What I Did on my Holiday

Thwack!

OK, it wasn't so much of a thwack, as a silent appearance on my computer screen.  It was my new training program from Coach Dave.

It was like the end of the summer holidays and Day 1 of school - and my "textbook" for the coming months had just landed in my inbox, arriving with a satisfied thump and returning me back to irongirl normality.

A New Year's Challenge - The 100 x 100 swim set

The call went out about a week ago.

Around the triathlon community various groups were challenging each other to complete the famous 100 x 100 swim set as a way to herald in the new year.  A local triathlon facebook group that I'm part of, run by Her Coach-His Coach, decided to join in and sent out the challenge to the group - extend yourself by completing either the full 100 x 100 or a smaller distance, as long as it's longer than you've ever swum before (otherwise where would the challenge be?!).

So what is this mad undertaking?

Ironman New Zealand 2014: The Swim

Facebook post on race morning:

OK, ready to do this - really windy overnight but it's died off now and shaping up to be a good day. If you've got nothing else to do, live coverage of the race will be on at www.ironmanlive.com and, if nothing else, it's shaping up to be an exciting race between Cam Brown and Bevan Docherty. And I'm hoping Terenzo can give them both a fright as well! On the girls' side Gina Ferguson should give Meredith Kessler a run for her money.

Oh, and 1700 of us age group athletes will also be out there, having the time of our lives and being looked after by 2000 volunteers - those guys rock!

Have a great day people - I think St Pete is going to hack my account during the day. See you on the other side! xx

So I was a happy camper, calm and ready to have a great day (so different to Ironman #1 in 2011!)

Me taking a photo of you taking a photo...

The wind had been huge overnight.  I'm generally a good sleeper but the noise woke me several times and had me wondering about contingency plans and also mentally double-checking that I had in fact clipped the helmet onto the bike properly and hoping the security guys in transition were looking after our bikes OK.

But nothing to worry about - by the time the alarm went off at 4.00am the wind had gone and when we got to transition the bikes didn't even look like they had been touched.

A quick phone call to St Pete (no sleeping in for him in Sydney!) and we were all down at race site checking in.  Coach Dave and dad found Leigh, Paul and I down there and I headed into transition to check the bike, load it with food and drink and then let one of the friendly bike mechanics pump up the tyres.

Wetsuits on and then we headed down to the swim start.

The lake was looking great for the start and the air was electric with the anticipation of almost 1600 (there were 1586 official starters) ironman athletes ready for a good day out.  After many photos and hugs all around Paul and I headed through the swim gate and down to the water to await the start.

Paul was excited to get going and he was amazed to get out by the start, turn around, and see the hundreds of bodies still up on the beach and coming into the water.  It really was a sight to see.  Before we knew it, though, the grand prix lights onshore were counting down the last 3 minutes and then the cannon went off and we were into it.

And into it in a big way!

It was absolute bedlam to the first buoy and still chaotic to the second buoy.  People trying to swim into you, over you, push you aside, gobfuls of water, it was a complete thrashfest.  And I definitely felt it for the first few buoys, really having to talk myself through it.  I stayed on Paul's feet for about 50m and then he disappeared and would eventually come out of the water about 10 minutes ahead of me.

Pretty soon, though, I found another pair of feet that were great to follow - barely kicking at all but still going at a good pace and these feet took me to the first turnaround.  I didn't do a lot of sighting on that first half but did notice that we had ended up just on the inside of the buoys.  Not to worry, we were only around 5m inside and we worked our way back to the outside in time to round the first turn buoy at the far end of the course. 

Rounding the bottom two buoys I lost that pair of feet and looked for some more to latch onto but for some reason this seemed a much more difficult task.  One pair I got onto were doing what I can only describe as a fugly kick.  Thrashing around and feet splaying apart sideways - it was a wonder there was any forward motion and it definitely wasn't something you wanted to follow.  I therefore spent most of the return leg either in clear water or trying to move onto a new pair of feet.

All through the leg, though there was almost constant contact with other people and it wasn't exactly fun or friendly contact.  More than a couple of times I'd have someone trying to swim up my legs and I'd suddenly find myself at a 45 degree angle with ankles sunk down.  Thankfully for me, unlucky for them, I have a strong kick when I need to and so they all received a pretty violent response from my legs kicking the cr*p out of them in return, which soon got rid of them.

I also found myself defending my position on my friendly pair of feet on that first half of the swim leg.  Quite often I'd find someone trying to move in on them and so I'd have to hold my position until they finally gave up and moved off somewhere else.

This irongirl may not be the strongest speed-wise in the water, but don't mess with her - I don't get intimidated easily!

I don't know if it was because I was slightly further up in the field or whether it was down to the fact that there were around 400 extra people in the water compared to previous years, but virtually everyone I spoke to afterwards commented about how rough they found the swim (in terms of body contact).

Finally we were turning around the final buoy and heading for shore.  Always my favourite part of the swim (!) I was pretty pleased to stand up and see the clock reading 1 hour 23mins as I ran out of the water.

It was around 3 minutes off last year's swim so I was really happy considering the shaky start.

Onto the bike and the real fun would begin!

Facing Our Mortality

The last few weeks has been a time of reflecting on the risks we take in the name of living life to the fullest.

I didn't plan it that way.

Rather, it's come about as a result of a number of events that have really focused my mind on how lucky we are to be able to do what we do.

First of all has been the emergence of articles in the media lately about evidence coming to light regarding possible cardiac risks from taking part in endurance events (Over 40? Rethink your next triathlon, Endurance Training is Bad for Your Heart, One Running Shoe in the Grave).  Scientists are coming to the conclusion that the amount of training endurance athletes do can result in micro tears occurring in the heart which, if not allowed to heal properly (with adequate rest and recovery), can result in scarring and thickening of the heart tissue and lead to an elevated risk of cardiac arrest.

Then this morning we woke up to the sad news that 34 year old UK woman Susan Taylor had died while attempting to swim across the English Channel. Even more tragic, she was less than 2km from the finish.  This is similar to another issue that's raised its ugly head in triathlon recently with concerns about the numbers of athletes suffering cardiac arrest in the swim leg of triathlons. While the rates are exceptionally low, it's been enough for WTC to trial wave or rolling swim starts of ironman events in North America in order to, amongst other things, "...reduce athlete anxiety".

But this reflection hasn't been only about the heart.  Yesterday, a question came from a work colleague: Do you feel safe out there riding (...on Sydney's roads amongst Sydney's sometimes maniac traffic)?  Well, yes I do.  The simple fact of the matter is I wouldn't be out there if I didn't feel safe and, on the whole, drivers treat me with the respect that my relative size and exposure dictates.

Rather than quit swimming, ironman or biking, these examples simply reinforce for me that you can't let risk stop you from living life.  There is risk in everything we do.  While some take the risk-taking to an extreme (e.g. BASE jumping, skydiving, free climbing) for most of us the risk is really not much greater than crossing the road or driving to the supermarket.

And, with apologies to event organisers in advance (!) if I were to choose, I'd much rather have a heart attack out on an ironman course, doing something I love, than living out my life surrounded in cotton wool in fear of doing anything a little bit "risky".

When I think about those risks, though, I don't take it for granted.

A comment on Facebook this morning struck a cord and aligns so well with my thinking.  It was in response to a post by Triathlete magazine about a Caroline Steffen story (the 2013 Challenge Roth champ says she is two different people on and off the race course. Can you relate?), and the first response was: 

I sure can. When the race is going well, maybe a PR, I'm focused, nothing affects me. When I'm having a tough day, I joke around, laugh and think how grateful I am to be able to race/compete.

And being grateful is something I try to remember.

I am healthy and that allows me to be fit enough to complete an ironman event (well 5, actually, as Coach Dave reminded me last night...).
I am supported by an amazing husband who allows me to indulge in this passion.
I have a wicked coach who understands who I am and where I want to go, and shares my love of the sport.
I have fantastic parents and friends who, near or far, cheer me along the way and indulge my endless training updates.
I have a great job that gives us the financial security to afford to travel to events and buy the "essential" gear.

What's not to be grateful for?

So as long as I'm able I'll be out there enjoying life and making the most of my ability to live it to the fullest.  We don't have to be the strongest, fastest or most agile, and in fact the cardiac research seems to favour we slower athletes - the pro/elites are the guys likely to do the most damage.  (A "win" for we middle/back of the packers for once!) But that doesn't stop anyone from getting out there and doing whatever it is that brings you joy, happiness and, most importantly, a smile to your face.

Because in the end there will always be an end.  And for some, like Susan Taylor, it will be tragically cut short.  However I do sincerely hope her friends and family can take some shred of comfort from all that she did achieve with her Channel swim, knowing she was fulfilling a dream and had lived her life to the fullest.

Kia kaha.



P.S.  Susan Taylor's swim across the English Channel was being completed in aid of two charities, Diabetes UK and Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People.  If you would like to contribute to her cause you can do so via her fundraising page.

Cole Classic

One of the great things about tapering for ironman is that I get to catch up on my blog entries!  This one, like the Sun Run, has been sitting in draft form since the beginning of the month and even though time has passed, it's still good to get my thoughts out there and reflect a little more on what ended up being a great day.

Most of the entry that follows is my race report to Coach Dave - this, then, gives you an insight into how I report in and the mental to-ing and fro-ing I tend to do.  I've been coming out the other end OK, though, so that just means these ocean swims have been worthwhile!  As a bit of a prelude and explanation, the weather forecast for the swim had been marginal, with the organisers warning us that they would cancel it if the conditions were deemed to be too unsafe.  In addition, the day before (the day of the Sun Run) it had rained solidly and was simply miserable out at Manly.  As a result, I had gone cold on the idea and figured I had nothing to prove anymore by doing the swim.  If the conditions were miserable then why worry about it - we therefore decided I could take the wetsuit with us and, if it was not a flash day I'd just go and do my own thing at Shelly Beach.

Here, then, is my recount the day after:

"Despite all my trepidation (as usual!) had a good swim yesterday - came out of the water happy with my result and ready to do it again next year!

The weather at Manly had settled down from the previous day in that the rain had pretty much cleared but there were heavy swells coming into the beach making it fab for surfers but crap for swimmers.  So Saturday night the call had been made that the swim would, like last year, start and finish at Shelly Beach.

I was still in two minds about doing it and even though it would be more difficult to do my own thing with the swim returning to Shelly, still took the wetsuit out with us just in case.

Manly - great surf conditions

When we got there the water around the swim course looked calmer than it was last year - sheltered in the bay for the first part and beyond the surf break in the parallel section to Manly.  And compared to conditions in the Bondi to Bronte swim it was a millpond!  So the choppiness wasn't a concern.  I headed down to test the water temperature, though, and that's what got me. I  spent ages getting into the water, it felt freezing!  However once I finally got in and started swimming it felt not so bad and so I figured there was actually nothing stopping me doing the swim - no good excuses!  So I headed back to shore as we had about an hour to wait before my wave started.

When my wave was ready to go the cold was starting to psych me out - I had got into the water again and come out, and was shivering on the start line.  Boy did I want my wetsuit on!  On the start line I was having the mental battle of pulling out but watched the other swimmers finishing and could see that they seemed to be fine and so convinced myself to stay there and not be such a wimp.

A bit of self-talk going on...

So, mental battle won, gun goes and we're off.  After all the fuss the swim went great. I was happy with my sighting - didn't break stroke to look up.  Found someone's feet to follow at one point but she kept swimming off course so I gave up following pretty quickly. There was no breast stroking and only one micro pause to get directed by the lifeguards - one of the buoys had been removed as it had been pulled out to sea by a rip and so the lifeguards were having to keep us heading in the right direction until we could see the next buoy.  A real difference with these ocean swims compared to ironman is the lack of buoys!

I got back to shore and ran up to the finish feeling pretty good - not shattered and not cold!

Time was 14mins quicker than last year, so that was good, but the removed buoy meant the course ended up shorter, 1.8km whereas I swam 2.2km last year.  However, still an improvement  on last year as my pace has improved by 2min/km (went from 26min/km to 24min/km) and my placing in the field also improved on last year.

As to whether to do it again next year - immediately before the race I was thinking I wouldn't. Surely I would be better focusing on doing some wetsuit swims. During and after I'm thinking I loved it as it is giving me more race experience, pack swimming experience and sighting practice. The conditions also help maintain my confidence in all conditions and if it weren't for the ocean swim events I probably wouldn't get any decent swimming in outside the pool - which wouldn't be ideal. And it gives me that little mental boost going into the swim leg at Taupo.  So I'm back to thinking that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages!

And next time I come up with piss weak excuses as to why I can't do an ocean swim I give you full permission to tell me to harden up!"

Bondi to Bronte Ocean Swim - A real ocean swim

One of the great things about living in Sydney is that there is no shortage of beaches and ocean to swim in if you are so inclined.  The swimming culture here is alive and well with surf lifesaving, surfing and other ocean sports high on the list of many locals' weekend pursuits.  The only downside is the wildlife and it is the nagging concern about unwittingly becoming shark bait that prevents many, including myself, from enjoying the ocean as much as we'd like.

There is one way around it, however, and that is via the multitude of ocean swim events around the region every year.  Earlier this year I did the Cole Classic, out at Manly, and this weekend I ticked another one off the list - the Bondi to Bronte Ocean Swim.  Another iconic event in the Sydney ocean swim calendar.

I had suggested doing the swim with a couple of local friends and work colleagues and each one of them reacted as if I was suggesting we swim the English Channel together.  Sharks, the distance and getting out of the surf break at Bondi seemed to be insurmountable barriers to entry but were all things I hadn't considered as real obstacles.  OK, sharks maybe, but for me that's the whole point of doing an organised event - there's heaps of people around you and, more importantly, plenty of life guards keeping a look out for unwelcome company in the water.

But while I entered with gusto and felt sure I could handle the event, it didn't stop the old butterflies returning - we were out at Bondi the week before with friends and I happened to point out to Sandra and Katarina the route of the swim I'd be doing.  "It's basically just out around that headland and then back into the next bay".  Next thing I know my brain's doing double time - that headland looks like a looong way out.  Bugger.  Stop thinking about it.  There will be buoys ("cans") out there on race day and then I'll be able to get into the normal routine - just get to the next can. 

Simple.

So Sunday arrived.  Saturday had been stinking hot, muggy, a real pearler.  Race day comes along and it's grey and blah. The temperature, though, isn't too bad.

I wasn't stressing too much - although remembering on the train platform that you've forgotten your swim goggles isn't the most relaxing activity.  A quick sprint home to retrieve them was in order and probably got rid of some excess nerves in the process...

The Bondi to Bronte facebook update that morning reported a 1.5m swell and water temperature of 19.5 degrees, meaning wetsuits were allowed.  We get off the bus at Bondi and I'm trying to remain chilled out and it's blowing.  No nice calm summer's day. 

Yikes. 

Immediate thought - at what point to do they decide it's too rough to swim?  By the look of activities down at the registration tents and beach, this didn't warrant giving us the morning off.

Damn.

Nothing to do but get registered and sausage my way into the wetsuit. The ocean swimming purists would have no doubt scoffed at my attire but for the first time this year the organisers were allowing wetsuits as an option for all age group categories when the water and air temperatures met certain criteria.  It was their way of encouraging greater participation in the event and great for us triathletes who should really be swimming in our wetsuits at any open water swim opportunity.  Thankfully I wasn't the only one.  Around 25% of us were similarly attired, so I was far from being odd one out.

Next thing was to figure out the best starting postion along the beach.  I had been reading about using the rip to carry you out and it looked like the start of the course had been lined up beside the rip (a smoother patch of water amongst the surf).

Finally I couldn't put it off any longer and so said goodbye to St Pete and headed into the coralling area for our wave start.  We were sent off in age group waves, and for some reason my age group was the last wave to be set off.  The oldest age group had been sent off first, behind the elites.

Great, so I've got the joy of being the last one to finish to look forward to.

Race briefing went something like this:

• There are 10 cans along the course. 
• Life guards are there to help, don't hesitate to raise your hand if you need any assistance. 
• Out around the point it's rough (no kidding!). 
• If you can you might want to breathe just on your right side for that section. 
• Once you get past the 5th can you turn and you'll see a big pink flag on the headland, to the right of Waverley Cemetery. 
• Sight off the big pink flag and then you'll see the surf lifesaving club at Bronte Beach. 
• If you go past Waverley Cemetery you've gone too far!
• Don't swim towards the lifesaving club - there's a hole in front of it. 
• You need to swim past the lifesaving club and then come back to the finish line just after it.

No problem.  Yeah right.

Line up on the beach - of course as soon as it's our turn to start the rip seems to disappear and there's surf all the way in front of us.  Typical.  Also not that reassuring was the sight of an IRB returning to the beach with four or five people from the previous wave.  Not a good start to their swim.

The gun goes off and we all head into the surf. 

And promptly get smashed three or four times by waves. 

My body manages to keep heading out while my brain is saying "what the hell are you doing this for?"  Yeah, those first few minutes I was truly questioning my sanity.  One of the only things that kept me going was the fact the St Pete had already headed off and if I chickened out now I'd have to walk all the way around to Bronte in barefeet and my wetsuit. 

Yep, strange as it seemed, it was easier to swim!

Did I mention it was rough?

When you are bobbing around in the middle of the ocean, that supposed 1.5m swell, plus a chop on top of that, suddenly looks enormous.  The visibility in the water was good and the temperature was fine, but there was no way I could get any sort of swim technique or rhythm going.  It was exactly how I would imagine being tossed around in a washing machine would be.  Every so often I'd be stroking and then suddenly get tossed on my side by a wave, or I'd rotate to breathe and a wave would come down on top of me and I'd drink some more of the ocean.

It would be fair to say that a fair bit of long dog and breastroke was utilised and I would watch the "ocean swimmers" ahead of me to see if they were doing anything markedly different.  They were, however, making it look easy and so while I was bobbing away like a cork or getting tossed around like a bag of dirty laundry, they would be cruising along up and down the side of each wave, barely breaking stroke.

About 3/4 of the way along I reassured myself that I never had to do this swim again.  Having said that, at no point did I think I wouldn't be able to finish.  For the most part the cans were only around 150-200m apart, so it was easy to chunk it down and I did seem to tick them off without too much difficulty.

The life guards were amazing.  They were continually cruising around, on surf skis, jet skis and IRBs - at one point I'm sure I was being escorted by Corey of Bondi Rescue on his jet ski.  At that point I concluded there was a definite benefit to being at the tail end of the pack if I was going to get a celebrity as a personal escort!   On a serious note, though, they would be circulating around us all and making sure we were OK.  One time I just gave a thumbs up and that was enough to send them onto the next person.  Another time we'd have a bit of a conversation as I checked to make sure I wasn't on a time limit before confirming that I was fine, just taking my sweet time about it.  At another check-in I confirmed with them that these were actually rough conditions.  They were - I wasn't just being a complete novice!  I even got offered some water at one point - which I didn't feel I needed even though it felt like I had swallowed half the ocean by then.

After what seemed like forever I finally started sighting on the final buoy and had turned in towards Bronte Beach.  It was still rough but definitely improved on what it had been and I was able to put together a decent number of strokes in each effort.  At that point also, I seemed to converge on a whole stack of people - while I had thought I had dropped off the back of the pack all of a sudden I ended up with people around and behind me for the last 100m.  It seems that they were either struggling for that last bit or had swim quite badly off course and so I had caught up to them - for once, and despite the conditions, I had managed to stay close to the cans at each point.

I'm going strong up the beach - looks like someone's struggling just behind

The beach at Bronte is quite steep and so when you get to the water's edge there is a reasonably strong current heading back out after each wave.  The last 10m, then, was quite an experience.  I could see the sand below and it was tantalisingly close but I could also see that I wasn't moving forward.  It was a really good example of being patient and waiting for the next wave to catch me and carry me in.  Which I did and stood up, upon which I had a lifeguard on the beach calling out to me to get out of the way quickly as there was another wave coming up behind.  So no casual walking up the beach, it was straight into a run up the soft sand and across the finish line.

And how good did that feel?  Amazing.

As for doing it again?  Well, despite my darkest thoughts mid-swim, my current motto of "Never say never" was starting to shine through not long after...great event, great volunteers, awesome lifeguards.

Swimming buddies for next year welcome!

Upping the Ante - 5 Weeks to IM Cairns

It's starting to feel like a long season.

I knew this time would come - and it has.  That stage where you are just ticking over your workouts, not feeling like there's any improvement, wallowing in a big sandpit of blah.  It happens every year and it happens to everyone.  Which is why it's so important to take time off after ironman - to refresh, replenish, refocus and repay (...your family for all the support they've given you!).

Before ironman, though, is not the time to be taking your foot off the pedal.  And so when I emailed Coach Dave last week and warned him that I needed a change he took notice.  I knew I was just going through a low spot and so my way of getting through it was to map out the final six weeks of training.  Just one more four week block, I told myself, and then a two week taper.

You can do this.

Coach Dave understood immediately and set to work mapping out my next four weeks, starting out with a solid three day training weekend designed to reacquaint myself with some long, solid stuff.  Friday, a 3.5km swim, Saturday a 120km bike and Sunday a 25km run.

You can do this...(eek!)

No, you CAN do this!  One day at a time, tick each one off and don't think about what's ahead.

So, Friday night.  End of the working week, and I'm down at the pool.  The sun has long gone and so have most of the crowds.  It's a great evening to be doing laps - great water temperature, the bridge and Luna Park shining down on us and I'm feeling strong and strangely fresh.  Lots of pull buoy drills and pull buoy/paddle drills and my shoulders are feeling the burn by the time I haul myself out of the water at 8.30pm.

North Sydney Olympic Pool - Perfect night for a swim

But it feels great and I have time for a quick dinner and brief chill out on the couch before heading to bed early.  Swim - nailed!

Early Saturday morning (and I mean early!) - the alarm goes off at 4.00am and I'm up, getting some breakfast down, and by 5.00am I'm riding across the bridge to Town Hall Station to pick up the train down to Caringbah.  Ahead of me is 120km of steady riding at Kurnell.  Focus on 90+ rpm cadence and getting nutrition right.  It's a bit chilly, although still not cold enough for arm warmers, shoe covers or gloves (read that and weep, Christchurch!).

Out at Kurnell I have plenty of company in the form of other triathletes - last weekend and this weekend it's been noticeably busier with tri bikes out in force, and fully kitted up with aero/deep dish and disk wheels.  Given Ironman Australia is now only a week away it seems everyone is out testing their race gear and Kurnell is the destination of choice when you want a decent stretch of time trial riding.

Watching the bike porn, however, didn't end up being the highlight of the day.  No, that came in the form of a scooter pacing two cyclists who obviously weren't out for an early morning cruise.  I first saw them heading in the opposite direction and then a little while later they flew past me like I was standing still.  One of the guys was in Specialized gear and on a Specialized bike and I figured that, with the motor pacing, it was obviously a pro - Macca or Crowie maybe?  I toyed with the idea of getting the phone out to try and get a photo, but they were going so fast I decided it would be a futile exercise.

Post-ride reward - a latte and slice of banana loaf for the train ride home

A quick website search when I got home, though, confirmed it was most likely Macca (triathlon and ironman legend, Chris McCormack).  He had tweeted about his training ride, and being motor paced for 70km at 55kmph with Paul Ambrose.  He also commented "#empty", which I thought was hilarious ... come on, he's a pro and getting to draft off a scooter - should have been a doddle!  Me, in comparison, did 120km solo - none of this wimpy drafting nonsense!!!

The ride went really well - great pace with an average of 29kmph which I was really happy with - with the race wheels on I am hopefully on target to achieve an ironman average of 30kmph and nail that 6 hour target I dream of.

And so dawned this morning.  A 25km run.  You can do it...

St Pete and I were up at 5.00am and in good spirits, ready to do a good steady run, focusing on finding my IM pace.  We had sorted out a good route, starting on the harbour bridge and heading across to the CBD, up to Hyde Park, up Oxford St to Anzac Parade.  Into Centennial Park for a lap before continuing back south along Anzac Parade to the University of New South Wales where we would head up the road to the top of campus and then come back down the middle back to Anzac Parade.  We would then retrace our route back home, excluding the loop around Centennial Park!

It was a great morning for a run.  We started just after 6.30am and by the time we got to Oxford St I had found my "pace" - slow and steady and hopefully a pace that I could hold for ironman.  Heart rate was good, around 145-155 - again, ideal for race day.  It wasn't all easy-going, though.  By the time we hit the 20km mark everything from the waist down was starting to hurt and so it was a bit of a grovel for the last 5km back over the bridge to the finish.

Grovelling is good practice, though.  Working through, and learning to ignore, the discomfort is part of the "fun"of ironman ... did I say fun?  Man, I'm sure going to curse those words at around 5.00pm Cairns time on June the 3rd!

In any case, as I lay on the floor with legs up on a chair, feeling ever so slightly shattered, I knew I had nailed the run.  And yesterday's bike.  And Friday's swim.

And that felt good.

No, it felt fantastic.

35 days to go and feeling iron-tough.

Dead Irongirl after 25km

Never Underestimate the Break

What a great few weeks.  Ironman is so big that people tend to be scared to take any time out for fear of losing crucial conditioning for their A race.  The fear of not achieving one's goals tends to have people training like their lives depend on it.

Indeed having a two week complete break away from training a little over two months out from Ironman Cairns would probably seem insane to many Type A ironman athletes.  And yet that's exactly what I've done.  And while it's obviously too soon to know what effect it will have on my results come June 2, my mental preparation has definitely improved.

At a time when I am supposed to still be in my off season and focusing on recharging away from the triathlon scene, I am looking forward to another ironman and committing 100% effort into each training session.

The last couple of weeks, then, have been full on - dominated by double workouts (morning/evening) so 5.00am alarms were the norm and epic rides to make things interesting.  What follows then are some of the highlights of the last couple of weeks:

1. Running home from work.  My trip from home to work usually requires a train and bus ride, and takes about 45 minutes, depending on traffic and the number of students who wish to share the journey on a particular day.  I worked out, however, that with a bit of forward planning, I could easily run home from work a day or two a week to add a bit of interest.  It is around 9.5km and involves a slight incline for the stretch along Anzac Parade to the top of Oxford St, followed by a descent down to Circular Quay before climbing up and over the harbour bridge to Milsons Point on the other side.  It's an interesting run, with plenty of scenery changes along the way and the second time I did it I added a 5km loop around Centennial Park turning it into a 14.5km run.

2. Swimming with modified paddles.  One of the hardest things to get used to since moving to Sydney has been the prohibition placed on paddles by all of the pools.  One of the ironman coach's great swim aids is paddles, used to add resistance to your stroke and thus power.  However it seems that people can't be trusted not to clonk each other on the head with them and so, unless you are in a privately hired lane (i.e. in a swim squad) you aren't allowed to use them.  So I've muddled along, quietly ignoring the swim program instructions whenever they mention paddles.  That was, until last week, when I found webbed gloves at the pool shop.  These are a pseudo paddle in that they provide some resistance to your stroke but are made of stretchy fabric so won't do any damage if you hit someone over the head with them.  The worst thing about them - well, have you ever tried to put on wet knickers?  Yep, easy to get on when dry, a nightmare when wet...

3. The Epic Club Run.  Last weekend St Pete and I joined Northside Running Group.  A great bunch with the same culture and philosophy of the club we left behind, the Christchurch Marathon Clinic.  Their open day was down at Balmoral Beach and, because it was too early for the buses, we decided to run there and then bus back.  Of course going anywhere from Milsons Point requires scaling the proverbial mountain and so that's what we did.  Except Balmoral Beach is at the base of another proverbial mountain.  So it was a 6km run up hill and down dale and then we started on the actual club run, another up and down affair.  Such a scenic route, however: around to Chinaman's Beach, up the hill to Mosman, down past Taronga Zoo and down to Bradley's Head where we followed the walking track along the coastline to Chowder Bay before heading back over the hill and dropping back down to Balmoral Beach. All up 19km ... the bus ride home was bliss!

Team Roadworks - the Epic Ride

4. The Epic Ride.  Why do a 3 hour ride when you can do over 6 hours?!!  An opportunity came up to join iron virgin Bel on her 140km big ride and so (with Coach Dave's blessing) I ditched my program and joined her and the gang for an epic day through some roadworks, out to Parramatta, up to Berowa and back.  2200m of climbing (thanks Sydney!), 125km and 6hrs 14min later, and I was ready to do a spot of channel surfing from my favourite couch.

5. The Solo Epic Ride.  I now know my initiation as a Sydneysider is complete.  On Saturday I successfully negotiated my first solo ride from home to a completely new destination, with only my iPhone and Google maps for guidance.  Woohoo!  I headed north with the aim of reaching Palm Beach, a settlement at the end of a peninsular around 40km north of home.  It was a great day for a ride and once I got out of the main city area (and the traffic volumes lowered considerably), the scenery just got better and better.  Palm Beach is gorgeous and obviously a great spot for surfing.  On my way back, however, I took a wrong turn.  A major fork in the road gave me a choice of heading towards Dee Why or Sydney.  I wanted Sydney and so veered right however soon realised my mistake.  Never mind, I thought, this road is going to Sydney so I may as well see where I end up.  It ended up being a gem of a road - it was the Wakehurst Parkway which wends its way around the northern side of Narrabeen Lakes.  Flat(ish), smooth, forest-covered, and it eventually brought me right back to the Spit Bridge at Manly - familiar territory.  83km ticked off in 27degrees - whew!  A quick text home once I crossed over the Spit Bridge ensured I had an ice-cold home made banana smoothie waiting in the fridge for me when I got home.  St Pete truly is a saint!

6. The Ton.  To complete the weekend I needed to tick off a total of 200km riding.  Saturday's solo epic ticked off 84km, so I just had to do 116km on Sunday and so joined Bel for a drive down to Brighton Le Sands to do a flat ride.  We were joined by Mark, a fellow Ironman NZ 2011 finisher, for a flat-ish ride that included a couple of loops out to Kurnell, a tour of Cronulla and then an expedition across and through Miranda and Gymea.  All up we managed to tick off 100km and managed to take in some great scenery of the coastline at the same time.  And because I'm hardcore (a.k.a. a nut!) I got home and jumped on the wind trainer to finish off the final 16km and seal my 200km goal.

So, that's been the last couple of weeks.  Training has been hardcore, but I have no doubt I've coped better than usual thanks to my 2 weeks off.

Never underestimate the break.

Cole Classic - I'll be an Ocean Swimmer Yet

The morning after I almost killed myself breaking 40 minutes on the Sun Run, Pete and I were on the ferry and heading back to Manly so I could take part in the Cole Classic.

This event is apparently Australia's largest ocean swim and there are a few different options for people.  A 1km, 2km and then the Cole Classic Dee Why to Manly - a 9km event for the ocean swimming long distance elite.

I was content to knock off the 2km event and this was apparently the second best idea I had ever had in Coach Dave's eyes (behind the Sun Run!).  I'd practice some more pack swimming and sighting, all while trying to avoid being shark bait!

Sunday morning of the event arrived fine and sunny in Milson's Point.  My wave start wasn't going until 12.40pm so it was a leisurely start to the day and a rare sleep in.  A quick check of the website pointed out that the weather at Manly was somewhat different.  While fine and sunny, it was apparently windy enough that there was a huge swell at Manly Beach.  This meant that the original course, from Shelly Beach to Manly, had to be changed and the course would instead start and finish at Shelly Beach.

Not a problem.  I can do this.  I'm an ironman.  Yeah right.

Manly Beach - closed for swimming (unless you're in the Cole Classic!)

After a relaxing ferry trip to Manly, we walked over to the other side and got our first glimpse of the ocean.  Sure enough the waves were enough to keep anyone but the most insane surfer out of the water.  However far, far, in the distance, past the break, I saw a buoy.

Oh man, don't say we have to swim out past that sucker.

No point worrying about it now, though, we walked around to Shelly Beach.  Normally this is a really lovely stroll along a footpath following the shore south from Manly for about 1.3km to a little sheltered bay with a marine reserve and park setting that is perfect for a day in the sun with a picnic and a good book.

This morning, however, the path was heaving with people.  People heading in our direction towards Shelly Beach.  People heading in the opposite direction back to Manly, some with medals around their necks, having finished their swims for the day.  The 1km event was just finishing when we got there and there were so many people there it was almost standing room only on the reserve.

I still had a couple of hours to go before my wave, however, so we found a shady square centimetre of grass under a tree and proceeded to chill out and watch the goings on.

By midday it was time to start thinking about getting organised and so I headed down to the water to go for a short swim and get acclimatised.  Wetsuits weren't allowed so it was a case of checking out how cold the water was and cooling my body temperature down to match.

Far out, that's cold...

And it was cold.

So much for middle of summer, sub tropical climes and all that stuff.

I stood waist deep (as per photo) pretending to be scouting out the course but what I was actually doing is waiting for the time when it didn't feel like I was standing in a bucketful of ice.

Thankfully it only lasted about 5 minutes (felt like 15) and then before I knew it, it was time to head to the start with my wave.

Leading up to this the old swim demons started making themselves known.  I started worrying about the choppiness of the water, so much so that St Pete even told me it was OK not to do it and we could just go home.

What did I have to prove?  After all, my focus was Ironman New Zealand, in the calm of Lake Taupo and accompanied by a wetsuit.  If the Cole Classic was just going to make me miserable then what was the point?

The thought of going home, however, appealed less than giving it a go and so after a bit of mental self talk I found myself at the start line and as ready as I could be to get out there, with around 50 other ladies in my wave.

The course was a bit of a rectangle, first of all heading straight out from Shelly Beach and then heading right and swimming parallel to Manly Beach for about 600m, and out to that buoy we had seen when we first arrived at Manly Beach.  We would then turn right again and head towards New Zealand for about 300m before turning right again and heading parallel to Manly Beach towards Shelly Beach.  Finally there was a left hand turn to head straight into Shelley Beach and the finish line.

Heading out to the first buoy, and after the last buoy, was quite calm.  We were still within the shelter of Shelly Beach and so these sections weren't too bad.  The main sections, however, running parallel to Manly Beach were a different story.  There was a swell of 2-3m and so I had the whole experience of arms being whacked by waves, arms coming down and finding air instead of water, and waves coming down when I'm trying to breathe - what an inconvenience!

Another new experience was the placement of the buoys (or cans, as they are known in open water swimming).  In Ironman we have buoys along the course, probably every 100m or so, so you never really have any problems figuring out where to go.  In this course there were 4 cans.

Total.

One at each turn.

So on the two long legs, there was about 600m between each turn and, with the swell, you would be lucky to see it.  Which made sighting off the land absolutely critical.  Great practice!

Anyway, almost an hour after I started, I finally found myself heading back into shore and absolutely stoked to have completed it without freaking out or breast stroking for half an hour wondering if I'd ever get to the end.  I even managed a semi-run up the beach to the finish line and think my expression at the end said it all really...

Yep, makes Lake Taupo (and even Lake Wanaka) look like a stroll in the park.  Just call me ocean girl!

Plenty to Reflect On

OK, so my blogging has been horribly sparse over the last couple of months.  I have no real excuse except for the fact that life gets in the way sometimes and other priorities take over.  It's not been from lack of enthusiasm, or from lack of training and, in fact, there have been at least four draft blogs that I started writing but which are now so out of date that it seems pointless publishing them.

As I said, though, training hasn't stopped and, if anything, it's been an interesting time for reflecting on the progress I've made in the last 12 months.  What a difference a year makes, so to speak.

So, some edited highlights -

Wellington Half Marathon:
St Pete and I went up to Wellington and I had high hopes of nudging a PB out of it.  Coach Dave, however, suggested a not so lofty goal which as usual was entirely sensible given it would be the first race of the season, or race in the off-season, and first race trying out the new running style.  So rather than a PB he suggested I focus instead on a good technique run.  So I did that, but still secretly really wanted to nudge my PB (yep, just a touch of stubbornness there!).

On the day the weather had other ideas.  It howled with wind and threw in a bucketload of rain as only Wellington can.  I did, however, put in a solid performance which included flashes of brilliance when I wasn't leaning into the gale force northerlies.  Eight kilometre splits (of 21) were at sub 6 minute pace, compared to last year when I only managed one kilometre split at sub 6 minute pace.  My overall placings (overall, age group, gender) were on average 12% improved on last year, so I came away very satisfied.

JD Duathlon:
Coach Dave suggested I do this event "for fun".  I was less enthusiastic.  A 2.6km run, 15.5km bike, 2.6km run is way too short (and fast) to be my idea of fun but, hey, who am I to argue with the coach?  So St Pete put up with my grumbling on the morning of the event and I did my best not to embarrass myself at the back of the field.  In the end the positives far outweighed the negatives - I maintained good form on the run (check out that photo!) and had a blast on the bike.  Being held on a motor racing track meant there was no traffic to contend with and a fantastic smooth surface so it was head down, aero position, going for it....hehe.

Swimming:
The last couple of months have been good for reflecting on my swim.  It's amazing how the mindset can change as soon as you've knocked off a 3.8km ironman swim.  That leg holds absolutely no fear for me now and I am totally in tune with the idea of finding another 15 minutes off my swim time next year.  I've found rhythm and power in my stroke and have gotten used to the feeling of exerting more power from my shoulders and arms while swimming.  Coach Dave suddenly hasn't got much to tell me when we have our group sessions and I'm enjoying the workouts much more. 

Biking:
My strongest and favourite discipline hasn't changed much.  I'm still happiest on the bike and noticing an improvement in my climbing.  A ride out to Sefton a couple of months ago had me shouting for joy as I crested a hill in the middle of pack.  It wasn't a big hill but last year I didn't have a hope of keeping up with the group as we climbed.  More recently we headed out to Kaituna Valley where the turnaround point is at the head of a reasonably steady climb.  And while I was not trying to be at all competitive, it was a very happy irongirl who made it to the end of the road (and top of the climb) in second to last place in the group (rather than last place!!!).  It's the small things that delight...

Running:
After a couple of hard months getting used to my new running style my perseverance is starting to pay off and I am feeling less and less like a penguin and more like a runner.  Others have noticed my improved form - more bouncy, less ploddy (!) and my speed has definitely picked up.  I am now managing to maintain around a 6.00 minute pace on my 10-14km runs whereas last year I was about half a minute slower per kilometre.  That half marathon PB is in my sights!

Weight:
Always a bone of contention, last year I resisted the idea of consciously trying to drop any weight before ironman.  It's been such a lifelong battle for me and I felt that my real focus had to be getting to the finish line no matter what my weight was.  Fuelling my body adequately in order to properly prepare it was more important than shaving off a couple of kilos.  In the end I lost about 5kg leading up to Taupo, which I certainly didn't complain about.  This time around, with a 2 hour improvement to focus on, I found myself mentally prepared to make a slight adjustment to my diet and see how much I could drop over the winter months before training ramps up again.

So St Pete and I downloaded an app onto our iPads called Tap and Track.  It's a comprehensive calorie counter which records all the food you eat and the exercise you do.  You program in initial data and what sort of weight goal you have, ie goal weight and how much you want to lose a week.  From that it gives you a daily calorie allowance and therefore provides you with the tools you need to make sensible decisions about what you eat.  Diets don't work and so I am not on a diet.  I've simply made a slight modification to my routine with the aim of dropping no more than half a kilo a week.  With the app I can, and do, still have my favourite chocolate.  I can still have McDonalds for lunch.  The only difference is I now know when I've done enough exercise to be able to enjoy those treats without feeling guilty or wondering if it's blowing my calorie intake for the day.   So my McDonalds Angus Burger, fries and hot apple pie is truly savoured guilt-free after a minimum 3 hour bike ride (for example).

So far it's working really well - I've lost 5kg since ironman and I don't feel like I've been on a diet, so there's no sense of undue restriction.  It's just a way of life, just like training is now a way of life.

Post Earthquake Swimming

One of the big challenges with the earthquake is that your routine is completely thrown out the window. For several weeks after the 22 February earthquake all of Christchurch's swimming pools were closed and the damage to the city's sewerage system meant that the only safe open water swimming option was the lake at Pegasus.

Cycling has also been a little complicated with cordons, damaged roads and more concentrated traffic on those streets that are in working order.

The timing of the earthquake in relation to ironman couldn't have been much better. The lack of facilities during March and April wasn't really missed as I was on a programme of rest and recovery. Structured training was off the menu and it was a case of doing some fun stuff and making the most of the down time.

This lack of activity can last only so long, though, before you move past the rest and recovery phase and into the fat and lazy stage. Add to that the need to get back into a normal routine in order to aid the emotional recovery of the earthquake and you can imagine that reopening of Jellie Park was very welcome.

When I say "reopening" I guess I should clarify that as a partial reopening. You see Christchurch has one other 50m pool and that is at QEII Stadium, venue of the 1974 Commonwealth Games. Problem is, as mayor Bob Parker would say, it's munted. So that means that Jellie Park is the city's only 50m pool, and it's an outdoor one. And usually it would close for winter by Easter each year.

However we are now heading towards the end of June and Christchurch is still chronically short of swim space - and it's a problem that's likely to be around for a while.  The city council operates four indoor swimming complexes: QEII, Centennial, Jellie Park and Pioneer.  Of these QEII is closed indefinitely and Centennial is also closed pending a structural assessment.  Jellie Park and Pioneer are operating and doing their best to accomodate the demand from the closed facilities.  In addition we have two private pools, Wharenui and Aquagym.  Wharenui has just reopened and Aquagym is hoping to reopen in August.

Jellie Park has therefore been keeping the outdoor pool open and this has been well supported by swimmers, which has been great.  Every time I go in it seems the closing date has been extended further and the current expectation is that it will close mid July.  After that we will be limited to the 2 x 25m pools at Jellie, 1 x 25m pool at Pioneer and 1 x 25m pool at Wharenui.

Fun times!

Getting Closer

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. Tapering has been the goal and Coach Dave promised that this meant it would get easier. As always, I have learnt not to take his comments literally...

The volume did come down. No more 4, 5, 6 hour bike rides. No more long runs or long swims. However if something is taken out you can be sure it will be replaced by something else. In my case the volume was replaced by intensity.

So I've had a couple of weeks of sprint sessions. Things like 200m sprints ... x10.  Then there's been bricks (bike/run combinations), for instance bike 10 minutes then run 10 minutes ... x3.

For someone who doesn't do fast (this is why I'm doing Ironman and not sprint triathlons), I have at least been able to show a turn of speed on foot, albeit for short bursts. To put it in perspective, though, my standard run pace is around 6min 30sec per kilometre. I managed to pick this up to a pace of 4min 30sec for a 200m sprint. Over a marathon distance that 4:30 pace would translate to 3 hours 10 minutes.

But get this, the 2010 Ironman World Champion, Mirinda Carfrae, ran her marathon in Kona in 2 hours 53 minutes...! So even if I sprinted as fast as I could I still wouldn't be able to keep up with her - and I was stuffed after 200m.

Anyway, enough of my abundance of slow twitch muscles.

Tomorrow the bike goes in for its pre race service and compulsory ironman check. Race wheels are on and looking fab!

The lounge is looking like a triathlon shop as spare gear to take to Taupo is slowly finding its way downstairs - spare tubes, CO2 canisters, swim goggles, drink bottle, helmet, bike lock, bento box etc etc etc.

My remedial swimming lesson also wasn't so bad. A very minor change to my stroke had Coach Dave happy as a clam however I did have to reaffirm last night that 13 days out is too late for him to think I can change my running form. He had seen me running for the first time yesterday and realized that I run like a boxer (tight upper body, arms held high rather than low and relaxed). It's something I've been aware of my entire running career but have never managed to fix - one of my unique quirks!

Yesterday was also my last significant open water swim. And even at this late stage it provided a new experience in my ironman journey. The experience of a 1m swell. There was dragon boat racing on at Lake Pegasus and so we headed out to Corsair Bay for my 45min swim. Corsair Bay is usually sheltered and calm and for this reason the favoured Saturday morning swim venue of the Canterbury Tri Club. Yesterday, however there was a southerly coming right into the shore and so calm made way for 2-3 foot high waves, making it a real challenge to swim in. I was getting tossed around and several gobsful of salt water were swallowed.

I'd have to say it was good to have the Canterbury Tri Club in the water as well - they were reporting that the juniors were feeling a bit jittery out there and I don't blame them. I don't think I would have been particularly happy about being out there on my own. I probably didn't do much more than about 1200m in the 45min but I did it and can be sure that no matter what Lake Taupo throws at me I can handle it!

Finally, last night my riding buddies got together last night for a BBQ to wish Curly and I good luck for Ironman. I hadn't seen some of them for a few months, as my recent training has been all about solo rides, so it was great to catch up and their support has been amazing. Curly has also been under Coach Dave's guidance and put the whole event into perspective when I asked him how he was feeling as our training winds down.

"Ironman?", he said, "it's just a long training day".

So true.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Remedial Swimmer

Last week Coach Dave had a (not so) brilliant idea.

I was catching up with him and fellow Iron Virgin, Curly, to go over our race day strategies.  During the course of the discussion Dave and Curly noted how we hadn't had a technique session for a few months (basically since summer started) and so Dave suggested we have a light technique session at the pool on Saturday afternoon as a tune up to make sure we were all on track with our stroke.

So it was set, and I was quite looking forward to it.  Afterall I felt that in the last month my swim had really come together and I was now calm and relaxed in the water, and my open water swims were no longer the mental battle they once were.  I was interested, though, to see how I was looking in the water and so on Saturday morning I got St Pete to take a couple of short videos of me swimming at Lake Pegasus.  There are a couple of bridges going to a small island on the lake so Pete was able to stand on the bridges and get some good footage of me approaching, going underneath the bridge and heading away the other side.

At the pool I guess I optimistically expected to get some positive reinforcement from the coach that I was on the right track and things were looking good to knock off the swim in Lake Taupo.  But it didn't quite pan out that way.

Turns out my arm was straightening out in front just a fraction too much and my 3/4 catch up had almost reverted to a 1/2 catch up and so I spent several lengths swimming and having my arm held up by a stick from the side of the pool as Dave tried to prevent me from stroking too soon.

When I wasn't laughing (and drowning!) from fighting this stupid stick I was suggesting to Dave that 3 weeks out from the event is maybe a little too late to be trying to fix my swim stroke....  I know he meant well and they are only minor adjustments, but at this late stage (and with the swim being my achilles heel) it was starting to feel pretty major.

All is not lost, though.  I have a one-on-one session with Coach Dave on Thursday.  (I've dubbed it my remedial swim lesson!)

Hopefully between the two of us we can crack this nut in a simple way for me to remember on race day. 

The Jigsaw is Coming Together

With less than 7 weeks to go now until Ironman New Zealand, reality is starting to hit.  I am actually going to do this and I am now starting to alternate between excitement, anticipation and downright fear.

The fear, of course, is perfectly natural, and to be expected.  Ironman challenges you and will ask you some pretty tough questions on the day.  Are you up to it?

Of course the rational part of me knows that I am.  I started out on this journey knowing that while I'm not a natural athlete, I have demonstrated an ability to go long.  I've done 100km plus bike events (Le Race, Rainbow Rage, Source to Sea).  I've run two marathons (Christchurch and Buller).  I've done the Oxfam Trailwalker, a 32 hour endurance walk covering 100km.  And of course I've done the South Island Half Ironman.

What's missing, though, is the swim. 

I haven't done any long distance swim events and, quite frankly, the swim leg is my achilles heel.  Yes the Half Ironman required a 1.9km swim but all that really did was confirm the swim as my weakest discipline.  I've talked about my swim demons in previous posts so there's nothing new there, but I've been acutely aware of the need to sort my head out if I'm going to get through the first part of the day.

Today's swim, though, really helped.  It was scheduled to be 4km and included a 2km set and a set of 10 x 100m with the pull buoy.  I haven't ever swum 2km non-stop before, so that was a mental challenge in itself, but when I got to the pool I realised I had also not read the programme properly.  Somehow I had missed the fact that I needed the pull buoy, so hadn't brought it with me.  It wasn't a huge problem, though, as many people simply do the pull sets with a kickboard or two between their legs. 

What I needed to knock off, though, was the 2km set.  So I did the 500m warm up and, before my brain had a chance to think about the distance required, got started on the big one.  It had been raining steadily most of the day but it was warm in the outdoor pool and I found myself in a really good rhythm early on.  I focused on slow, controlled breathing, a slow kick and a steady arm action, concentrating on a controlled pull under the water.  The slow breathing is a bit of a deviation from Coach Dave's advice ("don't be afraid to get your heartrate up", he said of the swim), but I'm finding that slow and steady seems to be working better for me, for now anyway.  If I start working hard, and breathing hard, I'm more likely to start hyperventilating and then I stop swimming and start freaking out about how far I've still got to go!

So, slower and steady goes it, feeling the water and staying calm.  Before you know it I've done 17 laps (1700m) and I'm still feeling really comfortable.  My mind started turning to the other 1000m set and I start thinking why don't I just do a 3000m set rather than a 2000m set? 

So I did.

And then I did the 500m warm down and suddenly 4000m is done, in 1 hour 53 minutes.  (The 3000m set took 1 hour 23min.)  Not hugely fast, but I did it! 

So I've been able to prove to myself that I can swim 3.8km and, with that, the Ironman jigsaw is coming together.  And the swim speedwork?   Well that can be revisited for Ironman 2012...!

Wind and Rain, and Screaming Kids, and Wind and Rain

Christmas has come and gone and, all of a sudden, I am staring January in the face.  That's a tiny bit freaky as January is the last month of full-on training before February, which is the taper. 

eek!!!

December has been a mixed bag weather-wise.  The distances in the pool are building up and I am now doing sessions of over 3km in the 50m outdoor pool at Jellie Park.  The outdoor pool is great, although it does become a real test of your patience at times when you have to share it with screaming kids.  (What is it about kids that compels them to scream all the time?)

One particular session occurred during what must have been the last week of school.  I got to the pool at lunchtime to find that every school in Christchurch seemed to have chosen that day to have their end of year pool party at Jellie Park.  The place was absolutely heaving with kids and I'm sure the noise could have been heard from the outer city limits.  It was absolute bedlam and it was all I could do not to turn around and walk straight back out again.

But no, a workout was required and I knew I'd be glad I stuck it out once it was done.  Usually there are 3 or 4 lanes in the outdoor pool roped off for lane swimming.  On this pool party day, however, the lane swimmers were given 1 lane and as it was such a nice day, there were half a dozen swimmers sharing that space, determined to make the most of the weather and not be intimidated into using the indoor pools.

So I jumped in and duly finished the swim.  The lifeguards had their work cut out for them as the kids weren't satisfied with having only 7/8 of the pool and frequently decided they should be able to play in the lane as well. We adult swimmers got our revenge this week, however, when the skies opened and the rain came pouring down.  The kids showed their true colours and retreated inside while we lane swimmers had the outdoor pool all to ourselves, and it was bliss!

Bike sessions have also moved up a notch and 3-4 hour rides are now the norm with 5-6 hour rides coming up next month.  The weather has played its part in this (most frequently the wind) with several days of strong, gale force nor westers.  These winds are notorious, coming straight off the southern alps and gaining temperature and losing moisture across the Canterbury plains until they hit Christchurch as a hot, dry wind that induces migraines and leaves people feeling generally cranky. 

One of the real gains I've noticed, however, is that the winds are affecting me less on the bike than they used to.  Earlier in the year a headwind would knock the stuffing out of me and turn the ride into a complete misery.  Now I hit a headwind and just change into a lower gear and keep spinning away.  Yes, I go a little slower into the wind (as does everyone), but my attitude is completely different and it makes the ride much less torturous. Plus there's always the tailwind to look forward to as well!

The winds, then, didn't hugely affect my training apart from one day when they were strong enough for me to cancel the ride and do a run instead.  Flexibility is a great thing. 

The Christmas weather hasn't stopped there.  We've also had a deluge of rain across the country and that's meant flooded rivers all over the place.  Today I had direct experience of that during my regular bike ride out to Sefton.  It requires me to bypass the motorway and head over the Old Waimakariri Bridge.  However the bridge was closed due to high river levels, a fact I wasn't aware of until I got out there and found the detour signs and cones out across the road.  There was a security guard there as well and so I thought I'd check to see if it was OK for pedestrians/cyclists to go across.

"No, you can't ride over, but we can give you a lift across to the other side", he said. 

What? 

It turns out that Environment Canterbury had a staff member on duty with a ute whose primary responsibility today was to provide a shuttle service for cyclists.  He put the bike on the back of the ute and then drove me and the bike up the motorway to the other side of the river where I could resume my ride. 

The Old Waimak Bridge - the high river level meant nothing was getting across this old dame.

Apparently he had done several trips already this morning and had also found out that cyclists' sense of humour usually showed an inverse correlation to the value of the bike when he told one lycra-clad bloke to "just throw the bike on the back of the ute, mate".  The polite response, I believe, was something like "ah, this bike's worth $20,000, mate - it won't be thrown anywhere". 

oops

Seriously, though, it was a great service being provided by Environment Canterbury and much appreciated by this irongirl - who still had her sense of humour.

The Real Work Starts Now

It's December and suddenly we're into the final 3 months of training before I-Day.  Given that the final 3-4 weeks is spent tapering, it means that I have 2 months of real work to be as prepared as I can be to tackle the ironman challenge.

And real work it will be.

Over winter I have been given a variety of training programmes that have focused on the different disciplines of ironman.  There have been the long group bike rides.  There has been swim camp and the swim drills to get the technique going.  And I have maintained some running and completed my favourite running events to maintain that discipline as well.

The last couple of weeks, then, have been relatively relaxed as far as training goes and, as an example, this was my schedule for the last week of November:

Monday: 1000m swim
Tuesday: rest day
Wednesday: 1 hour bike
Thursday: 1 hour run
Friday: rest day
Saturday: 30min swim, 1 hour bike, 45min run
Sunday: 2 hour bike

My fitness/strength/endurance must have improved as that type of schedule seemed pretty relaxed.  What I hadn't quite realised, however, was that it would be the calm before the storm.  Coach Dave had big plans and he was saving it for December and January.

When I got my training programme covering the period up to 6 February (when the tapering begins) there was one word to sum it up.

Yikes.

My comment on Facebook summed it up pretty well also: "...makes my training up to now look like a walk in the park.  The real work starts now!"

Basically we're into the serious stuff now and this is where every session becomes critical to my eventual success in Taupo.  I can expect to get tired and so need to focus on making sure I get enough sleep and recovery time.  I need to eat well.  And I need to focus on completing one day at a time - otherwise I'll get overwhelmed with the enormity of it all.

As a comparison, then, here is my program for the week immediately after Christmas:

Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 3200m swim + 40min run
Wednesday: 3hr bike + 40min run
Thursday: 90min run
Friday: 3hr bike + 30min run
Saturday: 70min open water swim + 2 hr bike + 60min run
Sunday: 4hr bike + 40min run

The time allowed for all this also represents a significant increase and to give an idea of the scale of the training load over the next couple of months, here is a weekly summary of the hours I'll be dedicating to training:

Week beginning	Swim	Bike	Run	Total
29-Nov	1:20	8:30	1:35	11:25
6-Dec	2:10	9:00	3:40	14:50
13-Dec	2:30	10:00	0:50	13:20
20-Dec	1:30	7:00	1:40	10:10
27-Dec	2:50	12:00	5:00	19:50
3-Jan	3:05	13:00	3:30	19:35
10-Jan	3:00	4:00	1:10	8:10
17-Jan	3:00	8:00	2:45	13:45
24-Jan	3:10	12:00	4:50	20:00
31-Jan	3:40	12:00	4:00	19:40

Ironman is definitely my part time job in the short term ... albeit unpaid!