Training Log Archive: Rowl

Event: MTB Orienteering Long Distance Championships - Wellington Dam
 

Walked from the Quokka Arms to the oval to warmup (10mins), then did 4 x 1min with 90sec recoveries. Didnt really feel very comfortable during these, I was hot and the oval was bumpy. Then I walked up to Longreach bay, hoping to bump into my parents, but no luck - they were sensibly swimming at the beach not walking around in the baking hot sun, so I walked back to the Quokka arms again. Knee was really complaining by the time I got back and niggled for the rest of the day.

This was supposed to be an ocean swim. Wal said that he had found the perfect bay for a long swim, so we walked for about 10mins to get there, but it was cold and weedy in the water and I couldnt be bothered. So we splashed about pretending to swim and then gave up, walked back and sat in the shade instead.

Event: MTB Orienteering Middle Distance State Championships - Wellington Dam
 

We were in the bike hire shop at Rottnest when I saw a Tandem bike and thought it might be a good idea. That way we wouldnt need to go mind-numbingly slowly, I would be able to get over any hills, and we might just have a chance at making the other side of the island - so all good in theory...

In reality a bit different - we did make the other side of the island, and go faster and master the hills, and it was kindof fun - but my god was it uncomfortable!! Wal went at the front so he could change gears because he was doing most of the pedalling, which meant I could pretty much see nothing except his arse very close up because there was only about 30cm between my seat and his seat which my handlebars were attached to. The bike also wobbled a lot, which was very disturbing as the frame was supposedly rigid...

We must have looked pretty funny because lots of people stared - but not as funny as when Wal and Russ rode the bike back to the hire shop dressed in suits the next day during the middle of my cousins wedding....

Another half hearted attempt at knee exercises.

For some reason my insomnia kicked in last night and I am not so much tired but cranky today. This morning was supposed to be swimming so I will try and make that up tonight as well as having a better effort at knee exercises.

I was a little bit late so missed some of the warmup which was okay because it was a recovery session anyway and didnt get much harder.

200m warmup
400m pull
400m kick
400m easy
8 x 50m catchup with baton (because apparently everyone was cheating on tuesday - if Wally thought normal catchup was drowning practice he should try this, I had thoughts of using the baton as a breathing tube instead but struggled though without swallowing too much water)
8 x 50m kick without fins - sooooo slow!!
8 x 50m counting strokes (coach wasnt happy with my 41 strokes so I got given a really annoying beeper that sat by my ear and let me know when to stroke - got it down to 35)

C • Beeper 9

Walked down to the runners club at lunchtime for another attempt at jogging.

This time 10min warmup, 4 x 45sec jogs with 105sec off, then 10min cooldown. HR was getting quite high on each jog but I couldnt go any easier or slower???

Trace route looked really cool, kindof like one of those old style keys, because I went down a short road, then 90deg down a long road and then in lots of circles.

Ocean paddle off the back beach with the surf club.

John who thinks my irrational fear of the break is funny and has vowed to fix it helped me launch, then I wobbled down the coast trailing the rest of the group by quite a bit. I turned when they did and discovered my ski loves to downwind, even though the waves werent very good for catching my speed increased from 8km/h to 10km/h and I was a lot more stable with the waves hugging the side of the boat and propping me upright, nice!!

Down and back the coast my HR was sitting at 170bpm the whole way and by the time I got back to the surf club after 20mins I was a bit knackered and my tummy muscles were getting sore. I decided to stick with the double skis who were escorting the newbie and help them out. I dont know if they appreciated my bog laps around them but it was good to challenge my stability. I only fell in once, but had a bit of trouble getting back in as the leg leash tangled around my legs and the ski is just not easy to remount.

The break had gotten bigger as we paddled but luckily I managed to get in on a nice flat spot and landed without any dramas, a good thing too as I had forgotten to unclip my leg leash - that could have gotten messy!

A bit of a half hearted attempt at knee exercises. I did the new ones the sports doctor recommended though - and think I'm getting a little better at them.

Morning paddle in the inlet.

2 laps up into the easterly which felt strong to me but was only just stirring the flag so it couldnt really have been that bad.

Right forearm and left shoulder both hurt and I didnt have much success in correcting my stroke to fix them. In an amazing show of co-ordination last night I managed to drop a saucepan lid sharp side down on my left foot so that hurt as well.

Feeling really paddle unfit at the moment.

Another nanna paced ride out along the estuary. A bit longer than the planned 50mins due to the strong westerly. 23min out and a whopping 31min back.

Visited the sports doctor this morning to get his opinion on how my knee is and how I am progressing. He was happy that my knee was now working properly but was concerned that my VOM is still so small despite all the strengthening exercises I am doing. So he gave me some exercises aimed at getting concious activation of the VOM, hopefully that will help, otherwise I need to go into a physio to get some bio feedback. Also need to visit the podiatrist as I am badly pronating on that side and need to check my orthodics address that.

Otherwise he was very positive and said that I shouldnt be letting the pain or discomfort stop me from getting back into running/riding.

So...another attempt at jogging!
Walked down to the runners club oval and a bit more to warm up for 10mins, then jogged 4 x 30sec on 2mins off, then walked another 10min down to the surf club and did some leg extensions and hamstring pulls, then 10min back home.

Knee was a bit cranky on the 1st jog but seemed to warmup into it after that. I iced it afterwards even though it felt pretty good.

Better than last week but still staying on the lower levels of the exercises.
Learned that I can roll my VOM on the foam roller - oh so fun!