - as the main bunch were doing a heap of hills. So we left them in Mossie Park and rode down to Freo and then back up the coast, doin a few efforts along the way. We then came back into Nedlands and did the prescribed Waratah loops x 2. It was good to put a few efforts in and then be able to recover easily. Rat was on fire and charged around for one of the laps and chased down a few roadies. (one looked like he had stepped straight out of 1982)

We got back early to the coffee shop (on purpose) and enjoyed a long and leisurely breakfast, chatting to Phil and everyone as they rocked up. That was the best part of the ride! I have been checking the weather everyday this week and trying to get a tip for what race day will be like. I am so hoping for a cool or mild day, but mentally preparing for a hot one. Butch is a good weather man and he reckons it could be a bit frontal but not hot anyway. By Monday we will have a pretty good idea.

Sunday
I did a short bike ride before my scheduled run today. Just to warm up the legs and to test out the sperm hat (aero helmet) and tri-suit on the bike. All good. 32min and 18km. Then I raced inside and pretended it was T2, did a super quick change of footwear and headed back out the door for a short run. Ended up doing about 4k only but I felt pretty good. Held myself back a bit again today.

Summary

I think taper is starting to kick in and I am feeling pretty good. I still have this damn cough, but hopefully it won't be an issue on Dec 4th. The forecast is looking good for next Sunday with a top of 27 deg and some showers increasing. Still early days though...anything can happen this far out still. One week to go.

Swim: 8.5km
Ride: 102km
Run 32km
Time: 7:22hrs

Amigo Stats - 20 weeks

PJ

Swim – 103.8 k in  44:14 hours   in 14 weeks

avg for week 7.4

max for week 11.25

Bike – 3147 k in  107:47 hours   in 16 weeks due to Euro (all July) and Pt Douglas (one week) holidays

avg 197

max 344

Run – 817.31 k in   74:34 hours  only one with 20 weeks

avg 40.9

max 82

Daz

Swim –  110k in  32:10 hours

avg  7.8k

max  14.2k

Bike –  3479 k in  115:39 hours

avg 174

max  365

Run –  858k in   69:28 hours

avg  43

max  66

Rat

Swim – 88.2k in 30:42 hours

avg 5.2

max 8.2

Bike – 3156k in 126:58 hours (does not include spin classes – plus 26:24 hours)

avg 166.1

max 329

Run – 818.9k in 68:52 hours

avg 40.9

max 67

Paul’s Week 20 (2 Weeks To Go) – ending 20/11/11 – Bored, Bored, Bored....

Swim – 6.7k (3 x sessions)

Bike – 75k (1 x spin session, 1 x road session )

Run –27k (1 x long run, 1 x short run )

Total –  8:30 hours

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – AM – Recovery Swim

Easy swim – again, got wet..can’t remember specifics but am really enjoying swimming..very strange this IM training

dist – 2.5k

time – 0:49

Wednesday –  Spin Class

Edgars class tonight. Good session, tho’ I did fatigue fairly quickly and struggled to hold onto some of the efforts

time – 1:02

avg hr – 131

max hr – 156

Thursday – Swim 

Swam a bit – again, can’t even remember !!

dist – 2.2k

time – 0:53

Friday – AM Long Run  PM Swim 

AM – Long Run

Swapped out from Thursday which was swapped from Sunday. Felt really good and felt like I could’ve ran a lot further.

Amazing now how far the body has come knowing a simple 18k run is not a mental drama to execute, shoes on, head off and turn around...easy

No niggles, or the dreaded phantom stitch so all good and such a wonderful morning to be out – blessed

dist –18k

time – 1:29

avg hr – 140

max hr – 148 ??

PM – Swim

Bridester swimming to make up for missing Thursday morning session – so quickly changed my planned sessions around to fit this swim in. Again no dramas of slow people in the public lane, and get’s quieter the closer it gets to 6pm

Think I did about 2k ?? was going for 3k but got bored, showered then waited for B to finish. Is always good watching them finish their sets off and especially Fridays as they have a bit of fun at the end

dist – 2.0k

time – 0:36 ??

Saturday – Bike (Runners World)

Rode with the Runners World crew and was so cool to be back with the peeps and hang out and discuss other stuff apart from IM this and IM that. Me and Daz took charge at the front a couple of times and I was basking in the limelight of leading big Greggie out – this from won’t last..it’s only taken me 16 weeks to get the same power outage as him

Some gnarly climbs up Bold Park and golf course, then Reserve St. Legs were fully loaded and not used that kind of work. Burke Drive we wound it up and all along back the freeway path, back for eggs and orange juice – very nice indeed

Rode back to Daz’s and was going to brick run but legs were absolutely trashed, had nothing left in them – even when I decided to leave brick run then try and run in the arvo,.... that never happened

Body just didn’t like the change in the intensity me thinks

dist – 75k

time – 2:54

avg speed –   29.4km/h

avg hr – 135

max hr – 170

Sunday – Run (short)

Woke up a bit shady from night at Scott and Danas – great night out tho’ not stressing about getting home too early to get up early...actually – don’t remember getting home at all, Shell reminded me I was laying on the couch channel surfing and ended up on one of the ‘no signal’ channels and promptly fell asleep !! oh dear !

Got out to run at 2pm, nice and easy...was actually quite pleasant running along the coast

dist –9k

time – 0:45

avg hr – n/a

max hr – n/a

2 full weeks to go, time to keep check on eating and am planning to try and keep some form of moderate exercise going !!

As the title says I’m BORED........just want it to be race day now, could be a loooong wait..........stay on target, stay on target

Cheers

Paul

Keep the Lion in the Den

Week’s to go 3 PJ ‘s Training Summary 14-11-11 to 20-11-11

This is the first wind down week. The same number of sessions but the intensity is down and also the duration of the sessions. Bike fitness is now consolidated and this week focuses on doing the same for the swim and run. I’ve been paying my feet some attention this week using Eulactol cream daily on the cracks.

Monday
In the evening a got a good 3k set in at Melville Pool, including a 1.5k TT with pull buoy. A few annoying people in the lane tonight.
Tuesday
I had the usual brick session to do this morning so I headed down to the Left Bank and decided to head off 10 minutes ahead of the group. I was supposed to do 3 x (30 min @ IM, 15 min @ HIM efforts) but I had a serious CBF attitude. I still pushed along at race pace though and the group caught me at Christchurch. Fluro lead the usual breakaway crew up the “ Princess Highway” and put the hammer down. I hung on at the back but the train barriers were down at the Claremont shops. We were a long way ahead of the group too. Once they lifted the boys went hard to catch them. My CBF kicked in and I let them go. Too hard. Back at the car for a change of shoes and off to Point Walter for the run. No “great balls of fire” today thank goodness. I turned at the end of Blackwall Reach Parade and headed back to the Left Bank. This is a very scenic run I love it. Mental note to run this more often after the Big Gig. I was glad to get training finished this morning.
I got another massage today from Tony Bence. I was not as tight as last week but he did get in deeper this time. Bloody hurt !! I made an appointment for next week but may cancel yet. I will see how the legs are. The problem is you need to book ahead. Tony is getting busy. The Freo Dockers have him 2 hours a day 5 days a week now and he has lots of IM clients as well.
Wednesday
Fluro wanted me to take an easy swim day between my brick session and my long run this week and I did try to organise my week around that but I couldn’t make it work. The CBF was still there this morning. I left work at 5:10am and headed towards Pt Walter. The plan was 15 min easy then 1 hour at 5:00min/k’s, then 15 easy. It was a magic morning with quite eerie light because of the cloud cover and the rising sun behind. Coming back I really got into a good groove and was feeling great. Along Melville Beach I got passed by a very nice young lady. I was tempted to pick it up and go with her but I resisted “Keep the Lion in the Den…..” Fluro’s words of wisdom. I got to the board walk at Majestic Pt and a gathering of morning walkers were looking out into the river there. 2 dolphins were playing around very close to shore and a pelican was hanging around with them. I was spewin I didn’t take my phone so couldn’t snap a pic…..bugger !! I got back to work and was in a much better mood. 1 ½ hour long run felt like a walk in the park…..lovin this taper !!!
Only a 2.3k set to do in the pool tonight which went fine apart from the slow people in the lane. Seriously pisses me off……hellooo people….if I am passing you….you are slow. That’s the slow lane over there.
Thursday
The ride this morning was a “black tape” test. I had to cover up the Garmin and ride a 90 min TT on RPE. I should be very close to IM goal av speed and HR. I started at the Left Bank and rode to Canning Bridge then out to Shelley. There was a nice tail wind until the turn around. Back at Canning Bridge I passed Butch & his Bitches and coped some stick for not saying gidday. I was distracted though….by a guy who was heading straight for me on the path but was not looking where he was going wtf ??? I made it back to 9 Seeds for coffee with Fluro. The only one who turned up. It was good to go over a few things with him. He says the HR will be all over the shop for the next few weeks with the taper and not to worry too much. He also said only use it as a rough guide on race day because it will be up. Happy with the results as the data was pretty much what I was aiming for come race day.
AmigoRat and I had a funeral to attend in the afternoon, the wife of a work collegue who was struck down with an aggressive cancer after being diagnosed only in January. Very sad and I wondered if I could draw on her strength with a thought on race day. I was intending to do an easy 45 min form run with some strides tonight but it was wet and windy so I let it go.
Friday
I’m not used to my legs feeling so fresh. It’s great to be backing off the volume. Mental note not to get carried away tomorrow on the bike………“Keep the Lion in the Den “.
I rang Phabbie today and booked the bike for a “Nervous Service” on Tuesday. Good to catch up with him and have a laugh.
I have pulled tonight’s pool swim back from 3.4k to 2.0k and hope to do a longer open water swim in the wettie tomorrow.
I called in to Rebel Sport on the way home to pick up some new goggles for race day. I thought I could give them a trial run tomorrow. Zoggs Predator Flex…..the polarized model…..$60 lighter. Bloody hell !!! they are good though and last a long time.
Saturday
Jenn was away at Busso with her mates this weekend so I was up bright and early getting ready without having to tip toe around. I rode down to Troppo’s to meet the Freo Group 1 boys for the reverse Jandakot loop course. I love this ride as there is no traffic, no lights and nice and undulating plus some nice long, straight flats. Only 8 of us and I opted to sit 7m behind the boys as per Fluro’s instructions. Awesome ride with an average 38k/hr for the loop with av HR 144. Very happy I didn’t have to push hard. I didn’t have to rush home so enjoyed a full Troppo breakkie.
The arvo saw me out at Champion Lakes for a wettie swim with Brian Kempson’s squad. I swam out to the last buoy and back this time 1.3k. I felt good in the water and went back out to the first buoy and back for another 900m. The new goggles are fantastic. Great to catch up with a few IM and get the goss. Some quite different approaches to taper that’s for sure. This was one of those classic training days where everything went well, great sessions and I really enjoyed it. It certainly knocked my CBF into touch. I had to share with someone so sent AmigoRat a text.
I spent the rest of the day doing washing, shopping etc. I had IMWA then IM Hawaii on the TV in the background which was cool. Sam and I had a movie and burger night. Good to spend some time with him. He has a new girlfriend so I he hasn’t been around much this week.
Sunday
I had trouble getting up today but had lot’s to do and dragged myself out . The plan was a hill run 2x20 min uphill at HIM pace with easy jog recover between. I planned to execute this along the length of Sommerville Blvd near home. However the first effort to the end was only 10 minutes (not easy to find a hill that takes 20 min to run up Fluro) so I decided to do 3x10mins instead. It ended up being 1 ½ hour session with the warm up, cool down and recovery’s. All done and dusted by 9:15am though.
A beautiful day today but a strong sea breeze. A hint of the Perth summer pattern. Sam and I took the dog down to Waylen Bay for a swim and play by the river. She cuts sick down there and carries on like a puppy. It then takes her a day to recover !! I finished the day cooking a Turkey in the Weber and both kids ended up going out……doh !! all the more for me and Jenn.
It is great to get some legs back this week with the drop in volume. I felt strong on the bike Saturday.

Totals:- Swim 9.5k, Bike 195k, Run 44k 13 hours 42 min

Stats 2011 v 2009 (the 20 weeks up to taper time) by Dazz.

Here is some compelling reading (not!) in comparing 2011 and 2009 IM campaigns.

In comparing the 20 weeks up to today (i.e. 2 weeks before race day) I have done 60hrs less training overall (3hrs per week).

I have swum more (by 11km) in 14 weeks of swim training than last time in 17 weeks. My Avg is 2.0km per week more.

On the bike I have ridden heaps less in the 20 weeks this year, due to not working in the CBD and driving to work at SRG now. On Avg 66km less per week with totals less by a massive 1326km and 48hrs. But my Avg speed has gone up from 29.3 to 30.1km/h.

Running is nearly the same in both years. With my Avg down in 2011 from approx 44km pw in 2009 to 43km per week now.

A summary of this year is;
Swim 110km in 32:05 hrs
Ride 3479km in 115:369 hrs
Run 858km in 69:28 hrs

20. It's All Downhill from Here...Daz 20/11/11

Monday
After a rest day yesterday, it was another easy day on the legs today, with just a swim. I went to the pool after work and the flavour was speed work. After a short w/up, I did 20 x 100's as 50 sprint/50 easy plus a few easy 100's added in for active recovery. That number of laps does my head in and I have to concentrate to keep my count accurate! After that it was 10 x 50's as 25sprint/25 easy. All up 3.5km in 59min.

Tuesday
Bike intervals this morning. 3 x 15' at z4. I have been struggling to hit my HR targets on these intervals for a few weeks now and wondering, with some concern why. Well I read something that reminded me of the bigger picture and what my program is doing. I have been comparing myself to the hard, short & sharp work I did over the off season, which had me hitting some solid zone 4 HR's. But since then I have put a lot of distance into my legs (both running and riding) and so the cumulative effects of this have taken the edge right off my legs. This is perfectly normal - as it is impossible to keep your top end speed/power up as you add a lot of distance. So I was heartened somewhat by this as I struggled a little to hit even the middle of zone 4. Anyway, I did 1 hr and about 31km.

Wednesday
I had a pretty avg start to my day today. Firstly, I forgot Lisa goes to work early on Wednesdays and didn't allow enough time to do my planned run. Doh! So I cut it short and did just one of the two 1.6k intervals on the schedule. I also coughed my guts up real good, which is starting to really annoy me. Then I noticed that my pace on the Polar was all over the place and obviously wrong. I checked the calibration and it was about 12% out!!! Way out. So I attempted to adjust it on the fly, but it didn't seem to work. I also noticed how it looked like it might need a new battery, as the display was going faint when I started a new exercise. When I got home, I grabbed my iPhone and did a proper calibration check over 1k and it was almost spot on! ? ! What the? So I logged 7.3km and then took my watch in to RW so it could get a new battery (this involves having it sent off to Adelaide!) and so I will be without my watch, speedo, stop watch etc for a week... I ran a few more km's at lunchtime, to finish off my set of 1.6k intervals. So another 5.7km logged.

After work I hit the pool and was supposed to do some sets at RR pace minus 2". But with no watch and being short sighted I had no idea of time. So I did the distances (2x500, 3x300, 4x200 as hard as I could & then 10x50's as 25sprint/25easy. All up 3.9km in approx 1:08hrs (?)

Thursday
Long run - but really it didn't seem very long at all! 18km in 1:25hrs. I didn't even take my fuel belt...just slipped one gel into my tri suit pocket and my iPhone to record distance/time. It was pretty humid, so a drink would have been a good idea in hindsight! I weighed myself after brekky and the scales said 78.5kg! I checked 3 times and got the same number each time. I think I was pretty dehydrated.

Friday
I ran this morning and took the dog along for a change. She hasn't had much of a look in lately. But when I got to the point of doing uphill strides, I tied her up next to the road and she watched as I did 8 x 30" strides. All up 7.3 km in about 37min.

After work it was off to Bold Park and a nice surprise - the mens change rooms were back in business and the demountable was gone! Yeah! Nice new refurbished showers/change rooms to use. I did 3.8k as MS1: 4x400, 4x300 & 3x200, I skipped the last set of 25/25 sprints as I was stuffed, but mostly I was really, really hungry!

Saturday
RW ride today for the first time in ages (7 or 8 weeks?). But first I did a 'reverse' brick run. 5k in 25' with a lucky dog who scored her 2nd run in 2 days! Based on the latest research and results from Endurance Nation - brick runs are now minimised big time. The current theory is that they are largely a waste of time and that you are better giving yourself as many opportunities to get quality runs in (faster, better form etc) than bashing your head against a wall again and again to see if it feels any better (brick run)! No doubt the masses won't agree with this as it is outside the conventional thinking, but I bet if Crowie or Macca came out and said thats what they did, everyone would jump on! Anyway, I reckon it is a great strategy for Age Group long course athletes. So on w/ends you run 1st before a long ride and on week days you run later in the day (lunchtime or late afternoon).

So Rat rocked up and we spun over to Hale Rd and met the crew as they crawled up the hill, with Big Greg well out in front. We slotted in and joined in for the Circuit 2 loop (one of my favourites). It was great to have some more company on a ride, as Rat and I tended to just talk IM race stuff etc etc. We had a few hill repeats and efforts but it felt pretty easy to absorb the punishment during the recovery bits and short re-groups. It was great fun to ride with others for a change. The best part was going to the coffee shop and staying! What a luxury! The banter, the sledging and 2 coffees with a serve of eggs & toast was great. I gave my bike a good clean and degrease this arvo and I will take it into Phab for a 'nervous service' on Tuesday. Tonight I fell asleep on the couch early and then went to bed at 9pm. I was stuffed!

Sunday
Today I got up at 530 feeling very groggy and just a bit slow and hit the road for a RTR ride at 0600. I saw Nick and Butch on Cliff St in Kings Park, after they yelled out to me twice! They mentioned that the Santos Great Big Stupid Bike Ride was on today, but luckily I was going the opposite way to them and had no issues with road closures or anything. I rode with ABP flavour and no idea of my speed. Perceived effort was my only guide. The easterly was a shocker and I was glad to get to Burke Drive and have a tail wind. I ended up getting home in 1:49hrs and doing about 57km.

Surf club was pretty nice this week as it was warmer and sunny and the offshore breeze made the surf nice and clean. I did the masters swim - which was a short one this week and about 300m all up. My handicap was a ridiculous 4:10min! The first swimmers were literally nearly back at the beach when I took off! I had a good swim and caught a wave in for a fair distance, which made me up a few spots! I was sucking in the big ones and blowing a bit after making it up the beach in a sprint. All good fun!

Summary:
So it ended up being a fairly decent week with 5 (mostly short) runs, 3.5 swims and 3 rides. Taper starts this week proper (yeah!) I'm going to do some analysis of the last 20 weeks training and compare to my 2009 campaign and the other 2 Amigos...should be riveting reading!

Swim - 11.5k
Ride - 163k
Run - 44k
Time - 12:18hrs

Run Forrest…run

Week’s to go 4 PJ ‘s Training Summary 07-11-11 to 13-11-11

The last big week before taper. I have 2 key sessions to do. A long run of 3 ½ hours and a triple brick session. Lots of running this week.

Monday
Fluro had not sent through my weekly sessions which was unusual. I emailed him and he sent but I still didn’t receive. I just recycled a great pool session from a few weeks back which was 400m TT, 1k @ IM effort, 5/200m (50 hard, 100 easy, 50 hard), 1k @ IM effort and another 400m TT. Deposit 3.8k in the bank.
Tuesday
I still hadn’t received Fluro’s plan so I decided to ride early from work to the Left Bank and head out before the group as usual. My legs felt dead today. I don’t think they have recovered from BDT last Saturday. The wind was strong as. Blowing in from the west at about 25 knots. I left the Left Bank with a tailwind and was flying. Bourke Drive was fun sitting on 43k/hr with HR 135. The group caught me on Steve’s Hill I tried to hang on but just couldn’t. I took a short cut down Waratah and rejoined at Christchurch. We ran the gauntlet and I was expecting to get dropped but hung on OK. The group caught us at the top of the hill at Cott. The crosswind along Leighton was the scariest I have ever experienced. The guys had their bikes at like a 15 degree angle just to stay upright and then gusts were coming through to make it even more challenging. At the footbridge I just sat up and dropped off the group. This was just too dangerous as far as I was concerned. Too much at stake. It was a relief to turn into Tydeman Rd and get that wind on our tails. I got a 45 min form run in off the bike. I wasn’t going to leave this till the evening because I was so tired I knew it wouldn’t happen. I finally got my plan through and was in despair. I didn’t know how I was going practically fit or physically achieve some of the sessions this week. I was so tired that I couldn’t think rationally which didn’t help. A quick meeting with AmigoRat sorted me out…..thanks mate. I got down to Tony Bence for a massage today. Wow you don’t realise how sore you are sometimes until Tony gets right in deep. Bastard had me in tears but it was good. I have made an appt for next week as well.
Wednesday
I had swapped my Thurs ride to today which was Rat’s bike day so we hooked up for a RTR ride which was great. My legs were still pretty crap from the massage so we didn’t push it too much. I did make Rat pull an effort from the Christchurch roundabout to Steve’s roundabout though. I was glad to get off the bike to be honest.
A good swim set tonight 2.9k. Pretty busy but people stayed out of my way. I felt good in the water.
Thursday
This was to be my longest run ever today. I had been anxious about doing this for days. I had even expressed my concerns by email to coach Fluro. Basically I had to suck it up was the message back !! the plan was to pretty much not worry about pace and HR just do the time. Luckily this was AmigoRat’s run day too so we had worked out that we would run from work to Pt Walter and back. That was his run done. I would restock my nutrition, grab my ipod for company and then head out to Shelley for the second half. Conditions were perfect for running and we headed out at 4:40am. I decided to wear my race kit and just see if everything was OK with it. It was quite light by then and time just flew by as we chatted. The nutrition went well and my legs felt great today. Just magic out today with Pelicans close to shore, beautiful sky with the sunrise……hard to beat. We are privileged I think. I headed out and was almost at Mt Henry. I suddenly became overcome with emotion I think because I was feeling so good and the realisation hit that I could actually do this thing. I got to the Shelley foreshore and was going great. I started the Gel Blasts. They are great. There were drippers along there so was able to take some water. I saw Gemma from swim squad riding by and gave her the thumbs up. Time was up for a turn around. An hour to go so I started on the Coke. I was dreading the hill up to the Rossmyne Retirement Home but that was not an issue. The day was warming up now. Back at Mt Henry the sugar was kicking in and I was tempted to pick it up a bit. I avoided the temptation however. At Deep Water Point Rich Stacey rode past shouting some abuse my way but I couldn’t hear him because the tunes were pumpin in my head. I got back to the Raff’s and was 5 minutes under….bugger !!! I ran past work then back just to get the 3 ½ hours spot on. I was on cloud nine. I felt this was a turning point for me. I’m there I reckon….I’m ready. I walked upstairs beaming. I walked around to Rat’s desk for a high 5 but the wanker wasn’t there hahaa!!
Stats: 3 hr 30 min 37.05k 5:40 min/k’s 149 av HR 2756 cals.
I had a good meeting with coach Fluro in the evening at Pt Walter. He was very happy with the results of my mega run so he pulled Saturday’s triple brick back to a double and he cut back some run sessions in the next 3 weeks. We chatted a bit about race day as well, strategies and plan.
Friday
I pulled up surprisingly well after yesterday’s run. I got down to Melville pool in the arvo and bashed out a 2.9k set with the pull bouy. Nice and quiet today.
Saturday
I parked at work this morning which was to be my base for the double brick. Once again I wore my race kit. The wind was cool first thing so I added arm warmers. First up was a 1 ½ hour ride at IM effort. I headed out at 5am for a RTR circuit. A nice tail wind into the Narrows but along Mounts Bay the legs were really heavy. Any slight rise I felt. I took a short cut down Warratah and was back to work on 1hr 25 min. Shoes on and out for a Bridges run. The goal here was 30 sec/k quicker than goal race pace which I managed fine. Back on the bike and I headed down the very familiar Freeway South bike path. The headwind was hard. At least I only had to go into it for 30 min before turning around. Sympathies there AmigoDazz. Even with the tail wind the undulating path from Roe Hwy through to Mt Henry was hard on my very fatigued legs. A change at work and refuel then out to the Majestic on the second run. This session was reminding me of the old Enduro Tri at Rockingham. This run was at 45 sec/k quicker than goal race pace. I thought I could hold this as it was only 30 min. Freo Group 2 went passed me heading towards SPYC. I coped plenty of cheek, enquiries regarding my lack of a bike etc, but words of encouragement from Kat and Amanda. I turned at Majestic Pt and picked it up a bit. I was feeling great. The morning was warming up . It was going to be a beautiful day. I got back to the car at 8:55am done and dusted. It seemed strange being finished by 9am !!! I thought about heading for coffee at Troppo’s but thought I would keep it sweet and head home. I thought I would be able to get down to Champion for an open water swim but went and picked up some pavers to do a little job by the pool. I figured the spouse points were more beneficial at this particular time.
Sunday
The plan for today was a 2 hour run with 1x6k@ IM effort and 2x6k@HIM effort but I was at that point where I said fook it…..I’m just gonna go by feel, put some tunes on and enjoy this. After a morning of repairing retic and preparing a little area by the pool for some paving I got out at 1pm. I put on my brand new shoes (ahhh luxury) and new Compressport socks and Brooks run cap. Shit the shoes felt great. I was hoping the day would have been warmer. It was pretty humid though. A very pleasant run. I turned at the first street passed the Rowing Club at Mt Pleasant and headed for home. At the 1 ½ hour mark the run turned to shit. The fatigue really kicked in and the balls of my feet were sore as with the pounding. I just focused on keeping form. It wasn’t pretty but I finished up OK and got straight into the cool water of the swimming pool. Shoes, socks and cap sorted now for race day. I just have goggles and some tubes to buy now.
This has been another solid week. A huge run week but I have pulled up well. Just the balls of my feet are “Great balls of fire”. I am going to pay my feet some special attention in the next 3 weeks. They are getting a bit cracked and callused, which they tend to do leading into summer, despite the training. I really feel like I am as ready now as I will ever be. Bring on Taper !!!

Totals:- Swim 9.2k, Bike 182.0k, Run 82.44k 17 hours 25 min

Paul’s Week 19 (3 Weeks To Go) – ending 13/11/11 – Now It Hurts

Swim – 7.9k (2 x sessions)

Bike – 172.2k (1 x spin session, 2 x road sessions )

Run – 60k (1 x interval run, 1 x long run, 2 x brick runs )

Total –  14:28 hours

Monday – Spin Class

Fill in session today – was going to take off but decided a easy spin class to bide the time before swim squad pick up

Wow – max 156 !! .....must be a new record for a Monday !!

time – 1:00

avg hr – 115

max hr – 156

Tuesday – AM – Swim  PM - Interval Run

AM – Swim

Can’t remember what I did but swam a bit and got wet !

dist – 3.8k

time – 1:09

PM – Interval Run

Ran from work down to Melville, felt pretty good and had no dramas punching into wind on way out knowing the return would be a lot betterer. No intervals......just run – couldn’t be bothered trying to work something out

dist –12k

time – 1:00

avg hr – 131

max hr – 140

Wednesday –  Bike (Race Wheels)

Standard 51.2 RTR – had race wheels on, PJ joined me as we shuffled the long run this week. Nothing spectacular, we did some efforts to drop the super commuters....

Race wheels went good. Dropped bike off to Phabbies for the nervous service

dist – 51.2k

time – 1:49

avg speed –   28.1km/h

avg hr – 129

max hr – 161

Brick Run

Quick 40 min of the bike around the bridges, felt pretty good and was good to run off bike. Time did stand still tho’ as it felt like I was running for hours not just 40 mins !

dist –18k

time – 0:40

avg hr – 142

max hr – 149

Thursday – AM – Long Run   PM Swim 

AM – Long Run

Hooked up with PJ who was running something ridiculous like 57k........no, actually 37k.......his coach loading him up to breaking point – and it’s getting close !

I ran the first half with him and I peeled off for work. He made it back in one piece and put a big mental tick in his head to tackle whatever the day brings...nice work Amigo

dist –21k

time – 1:46

avg hr – 123

max hr – 169

PM – Swim

Good swim with the pleb public – did some 800’s I think...am feeling really good in the pool

Thursday nights swimming are not that bad at the moment,  certainly helps looking forward to a beer afterwards and some relax from the full week with Friday being my rest day

dist – 2.9k

time – 0:53

Friday – Rest Day

Shell out in the city shopping tonight, got the grumps with the kids today little things setting me off. Realised I was a tool and tried to mellow out a bit for the remainder of the night. Been full on week at work and training and ended up taking it out on someone – ie poor Bridie

Saturday – Aerobic Run

Had Breakers swim carnival at Challenge so no training this morning, run was going to have to fit later in the day. Cancel that, was just about to walk out the door nice early at 6.30am will Team Manning all in tow and Shell said that the first event was 1500’s so I could possibly get run don early !!

Well, must say she certainly is very understanding and I love her for all that she puts up with from me and the kids, so I grabbed my running gear just in case. Got to Challenge and there was 3 heats of 1500 plus a few 200IM’s so had at least a hour and a half to kill before Bridie’s first race

Off down to god knows where, turned left, ran past Bernie’s house, back up Bold Park Drive down to coast along and left into the road that leads to Challenge.

Now, I could see the stadium clearly in my sights so had about 2k to go and I copped another run stopping stitch !! ouch...stop- rest- walk – run...this went on another 3 mins and I finally made it into the car park and walked the rest. Put this one down to the full breakfast I had as I hadn’t expected to run that early

Girls did brilliantly this race meet – both getting a state time each and one of those costing me a Justin Beiber cd (Bridie in a passing comment asked if she got a time would I buy her his latest cd...yeah yeah..whatever not fully expecting she’d blitz the 200 freestyle !) And to Ellie, superstar now has one for her 50m breastroke so we’re all pretty chuffed about that too. Aiden just liked signing Christmas carols to keep himself busy....that kid is amazing how he can sit there for hours on end, happy to watch a bit of dvd and colour in or play on Shell’s phone

Run

dist –12k

time – 1:06

avg hr – n/a

max hr – n/a

Swim

dist – 1.2k

time – 0:30

Soon the novelty of watching 8 hours of swimming was wearing off – I did manage a 1.2k swim in between heats for the girls so swam outside in the sun – lovely it was. We left at 3.30pm, picked up bike from Phabbie, all tired and home by 4.30 .....long day again !

Sunday – Bike/Run Brick Session

Bike

Sunday rides are always difficult in my head. Rolled out finally at 5:25am, down to Port Beach, back past home and upto Pipidinny Drive. Was mentally hard not just slipping back home after 90k but wanted at least 120 with the brick run so carried on past home into the joy of Marmion Ave north

Full race kit was on (albeit skinny rat in sleeveless is not good on plain training days – race day fair enough, plenty of other lycra wearing folk them but not on a Sunday morning rolling down Marmion Ave..) Race wheels also still on and practiced nutrition which is pretty much down pat now

Saw a snake at Trigg crossing the road and a stray dog along the highway at Hillarys that me and another IM training dude on a TT bike tried to catch but the poor thing was scared shitless and ran off each time... I left the dude to it as I was going the other way

the Tardis gate on the house in Mullaloo that I mentioned in a blog entry waaay back

Home, run shoes on and felt reasonably ok if not just a little fatigued - noticed on the first few strides that my left legs was feeling a little iffy as if something was going to ping.

Bike

Full fatigue effects of the training day didn’t creep u on me until we were getting ready to go to Harbour Town after lunch

Couple of Kodak moments today –

Bridie Boob Tubes in a shop at Harbour Town amused us.....

and Aiden getting the full value of a bowl of ice cream had us giggling watching him close his eyes and enjoy every last lick !!.....

mmm....ice cream....

So another week over, not long to go........ the body is starting to rebel and remind me of 17 weeks are all starting to take their toll – things are hurting now. Have noticed a couple of other blogs I read of other Busso IM peeps that they are indicating the same niggles, tiredness and maybe generally just over it.

Can honestly say I’m not feeling that tired and am not overly sore but things are starting to hurt and feel like the wheels could fall off at any moment. But more so, I think it’s a little bit of boredom and just want to get to race day. Time to focus............ (‘time to focus’ sounds inspiring but is upto now ...is not really working !!)

Cheers

Paul

dist – 121k

time – 4:09

avg speed –   29.8km/h

avg hr – 126

max hr – 150

Brick Run

dist –6k

time – 0:30

avg hr – 132