Training Log Archive: brycec

rest day because the schedule said I needed to - because yeah I am totally fine and could totally train today... (still in pjs at home but for the opps I am interviewing someone in the office not on the phone which saw me ready and in the city in under 15mins... amazing how fast you can move when you need to regardless of the level of pain.

Also some form of epic writeup will happen later tonight. sorry for those who got excited at a * to see the disappointment of a rest day post :P (no one I suspect)

Real pain update - actually pretty good mainly feet and toes and hip flexors. More in main post.

C • Disappointed 2

#77 we went straight at 77, pretty sure we had a stop on the track though where I took on caffeine shot, food, Panadol, body glide, the works. We got 77 very cleanly – this certainly helped get my head right back in the game. It was however on this leg that we left the burnt out area which meant looking at our options

We dropped 25 and 86 because it had been thick bush around 77 and now was time to start to pull back the 2+ hr time loss we now had. Realistically had we hit 76 earlier we probably been 1-1.5 down and been reasonably happy with that.

#67 – across the water course onto the track and down to another water drop – I needed it as I had missed 66 water as I had enough to get to 67 then.

#97 - Out onto Murray road and heading west – really felt like we were heading out into oblivion – still very cold and wet – Dave gave me another tow here to help with both our warmth and obviously speed. In at 97 from track bend and pace counted this to keep my mind occupied – hit it smack on.

#28 – For a 28 pointer on the furthest SW point of the map I think it was a tad rough. We found it just fine and only searched for about a minute in the circle but the intention sheet showed only 1 other team and there had been 3 or 4 coming here from the previous control. Obviously people had struggled – and fair enough too it was a hard control.

#109 – Up the track until the intersecting track – we debated it a little but happy with it in the end and then attacked – followed the gully straight up and an easy grab in the end.

#89 – We went straight line over the hill down the spur and up onto the knoll and hit it clean. This was our original midnight mark – having only dropped 3 controls and not finding 1 we were happy to note only 2hrs 30 down. But time still slipping – lots more stopping and declining speed. Still burning about 1hr at 76.

Dropped 29, 99 and 39 in an attempt to pull in an hour or so.

#59 – Up the hill and into the saddle then across the road and onto 59 and the clean av continues!

#38 – Figured we would go straight at it – what a debacle – perfectly at it until we hit the thick bushes around the water course and a watercourse that actually had water in it. We fought through the scrub which was incredibly difficult and got turned around in there a number of times – ended up going through the water course 3 or 4 times each time the depth varying between shin(mainly) to thigh (once) high and often almost falling in and struggling to fight the scrub to get back out. Eventually said I am staying on bearing and getting the 20-50m I need no matter what and punched our way through. We would have taken at least 20 minutes to go about 50m here – it didn’t feel like it but the trace doesn’t lie on timestamps! This may (I cant remember when but it was between midnight and 6am – might have been before this – in fact thinking about it I am pretty sure it was, may have been the control or two prior) be where I hurt my left ankle/Achilles, certainly didn’t help it. For those who recall this was also the ankle I f***ed on the last rogaine and took weeks to come good. Control after that was a piece of cake.

#105 – Exiting 38 I realised something wasn’t right with my shoe.. it was loose.. oh S**t those unbreakable Kevlar laces had snapped on my left shoe. Awesome just what I needed on my sore ankle a loose shoe on uneven terrain. Tied simply pulling it tighter and tying a knot with the two broken ends and just managed to get something weak in place. Anyway at least it was a nice road walk for a while and again I jumped on the tow rope to eek a bit more speed out of my legs. We attacked in from the road junction and went straight at it – apparently there was a large 200x200 m clearing which we never found but we certainly found the control after hunting slightly up the water course from it.

#58 – On exiting 105 I realised shoe was broken again and said to Dave “hey here’s a thought maybe I should loosen my laces this time before we tie the knot” – lol the brain makes mistakes when tired – impressed I even thought of that even though it was such common sense. Back towards the track but angled more at 58… except this meant we hit the dense bush and watercourse that we had at 38 just further north. We looked in a few spots to cross because the veg was practically impossible to break through before I said we are walking around this we wont have to go far south to do so. 2 minutes later and about 75m diverted we were around it and onto the road. Much better than wasting time break through bushes again. Fixed the shoe here – full let off the tension and tied a long loop from tip to toe on 1 side with 4 knots – it stayed put for the rest of the day and only 1 knot came loose from this point… shoe felt a bit weird because of this setup but it enable it to be fastened properly again  Onto the track around to 58 and as there was a track I would imagine there was a tow. Found a reasonably vague junction and decided that was our attack point and in we went. Was a clean hit here too.

#107 – Straight out to the road and onwards to 107 – bearing was perfect infact straight as an arrow to 107 only problem was we stopped because it looked like the edge of the hill not a prominent gully – we went back then south then sw to track then up track then took a punt on what might be the gully and it was… sad thing was original trace had us only 20m short of the control on first attack – god knows how we didn’t see it. Lost about 30 mins here event though it had felt quick. The comedy of errors for the last few controls – with breaks for my shoe, the 30 mins relocating here and 30 mins on river crossings and slower pace saw us drop a bunch of time here. I didn’t realise how significant it was but it really was a bad section of course for us and the 2am -6am time slot claimed us without us even knowing.

Dropped 69

#88 – rapidly becoming light spirits certainly lifted – even though by now I was in some serious level of pain and it was only going to get worse. It was mainly the ankle/Achilles which was owning me uphill and downhill – flat was fine, rolling it wasn’t < but when is it ever!. Straight at 88, over the hill down to the water course and up the other hill… cause up/downhill was soo much fun! Yup rest of day was going to be awesome. We veered right on 88 but it was an easy find just took longer than it should have – being able to see terrain actually made the nav harder! Haha

#68 – Straight out to the road and back on the tow rope – worked at reasonable pace around to the water drop. We discussed out plans from here. With 5hrs 30 remaining and me knowing I was rapidly going downhill with the ankle now. Also really needed to add a large contribution to the landscape and had wanted to for about 1hr but knew didn’t have time too and wasn’t really urgent so added it to the list of discomforts and moved on.

Dropped 108, 98, 79, 78,106. We had planned on the road to 68 to modify this to 79, 78, 106 however looking at this with the time we had left I said I would be more comfortable with 240 points close to hash in case we need to get back and that would give us an option to cut short – were as the above would mean a hard line into HH at the end and some serious hills to get those 3 points. Logic prevailed and we headed east. (This was annoying because I really wanted this corner but it was the smart move – Also because it had a swampy watercourse which we didn’t know what it would be like to get across and we didn’t want to lose time up in it). My make up 240 points was on our original course but cut short from 85. Will detail below.

#48 – So to 48 we went, felt like a long leg with not much going on – got there pretty smoothly.

#96 – Massive ascent and was hard going – was very painful and to make matters worse I was sick (another 1 mouthful special) on the way up :( really not great now. I was pretty much zoned out of the race from this point and just focused on surviving and doing what we needed to cover the ground required. That said I was focused on doing as much as possible now regardless of the pain I put myself through. Located 96 easily.

#57 – We drifted right and too far south – I think Dave had switched off the Bryce filter because I may have been dribbling nonsense – but I had been saying that on this leg – at least it was an easy correction… but F me that was a steep gully – was so awesome going down it when it was slippery and the pain was just yay for fun styles. Went slowly as I am sure you could imagine. Got to the control and saw our first team in person that we had seen since xyz at 5pm the previous day… it was now about 8:45am. It was Shotrat – and he remarked at how happy I looked to be out there… well yes I was positively spritely at this point :) They disappears up the hill… forget that nonsense. As we went onwards

#46 – This took us to a track then a powerlines – It was about now we realised we had just about 9+km in the 3hours and my pace was making that a close call. I knew I had to dig deep and it was time to do so. Up the hill to 46 as hard as I could – we hit some bush and fought our way through it but came out good and in front of new time budget by about 3 mins.

#54 – Down the hill from 46 and broke into something faster than a walk but slower than a jog, but as we crossed over and started the climb we found a dodgy trail and I was game enough to call for the tow rope and tell Dave to go hard and hard we went. Pulled in 8-10 mins on something we budgeted 25 mins for. And found it clean too.

#36 – Down the hill and again into this awkward canter, across the water course and over the spur – even helped a team out on the way. They followed us into 36 and we quickly grabbed it and exited due north.

#64 – Straight to patrol road track and onto the tow rope and going hard again. I jumped off the rope a tad early as I thought we were at the control site and also was starting to feel very spanked from the massive increase in workload with how I was feeling. Were now looking really good for time.

#85 – This was the real goal to ensure we got this control – our last big control, skirted the bottom of the hill and we dropped the pace back to make sure we got it alright. Also so that if we needed a big finish for whatever reason we could. We drifted right on this a bit – but had seen teams coming out of it so roughly knew here to go and sure enough over a rise and there it was.

With 1.5hrs in the bank Dave floated trying 93. I vetoed it hard because I was now pretty much flat lining with pain in my ankle and other part where starting to give grief in a much worse way. I knew it would completely break me getting it and was too much of a risk for the points vs the alternative which was 24 and 19. So we dropped the rest of our planned route which was 93, 42, 33, 83, 52, 53, HH.

#24 – Pretty much with the time left decided to back right off. Might not have been smart as body allowed itself to show its full displeasure to its current position. Another big climb and it almost had me heavin for a third time. On the way to 24 found the team we guided into 36 asking us if we were looking for 85 in the saddlish area. – Concerning - . 24 was an easy enough find though which was good.

#19 – Could have just gone home but I said lets get it weve got time. So a long trudge up the hill to the correct track then on the tow rope along that track until the control. It was on this leg I told Dave properly how bad I was just before midnight and didn’t need to explain how sore I was now because that was evident. We had a laugh though and thought all the way back to the start about the 3 girls calling our mistake without evening knowing it HA. Grabbed 19 and headed home.

HH – was on tow rope most of the way there and off just to cross into the finish. Came in with about 35 mins spare. Then a quick chat as we got all our gpses checked in – thankfully no phone calls from Emma! And then a bee line to the portas. Thank god. Haha. Got changed out of the wet shoes and socks – foot damage was clearly evident, fresh top and a jumper then to the fire we went – made a burger had a coke and a beer then straight asleep in my chair waking around #40 in the results… good timing eh. 30 min power nap was so nice.

Turns out the last 10 pointer was worth it as it tipped us into 3000 category. We also picked up 1st mens and 1st overall. Which is a 1st time for me on both accounts in any format. So truly stoked, even though we may have got some luck with some other teams having bad runs with injury/illness out there but that’s all part of it. Lucky none of the top peeps where there too :P.

Quick chat with Tooms and Jen just before leaving – Tooms promptly reminded me I need to swim 200m for him. Straight into car and home via Paul’s where I grabbed his kayak to store at mine and we had another 20min power nap as I had started to feel doozy on that first leg of the drive. Then to Daves and home. Unpacked. Dinner. Discovery of GPS malfunction. Some TV until I couldn’t stay upright and a 12 hour sleep :)

Post mortem - Monday
Not happy about the shoes – feel annoyed they only last about 70hours of wearing and 325km.
Havent done my glutes work for 3 nights – feel guilty – sorry Tooms!
Injury status –
Toenails are rooted particularly the big toes – more than 70% damaged on each – likely to go.
Blistered are small or non-existent
Leg are reasonable/to be expected
Ankle hasn’t given me grief today surprisingly.
Chaffing from pack not too bad but annoying.

Interesting on weight in on Monday – had gained weight (small amount) lost about 3% body fat and gained 3kg fluid. Interested to see how it all balances out over next few days.

As always think that’s all but probably could say more. PS Tooms asked for 5000 words so there is 5121 – hope youre happy (5124).

C • Well done 28

Event: WARA 24hr Spring Rogaine (Schools Champs)
 

So my gps died so I have taken Daves trace, but his gps was wildly inaccurate it was out at 105km before we started cleaning it got it to 89.5km but still know there was loads of inaccuracy in there. So best guess is 82.5 given mine died at 68km 19hrs and typically under records.

Picked up Dave Saturday morning and got down to the rogaine about 9.15 – gave us 2hr45 for the planning, which we strung around once a few small modifications and where good to go. Planned 92km which dropped 7 controls and over 4k points. We didn’t know what the terrain would be like but we suspected given the contours 90km was going to be a stretch for us.

While Dave transposed the course onto his map I wrote an intention sheet out and handed it in… say what – well Emma is 37.5 weeks atm, we had a sat phone and I was giving the setters an intention sheet so if Emma couldn’t get me she could get me and they would know roughly where to look.

Anyway we were ready well before the start so had a brief break and chat before getting going. Of course it started to rain just before the start – good times.

Anyway we rolled out on our planned course, straight out to the track and turned right and cruising along mowing down the slow walkers. I commented to Dave “geez that’s brave” gesturing towards a school girl in short shorts and no gaiters and as I did so she almost instinctively turned around and said to us – “hey you guys are going to 19”, we kinda laughed and said no #23. Her team of 3 stopped dead in their tracks and started looking at their maps as we cruised past them. I heard her say to her friends – “nar we are definitely on the right track – how embarrassing would it be getting the first control wrong”. I looked down at map, up at road, down at map… “hey Dave… we are walking towards 19” Dave quickly took a bearing, confirmed and we turned 90 degrees and quickly disappeared into the bush. HA … how embarrassing indeed. Shocking start too.

#23 – so our recovery was less than perfect we strayed well to the right which had us having to swing back to the point once we hit the correct trail. A few teams still getting to the control but most people had rolled through.

#74 – Pushed hard out of 23 wanting to make up on the lost 15 minutes and just hit really dense bush which was horrible but at least not prickly. Once through it though was some light jogging in the open area down onto the flag. Kinda wished we had used the track because the bush had been slow.

#32 – Easy track hike, a bit of jogging but mainly just consistent fast walking.

#92 – Over the knoll and down to 92, we went off to the south slightly to hit the big decline and then looped around onto the spur. My control spotting was certainly in form already spotting some at >100m and this was one of those – this trend continues for most of the race.

#82 – Back out to the track and until the track bend to the west – via the bush from there and straight up to the knoll – nice and clean.

#75 – Down to the fence line however this was horrible and overgrown so back up the hill a bit into more suitable scrub and along the hillside we went. Trace says we drifted north a lot – I am pretty sure this was an error I didn’t correct in the trace – even though I know we drifted north a little just not that much. This was also our 2 hour mark and we were 5 minutes up so we had pulled back our time from our mistake but had worked pretty hard to do that. Along the tracks until the small track intersect. I felt we hadn’t gone far enough to get to it but we agree we had so went back to the intersect we had passed and went into the bush – couldn’t really find the point and then searched off to our right for a while – again trace wildly wrong for this section so had to remove most of it but we were lost in here for a little while – back to where we turned right and then went up the hill a little further and to the left. There was another team looking and as they walk past us to where we had been I spotted it way down the hill and way to our left. Quickly went down to it – in retrospect I think that track we came in off was wrong.

#103 – a tough climb and loads of teams searching for the control – once we had got onto the spur we knew it was just more climbing to do – the control wasn’t really visible for more the 5m and when I spotted it I got Dave attention be he had spotted it pretty much same time – we were going to try ninja in and out but there was too many people around and even our lack of noise wasn’t enough as we were surrounded and soon the other teams had the control. Don’t like giving away controls.

#62 – nothing special here just down to the road and along. Easy easy

#45 – Took track to t-junction and attacked from there – straight to top of spur minimal fuss.

#65 – Again fairly clean onto this knoll was nice to have a few clean legs of nav as we had fallen about 15 mins behind schedule from #75.

#76 – Down the hill from 65 we drifted to our left slight but we knew about it – crossed the first road and continued, found the river but never saw the trail along it. Shortly after found a track which we thought could be the ‘fire break’ in the very open land – silly thought really. We followed that track and kept searching south of it with the odd glance north – track went for ages and then we hit a T-junction clearly well past our point. We tried to work out where on the track we were and thought it was north-east of the control, took a bearing SWish and went in the distance the control should be – land felt right but no control, headed north a bit but not until we hit the track – we turned east and went back to the relocation track. We hit the track south of where we had last time but we hit on a clear fire break – we went back in on the fire break but it stopped being a fire break after a short distance again before we hit the track we had used originally. I refloated the idea that maybe the control had been north of that track – We went north and over the track and found another firebreak and trail. Oo convincing, we decided to follow it west for a short while and saw lots of teams near this area but none of them looked convincing and we didn’t follow any of them. After a short while we decided enough is enough we had wasted an hour searching and where now over an hour down on time. Looking at the trace now (without the map in the background – reads I am still guessing where control was) – our original bearing was right but we slid off it maybe 500m short and onto the track shortly after that. The relocation effort one went in the perfect distance precisely in line with where control would be and had we got relocation location right we would have hit the control :P had we headed north and extra 200m would have hit it. 2nd relocation bearing was right for the fire break – had fire break continued or we followed that bearing we would have hit it after much more distance. 3rd attempt with North then the turn west – we were 100-150m too far north. Basically we danced around this control… bloody vague features.

#43 - Anyway annoyed and frustrated we left and there was a team in front of us we were sure who until the next control when we realised it was xyz. At least the relocate was easy enough that time… technically we could have got 76 right once we knew where we on the patrol road but we wanted to move on and get points going again. #43 was an easy attack from the bend in the track.

#73 – Decent to the river and entry into the burnt out section. The ground was soft and a bit slippery but ok. Incidentally at this point we were wet only from the plants as rain had held off. Huge climb up to top of the hill and then nice and easy along the spur and onto the control.

#84 – Easy leg and we hit the control at 6pm but about 1hr15-30 down on time budget.

Dropped #34

#72 – Straight toward 72 after first drop of what would no doubt been many. We had decided we would do all the controls in the burnt out area because the ground was open and faster moving as well as easier spotting – switched into our night kit quickly mid leg and made our way up onto the hill – We slide onto the broader spur 1 over by accident and lost some time there debating if we had – but eventually bit the bullet and went over to the other spur and it wasn’t long until we found the control there.

#102 – Down to track and then attacked in from there, missed it slight to the west but Dave was onto it straight away and corrected onto it while I got myself sorted with food and stuff before calling me over to the point.

#22 – We missed the first track and hit the river – went due west up the hill and hit the track north of the bend, then followed track north of oob until it ended. Then in towards 22. Saw some lights in the (extreme) distance which was the first signs human life we had seen since xyz. 22 was an easy river junction.

#94 – Down to track and along until the river junction then up to 94, got it clean.

#63 – Down to the track again and then up the track – I think this was the first time we busted out the tow rope and Dave gave me a lift up the hill until we found a good spot to cut in north to cut the corner and onto 63.

#44 – Back along the road and a quick bearing from the junction to hit 44 flush.

#104 – Now my memory starts to go a bit fuzzy – but ill do my best I am sure it will only get worse from here as my fatigue started to kick in (yes at 9 hrs). Rain/drizzle had well and truly set in by now and had been the case maybe for and hour or two – but I really remembered zipping up and putting the jacket hood on during this leg as started feeling a tad cold. Which I generally don’t. We made our way around the top of gully/watercourse and then over to the fence line and along the fence- direct line at 104 and hit it nicely.

#37 – Almost straight north and a pretty easy grab in the end.

#95 – Filtered up into the gully using the western incline – I thought we had gone too far west and turned us east but quickly spotted the point back in the west 100m away so not too much deviation. We had also crossed our 8pm time mark at about 9.50 – so we had slipped a little on the pace at night but generally we were holding the gap. Mainly because the nav was clean and spotting was fast and more so because it was quick ground in the burnt out area.

#56 – Just straight at it, crossed the powerlines and up onto the spur. We hit just a tad south of point but was not sure – while I got a rock out of my shoe and got some food out etc etc Dave had a quick look south – I had thought it was North and when he returned it was a short scout 1 min north before we got it.

#66 – Down to road and flush onto the water.

#87 – As we were leaving the patrol car was coming so we stayed on track a tad longer to say hi. We got cake – happy days. Then up to 87 we got sucked into the gully just before ours but quickly realised and moved onto the second gully and found it easily.

#47 – Long road walk – and I think it was here (pretty sure it was here) that I had entered a really dark patch. My feet where feeling like they were blistering from being wet so long and I was cold and not warming up – I had been sick (1 mouthful styles) after 1 of the recent climbs and the last two bush controls hadn’t been flush (even though really they had been pretty clean it was enough to niggle there weary midnight mind). I told Dave I had slipped into a pretty bad zone, probably should have told him how bad as I was contemplating – going back to water drop and stopping, injuring self on something to warrant stopping and/or praying Emma called so we could pull out – my issue really wasn’t the factors above… it was I don’t know how I can do another 12 hours. Anyway Dave asked if I wanted a tow on the road which I knew would help me so I took it and we started chatting about something completely different which was his work field trips. It was sufficient to pull me back from the edge in the 1-1.5km we had on the track and us then nailing 47 helped no end. Probably close to the darkest ive got on a rogaine – that cold rain certainly didn’t help! Weird because usually my dark points come because I am too tired or too sore or navs just not happening and none of those where the case – just mentally out of the game.47 was bang on midnight.

After the slackest week ever - feeling quite rested but also lethargic - looking forward to blowing out the cobwebs this weekend.

Most soreness/injuries are just niggles atm so hopefully should pull through ok after the 24.

So I feel like I've fallen off the wagon - the last months worth of training have been lack luster with lots of drops. Supposed to be hardest two weeks last week and this. And this week I'm 0 from 3 days with really no good reason not to train.

Can only put it down to 4 weeks cycles too long getting worn down too much and losing sight of the finish line amongst other priorities.

Going to cruise through this week have a huge rogaine (getting my head into the space for a 24hr), recover then just do rid bits until the birth.

Post that I think I'm going to put together 2 weeks on 1 week off plan which focuses on core/arms/paddling. Restarts the riding and eases on running - shins still giving me grief even with the level of rest they've been receiving. Doing glute exercises every night without fail but would have hoped after 3 weeks there would have been some marginal improvement there but apparently not... Lot of years of being the wrong way though... Will continue to work my ass.

Took the day off - a few sore spots - could've trained but mindful of rogaine this weekend (reads was slack)

Event: Karragullen - MTBO
 

Mentally in the zone for todays race - knew it was the ice cream challenge I had smacked down on Juffs after the first race of the season and I knew I had been training.

Only issue I haven’t been doing my cycling training - could be interesting. Also this area was my first mtbo ever and last time I was here was after a massive crash the day before... Wanted a good ride to say the least.

Set off fast and wanted to take the track to the east of 1 - somehow rode straight past that - no worries not much extra I will just take small track up to 1 - mmm people speculating the bush questioning if it’s a track - I zoom straight past, here is the track oh wait... this is the turning circle - back I go, oh bugga they were looking at the track. Finally got 1... Not a great start.

Sped off towards number 2 which was an easy grab.

South and around the 3 – a bit of debate as to if I had grabbed the right track but was pretty sure I had the correct norther track. I quick right and down what is arguably an overgrown track to get 3.

Straight down to next track from 3 then threw the double obstruction and down to the long firm track… With a bucket load of massive puddles. You could dodge the first couple… it was about now I saw Tim completely covered in mud coming the other way. Mmm I guess I should just accept my fate. I flew through the next big puddle – oh well so much for cleaning the bike this morning! Was also drenched myself. Quite a long leg with lots of puddles but 4 was easy enough to locate.

Almost went straight back threw intersection leaving 4 and had to correct and did along the base of the hill to 5. Found Dalto just before I got to the turnoff to 5. I then thought – surprised I haven’t seen Dave yet he was only 2 mins behind me.

I decided much earlier to go back the way I had come to get to 6 and on my way along to 4 passed Dave who wasn’t looking so impressed with his day out… that said he wasn’t that far behind me really. I almost came unstuck in the wrong gears turning the corner just north of 4 but pulled something out of the bag to make it look like it was intended. I pushed along the long stretch as hard as I could. I had decided to take the northern most track to avoid pinch climb at end and in a hope it would be less puddly… I actually rode past it and went back to it and it wasn’t until I was riding away from my objective that I realised of crap this is a lot longer. Again working hard and luckily didn’t make the mistake which would have seen me off map! Sadly there was still a few puddles but mainly avoidable and this section felt to go past quite quickly. Was sure I would have blown a lead on Dave here and maybe cost me the race against Paul. Feeling quite down but also motivated to punish self. Was a gentle climb to 6 and got it easy in the end. Stopped and refolded map.

Sadly the map fold meant I couldn’t see the exit out but only just the river crossing to the south – took the punt and flew down the hill.. at least the hill down was pretty crap wouldn’t have enjoyed climbing it – the other side was open and not steep at all… maybe a good choice after all?! Found the small river crossing easily crossed over and back on map. Proceeded south the the main road where my original logic was - “Paul told me once if the track doesn’t join it means its an indistinct track” Hunted up the road for this indistinct track even went into the bush abit and then thought – bugga this I am wasting too much time – Back on the road and to the north east and an easy connecting road – Was straight forward and fast around to 7 from here.

South to the road the slightly west to the track. 1 long downhill where I could push reasonably hard. Hit the open area to the NNW of 8 and went through some weird track but spat myself out at the correct track to the north of 8 – down and around to the east of 8 – I must admit 8 felt a little further west than I expected but it was close enough for my liking.

Grabbed the southern exit track which I could follow all the way to 9. I spotted 11 on the way which was useful for later and continued up towards 9 – when I got there, 3 people were in the area. All standing looking around – mmm control wasn’t where I expected and I thought they were hunting – I moved slowly towards them scanning the whole area. Until 1 of them moved revealing the flag they were at… darn them! This was certainly misplaced but was easy enough to find.

I realised one of the guys was Dalto and I had finally caught up to him – Worked hard back up to main road for 10 and got past him on climb – going into 10 misread map and took the eastern road… This was horrible ground getting across to the CP and Dalto was right on my tail as I left.

Back out from 10 and had decided to go back the way I had come (well out the western path which was much nicer). I think Dalto went south around pine plantation!? I had never even considered this route but looking at it now it may have been ok! And I think a few people went this way. Not sure. I got back to the road fairly quickly and spotted Dave coming the other way – he was still not happy at all but I felt like he had closed the gap a bit. Apparently Paul was very close behind me but he didn’t see me and I didn’t see him. Hard and fast back past 9 I went and down and around to 11. Knew exactly where I was going so no nav really required.

11 South – slow getting out of flag and spent a bit of time on this leg looking at the map. Went down towards 8 and was going to go straight through but opted to go right and then left – almost came unstuck in what looked like a little camp site/tip but eventually punched through to the track I wanted – A short connected later and I was on the main eastern track – Down to the plantation a quick left right combo through the plantation then left and up then northern track – opted to go up to the farm corner and back in and found 12 easy.

Back out to the farm corner – I had already sold myself on riding the track to the main road then the main road connector up to 13 as the last time I rode this course I went along the farm fence and I recall the climb being a bitch and the obstructions being really really bad. However I stood on that corner and my gut said – its flatter and its shorter and just man up and do it. So I did. Along the farm fence line at a decent pace hit the corner dropped the gears and spun like crazy up the hill… o wait what no obstruction on climb… have I turned at right spot… 90 deg turn at top no obstructions – right track but they have cleared it YIPEE what a choice. Powering along the track next to the property another obstruction missing or mostly missing then – this is great final obstruction…. Well it was there and was the worst obstruction ive ever seen. It was impassable. Bike over should and into the bush I went. Had to go a fair bit in to get around but got on the other side soon enough. Back on bike and started to work hard down the track again when a 4wd came roaring up towards me – off to the side I went a quick wave as they passed super close and off I went. Thought was that the farmer clearing the tree or are they about to get themselves in a pickle. Approaching farm entrance and there was a bloody big dog out on the main track barking and it looked at me in a way of YOU COME THIS WAY YOU LOOSE YOUR LEG. I was not going that way (even if I had to)up to the NE (interested to see if I went green or clear track here) found the connection to the power line track and near to NE road to track and straight over on the track to 13. Almost missed turn off o 13 and went down the back side of the triangle. Was quick from here down to 13.

Leaving 13 was instantly worried did I punch that… almost turned around but my instinct says I wasn’t that silly – passed the 2 people from 9 going down to 13 and then shortly after them Dalto – mmm interesting I had put a bit of ground on him but not much. Got out to main road and had some tiem to ponder… Why hadn’t I seen Paul at all, why hadn’t Dave passed me… how come I had caught passed and extended on Dalto… There is no ricky… Could I win this race?! Ha don’t be silly. Onto the next road then opted for the first track – quickly down and around the 90 deg turn was expecting more of a climb but was met with something reasonable and quickly passed through the obstruction.. Just needed to make sure I spotted the track. Which I did successfully – track was pretty crap but found flag fine.

Didn’t want to risk staying on that track if it was crap and went back to the main track which I knew I could fly down – Re passed the 2 people from 13 just before I got to the northern turnoff.. Wondering if I would see Dalto or Dave now. Slowed on the Northern track to look at map and then decided to do that on road and upped the pace a bit. Once on the road I steamed along formulating the finish leg and this leg. Found the next turn fine and went off fast down this road. Hit 42.8km/hr according to Garmin – and almost missed the turn off – infact slammed breaks and skidded around. Got 15 ok and now just needed to get home.

Back tracked again back on the road left onto main drag and then a quick right off – along the track I went – wasn’t sure on the spaghetti at the end. Almost went straight through when I saw the flag, hard left and powered to the end with a big skiddy to finish as I punched.

Jumped off and walked bike through bush rather than through the puddle then coasted down to the Hall.

Mmm wasn’t so happy to see Paul standing at entrance as I hadn’t seen his car before I started… had he destroyed me?! – Into the hall and punched in 2:05:22. Mmm you’re sitting in 2nd the guy said. WHAT?! Mmm What did Paul get – 2:25. ZING
I bounced outside Paul said is your first number 2. I smiled yup. Is your second number 2. NOPE 0 ZERO – nil, nilch. OWNED :P ice creamery mofo :P oh I didn’t point it out then – but you can take the .9 age compensation too fi you want – STILL ZE WINNAAAA :P

Gloating commenced and will remain in play until the Dowling-Crage cup is rematched at a MTBO event next year .

Anyway Paul and I went and got the victory prize at the servo down the street – victory never tasted so sweet until I had some of that connoisseur Margaret River salted caramel in my mouth… then it tasted even sweeter haha.

C • Ice Cream 19

Went out control collecting with Paul. There was some trach talking involved - mainly when he took a left instead of a right at the first corner - "No wonder I beat you" type stuff.

We went and grabbed #2 then #1 then one north of the open land to the NE and then #5 - back along main road to start.

Legs where destroyed at end of this and really didnt feel great. Oh well.

Was a good day out in the end.

Had a decent afternoon after this - got the car seat sorted - well needs an extension for the top straps but other than that its right - also out to gold class and mission impossible 6 using up vouchers we have before the baby comes. Had more ice cream because well its for ze winnas :P

And now to go do the nightly glutes.

Long - Splits

Event: Curtin University - WA Sprint Championships (NavDash)
 

So finally actually got out and ticked off one of my training activities for the week. 10km Paddle.

Started slow and just eased into it - had some chest and shoulder tightness which wasnt great and had to make a quick stop right on 2km to take my ring off because it was pinching - need to remember not to wear it in first place!

anyway as a result first 2 km very slow and 3rd wasn't great either - but then started to improve from there.

was about the 5km mark i realise my kinda hungry and then realised oh hey there's this thing called lunch - do you know you should try it sometime. doh.

Anyway continued to get progressive faster - crossed the dreaded section in front of FWBYC (i want a swim zone) successfully and then put the juice on for the 10th km.

7:08 and probably could have gone sub 7 if I knew I was going to be that close. Top speed today was 12.1 Generally pretty happy with the session.

Now for food, relax and a good sleep so I can get some ice cream of Juff's tomorrow.

only downside - blisters on thumb - shoulda body glided.

Same as yesterday - was really hoping tummy would be good today but crampy as also return if the stiff neck. At least a decent sleep - but certainly not the start to this cycle I wanted.

Rest day unless feel really good this afternoon

C • Excuses 2

well i dont know if it was the nausea yesterday or something else but woke up doubled over with stomach pain at 5am a trip to the toilet wasnt the answer and was really uncomfortable - was wide awake when alarm went off for 6am but had not a question in my mind of staying in bed because was feeling very crook.

Worked from home today - feeling a lot better come the end of the day but weather looks horrible and not enthused to jump on the bike now. Very annoying have had a very bad run on the roadie recently and dont have really good excuses.

Bruising on my right quad now evident post the weekend. good times.

At least last night until 5am I had a deep and good sleep.

Hopefully back into it all tomorrow.

Went a bit harder in the gym this morning, a few new exercises, certainly heavier and also a few additional activities ... feeling some burn now.

Was certainly not feeling great at the outset - felt queezy all day. Legs still pretty sore from weekends efforts too... not sure why - but I wanted to do this session and wanted to do it well.

Plan says 750m vo2 250m jog x 6

I changed this to 5 to fit my 5km course before I even started and quickly changed the interval to make the 250 - 50m walk 200m jog. Mainly because I feel I went out of the box too hard and well yes I didnt warm up.

Anyway run felt very good - shins held up reasonably well - a tad sore at the end but after icing feel fine - did struggle pushing the pace but I guess thats the point.

Results:

Rep #	750m time	1km pace	AHR	MHR	250m time	AHR
1	3:41	4:55	139	157	1:54	150
2	3:49	5:05	162	165	1:53	149
3	3:48	5:04	166	171	1:52	149
4	4:00	5:20	166	169	2:01	153
5	3:52	5:11	165	169	1:55	158

Interesting data set for me to play with #geek

Right quad exceptionally sore and just general leg tenderness this morning not sure why because I didnt spank myself that hard yesterday and its post rest week. Anyway that coupled with my neck still hurting and hearing rain and seeing an unfavorable radar = sleep in.

Was optimistic that I would do something this evening but looking outside now I am not feeling enthused and still feel quite sore... so we shall see but might be a slow start to heavy month.

Event: Malmalling NE - Standard Bush Event
 

Had a really sore neck today which troubled me during the run, looking at the map was sometimes painful not sure what has caused it, must have slept funny or something.

Also had quite an unsettled tummy but that didnt cause me too much grief on the course.

1) Probably should have run around the base of the spur but I figured up and over would be just fine, bounced off the clearing and foudn this one nicely.

2) reasonably clean onto 2 and was feeling pretty good.

3) long leg to 3 decided to go high, so hooked east and up - probably turned up a bit early. Then wanted to bounce along the clearings - was happy ish with how that was going but was unsure so headed in early to pickup the big granite - once I had found that was much more comfortable and was straightforward enough bouncing off things onto the point.

4) Clean

5) Clean enough but slow

6) drifted down hill a bit too much but otherwise easy leg.

7) Thought about it for a while and ended up going west along the river - was surprisingly open and I felt like I moved reasonably quickly through there - I am sure it could have been faster though. Went up gully and found the granite marked north west of the point. then spent 4 minutes in the last 100m, finding every other bloody control on the hillside... not happy jan. The person i left 7 with ended up getting to point at same time as me. Also where AM caught me.

8) Down to the road with AM but he had his nike's on and was a distant memory pretty quickly. just a dust cloud in the distance. 8 itself was very straight forward.

9) That hill broke me getting over it but was easy control to find once over it.

10) Went to another courses control on the way to 10 then after being to the wrong control felt really badly lost even though I pushed on right direction and found control I wanted, just felt slow and lucky.. oh well still got it right.

11) Clean and eays - used same crossing as 2-3 leg.

12) decided to stay high and contour around worked really nicely even though i did have a few moments of worry and was a bit slow onto the flag.

13) SFG of course I missed it slightly - but got it ok and reasonably quickly.

14) Oh dear god. Brain fart - went the right direction but pulled up way early and decided I had gone far enough so came back and hit the clearing. dear then went north again and luckily got guided a bit onto it otherwise may have been a long day out there... really was feeling pretty low on this point. Trace probably doesnt speak the volume that it should.

15) Dragged myself to the rock on the north east quite slowly - figured out where I was took a bearing and looked up and there it was. yay.

16) At this point the last 4-5 controls whilst I got them and reasonably I had felt pretty bad through them and not clean at all. I was stinging from all the bushes and actually had some cuts from the bushes too... not having that much fun decided on straight line... probably not the best option. Was pretty darn good most of the way there but on the hill before the fence decided that was the green ahead and started to loop around... found the fence shortly after that.. annoying and then the open area to the west. started to head in and Paul came out I said you coming from 16 - thinking he has to be and his like no, 14.. brain melted are you doing h1 yeah. brain exploded. Paul laughed jk, yeah 16 in there... ASS.. going to smash you on mtbo next week and claim my icecream :P Went in thinking well I should be pretty close (like 100m tops)... Still another 5 minutes in the green... found the cliff on the knoll and then relocated off that and hit the control.. I hated this control site and has to be one of the worst ive visited every. keep stuff out of green!

17) Reasonably straight forward even though I did drift south abit.

Fin - I thought I did this leg quickly but am looking forward to seeing the splits to see how I actually lined up.

Felt I could have trimmed 20 off that course without mistakes. oh well. otherwise not a bad day out.

So really wanted to get a session in on the MTB before going home but knew I would be pushed for time.

Got to Forsyth's Mill pretty quickly only to be accosted by some stupid man about driving too fast in the car park because his kids where playing on the road.

Now I had seen his kids on the car park roads before I had turned into the car park and in the car park would have been between 20-40km/hr and I would have said closer to 25-30. but he came over and yelled at me about road safety and how I would feel if I ran over a child and that I drive too fast and if I am in a hurry and to slow down. I didnt have time/desire to get into an argument so I just said - hey I was going about 20 and yes actually I am in a hurry and proceeded to get on my bike and ride off fuming.

Spent the better part of this ride thinking of telling this idiot his the one parked across 5 bays, with 4 kids playing in a road on a blind corner and that Ive never had a crash or a fine and drive gravel roads most weekend so go shove it. Also wondered if I would be missing a window or have a flat tyre when I get back.

Alas I got back and he was having lunch with his family with some of the kids still playing on the road. Swallowed a pill of I am not going to yell at this fool and packed up and left.

The ride however was good and hard - didn't have shorts which was uncomfortable at parts but was a short ride so whatever also no saddle bag still so keys in my pocket - again not ideal.

Probably the cleanest I have been around that course though and I am sure I will be rewarded with a load of PR's (even post a foot-o flogging) - Juffs I am coming for you.

Bit late to lunch but had a nice roast and a pint but have to say have a stonking headache after this morning and really not feeling great now - hopefully the good feed and a panadol hit will sort that out! Hopefully headache is unrelated to neck but I guess I will find out soon enough!

H1 - Splits

Easy walk with the pregnant one. Was beautiful day out there.

Other than that probably drop the swim today go a bit harder on the footo tomorrow - maybe swim tomorrow arvo.

Just and easy 4 km today

River was glass off - made it pretty nice out there. Mind you I think I actually like having some wind it makes it more challenging and more enjoyable.

Legs went pretty badly numb but I sucked it up and got on with it and it all ended well.

Splits:
1) 8:28
2) 8:32
3) 9:13 (turning around was slow)
4) 7:39

Yeah first time in the 7min range... tell you what though i was working pretty bloody hard to get it there.

After a few days rest it was time to get back into it.

And on tonight's agenda 3x1km TT L/M/H efforts

I expected good results as I have been resting and havent been going hard last week.. that said small lunch and also still clawing back sleep from the work hours... setup for an interesting effort.

I thought shins would be good - and generally are, some mild pain bit disappointing given lack of running and on soft stuff when I had, just proves the pavement owns them... the next 4 weeks is gonna suck! Anyway typing quickly so I can get to icing them.

Results: (4 weeks ago)
Low 1km - 6:14 - HR ave 138 HR max153
Medium 1km - 5:20 - HR ave 155 HR max 164
Hard 1km - 4:31 - HR ave 166 HR max 176

Tonights Results
Low 1km - 5:54 - HR ave 144 HR max156
Medium 1km - 5:09 - HR ave 160 HR max 169
Hard 1km - 4:29 - HR ave 172 HR max 180

HR's show me working harder on every effort - but rewarded with faster times. Thought the hard effort would have been another few s off abit disappointed in that. Dont get how people run faster than that pace for 10km fark! Would have hoped for same hr as 4 weeks ago but with those times... does make me feel like there has been very little gain over the last 4 weeks. grrr.

C • IMprovements 2

Gave the plan the finger again today and had another rest day and an 11hr sleep

body thanking me for it.

Looking forward to recommencing tomorrow assuming another good sleep tonight

Seems I worked until the wee hours and got up early again - feeling thoroughly spanked all round. Good news projects done and I'm taking tomorrow off yay.

Dropped scheduled jog but will do catchup tomorrow now. Once I've got decent sleep in.

Low week and rest day 1.

Work has me done a 1am finish and a 4am start. Really resting up...

Got very sore throat - suspect ulcer. grrr. feeling like shit.

Event: Gunapin Ridge (West) - Long Distance (SOL)
 

Fresh from the shock of almost cleaning out a roo at high speed and my car smelling like well tested brakes - I embarked on H1

Was feeling lethargic from the start and certainly not in the zone - generally just knackered - works killing me coupled with training... yaya new week is rest week... shame work will continue.

Drifted right on first leg but quickly corrected - lost a bit of time here but not a significant amount.

Leg two I knew I hadnt come far enough but still convinced myself to look at the rocks to the south - silly and a waste of time!

3) Clean and first time I started to feel in the game

4) Drift left intentionally and came around onto the point nicely.

5) Over shot slightly - I knew where it was and still ran past it because I couldnt see the flag... must work on ability to see through rocks.

6) Drifted downhill slightly and around flush onto the control was good.

7) Picked up all the right features and hit the control flush.

One of the juniors came over to me, poor girl was lost and wasnt near where she wanted to be - I gave her a clear location and she bounded off.. leaving me thinking - oh bugger, which way was I heading lol

8) Refound myself on the fence line and went at 8 from there - almost halfway there Andrew Martin came up along side me. and the battle was on. He went a bit low onto 8 and I was higher but he sitll got onto it before me and bounded away.

9) Around the western tip of the rocks and corrected back towards the control - after crossing the road and beginning to climb the hill I saw AM off to the left of 9 but he quickly realised and got to the point before me.

10) He headed off eastern side of the hill and I just went straight over - again he just beat me onto 10 but the gap was getting closer.

11) He stayed low again and I powered back over the hill - I drew level with him we had having short comments at most points - but this was the first time he said he had lost contact slightly I said where we where and continued on. Looking for what would typically be called a SFG on hill park dale but was really two GB size boulders with a control inbetween. AM thought we ahd gone too far but I was pretty confident it was further - I went west and saw the small granite and turned to go towards control - and there it was. Finally back infront of him.

12) took off and then realised bugga 180deg error - got back passed the control but AM still hadn't come down to it dashed towards 12 - some hesitation but found it after not too long - but after finding it I realised - oh crap I am standing on the flag and here come 3 people... and once again AM and I where level.

13) Pretty much clean and on 13 ssame time as AM

14) The same.

15) Long leg to 15 I thought I was on bearing and AM was off - and then I realised I was wrong when I hit the boulder near the river at halfway - I corrected but AM was way infront - I managed to pull him in on the climb as he went a long way around, but he got the control well before me.

16) Determined to close the gap I tried to keep tight on bearing and it was after the spur the the gap was practically eliminated. AM dashed infront of me at a parraell though at one stage and I thought.. wtf as I saw him disappear up the hill... had he already got 16 surely not! 1 more step forward and I saw 16 and he definitely hadnt got it I went down and grabbed 16 and started up towards 17 when AM came steaming past.

17) All was back to level on 17,

18) A long leg to 18 I drifted west slightly before deciding I would go for the massive granite slab. AM no where to be seen - I thought he had gone during my walking but as I hit the granite there he was again hitting it at a slightly different angle. We both then proceeded to drift west of 18. I dashed off the the tripple boulders south west of it and AM followed - he realised I was wrong and back tracked... I felt in familiar ground and realised exactly where I was and belined to the control. Again into the lead.

19) Started to 19 and quipped to AM as he passed - youll have to work to catch me now (yeah that whole 50m lead was huge :P )Another junior threw me off looking lost and AM was hot on me heels, snap decision to find the fence. We hit the fence at same time and over water course, AM went straight I cut in. 19 at same time.

20) AM went slight east and I was flush - I hit the boulder and he came in right next to me.

21) to 21 pretty much together.

22) He got a better exit but slightly wrogn bearing he had drifted more towards 23 but I did drop 1 too many contours and as a result he had corrected and got to 22 just before me.

23) Fast down to 23 and he had the lead.

24/Whooops Finish) I could have sworn there was a 24th control - was expecting a big finish. My head wasnt in the map and where I was going - Realised pretty quickly it was the finish leg and expected track and farmland. Saw a control (without finish flag) on a track so changed course straight at it - silly what was I thinking - this gave AM clear running - I put in a huge effort on the road but I had given too much of a lead. Silly.

Worked very hard on the road and actually was struggling to catch breath at the finish. Seems I put my HR to 178 might have even gone higher but certainly didnt feel good about it - going to say that was pretty close to HRmax. even though I feel I should be able to get well into the 180s!

all in all a good run - I don't often go sub 2 hrs and I was only 6 mins behind AM certainly the closest I have ever got to being competitive. Particularly at long distance.

Once home I bottomed out something fierce took some feeding before I levelled out - might have pushed a tad harder than I thought or just didnt have sufficient fuel in the tank.

And now for work SIGH

C • Roos 4

C • TBT Trace? 3

H1 - Splits

After another 1am work session and more of the same planned for today - spent the morning getting kayak fixed and have decided to have the day off too - turning this week and next week into rest weeks practically. Hopefully gives me time to recover, get over work hump and hit it hard in a week or so.

So was working until 1am last night - works been serving it up to me in platefuls the last few days. as a result when the alarm went off for paddling this morning I rolled over... completely knackered and sore all over. Also was feeling sick/coming down with something.

The feeling of crapness didn't improve through the day, and a short small lunch didn't help it. when I got home the sky was blueish and I thought - here is an opportunity for me to get a session in and i thought I was feeling reasonable.

Got to the river and it was starting to get dark but still good enough for me to be able to paddle - the water was like black glass not a breathe of wind. There first 300m was like going over silk and my boat felt so nice in the water. however it felt a bit less stable - given I had got used to it being weight down with water on the weekend I found it tippy again. I had also forgotten to take off my wedding ring which was pinching on the paddle so I pulled ashore and put it in the dry bag in the hull and kept going.

Was nice out there but as I headed along the shoreline of Dalkeith there was a small cross wave - don't know where from, wasn't any wind and no boats but it was pushing my boat around a bit. I had to correct a lot - also noticed it was super shallow (tide was way out) and almost run aground about 50m off the shore! Headed towards the point of jutland parade - but before I got there the small cross swell and tippiness of the boat was really taking effect on my and I was feeling quite woozey.

Probably a combination of tiredness, lack of food, general fatigue from training and gentle rocking. I turned into the (now) slight breeze and waves and headed toward FWBYC, then turned back around - got some water in the seat here and was feeling unstable but no real threat of falling in.

Had pain in my right hand really badly and realised it was from when I was tearing up boxes earlier in the week for recycling - I had felt like i ripped a muscle or vein between my pointer and middle and it was really giving me greif paddling. Proceeded onward cos - didn't really have any other option, zigg zagged in and out of shore line and river for a bit trying to get distance up - however boat started coming my way and I started to realise just how invisible I would be on the water line now as it had got a lot darker.

Headed close to shoreline again and started to head back a bit more directly. Wanted to do 8km but really wasn't feeling the love out there at all tonight even with the glass off conditions. Also never really pushed it speed wise - all pretty average... ended up feeling like it would be better off just calling it and thats what I did.

Had leg numbness from about 2km but just grinned and took it. didn't help with the enjoyability.

At least I went out there?!

Splits:
1) 9:14
2) 8:48
3) 9:44
4) 9:12

Good news is I didn't feel like I was trying hard at all so should be able to go significantly harder/faster.

Slept in and was going to gym at lunch however client hadnt sent back their work yet so had some time this morning.

Legs and core - changed it up a little bit in reference to the activities which was nice...

However in doing squats I felt like I was pulling/tearing (minorly obviously) my hambstring/groin... was certainly not pleasant at all and backed off for the rest of the session. Wasnt going that heavy and had no prior issues with area so not sure why its felt that way - certainly feels like its worked pretty hard post session though!

Not going to push it and run this afternoon and will take it easy through the stretching tonight.

#goodtimes... sigh

Yeah after a late night working I wasnt going to pull myself out of bed.

A tad annoying because I have missed quite a few road rides in a row now.

Also thinking the 4 weeks on is too long as I suspected it would be because this week I have no enthusiasm for. At leas the next set (toughest 4 week period) has a rogaine and an mtbo in it to keep me somewhat focused.

Oh did manage to get glutes in before midnight last night - winning :P

C • Glutes before midnight 2

Reasonable session this morning - increased some of the weights - still just floating around without massive purpose will change that post next weeks rest week. Have decided upperbody and core must be focus to help the paddling component. Legs are getting enough training via the running and ridding for the moment.

Shocking sleep last night - had a string of reason bad nights again... not happy jan. Not sure whats causing it.

Weight loss has plateaued for a few weeks - means either have to eat less crap or do more work... meh.

Felt very together tonight and pushed well all the way.

Slight lul in middle lack of energy - but otherwise felt good - more energy and better technique and will be laughing!

Another 20s off my best time on the course though.

Shins held up good but still gave them an ice.

Having to work still tonight so don't know if/when ill get to stretch and do glutes... first night ive missed (maybe) since I got the program from Tooms.

Didn't get up in time to do 1hr30 on the bike this morning delayed it until tonight - but feeling quite I'll when got home so boycotted

I think I will take a well deserved rest day today.

Feeling pretty good in general - a few sore spots - right shoulder, lower back and hip flexors, general muscle fatigue.

Actually feel like I pulled up pretty good.

Not bad for my halfway mark in training.

Event: Wildflower Tavern - John Forrest National Park - NavDash
 

After a low week I decided to have a crack at all the anaconda legs.

I started at bib and tucker and ran along the beach for 9+km hooked around the far side of the army range and to city beach. Jogged down to HBF stadium to finish off the first leg. Goal was 1hr 30 and was pretty close to that. Had a few short walks along the way but generally felt good.

No shin issues on this run - biggest challenge was sinky sand along the beach. Wind behind me on the beach leg was really useful!

Apparently there were dolphins at the start but I didn't see them.

Transition 1.

Arrived at my car grabbed my kit bag - a muesli bar and a drink bottle.

Time from my car to the far outside pool and getting in was 8:25

No/minimal push offs on the walls. Just set an easy cruise pace felt pretty good - got a stitch part way through but pushed through it.

Otherwise the swimming was pretty uneventful.

Transition 2

From the outside pool to the car and then drove to peppigrove to put my kayak in via freshwater bay.

Had another bottle of water and a muesli bar here.

Headed out around freshwater bay and out along FWBYC. Got to the main river section between yaught club and the spit. the chop was insane - I have never experienced it as rough as this on the river ever. Waves were coming from all angles constantly and it wasn't long before I took my first swim in the river. First time in the drink ever - worried if I would be able to get back up and I quickly found out that I could... And I quickly found myself back in the river... and back on the kayak, and in the river and on the kayak... and so on about a dozen times... it was ridiculously rough. My HR monitor stopped working and basically didn't recover for the rest of the day. I was struggling that a badly a small boat pulled up to ask if I needed help and stuck around until I stayed in the kayak for more than a minute :(

headed into the mosman bay shallows - still wasn't any better, went under mosmans and around to the canoe club. Along the shoreline into the wind up to chidley point. Went around the corner and was the first time I was a little protected from the wind - still a bit of cross breeze.

Went up to the next bend in the river when I spotted the rotto ferry and in figuring out what to do about it I ran aground.... whoops - got out and emptied out the seating section of the boat. Got back in the water and dealt with the wave of the ferry. Shortly after crossed the river and discovered the wind was into my face again. Eventually got into the shallows again and the wind shifted again and I was protected. Felt good going along past blackwall reach until I got to point walter. Made the call to cross back to chidley point

First time for the day the wind was behind me. waves picked up again and as did the wind. went all the way down to mosmans, turned out and headed into the wind and the waves turned around to get past mosmans... was hard work but was stable enough. Was hard work going along mosmans bay and then turned for the assault on the section which had me in the drink on the first pass. Headed out hard into the main body of the river. Had to do a number of emergency dumps of my legs over the sides to stay in... Almost in the drink a number of times. slowly slowly weved out and in and out and in but stayed in the kayak this time... was certainly hard bloody work. once I rounded FWBYC I put down the gas to get in to the main section and protected section of the bay.

It was about now that I realised how low the unsinkable kayak was sitting in the water... my seat was basically below the water line... Got to the shallows and needed 1 more km, stayed in the shallow area and just worked as hard as I could back and forward and back again.

My shoulders where feeling shattered by the time I came to a finish. my right shoulder (MTB crash) was killing me. was glad for this leg to be over!

Edit:
Splits
1) 11:50
2) 12:59
3) 10:47
4) 09:08
5) 11:01
6) 11:22
7) 08:42
8) 09:27
9) 08:52
10) 09:04
11) 09:28
12) 10:55
13) 08:39

C • Gutsy! 12

Transition 3

14:16 - I couldn't get my boat out of the water - hull had a lot of water in it. and I couldn't get the thing balanced. Got some water out but eventually Emma came to help me get the boat the last 10m. Had an energy bar and a bit to drink then jumped onto the bike.

HR monitor was still not working.

MTB loop - up Esplanade hill, looped around view st and then down to Johnston parade before climbing mosmans hill. Around the bottom of mosman park and around McCabe st up tot he round about and then back to st hildas primary. Up Owston st - Then the descent all the way back to the start. Same loop the second time round. Then a shorten loop the third lap turned right after meads hill and came home.

Time for the home stretch.

Transition 4

A very quick final transition. 1min 59

Just changed shoes and back out again.

HR monitor started working (I think properly) about 5 minutes in to the run.

Ran up esplanade hill to devils elbow - down the bush path to the bottom of the rock climbing wall then used the high up/down path all the way back to the main grass area.

Along the grassy bank to the playground park, turned right and ran to the tennis club then turned back and ran back over the park, and along the road - I knew at the round about before the finish I needed a short bit extra distance so shot up leak street a bit before turning back and finishing for the day!

Yay.

Post mortem.

Shoulders/traps killing me, everything else just feels tired and well used.

Got sunburnt not terribly but badly enough - expecting sweats tonight because of it.

Glutes certainly took a work out (still did my physio work tonight on them though).

A few scratches from getting in and out of the boat. Also got a bad chaff from my HR monitor.

My bike definitely needs a service!!!

That kayak needs the crack in the nose fixed, new handles and whilst I am glad I know I can fall out and get back in. this wasn't that much fun - almost bailed on it entirely!

Total time today was 7hrs6mins inc transition - I know on race day I can drop about 30 mins in transition. I am pretty sure I can get 6hrs.

Enjoyed finish and chips and a chocolate ice cream afterwards.

edit:
I think that's all that needs to be said today! - Happy I know I can complete everything within time. Only segment which was over its scheduled time was the paddle which should be 2hrs 5 minutes or under. and was 2:12:46 other than that beat all other segments.