Training Log Archive: Sanders

Cockies long run from hackett, big group today. Felt OK after the ride yesterday which was good, but Ainslie was tough as usual and Majura was a killer. Devil and Andy made that hill look easy and I struggled to stick with Shan before she galloped off in front towards the top. Sfoglia was OK but nothing special apart from the fun company as always.

Bilbys saturday bunch ride, although the term "bunch" didn't really apply to me because I kept getting dropped today. We rode from ANU down to Cotter and back, interrupted by a crash at the back of our bunch when two people clipped wheels. In the ensuing drama, the guy beside me (notorious for crashing on every ride) forgot to unclip and ended up bringing me down by smashing into my side as we stopped by the side of the road. Discovered back at home that my back wheel was buckled and wasn't spinning properly.... so basically I was riding with the brakes on most of the way, no wonder it was such hard work.

First go at the bilbys swim squad. Not as bad as I feared but still very hard work. Tonight I discovered fins for the first time in my life - I reckon they should be mandatory at every triathlon, they're awesome. Fortunately I didn't have to do the drill where your legs are tied together... Steve said straight up "sandra, you're not strong enough for this one".

another fast thursday set: 3 x 800m then 8 x 400m. Was OK until the last 800m, fell apart then. Nice small group today, and fantastic weather, didn't get wet at all.

saw tri times from last weekend earlier this week - did good on the swim and heaps good on the run. bike let me down. bring on the aquathlons.

late arvo jog, then back to work, ho hum. at least I saw some pretty birds out in the bush, some kind of rosella but I'm hopeless with bird names so won't even try to say what kind.

whistle set tonight, 2 x 4 mins, 3 x 3 mins, 4 x 2 mins, then extra 2 x 4 mins to do the long set. can't remember the recovery times. started out slowish due to massive fatigue levels this week, but got much quicker by the end and caned it on the last two. did a very very short cool down with paul, who is very speedy despite doing all his track running in trail shoes.

struggled all the way to work and home

short jog round by the lake, took it pretty easy, feeling knackered today

First triathlon of the summer (well, winter today) season. I did the short course with all the other novice triathletes, and my main aim was to survive without dying of hypothermia. Felt really dismal at the start owing to the shocking weather conditions and halfheartedly set up transition in the mud, deliberately racking my bike next to a woman with a bright pink towel so I wouldn't get too lost in transition. Was very jealous of people wearing wetsuits today. I couldn't stop shivering at the start, especially because we were hanging around in the water for ages. By the time my wave began I was really ready to go, so flew off into the swim. Had a surprisingly good swim, actually, because the lake wasn't too choppy and I wasn't caught up in amongst the crowd too much. Bike course was rubbish and I saw one guy stack it. By the end I couldn't feel my feet at all so second transition involved stamping my feet into my shoes and running out feeling like a double amputee because everything was numb below my ankles. Survived the run (it was only 2 km) so that was OK. Even had enough energy to go and cheer on the fast bilbies who were still racing. Great to catch up with everybody after the race, too. Apart from the weather, it was really fun! I'm looking forward to the aquathlon series this summer and hope to get a bit closer in the results to my nemesis, another novice girl who won the race today. not sure of times yet so will have to check them on the web this week.

dammit. I've lost all cold weather resistance that I accumulated in the past few years. Really felt the cold today.

afternoon run round bits of black mtn, felt like crap for the first half but much better on the second half.

bilbys novice swim session
only four of us turned up this morning in pelting rain. Cold and miserable, did about 1km of laps then we started doing skills stuff. I got freezing cold so bailed 5 mins before the end and literally ran to my car and turned the heater up high.

C • impressive! 2

Did a very short lake swim in Lake BG with devil who was testing his wetsuit before the tri season starts. Had to dodge lots of canoes and swans and reeds. It was quite fun swimming back to shore because it's so much easier when the current's behind you.

Set off with the faster novices for a real road ride, out through belco up to the golf course. Pace was quicker than previous weeks but I stuck to Cam's wheel which made it heaps easier. No probs apart from Cam making several wrong turns which meant we were way longer than expected. I suck at going round corners quickly (e.g. through the little golf course estate) but kept up well on the hills, although by the end I was feeling my legs from last night's run. Jumped to the back of the bunch on the way back up Gin Dr to peel off home and cracked it at the boys in front for not signalling a huge pothole which I fell into. But otherwise it was heaps of fun, and glad the rain held off.

Bilbys 2 km time trial (7:47)
Felt quite relaxed at the start of this session for some reason and since I piked on the previous time trial I had to do this one. Set off like a bullet from a gun and after 100m was cantering along at a cracking pace near the front of the main bunch - nothing to do except try to maintain it the whole way. Gary gave encouragement after the first two laps and reckoned I'd go under 8 mins, had enough kick on the last lap to bring it home in 7:47. Most awesome track run I've had all year. Also the hardest run - I reckon I tasted blood by the end. I wonder if racehorses or greyhounds get that?

Followed up with 6 x 600 m (200 m recovery). Good fun, lovely slow cool down with gary devil danny and desi.

C • 7.47 1

usual commute, all tuckered out on the way home so had a super early night for once.

Long run with the cockies today, just me, 2x grant, devil, and hoggster. Hoggster's excuses for late arrival were numerous but for once didn't include "I was waiting for Jase". We did the two peaks and actually did a lot of the triple tri course in reverse, cheering on heaps of runners. Fortunately the pace wasn't super hot up ainslie so I was able to keep up fairly well. Lots of fun as usual. See GrantM's trog for cafe report, was v. good.

Saw Fel down at Dicko this morning, which reminded me to visit the runner's shop today. I now have some super hot pink new gear for summer. Thanks Julian. :)

Mini tri down at the lake as transition training. We had to swim about 150m, then do a little ride and about a 1km run. Quite a fun swim today, but choppy... and I swallowed heaps of lake water. Also I was very slow getting dressed at transition. Devil's suggestion for a fast transition is to wear less clothes- well he is the expert so I might try that one next time. Next week's race should be fun. I think I only have to run a km.

lazy after work run round part of the lake, gorgeous evening

Bilbys novice swim squad down at Dicko - heaps of fun this week, I really enjoyed it again. Numbers low this time so only four of us in the slow lane (me and three blokes including fast cyclist guy from yesterday). Today we practised "sprint" swimming and overtaking, which was a lot of fun but I didn't overtake anybody seeing as my ability to sprint swim is comparable to my ability to sprint O, i.e. non-existent. Then we did some longer reps and that was heaps better, until we did a 200m pack swim, where I got mown down by the second wave. Drafting is quite fun but unfortunately I'm too slow to actually sit on the back of anybody. At least my backstroke is improving - it's less wiggly now which is more than I can say about my car reversing technique which will always be wiggly I think. Seems I am not built to move backwards in a straight line.

C • haha 2

Phwoar this was a hard one for a thursday. Owing to Gary's desire to get back to top fitness, we had to do fast 400m reps with only 40 sec recovery and he joined in the fun for once. I managed the medium set of 8 (with a bit longer recovery on some of them....) and then it just got too painful so I stopped. Really warm evening, fun to lie on the grass afterwards doing imaginary stretches with the others. I think I have stretched every muscle today, especially my sides. What is the muscle on your side called anyway?

C • latissimus dorsi 5

Novice bunch ride this morning. Needed to get back asap from this ride, so joined the fast novice bunch for the first time. Felt a bit apprehensive seeing as I was the only girl amongst 7 fast boys, so aim was to draft off the person in front as much as possible and not get dropped. Unfortunately ended up beside some guy who was a very good cyclist and wanted heaps of time on the front, so had to slog it hard all the way up the Feds Hwy to Sutton. He insisted on pointing out every gory piece of road kill, too. Finally I got off the lead and was able to cruise back home again. Happy with that though, first decent bunch ride I've had, the others were slower and involved a fair bit of stuffing around. Apparently next week the novices have to merge in with the real cyclists, hopefully that means we get to do some more interesting rides now.

C • Road Kill... 2

Don't ask me why I did this run. I got up, it seemed like a nice day, so I did a short loop around Dunrossil drive and back, very slowly.

Bilbys track session. 1 km reps which was a bit of an effort tonight. Managed 6 (200 m recovery). Learned some bizarre new active stretches from a physio who took the novice group for the stretching warm up. He reckons static stretching is a waste of time unless you're injured so we did lots of lunges and things. Actually I like Gary's stretches better despite his fondness for the swan stretch.

commute today, zipped home and overtook a commuting road cyclist up a hill, but then he overtook me pretty quickly on the downhill. Riding home in the evenings is such fun.

My brother was in town today and was keen for a long run as part of his so-called iron man training, so we jogged round west basin. Good fun but I really struggled by the end.

C • Awesome work 2

Canberra Three Peaks Mountain running race. Wow I pulled off a good one today. Hadn't fully decided which race to do so arrived pretty early and John Harding assured me the rainy weather would fine up, so decided to tackle the 26 km. Felt quite OK and must have paced it fairly well because I had enough energy to run up nearly all the hills and finish fairly strongly. Had to walk up the steps of Ainslie, though, that was a killer.

C • Fantastic run! 5

Bilbys novice training down by the yacht club on Lake BG. First lake swim today! It was so exciting, I really enjoyed it. We did a "mini-tri" with about 100 m swim, then a ride round Yarralumla, and about a 1km run, nothing too major, but I am such a crap swimmer I was pretty well last in my wave and had to cane it on the bike and run. Heaps of fun, apart from the freezing water. It's really difficult to breathe in such cold water, that was a bit of a shock. But I got through it OK (just).... next time I will not run over Ainslie or Majura beforehand.

Short bunch ride after the mini-tri.
Rode home after, too, legs completely dead.

brrrrr a chilly one at dicko this morning - steam coming off the water when we jumped in. I had a nice layer of goosebumps the whole time. But sunrise was lovely and the sun warmed me up.

Interesting bilbys tonight - hill reps at hackett. A fun, fast set (10 x 1 min reps). Tried hard to catch devil and gary on the hill but couldn't, they were way ahead and very speedy. Top evening for it too.

bilbys novice bunch ride. we rode up to sutton today and it was heaps of fun, pretty cruisy pace but I was only in the intermediate group again so didn't expect too much pace-wise. 2x crashes of people failing to unclip at intersections, v. funny to watch (but not for them). So incredibly tired due to mega early start and not much sleep recently, will have to severely increase caffeine intake to illegal doping levels today just to stay awake, or invest in some matchsticks to prop eyes open. or maybe some of those funny homer simpson glasses with eyes painted on the front so I can sleep and nobody will notice my eyes are closed.

C • not much sleep? 5

run, black mountain, nice evening.

bilbys running, big laps of dickson oval. I did medium set of 3x big laps (approx 1 km) then two laps alternating fast on the longs and easy on the shorts. couldn't quite get it together today and danny smashed me.

commuting today, got stuck at work until it was really really late so had to take the sneaky route home through the uni, over comm bridge, then up alexandrina because I was afraid to go through westbourne woods in the dark with a dodgy light.

arvo run around little black mtn then up into o'connor. longer than expected but did it pretty slowly.

Cockies long run from usual place. Great turn out of Wagga girls for this one - especially nice to see Briohny! Two peaks today and fortunately not too warm, so it was all very enjoyable. Sfoglia definitely good in my books.

couldn't face any more bilbys today so did a lap of west basin on my own and skipped the ride. too much other stuff to deal with anyway. felt really good on the run, had my hair chopped beforehand and asked for an aerodynamic cut to lessen wind resistance.
that's a joke by the way.