KONA 2014 - Who's Silly Idea Was it to Move House?

...oh, that's right, me.

And St Pete.

But I was definitely a willing participant in that decision and over the past couple of weeks that decision would come back to bite me big time as moving preparations and big training blocks succeeded in bringing me to my psychological limits.  As usual, though, it provided me with a valuable learning opportunity.

Learning about what I need, personally, in order to function.

Coach Dave has set a good system for my Kona build up.  It's been a series of two week blocks - each block themed around wind trainer, swim and run in turn.  During those blocks I'd therefore have double sets of each.  So during the wind trainer weeks I'd have, say, Tuesday and Thursday with wind trainer sets to do in the morning and again in the evening.  Same for the swim block and same for the run block.

They've been going pretty well apart from a couple of hiccups.  Towards the end of the swim block I started to get a cold and so spent around a week managing that and not overdoing things, and managed to come out the other end pretty well.  I had a few days with no energy and so spent a bit of time looking at the training program and sacrificing the lesser sessions in order to rest and be able to continue with the more important sessions.  A pretty minor dose of the virus in the scheme of things which compromised the beginning of the run block but working with the mantra of "progress, not perfection" I knew long term that it would be OK.

But then I hit some additional road bumps.  During my second run week, I was supposedly close to full energy again but started finding myself not coping with little things.  St Pete started copping it as I went from zen-like athlete to emotional 13 year old (or that's what it felt like!).  I'd be on the brink of tears over the tiniest little thing and I later described it as like being on a knife edge.

It forced me to take a step back and try to figure out what was going wrong.  I normally handle pressure and stress fine and sail through tough situations like a ship on the ocean.  What was different this time?

As I looked back on the last week I honed in on the problem.

I wasn't getting enough down time and this wasn't just about physical downtime - it was the mental downtime as well that was suffering.

With the impending house move we had a whole stack of things to discuss, decide and act on.  St Pete was managing a lot of it but I was far from disengaged from the process and so the mental stimulation and physical stimulation combined was pushing me to extremes.  I was also in a run block and, with it, run sets morning and afternoon, which I find challenging at the best of times.

So a combination of the physical stress from the hard training week, plus the mental stress from organising the house move, combined to turn me into what felt like a large piece of crystal - ready to fracture as soon as things got a bit hot.

To fix this it turned out that the best remedy to put me back on the right track was a simple one....we went shopping!

We had set aside a Saturday where I had a long run and swim to do but also needed to go furniture shopping.  So we decided to do the run early and then go do the shopping and plan to swim in the afternoon/early evening. As it turned out we ended up out shopping all day, did all we wanted to do but ran out of time to swim.

But that was OK.  After getting the run out of the way we forgot about training for the day and just focused on one thing - the house move.  The next morning I woke up feeling back to my normal calm state and, as we headed down to Cronulla for my bike set, I remember saying to St Pete that I was feeling much more zen.  And he had noticed it too.

Looking back on those couple of weeks it made me realise that recovery time for me isn't just resting on the couch.  While that is really important it's become less crucial as my fitness has improved (i.e. I'm no longer needing afternoon naps!).  But what remains crucial for me is that quiet time where I get to mentally recharge and gain energy again.

So girls, if you're finding the going has got tough and you are at your limits, here's your answer.

Go shopping!

Sutherland 2 Surf - Race Recap

Well, well, well.

What a day.

The Sutherland 2 Surf was just a fun run but, still, I had a plan. First and foremost, finish and improve on last year's time of 65 minutes. Based on this year's half marathon I figured I should be able to do 61 minutes, however wasn't 100% confident having had a rubbish few weeks running while recovering from this year's Ironman New Zealand and Ironman Cairns.

But while expectations weren't high I still set myself a little "awesome" goal, that I didn't share so widely, thinking wouldn't it be fantastic if I could shave a minute off that half marathon pace and get in under 60 minutes.

Could I really do it?

St Pete and I had a stress free day on Saturday - easy walks and a nice early night, getting up at 5am Sunday with plenty of time for a bowl of porridge before we headed to the train for the journey down to Sutherland.

Worst thing about the day was getting there and waiting.  We got to the start line in plenty of time but it was only 5 degrees! Yes, I know, soft Sydneysider...

 Eventually we figured out that the local hall right by the start line was open for late entries ... and that was where all the smart people were waiting - inside where it was much warmer!

Eventually, however, we had to make our way to the start line and finally the gun went off and we were into it. The conditions were perfect - no wind, clear skies, this was going to be great.

St Pete and I started out together and immediately had to start dodging and running around walkers.  While they had been given different coloured bibs, for some reason the organisers hadn't coralled them at the rear of the starting area and so they were interspersed throughout the field.  The only upside to having all these walkers to get around was that it slowed me down and ensured I didn't start too fast!  Despite the positive angle, I sincerely hope this approach was just a one-off slip up on the organisers' part - it no doubt frustrated a lot of people.

Anyway, we got going and after the first kilometre St Pete said "adios" and headed off ahead of me.  He didn't know it at the time but I had hatched a second plan.

Hang on behind him for as long as I could.

During the next kilometre I managed to stick to him pretty well - there were still a few walkers around and so that was no doubt holding him up and I made the most of it.  At around the 2km mark we hit the first aid station and I slowed down to pick up a cup of water to have with a gel (I didn't have any water with me before the start so missed taking my gel - so planned on taking it at the first aid station instead).  Although I didn't stop running, I lost touch with Pete as he simply ran through without even slowing down.

I could still see his bright yellow cap ahead, though, and so worked hard to stay in visual touch.  By the time we got to the 4km mark I had almost caught up to him and at this point we hit the first and biggest hill of the course.  It went for about 300m and so I put my head down and focused on staying strong to the top, hoping I would still be in touch with Pete at the top.  Alas, by the time I got to the top he had gone out of sight and I wouldn't see him again until the finish line.

The rest of the run, however, went better than planned.  I kept a bit of an eye on my watch and was amazed to be seeing kilometre splits all sub 5:30 and one split a 4:46!  I knew I was ahead of my target pace, then, and figured I had probably technically gone out too fast.  However as with the half marathon decided I just needed to back myself and hang on until the end, hoping like anything that I wouldn't blow up.

At the 8km mark we reached the crest of a hill and saw the ocean at Cronulla beach for the first time.  It's always a great sight, however I knew that the last kilometre of this run is always tough.  Sure enough, 1500m to go and we turn hard left at Cronulla and head parallel to the shore to the Wanda Surf Lifesaving Club, where the finish line is.

By this stage I was busy checking and rechecking my splits and average pace, which had been consistently sitting around 5:09 - a pace I never hit in training!  But I was also suffering big time and this last section is really tough.  It seems like there are never ending hills and it feels like the longest 1500m ever.  Finally we turn right into the carpark and head around the corner and downhill again to the finish line, at the same time I'm continuing to run past people and chick a few blokes.  That always feels good, but not as good as seeing my time as I crossed the finish.

No, I didn't do last year's time of 65 minutes.

No, I didn't do this year's half marathon pace of 61 minutes.

No, I didn't do my "awesome" time of 60 minutes.

I backed myself, pushed hard, and hung in there for 57 minutes 17 seconds.

Job.  Done.

Sutherland to Surf - A "Fun" Run

This weekend is Sutherland to Surf weekend.

This is a great local fun run held down in the Sutherland Shire which takes you on an 11km journey from Sutherland to Cronulla. Even better, the overall topography shows it as a downhill course - although don't forget, this is Sydney and so there are some climbs to negotiate!

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

The reactions of people when I've told them we're doing this run has been interesting, though, and the message has been universal.

At only 11km it must be pretty easy for me and why would I bother doing it?

Haha, easy? I wish!

Yes, I guess it could be relatively easy if I treated it as a bit of fun and just cruised through. However it's not, because I use these runs to practice running under pressure and these upcoming off-season runs will be all about setting better times than I did for the same event last year as a way of trying to build an overall speed increase into my general running. In order to run faster I need to get used to running at a faster pace over a longer distance and this is what these standalone events do.

Training runs don't give you that same mental focus, mainly because there are interruptions such as pedestrians to navigate and traffic lights to wait for along the way. Plus you're not mentally prepared and a training run is scheduled around everything else and so you don't tend to train from a nicely rested state.

So, the plan for Sunday's run is to come in under last year's time of 1:04.59. Despite the gains I've made this year I'm far from confident. My running since returning from Cairns can only be described by one word - rubbish. It can easily be explained and understood - it's taken a good 6 weeks to recover from doing 2 ironman events in the space of 3 months, but that knowledge hasn't made me feel any better prepared to do a good time.

But the logical side of me has emerged and, as usual, the data has been analyzed. What do we know? We know that in May I ran a pretty decent half marathon and came in under the magical 2 hours. In that I ran the first 11km in 61min 13 sec. So I know I should have that in me.

So that's become my main goal - sub 61 minutes. And that will require an average 5:34 pace, something I've not been hitting too well at training these past couple of weeks! But I also need to remember that this course is downhill overall ... and did I mention I'm still recovering?

So, we will see. A day of rest today, a good night's sleep (no trying to watch the Tour de France tonight!) and I'll be ready to do the best that I can.

Because that's all you can ever expect of yourself.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Best Weekend of the Year

Twas the week before ironman, and all through the house

 Irongirl was resting, her legs on the couch

Black Beauty was packed, by the Jet boys with care

In hopes that race day would be completed with flair...

It's Friday morning as I start writing this and I'm about to hit the weekend before Ironman. And I've come to the conclusion that this is the best weekend in the year.  Yes, the weekend before Ironman is even better than Ironman weekend, although that does come a pretty close second.

And for those who are facebook friends, and therefore know I'm home alone this weekend, no, it's not because St Pete has headed back to Christchurch to run the Christchurch marathon on Sunday. Shame on you all for even thinking such a thing!

The weekend before Ironman is particularly special because the training volume is down, I'm starting to feel strong, fit and ready to race, and all the fun packing stuff happens.

What also helps is that I'm no longer in that phase of freaking out about my first ironman event.  You know that feeling - asking eternal questions about whether I've done enough training; whether I'll last the distance; what will go wrong on the day and will I cope.   I've now got enough IM finishes under my belt to know what to expect on the day, understand that it's going to be a long day at the office and that there will be challenges (and pain!) to overcome, but nevertheless will still be looking forward to overcoming it all and coming across the finish line.

And that's what makes this weekend so much fun.

First of all there's not much training on.  The sessions I do have still have some intensity to them but the volume has dropped right away.  Today, nothing.  Saturday, a 1,000m time trial swim and 45min wind trainer session.  Sunday, a set of run drills, 50min tops.  It's hardly going to make a dent in my days.

Melting Marshmallows - Lush

Training-wise, then, it's all about recovery.  As much as possible I need to be putting my feet up and having some serious couch time.  It's a great time to be catching up on those books sitting on the coffee table, movies, or even a long, luxurious bath.  Mmmm, a quick trip to Lush tonight might be in order....

So serious is this recovery business that my good intentions about volunteering on Sunday at the MS Fun Run had cold water poured on it good and proper.  I saw the event come up and the call go out for volunteers a few weeks ago and realised that it was on the same day as St Pete would be running his marathon.  I figured I'll be home alone, not much training on, why not help out?  It'll be an easy way to pass some of the day and give something back to the community.

Well, was I ever wrong on that one.

St Pete thought I had gone insane even thinking about it (and told me so in no uncertain terms) and Coach Dave, normally the optimistic "make anything work" kinda guy, took a long few seconds pondering it over Skype before finally deciding that no, despite my good and honourable intentions, he couldn't make this idea work at all.  And with the final nail in the coffin from Mel who, as a race director herself, assured me that the volunteer coordinator wouldn't consider her day ruined by me pulling out, I did so, and left the day as a blank canvas.

So that brings me back to the fun weekend.

With training just a blip on the radar that leaves the packing and preparation.  Yippee - the fun stuff!  Last night Black Beauty went into Jet Cycles for her pre-Ironman service.  Tomorrow I take the bike box in and she gets packed up (they did such a great job last time I'm letting them do it again!). Wheeling her home in the box on Saturday is always a really cool thing to do - yeah, go on, I know you're thinking it....ironman geek!  It's almost as cool as wheeling her around the airport - I feel like a real athlete...haha.

And then there's the packing.  All the race gear gets assembled and laid out.  Gels get counted.  Battery chargers get put together and coiled into ziplock bags so they don't get tangled.  Spare CO2 canisters, tubes, clothing for all weather eventualities.  The gear gets left out for a day or two so I can check it against the checklist half a dozen times and then just check it visually another half dozen times while I mentally go over the course, through each transition, ensuring I have everything I could possibly need.

Finally it all gets loaded into the suitcase.  Race day gear goes into my carry-on trolley bag - all of our other gear into the suitcase.  I love this process!

IMNZ 2011

Another pre-race weekend tradition is the selection of nail polish for race day.  I'm not normally a nail polish wearer, but my good friend Ironjack started this when we did our first Ironman together in 2011, in Taupo.  She was all about wearing special nail polish on the day and so I joined in and it's carried on from there. My swim exit photo from Ironman NZ 2011 shows a bright flash of pink on my toes and catches my attention every time I look at it!  As a result every ironman now requires a special application of polish on the fingernails and toenails - the bonus being it hides my typically bruised and battered black toenails!  So another fun job this weekend will be securing a special colour to wear next weekend.

Finally there's the mental preparation.  A couple of weeks ago my training volume had peaked, I had been pushing myself hard and was sufficiently run down that I got sick.  It was only a cold, and a relatively minor hit at that.  But it was enough to put me at a low ebb in terms of feeling fit and ready to race.  As we get to this weekend, however, I've fully recovered and I can feel my mental focus enter a state of calm readiness.

Come Tuesday St Pete will have returned from smashing his marathon and we'll be getting on the plane to head to Cairns.

The weekend before Ironman - it's the best weekend of the year.

Mental Toughness - It's a Winner

After a four week break (2 weeks pre- and 2 weeks post-ironman) it was back to Bootcamp this morning.

It was great to be back with the old gang again, turning up just before 6.00am under the harbour bridge not knowing what Richie was going to throw at us for the next hour.  I was feeling refreshed, ready to go and, more importantly, ready to push myself.

After our warm up and then the first couple of drill sets of squats, runs and steps ups, J turns to me and says "you make it look so easy".

Heart rate at 162, breathing heavily, sweating like a ... well sweating like a hot thing, and me, the non-athlete - making anything exercise-related look easy seemed like a complete oxymoron.  But, cool as a cucumber, my response was simple.

"It never gets easier.  I think you just get better at pushing yourself harder."

But it got me thinking.  While it certainly wasn't easy, why did it look easy?

I think it came down to mental focus.

Beginner or experienced, improvement only comes by pushing your limits, not only physically but mentally as well.  And I think people underestimate the role your mind plays in helping you succeed or fail in your goals.  This morning I was feeling mentally strong, focusing on good form and pushing myself to do as well as I could with the task we had been given.  As a result I suspect that, rather than portraying distress with pushing myself, I was instead portraying a calm determination and using my inner strength to push through.

You can see another example of this on the latest series of The Biggest Loser which has started in Australia this week.  The contestants are in that beginner stage of having no confidence in their abilities, no experience with pushing their bodies in exercise and the distress they are feeling is out there for all to see.  They are finding the workouts hard and their minds are telling them to stop.  They think they can't do it and, without the trainers there pushing them, they would give up.

Their minds haven't been trained to understand that a workout is supposed to be tough.  That you push through and feed off that difficulty in order to get stronger.

The trainers are pushing them to their limits and over the next few weeks we will see a transformation in these guys, not only in their physical abilities but also in their mental toughness.  The workouts won't get any easier, but those that make it through to the end will have become mentally stronger, more focused and will have been able to push themselves that much harder as a result.

You may not be athletically gifted but it doesn't matter.  Mental toughness could be your biggest asset - and ultimately that's what will get you to the finish line of whatever goal you've set yourself.