Just a quick post to say that my creative juices are still flowing at the moment and training is back on track. However, my energy is focussed on getting a couple of publications done (work) and on teaching over the next couple of weeks so I might not be able to blog too much.
Needless to say, I am keeping up with the training and still constantly thinking about what I am going to write about next. Its just that contributions to the blog will be limited to small entries and/or a relatively small number until I get this work out of the way.
I am also chipping away at some ideas for a charity fund raiser as part of my race and I want to give that some focus over the next few weeks too.
26 July 2010
21 July 2010
I need a fix!
I have only managed to train for 25 minutes since Saturday and I am going crazy. Two visits to Auckland have meant that it has been impossible to train and, even though Geoff and I planned a light week to account for this, I am frustrated that I haven't been able to do more than one run.
After two days without any exercise I started to get the shakes and started to feel achey in my shoulders and legs. Then today I have had headaches and just felt generally crappy. It doesn' help that I have had three flights already this week and that my diet has been crap because I have been eating on the run so much.
I think that I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms and I need a fix real quick!
After two days without any exercise I started to get the shakes and started to feel achey in my shoulders and legs. Then today I have had headaches and just felt generally crappy. It doesn' help that I have had three flights already this week and that my diet has been crap because I have been eating on the run so much.
I think that I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms and I need a fix real quick!
17 July 2010
Extra Long Ride
Today I went for a ride with Geoff and James and it ended up being my longest ride ever. It was a grey, drizzly day when we left but there was only a gentle wind as we headed down the coast to Taieri Mouth. After a comfort stop at the domain we started on the long steep climb on the road to Waihola. What a climb! Sea level to 329m altitude over about 5 kilometres and then a rapid 60km/h descent.
Geoff pushed us along on the Taieri and my legs were really starting to tire as we headed up Riccarton Road. Only to be told by Geoff as he pulled up alongside me that I wasn't even half way in the Challenge Distance (86km). Not fair, there are no hills like we'd done in any ironman distance race. We were about 3.5 hours into the ride so I figured we were actually a bit past half way.
By the time we finished we had covered 109.4km in 4:30 (4:10 moving time) and I was completely knackered, but well pleased that I'd just done my longest ride ever. Since Sunday I have covered 241km and climbed almost 2,000 metres on the bike in 9:21, not bad for a beginner, I reckon!
Geoff pushed us along on the Taieri and my legs were really starting to tire as we headed up Riccarton Road. Only to be told by Geoff as he pulled up alongside me that I wasn't even half way in the Challenge Distance (86km). Not fair, there are no hills like we'd done in any ironman distance race. We were about 3.5 hours into the ride so I figured we were actually a bit past half way.
By the time we finished we had covered 109.4km in 4:30 (4:10 moving time) and I was completely knackered, but well pleased that I'd just done my longest ride ever. Since Sunday I have covered 241km and climbed almost 2,000 metres on the bike in 9:21, not bad for a beginner, I reckon!
15 July 2010
Feeling guilty
Yesterday I had to shorten my swim by 50 metres (2 x 25m kickboard sessions) and my planned 60 min ride by 20min and then today I was unable to squeeze in my interval run session because the start of semester has meant a new routine and it has been difficult to schedule everything. I know this is just a blip while I work into my new timetable (teaching, office hours, etc) and a one off trip to Auckland next week, but it still doesn't stop me feeling gulity about missed training.
I reckon I've done remarkably well at sticking to my schedule to date, only missing 4 or 5 sessions out of over 160 scheduled sessions and these were mostly because of illness or injury, so I can't really complain and I shouldn't beat myself up over it. I guess one of the things that I am gaining out of this journey is the sense of accomplishment that comes from maintaining discipline and this week I feel like I have let that slip.
At the time of my accident I also had massive pangs of guilt, not least of which was when my parents arrived at my bedside a couple of days after it all happened.
23 August 2001 (two days after the accident)
I am out of ICU now and in a normal ward of the Austin Hospital. My IV is connected to a blue box on the IV stand - a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) - and connected to the blue box is a lovely bottle of morphine. As the pain begins to increase I can dial-a-dose with the push of a button and the pain goes away (well it is reduced, at the moment it never goes away). If I don't push the button it gives me a regular dose anyway as they want to minimise the pain to aid my recovery. It's all very clever and very useful and it's also designed so that I can't OD if I get too trigger happy.
Carleen was with me when we came up to my new room, but she has just popped out to meet Mum and Dad to bring them upstairs. My room is a single room and I am struck by the starkness of the bright white walls and the sun steaming in the windows. It is located on the 7th floor and, being a corner room, it has windows on two walls with commanding views over Heidelberg and Warringal to the hills of Eltham and beyond. Not that I care too much about the outlook, I am in too much pain and I'm stoned up to my eyeballs. But I am, at least, grateful that I can see that the world is still very real and that I am still very much in it.
My parents arrived in Melbourne this morning after a hastily arranged flight so they could be near me (their eldest son) and to help in whatever way they can. I can't imagine how they are feeling right now, especially as they have already lost a daughter. My sister, Lara, died in 1995 at the age of 19 after a routine surgical procedure to open up a hiatus hernia of her esophagus. She had been undergoing this procedure for many years as it was one of many conditions that she had as part of her Downs Syndrome. Despite the fact that when Lara was born my parents were told Lara would be unlikely to live beyond the age of 5, my parents were understandably hit hard by her death. My Dad, took it particularly hard and it had taken him years to come to terms with it (in fact I am not sure that he has fully come to terms with it yet) and now I had come close to being the second of their children to die prematurely.
Lara was a beautiful person, she touched everyone that she met. She was kind and gentle and had a wicked sense of humour despite her limited vocabulary and many medical conditions. She very rarely complained about anything even though her hernia meant that most of her food had to be pureed and she would often vomit as food got stuck. She endured dozens of surgeries and hardly a year went by where she wasn't in hospital. But somehow through it all she was a beacon of light and joy and we were all better for having had her as part of our family. Mum and Dad went through a lot of pain and heartache with Lara's condition and I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them to cope. For Gary (my middle brother), Chris (my youngest brother and Lara's twin) and I, Lara was just our sister. Sure she was handicapped and sure she had a lot of health problems, but she was our sister and we loved her to bits.
Mum and Dad are on there way up now and I am not sure how I am going to deal with them being here. We are all used to hospitals, illness and injury. With Lara in and out of hospital and Dad having several major back surgeries over a period of several years when I was a teenager, visiting someone in hospital is nothing extraordinary. I too, have had my fair share of hospital visits (rugby injuries, cycling accidents, chickens wrangling incidents...), but this was different. I almost died this time and I am far from being out of the woods yet. Given how Lara's death had been for Mum and Dad, I am really worried about how this is going to impact on them.
I was there when Lara died and because it had hit Mum and Dad so hard and I was the oldest son, I felt that I had to be the strong one and that I had to help them through. In a lot of ways I feel that on that day I become an adult (even though I was 24 at the time), I felt a huge sense of responsibility to pull Mum, Dad and the rest of the family through. Now as I lie flat on my back in the hospital I feel the same sense of responsibility, the same need to help Mum and Dad through, but this time I am powerless to do anything. This time I am the source of their despair and not part of the solution. I am overwhelmed by guilt.
Mum and Dad are here now and we embrace, sobbing uncontrollably as one. We are utterly defenseless. We are vulnerable, raw and exposed. We are in 1995 all over again, only now I am not strong and I hate what it is doing to Mum and Dad.
I reckon I've done remarkably well at sticking to my schedule to date, only missing 4 or 5 sessions out of over 160 scheduled sessions and these were mostly because of illness or injury, so I can't really complain and I shouldn't beat myself up over it. I guess one of the things that I am gaining out of this journey is the sense of accomplishment that comes from maintaining discipline and this week I feel like I have let that slip.
At the time of my accident I also had massive pangs of guilt, not least of which was when my parents arrived at my bedside a couple of days after it all happened.
23 August 2001 (two days after the accident)
I am out of ICU now and in a normal ward of the Austin Hospital. My IV is connected to a blue box on the IV stand - a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) - and connected to the blue box is a lovely bottle of morphine. As the pain begins to increase I can dial-a-dose with the push of a button and the pain goes away (well it is reduced, at the moment it never goes away). If I don't push the button it gives me a regular dose anyway as they want to minimise the pain to aid my recovery. It's all very clever and very useful and it's also designed so that I can't OD if I get too trigger happy.
Carleen was with me when we came up to my new room, but she has just popped out to meet Mum and Dad to bring them upstairs. My room is a single room and I am struck by the starkness of the bright white walls and the sun steaming in the windows. It is located on the 7th floor and, being a corner room, it has windows on two walls with commanding views over Heidelberg and Warringal to the hills of Eltham and beyond. Not that I care too much about the outlook, I am in too much pain and I'm stoned up to my eyeballs. But I am, at least, grateful that I can see that the world is still very real and that I am still very much in it.
My parents arrived in Melbourne this morning after a hastily arranged flight so they could be near me (their eldest son) and to help in whatever way they can. I can't imagine how they are feeling right now, especially as they have already lost a daughter. My sister, Lara, died in 1995 at the age of 19 after a routine surgical procedure to open up a hiatus hernia of her esophagus. She had been undergoing this procedure for many years as it was one of many conditions that she had as part of her Downs Syndrome. Despite the fact that when Lara was born my parents were told Lara would be unlikely to live beyond the age of 5, my parents were understandably hit hard by her death. My Dad, took it particularly hard and it had taken him years to come to terms with it (in fact I am not sure that he has fully come to terms with it yet) and now I had come close to being the second of their children to die prematurely.
Lara was a beautiful person, she touched everyone that she met. She was kind and gentle and had a wicked sense of humour despite her limited vocabulary and many medical conditions. She very rarely complained about anything even though her hernia meant that most of her food had to be pureed and she would often vomit as food got stuck. She endured dozens of surgeries and hardly a year went by where she wasn't in hospital. But somehow through it all she was a beacon of light and joy and we were all better for having had her as part of our family. Mum and Dad went through a lot of pain and heartache with Lara's condition and I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them to cope. For Gary (my middle brother), Chris (my youngest brother and Lara's twin) and I, Lara was just our sister. Sure she was handicapped and sure she had a lot of health problems, but she was our sister and we loved her to bits.
Mum and Dad are on there way up now and I am not sure how I am going to deal with them being here. We are all used to hospitals, illness and injury. With Lara in and out of hospital and Dad having several major back surgeries over a period of several years when I was a teenager, visiting someone in hospital is nothing extraordinary. I too, have had my fair share of hospital visits (rugby injuries, cycling accidents, chickens wrangling incidents...), but this was different. I almost died this time and I am far from being out of the woods yet. Given how Lara's death had been for Mum and Dad, I am really worried about how this is going to impact on them.
I was there when Lara died and because it had hit Mum and Dad so hard and I was the oldest son, I felt that I had to be the strong one and that I had to help them through. In a lot of ways I feel that on that day I become an adult (even though I was 24 at the time), I felt a huge sense of responsibility to pull Mum, Dad and the rest of the family through. Now as I lie flat on my back in the hospital I feel the same sense of responsibility, the same need to help Mum and Dad through, but this time I am powerless to do anything. This time I am the source of their despair and not part of the solution. I am overwhelmed by guilt.
Mum and Dad are here now and we embrace, sobbing uncontrollably as one. We are utterly defenseless. We are vulnerable, raw and exposed. We are in 1995 all over again, only now I am not strong and I hate what it is doing to Mum and Dad.
13 July 2010
A few milestones ahead
Over the next few weeks I am heading for some significant milestones on the road to Challenge Wanaka:
- Later this week it will be six months to race day.
- I am nearing a BMI of under 30 - the first time I will be 'official' not obese in more than 10 years.
- In the next fortnight to three weeks I should reach 2,000km on the bike and 500km running since I started training for Challenge and in before that I will break 2,500km in total.
The week that was (week 16)
An up and down week last week in terms of motivation, tiredness and ability to train, but in the end I feel like I put in a big effort and I feel pretty good this week. The week consisted of:
Swim: 5 sessions totalling 6.9km in 3.5 hours (by far my biggest weekly swim total)
Bike: 4 sessions totalling 157.8km in just over 6 hours
Run: 3 sessions totalling 31km in 3:10 (including an 83km ride with Coach Geoff on Sunday at a relatively high perceived effort.)
Total 12 sessions, 195.7km and 12.7 hours.
Biggest probelm of the week was lack of sleep catching up on me after some late nights watching the All Whites play in the world cup in the 10 days prior. I also started to find that I was hungary a lot and was snacking quite a bit, but despite this my weight has continued to drop slowly at a rate of about 0.5kg per week for the last four weeks or so.
Swim: 5 sessions totalling 6.9km in 3.5 hours (by far my biggest weekly swim total)
Bike: 4 sessions totalling 157.8km in just over 6 hours
Run: 3 sessions totalling 31km in 3:10 (including an 83km ride with Coach Geoff on Sunday at a relatively high perceived effort.)
Total 12 sessions, 195.7km and 12.7 hours.
Biggest probelm of the week was lack of sleep catching up on me after some late nights watching the All Whites play in the world cup in the 10 days prior. I also started to find that I was hungary a lot and was snacking quite a bit, but despite this my weight has continued to drop slowly at a rate of about 0.5kg per week for the last four weeks or so.
12 July 2010
An assault on my senses
For some reason while out on my run tonight I found myself to be hypersensitised, with every sight, smell, touch and sound amplified several times over. I am not sure if this is because of the combination of extreme cold and dark night (no moon) or because for the first time as I left for my run I uttered to Carleen the words I have been anticipating but dreading: "I can't really be bothered training tonight". Perhaps it was because my mind was able to wander as I was on a familiar route and I had nothing technical to concentrate on during the run. Regardless, I got into a rhythm really quickly and I was very soon bombarded with sensory stimuli.
The first thing I noticed was the smell of smoke that drifted aimlessly along the Leith Valley, emanating as it did from every chimney I passed. Some smelled like a comfortable campfire ablaze in a circle of tents while others had the tar-like stench of coal or the toxic fumes of smoldering chemicals. These aromas swirled around my head, filling my lungs with thick soup of nastiness. As I ambled down the valley I also noticed the sepia-toned glint of the frost on the footpath as it glimmered in the amber glow of the street lamps. My face, ears and neck were frozen to the point of hurting by the friged air that pressed down on me and the barley audible, yet constant, crunch of frost under foot reminded me of one of the reasons I was so reluctant to train tonight.
As I left the valley and passed the Woodhaugh Gardens the sounds of the city started to invade my personal space. I could hear the raucous, but rhythmic chants of a student party off to the left as they celebrated the end of the first day of semester. Then out of the darkness and to my great surprise I heard the faint cry of a native owl - a Morpork - over my right shoulder; only the second time I have ever heard one in Dunedin, the first time ironically walking home after a raucous student party.
Nearing George Street I was now fully immersed in the soft low rumble of the city. Cars would roll past, lights blazing and tyres humming on the road and crunching on the grit. Groups of students would walk past in the opposite direction, their voices seeming to penetrate deep inside me. Out through the campus and past the new stadium construction site the sights, sounds and smells of the city were a veritable cacophony. Then, as I neared the harbour, it was all replaced by the roar of a very gentle, but bitterly cold, polar breeze as it hit my face. Now my face ached and burned and I could concentrate on little else.
Two kilometres later, out of the wind in the lee of the hill, I began to notice several running partners join me. Some were ghostly grey others were reassuringly sold dark shapes. They would be right beside me as I passed under the street lamps, but would stretch out in front of me as I moved on, another joining me just as I reached the next light. I have never noticed my shadows before while running, but tonight they were great company.
As I turned to to head back up the harbour on the waterfront track the roar of the breeze on my face and in my ears was replaced with the hypnotic "clop-rasp-clop-rasp-clop rasp" of my feet pounding the pavement and my arms rubbing on the side of my nylon jacket. This beat was only broken by a single shrill from an Oystercatcher on the shore and the "phert - phert - phert" of my latest contribution to greenhouse gases as it reverberated in time with my stride. The harbour was dark but my eyes were drawn to the asynchronous blinking of the green and red channel markers and the occasional white seabird flying into the outer reaches of the glow of the street lamps.
Back at Logan Park again and the oppressive weight of the cold hit me; my face burning and arms and shoulders starting to feel like lead. Off in the distance I could hear a large group of very loud students, then from the corner of my eye I saw something scuttle across the grass beside me. I jump back in surprise and heard claws scurry up the bark of a tree and saw a very large possum scoot up the trunk faster than I could run away. As I neared the noisy students I saw that the large group was actually only seven or eight very drunk, and far too under-dressed, women. Their antics were unbearably loud and, when one of them tried to mock me by running behind me in her high heels, the sound of her shoes pierced my ear drums. Their laughter surrounded me like we were all locked in a small cupboard and I moved on as fast as I could.
By the time I start heading back up the Leith Valley with a hint of stale beer in the air, my right hip is getting very tired and my "clop-rasp" was replaced with a "clop-rasp-skid/clop-rasp-clop-rasp-skid/clop-rasp" as my right leg drags ever so slightly across the grit on the footpath. I was occasionally rejoined by my running partners as I pass under the widely spaced street lamps and the Waters of the Leith babbled alongside me as the river meandered down the valley.
Back at the truck and done for the night, I had covered 14.9km in 1:27 without even thinking about it. I am refreshed by the run but completely drained by the over-stimulation.
The first thing I noticed was the smell of smoke that drifted aimlessly along the Leith Valley, emanating as it did from every chimney I passed. Some smelled like a comfortable campfire ablaze in a circle of tents while others had the tar-like stench of coal or the toxic fumes of smoldering chemicals. These aromas swirled around my head, filling my lungs with thick soup of nastiness. As I ambled down the valley I also noticed the sepia-toned glint of the frost on the footpath as it glimmered in the amber glow of the street lamps. My face, ears and neck were frozen to the point of hurting by the friged air that pressed down on me and the barley audible, yet constant, crunch of frost under foot reminded me of one of the reasons I was so reluctant to train tonight.
As I left the valley and passed the Woodhaugh Gardens the sounds of the city started to invade my personal space. I could hear the raucous, but rhythmic chants of a student party off to the left as they celebrated the end of the first day of semester. Then out of the darkness and to my great surprise I heard the faint cry of a native owl - a Morpork - over my right shoulder; only the second time I have ever heard one in Dunedin, the first time ironically walking home after a raucous student party.
Nearing George Street I was now fully immersed in the soft low rumble of the city. Cars would roll past, lights blazing and tyres humming on the road and crunching on the grit. Groups of students would walk past in the opposite direction, their voices seeming to penetrate deep inside me. Out through the campus and past the new stadium construction site the sights, sounds and smells of the city were a veritable cacophony. Then, as I neared the harbour, it was all replaced by the roar of a very gentle, but bitterly cold, polar breeze as it hit my face. Now my face ached and burned and I could concentrate on little else.
Two kilometres later, out of the wind in the lee of the hill, I began to notice several running partners join me. Some were ghostly grey others were reassuringly sold dark shapes. They would be right beside me as I passed under the street lamps, but would stretch out in front of me as I moved on, another joining me just as I reached the next light. I have never noticed my shadows before while running, but tonight they were great company.
As I turned to to head back up the harbour on the waterfront track the roar of the breeze on my face and in my ears was replaced with the hypnotic "clop-rasp-clop-rasp-clop rasp" of my feet pounding the pavement and my arms rubbing on the side of my nylon jacket. This beat was only broken by a single shrill from an Oystercatcher on the shore and the "phert - phert - phert" of my latest contribution to greenhouse gases as it reverberated in time with my stride. The harbour was dark but my eyes were drawn to the asynchronous blinking of the green and red channel markers and the occasional white seabird flying into the outer reaches of the glow of the street lamps.
Back at Logan Park again and the oppressive weight of the cold hit me; my face burning and arms and shoulders starting to feel like lead. Off in the distance I could hear a large group of very loud students, then from the corner of my eye I saw something scuttle across the grass beside me. I jump back in surprise and heard claws scurry up the bark of a tree and saw a very large possum scoot up the trunk faster than I could run away. As I neared the noisy students I saw that the large group was actually only seven or eight very drunk, and far too under-dressed, women. Their antics were unbearably loud and, when one of them tried to mock me by running behind me in her high heels, the sound of her shoes pierced my ear drums. Their laughter surrounded me like we were all locked in a small cupboard and I moved on as fast as I could.
By the time I start heading back up the Leith Valley with a hint of stale beer in the air, my right hip is getting very tired and my "clop-rasp" was replaced with a "clop-rasp-skid/clop-rasp-clop-rasp-skid/clop-rasp" as my right leg drags ever so slightly across the grit on the footpath. I was occasionally rejoined by my running partners as I pass under the widely spaced street lamps and the Waters of the Leith babbled alongside me as the river meandered down the valley.
Back at the truck and done for the night, I had covered 14.9km in 1:27 without even thinking about it. I am refreshed by the run but completely drained by the over-stimulation.
08 July 2010
Looking back at my achievements - the numbers
Since I started training seriously in 2008 I have completed more than 30 events of 5km or longer. Below is a list of the events that I have completed as an individual (there are some other team events not covered here). When I look at the sheer number of these, and the improvement, I can't believe that the I am the same guy who at high school was almost always last in the cross country runs and who thought Brendon Downie (one of NZ's most well-known triathletes and who was the same year as me at high school) was mad:
(Listed as Event date (distances) time.)
Half mararthons:
1 Moro (Dunedin) 14/09/2008 2:08:28
2 Cromwell 25/10/2008 1:58:54
3 Southland 9/11/2008 2:01:52
4 Southern Lakes 11/04/2009 1:51:32
5 Christchurch 31/05/2009 1:55:32
6 Balclutha 28/06/2009 1:58:51
7 Woodbourne 16/08/2009 2:00:30
8 Moro (Dunedin) 13/09/2009 2:00:13
9 Hill Free (Outram) 4/10/2009 1:52:50
10 Cromwell 25/10/2009 21.1 1:50 1:49:24
11 Lake Wanaka Half (ironman) (team) 16/01/2010 21.1 1:48 2:04:36
12 Southern Lakes 27/03/2010 21.1 1:45 1:46:40 (PB)
13 Chistchurch 7/06/2010 21.1 1:45 1:47:39
Full Marathon
Southland (National Champs) 22/11/2009 4:21:13
5km
1 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 25:12
2 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 25:30
3 Corporate Tri Mac Bay Mar-09 24:29
4 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 25:01
5 Tri Club Tri Vauxhall Mar-09 24:02
6 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 24:31
7 Hill City Fun Run Chingford 9/03/2010 25:03
8 Hill City Fun Run Bayfield 16/03/2010 25:01
9 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park 23/03/2010 23:29 (PB)
Duathlon
1 Winter Series Race 1 Taieri 2/08/2009 (2.5k, 9.6k, 2.5k) 0:46:19 (Winner)
2 Winter Series Race 4 Taieri 30/08/2009 (5k, 38.5k, 10k) 2:55:59 (last)
3 Rail Trail 27 & 28/02/2010 (150km in 7 legs over 2 days) 8:29:44
4 Winter Series Race 1 Taieri 23/05/2010 (5k, 19.26k, 5k) 1:23:15
5 Winter Series Race 2 Taieri 27/06/2010 (5k, 19.26k, 5k) 1:22:10
Triathlon
1 Lake Dunstan (Cromwell) 2/01/2010 (500m, 22km, 5.8km) 01:31:19
2 Lake Hayes Easter (Lake Hayes) 2/04/2010 (750m, 22km, 5km) 01:29:49
(Listed as Event date (distances) time.)
Half mararthons:
1 Moro (Dunedin) 14/09/2008 2:08:28
2 Cromwell 25/10/2008 1:58:54
3 Southland 9/11/2008 2:01:52
4 Southern Lakes 11/04/2009 1:51:32
5 Christchurch 31/05/2009 1:55:32
6 Balclutha 28/06/2009 1:58:51
7 Woodbourne 16/08/2009 2:00:30
8 Moro (Dunedin) 13/09/2009 2:00:13
9 Hill Free (Outram) 4/10/2009 1:52:50
10 Cromwell 25/10/2009 21.1 1:50 1:49:24
11 Lake Wanaka Half (ironman) (team) 16/01/2010 21.1 1:48 2:04:36
12 Southern Lakes 27/03/2010 21.1 1:45 1:46:40 (PB)
13 Chistchurch 7/06/2010 21.1 1:45 1:47:39
Full Marathon
Southland (National Champs) 22/11/2009 4:21:13
5km
1 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 25:12
2 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 25:30
3 Corporate Tri Mac Bay Mar-09 24:29
4 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 25:01
5 Tri Club Tri Vauxhall Mar-09 24:02
6 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park Mar-09 24:31
7 Hill City Fun Run Chingford 9/03/2010 25:03
8 Hill City Fun Run Bayfield 16/03/2010 25:01
9 Hill City Fun Run Logan Park 23/03/2010 23:29 (PB)
Duathlon
1 Winter Series Race 1 Taieri 2/08/2009 (2.5k, 9.6k, 2.5k) 0:46:19 (Winner)
2 Winter Series Race 4 Taieri 30/08/2009 (5k, 38.5k, 10k) 2:55:59 (last)
3 Rail Trail 27 & 28/02/2010 (150km in 7 legs over 2 days) 8:29:44
4 Winter Series Race 1 Taieri 23/05/2010 (5k, 19.26k, 5k) 1:23:15
5 Winter Series Race 2 Taieri 27/06/2010 (5k, 19.26k, 5k) 1:22:10
Triathlon
1 Lake Dunstan (Cromwell) 2/01/2010 (500m, 22km, 5.8km) 01:31:19
2 Lake Hayes Easter (Lake Hayes) 2/04/2010 (750m, 22km, 5km) 01:29:49
07 July 2010
Coach Geoff Knows Best
I have just finished some interval training and I am absolutely stuffed. I just want to go to bed and sleep for a couple of days. Its not the intervals that have taken it out of me nor is it the volume of training (either the number of sessions or amount of time I have spent training). It is the fact that I have not been following Coach Geoff's instructions on the intensity of my training. In particualr I am pushing far too hard on the bike. For example's Sunday's ride was supposed to be 'easy' intensity but I pushed to more like half ironman pace for the whole three hours and then yesterday I got a great tail wind on an 'Ironman' (IM) pace progression so I decided that it was ok to do 40-45km/h (I maxed out at almost 47km/hr) all the way back from Broad Bay.
There is a reason that Geoff prescribes very detailled and specific intensity, duration and schedule for my training and I know I need to be doing this, but on the bike in particualr, I jus can't help myself. This week Geoff has added an extra swim session so that I have had four days in a row of swimming (for the first time ever) and it has been quite draining (if you'll excuse the water pun :-)), but I know that I'd have coped much better if I had listened to Geoff about the intensity of ALL of my workouts.
Geoff definitely knows best and from now on I am going to follow him to the absolute letter.
There is a reason that Geoff prescribes very detailled and specific intensity, duration and schedule for my training and I know I need to be doing this, but on the bike in particualr, I jus can't help myself. This week Geoff has added an extra swim session so that I have had four days in a row of swimming (for the first time ever) and it has been quite draining (if you'll excuse the water pun :-)), but I know that I'd have coped much better if I had listened to Geoff about the intensity of ALL of my workouts.
Geoff definitely knows best and from now on I am going to follow him to the absolute letter.
06 July 2010
Negotiating the speed bumps
The last 2 weeks or so have seen me hit a few speed bumps (e.g. my daughter getting ill a couple of times, my own 24 hour stomach bug last week and then again last night and the emergence of some self doubt), but I think I have negotiated them now. I have trained strongly since Sunday with an excellent long ride on my own on Sunday, a couple of good sessions in the pool, another good controlled ride today and (despite having to have a couple of unscheduled toilet stops to deal with an upset stomach) a good controlled 90 minute run last night.
My head is also in a better place thanks to positive comments from people in response to my self doubt posting last week. The first of these was from Jason Wadsworth who always seems to come up with fantastic feedback just when I need it. Last week he emailled me within hours of my post and said:
My head is also in a better place thanks to positive comments from people in response to my self doubt posting last week. The first of these was from Jason Wadsworth who always seems to come up with fantastic feedback just when I need it. Last week he emailled me within hours of my post and said:
"Time for reflection mate. Did you have those voice's when you ran your first half [marathon]. If you had listened to them you may have stopped but your character is too strong to listen to them. Reflect back on how far you have come and take from that the strength you need to move forward and achieve your goals. You can do anything. ... Often we spend so much time focusing on our goals that we think it can never be achieved. When we review how far we have come it can often reminds us that yes the road is difficult ahead but we have achieved goals in the past, we can achieve in the future if we want to."
Very wise advice and something that I have taken on board and will be putting into practice more often. I have been recording my sporting achievements over the last two years and I periodically look at the results (and by that I usually just mean the numbers), but I rarely reflect on exactly what I have achieved. I plan to do this in a blog post later this week. Thanks Jas! You have been a huge help to me already, I am so glad that I looked you up on facebook when I did. I used to look up to you as my First XV rugby captain at school and you are still coming through with inspiration and leadership even if (and possibly even because) you are so humble with it.
Others have provided positive reinforcement face to face. For example Geoff (Coach) in his usual way - "Shit yeah, you can do this and do this well." - it never ceases to amaze me how supremely confident he is in my ability to pull this off. Victoria (Race Director) from Challenge Wanaka at a promotional road show last Thursday evening also said that she had every confidence that I could do this. I have also drawn further comfort from the training diary of Tracey Richardson that I found online, as her entries are littered with pangs of anxiety and doubt and she got through Ironman NZ and then conquered the Hawaii Ironman about 8 months later. Then, today I received a comment on my blog from Rachel Harris (see comment on self doubt post) that was a great boost and reading her account of her Challenge Wanaka 2009 effort has spurred me on too (I love these random comments from people, as they make not only the journey more worthwhile, but they also drive me to write more in this blog).
Thanks to everyone for helping me through these speed bumps. I am sure there will be more bumps more obstacles to negotiate but now I am reassured that there will be plenty of people there to help me over, through and around them.
The weeks that were (Weeks 14 & 15)
This is a belated and pretty boring update for the last two weeks. I have been delaing with a few minor helath issues and juggling a bit of life with trainibng over the last 10 days or so, so I haven't been able to keep up to date with blog posts.
Week 14 (week ended Sunday 27 June 2010):
run distance 37.8 km (including two 5km legs of a duathlon) in 3hours 34 minutes.
bike distance 108.9km (including 19.25km leg of a duathlon) in 3:35.
swim distance 4.5km in 2:50.
total distance 151.2km in 9:59.
Week 15 (week ended Sunday 4 July 2010):
This week was disrupted by a 24 hour stomach bug that meant I missed two sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
run distance 22.5km in 2:20.
bike distance 129.1km (including a 83.75km in 3:04) in 5:00.
swim distance 4.1km in 2:36.
total distance 155.7km in 9:56.
Week 14 (week ended Sunday 27 June 2010):
run distance 37.8 km (including two 5km legs of a duathlon) in 3hours 34 minutes.
bike distance 108.9km (including 19.25km leg of a duathlon) in 3:35.
swim distance 4.5km in 2:50.
total distance 151.2km in 9:59.
Week 15 (week ended Sunday 4 July 2010):
This week was disrupted by a 24 hour stomach bug that meant I missed two sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
run distance 22.5km in 2:20.
bike distance 129.1km (including a 83.75km in 3:04) in 5:00.
swim distance 4.1km in 2:36.
total distance 155.7km in 9:56.
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