Sunday Jan 13 |
 | Multisport race (Wakiki Enduro Tri) 1:39:17 [5] 32 km (3:06 / km) | |
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| Huge field of 500 punters at this event, second sell-out race for the season. What's got into people, this event used to struggle to get over 150 racing ten years ago?
I was weary and none to motivated before the event, planning to make this my last tri. Then things started improving - a non wetsuit swim as the water was 24 degrees. Then a beach start - great to be able to run halfway to the first can! I made it through the first 20k ride in none too exciting fashion and got passed by about 10 people, although on the 5k run I overhauled 5 or 6 of them. By the end I was hanging out for the next 250m swim as it was pretty warm. As I ran along the beach to the water I suddenly began to enjoy myself and felt good so I raced harder and enjoyed the last time through. On the 3k run I noticed at the turnaround that some people were getting closer so I picked it up on the way back and have to admit I even hit a genuine "race pace" for the first time in a few years, probably 3 years I think.
It's great to feel like things are coming together again, don't tell anyone, but I enjoyed that tri and willactually probably do another one this season....
(And in retrospect my splits were awful so the "probably" is themost important part of that last sentence, ie. it's not definite!) |
Saturday Jan 12 |
| Road Bike 2:16:30 [2] 61 km (2:14 / km) | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| Nice ride with Lison and MTBjen - although Lison had to get to work so we met her at 5.30am at UWA. I didn't really wake up till about an hour later when the first bits of sunshine caressed me. Lison was on a single-speed Cannondale and consequently smashed every hill out of necessity. I didin't feel bad, nor did I feel good and hung in there with them until Swanny where Lison turned off. Another lovely sunny morning. After the ride Dr Jen *finally* consented to getting the recalcitrant grain of sand out of each eyelid, thank Christ. I had a leisurely breakfast and then had an intense sleep for 2hours before the hustle and bustle of organising the MetrO event. Not exactly the ideal relax before an early start Sunday. |
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| C • all you had to do was ask... 1 |
Friday Jan 11 |
| Road Bike (Commute) 1:02:30 [2] 26.7 km (2:20 / km) | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| Cruisy, and combined with the headwind the whole way made for a slow ride. |
| Road Bike (Commute) 35:00 [2] | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| Ride home. Had a panic at work before I left -suddenly realised I hadn't organised the toilet key for the MetrO event, nor collected the maps! Fortunately my parents were home and could go and get them. Phew. Strong headwind (again) today on the way home. Mind you, sea breeze was much stronger than the easterly was this morning. |
| Swimming (Ocean) 15:00 [2] | |
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| Got to the beach session early with the plan to run up to the groyne and swim back with the swell and wind. However, too many kitesurfers in the break which made me feel mortal so I just jogged up the shop (200m) and swam back 3 times. With the waves and swell my arms certainly felt the lack of any swimming over the last month. Lost my goggles too on the way out to sea. |
| Core Stability/Stretching (Beach session) 25:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Barefoot |
| Usual exercises, two new people today plus Wil, Jen, Screaming Wild Pig and myself. Enjoyed tonight's session. |
| Running (Beach Session) 25:00 [4] | |
| shoes: Barefoot |
| Included a few zig zags in today's loop and a nasty little bit where we went over the 2 foot cliffy bit to the damp sand and back up again 3m later! Tough when tired from burpees and lunges etc! Cool down swim afterwards was great - except I managed to get both eyelids full of sand and it was very hard to get the sand out. |
Thursday Jan 10 |
| Road Bike (Red Rock) 1:55:30 [4] 60.5 km (1:55 / km) | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| It took me 2mins longer to get there from home this morning, and it was fully dark pretty much. Only got there moments before they rolled out. Pace was nice and consistent today and I enjoyed the ride once we'd got to Freo and the unfit people had done their dash and the pace settled. Evo, Eoin and Boltboi all came along today, Evo saying before the ride he was a bit overdone and wanted an easy ride. I can remember seeing him 50m off the front along Preston Point Road doing it 'Evo-easy'. The sou-wester meant more people than usual did the roadie-thing and hid while the three of us and a couple of other keen blokes did the useful fitness-improving packhorse work.
Overheard one guy saying after Mounts Bay road that "everytime I came to the front the road turned into the wind and it was tougher, what bad timing". Tool. What he meant was "Each of the two times along the entire stretch of road that I got to the front for 5s before I peeled-off it got harder." |
Wednesday Jan 9 |
| Running (Dribble) 1:07:09 [1] 10.72 km (6:16 / km) | |
| shoes: Brooks Beast |
| So much for not being sore from yesterday's run. Just "MTBjen" and I today, and haggles. Slowly jogged to the beach, up to Brighton on the soft sand then up the hills home. Not a particularly fun run but the dog enjoyed it. Very tired. |
Tuesday Jan 8 |
| Road Bike (Floreat ride) 1:38:30 [4] 49.85 km (1:59 / km) | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| Warm and humid this morning at 6am, no real wind so a nice day for a ride. Consequently 45,000 punters turned up for the ride complete with the obligatory old men who cannot ride safely in a group and keep pushing forward 3-abreast. Same twits who ruin a couple of other rides when they get bigger. Sometimes it'd be nice if the pace picked up early to get rid of them! The whole crew were there today, Eoin wasn't on the subcontinent, Botlboi turned up after an inconsistent period, Jen couldn't find another excuse, Beno was there on his gleaming 'hobby' bike. The pace was steady but faster than normal because Evo was there riding off the front as normal. I think he really ought to try the "chase" group rather than smashing the "social" group! For that matter, I should probably pluck up the courage one day, but I'm not all that keen for 90mins of maximum effort and Eoin wouldn't come and keep me company I suspect.
Thought we screamed past Fletch at one point, but it was just some tramp out looking for beer cans on his bike. |
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| C • Chase Group next week? 2 |
| Running (5k Hcp) 19:10 [5] 4.89 km (3:55 / km) | |
| ahr:159 max:165 shoes: Asics Orient |
| Had a good turn-out of 11 people tonight and pretty perfect conditions to run. I ran at probably 95%, still a bit scared about flaring up the neural hammy pain by sustained hard running. Enjoyed the run as nothing was sore, just the discomfort from pushing hard cardiovascularly. The handicap was pretty good, Fletch caught the 40s on me 50m before the finish and we ran past everybody bar two new handicappers on the last hill and downhill. I'm looking forward to almost certainly going faster next time, more specific training coming up plus I'll keep the neural hammy stretching regime up as it seems to be doing the job! |
| Running warm up/down 24:00 [3] 4 km (6:00 / km) | |
| ahr:117 max:136 shoes: Asics Orient |
| And run throughs and wandering. |
Monday Jan 7 |
| Road Bike (Commute) 32:00 [2] 13 km (2:28 / km) | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| Rode with Jen from home down Grantham into the City to her workplace then I went through to Barrack St before stopping for a few moments. |
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| C • Offroad Tri 3 |
| Road Bike (River) 1:25:50 [4] 42.4 km (2:01 / km) | |
| shoes: Bike, Kestrel |
| Barack St to Canning Bridge to Stirling Bridge up coast, Marine Parade, WC Hwy then up the hills to home which loses 0.5kph off the average speed! Felt good today and rode harder than I normally do when alone. Imagined I was speeding along and riding superfast Fletch off the back of my wheel. |
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| C • Keep dreaming... 1 |