Thanks Chrissie!

I read this awhile ago & have been thinking about it a lot in training of late. A good reminder: 

“It’s important to hurt in training and to learn to suffer a bit. Embrace fatigue and pain—welcome it and develop strategies to embrace it. If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not working hard enough. You’re not always going to have easy days in training—you’re going to be frustrated and have a bad day and it’s important to learn to endure those in training. When you experience it in a race, you’ve already encountered it and can have that peace of mind.”
~ Chrissie Wellington

Lap swimming is my meditation.

Today was essentially a recovery swim after a big weekend of training, but I surprised myself in the pool this morning!

WU: 500m flip (~10:00)
MS:
250m buoy- focus on catch & pull
5x50m (hard- current fastest 1:08)
250m buoy- focus on catch, pull, head roll & kick
5x50m (easy- average 1:14)
WD: 500m flip
Total: 3.0km

That's the first time I've swum 3.0km. Obviously the flippers helped, but what a great way to start the week! :)

Headwind of the year! Tri-Alliance Long Ride. by stephjlowe at Garmin Connect - Details

Headwind of the year! Tri-Alliance Long Ride. by stephjlowe at Garmin Connect - Details

This morning's ride was my toughest yet. Aside from the rain, the way down was lots of fun - a cruisy pace chatting with the boys and a quick stop at Station St for re-fuelling. The way back - HURTLOCKER! Sideways rain, wind, more wind and THE headwind of the year.....
It was all about mental toughness out there on Beach Road this morning!

A big thank you to Coach Daz and Mark Jenkins for their support... oh, and Shotz Sports Nutrtion - I don't think I would've made it home without one of Daz's Lemon Lime Gels!!

This time next year I will have just raced Noosa, so I can't wait to see the gains I'll make over the next 12 months! Stay tuned....

Tri-Alliance Duathlon Day! by stephjlowe at Garmin Connect - Details

Tri-Alliance Duathlon Day! by stephjlowe at Garmin Connect - Details

Average pace of 5.41min/km, best pace of 4.17!! (Running data shown only).

Sub 5min/km on the Garmin! Happy days!!!!!!!!

Today's TA combo session was my best yet. No aquathlon's due to Melbourne lovely weather display, but here's the drill:

WU: 6.5km, averaging 5.45/km- A WARM UP??!

MS: Duathlon Day! (Run/Ride/Run)-  2x (1.5km/5(?)/1km).... and for the first time ever, I saw sub 5min/km on the Garmin! I actually got to 4.17 at one stage!! Whilst I couldn't maintain it for long and my HR peaked at 181, it was bloody awesome to see.

WD: 10min leg soak, a cruisy ride home and a big stretch and foam roller session.
Dead legs!!

More swim technique!

I can't get enough!

Catch And Pull In The Freestyle Stroke (www.swimsmooth.com)

"At full reach and without dropping your elbow, feel like you are tipping your finger-tips over the front of a barrel.... visualise a smiley face drawn on the palm of your hand. As you start the catch, tip your finger tips down and show that smiley face on your palm to the wall you just left. This is like locking your hand in place, effectively feeling-the-water."


It sounds like I'm on track with my catch & pull however this gives me a good focus for tomorrow's swim. Especially seeing as I'll be solo, with the coach (& everyone else!!) in Noosa.

Now it's time for bed before an early TA combo session in the morning. It's aquathlon & duathlon day tomorrow!

Recovery Day!

A much needed recovery day today... Time for Pilates!

Shattered!

AM 8km run + PM TA combo session... thank god tomorrow is all about recovery!

AM:
The great thing about this morning was that I got down to 5.26/km! It wasn't pretty, my HR peaked at 169 and I almost lost my breakfast.. but it felt awesome! 7km in 41mins = an average of 5.85/km, so things are looking good. Now to make it look a little more glamorous......

PM:
3x (10min builds + 1km run off the bike). Coach Daz kindly cranked up the WT tonight and my legs are smashed. (So much for recovery week!).
300m ocean swim + entry and exit practice.

Let's hope the freakin' cold water and foam roller hit out post-training helped a little... Tomorrow should be interesting!

Training = Happiness

Black or White?

 

Decisions decisions.......... I'm thinking white!

Embarrassing Lessons from the Pros

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2011/08/training/embarrassing-lessons-from-the-pros_35858

Hilarious! Triathlon is certainly not a glamorous sport... but reassuring to know that I'm not going through the ups and downs alone.

Now, to learn how to change a flat.......

So you wanna be a Triathlete?

http://www.trifuel.com/training/general/so-you-wanna-be-a-triathlete

Nick Clark's blog on TriFuel.com made my day!

"Check your ego at the door because chances are someone fifty pounds heavier than you will lap you in the pool. Not to mention she will be ten or fifteen years older than you."

You will hate swimming more times than you like it for the first year.
....
You will hate swimming for the first year.
....

So there you go, it took me 12 months exactly! Right on schedule! :)

It's official! I finally find swimming meditative.

The TA Swim Technique has changed my life. Swimming with flippers is now almost too easy and I finally feel like I've graduated from the slow lane. 12 months in the making!!

Life is good :)

Homemade Energy Snacks!

Quinoa, Coconut & Date Energy Snacks!

I can't handle the artificialness (new word!) of most of the gels/bars out there, so I made my own! Quinoa, cococut, dates, honey, vanilla essence and a dash of salt.. what more could you want! Here's hoping it helps tomorrow on the way back from Frankston..............

Still no wetsuit.. but ocean swimming has begun!

I'm still waiting to hear from Dave @ CBD Cycles re my wetsuit, but I couldn't wait any longer to get in the water! SO Thursday night was my first ocean swim of the season.. and other than the awful slop (& smell!!) down at Elwood, it felt great! I do need to get some fog-proof googles though... I can't swim straight as it is!!

This morning, I ran 10km in about an hour and did some mighty fine 5''40'/km intervals throughout... needless to say I gave the legs a good soak in the bay post-training!! This morning was also transition practice- great to get into the groove of mounting, getting into (& out of) the shoes quick and running off the bike. More running??! Yes! The compression socks are on as we speak!

This afternoon is week 2 of a TA Swim Technique Course (which I'm loving!) and tomorrow, my first 100km on the bike. Talk about a massive weekend of training!! Loving it!

Awesome work TA!

I'm absolutely loving being back with TA! Tonight's combo session at Elwood Beach was just what I needed after my week.

Combo/Wind trainer
Warm up 10min spin @ T2 to T3
Main Set
3 x (45sec spin @ 110 rpm's @ T4 with 45sec recovery @ T3)
3 x (2min race gear @ T4 effort with 90rpm's, in TT position or drops; 1min hardest gear out of seat; 250m run off the bike @ T4), 2min recovery spin @ T2 after each set.
1 x (2min race gear @ T4 effort with 90rpm's, In TT position or drops; 1min hardest gear out of seat; 500m run off the bike @ T4), 2min recovery spin @ T2 after each set. 
Cool down 20min spin @ T2

The rest of the squad did an ocean swim (2 x 250m) while I was spinning, but once I get my wetsuit, I'll be out there too!

TGIF tomorrow!!

Such a busy week!

It's weeks like these that I truly take my hat off to all the Ironmen and women, mothers, fathers, wives and husands who manage the volume of training they do and the balance of the life they lead. The article "Are Kona bound amateur athletes tougher than the pros?" read my mind. (http://www.everymantri.com/everyman_triathlon/2011/10/are-kona-bound-amateur-athletes-tougher-than-the-pros.html#more).
I've just got myself to look after and the last few days have been challenging to say the least!

On Tuesday, I managed a 45mins spin and ~3km run "off the bike".  Yesterday, I ran another ~3km (intervals, of course!!) and trained with one of the PTs at work (a client referall thing..).  Both still better than nothing, but I need to stay on track if I'm ever going to get "fitter, faster, stronger"!

Looking forward to my first combo session down at Elwood Beach with TA tonight! Which means.. I'm definitely leaving work at 5pm!!!

Time for some swim coaching I think!

This morning's swim was tough! My fault for getting a little too excited about the Grand Final... so hopefully I'll be back on track tomorrow. I didn't manage to add 200m from last session, but it did confirm I really need to get some private coaching as I'm finding it hard to keep up with the work intervals and prescribed training at the moment. I did manage:

WU: 200 flip, 100 kick, 100 buoy
MS: 3x (200 flip, 100 kick/buoy, 100 free)
WD: 200 buoy
TOTAL: 1.8km

The great news is that TA has arranged a "learn to swim/technique correction course" today! Oh how I love synchronicity!! Needless to say I signed up straight away.

Shut up legs!

"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch".

Tired legs, a sore head, a minor niggle from a little "cleat issue" at the lights yesterday.. and the only thing good about this morning's run was the sunshine (oh, and finishing!).

As soon as I started I realised what strife I was in, so I used it as a recovery session, which I very much needed after a big week of training (& a big day of celebrating the Cats' win yesterday!).

What a week! And that's just week 1.

Shattered.

FROZEN!

What I learnt on this morning's rode ride:

- I need to buy booties & gloves!
- There's not much better than a tailwind on the way home!!
- North Road Cafe has the best breakfast.. with amazing gluten free bread!!!

50km- BOOM! Now it's time for the pub! AFL GF day!!!!