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.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
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.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
No swim for you
Horseshoe Bay and my usual workout: a 500m swim follwed by a 700m run back t the start. I do this four times
Race on Sunday so won't be pushing it whatever I end up doing tomorrow
Rain, Snot and Work
What a week!
Weather played havoc with my planned workouts and a sick child and work commitments has left this weeks workout plans in tatters. I had 10 hours scheduled for this week and will be lucky to get in half that.
I can accept giving up workouts to look after a sick child. Lauren is only 20 months old and has a cold that has brought on coughing (why do kids cough so much during the night?), lots of snot and a fever that has made her miserable. I took Monday off work to look after her and SHE looked after her on Tuesday. Trips into Adelaide for work meant that the usual morning workout time was taken by the 1.5 hour trip into the CBD. I have put in a bit of time on the stationary trainer last night and will tonight but I really need to run.
I have a race on Sunday, an 8km run , in Adelaide. It is a series of 4 races; one a month to keep people happy in the off season. I would like to get around 35mins for the run and improve on that over the remaining 3 races to hopefully get under 32 mins. It should be a good way of working on my run speed. My main run focus will be endurance rather than speed but I can't ignore speed entirely.
I was meaning to upload some photos but have not had the time to do it and could not take photos riding on Sunday as it rained for the entire 3.5 hours. It was 95kms of soggy fun. I did actually enjoy the ride, especially when I was having a chew on a banana, taking it easy up a long incline, when I looked behind me as I neared the top of the hill and saw a pack of around 20 riders behind me. It was the last thing I expected and I nearly rode into the middle of the road but once I recovered from my surprise I put the hammer down so they didn't swamp me down the hill. They took a turn to Paris Creek and I continued on towards Goolwa so I didn't have the chance to test my speed against the Adelaide Hills Veteran Cyclists . After checking their website I think I might have a ride with them just to get some company on some rides.
Running in my backyard is always a great experience, 14km aerobic zone run surrounded by beautiful Eucalypt woodland, the odd kangaroo and lots of birds. Not really all my backyard but close.
Running tomorrow, and if I can get enough work done a swim at lunchtime. Short 40km easy ride on Saturday then the race on Sunday. Plan is calling for around 12 hours next week but have a big meeting to organise for Wednesday so it may be another week of of catch up.
Weather played havoc with my planned workouts and a sick child and work commitments has left this weeks workout plans in tatters. I had 10 hours scheduled for this week and will be lucky to get in half that.
I can accept giving up workouts to look after a sick child. Lauren is only 20 months old and has a cold that has brought on coughing (why do kids cough so much during the night?), lots of snot and a fever that has made her miserable. I took Monday off work to look after her and SHE looked after her on Tuesday. Trips into Adelaide for work meant that the usual morning workout time was taken by the 1.5 hour trip into the CBD. I have put in a bit of time on the stationary trainer last night and will tonight but I really need to run.
I have a race on Sunday, an 8km run , in Adelaide. It is a series of 4 races; one a month to keep people happy in the off season. I would like to get around 35mins for the run and improve on that over the remaining 3 races to hopefully get under 32 mins. It should be a good way of working on my run speed. My main run focus will be endurance rather than speed but I can't ignore speed entirely.
I was meaning to upload some photos but have not had the time to do it and could not take photos riding on Sunday as it rained for the entire 3.5 hours. It was 95kms of soggy fun. I did actually enjoy the ride, especially when I was having a chew on a banana, taking it easy up a long incline, when I looked behind me as I neared the top of the hill and saw a pack of around 20 riders behind me. It was the last thing I expected and I nearly rode into the middle of the road but once I recovered from my surprise I put the hammer down so they didn't swamp me down the hill. They took a turn to Paris Creek and I continued on towards Goolwa so I didn't have the chance to test my speed against the Adelaide Hills Veteran Cyclists . After checking their website I think I might have a ride with them just to get some company on some rides.
Running in my backyard is always a great experience, 14km aerobic zone run surrounded by beautiful Eucalypt woodland, the odd kangaroo and lots of birds. Not really all my backyard but close.
Running tomorrow, and if I can get enough work done a swim at lunchtime. Short 40km easy ride on Saturday then the race on Sunday. Plan is calling for around 12 hours next week but have a big meeting to organise for Wednesday so it may be another week of of catch up.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Another Tri blog begins
Hi,
after becoming engrossed with DC Rainmaker's blog about his triathlon journey I thought that I could do the same. I am a recent convert to the sport of triathlon, having only completed one season but I did enough on a limited and haphazard training schedule to encourage me to go full on next season.
Apart from physical limiters preventing me from being on top of the podium, like most of us I have financial limiters that have put me at the lower end of the triathlon gear but I really think (or at least I want to believe) that having the best gear is not really going to win me any races. Hence the title of the blog, The Tigh-tarse Triathlete, I am doing it on a shoe string budget. I sold a guitar and computer to get my current bike, bike computer and some clothing.
Of course I would like some top of the line gear but I am doing alright with what I have so unless I get sponsored (ha ha) I think I will be wearing and riding the same stuff until it falls apart.
Some background about me; live near the coast south of Adelaide in South Australia on a small property (5 hectares) surrounded by lots of beautifual natural bushland in a house my partner and I built. It is a great place to bring up our children and a very nice place to run and ride. Being near the coast I can get in a bit of swimming but now that is getting into winter I have to try and find time to get to a pool, which is a little hard as there are none close by.
I got into Triathlon last year after taking up running, then buying a bike and needing a focus and always being intrigued by Triathlon I entered a Sprint Tri last November. Since then I have been a trifle obsessed. The biggest challenge is trying to find a balance between family life, work committments and training. Last season there was no plan, I had no real base of fitness before the season but managed to achieve my main goal which was to finish the Victor Harbor Triathlon in less than 2 and a half hours. I got home in 2.25.25, although the swim was not 1500m. I also finished my first Half Marathon in mid April this year in 1.37.52. Running is my weakest leg in the triathlon so completing a HM has given me the confidence that my running can be improved quite a bit
This upcoming season will be different, I am putting together a plan that will hopefully take me to a sub 5hr finish at the Ironman 70.3 in Geelong in February 2010. I have two other races I would like to do well in, the Victor Harbor Triathlon and the Murray Man Triathlon. I am also toying with the idea of doing the Adelaide Marathon this August but I need to convince myself that I can do it without damaging myself. Swim speed, running speed and endurance will be my main areas where I want to improve and if I can stay motivated and if anyone cares I will keep this blog as a record of the season's progress.
after becoming engrossed with DC Rainmaker's blog about his triathlon journey I thought that I could do the same. I am a recent convert to the sport of triathlon, having only completed one season but I did enough on a limited and haphazard training schedule to encourage me to go full on next season.
Apart from physical limiters preventing me from being on top of the podium, like most of us I have financial limiters that have put me at the lower end of the triathlon gear but I really think (or at least I want to believe) that having the best gear is not really going to win me any races. Hence the title of the blog, The Tigh-tarse Triathlete, I am doing it on a shoe string budget. I sold a guitar and computer to get my current bike, bike computer and some clothing.
Of course I would like some top of the line gear but I am doing alright with what I have so unless I get sponsored (ha ha) I think I will be wearing and riding the same stuff until it falls apart.
Some background about me; live near the coast south of Adelaide in South Australia on a small property (5 hectares) surrounded by lots of beautifual natural bushland in a house my partner and I built. It is a great place to bring up our children and a very nice place to run and ride. Being near the coast I can get in a bit of swimming but now that is getting into winter I have to try and find time to get to a pool, which is a little hard as there are none close by.
I got into Triathlon last year after taking up running, then buying a bike and needing a focus and always being intrigued by Triathlon I entered a Sprint Tri last November. Since then I have been a trifle obsessed. The biggest challenge is trying to find a balance between family life, work committments and training. Last season there was no plan, I had no real base of fitness before the season but managed to achieve my main goal which was to finish the Victor Harbor Triathlon in less than 2 and a half hours. I got home in 2.25.25, although the swim was not 1500m. I also finished my first Half Marathon in mid April this year in 1.37.52. Running is my weakest leg in the triathlon so completing a HM has given me the confidence that my running can be improved quite a bit
This upcoming season will be different, I am putting together a plan that will hopefully take me to a sub 5hr finish at the Ironman 70.3 in Geelong in February 2010. I have two other races I would like to do well in, the Victor Harbor Triathlon and the Murray Man Triathlon. I am also toying with the idea of doing the Adelaide Marathon this August but I need to convince myself that I can do it without damaging myself. Swim speed, running speed and endurance will be my main areas where I want to improve and if I can stay motivated and if anyone cares I will keep this blog as a record of the season's progress.
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