Well the training is over and I have a day off tomorrow and then 42kms on Sunday. I am quite nervous but looking forward to the experience. I am expecting to be in a fair bit of pain for the first few days after the event but the suffering is all part of the fun.
This week has been very light on as far as kms go, just having done around 20 since Monday and two days of no running. The cold I got has been pretty light but I have still taken a fair bit of Echinacea and Vitamin C. All of my training runs have seemed hard even when my heart rate has been low and my pace seems to have spiked my heart rate quickly. I think it will be best to aim for 3.45 to 4 hours on Sunday rather than go quicker but I know that I get caught up in the excitement at the start but 42kms is along way.
Today I just did some laps of the Strathalbyn Footy Oval at lunchtime at the pace that felt comfy. The laps were around 440 metres and I was averaging 2.08 or just 5 mins per km. It was very hard to slow down as this seemed the most normal pace to be at.
Will hopefully post a report on the race on Monday.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Adelaide Marathon (losing my viriginity)
The Adelaide Marathon is on this Sunday 30th August and I have put up my hand to do it. It is my first attempt at a marathon and I have put in quite a few kms training to get my body ready for the assault. I certainly could have done a few more long runs but the few I have done give me some confidence that I can finish. As long as I drink enough I should be right.
I have looked high and low on the net for info on hydration and I think that ideally I should be consuming around 700ml an hour, possibly more towards the end. The event has Gu20 as its electrolyte drink, I have not tried it so I hope it is palatable. I will take a couple of gels through the event but I am not convinced that they do much. The ones I have taken during training have not hurt so I think I might as well take them. The extra carbs should help with recovery at least.
The course starts at Santos Stadium, heads down to Glenelg, goes along the coast to West Beach then back down Henley Beach and then along the Torrens back to Santos Stadium. A full 42.2 kms which is relatively flat but could experience some windy sections. The forecast is for some showers at the moment. That I can live with but please no wind. I aim to set off slow, around 5.10 min per km for the first couple of k's then ramp it up to around 4.55 per km and try and keep it there until half way then assess how I feel. I would like to stay around that pace till at least the 30 km mark and then I am into the unknown. I know that I will slow towards the end but I did manage in my last long run of 28 kms to finish strong so would hope to keep my pace around 5.10-5.15 in the last 10-12 kms
I have looked high and low on the net for info on hydration and I think that ideally I should be consuming around 700ml an hour, possibly more towards the end. The event has Gu20 as its electrolyte drink, I have not tried it so I hope it is palatable. I will take a couple of gels through the event but I am not convinced that they do much. The ones I have taken during training have not hurt so I think I might as well take them. The extra carbs should help with recovery at least.
The course starts at Santos Stadium, heads down to Glenelg, goes along the coast to West Beach then back down Henley Beach and then along the Torrens back to Santos Stadium. A full 42.2 kms which is relatively flat but could experience some windy sections. The forecast is for some showers at the moment. That I can live with but please no wind. I aim to set off slow, around 5.10 min per km for the first couple of k's then ramp it up to around 4.55 per km and try and keep it there until half way then assess how I feel. I would like to stay around that pace till at least the 30 km mark and then I am into the unknown. I know that I will slow towards the end but I did manage in my last long run of 28 kms to finish strong so would hope to keep my pace around 5.10-5.15 in the last 10-12 kms
Work, training and life in general delay important posts
Finally posting again after what seems like a long time. Hmmmm 2 months, yes that qualifies as a long time. As far as stuff goes not a huge amount has happened. I have logged a lot of kilometres running in preparation for the Adelaide Marathon which is this Sunday, the 30th August. My first goal is just to finish but to be truthful I would like to get somewhere near 3 hours 30 mins or at least closer to that than 4 hours.
To try and make the marathon happen I have had to give swimming the flick for the time being and reduce my riding time as well. The weather has been pretty atrocious for cycling with some amazing winds. I think I was mentally scarred by a couple of Saturday rides with a strong northerly. I tried to avoid it but ended punishing myself by tackling a 4km hill climb with some 10+% gradient sections directly into the wind and the last 4 km of the ride was directly into the wind on an incline with a short 200m climb but a 14-15%gradient. I have not been on the road since then and that was a month ago. Recovery rides on the trainer have been all I have done on the bike since.
I have purchased a new toy, a Garmin 310XT, which has been a lot of fun to play with preparing for the Adelaide Marathon. I will write a post about its uses and functionality
To try and make the marathon happen I have had to give swimming the flick for the time being and reduce my riding time as well. The weather has been pretty atrocious for cycling with some amazing winds. I think I was mentally scarred by a couple of Saturday rides with a strong northerly. I tried to avoid it but ended punishing myself by tackling a 4km hill climb with some 10+% gradient sections directly into the wind and the last 4 km of the ride was directly into the wind on an incline with a short 200m climb but a 14-15%gradient. I have not been on the road since then and that was a month ago. Recovery rides on the trainer have been all I have done on the bike since.
I have purchased a new toy, a Garmin 310XT, which has been a lot of fun to play with preparing for the Adelaide Marathon. I will write a post about its uses and functionality
Monday, June 22, 2009
Bike FIt, running long and logging it
Hey,
in my last post I mentioned that I would be getting a professional bike fit. It gone done but I was a little disappointed with the process but not the result. Firstly the guy I wanted to do the fit had the day off. I made the booking with him knowing that I wanted him to do the fit as he had been recommended. Secondly the the guy who ended up doing my fit, although getting a good result for me, wasn't really up there for customer service. I had to wait for 10 mins past the booking time while he chatted with some dude in the shop and then on numerous occasions had to wait while he served customers. The guy didn't even introduce himself to me, pretty weird when you spend 2 hours in the shop pedaling etc.
Well, now that is off my chest, the changes to the bike.
I have been putting in quite a few kms with my running but have really changed my training style. All my runs now, except for the Jogger's World races, will be in my low HR zones, basically below 139bpm average for the run period. This is proving very hard to do as I have been going way to hard in my training prior to this, so half my training is in my head, whipping my ego and gaining awareness especially when I am going up hills. I have readjusted my training zones on my watch and bike computer and have set the alarms. I hope to see some good aerobic gains over the next couple of months.
Have found a great triathlon community for information with a really easy to use training log. Triathlog. The info is amazing and the main posters seem to be very happy to give advice and share experiences that will help others. I think that this site will help me finalize my training plan and avoid the need for a coach. The only thing I think I really need is some swim training as after looking at others swim training and times, I suck.
If anyone is reading, leave a nice comment if you want to leave one or just be plain rude, I am not really fussed.
Cheers
in my last post I mentioned that I would be getting a professional bike fit. It gone done but I was a little disappointed with the process but not the result. Firstly the guy I wanted to do the fit had the day off. I made the booking with him knowing that I wanted him to do the fit as he had been recommended. Secondly the the guy who ended up doing my fit, although getting a good result for me, wasn't really up there for customer service. I had to wait for 10 mins past the booking time while he chatted with some dude in the shop and then on numerous occasions had to wait while he served customers. The guy didn't even introduce himself to me, pretty weird when you spend 2 hours in the shop pedaling etc.
Well, now that is off my chest, the changes to the bike.
- seat raised by 15mm
- seat forward by 10mm
- major readjustment of the right cleat
- 120mm stem replaced with a 80mm stem
- aerobars shortened
- seat angle set to 0%
I have been putting in quite a few kms with my running but have really changed my training style. All my runs now, except for the Jogger's World races, will be in my low HR zones, basically below 139bpm average for the run period. This is proving very hard to do as I have been going way to hard in my training prior to this, so half my training is in my head, whipping my ego and gaining awareness especially when I am going up hills. I have readjusted my training zones on my watch and bike computer and have set the alarms. I hope to see some good aerobic gains over the next couple of months.
Have found a great triathlon community for information with a really easy to use training log. Triathlog. The info is amazing and the main posters seem to be very happy to give advice and share experiences that will help others. I think that this site will help me finalize my training plan and avoid the need for a coach. The only thing I think I really need is some swim training as after looking at others swim training and times, I suck.
If anyone is reading, leave a nice comment if you want to leave one or just be plain rude, I am not really fussed.
Cheers
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Long Weekend Recovery Fortnight
Too long in between posts methinks. If anyone ever reads this I don't want to piss them off by only posting once every few weeks.
I can't believe that it has been two weeks since my last post. The weather here has been pretty crappy and the days are quite short, dark at 5 PM and sun up at around 7.30 AM. Having to work makes getting in any training difficult on top of the winter weather.
I have been attempting to build a good base of fitness with some long rides, around 100kms, and runs, around 15kms; and have just bought a 20 session pass at an indoor swimming centre. I managed to get in 2.2kms in the pool today at lunchtime. The other child got sick after the long weekend which meant another long day at home. Sick kids are not happy kids and looking after them is a lot harder than going to work. A few trips into Adelaide for work has also eaten into any training as most of my training is done either in the morning or at lunchtime.
The stationary trainer has been used quite a bit for some 1 hour steady state HR sessions and also some high RPM interval sessions. The last one I did was this exercise and I could not believe how hammered I was at the end of it. I use an Elite brand Mag Resistance trainer on level 3 resistance. I much prefer being on the road but I really dont have too many options this time of the year, as I am not keen on riding to and from work in partial darkness. Country roads, cars at high speeds and unused to cyclists doesn't fill me with confidence.
The swim today was good, but the pool is a little warm for my liking. It was great to get some laps in. I concentrated a lot on my position in the water and trying to keep my elbows high, extended my arms, rotating my hips, head looking down etc. So much to think about! I think I will always be a MOP swimmer doing about 1.50 100s. I am using workouts from here and going for the weak (C) workout at the moment. Firstly as time restrictions make it difficult to complete the higher distances and my swim endurance needs some work and 2.3 kms is all I can do and still function for the rest of the day.
Running has been nice although a little chilly to begin with. I am even considering joining the world of base layer wearers. It was 5 celsius the other morning when I began my run and a balmy 7 an hour and a half later. Bits of me, not just my fingers, were pretty cold at the end of the run which has prompted my thoughts of tight shiny pants.
The most exciting thing though is that I will be getting a proper bike fit on Wednesday. Steve Nash at Corsa Cycles in Adelaide is renowned as a good fitter so I have taken the plunge and will get a professional time trial set up done. I feel a little funny taking my cheap, Tiagra bike into a fancy bike shop with beautiful Italian Dura-Ace and Campag Super Record bikes all over the floor and walls. Anyway I am paying good money for it so Steve will just have to grit his teeth and work with what I can afford. I am intrigued to see if it will make much difference to how I feel and perform on the bike and how wrong my own set up has been.
I will add more after the set up on Wednesday.
I can't believe that it has been two weeks since my last post. The weather here has been pretty crappy and the days are quite short, dark at 5 PM and sun up at around 7.30 AM. Having to work makes getting in any training difficult on top of the winter weather.
I have been attempting to build a good base of fitness with some long rides, around 100kms, and runs, around 15kms; and have just bought a 20 session pass at an indoor swimming centre. I managed to get in 2.2kms in the pool today at lunchtime. The other child got sick after the long weekend which meant another long day at home. Sick kids are not happy kids and looking after them is a lot harder than going to work. A few trips into Adelaide for work has also eaten into any training as most of my training is done either in the morning or at lunchtime.
The stationary trainer has been used quite a bit for some 1 hour steady state HR sessions and also some high RPM interval sessions. The last one I did was this exercise and I could not believe how hammered I was at the end of it. I use an Elite brand Mag Resistance trainer on level 3 resistance. I much prefer being on the road but I really dont have too many options this time of the year, as I am not keen on riding to and from work in partial darkness. Country roads, cars at high speeds and unused to cyclists doesn't fill me with confidence.
The swim today was good, but the pool is a little warm for my liking. It was great to get some laps in. I concentrated a lot on my position in the water and trying to keep my elbows high, extended my arms, rotating my hips, head looking down etc. So much to think about! I think I will always be a MOP swimmer doing about 1.50 100s. I am using workouts from here and going for the weak (C) workout at the moment. Firstly as time restrictions make it difficult to complete the higher distances and my swim endurance needs some work and 2.3 kms is all I can do and still function for the rest of the day.
Running has been nice although a little chilly to begin with. I am even considering joining the world of base layer wearers. It was 5 celsius the other morning when I began my run and a balmy 7 an hour and a half later. Bits of me, not just my fingers, were pretty cold at the end of the run which has prompted my thoughts of tight shiny pants.
The most exciting thing though is that I will be getting a proper bike fit on Wednesday. Steve Nash at Corsa Cycles in Adelaide is renowned as a good fitter so I have taken the plunge and will get a professional time trial set up done. I feel a little funny taking my cheap, Tiagra bike into a fancy bike shop with beautiful Italian Dura-Ace and Campag Super Record bikes all over the floor and walls. Anyway I am paying good money for it so Steve will just have to grit his teeth and work with what I can afford. I am intrigued to see if it will make much difference to how I feel and perform on the bike and how wrong my own set up has been.
I will add more after the set up on Wednesday.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Still new to blogging; forgot to post the previous installment until I went to write this one. Ha Ha. No one is reading ot anyway, I will have to figure out how to get some people at least looking once.
I had a busy week at work but still managed to get a bit of running in and a nice long ride yesterday. I was tasked with getting an important meeting organised for work and that plus preparing my presentation chewed into a fair bit of more workout time. I got a stationary trainer ride in on Monday (1 Hour), ran on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and a long ride Sunday. All up around 8 hours, well short of the 11 or so I had planned.
I have been looking at the Garmin 310xt sports watch and am pretty keen on getting it. It looks like it would be a great training tool. I like gadgets as well so it would be fun to muck around with. I use a PolarCS200 on the bike at them moment and a Polar F4 watch for everything else. They both provide good data but uploading it is clunky for the CS200 and non existent for the F4. The Garmin would add GPS data which would be great for real time pacing on the run.
Going to try and get a bit more done as far as training goes this week. Running in the morning and trainer rides in the evening and if all goes well a swim somewhere.
I had a busy week at work but still managed to get a bit of running in and a nice long ride yesterday. I was tasked with getting an important meeting organised for work and that plus preparing my presentation chewed into a fair bit of more workout time. I got a stationary trainer ride in on Monday (1 Hour), ran on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and a long ride Sunday. All up around 8 hours, well short of the 11 or so I had planned.
I have been looking at the Garmin 310xt sports watch and am pretty keen on getting it. It looks like it would be a great training tool. I like gadgets as well so it would be fun to muck around with. I use a PolarCS200 on the bike at them moment and a Polar F4 watch for everything else. They both provide good data but uploading it is clunky for the CS200 and non existent for the F4. The Garmin would add GPS data which would be great for real time pacing on the run.
Going to try and get a bit more done as far as training goes this week. Running in the morning and trainer rides in the evening and if all goes well a swim somewhere.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Jellyfish and rain
A good weekend of family, a swim and a race.
Took my girls to swim school on Saturday morning. Only one actually swims, she is 4 and the other is still a little young at 20 months, so she just watches proceedings. We than went to cafe for morning tea and then to a market for some shopping. It was a nice morning with them.
After that is when I got some training in, an OWS at Horseshoe Bay. I decided against a ride as the weather forecast was for high winds but in hindsight a ride would have been OK as the winds didn't spring up to around lunchtime. I had planned on 4 swims across the bay and a beach run back to the start but after the 3rd jellyfish sting I decided to get out after having done 3 crossings. It was still an OK workout and at least my legs weren't going to be fatigued.
Sunday was an early start to get into Adelaide for the first of a series of runs in town, the Jogger's World Fun Run Series. I have entered in the 8k event and my aim is to get under 32 mins for the 8kms. It was raining when I left home and an hour later in Adelaide it was still raining and did not stop for the duration of the event. I was glad I got there early as there was a problem with the online entries and most people had to reenter. I was lucky enough that mine had gone through OK. I had a receipt anyway but did not have to wait in line in the rain like so many others.
Rymill Park was the location and it is a nice park right on the edge of the CBD. It was a mix of track and asphalt running surfaces. Because of the steady rain the track was quite slippery and muddy in some spots but overall a good course, slightly undulating but mainly flat. I did a slow lap of the 2km course as a warm up and familiarisation exercise.
My race, the 8km, was the second last to go; the races were started in waves divided into age groups, gender and distance. The female 8km started last. I started right at the front of wave, not with any intention of starting fast, I just got there when the call to line up came and it took a while for the other guys to gather. I might have led for about 1/10th of a second as the horn went but some guys just went for it. I really want to learn to pace myself so set off at a pace that I thought I could sustain for the entire race. I settled in with two other guys, one wearing an Adelaide Harriers tshirt, so a real runner, and a guy wearing Lakers Tri Club shorts. We pretty much stayed together for the first two laps, passing people from previous waves and a couple of the bull at a gate starters from our wave. A couple of fast 4km event runners passed us but we pretty much held our position for the whole race.
At the halfway mark Harrier man pulled away a little and the race caller mentioned our split at 16.10. It was faster than I thought but I had not looked at my HR or time once so far and when I did I was shocked. HR was at 175, pretty much red line for me and I still had two laps to go. I decided I had to slow a little to be able to keep a half decent pace and to try and finish strong. Laker man passed me and my competitive streak got the better of me and I tried to stay with him. He didn't get away from me but I couldn't overtake him. The third lap was definitely my slowest, around 8.45, but I finished strong doing the last lap in around 8.10. All up I finished in 33.17, faster than I thought I could do and a good motivator to train towards a sub 32min by the last race in early September. Laker dude was not far in front and no matter how hard I tried to accelerate in the final 200m he maintained his slight lead over me.
I am still waiting for results on the web (how hard is it? Unless they have had a meltdown and lost all of the results) so have no idea of age classifications. I had to leave before the presentations as I had a family lunch to get to. Mum is off to the UK for 5 weeks and we had a last supper. Finally up, my time 33.05.
It really felt as though my cardiovascular system was the limiter as my legs felt good and do not feel at all sore the day after. I will just keep putting the kms in and building a good base of fitness over the next couple of months. Some strength and speed work thrown into the training regime will probably help.
Took my girls to swim school on Saturday morning. Only one actually swims, she is 4 and the other is still a little young at 20 months, so she just watches proceedings. We than went to cafe for morning tea and then to a market for some shopping. It was a nice morning with them.
After that is when I got some training in, an OWS at Horseshoe Bay. I decided against a ride as the weather forecast was for high winds but in hindsight a ride would have been OK as the winds didn't spring up to around lunchtime. I had planned on 4 swims across the bay and a beach run back to the start but after the 3rd jellyfish sting I decided to get out after having done 3 crossings. It was still an OK workout and at least my legs weren't going to be fatigued.
Sunday was an early start to get into Adelaide for the first of a series of runs in town, the Jogger's World Fun Run Series. I have entered in the 8k event and my aim is to get under 32 mins for the 8kms. It was raining when I left home and an hour later in Adelaide it was still raining and did not stop for the duration of the event. I was glad I got there early as there was a problem with the online entries and most people had to reenter. I was lucky enough that mine had gone through OK. I had a receipt anyway but did not have to wait in line in the rain like so many others.
Rymill Park was the location and it is a nice park right on the edge of the CBD. It was a mix of track and asphalt running surfaces. Because of the steady rain the track was quite slippery and muddy in some spots but overall a good course, slightly undulating but mainly flat. I did a slow lap of the 2km course as a warm up and familiarisation exercise.
My race, the 8km, was the second last to go; the races were started in waves divided into age groups, gender and distance. The female 8km started last. I started right at the front of wave, not with any intention of starting fast, I just got there when the call to line up came and it took a while for the other guys to gather. I might have led for about 1/10th of a second as the horn went but some guys just went for it. I really want to learn to pace myself so set off at a pace that I thought I could sustain for the entire race. I settled in with two other guys, one wearing an Adelaide Harriers tshirt, so a real runner, and a guy wearing Lakers Tri Club shorts. We pretty much stayed together for the first two laps, passing people from previous waves and a couple of the bull at a gate starters from our wave. A couple of fast 4km event runners passed us but we pretty much held our position for the whole race.
At the halfway mark Harrier man pulled away a little and the race caller mentioned our split at 16.10. It was faster than I thought but I had not looked at my HR or time once so far and when I did I was shocked. HR was at 175, pretty much red line for me and I still had two laps to go. I decided I had to slow a little to be able to keep a half decent pace and to try and finish strong. Laker man passed me and my competitive streak got the better of me and I tried to stay with him. He didn't get away from me but I couldn't overtake him. The third lap was definitely my slowest, around 8.45, but I finished strong doing the last lap in around 8.10. All up I finished in 33.17, faster than I thought I could do and a good motivator to train towards a sub 32min by the last race in early September. Laker dude was not far in front and no matter how hard I tried to accelerate in the final 200m he maintained his slight lead over me.
I am still waiting for results on the web (how hard is it? Unless they have had a meltdown and lost all of the results) so have no idea of age classifications. I had to leave before the presentations as I had a family lunch to get to. Mum is off to the UK for 5 weeks and we had a last supper. Finally up, my time 33.05.
It really felt as though my cardiovascular system was the limiter as my legs felt good and do not feel at all sore the day after. I will just keep putting the kms in and building a good base of fitness over the next couple of months. Some strength and speed work thrown into the training regime will probably help.
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