More ups and downs

After my last post things have generally been on the up, but training has not been without its interruptions. I ended up with a very swollen gland in my neck and had another visit to the doctor. There wasn't any apparent cause for the swelling, but the Doc thought it might have been something like 'sand' in my saliva gland (a small piece of grit produced by the body in the same way that the kidney can produce stones). It was very painful and put me out of action for 4 or 5 days.

Thankfully the swelling and pain disappeared within a few days and just a few days later I managed to run a PB for 5km in training and things were looking up again. Then, just 3 days later I rolled my ankle at a rugby practice for the Colts team that I am coaching, when I stood on a loose piece of turf during a game of touch rugby. You must be kidding! I was really beginning to wonder if someone or somthing was trying to tell me to give up altogether. That put me out for another couple of days and by the end of the week I was also needing to rest my ankle again.

That was Friday last week and I had the Balclutha Half Marathon on Sunday. Somewhat foolhardily, I figured that I'd still give it a go and not only that, I set myself an ambitious target to shave some significant time off my PB.

Given the last month's events, I have no idea why I was so sure that I would be able to get anywhere near a PB, but I was very confident. I set the following targets for my splits:
5km        23:00 (all down hill)
10km      46:30
15km      70:30
20km      95:00
21.1km 101-102 (the last km is a real slog up hill)

To my very pleasant surprise, here is what I managed to do:
5km          21:57 (PB by 64 seconds)
10km        45:20 (PB by 2:34)

15km        70:01 (PB by 3:15)

20km        95:16 (PB by 3:36)
21.1k      101:02 (PB by 3:45 – based on corrected Cromwell time, only 1:34 better than actual Cromwell time, but it is definitely a shorter course)

I am stoked that I was able to achieve the pretty ambitious splits that I had set myself. The first part was faster than I had hoped to be doing as I got with a bunch that I could comfortably keep up with (and at times I even pushed them along a little). At about 3km I contemplated slowing to my target pace, but I felt strong and was able to stay with the bunch right through to 10-12km mark (when the group disintegrated anyway). Just as well I pushed a little harder for the first 10km as I was a little off target for the second and third 5km blocks. In the back of my mind I actually had 1:40 as my dream time for the day, but I knew that the last hill would be a major hurdle in achieving that. I gave it a bloody good nudge though. It wasn’t the perfect race, but getting up there in terms of knowing what my physical limits were and going right to those limits. I know that on the day I simply could not have gone any faster at any point of the race and I have never felt that before.

Average pace overall 4:47 min/km (11sec/km faster than my previous best pace).

In the meantime my weight is doing some weird things - up on Mondays and down on Thursdays, swinging as much as 2.5kg in 3 or 4 days. The upshot is that I have been hovering either side of 99kg for more than a month (as low as 98.2kg last Thursday and as high as 100.7kg the Monday before that). As is normal for me I am struggling a little with the nutrition plan. I am probably about 90% to plan, but it is the 10% that is letting me down. A 1:41 half marathon, though, has really spurred me on to lose more weight and acheive a 1:30 half marathon in the relatively near future.

Rediscovering my Mojo

Since my last post, almost three weeks ago, I have done almost no training. First, I got a cold that knocked me for six and then I completely lost any drive to train.

I simply loathed the thought of going to the pool and doing what seemed like endless laps and I really struggled to get any motivation to drag the bike out of the garage. However, I have managed a few runs over the last few weeks and actually really enjoyed them. In fact, I am craving just heading out and just running for as long as my legs carry me.

I can't pinpoint exactly why my motivation has diappeared, but I think that it is a reflection of a number of things. In an email to Coach Geoff, I wrote:

1: I think I am physically run down
My physical condition is not that flash at the moment. Aside from the cold, I have had a number of sores on my face and in my nose and I generally feel lethargic. My cuboid problem persists and my hip is not 100% yet either. I think this has been building for a while as I had been getting to Thursday each week of training and pretty much not having any energy at all for Thursday and Friday training. I am pretty sure this is a sign that I am physically run down.

2: I am mentally drained

This comes not just from training, but from life in general. A number of things buidling up at work, training, rugby, etc is making life pretty hectic albeit not as stressful as it has been in the past.

3: There is uncertainty around my ultimate training goal for this year
I am not sure whether I am going to be able to complete the training necessary for the full Challenge as there are some uncertainties around work and I don't know what demands it will place on my time. This is in the back of my mind all of the time when I train and makes it hard to commit to the session that I am doing

4: Some of my training no longer excites me

For the first time in well over two years, I dread going out for training. This is definitely true for swimming, sometimes the case for the bike, but only very rarely for the running.

5: I crave running

I still enjoy the running and actually feel myself craving to do some very long runs. I wonder if having a month or so with  a focus on running will reinvigorate me.

6: I still enjoy racing, but...

I received a comment on my blog the other day that has really kicked me in the guts and burst my bubble.

The comment was posted anonymously in response to my last post and went like this: "Oh pleeease!! Your times are very average, your trumpet blowing is getting annoying....spare us all!" I know I shouldn't have let it effect me, but it did. I deleted it as soon as I read it! I got angry! I felt depressed! But deep down I knew this hurt because it was true. I am nothing more than a very average athlete and right now there is nothing I could do about that.

In the past I would have used this sort of thing as motivation to spur me on, to train harder, to be faster. This time, though, I curled up in a (metaphorical) corner in self-pity.

On Tuesday, though, I rediscovered my mojo. I gave a lecture (the last of four on Challange Wanaka) to about 50 sports tourism students using excerpts from my blog to illustrate the emotional experiences of a Challenge athlete. As I read some passages, a lump came to my throat and my voice started to quiver. I got through, finishing about 10 minutes ahead of time, but exhausted and emotionally drained from the experience. As I did, a single clap came from the back of the room and then the entire class burst into brief, but heartfelt, applause. I nearly lost it right then and there, but managed to hold my composure. Then, in the lift back to my office, one of the young woman from the class said "That was a really inspirational lecture, thanks." In the two days since I have received two wonderful emails from two other members of the class thanking me for my lecture and for inspiring them to achieve. It felt fantastic!

Geoff has also worked out a new regime for me for the next couple of months that will focus primarily on running, with just a couple fo swims and one or two rides. It looks fantastic and has lots of nice short term goals in it to keep me interested. Running more should also assist in dropping my weight.

The outcome of this, however, is that it is unlikely that I will be doing the full Challenge Wanaka event in 2012. I will definitely be doing the Lake Wanaka Half and possibly one or two others over the summer, but, for the moment at least, I am in no state of mind to continue with the training necessary to pull off the full. I am both relieved and saddened at having reached this decision, but I want my next Challenge event to be the best I can possibly do and I know, even this far out, that I am unlikely to be able to give my full effort in 2012. My goal for Challenge is still the same - I want to make the top 20 in my age group - I am just being more realistic about when this might be (notice I said 'might', there is always a chance that I could upgrade my 2012 entry, should Geoff and I decide in a month or two that things are going well enough). Look out in 2013!

To be honest, I am really looking forward to doing the Lake Wanaka Half, as I am likely to be up against several people that I know: Lil Bro' Chris; James Brundell; another James; and even Coach Geoff. This makes me even more determined to be at a lean racing weight and to attain the target of under 20kg.

I've also started helping several mates with their training for various events. Two are old high school mates (Jas Wadsworth and Tony McAuliffe) who want to do the Moro Half Marathon in September, while my brother Chris and a friend from work Andrea Farminer have asked for advice on how to manage their training for the Lake Wanaka Half. It gives me a huge buzz to help these guys. I'm not promising any results, as my advice is pretty general stuff compared to the taylored specifics I get from Geoff. If nothing else it gives them a bit of structure and I am always their to motivate and encourage (or kick up the arse in the case of Tony).

It's been a really tough couple of weeks and I have had to dig really deep to get back on track, but I think that I am now heading off in the right direction, reinvigorated and recharged.

Gore Half Marathon - flailing arms and heavy breathing

Another little success today. I ran my second fastest half marathon ever, on what is one of the toughest courses I have done. There is a 150 metre vertical climb, with most of the first 9km up hill and then another 1.5km climb at about 11.5km. And, you guessed it, my friend the wind was blowing a nasty head wind in our face for most of the up hill stretches.

I definitely used my Challenge experience to get me up the hills. I chanted "I'm strong in the wind"... "Stay strong" and I was strong on the up-hills. Strangely, though, I found it tough on the down hill stretches as my hammies just didn't want to let me stride out. I guess that comes from all of the riding that I have been doing over the last few months. Strong quads and calves for climbing, but short hamstrings holding me back.

The really good news is that my hips were absolutely fantastic for the first time in... well as long as I can remember. There was no pain and no restricted movement. My right hip has not been free at all since my accident and has been particularly bad for the last few months. Geoff and my osteo (Abby Carrington) have been doing a lot of work on it and Geoff has given me a series of exercises to activate all of the relevant muscles, neurons, etc. It's all working exceptionally well.

I didn't know what to expect today as it has been more than 6 months since I have run a half marathon (the previous being my PB at Cromwell in October), so I am stoked with the result. Little bro', Chris, has been doing some impressive times in training, but I was able to keep pace for the first 5 km and even held a 50-80 metre lead at the 10km mark. A bout of stitch, after a gel and cold water at 10km (sorry Geoff, I know you don't want me using gels), slowed me and put a dint in my confidence. Chris passed me at the bottom of the hill at the 11.5km mark and I let him go, but half way up he started to slow and I gained a few metres back to be less than 50 metres behind.

By the 15km drink station Chris had a 50km lead and just after that powered away to over 100m ahead of me. Shortly after I reeled in a young guy whom had been ahead of me and who was clearly in discomfort for most of the last 10km. As I passed, he asked if this was my first race and I politely let him know that this was my 18th half or full and then, unfortunately, it appeared I had gained a friend for the rest of the race. His form was all over the place as he shook his arms in discomfort every 5m or so and his breathing was irratic and I was sure that I would shake him. But, NO, he bombarded me with a barrage of questions about how far to go, how long it was going to take, what was that beep (as my GPS signalled another km)...

All of this was sapping my energy so I decided that I had to drop him and drop him quick, I put the pedal to the metal and, you guessed it, he stumbled along, arms flailing everywhere and heavy breath grunting in my ear, never more than a pace or two behind me. He was really stuffing up my concentration and in the meantime, Chris was inching away. Then, with Chris about 180-200m ahead, I spotted the 18km drink station and I knew this was my chance to drop my new friend. I wanted to help him, I really did, but he was ruining my chance of clawing back some time on Chris.

I grabbed a drink, took one small gulp (hoping my mate would do the same and slow) and upped the ante as we rounded the corner. My strategy worked. As we round the corner the head wind rose and his breathing intensified and I knew this was the time to make a move. "Strong in the wind", I repeated over and over in my head and I was able to stride away. At the same time, I could see that Chris was struggling ahead and that I was gaining on him ever so slowly. I was careful not to go too hard too soon, but I was confident I could rein him in.

At about 19.5km, I was 120m or so behind Chris and I lifted the pace and was really happy to feel the pace quicken substantially and I began to reel him in. I was taking big chunks out and as he rounded the last corner, with what I thought was about 500m to go, I was only 30-40m behind. I knew he was mine. I could tell he had nothing else left as we'd done training runs together where I'd practiced exactly this scenario. I round the corner and... 'bloody hell, that's far too close' ... the finish line was less than half the distance that I expected.

I now knew that, barring a trip or stumble from Chris, I'd really struggle to pip him at the post (something I'd played over in my head on a number of occasions). I still gave it a bloody good nudge though and finished 10 seconds behind.

In the end, I finished in 1:45:23 (on a course that was 300 metres short, DAMN IT) and Chris finished in 1:45:13, a whooping 6:22 faster than his previous PB. Well done, Chris! That's 2:2, as far as half marathons go between us, but I am still 30 minutes ahead on aggregate time. Bring on 26 June and the Clutha Half Marathon!

Double digits

I'm stoked to have finally moved back into double figures... this time for good.

This morning I took a sneak peek on the scales (I normally weigh-in on Thursday and Monday) and I was pleasantly surprised to read 99.5kg. That's the lightest I have been since about 1998! I was around 99.7 last November but was over 100 by race day and crept back up to 106 by March.

The next target is % body fat lower than % muscle mass. I've been slowly watching the two lines converge on the graph that I plot from my scales (body fat getting lower and muscle mass getting higher) and there is now only a 2% difference between the two figures.

After that 90kg is my big target as I haven't been less than 91kg in at least 22 years.  Then the next serious target is 83.5kg which is 'normal' BMI for my height. I haven't been a 'normal' weight since I was about 10!

I've been losing an average of just under 1kg per week so at this rate it is conceivable that by August I could be at a normal weight. Given how much stronger I feel already having lost 6.5kg in the last 6.5 weeks, I can't wait to be in the 80s.

I had an awesome run session yesterday after a 2 hour ride on the bike. I felt very strong and was able to easily turn it into a progressive effort, starting out at about 5:26 pace for the first km while I found my run legs again and working up to 4:43 pace for the last of 6kms. It felt great to have spring in my legs and energy to burn...

The battle of the bulge is underway and so far I am winning; slowly, but I am winning.

Dangerous

Today I went out on an easy 2 hour ride, followed by an easy 15 minute run. It was a very cool, yet beautiful, calm afternoon and I was enjoying the opportunity to just turn the legs over and enjoy the scenery.

I wasn't slacking by any stretch of the imagination - I was averaging about 29km/h and keeping a nice steady cadence - but I was aware that the weekend had been quite a big effort (Lake Hayes Tri and a couple of 10km runs) and I needed to give my legs an opportunity to recover. That was until I got back to Portobello on the way back to town.

As I headed past the pub, I spotted a cyclist coming down off the hill from the high road over the Otago Peninsula. I swear she fluttered her eyelashes under her dark glasses and a broad smile spread across her face. As a red-blooded male, I nodded in acknowledgement, smiled back, pumped out the chest and picked up the pace a little as I sped on by.

I thought to myself, 'I bet she is going to try and tack on behind me to get a lift back to town', so I took my drink bottle out of its cage and slowed (just a little) to see if she would catch up. Sure enough within 500 metres or so she was right on my tail.

I picked up the pace to about 37 km/h just to show that I was no slouch. She easily kept pace and a couple of kilometres down the road, blonde pony tail flowing behind her, she went past me as if I was standing still.

GAME ON!

Having initially been attracted to cycling together by the usual "guy-thing" (a young, attractive, athletic blonde - apologies to my female readers, I am not a chauvinist, just too honest for my own good), I was now also in a duel to protect my ego. No way could I just drop off and let her ride off into the distance. I'd started this push and I had to finish it.

For the next ten kilometres into the wind we sped along at 37-41 km/h and, if the pace dropped anywhere near 35km/h, the person at the rear sprinted to the front and lifted the pace again. It was a great effort by both of us, but I knew I was going too hard for the easy session that I was supposed to be having.

Thank goodness she stopped when she did, because I would have had no legs left to do my run if we'd carried on the rest of the 5 kilometres to the end of the Peninsula. She sat up and said "This is me. Thanks, mate." I replied with my own "Thanks, mate" and carried on until I was out of sight around the next corner and then dropped the pace back to 25km/h.

It took me a full 10 minutes to get my run legs when I got off the bike and the whole run was a real struggle, so I knew that I had definitely pushed too hard.

I know... I'm a sad bastard, but every guy I know would have done exactly the same thing. It's just that I am the only one stupid enough to write about it and publish it for the world to read.

I think there is a lesson in this for all of us sad middle-aged men. Never let an attractive woman, half your age, lead you astray!

Two steps forward, one step back

Bummer, I have an injury!

It was a big weekend on the bike with three two-hour sessions totalling 175km. It was great, but my lower back and hip were bloody sore once I cooled down after the second ride and I knew somethign was up. I had hurt my hip at school camp, tackling a 9 year old a month earlier (I know, what the hell was I doing tackling a 9 year old?) and managed to do much the same thing last Wednesday at U9s rugby practice (I'm a slow learner).

On Monday, I got out of bed feeling like a dottery 90 year old and took an age to get moving, then getting off the toilet my back went a very painful spasm (as it had every few days for the last month). That wasn't the worst of it though, my shoe laces were the final straw and I could not strighten up again. It was agony and I knew that it wasn't good.

Long story short, I ended up at an osteopath (Abby at BodyWise Osteopathy) who did wonders, but I have struggled with sitting, standing and swimming all week. Strangely running is okay and has even been encouraged by Abby, but I have really had to take it easy in the pool and on the bike and had to flag the bike altogether today as I am extremely sore after Abby worked on me yesterday.

I'm still hoping to be okay for the Lake Hayes Triathlon next Friday, but will not push it and if I am not 100%, I'll give it a miss. It's a bit frustrating as I had felt that I have been really getting back into the groove.

My weight loss is also a bit up and down. I lose anywhere up to 2kgs Monday to Thursday each week and then lose my self control on the weekend and put 800g to 1kg back on by Monday. The upshot is that, as of yesterday, I have lost 5kgs in four and half weeks. That's pretty good really, but if I had been able to maintain the control over the weekend, I could have lost 8-10kgs. I am 101kgs now and hoping for under 100kg for next Friday, which will be the lightest I've been for a race in several months and at this rate I will be 90kg before I know it.

Stop looking, I've found them...

You can all stop looking now, I've finally found my training legs (and arms for that matter).

A great week of training this week (first time over 10 hours since race day) and today I finally felt like I was making some headway again.  It began with an excellent swim session on Friday when I belted out a set of 13 100s 5-10 seconds faster than I had been managing for the previous 3 weeks and faster than I have ever done.

Yesterday wasn't so flash as my right hip was so sore that I ended up spending the end of the day laying on the sofa, but today I went a little off-piste (away from my training schedule) and did a reasonably long and hard brick session (1:45 bike and 30 minute run).

It felt great just going for it as I felt. I was training with Chris and James and at various points along the way, I decided to put the foot down to try and see how much of a jump I could get on them. I felt extra strong and confident and free. It was awesome.

I'm not planning to be so reckless all the time, but it was good to blow the cobwebs out just this once.

The next race is coming up in under 3 weeks so I'll be keen to see how well I can progress over that time, as even though last weekend went well, I actually didn't feel that it was up to the potential that I have built up through last year's training. Bring on the Lake Hayes Tri on Good Friday!

Sixth at Otago Champs

I just competed in my first Otago Triathlon Champs. I wasn't expecting much, as longer training runs have really been taking it out of me this week and to be honest I felt like crap all week.  Lots of little niggles and legs of lead! It got so bad by the time yesterday came around that I didn't train at all yesterday because my back and right hip were so sore (plus there was a swim carnival on at the pool by time made it there two hours after I should have started).

In fact I was expecting to be painfully slow in today's race and I fully expected Little Bro' Chris to motor on by somewhere on the run. But, to my surprise I felt great and I did quite well given the lack of an focussed  preparation and the extra weight that I am carrying at the moment.

While my swim is still a bit slow, it was way better than the open water race that I did on Tuesday evening. Chris and I actually went stroke for stroke, so I think he has been getting some extra sessions in without telling me. It won't be long and he'll be beating me out of the water. He also beat me out of transition and to be honest at this point I thought: 'Hell, this is worse than I thought. He'll be right with me through the bike leg and he'll overtake me in the run'. But by the time we got a kilometre or so out on the bike, I had gathered up a pretty good head of steam and I passed him pretty easily. I expected him to pick up his effort and try and stay with me, but by the time I glanced behind me another kilometre down the road, I had a few hundred metres on him.

James Brundell (one of my training buddies) was in transition when Chris and I arrived and left about 20 or 30 seconds ahead of us. He was wearing a yellow dayglow bike top so he was easy to spot about 600-700 metres off in the distance, so I set him as my next target. I was pretty sure that Lindsey Dey (Dunedin Tri Club President) was also somewhere near him and I knew both of them were in the vet males section of the race, so I was doubly determined to catch James.

James just beat me into the bike-run transition and that is where I overtook him. Chris was nowhere in sight so I was feeling quite relaxed that I'd put enought distance on him to hold out till the end of the race, but I could see Lindsey a few hundred metres ahead.

I'd passed quite a number of people on the bike and managed to average a touch over 33.5km/h, so I was pretty stoked, but having gone quite hard, the heart was just about leaping out of my chest as I dismounted and I was convinced that my legs would give out on the run. So I figured that I needed to go hard from the start both to try and catch Lindsey (realistically I knew there was no chance of that happening, but what the hey) and to get as much distance on James and Chris as possible to try and maintain my lead over them. It turns out that my legs didn't give out and I was able to maintain a pretty steady pace in the mid-4:50s for the entire 5km (I know its slow, but you try running faster carrying 103kg).

In the end I didn't catch Lindsey (he was probably a minute ahead in the end), but I did manage 1:22:44 overall (my fastest time over the 750m/20km/5km distance) and I beat James by around a minute and Chris by around 2:30. I was sixth vet male! OK, there were only eight vet males, but it is my first go and I didn't exactly train specifically for this race and there were plenty behind me in all age groups. Next year I want to give this a real good nudge and get closer to the top three. It will mean taking about five or so minutes off today's time, but with the planned weight loss, that should be a breeze.

If I'm being honest, Chris is doing pretty bloody well for a complete novice who also carries a few too many kilos around. His swim today really surprised me - he was literally right beside me until about 150 metres from the end, when he veered off course by five or six metres and bumped into a swimming platform anchored in Macandrew Bay (ouch, that's gotta hurt). Actually I was deliberately swimming right on his hip at the point where he veered off in the hope that it might put him off his stroke a little. The plan obviously worked better than I had hoped, but he was still only seconds behind when we both stumbled out of the water. He has also been doing some great 5km times in training so I wasn't surprised that he was a good 50 seconds faster than me on the run. If he can get some more quality time on the bike, I will struggle to keep up with him (Note to self: must stop lending and gear to Chris and giving him training tips). For now though, I am taking the opportunity to give him a hard time about beating him - him being five years my junior and all. :-)

That's one of the things I love about triathlon, you can have all these little races within races: me vs my bro'; me vs James; the vet mens section; the race overall (I always like to see how I stack up against everyone else including the teams); beating someone on the bike leg, even though they may have been faster in the swim and you know they will pass you again on the run. Then there are your own personal achievements: even if you have a bad swim, you can have a great bike or run; you can improve your time for that particular course; you can improve your position relative to the rest of the field (i.e. what percentile you finish in). So, even though I am still down the back of the pack, I still feel like I am acheiving something every single race and I'm lovin' it!

Back online

Just finished my first full week of training for about four weeks and started on a nutritional regime that should see me in better shape for Challenge 2012. So I am back online training and blogging.

I blatted out almost 7.5 hours of training last week and eat so much I felt like I had something in my mouth all day and half the night. Something worked though, because I lost almost 2kgs.

I'm also in the process of buying a timetrial bike so that I can go faster. Well, so I can kid myself that I am going faster. It's a bit like red cars going faster than other colours, really. The reality is it's the engine that counts and I am in the process of up grading that to a lighter more powerful version too!

I know that I promised a race report and that is on it's way soon too. So watch this space.

In the press again

On Sunday 30 Jan little bro', Chris and I featured on Contact Tri TV (http://tvnz.co.nz/contact-tri-tv/video) and then an article about us appeared in the latest TriNZ newsletter (http://www.triathlon.org.nz/news?id=95).