Training Log Archive: devil

Triple tri - run leg 1. It was already pretty warm at 8.30 waiting to start the run - hadn't done a lot of hills recently but was pretty happy with the run overall. Didn't get an exact time, but think it was around 93 min, which is only two minutes slower than last year, and I didn't push too hard knowing that there was a lot to come during the day. Made sure I was drinking plenty at every aid station and had an energy gel on the top of Hackett hill. Was picking people off on the hills so still had some climbing ability left.

Triple tri - bike leg 2 - Mt Stromlo.
Set off feeling pretty good after an hour to recover and get a bit of fuel on board and quickly dispensed with the bike track and the cork oak plantation. Was glad of the rear suspension bike as it gave me a bit more confidence on the corners. The climb up dairy farmers hill went well and was catching a few riders - although by this stage the field was pretty well spread. The run to Bluetts went well too, but by the climb there the sun started getting hot and with no wind it was roasting. Got off and pushed up this hill and was really glad that belinda had lent me a camelback. Got another drink at the entrance to stromlo but was starting to cramp quite a bit. The magpie that I saw yesterday was on real form and chased after me for about 500m. Thre was no wind round the back of stromlo either and ended up walking up hills that I'd ridden up yesterday. The decent went pretty well, a bit quicker than yesterday, although I forgot to unlock the front forks until the bottom - but by this stage I'm not sure I was thinking about much apart from making it to the end. The last stretch round the end of Weston Creek was a war of attrition, I lost count of the number of gates and stiles to cross, and was just trying to keep hydrated. Saw plenty of others suffering too, I think that it wasn't a good move by the organisers to add all the single track on stromlo as it would have added 20-30 minutes for average riders on an already long leg in the middle of the day with no shade. Very happy to see the transition zone - grabbed a drink and drove down to lake tuggo.

Arrived at the tuggo park and had a swig of gatorade - big mistake as it bounced back straight away, so had a bit of banana and some water. Squeezed the wetsuit on and found a bit of shade. The banana and water helped a bit and by the time davo arrived off the run figured I'd make it to the end of the swim. Set off at a steady pace, and was relieved that my legs didn't go straight into cramp mode, as the wetsuit commits me to swim crawl with no breastroke option (without a wetsuit this is sadly nearly as fast as crawl for me with the advantage of being able to go in a straight line) There were some very warm spots in the lake - don't really want to know what they are. My line got a bit wayward at towards the end as I was running out of energy to get good sighting strokes in.

Legs absolutely trashed by the end - lots of respect to people who solo the whole race.

C • good on you 1

Ride round stromlo on the triple tri course, the climb to the top's not too bad but I reckon I'll be blocking the track on the way down due to my low skill level and lack of rear suspension on acejase's bike.

Our top rider from the csiro teams is out with a sprained wrist so offered me a loan of his bike - which he rode for a course record a couple of years back - so have shamelessly dumped acejase's hardtail for the 'turner burner', it even has a little switch to lock out the suspension on the road on the handlebars. Took it for a spin on the ridge and it rides well.

C • bike floozy 1

Fixed the puncture on the bike borrowed from acejase for the triple tri this weekend, so headed out for a bit of a meander round bruce ridge. Did a fair bit of single track and only came unstuck on a bit of rocky uphill. Went down a very unofficial track full of jumps near the caravan park - did not try doing the the jumps though. Might try and head to stromlo tomorrow and at least look at the technical bits of the course.

Bilbys Wednesday ride. Hadn't done this for a while, but managed to drag myself out of bed for it. Went in the medium bunch for an easy trip, was quite big and a bit disorganised. Did the sewage works, found I was a lot better climber than the rest of the bunch on the way up the hill. Tons of glass on ginninderra drive.

Bilbys intervals, was quite a warm evening and didn't feel very sharp so ended up just doing the medium set of 10x 500m, dropped off the pace at the front after 2 reps. spilts 1.52, 1.49, 1.49, 1.54, 1.52, 1.58, 1.55, 1.56, 1.56, 1.55. recovery was ~200m between each one.

Bilby's swim squad, very crowded in the slow lane and a few obstructions with the return of Janet's mate and The Wedge. What this meant was that those of us doing the whole set would keep ending up at the back when the slow ones cut their reps then started at the front. Then for some reason there was carnage when the paddles came out with people stopping and standing on the wrong side of the lane leading to a few pileups. Should have gone into the next lane which seemed pretty empty. Also spotted was the world's largest hairball - looked like it might take out a small child...