SUB6

Rotorua Half Ironman Suffer Fest

2009-12-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

Well the good news is that I finished and the calf didn't 'go' ... but that's about the extent of the positives I can take from the race ... well at the moment anyway.

I'll probably reflect on the race a bit more positively in the days to come but as it stands I feel that I have more to go back and rectify next year than I did when I DNF'd last year ... If that makes sense.

My goal was to finish. Full stop. Then I was going to put Rotorua behind me, and next year do Karapiro Half, Tinman Oly and Tauranga Half. I reached my goal of finishing but after the way the course kicked my @r$e yesterday I will be taking advantage of the 'sign up in the next few weeks at the bargain price of $99' to get my revenge! Damn you Rotorua Half!

So my race ....

The Swim

If you saw my blog last week you will remember the glass like lake that looked so inviting. The view that we got wheeling our bikes into T1 was anything but. I don' think I've ever seen the lake so choppy. Not exactly sea choppy but where it was dark and gloomy it looked horrible. I wasn't too bothered though as my race was all about the run and so I just thought about getting through the swim.

We all shivered as we set up T1 but as we made our way into the lake it was obvious that it had held its heat from the day before. Not quite the warm bath that it was last year but warm enough that it wasn't a shock to the system.

The swim for me was a bit more aggressive this year. I took a lot more hits than last year and took quite a good one to the face. No taste of blood so no problem. The turnaround is at 900m and as last year I was looking for 18 mins to be on pace for a 40 min swim and as I made my way back I saw 18:15 on my watch. Cool.

The chop seemed to get worse on the way back and so I took the opportunity to fully hydrate for the bike ... meaning I messed up my breathing and sighting so many times that I took more than a few gulps of lake water. Tasted OK. Much better than Pilot Bay sea water.

I came out of the water with 41:xx on the watch. Think I did the same sort of time last year. No problem. I felt good. I saw my mate from work which was great. Jo and the kids were aiming to be there for the end of the bike so I didn't think I'd see a friendly face till then. He took some pictures but I won't have them till Monday.

So out onto the bike. I wanted to get as close to 3 hours as possible but I'd take the same sort of time as last year. That would give me 2 hours for the run if I wanted Sub6. At this point Sub6 was still at the back of my mind. I knew I hadn't run for two weeks cos of the calf but I was a much faster runner than last year. I had run a 1:36 'almost' half marathon at Karapiro a few weeks back. Damn it, I was a runner!

The Bike

The wind on the bike was just brutal. It was even hard convincing yourself that there was actually a tailwind on the way out as it would gust on and off and at one point I convinced myself that it was actually a headwind and that we would get the benefit on the way back. Yeah right!

I hit the halfway point in 1:24. That was good enough. Now came the hard bit. As I turned it was obvious that were going to have to deal with a headwind for most of the way back. Well that was until it turned into a side wind and nearly blew me over.

I have biked back along this course many times into a headwind but this seemed much worse than before. It may have been the extra fatigue from the swim but I just felt drained. I was keeping up with nutrition and I was drinking more than normal but there wasn't much in my legs for the last 20k or so.

I got passed by heaps of people. I made bad decisions with my gearing . I sat up too much. I lost motivation. I had the 'why the hell am I doing this' thought for the first time on the bike leg. I've had it on the run but not on the bike before.

I realised how strong the wind was when we descended Hell's Gate hill. This is usually a great relief after the climb to the top and I can usually coast down, knees against the frame at about 60km/hr. This time the wind held the speed in the mid 40's.

The hardest bit of the ride (for me) is the long, straight boring bit back into town past the airport ... and it always seems to be into a headwind! No change this year. Definitely a low point for me. Heaps more people pass me. I make poor gearing decisions and I sit up too much.

There's just a grind back up Tarawera road, which didn't feel too bad and then the descent to T2. It came quicker than normal which was a relief. I was glad to get the bike over and done with. My time of 3:14 was almost exactly the same as last year. Would have liked a bit faster but I was happy enough

It was great to see Jo and the kids at this point.

Rolling the bike into transition. My legs felt f@kced but that's normal. They'd come right early in the run ... wouldn't they?

I think I had a fairly quick transition. I had suncream on for the bike but I decided to take some more to put on during the run. Great idea of Hooksie (race director) to put small tub of cream in the race pack. Definitely needed it.

The Suffer-fest

Running out of T2 I knew I had 2 hours to get the run done. I also knew that I couldn't push it too hard in the first 5K because I needed to know that the calf was OK. I decided to go easy till the Gun Club and then see what I had in my legs. I certainly didn't feel as good as I had done coming out of T2 last year but I thought I had a Sub2 run in me.

Checking my watch as I come over the timing mat.

Looking pretty fast (below). Or is that Jo's shaky camera work. You decide.

My legs felt really tight for the first bit of the run. I was going easy. Then my problems started. The first proper uphill of the basetrack and all of a sudden my hamstring just cramped up. I've never had cramping problems before in training or racing. It was a bit of a shock. I stopped dead and tried to stretch it. Jogged a bit more and then another cramp. Not good! I drank some sports drink hoping the sodium would kick in but the jog/cramp combo carried on pretty much till I got to the Gun Club Rd. I've never thought that I needed salt tablets or anything like that but maybe I will do in the future. Something I have to work out for next year.

Sub6 was gone. It was now just a matter of finishing.

Coming back from the turnaround at the Gun Club I saw Kate going the other way. She was about 15 minutes behind me. I knew she would catch me pretty quickly. My walking was now become longer than my 'runs'. I tried to run as many of the downhills as possible but I even started to walk some of those.

I got to the turnaround at the lake Tarawera lookout and painfully climbed the tiny tiny steps to go around the cone. Things were bad. My legs had never been like this. It was only a few minutes later when I saw Kate again. She was only about 6 mins behind. My motivation was to just try to hold her off for as long as possible. Not that I didn't want her to have a good race, I just needed something to focus on and keep me running more than I was walking.

I made it back to the lake and it was great to see Jo and the kids. Of course, I ran all of the bits that they could see. Didn't want to walk in front of the crowd. haha

To give you an idea of the course, that hill in the photo above doesn't even figure as a hill on the course. Much, much worse further back. Of course, I didn't find them as bad this year because I walked them all but that's not the point :)haha

Don't leave me hanging Adam ...

bit close with this shot Laura

It was not long after this that Kate went past me. I tried to draft and keep up with her and this lasted about 10 seconds. Off she ran into the distance.

The second loop of the basetrack was just much of the same. Lots of walking up the hilly bits and trying to run the downhills. The only sort of 'good' thing about the death march was that there were loads of people around me doing exactly the same thing. We would each have a burst of running and then walk and someone else would go past for a bit and then pull up and walk and it was like this all the way to the finish. It was how I imagine the end of an ironman to be . Not a Half!

I started to run as we got back to the lake and probably had my longest burst of non-walking for the entire race. I look quite happy in the photo below but that's just the thought of finishing.

Almost there. Gorgeous scenery but you just don't give a flying f@kc about the scenery when you're suffering so much :)

And it's all over ... time of about 6:30 something. Waiting for official results.

If she thinks I'm going to lift my leg up for her to cut the timing tag off she's got another thing coming ...

Adam presented me with the medal.

So ... job done. I finished the Rotorua Half Ironman and the calf held out ... but I can't leave it there.

I'll be back next year to finish the job proper. I have no time goal though. My goal will be to run the run. Then I'll do Karapiro, Tinman and Tauranga.

Kid's Leaving Assemblies

2009-12-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

2 years ago Adam 'ruled' Greerton Village School. He was lead Ambassador, MC'd most of the assemblies, was crowned GVS Idol for his rendition of 'This Love' by Maroon 5 and on this day won the top GVS award at the end of year assembly. Obviously he had to walk sideways to get through doorways as his head was so big but we were VERY proud of him. That's him proudly showing off his trophy.

It was a tough act for Laura to follow. She was known just as Adam's sister for most of the time he was there. But she's a hard worker and this was recognised when she was made one of the ambassadors at the school last year. Not Lead Ambassador but we were very proud.

Today was Laura's leaving Assembly. She moves up to Intermediate School next year.

The Deputy Principle said some great things about Laura in her role as an ambassador. 'Silent but deadly' was how she described her. I have always connected that phrase with a fart but from now on it's Laura. Silent but deadly! Doesn't make much noise and just gets on with everything.

She was presented with a certificate and 'inspirational plaque' which reads "If you can dream it you can do it!" ... (I'm dreaming of a Sub6 finish for Saturday and touching the plaque as much as possible)

It was a military operation today as Adam's Leaving Assembly started at exactly the same time at his school 20 minutes away. His class awards were towards the end so if he was going to win anything we figured we could see Laura get the ambassador thing and then sneak off to see the end of Adam's.

Unfortunately we were told we couldn't go early. Laura was up for another award. Bl@@dy kids! Never do what you want them to do. We had to stay and see and hope that we caught Adam's class.

There were some minor awards and I know it's not good to admit but I was thinking please don't call Laura's name. if she's going to win one I want (for her obviously) one of the big ones. Names were called. None were Laura. Maybe she wasn't getting one.

Then the big one. You probably know where this is going. The Greerton Village GVS Award goes to ..... Lauren Smythe .... only kidding .... Laura Scott!!! wooohoooo!!!!!!!!!!

That's proud mum clapping as Laura makes her way to the front. I had sneaked up front and sat with the kids to get better pictures.

The Principal presents the trophy. Laura's teacher watches on. He's been a really good teacher and is a really good bloke ... despite the fact that he supports Spurs (My football team's arch rivals)

Proudly walking back with the trophy

So ... we said a quick 'well done' to Laura and we were off to Adam's school. Funniest sight of the day was Jo sprinting from the car to his school with me trailing behind trying not to aggravate my calf. Jo doesn't do running. Today must have been an emergency.

We made it before they called Adam's Class. Phew!

It seemed that each class gave out about 6 awards each. Adam was presented with a certificate for Academic Achievement.

Adam's Class' winners (check that grammar for me please Kate)

They had a special guest speaker at the prize giving. It was Norm Hewitt who I only know as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars but apparently he used to play a bit of rugby. Celebrities are wasted on us as we just don't know them. I was standing next to a guy with a Supermarket shirt on. It looked like a dad that had snuck out of work to watch his kid at the assembly. Turns out it was Robin Brooke, another famous Rugby player who now actually owns the supermarket.

Norm was a great talker. I found him inspirational in what he was saying and it wasn't because he was famous cos I wouldn't recognise him in a crowd but he had a presence. He owned the stage. Do 'famous' people get that presence because of the confidence from fame or are they famous and successful because they always had it. Don't know but I know that he held me and 800 kids mesmerised with his stories.

He then presented some prizes. Guess who got one.

No, not Lauren Smythe!

It was Adam!!!

Another proud, nerve tingling (and emotional) moment.

A proud mumWell done kids!

Maybe Father Christmas WILL come this year ;)

Adam not impressed :)haha .... he loves his sister really and he's proud of her.

Quick calf update ... think I might be walking the run :)

Well Rested ...

2009-12-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

What a week of training. A whole 2 hours 30 minutes. My legs will definitely be rested for the bike and run. It's just a gamble whether they will remember what to do!

After the problem with the calf last Friday I decided not to run at all this week and just swim and bike. I started the week OK with the swimming and did a couple of 2K/40 minute swims. I should be OK with the swim next week. What could possibly go wrong with that?

My problem came when I went on the windtrianer Tuesday evening. After about 20 minutes it was obvious that it was causing pain in my calf. Riding doesn't normally affect the injury. This was bad news. I eased back on the effort and it felt better but not great. I cut the session short (any excuse to get off the windtrainer recently) and made the decision not to ride again untill the weekend.

And thus endeth the week's training till Sunday morning. I have various excuses for not getting back into the pool including too busy at work, watching Laura representing her school in the Kapa Haka ...

Laura leading the Kapa Haka

... and going out one lunchtime to buy a new fridge freezer after ours packed up in the week. My shoulder also felt a bit niggly at one point and so it was quite easy to justify (to myself) the lack of swimming.

The plan for Sunday was to practice race morning as we're not staying at Rotorua. I'll be able to sleep in my own bed and drive to the race. With a 6:30am kick-off it'll be an early day but then it always is.

The alarm went off 3:30am Sunday morning and I half woke up and tried to understand why it was going off so early. I was just about to turn it off completely when I remembered the plan. I hit the snooze button and had another 9 minutes. Eighteen minutes later I got up and put the plan into action. Breakfast, bathroom and bottles ... and I was out of the house before 4:30am. I was at the lake at 5:30am and off on a short ride a few minutes later.

Sun just about to come up over the lake

I decided to poodle along the road part of the run just to remind the legs what to do. I stayed in low gears and didn't break a sweat. It is taper time after all. I think I took more time taking pictures than riding but it was all good ... until I decided to ride over to the Gun Club road.

The road goes from solid to sand and my wheel go stuck and I had another near-zero speed crash. Over I went, luckily the sand gave me a soft landing and the only bash is near my knee where the bike landed on it. It's gonna bruise nicely over the next week ready for race day.

Swim Course looked so calm ... hoping for this on race day

I headed back to the car, drove home to a sleeping house, got back into bed before 7:30am and slept till 9am. Not the most productive morning's training in terms of fitness but it's put my mind at ease that I can get to T1 in time for race day. I'm also confident that I'll be able to ride without calf pain (none this morning). The run is a different matter but I'll take what comes. If it goes mid race I'll walk it and I WILL finish this time.

So ... less than a week to go. Plan is for 3 swims, 3 bikes and NO runs. We'll see.

Some Pictures from The Tinman

2009-12-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Water seemed quite calm from the shore. Apparently there was a current taking them out to the first buoy. I think it's agreed that the swim was a bit short.

Swim start
Leader after the first lap. Surprised it wasn't Doe. It was Mark Bowstead

Doe not far behind
Fellow blogger on the left

The middle of the pack men completing the first lap

Great swim from Paul. Looks strong after the first lap

My Athlinks friend

My favourite shot of the swimmers. I think anyone who has swam in Pilot Bay can empathise with the girl in the red cap

Is this you Kathy?

Kate finishing the 1st lap

Doe finishes in something like 15 mins. Sometimes you can be too close to the action.

Fellow blogger

Paul finishing the swim in under 22 minutes. Fantastic time.

Kate finishing not long after Paul.

Kate going out on the bike ... which turned out to be about 2k long.

and into the distance

Doe in first place at the 20k turnaround

... but then he turns left instead of going out on the 2nd lap and goes back to transition to change his wheel.

Bowstead can't believe his luck

Doe rejoins the race about 2 minutes later

My favourite bike shot of Paul Westwood

Phil at the halfway mark. Only knew it was him by the pink tape on his knee

Kate at the turn

Doe at the end of the bike now with a different front wheel. Must have cost him time on the 2nd lap.

Doe out onto the run. Bowstead to catch

Paul completing the bike

Bowstead coming off the Mount with about a kilometre to go. He was working hard!

Doe about a minute down with not enough distance left to catch Bowstead

He looked like he was suffering the least of the two and I'm sure he would have caught him if there had been 5k to go rather than 1

What has he got under that top?

Kathy starts the run

Closely followed by Kate

She seemed happy to be on the run

Westwood on the home stretch.

Last picture has to go to DoeBoy

2 Weeks To Go

2009-12-06T00:59:00.001-08:00

Tis time to taper. I was hoping to have a last long run to taper from but it was not to be. My 18K on Friday didn't quite go to plan. I did all my usual warm up and stretching and went out very easy in the first couple of k but at about the 3k mark my calf gave me a warning. It feels like somebody is pinging an elastic band against my calf although it's more of a shock than a pain. I slowed down and it was OK for about another k and then the same quick, sharp shock of pain. Oooops, should I go on?

I really slowed down to a 'jog' but it happened again and I knew it was time to quit. I stopped, turned around and walked the 5k home in the p!$$in rain, a bit p!$$ed off but equally glad that it had given me lots of warnings and it hadn't just gone bang like it has done in the past. It felt tight and 'wrong' but it wasn't the pain of a pulled calf so I was thankful.

So the plan is to rest up from running this week, hammer the swim and keep my legs turning over on the bike. I will run in the week leading up to the race but I'm not going to push it too much. My lead up to a race wouldn't be the same without the uncertainty of an injury. I'm confident it will be OK come race day.

Today I jealously watched most of my Team Buckeye team mates do the Tinman Triathlon. Congratulations to them all for impressive displays. I have some pictures but I found it almost impossible trying to track people. Never saw Phil all day and didn't get very good pictures of anyone. I'll post some later though.

3 Weeks To Go

2009-11-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

The Rotorua Half Ironman is fast approaching. Looking back at my training for last year I think that I am in a much better position this year. I've definitely trained more consistently even if I have been a bit slack on the swimming. It was the same last year (even worse really) and I managed a 40 minute race swim so I am not too worried.

I'd take a 40 minute swim and a 3 minute T1 right now if I could. It would be nice to swim Sub40 but if I did it would only be a minute or so and I don't think that is going to make much difference to the overall time. Famous last words!!!

The past week has been quite good for training. I missed a bike session on Thursday cos I was just so tired in the evening but apart from that I think I hit every other planned session. My third swim of the week was cut a bit short (only did 1k) but I was happy just to get in the pool for three sessions.

My best 2k time of the week was just over 38 minutes but I think it took too much out of me so will swim a bit slower on race day ... unless I actually find some feet to latch onto. I've never done it successfully before so I don't hold out much hope. My thing with the swim is whether to get some contact lenses or stick with the home made prescription goggles that I used last year. Have to make up my mind early next week so that I can order some if needs be. Goal for the race is just to survive the swim without using too much energy. I'll need it for the bike.

I joined a 5K internet challenge based on percentage improvement of your current time. I've no chance of winning as there are people on there who have already improved from 40+ minutes to 30+ but it's quite motivational. I did a bit of a warm up Wednesday and then ran a flat(ish) 5K in 22:15. My previous best was 22:35 so it's a 20 second improvement (about 1.4% I think) so I am pleased with that. I plan to run an actual 5k race after Rotorua so hopefully I can bring that time down. Would love Sub20 but I think I'm dreaming.

Friday was a long run into town and back. It was done at about a 5:30 pace and it felt 'comfortable'. I know you are supposed to really slow down your long runs and in the past I have tried for 6 minute K pace but I think I run 'awkward' (even more so than normal) at that pace and it doesn't feel right. I probably need to run them at about 5:45 pace now. It's my last long run next Friday so I'll set my pace man at 5:45 and try to keep to that. Will go a bit longer (18k maybe) and so I will benefit from a slightly slower pace.

Today's brick (Sunday) was a 3 hour bike on a fairly flat course followed by a 5K. The bike was uneventful and went by really quickly. I tweaked my nutritional plan for race day and it worked well. I never felt hungry and I started the run without a 'bonkish' feeling so I must have taken enough calories.

I'm going to rely on water from the course for the first time ever. I normally carry all my nutrition/fluids on the bike but this year I'm going for a slightly lighter setup and intend to grab water at the 30K mark and (dependent on how I feel) water or sports drink at the 60K. I'll carry gels and a bit of water at the start and also the aero bottle on the front filled with sports drink. What could possibly go wrong?

The start of the run off the bike today was agony! My legs were so tight. I'm hoping there's a bit of fatigue left over from Friday's long run because they don't normally hurt that much. Took ages for them to come right.

My pace was OK but I felt very laboured. Finished the 5k in just over 28 mins. If I can keep that pace up for the race I might be OK. Sub6 is still a big goal for the race but to be honest I just want to finish it ... after last year's DNF. I just want to be able to run the full course. This might mean a slower bike but I'm not worried about that. Would love a Sub3 for the bike but not at the expense of not being able to run.

My goals for the race are:

1. To finish!

2. Have a Sub2 run

3. Go Sub6 overall

4. Be nice to beat my Tauranga time of 5:57:56 but not too bothered.

Just one more week of 'proper' training and then a two week taper. Can't wait!

Karapiro Half Marathon (sort of) Run

2009-11-15T00:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's run was the first race I've done where I didn't worry about being able to finish or at least I didn't worry about keeping something in the tank to make sure I finished. It made for a harder finish because there wasn't much left for the last 5K but I did manage to finish in one piece and my time was probably better for the almost constant effort.

The plan was to average 5 minute k's with a slower start and then picking it up after 5K. I set off easy and relaxed and found what felt like a nice easy 5:30ish pace and then looked at my watch. 4 minute 30 k pace. Eeeek! I eased back a bit and was averaging about a 4:45 pace for the first 5K. It must have been the mini taper I had the previous week and the adrenaline from racing but the pace felt very easy to start with.

Then we hit the hills. The course was more undulating than I had expected and there were one or two long challenging climbs in the out and back course. It was also very windy but luckily the strong wind blew us back into town.

I felt great at the half way point and turned with the watch showing 46 minutes. The course HAD to be short! It does seem weird to me how race directors get distances so wrong. Surely with GPS the course could be easily checked. It seems the bike was also short. Maybe a ploy to get punters to come back because the times are quick ... or just people putting the cone at the wrong spot in the road?

I had my watch set to show actual pace and average pace and the last 10K became a battle to keep the average below 5 minute pace. I lost by a couple of seconds in the last k or so but finished the run in 1:36:15.

Factoring in the shortness of the race that probably translates into a 1:45 which I am really pleased with. My previous best was 1:48 at Huntly Half (which is almost completely flat). I'm pleased with the improvement but I'm thinking that Huntly was maybe a bit short because yesterday's run was definitely much faster/stronger than Huntly. I didn't have GPS back then so I can't compare.

The biggest lesson from yesterday came from looking at my HR data afterwards. I deliberately didn't look at it in the race and I'm glad I made that decision. I would have freaked if at the 6K point I had seen my HR at 175. My judgement would have been that I couldn't hold that for the rest of the race and I'm sure I would have slowed down to bring the HR into the 150's. Yesterday taught me that I can hold mid to high 170 heart rate for a half. I did slow down towards the end and I don't think I could have run much further but I did survive and I kept a relatively even pace.

Another lesson learned was that I can't easily take a gel at that pace. I had planned to take one at the 5, 10 and 15K point but I put off the first gel till about the 10K point and it burned my throat and didn't sit that well in my stomach. I washed it down with a bit of water but I'm still not good at drinking from cups on the run. I had my (comfort) bottle of sport's drink and that saw me through ... although I'm sure I should have drank more than the 750ml I got down. I didn't take the other gels. I'll just have to make sure I get enough nutrition on the bike at Rotorua and try to top up on the run.

Final lesson was that I shouldn't eat bagels too soon before the race. I had to eat something while Paul was on the bike so opted for bagels and honey. It had an hour or so to digest but it must have been sitting in my stomach because I had a stitch for about 20 minutes early in the run. It just came and went and wasn't really a problem but it's not something I've had to deal with before in a race.

Special thanks to Jo and the kids who got up at 4am to come to Cambridge to support me. It definitely made a big difference knowing that they were cheering me on along the run course. Great to have Kate and Phil there as well shouting words of encouragement. It was also good to have half a conversation with Paul on the bike near the last turn. Problem was it was windy, I was tired, he was on the other side of the road and I was only catching half the words. I presume you carried on to your car at that point Paul? Sorry I didn't say Bye. For the first few minutes after the turn I thought you were still behind me. The mind plays funny tricks when you're tired.

On a totally unrelated topic ... congratulations to the All Whites for making the World Cup Finals in SA next year. They showed a lot of guts to win last night. Hopefully it'll raise the profile of football in NZ and world Cup fever can hit NZ next winter. Just need NZ and England to be drawn apart and then maybe we can meet in the final.

Karapiro Half Ironman

2009-11-14T00:37:00.001-08:00

Our Team Buckeye Karapiro Half Ironman in pictures

Kate the swimmer

Paul, our cylists waits patiently

A 38 minute swim gives Team Buckeye the ideal start

Quick change over of the transponder

a smile for the camera then Kate ran the 10K back into town

Paul's on his way for the 90K bike

2 hours 48 minutes later it's my turn

I'm just changing over the transponder ... honestly

... and I'm off

tried to keep a Sub5 minute k pace

... and it's all over

a 1:37 Half Marathon (what do you mean the course was short)

Gives Team Buckeye a 5:10 (ish) Half Ironman

Rest in Peace Bill

2009-10-31T23:26:00.000-07:00

Not really sure how this post is going to go. I've had a good week's training but it's all been overshadowed by sad news from the UK. My uncle Bill died on Friday. He was very special to me and I make no apologies for reliving and recalling some of the good times (and bad) throughout the post. Most of the memories came flooding back during my Friday run but I'll get to that later. Even if no one reads this blog I think it will do me good to get some of my memories down.

The week started off with a Monday off work (Labour Day in NZ). Best way to start the week me thinks! I didn't do any training but I managed to tame the garden. Hopefully it will mean that there will be no strenuous gardening to be done before the HI ... just a bit of planting and grass cutting. I can deal with that.

Tuesday was just bike intervals on the trainer and shock horror ... a swim! It was only a 1k straight swim but I do try to concentrate on different parts of the stroke so it's almost like drills. My times are coming down so I'll stick with it (18:43 for 1K). Thursday was a similar swim but for 2K in 38:32. I would snap off the hand that offered me that on race day.

Wednesday was another lesson in not eating too much or too soon before running. Jo made my favourite dinner of all time (spaghetti bolognese) and I couldn't resist the huge meal put in front of me. I take Jo's point that it was me that actually dished up the dinner but SHE made it so it was HER fault! I was stuffed but I did have 90 mins before I had to go out. Wasn't long enough. I could feel it all sloshing about with every step. The 6:09/k pace was my slowest average for a long time. Live and learn.

Thursday was another windtrainer session. The weather is getting better and it's staying light fairly late but it just seems easier to do an hour of intervals watching a DVD than going out on the road. Never thought I'd feel like that. I think once summer comes round a bit more I will feel differently and want to get out in the sunshine and pack the trainer away. We'll see.

Towards the end of the session the endorphins were really flowing. I was working hard during the intervals and (as I occasionally do) I had U2 on the i-pod and I can only explain that I had a wave of spirituality. Gawd knows what that means! If I was religious I think I would have explained it as a God experience ... but I'm not ...

I said to Jo afterwards that I was worried. She asked if it was my calf playing up but I said 'no, I'm worried I'm turning religious!' ... might have to give up these mind altering training sessions :)

Friday morning I woke up at 4am and couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned till 6am and then got up and checked my Gmail. There was a message from my brother that Bill had died followed 2 minutes later by a phone call from my mum hoping to catch me with the bad news before I read the email. We were both a bit of a mess and there were lots of tears.

Bill, my dad's brother was 67 but after having meningitis at the age of four, he mentally stayed at that age all his life. He was a child in a man's body for all the time I knew him. He had been ill for the last four years and had been in and out of hospital all this time. It is almost a blessing that he is at peace now and hopefully with my Nan and Grandad who looked after him throughout their lives.

I couldn't face work and as I was only booked onto a course (no class to teach on Friday) I decided to take the day off. Jo suggested we got out and walked around the Mount but then she said 'I think you need to RUN and get all your emotions out ... let's go to the Blue Lake' ... I didn't argue. Laura was also in tears. We kept her off school and took her with us. Adam wanted to go to school so I took him in and then we were off to the Blue Lake.

Jo dropped me off at the Lake and then headed into town with Laura. They were off to shop. My idea of hell. I was going to run most of the Rotorua Half Ironman course.

I set off with no strategy and no planned pace or time target. I just wanted to run and remember Bill. You might want to skip the rest of the post as I just ramble on about my memories of Bill.

My earliest memory of Bill is his bed in the front room of my nan's house. Not quite the opening scene from Willy Wonker's Chocolate Factory but similar. Bill couldn't walk and had to be taken everywhere in a wheelchair. It was a mission for me and my dad to get him out of bed when we were there. It still amazes me that my nan did it on her own (my grandad died when I was young) gawd knows how many times a day, every day. She was a big strong lady but Bill was a 6ft tall bloke who had very little strength to help himself. When my nan died in 1982 the doctor's said that she had lived as long as she did because she had such a strong heart and general strength from lifting Bill every day.

As a kid, Christmas was always spent at my nan's and it seemed we stayed there for weeks and weeks and had a great time. Bill was born on Christmas day and so it was a very special day. Bill lived for two things. Cups of tea and buses. As long as he had a few red buses to play with and tea at regular intervals all was right in his world.

It was always the mission to get Bill a different red bus as a present. I remember one year my dad spending a 'fortune' on a big Tonka truck and seeing Bill's indignation that it wasn't a red bus. Obviously he had five others wrapped up under the tree so it was no problem but the Tonka truck didn't make it onto the board balancing on a chair at the side of his bed. That was his play area. Me and my brother's would zoom the busses back and forth and he would love it ... for a while. He would then spend an age meticulously lining up the busses in a perfect straight line parallel to the edge of the board. Woe betide anyone that knocked the board and jogged them out of line.

When my nan died there was no option but to find Bill a nursing home. My nan had always resisted this because as a teenager Bill had spent some time in a home and the story went that the family went to pick him up and found him tied to a fence for some wrong doing. I can understand why she looked after him herself. We told ourselves that times had changed and these types of things didn't happen anymore.

Thankfully we found a great home. It was obviously sad when my nan died but it just seemed so much sadder when me and my mum and dad left Bill for the first time at the home. We just didn't know if he knew what was going on. Bill could talk but his vocabulary was limited to just a few words and you had to be tuned into his speech to understand him. He said bye when we left and he seemed happy but we just didn't know. It was a heart wrenchingly bad experience for us all. Fortunately he loved the place. The staff were living angels who worked long hours for a pittance and he loved the people who looked after him.

He had changed homes a few times over the years thanks to Margaret Thatcher's policy of care in the community which meant the closure of large scale homes and the use of real houses in the community. Bill always seemed to come up trumps in any change and always settled in well.

His last bedroom was unbelievable. It had flat screen plasma TV, DVD, ensuite and was a shrine to the red bus. The walls were filled with posters and framed paintings of busses. We saw Bill and his new room during our visit to the UK last year and it was amazing.

More and more memories came back to me on the run and it was very emotional. I had to get a grip of myself on the long steep hill back to the lake cos blubbering and gasping for breath at a 160 heart rate just don't mix.

I had a great run in the end. I went out faster than I normally do and didn't finish strong but overall it was good. Just over 17K at a 5:23 pace ... but that wasn't the point of the run. I felt so much better after the run. I started my warm down stretches on the 'beach' and watched as Jo sailed past in the car. Luckily a few minutes later she came back to pick me up. Missed the turning!

Saturday was a rest day. Spoke to my family in the UK and also my aunt who lives in Australia but is staying over my mum's as my other uncle (their brother) is in hospital with blood clots and they have also discovered he has cancer. They can't treat the cancer as he is too weak from the blood clots. We're praying that they can get the blood clots under control so that he can be treated for the cancer. As you can imagine it's been a traumatic time all round really. I think that's why it was so emotional when Bill died. We are all on edge anyway waiting for news of Glenn and then that news. Saying that I know it would have been emotional anyway but ...

I have looked at flights to go back but there is nothing I can do, but look after my mum. My aunt said that that is why she is there, as well as to be with my uncle. My teaching classes finish end November. I might look at flights again then.

As I have said many times before, I am not religious BUT as most non-religious people do, in a moment of need, I am praying for my uncle. If you have a few minutes for a similar prayer it would be appreciated.

Better Week

2009-10-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

I had a much better training week this week. After the mistakes of last week it was good to almost follow the plan this week. I didn't swim as much as I wanted as I only got two sessions in but I'm sort of happy with my stroke now. The energy I'm putting in and the times I am getting are roughly what they were last year at this time and if I get in the pool at least a couple of times a week I should be OK for Sub40 mins. Last year I missed loads of swim sessions near to the race and paid for it! Not going to happen this year.

My running has been fairly good this week. I have learnt now that I always have a bad run if I go out straight from work. Not sure if I need to relax before I go out or I need a bit of fuel or what it is but for the last couple of weeks my Monday run after work has been horrible. No work this Monday so that's not going to happen but I need to play around with the timing/nutrition etc to see why this is.

My Friday night long run was much better this week. Went far too fast last week. This time I set my virtual partner on my Garmin to 6 min/k pace and just tried to keep with him. The run is hilly on the way out and flat on the way back so at the turn I was 33 seconds down. Good news. At least I didn't go out too fast (but I NEVER do!).

I increased the speed a bit along the flat and the time came down very quickly. After a few K I was level and sitting on his shoulder. No words were exchanged. We ran together for a K or so and then I increased the pace and pulled away. I didn't want to get too far in front as I wanted a 6min pace overall but I was soon 38 seconds in front and then for the rest of the run I couldn't slow down enough for him to catch me and I didn't want to walk. Waited at the finish but no-one turned up. He must have gone straight home. I didn't think I'd use the virtual partner runner thingy but it was fun and made the run more interesting.

Tuesday night for me is interval night on the windtrainer. I've adjusted my seat (AGAIN!) and I seem (although it might be psychological) that I'm getting more power to the pedals for a given heart rate. I need a powermeter (Jo!) ... I never thought I'd love the windtrainer but for an hour of intervals I think it's great. It's certainly given me leg muscles I've never had before. Unfortunately Jo hates the muscools so she's unlikely to let me buy anything to increase them :(

I started my Sunday ride with an over the top level of anxiety and trepidation. Last week's ride knocked my confidence a bit. I knew I had made mistakes in the week but quitting after an hour on the bike was not good. Fortunately this weeks ride was much better. I headed for Reid Rd and got in some leg strengthening and muscle building (sorry Jo) climbs.

I like climbing on the bike more than riding on the flat because it keeps me honest and I HAVE to put in the work. There's no way you can slack on the hills. Too easy to dawdle along on the flat but not so on the hills. I managed to do four climbs and got very close to my record. This time's best time was 11:59 (which I was pleased with). Best time is 11:54. Should have worked harder :)

The most pleasing thing about the climbs yesterday was that if you carry out the geeky calculations that I did last year and work out the m/b which is metres travelled for every heart beat (speed in metres per second divided by heart rate in beats per second) the figures have increased significantly ... well by about 0.1m but I'll take anything. That does mean that for every heart beat I am travelling 0.1m further and if I take an average of 130 beats per minute I am travelling a further 13m up the hill for no increased effect on my heart! Sort of. I presume it means my heart muscle has got bigger. At least Jo can't see that one and complain about it's size. There's so many places to go after that line but I'm not going there.

The only (training) downside to the week has been a pain at the top of my left foot after the long run (shoes too tight I think) and a stiff right calf. The right calf is the worry. I'll make sure I warm up really well before any runs this week and NOT go too fast. There's only three weeks till I run the Rarapiro Half marathon as part of a Half Ironman team. Really looking forward to that. Don't want to mess things up leading into it.

It's a long weekend in NZ and the sun is shining so that means only one thing. I need to attack the garden. Our house sit's like a diamond shape in the middle of a rectangle and so unfortunately we have (sort of) FOUR separate gardens. I need to attack No4. Believe it or not the grass is about 3 foot in places. Everything gets too big in the Bay of Plenty. Eh Jo ;)

Mistakes ... I made a few!

2009-10-17T21:14:00.001-07:00

They do say that you learn more from your mistakes than anything else and if this is true I should be an expert on training after the last few days.

Today's ride (Sunday) was a total disaster. Saying that, nobody was hurt (or killed) and so disaster might be too strong a word but it felt like it after I plodded home at 3km/hr after only an hours ride.

The failure of the ride can be (I think) attributed to 4 main mistakes made in the preceding days. It could also be attributed to mental weakness during the ride but I think sometimes it's wise to cut these things short and live to fight another day.

So ... my mistakes in chronological order were:

Mistake 1

Friday's swim was supposed to be for distance and technique rather than speed and I was supposed to take it easy and just get some swim time in the bank. So what did I do? I tried to beat the previous day's 2K time of 39:53. I went all out and took 59 seconds off the time. It felt great and I was so pleased that after only a few times in the pool I was able to get my time down to where I want it to be. Big mistake. I was shattered in the afternoon and wasn't really feeling like doing my Friday night long run.

Mistake 2

So after the overdoing it in the pool I set out on my long run (14K). The further I got into the run the better I felt and I forgot about being tired and was really enjoying it. It just turned into one of those runs where it feels effortless and you feel like you can run forever ... and this was over the part of the course that is relatively hilly.

The return road runs parallel to the hilly road but is almost perfectly flat. I made the turn, took a gel and felt 'fast'. I started to up the pace a bit and it felt great. The Garmin was showing Sub5 minute K's. I knew it was too fast and I slowed down a bit ... but the music on my i-pod kept getting to me.

I had Bono singing Magnificent in one ear telling me that he was 'born to sing for me and lift me up' ... and run faster apparently and I had a fellow blogger (who shall remain nameless) in the other ear telling me to 'slow down you bl@@dy idiot, long runs are supposed to be SLOW!'.

Unfortunately Bono won and I kept up the pace and ran the last 5K at about my 5k pace. Fortunately nothing went 'snap' and my legs felt strong and I felt 'high' for about an hour after the run. After that I felt shattered and had to fight to keep my eyes open for the rest of the evening ... although that's not that unusual.

Mistake 3

I love making curries. I have been striving for that texture you get in the restaurants. I could always get the flavour but I have only recently perfected the texture. I made a (smacks lips while writing this) gorgeous Chicken Madras for me and Jo Saturday evening.

I thought it a bit risky having a curry the night before my long ride but we had it early and so didn't worry too much ... and I think it would have been OK if I had left it at that but ... we had ice-cream for desert and I had a bit too much for my own good. We needed it to cool down our mouths.

Still felt OK though. I think the actual mistake of Mistake No3 came when I was putting away the left overs (I always make a big batch for dinner the next day as well) in the fridge later that night just before going to bed. It looked so good and curries tend to mature a bit after they're cooked and I just had to have a bit of a taste to see how it had 'developed' ... so I had a bowl (just a small bowl mind!). Gorgeous!

Mistake 4

I woke up early Sunday morning ready for my ride. My stomach felt awful from the curry/ice-cream/curry combo and my legs felt trashed from the 'too fast' long run. I had rested well Saturday but I didn't seem to have much energy this morning. I couldn't face a proper breakfast but managed to eat a bit of a banana.

My main mistake this morning was not wearing appropriate clothing for the weather. It had been warm the day before and I presumed it was going to be the same today. It seemed quite nice when I looked out of the window and I went with a short sleeve top. Couple of minutes into the ride I realised the mistake when the wind picked up to gale force and the rain, which felt like icy sleet, blew horizontally into my face. I was freezing.

I tried to pick up the pace to generate some heat but my legs protested (something about being tired from Friday!) and I couldn't get my HR up at all. I did a 10K loop and went home for some warmer clothes. I nearly canned the ride then but decided to get back out there and at least make it to 2 hours.

After about an hour in total I was done and just wanted to get home. If I had been doing a long out and back I suppose I would have been forced to stay out longer and I would have plodded on but I was staying close to home and it was easy to head back. It was a failed bike ride but it's only one session in a 10 week block. No big deal. I was going to run off the bike but there was no way that was going to happen. I'll put it down as a 'learning experience'.

It was a disappointing end to a really good training week. I managed to get three swims in, two great bike interval sessions on the windtrainer and a great, if a bit too fast, long run in. A good bike ride today would have made it a perfect week. Unfortunately that will have to wait till next week.

Next week's goals

1 bike interval session on Tuesday

3 swims but only one 'fast' session - NOT on Friday

3 runs including a long, SLOW! run on Friday. I will up the distance a bit so that I can't run too fast.

A decent Sunday morning bike ride of at least 2 hours.

No Saturday night curry!

Can't wait!

10 Weeks Till Rotorua

2009-10-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

It's getting very close ... and it seems to have crept up very quickly. I don't have much time to write this entry but I just wanted to document roughly where I am at in my training.

My swim training has been a disgrace recently. I made the decision to cut back on the swims and get more 'bike fit' and I think it has worked to a certain extent BUT I was supposed to have got back in the pool way before week 10.

Oh well. Can't change the past. I will make every effort to get in the pool at least three times a week for the next 10 weeks. How hard can that be? I'm not looking for a super fast swim. If I can match last year's 40 minutes then I'll be happy.

My bike speed on the flat has definitely increased since last year but unfortunately that doesn't seem to translate to the hilly Rotorua course. My recent attempt at the course was very similar to last year. I have lost weight which has helped because I seem to be able to climb the big hills easier ... I just don't climb them any faster. All good though cos in theory it should give me more on the run.

I'm much more comfortable in the aero position this year and I'm sure my bike set up is more aerodynamic and more 'right' for me. I'm hoping the energy I save with this can be used on the run.

So ... I don't think I'm going to be any faster than last year but my theory is that (hopefully) I will get off the bike with more energy for the run. If I can get off with a 3:15 bike I will be happy. 3:10 would be better but I'm not sure how realistic that would be.

Now we come to the unknown. I don't have the experience of last year's run to use. I just hope that I can get further than 5K into the run this time. What I do have is the experience of the build up to the race where I pushed it too hard on training runs. The calf was on the brink of injury 2 weeks before the race and it just took the over enthusiasm of the start of the race run to tear the muscle. NOT going to happen this year.

I am going to push the pace in some of the runs but I won't be going silly. I'm doing the Rarapiro Half Ironman run in a team and I want to push that BUT if I feel the calf playing up I will ease back (sorry Kate and Phil).

My running suffered a bit last week cos I hurt my rib (don't ask) and couldn't run at the start of the week. Got plenty of bikes in and I finished the week off on Saturday with a good 2hr bike / 10k run. The 58 minute 10K wasn't exactly fast but I felt strong and in control and if it had been a race I felt I could have gone faster ... not much but a little bit.

So ... the maths says that I need a Sub2 on the run course. Gawd knows if I can go that fast after the bike ride. I feel confident that I could do it as a stand alone run but that means Jacksh!t in a triathlon. My legs felt really good coming off the bike last year and I know I am stronger this year so I'm hoping to feel as good.

I did feel a bit sick at the start of the run last year but I'm putting that down to the chocolate muesli bar that I had on the bike last year. Tasted great at the time but I think I'll pass on that this year. I did the recent bike ride of the course using only fluids and it seemed to work. I'll go with this I think. Going to get one or hopefully two more rides on the course to try a few things and then make the final decision.

The next 10 weeks are going to be VERY important to the success of Sub6 at Rotorua. I don't want to get to Race Week regretting that I didn't do everything to make it possible. I know that I am going to miss some workouts but I hope to get to the end of each week and to have done at least:

1 interval session on the bike

3 swims

long run of at least 90 mins

Consistency of runs is also important. I need to run every other day ... even if it's just a 20 minute jog around the block. I need it to keep my calfs flexible.

Going to do the following

Weeks 1 - 3 HARD!

Week 4 - Relatively easy - cut back on long stuff

Week 5 - 8 HARD! with one or two race bike rehearsals (also includes Half Marathon for Team in Week 5)

Week 9-10 Taper! ... and make sure I have something to taper from!

So it's simple. Run every other day, get my key sessions in, stay healthy and turn up fresh on race day. What could be easier!

Let the countdown begin .....

Bike Rehearsal

2009-09-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

NOTE ... At one point in the evening the 'pictures' posted on this entry were clickable and you could see and read the bigger images. Not quite sure why I can't now. Ah well ... you're not missing much :)

It was a big training weekend for me. Saturday I had another crack at running up the Mount. This time I didn't take a camera and so didn't have an excuse to stop and admire the view 15 times during the attempt. This time my only excuse was the need to throw up at about halfway. I had to stop. My HR was 170 and I felt really sick. Thankfully I wasn't sick and my HR went down fairly quickly. Sitting on my @r$e on a rock had something to do with it I think.

I sat on a rock at the lookout that has a hairpin bend. To the right it went down to the base track and to the left it went up to the top. I convinced myself that I would start a new challenge and see how far I could get each time and that this was the current point and it was OK to go right (down) and back to the basetrack.

I then thought about just walking to the top. Yeah that wouldn't be failure.

At some point a man walked past me with a walking stick who must have been more than 70 years old. Not quite sure why but it inspired me to RUN the rest of the way. Next time I WILL run all the way without stopping!

I finished off the morning run with another lap of the basetrack. It feels so much easier after running up the Mount. Perspective is a funny thing.

An opportunity arose on Sunday for me to sneak off and ride the Rotorua bike course. Adam had an all day party and Jo and Laura wanted to go see a 3D film (UP) so I was freeeeeee!

I wanted to put right the mess that I had made of the last attempt. This time I took enough calories to eat/drink throughout the ride. I also ate breakfast closer to my start time. Two hours seems to work for me.

I wanted to run off the bike so I wasn't going to totally hammer the ride. I decided on a 135 HR cap. I have no scientific reason for this ... only that 135 seems like a HR that I can sit at for a long time (I think) ... it's probably my Ironman bike HR so I think I should be going a bit hotter for the half but my goal for Rotorua is to have a good run and if going a bit slower on the bike is going to help achieve this then that's what I'll do.

I'm going to do a 40K TT soon and take this as 105% of my threshold and then see what 80% of this is. I'll then toss this up with my perceived ideal HR of 135 and see what I get.

So ... I rode out keeping HR in the low 130's and it felt easy. I even enjoyed Hell's Gate because it gave me a chance to sit up and stretch and admire the view. Coming down the Tarawera road was an experience and I hit my highest speed ever (I think) of over 73km/hr. Getting a little less scary each time ... only a little less mind!

At the halfway point I felt really good and was looking forward to riding home strong and smashing my previous times. Reality hit very quickly when I realised (AGAIN!) that it was straight into a headwind. Unlike last time I was able to spin into the wind and keep the speed near the 30km/hr mark (most of the time).

I seemed to be making good time and I was soon over Hell's Gate and onto the Airport Road. The wind seemed to be a slight tailwind and I took advantage of it and I was soon on the Tarawera Rd climb. This is where the time just flies as you grind up the looooong hill. It was no different today. The seconds and minutes just seemed to slip away and the top of the hill didn't seem to get any closer. It's a cruel finish to the bike ride ....

... but then you realise that it isn't the finish and although there's probably only a kilometre or so left it too seems to go on forever until you hit the big downhill to T2. It was at this point that I had my first Magpie attack.

I saw the flapping shadow on the road in front of me and thought that's getting big/closer. The next thing I heard was a loud thwack. I turned round and saw the (HUGE) bird above my head. Not sure if the thwack sound was it hitting my helmet cos I don't think I felt anything or if it was the flapping of the wings but it was a bit of a shock. I didn't see the bird again thankfully.

Finished in just under 3hrs 15 so was OK with that. I was hoping for between 3:05 (previous best) and 3:10 but I suppose I did go quite conservatively and I did have the fatigue from the Mount run in my legs so I'm not too worried. I hope to get another crack at it in a month or so's time.

I know I don't have to keep riding the course to be ready for the race but it is such a great ride that if I can, I will. It's also great to be able to run around the lake afterwards.

The screenshot shows the story of my run

Very pleased to have been able to run off the bike at this pace. Short story is a very slow start to get my legs back and then a slight increase in pace to the finish. All good!

Today (Monday) is the first day of my school holiday ... only got four days this time as I'm saving leave for when my parents come over in January. It was supposed to be a day of rest but the garden called me and I hacked some bushes and trees and with the help of Laura, planted some of the cuttings we took in the summer. It was good to get a bit of gardening done, even if it was raining most of the time. Only downside is that I'm sure the aches and pains I'm going to feel from it tomorrow are going to be far worse than from the weekend's training. Ah well. Recovery run tomorrow!

Hill Climbing

2009-09-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Jo and Adam went to 'the snow' on Friday so I was left looking aft' baby ... well Laura anyway. We had a great time watching GG re-runs and eating pizza and ice-cream. I paid the price for it though with stomach pains all night but that's another story.

I couldn't get out for a run (Friday) so decided to get up early Saturday morning and hit the Mount. I've always wanted to run up it but never got round to it. Today was going to be the day to try ...

It was an overcast morning but the sun was trying to poke through. As always though the Mount looked gorgeous ... and intimidating.

I decided to do a warm up loop of the basetrack and to be honest I felt pretty sh!te. I think i ate breakfast too close to starting the run. I've made this mistake before (many times). I really need to learn that I get an energy spike soon after the breakfast but crash really quickly after that. The start of the run on the basetrack coincided with the crash I think and I felt 'bonkish'. I just sipped my energy drink and about three-quarters of the way round it came right. I stopped at one point to take a picture and I thought I had paused the watch but probably not as I presume I turned it off when I thought I was restarting it. I therefore lost all the data for the rest of the run until I noticed half way up the Mount. DOH! I need to be more aware of what the button pushes do on the watch as the first one sometimes (most of the time) just 'awakens' the watch and the second push does what you want. I'll figure it out before December I hope!

Although it wasn't perfect weather the setting of the wedding above looked really cool. You can see the groom waiting nervously for the rest of the 'party'. A lone runner strides across the sand. Not sure which of the two is the craziest ...

Last picture before putting the camera away and attempting 'The Mount' ...

The 4x4 track is crazy steep and the biggest challenge is keeping your footing in the loose shingle. I was running on my toes most of the way and my calfs were stretched to the limits with absolutely no problem. Even more evidence (I believe) that my calf problems have nothing to do with them being pulled or stretched.

I ran the whole way up but it was slow and I did stop at three points to take pics.

I don't think I could have run it without stopping this time around but I'm glad as that gives me something to aim for. I've also got no idea how long it took as my watch was turned off for most of the climb. This also gives me an incentive to go back and try again to get some decent data. I saw my HR in the 160's for the climb so I know I was working hard(ish).

Getting to the top was a big thrill and had to be documented with a few pics.

I'm not a big fan of the 'Mr Bean hold the camera in front of yourself' shot but it seemed appropriate for this occasion

Looking down you can see part of the the basetrack

As I was scrambling down (just about managing not to fall on my @r$e or off the side of the cliff) I thought about attempting the run/climb again. The memory of the pain of the climb seems to go very quickly with me and like Reid Rd on the bike I always think (on the way down) 'that wasn't too bad'.

This time I did a deal with myself and compromised on another run of the basetrack instead. This time I felt strong on the run and didn't have the muzzy head of the first loop. It felt really good. I've missed the basetrack runs. I will do more before December.

As I came off the Mount I noticed the rest of the 'party' had turned up. It was a very early wedding. This was about 8am. Gonna be a long day for 'em.

I had a quick stretch by the car and was home well before 9. Jo was busy uploading photos from the snow trip ...

... and both kids were still asleep. Perfect start to the weekend. Big bike (maybe a brick run) around Welcome Bay to look forward to tomorrow. Might take some food with me this time.

Almost Normal

2009-09-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

I almost LIKE this picture of me modelling my new tri-top in the aero position (must get those elbows in more!).

I almost like it cos I ...

almost look normal (well as normal as a person can look sitting on an imaginary top of the range carbon tri-bike)

almost look comfortable in front of the camera

almost look like I've got some muscles developing (never known before)

almost look like I've got some hair

and if you look carefully you'll almost see evidence that ... the sun does actually shine out of my @r$e :)

Rotorua Bike Course

2009-09-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

I just did a Buckeye entry and realised it was longer than most of my blog entries so thought i would post it here as well.

I was on strike today so what to do??? Ride the Rotorua Bike Course of course! Ride out was good. Must have had a bit of a tailwind. 1:26 which is at least 4 mins faster than previous attempts. Then it fell apart. I had the plan to go with just liquid calories but i didn't drink enough. I bonked badly on way back. I had no solid fuel and was craving an energy bar or a cookie. I was riding into a headwind (although not that bad) and it just seemed ALL uphill. I was dying. I hadn't gone out too hard as I had kept HR below 140 even on the Hell's Gate climb. Average out was 136 which is definitely in my comfort zone.

Think it was just lack of calories (and general unfitness obviously!) ... it was actually a relief to get to Hell's Gate climb on way back because I knew I could just spin up and I didn't have to force the pace/speed. Back along the airport road (that is a sh!t road surface!) wasn't too bad as I think the wind was more tail/side than head and i was soon at the left turn. It was then that I got a call from Jo (who had come with me and spent the time in Rotorua) saying that

she had got a call from the school and Laura was sick. She was at the roundabout so I got back onto the Tarawera Rd and turned right instead of left towards the lake. It meant I didn't even make the last climb and my time was over 3 hours and I was spent. Average HR on way back was 125 ... just couldn't get going - legs were empty! Need to sort out my nutrition. Garmin Watch says I burnt 1250cals and I drank about half that! DOH!!! Next time I'll go out a little bit slower and take on board more calories and maybe actually finish the course. Laura was fine btw :) We'll both be back at school tomorrow :)

Jo took some pictures of me at the start and also stopped the car at various points on the ride and took some pictures. It wasn't 'in the plan' and I was so excited to see the action photos. Here are just a few of the best ones.

A Mixed Bag

2009-09-06T00:14:00.000-07:00

We knew it couldn't last forever. We knew it would come to an end eventually but we just didn't think it would fly by so quickly. Tonight was the end of an era, the end of a time in our family's life where we came together every day for eight weeks to work towards our common goal. Tonight we watched the final episode of the Gilmore Girls. Seven seasons and 153 episodes and we all loved every minute of it. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they do make the film. I don't think we ever had a programme that we could all enjoy before. Not quite sure what we're gonna do next week ... maybe I'll get some training done!

My training has been a bit hit and miss this week but I did manage to get back in the pool. I was really pleased that my swimming felt easier than ever before. I wasn't fast but I was very relaxed. I even swam a few lengths without breathing and just looking at my hand entry. Very hypnotic and relaxing. I'm well and truly back to T.I. (well my version of it) and it feels great. Obviously I'm swimming with my wetsuit. Nothing new of race day for me. I did a 1K TT and managed to stay below 20 mins. I'll up the distance over the next few swims and get used to swimming 2K again ... It's been a long time!

Probably my greatest achievement this week has been NOT running to make sure my calf is completely healed. I had a plan to do walk/jogs and I have followed the plan with a walk around our local park followed by a sloooow jog around and then walk and so on. It's been really good and I'm up to about 6k in total of walk/runs. Plan is to do a couple more and then to do a very slow 5K. The danger point seems to be the 8K mark so I will build up to this slowly and keep the intensity very low. There have been no niggles for the calf but I am not getting too excited too quickly.

Saturday was a day I had been really looking forward to. Adam was 13 on Tuesday (I am officially old now ... I have a teenage son! WTF!) and his present from us and the grandparents was a flying lesson.

He had a great time. He has two follow up lessons and will get to take off himself next time. Landings will be sometime in the future. It's easy to work out what Father Christmas is bringing Adam this year. It's hard for me to comprehend that I have a teenage son ... even harder to fathom that he takes flying lessons!

My original plan for today (Sunday) was to ride the Rotorua Half Ironman course ... just to say hello again and remind myself of the hills and the ... well just the hills really. The last time I tried it was really icy and I ended up canning the ride and running the run course instead. The weather had been getting warmer and so I didn't think I'd have that problem again BUT the last couple of days have been bitterly cold. I went out Saturday night to buy diesel and it was soooo cold. Rotorua is generally a few degrees colder than us and so I presumed it would be even worse there. I decided to wimp out! I canned the ride and decided to simulate the ride (sort of) on the windtrainer.

I think my max time on the windtrainer has been 90 minutes so the 3 hours I had planned was a bit of a jump. I decided that I needed the i-pod to get through the session so loaded it up with all the U2 tracks that I had on the PC and hit the trainer.

Plan was to keep the intensity low at the start, gradually build up to about 140bpm and then try to hold it there for the session. It all started off OK and after about 30 mins I hit the 140-145 range and it felt quite easy. I actually increased the intensity from time to time and hit 150 and it actually felt easier/smoother but I didn't stay there too long ... just in case. I eventually paid for all the surges to 150 and the last 45 minutes were torturous! My own fault! I managed to keep the intensity in the 140's but it was hurting and I really wanted to sit up and coast. My mind actually won the battle with 15 minutes to go and I sat up and coasted at low cadence. Not too bad though. I had managed to stay aero for 99% of the previous 2:45 so I was pleased with this. At least I think that I have proved my aero position to be 'comfortable'. I won't be stuck in the aero position for as long during race day as the hills will break up those but I want to stay aero as much as possible for the rest of the ride. Can't wait till it gets a bit warmer and I can test the position out on the actual course.

It was Father's Day today in NZ and the rest of the day has been great. I had my cards, a quick shower, one episode of GG and then it was out to Tauranga to walk across the new harbour bridge before it's opened to traffic tomorrow (I think). Just what my legs needed :)

The All Blacks were also in town.

The day got even better as Adam had booked a table at our favourite restaurant, Zeytins. We had a great meal sitting in the sunshine watching the rest of Tauranga queue up for All Black autographs and walk across the new bridge.

Obviously the down side of today was that we had the final 2 episodes of GG to watch when we got back. As always they went all too quickly and we were soon watching the final credits roll and consoling Jo who was in floods of tears by the end. We know that its not going to be too long away when our two leave home for Uni or to travel the world. Time flies so fast. They grow up so quickly. They eventually all fly the nest ...

..... can't wait! :)

Not Much To Report

2009-08-30T01:22:00.000-07:00

It has not been a good week for training ... although had a fantastic weekend with Jo and the kids making a 'Happy Birthday' video for Jo's dad who's 70 next month. We were videoing ourselves singing and dancing to the Stevie Wonder 'Happy Birthday' song in locations all around Tauranga and the Mount. Luckily no where was particularly busy so we only got caught a couple of times. We have been wetting ourselves laughing at the footage. Hope her dad appreciates it. It is funny now that Adam is chief video editor with his Apple Mac. That has been my role for so long. Things have come a long way since I used to edit with two VHS video recorders and two very synchronised fingers. All this drag and drop ... kids just don't know what we had to go through in the olden days :)

Short story of the week training wise is that I thought my calf was OK to run with on Thursday but it turned out it wasn't. No big deal. Just sent me back to the drawing board. I have a two week plan in place and I won't rush it this time. There's plenty of time till the Rotorua Half in December ... and I've decided that even if the calf goes again this time I WILL finish. I reckon I could walk/hobble/jog and make the cut-offs ... just!

No swimming to report. Not even a swim with the kids this weekend. Maybe I'll get wet next week.

Bad Blogger

2009-08-23T02:59:00.000-07:00

I've been a really bad blogger recently. It hasn't helped that my calf went a week ago and I didn't really want to talk about it. Just pi$$e$ me off big time. My running was going so well and then bang!

It has meant that I've ridden loads. Almost 8 hours on the bike this week and it's been great ... although today's ride wasn't so good. My friend borrowed a road bike and there were lots of stops/starts to get it adjusted and then we didn't make the top of one of the climbs cos he didn't have enough gears. All good though.

I didn't swim at all last week either. That little habit has to stop. Work has just been so hectic that I have been working through lunch breaks and not getting to the pool. It might calm down soon ... hopefully! I need to swim!

One good thing to report is that the new watch is great for geocaching. Me and the kids found three yesterday and Jo joined us today and we found another. We couldn't find the two others we looked for today but by then it had started raining and so it was time to head home anyway.

Weight is staying off but I am struggling. I find it much easier to lose weight than to actually keep it off. I can be very strict with myself when I am losing but find it much harder to eat 'just a little' more. I'll get the hang of it though. Don't want to be a continual yo-yo dieter ...

Pulling a Sickie

2009-08-09T01:18:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for most of the week but still managed to get 8 hours trianing in. I'm hoping for a better week next week.

I had a cr@p week at work and I've just spent the last three hours prepping for next week when I couldhave/shouldhave been writing this blog.

Hopefully everything will settle down soon.

I'm just glad I have my coach to plan the week ahead. I caught her, calcualtor in hand scheduling my swim, bike and runs to get me to my goal of ten hours.

I know I'm biased and she's my daughter but she just looked so cute and I'm so proud and thankful to her for keeping me on track.

She actually didn't put too many sad faces on the fridge this week even though I missed sessions cos she knew that I was sick. My favourite quote from her this week when she found out I hadn't swum AGAIN ... 'just keep your togs at work dad and swim when you can'. Thanks Laura!

19 weeks to go ....

I WON!

2009-08-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

I finally won the 12 week weight loss challenge. Good job really as I had already spent the money. Thanks for that tip Tim - spend the prize money before you win to get extra motivation - it worked!

The 2nd place lady had a big loss in the final week and was within 0.5% of my previous week's weight. Good job I had a big loss as well in that last week!

I also won the most cm lost but you're not allowed to win both (boo!) so that $200 went to someone else. I picked up the big prize though. Ended up being $650 so easily covered the cost of the Garmin 310xt watch.

I know at one point it was going to be the Ironman entry fee but I think I'll get more out of the watch. I WILL do Ironman but just not in IronmanNZ in 2010.

Stand by for lots of Google Earth pictures of my swim, bike and runs ...

Winter Super Sprint

2009-08-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to test the new Garmin 310XT in open water. Garmin say that it is only intended to time your swims and no other data will be recorded. I realise that the HRM won't work in the water but I thought that it should be able to pick up satellite signals to track the swim even if it's only when the arm comes out of the water. At the very least it would be able to track me going in and out of the water.

Only one way to find out ... I dragged the family to Pilot Bay.

The weather has got a bit better the last few weeks in NZ but it is still winter and it is still cold so I knew it wasn't exactly gonna be a fun swim but sometimes you have to do these things in the name of research.

I put the watch on Multi-sport. This option has different screens and data gathering capabilities for the swim, T1, Bike, T2 and run. Think this is what's gonna sell the watch (along with the 20 hr battery) to long course triathletes. The only weird thing is is that it has a skiing graphic for the swim section. Not sure if this can be changed. Least of my worries really.

I headed out into the water. Instant frozen feet but the wetsuit kept me relatively warm.

Swimming off towards the Mount

Love this next shot (well done Laura!) ... might be able to photo shop a bluer sky and make it look like summer. Later maybe.

Just over ten minutes later (felt longer in the cold) I was coming out of the swim and having the usual wrestle with the wetsuit.

Phil wanted to know if the bulkiness of the watch made it easier to get the wetsuit off. I made a conscious effort to check this and I must admit it took more than the usual tug to get it over the watch but it wasn't anything to worry about.

The main reason for the swim was to see how it was tracked by the Garmin. The answer is very erratically. Not surprising really as the watch disappears every couple of seconds under the water. The racking is as good as I wanted though. It shows how far I got and the in and out points.

The detours in between (even I don't double back as much as that) obviously affect the overall distance recorded and so the speed data is meaningless. It said that I covered 700m but I'm sure it was about 500m. However if I swim out and back to somewhere I'll have the time and straight line distance from the map so that's good enough for me.

I hit the lap button after the swim and it goes over to the T1 screen and records data for that.

Actually look like I'm enjoying it.

Nice close up of the watch (good girl Laura!) ... you can see that it is quite bulky but you soon get used to the size and weight.

It's great to have such a large bright screen though so even if they could package the electronics smaller I think I would still go for this size. You can change the amount of data on the four screens per sport. At the moment I have 3 or 4 data fields on each screen. I am going to reduce this, maybe to just one on each screen and have it on auto scroll. This will make it even easier to read.

I can imagine that once I get tired and miserable during a race I'll just want basic information and I won't want to have to lift my arm nearer my face to see it. A screen with one data field on it can be seen from about a mile away ... well maybe a few metres anyway.

I was soon on the bike and on my way, after hitting lap obviously and seeing the data fields change to bike and a little bike graphic appear. Worth every cent! Jo and the kids went to get hot chocolates to warm themselves up. Twas a day out at the seaside for everyone!

This was my bike data. It was a 10k out and back loop. The blue line that is high on the out is speed and clearly shows that I had a great tailwind. I was able to hit 50km/hr (over 31 mph) which felt awesome.

Obviously I had to pay for it on the way back and there is a drastic decrease in speed. I'm not too sure about those HR spikes towards the end (red block). They seem a bit high but they are sustained. I'm sure my HR did rise because I was trying to stand and fight the wind in a big gear (which didn't work!) but I think 200+ could be an error.

I felt really good after the bike. Although it was hard work coming back it was only a 10K ride so I had plenty of energy for the run. I hit the lap button, had my picture taken in T2, changed my shoes and I was off.

The point of the exercise was to test the watch and so I wasn't going to run far. I had already run a 5k in the morning so I decided to go for just 1K. Plenty far enough for now.

Heading out of T2

.. and heading back a few minutes later

I hit stop and then came the leap of faith with the watch. You have to hit reset to clear your data and send it into the memory ready for downloading when you get back. This seems very weird to me. You hit the button and all the screens clear. There is a History option and I played with this for a while (at the red traffic lights on the way back) but I couldn't work out what was what. Sure I'll get used to it after a while. I need a ten year old to help me.

So ... I am pleased to report that the watch passed its first field (and more importantly sea) test. It's my first GPS watch so everything on it is amazing to me. I'm not sure how much better this is than previous models but to me it is (at the moment) perfect!

I know things are never as good as they first seem (did I tell you it was our 16th Wedding Anniversary on Friday?) BUT I really can't find anything that I don't like about the watch. I'm sure it's annoying habits will become apparent after a while but we are definitely still in the honeymoon period and I love it!

Final Weigh-In

2009-07-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the last weigh in of the local 12 week challenge. Next week is just prize giving.

After 3 weeks with a total loss of 100g I finally broke through the plateau. I lost 1.9kg. Well pleased. I knew that I was losing weight/fat whatever even when the scales weren't moving because I was constantly adjusting my belt hole. Final results were:

Start weight 97.5kg

Last week 85.2kg

Finish weight 83.3kg

Weekly weight loss 1.9kg

Total weight loss 14.2kg

Percentage loss 14.6%

I have never taken my body measurements before and so didn't really know what to expect. My results were as follows:

Chest - start 105cm, finish 92cm (loss of 13cm) - not sure that's good?

Waist - start 102cm, finish 76cm - in English I went from a 40 inch wait to 36. (loss of 26cm)

Hips - 109cm, finish 99cm (loss of 10cm) - I will miss my child bearing hips :)

I do take these changes with a small pinch of salt because the tape measure felt awfully tight for the final measurements but there has certainly been some shrinkage going on.

The results on show tonight from last weeks weigh in had me on 12% in 1st place and the second place person moving up to 10%. They obviously had a big weight loss last week cos 2nd and 3rd were both on 8% previously. I'm glad I put in a big loss this week just to make sure. With me on 14.6% they would have to have lost over 6% tonight. No-body who stayed for the meeting lost more than me tonight so I think I am safe.

I hope so cos I have already spent the prize money.

It should be here tomorrow.

It is a Seal I Tell You!

2009-07-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Mon - 20 min run. Didn't feel like going out but I know that I need to keep running consistantly to maximise my chances of NOT getting injured. Decided that even 20 mins would be better than nothing and so like last week I started off the week with a short workout. I tried to run the hills hard to make up for lack of time. Felt good. I was glad I went out ... even if it just meant I stretched well.

Tue - hour on windtrainer. Pretty non-descript. Just got it done.

Wed - No training. Got home late from work and had to go straight to Weigh-in for the weight loss challenge. No time to sweat off a few pounds. Luckily I stayed the same weight. I've still gone all the weeks so far without an increase. Phew! Only one more week left.

Thu - 1.5hrs on windtrainer. Alternated 10 mins easy with 10 mins hard in the aero bars. I really enjoyed this session. Watched Gilmore Girls. We've only just recently discovered it and are in the process of catching up seven series worth of DVD's. Great show.

Fri - Ran the loop into Tauranga along Fraser (hillyish) and then back along Cameron (flat). Might really be adventurous next week and run it the other way. I'm a creature of habit so maybe not. My pace was about 5:4x for the 14K. I need to run these a bit slower. I sped up and ran 'intervals' too many times when my favourite songs came on. I must resist doing this during the long run. Kate was telling me off in my head every time I increased the pace.

Sat - Rest day but it included a short walk to look for seals on the rocks at the Mount. Twas a gorgeous day so all good. If you look carefully you can see the seal ... I think :)

Sun - 3 hour ride along Welcome Bay Road with the normal three climbs. Legs felt OK(ish) but there was no World Record climbing Reid Rd. Took 12:04 which is probably one of my fastest times but the record is 11:55. *edit update* 12:04 is my 2nd fastest timed climb of Reid Rd :)

Had to 'work' in the afternoon. Well I had to 'man' the Polytech's stand at the local expo for two hours. Not too bad but my legs were tired standing around. I wanted to sleep.

There was a stationary bike at another stand connected to lights. Idea was to keep the lights lit for the most time. The men's record when I went over there was 18 seconds. The girls was 3 seconds. I had to have a go. My legs were trashed from the 3hr morning ride but I knew I could pedal hard. I had four goes. My best effort was timed at 2.5 seconds.

Obviously something wrong with the bike! :)

Lots of testing planned for next week and then 'proper' Half Ironman training starts. Can't wait.

Introducing My New 'Coach' ....

2009-07-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that I now have a coach.

Well, when I say coach, I mean person who bullies me into doing the training I set out to do at the start of the week. A person who, if I miss a session will re-arrange the rest of the week so I don't slack off. A person who can pull strings at home and get me more training time when needed.

That person is Laura.

Don't be fooled by her sweet little innocent exterior. She is a hard task master.

She has set up the fridge door as my training plan and set weekly targets for the swim, bike and run.

She spent hours in the holiday making little magnetic graphics. I love the aero guy on the bike.

You can see how my weekend went from the graphics below

The unhappy faces on Friday represent the fact that I got home from work, had dinner and then fell asleep in front of the TV. I didn't manage to get any exercise in. Laura sorted it out though and she scheduled a 2 hour windtrainer session on the Saturday (along with a family swim in the afternoon) and then a 2:30hr bike ride on Sunday. I managed to get all these sessions done and so it was smilie magnetic faces all round.

The rest of the week well. Rode the Toll Road on Monday (didn't break any records), did a long run on Tuesday (1:26 to Strand) and then a quick 45 minute spin on the windtrainer on Wednesday. Thursday was this year's first real 'training' visit to the pool at work. I wore the wetsuit and timed some 250m. I'm still able to do the same sort of times (sub5 mins) as last year so no real 'swim fitness' has been lost being out of the pool so long. I did 4 x 250m and alternated between T.I. and Conventional. I also did some drills and a few 50's and 100's. I'll get more structured the closer I get to the race. I also did an easy pace 5K run Thursday evening. Went OK but I tried it without a waterbottle and I missed it. I'll go back to using one.

All in all this was one of my better training weeks. Plan is to keep (and develop) this consistancy. I need to get more runs in during the week but I'm sure Laura will be on at me about that. I didn't hit my run training target this week. The graph doesn't lie!