Real Sport, Real Life

Lake swim race results

2010-02-08T11:30:00.001+11:00

Saturday was a very windy day. When I was out and about, as I drove past the lake venue, I noticed that it was very choppy. Indeed as expected, the wind did not subside and it made the water extremely choppy. To put in simple terms - it was more like a surf swim.

Anyways I felt good before the 2.5km race. The field wasn't huge and with last year's winning time being 38mins (in a big field), I thought my goal time of around 40mins (goal time before wind. After wind - 45mins) might place me in the top finishers. Plan was to ease into it, perhaps take a trail and if I can turn the last buoy with fuel left in the tank, bring it home and see what happens. In the end, my plan had to be drastically changed.

I did ease into it but landed in the lead right from the start. I thought OK, if this is how it is going to be, then I shall try to lead from go to woe. Rounded the first buoy (approx. 300metres) just in front and from there it was a long stretch of water, all up current and extremely choppy. I kept looking around to keep my chasers in view, before deciding the time to click it up was now. I thought yes I am doing it tough into the chop but so is everyone so best to try and break them now. And so I did. I ended up rounding the last buoy with approx. 1km to go minutes in front. Basically, I gapped the field in the space of a 1km stretch of water you expect to encounter in the ocean!

End result - 5mins clear of the next two finishers (both girls) and 8mins clear to the second place male. My time of 36.23 left me pretty pleased, and spent, but very pleased. I realised once I headed for home I was racing the clock then, as I was well in front and I do remember that I was viewing this more as a training session.

So training session for Sunday done. I was pleased it was over as it took it sure took it out of me. I saw it was choppy from land but you don't realise how choppy it is until the water is smacking you in the face every time you look up to line up the buoys. Stoked with the time to be honest as well. Would have won it easily last year as well so cannot complain. Onto this weekend's triathlon in decent form if the waters are safe at race venue.

Race day Sunday - still on

2010-02-05T13:16:00.000+11:00

The lake swim proposed for this Sunday has been eventful for the organisers, that's for sure. The waters here have been undergoing rigorous testing to work out if the waters are safe for swimming. The week went something like this:
Monday - still on but more than likely at a different location.
Tuesday - probably not on due to water testing.
Wednesday - same as Tuesday with organisers to let everyone know by Friday.
Thursday - race back on with a change of location. (11:00am). Later that day, the venue location was changed again. But race still on.
Today - apparently the new venue is a definite so race on.

So that is that. Race still on, but just at a different location. Fine with me. The new location is the closest destination to where I live so all cool with me. My swimming fitness could be higher but no big deal. I just got to be confident come start time!

Training for race week

2010-02-02T16:14:00.001+11:00

Just a quick one. Training has been coming along OK in preparation for the 2.5km lake swim this Sunday, followed by my next triathlon the following Sunday. The lake swim might just be a vigorous swim session as part of my training for the triathlon. Either way, I'll give it a crack!

Yesterday was a hard gym session. Row, bike, sprints and with core in between it all. I felt like throwing up afterwards. I rarely feel sick but in 45 minutes I burned a lot of calories and kept my heart rate up. It hurt.

This morning I rode to gym, swam a couple km and then continued my ride to work. There is something liberating about swimming in between a ride like that. Muscles were all warm so it felt good.

This arvo I am about to ride home. Almost a 20km cruise (sarcastically as normally strong headwind into a very uphill ride home) except today, it looks like a tailwind. Miracles...I am now a believer...

Rest? Please define...

2010-01-28T13:20:00.004+11:00

An off-season is generally where one rests a little and decreases the number of training sessions due to no racing. But this is no off-season and my training regime does not understand what the term "rest" means exactly.

To use an example - my last triathlon was Sunday. I went hard. Possibly the hardest to date. I was hurting for the hours after. Monday morning however I got up early and did a swim session. Why? Because like I said before - I think I have forgotten the meaning of rest and besides, there is no space in my regime for rest, if I ever learn to understand the meaning of it again.

You see to some, rest is just so easy. Too easy actually. It is like quitting. It is far easier to quit than it is to keep going. That is common knowledge. So rest is the same. It is far easier not to train, than it is to pick your sorry arse up and get to that training session! And the bottom line is we only have ourselves to blame. This was something I needed to erase from my mind. The mindset that had me on my way home from work, thinking about going for a ride or the gym, except to arrive home and find the television and takeaway were a far easier option. I never quitted anything back in those days as I never began anything to quit from. Back in those days, I knew the term rest and its meaning, as well as rest's parents, siblings and even rest's tenth cousin's best friend's cousin. I knew rest like the back of my hand, or more so, like the cushion on the lounge.

These days I ask - what is rest?

Race summary

2010-01-25T12:20:00.000+11:00

To sum the race up could be said in one word - interesting. Yep, I'll explain why.

Swim leg 750m - I was feeling fit going into the race so I decided why not give it a crack? I was confident I had done enough in the pool to give it a crack from the gun. So I did. I looked around after 100m and I was a nigel. I was even a bigger nigel at the first buoy and the second buoy. I was literally a mile in front. I dropped anchor a little coming home but still led out of the water by a comfortable minute.

Transition swim to bike - OK with the shoes. I ain't a pro so I am one of those guys who puts their bike shoes on before heading out. A couple go past me who have their shoes clipped in to bike already. I head out to the course. Down the gutter and bang - there goes my gear chain! Lost about 10 places easily and about 3mins getting the chain back on. Yes, this should be quicker but was still getting my breath back and all the other beautiful reactions one has from a hard swim. In reality, this probably cost me around 5mins to my overall time.

Bike 20km - never felt comfortable. Speed was OK but yeah, was never 100%. I think once you start something like I did, it is always hard to recover thinking you had a good leg. To me, that leg was terrible. Worked hard on the bike leg, but it should have been much easier and quicker.

Bike to run transition - was slow. That's all I got. Mind lost a bit of control about the same time the chain popped out. Body and mind just weren't friends.

Run 5km - was a good run. Despite the bike mishaps, I felt really solid on the run and the time reflects that. Made up around 8 places and gave up none. Good split. Wish it was longer actually.

Overall:

3rd in age group (first triathlon medal) - funny how this happens after the mishaps but I'll take it

13th overall - will take that and run

Time 1:11:07 - was aiming for 1:10 so one can argue this should have been achieved easily

All in all, I can't complain. Mishaps are inevitable in racing and it could have been worse...way worse.

Eating during race week - how important?

2010-01-21T15:38:00.001+11:00

A question that I often ponder from time to time is - what should be my eating plan exactly for race week? It is a question that I have never and may never have the right answer for. My gut feeling is (no pun intended) that one should eat whatever they are comfortable eating. Of course exceptions should include high-fat foods, but then if you compete really well off those foods then why not continue? Assuming obviously that these foods don't play havoc with your weight, but they surely would on some internal systems. You just never know with some people!

My eating during race week is usually OK. This week has been good but plenty of room for better. I'm comfortable with the confident feeling I have in that come race day, I will feel fit and ready. That does not mean until then I shall eat as much junk as possible and drink loads of alcohol. I just find myself eating large quantities of good food. I think this is mainly because my training regime demands that I eat a bit more. I sometimes worry that I am not putting enough fuel in my body to compensate for the training. I normally don't ease off too much for race week as I believe this throws me a little out for sorts. If I was doing an ironman event, then I would taper a little for sure.

So what I am getting at? I am certainly not the type to rattle off how many grams of carbohydrates I eat p/week or grams of protein or anything like that. I am definitely not and never will be that extreme with my eating. I believe very much in food being a source of petrol, critical for that thinking for a training regime for triathlons. But I believe in eating as you like, eating to be happy, with the knowledge of understanding your body in terms of eating/training/racing.

Race week!

2010-01-19T15:16:00.000+11:00

This weekend will be my 3rd ever race. I shall be competing in the Canberra Capital Sprint Triathlon. It should be fast and I expect myself to really have a crack at it. I am feeling fit and therefore ready to give this my all!

It has been a solid preparation. The main aim is a race in just under a month's time where the distance is almost that of an Olympic distance triathlon. That race is expected to test my physical abilities as it will be the first time (obviously as only my 4th race) I am racing at that sort of distance.

The plan at this stage is simple. This weekend I will endeavour to sprint throughout the race and pull up gasping for breath. Then in 2 weeks I plan on participating in a lake swim of 2.5km essentially top my swimming fitness off. Justification - if I can complete the swim leg of my 4th race (1km) feeling as though I haven't just completed the swim leg, then it shall make the bike and run legs much less painful (I could be dreaming but that is OK isn't it?).

My racing weight will be the lightest it has been come this weekend. Then it probably will be a further 1-2kg lighter in a few weeks time. This is a result of hard training and eating mostly right. You just gotta eat badly every now and then! (except race week!)

Have you ever? Or perhaps - just how often???

2010-01-14T12:33:00.001+11:00

A title that can include so much content. But mine is fairly general - sleeping in. How often do you sleep in? Why does it happen? How can you prevent it? All these things could add to the problem of sleeping in. Now before I go on, I rarely sleep in. It just so happened I did this morning for a completely unknown reason.

I had the alarm set for 6:00am with the intentions of a morning swim/run before work. My girlfriend started work at 6:00 so she was off at 5:00 for the daily joy of work. I normally wake up OK to say bye to her but this morning I struggled big time. Next think I know, it is 7:10am and I don't even remember the alarm going off. Whenever I sleep in, my first thought is always - "thank god that clock doesn't say 10am".

So what are the effects of sleeping in? I will not even attempt to go on about this as I am aware of the fragile subject that is sleeping. I tend to try and go to bed and get up on the same times. Or at least the same amount of sleep. On weekends I do the same. I set my alarm on both weekend days to ensure I don't miss out on the day. I found this little article that I consider to be pretty spot-on. The important point to remember is that you cannot catch up on sleep missed. While the body will try its best, it just doesn't happen. It's like the myth of burning off alcohol after a hard drinking session. Alcohol is stored in the liver so it cannot be burned off with any form of exercise. A myth like catching up with sleep. Zzzzzz...

2010 is here...and I am a little slow to begin Blog '10 I know

2010-01-13T09:11:00.000+11:00

Well hello to everyone for the new decade of this century!!! My bringing in of the New Year was nothing to rave about. But I did quite enjoy just bringing it in relaxing with my gorgeous girl. I did a lot of kilometres on the road in my car, travelling to see family for Christmas and brother's 21st. It was great as always to catch up with friends and family making the travels more than worth it.

So what is happening in the world of sport? I had last week to really knuckle down and train hard due to still being on holidays. I managed to get in 2-3 sessions per day and really turned up the effort meter on all the sessions. I then drank some beer and went out for dinner for my little brother's 21st on the weekend which undone a little of the hard work but certainly no major effect was incurred.

I did a few sessions on the bike, mainly hitting the hills to get my heart pumping. I should add at this time that I received a heart rate monitor from Santa and to say it is awesome and I have been using it a little is a massive understatement! I love keeping track of my heart rate and logging my sessions. Hopefully this is something I can continue to do throughout 2010. After a few sessions on the bike, I managed to get it in for a well-earned and overdue service. It got the all clear from the bike doctors which was a little unexpected but fantastic.

Next race is Sunday week. A sprint triathlon during the Canberra Capital event which is meant to be very popular and a lot of fun. I think mainly because it is held all around parliament house and the lake, making for nice scenery and all the legs. I am probably fit enough to really go nuts from start to finish. We'll see on race day though.

After this race is the last race of the series here. It is considered a sprint triathlon but it is extremely close to Olympic distance so I know it is going to test every part of me to the maximum. I thrive on a challenge though and this one certainly will be. Will be good to see how I go in terms of my plans to race the Olympic distances in my second season of racing.

I think at this stage I might race a lake swim the week prior to the last race of series, just to top me off but also because I think if swim fit enough, I have a chance of taking the 2.5km swim out. I checked the results of last year for the 2.5km race and back in my open water days, my 3.8km best time was only 7mins slower than the 2.5km winner last year. But when I say back in my open water days, that is when I was a competitive swimmer. Optimistic I am though so I know I would have a serious chance if enough swim fit.

Plenty more training to be done between now and I would say end of April. Then as the cold starts to kick in, I start to wonder about what I could/should do in the winter to keep my fitness up as much as possible. Whilst enjoying the off-season of course!

Race 2 results

2009-12-23T11:45:00.000+11:00

A quick one on race 2 results this season. They came in yesterday.

Time - 1:10
Position - 40th overall and 7th in age category
Splits - 34mins/36mins

I thought I went close to negative splitting the race and I wasn't far off. I know exactly the reasoning for not negative splitting it and that was the second leg transitions. Especially the swim to bike second leg transition as that was terribly slow.

On the plus side, I am very happy with my time and my position. It is considerably higher than my first race and still well and truly in the top quarter of the field. Further on the plus side, I know there is a vast amount of improving to do. I could rattle of a hundred things that I can improve on which keeps me highly motivated.

Next race will be mid-January. Then onto the longest one of the season in February which is really going to test me out. Fourth race into my triathlon career and it is almost at Olympic distance. Very keen for it but I know it is going to hurt like a needle to the eye! As per usual though - bring it on!

Where to now? From 2009 to 2010...

2009-12-22T16:28:00.001+11:00

So as we move on out of the 0's and into the teens, one might often wonder on the plan for the upcoming year. New Year's resolutions? Training regimes? Racing schedule? Of course the last two are sport-related, which is where my focus is mainly.

My New Year's resolution? Nope, don't have one. Let's face it - people say the same thing every year and how many really abide by them? If I was to say I made a resolution for 2009 [and I say 'if' because I never called it a resolution] then it was to get fit again and start feeling healthy and good about myself. I stuck to that like I used to on a cup cake...pun intended. But that was not a resolution. It was a part of my life that I had to change in order to start feeling happy and confident in myself. It was more a back flip on how I lived my life rather than making a simple "I will do this" resolution. My goal for 2010 is to challenge myself physically and enjoy it no matter how painful. That is sport. In general, I just want to kick off the New Year every year that I will this one. A lifetime resolution if you will...

Training regime for 2010 - no lies here - it will be intense. The first 5-6 months will have me in training central and hopefully some results will make the training pay dividends. I have earmarked some races and even entered in some already for months down the track. That will keep me motivated 100%. During the winter I will kick back a little. Keep in shape but lose a bit of fitness. I am prepared for this to happen. It is needed in order to keep the body ticking over and keep motivate. No way am I planning on being in training mode all year round. I love sport, but I'm not crazy.

So the racing schedule. Let's see - the season here ends in February, culminating in a near-Olympic distance race that is going to hurt like nothing I have experienced before. I am well aware of this and will step up my training beforehand, but I also shall be sticking to my plan of competing in my first Olympic distance triathlon in my second season. I actually have the race planned that will be my debut Olympic distance race [January 2011]. I also have a race planned for my hometown of Newcastle in late March. The temptation of competing in the Olympic distance there was almost enough to sway me from my original plans. But no, I entered for the race in between sprint/Olympic distance. Can't wait to race back in my hometown! I have also taken note of a couple of open water swims and runs that caught my interest. I daresay I will be competing in a couple of these, as part of further preparation, but also as another challenge to have a crack at.

That's about all I have for now. Can't wait for 2010 to kick off and racing again. I just love to compete so racing is just awesome. The adrenaline rush is enough to keep me going for hours. A high on a high for sure. I will be kicking off the 2010 year full of confidence having turned my life around, and a lifestyle that I sometimes pinch myself about. 2010 - let's go!!!

Race #2 done and dusted

2009-12-21T12:50:00.000+11:00

The second race of the season was held yesterday down at Yarralumla Bay. Conditions were good. Temperature in the mid-20s and overcast, so all in all it was a fine day for racing.

The morning was a bit of a sham really. I sat down and enjoyed a good energy-packed breakfast and coffee and then proceeded to pack my bags in the car and my bike to the roof. All was good, until I took off to the race and realised no bike shoes. So I chucked a u-turn thankfully not far from home to race back and pick them up. That was lucky. I arrive at the race venue and take a park where I see a bunch of cars but no idea how far away I am to the transition area. It turned out to be roughly a 20 minute walk! I unpack my car and as I grab the back wheel out of the car, one of the springs and caps pop off to cause some concern. The concern was not over fixing it, but more because the transition area was only about half-hour away from closing [and note at this stage, I had no idea how far I was from it, thinking I was fairly close]. So I grab the tyre out and fix it as quickly as I could. No drama. But then the walk and it was some walk. I ended up getting on my bike and riding it to transition. But this was no easy feat as I had 2 bags and an eski to manage while I rode. What angered me a little was the 2 big car parks near transition where there were heaps of parking spaces. I could have parked my car right behind the start line, no more than 20 metres from the transition. After registration and setting up transition, I had around 45 minutes before my wave took off. So what I did next was outright silly and frustrating. I thought I would move my car. So I jog/walk in my things back to my car, only to find that the road is now blocked off for the race. I ask the marshal who says he can't let me, so I politely inform him that there is no chance of me collecting any racers [I knew this as the course meant we would be coming from behind where I parked and they would nowhere near to being on the bikes yet]. But he still says no so I say bugger, and head off all the way back to the start area. No sweat though as that was my warm-up so to say ha!

Before the race I was very calm and relaxed. No nerves whatsoever. I don't know why this is, but as I was not nervous before my first-ever race, I doubt I will ever be nervous. I think it is because there is no pressure on me to be right up there in the finish. The only pressure I put on myself is to enjoy it and ensure that I make my hard-training pay off with having a go in the race. It is a good feeling before the race to just sit and relax whilst listening to some beats. I still had 15 minutes to go until the long-distance waves kicked off.

The race was formatted so it was swim/bike/run/swim/bike/run. I knew it was going to be a challenge and even more so with a hilly bike course to contend with. But to combat all this, I ensured that my training was going to set me in good stead to be feeling fit throughout the entirety of the race.

The first lap [swim 300m; bike 10km; run 2km]:
Felt good throughout. I was in the top 10 leaving the swim leg in what I thought was a fairly slow pace compared to my first race. The bike was a test I'll be honest. The 4 hills in the course were all a challenge and they were all early in the leg. So the heart rate went straight up and pretty much remained there throughout. I felt strong in the bike as I utilised the drop-down bars a lot more in race 1 [although this wasn't hard as I think only touched them once in my first race]. The run was fairly cruisy so to say. I felt as though my pace was solid, but I was quite content to make sure I still had plenty of petrol in the tank for the second lap.

The second lap [same distances]:
Swim felt much better. Due to the body being completely warm no doubt and all the muscles in working order. No bunched packs to contend with in the swim. Think my split was quicker than the first swim. Bike was tougher for sure. Just knowing the hills to come was mentally tough. But knowing being on the bike meant the race was over half-way finished was a good feeling. The run hurt like nothing else! Very early in the run I acquired a massive stitch. But I have never let a stitch slow me down in a sport ever, so this time was certainly going to be no different. It did mean that last run leg was just one painful experience.

To finish feeling confident and pleased with my effort was satisfying. I was well and truly buggered no two ways about it. I was quick to get some fluids and some foods into me as I know I didn't do this effectively after my first race. My body felt well though as I just sat and waited to collect my bike and go home.

I enjoyed the rest of my day. My gorgeous girl had some good news [as a result of something that prevented her watching me race] and as I was pleased with my efforts, we enjoyed the rest of the day eating out, shopping and relaxing.

I love triathlon racing. I knew I would enjoy it but I love the adrenaline rush it gives and the satisfaction one gets after racing. It is gruelling no doubt, but the challenge presented is just too good to hate!

Here we are again...

2009-12-16T09:29:00.000+11:00

Yes here we are again. By that I mean another time that I post a blog after not posting one for what seems like ages. And another time that I post a blog just before a race is about to happen. But better late than never right? Perhaps.

Life in 2009 has been one hell of a trip. I am not going to detail everything that has happened, but let's just say it was enough for me to stop and think about it all the other day, and just think wow, a lot has happened. Starting triathlons has only been one event/lifestyle change/new challenge that 2009 has presented me with. The road I took at the beginning of this year is a road that I have not and will not want to chuck a good old U-turn on...ever. It is a road that has brought me much success and most importantly, happiness in my life.

So onto the sport agenda. Triathlon race #2 is happening this weekend. Perfect timing in my eyes just before Christmas. 2 reasons - 1) it keeps me motivated to continue training the house down right up until Christmas [yes, through all the Xmas parties and festivities, this is a good thing] and 2) if puts a nice spin on the year's end. I honestly cannot wait for the race day to come and then to go. Next stop then is seeing the big fella in red!

Training has gone ever so smoothly. After race #1, I vowed to step it up in preparation for this race and indeed I have. I have put the body through much pain over the last few weeks and I am feeling good as a result. Many kilometres have been achieved in the pool and running, but I will admit my bike training has not been as much. I am fine with this though as I am more than confident that my bike leg will not suffer. Most importantly is I feel good going into swim 1 and then again into swim 2, which I am confident I will be.

The format for this race promises to be interesting. Am definitely looking forward to it. It is a sprint triathlon that follows swim/bike/run/swim/bike/run. So for my second ever triathlon, I just hope the mind doesn't get too excited on run 1 to think it is over at the end of that leg. Because it is back in the water after run 1 to do it all again. That will definitely be interesting and challenging. Bring it on I say.

Feeling good today. Midweek so to me it is very important that I do feel good only a few days out from a race. This morning I went for 5km run followed by a ride to work which is about 20km. So not gigantic distances, but doing them straight after each other felt good, and to be honest it was just a too beautiful morning not to get up and do a run. This afternoon will be the ride home followed by perhaps a little home weights session. Nothing extreme as it will be low weight with plenty of repetitions. Depends how I feel after the ride though whether this happens. Maybe just some core work. OK, I am just brainstorming by myself now. I shall stop.

Hopefully I am back on here but I can't promise anything. I tend to come and go with blogging. I read lots of other people's blogs everyday though. So why can't I write my own? God I am just too lazy!!!

Results in for first race

2009-11-24T09:49:00.000+11:00

My aim was around the 1hr 15min mark to complete first race. Purely by adding up estimates for each leg + the transition times where I had done no training for that at all.

My finish time was 1.01.36 so I am pretty stoked with that. 70th overall which was comfortably better than midfield and 8th in age category. I cannot complain with any of those results.

What this has done is make me even hungrier for the next race and to improve. To almost go under the hour in that first race is something I am pretty proud about. Back into training this week will feed my hunger...

Well well, first race done and dusted!

2009-11-23T11:38:00.001+11:00

I am not sure what to write here. Actually, I think I do but maybe it's more I am not sure how best to write it. To put it in the smallest nutshell - I competed in my first ever triathlon yesterday and absolutely loved it!!!

The rush that I felt during and after the race could not be matched by another sport I have competed in. And I have competed in many sports and a couple of them at a pretty high level. But the feeling yesterday was so different, just so exhausting and painful but the feeling of achievement far outweighs them all.

So how did I go? Excellent question. I have no idea of my place or my time until the results are officially posted. My girlfriend has her guess on where I roughly came and yes, we both forgot to have a watch to time me so we could know immediately. No big deal. I just loved racing, time or no time.

The race itself was fast. I will not lie here - those guys and girls who are experienced in triathlons and train for them religiously are bloody fast!!! And they are kitted up. Their personalised racing suits and their $10,000 modified bikes speak for themselves. More importantly, most of them know how to use their bikes and justify their racing suits. But I do not mind as I could only imagine them in a pool playing water polo. I think the feelings would be reversed.

So the swim was 500m. Short but hard. The speed was hot right from the start and I found myself midfield trying to conserve some energy for later. Was a good feeling getting out of the water but a bit weird being midfield as it should be (will be) my strongest leg by a mile. Onto the bike which was a good feeling and I felt strong all throughout the ride. I found myself being overtaken a few times by the "pros" on their fancy bikes but not much I could do about that. I did find myself however passing a lot of people on the few minor hills, as most people tended to ride them in a lower gear while seated. I tended only to drop my gear to one lower and get off my seat resulting in me doing a bit of overtaking. I honestly didn't think the hills were difficult enough not to get off the seat and push it a little. I got off the bike and of course the concern was immediately on how the legs will be in the first 500m of the run. To my surprise and delight, they felt damn good. I got into a nice rhythm early and really had a nice run. Had some guys to tag behind and honestly was only overtaken once so I made up a couple spots there. Turned into the second lap and had a bit of petrol in the tank which I used in the last 500m or so. To cross the finish line feeling strong and alive was a very sweet feeling.

So how have I evaluated my first race? I score myself OK. I pushed every leg all the way. I finished the race strong as I wanted. I was a tad disappointed in the swim but I know I was much underdone in my swim training. More importantly, I finished feeling even more motivated for training and the next race. In a month's time, I will be fully wound up for race 2...

I know I know

2009-11-19T14:10:00.000+11:00

Ahh yes - I know it has been like forever and a day plus ages and then some since my last post. But anyways, I am here now so I shall speak.

Life over the last few months has been intriguing. My training has kept up in preparation for this weekend's triathlon. And yes, I am racing this one. But over the past few months, life has thrown up not only curveballs, but some brilliant fast balls. A great move in geographical residence, an unbelievable win on Melbourne Cup day and now ever so close to finishing university studies. The latter coincides with my first race so to say I am looking forward to Sunday afternoon is one massive understatement.

So how will Sunday pan out I ask myself? Well, most importantly, I need to pace myself. I have prepared myself to be about 80% ready for Sunday. I am ready to give it a decent crack but since it is my first triathlon ever, I do not want to go all out. I want to complete the race and know that I will derive plenty from it. I want to complete the race and be hell bent on getting back into training so I will do better in the next one. I do not want to go awesome on the weekend and risk hitting a flat spot back at training. In other words, I don't want to go back to training and think - oh hang on, I did pretty well so I don't have to train as hard. That would be bullshit. I will have to train harder and that's how I want to feel.

My plan is simple. I will race Sunday and it will hurt like there is no tomorrow. I know this and I am not afraid of it. I welcome it. If I don't welcome it then I will only fear it. And I don't want that. After I race, I know there will be heaps of work to do before the next race. That is fine with me as the race before Christmas will be the one I am fully wound up for. I will give that a serious, serious crack.

But for this weekend, I will pace myself. I will need to get a hold of my competitive spirit (which will be insanely tough) and know that if I am not going to die during the race, I may need to back off at some stage and save some petrol. If this happens and I am in a pack, I will somehow have to let my competitive spirit let me go at my own pace.

Anyways, the weather is hot so that is excellent. The wind might pick up a bit but I don't care about that. I am ready for this new challenge in my sporting life. Bring it on.

As expected - no race

2009-10-20T11:41:00.000+11:00

Well as the title suggests, I did not race this weekend. Despite the water being near ice and me not having a wetsuit, I actually barely had a few seconds spare in the past 4 days due to moving house! And I kid not when I say that. I literally was moving Friday-yesterday non-stop. So even if the water was warm and the weather was stunning, while I would have raced and loved it, the back of my mind would have been screaming get back to moving!!!

So the past is the past. We move on now and await the season opener in a month's time. I will be fitter come then. My fitness has went down slightly over the last couple of weeks but the physical demands of moving helped a little. Looking forward to the opener for sure!!!

Plan to race gone a little pear-shaped as semi-expected

2009-10-12T14:27:00.001+11:00

The plan was simple - first triathlon this weekend which is a month before the season begins. But like most plans, it seems a backflip is certainly in the works. As already mentioned, the water temperature of the swim leg was 12 degrees last week. It is currently still the same. The organisers have stated that if it warms up a little, there will still be a swim leg but wetsuits will be mandatory. I have already stated that I am not buying a wetsuit for most probably a one-off need. Just not worth it. So there will be 2 options - swim with a wetsuit or forget the swim and complete a duathon. OK so yes - I could compete in that but a duathon is not a triathlon and it is the latter I wish to do. The former I can do in a training session no worries.

So that leaves me 90% sure I won't be competing this weekend. After all, aside from training, the intended race day already has me moving house and welcoming a parental visit. It will already be a frantic day without the clock on us to move in time so I arrive in time for the race.

Disappointed? Yes definitely. Was really looking forward to my first race. But gutted? No course not. It was only a lead-up social race so not one on my "have to do" list. I still have over a month to the season opener so as per program, that remains my #1 goal.

Swimming on ice

2009-10-07T09:35:00.002+11:00

Hold the phone. An email this morning from the event organisers for next weekend's race stating this:

After a relatively mild Winter, Spring in Canberra has been slow to appear, with several cold fronts passing through the region in recent weeks – delaying the seasonal warming of Lake Burley Griffin. In the interest of the health and safety of competitors, the laws of triathlon do not permit the swim leg to be held when the water temperature is below 14 degrees. At present (Tuesday 6 October) the lake is around 12 degrees (last year it was already 15 degrees at this time).

So a couple of problems here. 1 - I don't have a wetsuit and I don't plan on buying one. Purely because it will most likely be worn just the once. And 2 - if it does get to above 14 (and surely wouldn't be by much if it does), then it leaves me wondering if more harm than good will be done swimming in that temperature.

My mind is saying I don't have to race and that I can just concentrate on continuing training for the beginning of the season. But my heart is saying just do it. If it is below 14 then the swim leg will be replaced with a short run. So even though it wouldn't be a triathlon, would still beat jumping in that ice bath for a swim!

Less than 2 weeks...not that I'm counting...

2009-10-06T14:48:00.000+11:00

Like a clock inserted into my brain...tick tock, tick tock. I can hear that hand ticking with every second. Less than 2 weeks until I strap on the lycra and push myself to a pain threshold I have probably never experienced in my life. Yeah sure, I have experienced a high level of pain many times before in my sporting endeavours. But this sport is different. You might be fit for one sport, but that does not make you automatically fit for all sports. And triathlons are something I have never come close to experiencing before.

So less than 2 weeks will see me at race day. Sure, it is a leadup race and not the beginning of the actual season. But this is not the point. It is my first ever triathlon which makes the anxiety levels rise further than ever before. But luckily for me, I love the feeling of anxiety and adrenaline running through the body. I have spent my life enduring these feelings on a weekly basis. I enjoy the thoughts and the physical feeling of pushing my body until it is screaming for no more. It can scream all it wants. If you ask me, it would just be a waste of breath. No time for whingers.

Training has been dialled back a touch due to life as outlined previously. While I am not one to offer excuses, my only excuse here is that there just has not been enough hours in a day. But all that is past me. I have secured living arrangements and furnishings, and can now look forward to the next couple of weeks of intense training to get me back on track. I have lost that tiny bit of fitness but nothing to raise the worry levels. Interesting times ahead...

Been bit lazy I know I know

2009-09-29T19:57:00.000+10:00

So yes as the heading suggests and as this author realises, I have been lazy on the blogging front since last Thursday. I really had no idea it was that long ago that I last posted so my apologies. So what has been happening? How kind of one to ask...

Well to put it simply - life has happened. Yes, there comes times in all our lives where we have to stop doing something or cancel a plan to do something, in order to make way for life and its rollercoaster of a ride. This is exactly what has happened to me lately.

On the training front, it is very thin. Only a couple of training sessions completed since my last blog which presents a sign of worry with only 3 weeks to go before first race. Thankfully, my body weight is the lightest it has been for a few years so that should make things a little easier. How I have lost weight I have no idea? Best I can offer is that I have been too busy to eat a lot of food. Only explanation I can muster.

So life has done what you say? Well a future move in scenery is what it has done. A move in house yes. Since Thursday night, my girlfriend and I have been searching for a place of our own. Since then, we have inspected about ten places if not a couple more and have filled out and sent in numerous applications. Thankfully, we have had a few offers and look like settling on a place this Friday. Still a few things to do between now and then and once we sign, well the great fun of packing and buying furniture in the two weeks prior to the move. OK, packing not so fun at times but buying furniture definitely interests me! Of course, life could throw another curveball and this move might all go out the window somehow. But I doubt it.

Hopefully with this almost sorted and once it is sorted, training can go back to normal. I am still very confident that I will be right come race day. It is just my bike leg that needs working on. My swimming fitness and run fitness should be fine, but the weather has really hurt my bike fitness. I need to hit the bike and hard. Wish me luck. This should be a fun-filled three weeks prior to first race.

The week so far

2009-09-24T09:45:00.000+10:00

A good week...in a nutshell. The feeling is more of excitement in preparation for the weekend array of sporting finals, rather than the feeling of pain due to training. A couple of gym sessions done, a couple of decent runs, one good swim session and the most recent was a ride to work. Not a long ride by any stretch of the imagination, but the ride home will be a battle into a strong headwind the entire way. Normally I wouldn't mind this - but I will be lugging a fairly heavy backpack while hitting this headwind. It won't be pretty.

I hope to finish off the week with a tailwind. A few more sessions to be done rounding the week off at a probable figure of 10 or so. But more impotantly, the NRL preliminaries are on and the mighty Stormers are still there!!!

Training motivation - easy or tough?

2009-09-23T10:23:00.002+10:00

This is a question that affects us all in our everyday lives. It applies to work, to household chores and of course exercise. So rather than take the theoretical approach, I am going to try and give a very personal approach to this necessity of a feeling called motivation.

Clearly for me the biggest hurdle is training alone. I cannot complain and will not complain though as this is a road I have chosen. I enjoy the challenge of motivating myself and training myself for the difficult pursuits of triathlons. But it can be tough. Everything seems to go slower when you are all alone. The kilometres on the bike, in the pool, on the run, all seem to go forever when it is only me pushing me along. If I had a training partner, those kilometres go much quicker. But it is a hurdle that if cleared, I should be able to look back on it and feel as though I have accomplished more due to it being a solo effort.

Weather is also a massive hurdle and one that does not get any easier. I'll use the last couple days as an example. I completed a fairly tough morning workout yesterday with the plan on doing my weekly weights session yesterday afternoon. I finish work and the weather is not only raining, but thunderstorms and gale force winds to go with the rain. Now, I do not do weights outdoors so why should this be a problem right? Well, it just decreases the motivation to leave the house. Storms are perfect indoor weather to play the gaming consoles. Same again today - ugly weather and I have a swim session planned this afternoon. While I am keen, I would be a lot more motivated if it was warm and sunny. I think it will be different once I am at the pool, but until then, it would desirable to go home rather than to the pool when the weather is like this. But not to be, we cannot control the weather so we must do our best regardless of the conditions. I refuse to whinge as all challenges are good. I did my weights session last night and I will do my swim session this afternoon. Easy to do them when I am motivated to reach my ultimate goal.

I suppose these are just a couple of reasons. Obviously there are lots of theories to discuss motivation but really, how theoretical does one want to get about motivation? You either have it or you don't. Of course there are reasons why you have it or don't have it, but we don't need theories to figure this out.

Bottom line - if I wake up race day and it is miserable outside, I need to put that in the back of my mind and just do what I plan to do. And that is to race and race hard.

The weekend final wrap and what lies ahead...

2009-09-21T13:38:00.000+10:00

So did the weekend turn out as planned? I think so. Hard to imagine otherwise actually. The plan was for a hard Saturday which was achieved. Then for a day off Sunday which one can only assume isn't hard to do! Saturday was hard though with a swim sprint session then an arvo gym of a short bike ride to warm-up, 5km tough interval run and plenty of core exercises to finish the session. Let's just say the body was a little sore Saturday night and could not wait for the Sunday off.

As for the week ahead, what's in the works? Hard work and more hard work. 4 weeks to go now until first ever triathlon race. And while this race is not the ultimate goal, so therefore there will probably be no serious tapering done, as the ultimate goal is to enjoy my first ever season of triathlons and go OK while I'm enjoying them. Sidenote- is it possible to enjoy the challenge of triathlons? Absolutely. Make friends with the pain and it will all be too easy to enjoy.

On a sour note, the weather forecast looks terrible this week for bike riding. Should I eat some concrete and hit the road anyways? Probably. But will I? Doubt it. If the weather gurus prove to be right, then it will be a week of running, swimming and a little weights here and there. Only one hard weight session will be done as per usual. If any more weights are thrown in, then these will be high repetition/low weight sessions or just stability ball workouts. I am confident on the bike as is, but I know my bike fitness has a few more gears that I need to reach in due time.

Enjoy the week you have ahead peoples. If you are in a training regime, work hard but work smart.

Weekend what's doing?

2009-09-19T14:48:00.000+10:00

So what's been happening and what is going to happen this weekend? A lot of enjoyment that is what is going to happen. Weekends are to be savoured and every minute enjoyed like it is the last minute before that dreadful Monday rolls around a little too fast yet again. But enough of the sentimental crap.

The weekend began with a swim session. A sprint session. I even suited up (speedo knee length suit which was a bargain for $50!) and ripped into it. I may have looked like a tool in my suit to others but I couldn't care less. I am sure I could teach them a lesson in a swimming race if anyone thought that way. I need to get used to the feel of a knee length suit for races anyways as that is what I will be wearing come race time.

So the sprint session. Was intense. In all my years of swim training, I have always been used to a long warm-up before the sprint main set takes off. So I did exactly this. I warmed up thoroughly then entered into a set of 100m and 50m freestyle sprints, followed by the same distance sprints kicking with flippers. After all, I need plenty of leg strength for triathlons.

The rest of the weekend will be fairly cruisy. Probably a decent run this arvo and maybe a light ride. I will admit I have pulled up a little sore from this morning and perhaps just the week in general. It has been a long, hard week of training. Tomorrow will be my day off (unless it is a ripper of a day then I may head out for a recovery ride ie very light one) and a deserved one I think.

Tonight is BBQ time! I thought I would share this as I am truly excited for it to be BBQ season again. It has been a while since the BBQ saw the light of day. But it shall wait no more. Meat and seafood and just a plate full of BBQ goodness is what it shall be! Enjoy your weekend with whatever you choose to do!

Time trial bikes or road bikes?

2009-09-18T15:21:00.000+10:00

Read this article today and thought I might include it here. Tis an interesting piece on whether time trial bikes are simply far superior in speed than road bikes. Apparently, the US cycling laws are a bit harsh on time trial bikes and are not allowing them in certain races. Me thinks fair enough. Level the playing field like the majority of sports in the world. The way the time trial bikes are evolving, soon enough we will see a pair of rocket boosters attached to the rear fork. Good on the UCI for stepping in over there.

Another article has a reader sending in a question in response to the article above. I quite like the response in which they say "it's the rider and not the bike". Well, that was how it used to be. If bikes continue to evolve with seemingly no rules as to how, then races won't be judged on how good the rider is. It will be a matter of who has the most superior bike. That is not a level playing field.

I have posted this because the concept of time trial bikes and adding aero-bars to road bikes is very common for triathlons. Both of which will increase the difficulty in handling but increase the performance. An interesting predicament. The addition of aero-bars might be in the works for me somewhere down the track.

Rode to work...for a change

2009-09-18T08:51:00.000+10:00

Yep, woke up and the plan was for a gym session after yesterday's morning swim and afternoon bike + run which was a good end to the day. But instead, upon waking up I could see the sun shining through the blinds and I thought perhaps the day is already superb. So I strolled out in my boxers and yep, it was already a beautiful day so I thought sweet - let's bike it to work. Very calming and relaxed ride. Almost perfect.

On a sidenote, saw this bike on another blog. The guy uses it for time trials and triathlons apparently. It is banned from the US cycling races. It is said to cut through the air which makes no draft possible from riders behind. And also, it is meant to go uphill as if it has a motor attached to it. It looks like a machine. Give me a go!

Swim session - strength set

2009-09-17T13:16:00.000+10:00

This morning was my second swim session of the week. There will be an attempt at a third over the weekend with the intended goal of a sprint session to be achieved. This morning though was a strength swim session. And let me say this straight off the bat - it hurt in areas I didn't know could hurt!

So what is a strength swim session? Hard to define. But let's just say it is a swim session designed to give you the feeling once completed that you have done a weights session. It is designed to hurt. It is designed to activate your fast-twitch fibres and of course get your heart rate up. What nobody will tell you about this sort of training is that it keeps the heart rate up constantly throughout, and leaves your arms feeling as though they have dumbbells attached to them.

This type of session is not for the beginner. I am not a pro swimmer by any means, but I was a swimmer in a past life so I have in fact done thousands of sessions harder and longer than this. But that past life was several years ago now.

The session was as follows. Completed in under a hour due to work commitments.

Warm up:

500m freestyle/backstroke (moderate)

7x100m freestyle with bouy and paddles (no legs. Wakes up the upper body significantly)

Main set: (x2)

150m (50m freestyle/50m head up freestyle/50m freestyle) + 50m sprint

150m freestyle (1st lap - 3 stroke breathing; 2nd lap - 5 strokes; 3rd lap - 7 strokes) + 50m sprint
150m (50m freestyle/50m butterfly/50m freestyle) + 50m sprint

100m swimdown

Total: 2.5km

Once done twice, the main set it is only a relatively short main set of 1.2km but for 1km of it, it is pure pain. I suppose the paddle work beforehand adds to the effect as well. The way it is painful is like I said before, your arms feel like they have weights strapped around them. So everything is simply harder and especially the sprints. But they must be done absolutely flat-out.

I don't normally go into these sort of details with my training. I suppose I just wanted to outline what a strength swimming session actually is. It is not overly common and I doubt whether many everyday swimmers will give it a go due to the intensity. I need to do these as part of my preparation.

To put it in a comparative nutshell - think about being on your bike and halfway up a steep hill climb. You probably have many thoughts going through your head with the main one probably being along the lines of not being able to wait to reach the top. Well, this swimming session is exactly like that. It is like swimming uphill, into the wind and the body hurting and screaming for it to end. Good though :)

My racing wheels

2009-09-15T22:06:00.003+10:00

So up until now, I have said alot about my training and my goals and a little about me. But I have not said anything about my equipment, mainly bike, or have I posted any photos of sorts. Now by no means am I gloating about my bike. It is not a bike that you would see a pro on. But my bike certainly means alot to me and it is a good ride which is the main aspect. Hopefully my bike performs for me, or rather, I hope my legs perform on my bike.

I won't go into the details of my bike. It has some carbon on it with the forks, but definitely not as much as a high quality racing bike. The carbon does ensure it is light though. Shimano gears. Tyres are Continental Gatorskins and are sweet tyres.

My Diamondback Interval:

"Carpe Diem" down the seat tube on both sides:

"3107" down the front fork both sides:

The orange handlebar tape is new, a change from the common white tape, and I am a fan of how it looks. The seat is also new as I planned on putting a new one on before my first race. It is a Token seat which was within my price range and after only a couple rides on it, it is a decent seat so no regrets. The decals on my bike are also fairly new and serve the purpose of personalising my bike. In addition to this, when I jump on my bike, I now see these decals which do mean something to me. "Carpe Diem" means sieze the day - something that training can be all about. The other decal is a play around my birthday. I also have this decal on my helmet to personalise it as well. Perhaps the decals overdo my bike but I don't think so. I am not a pro and never will be. I simply wanted them to make my bike just mean that little bit more to me. It certainly worked. My bike runs well, feels smooth and does go when I call on it. Hopefully, it handles the demands of racing. I am more than confident it will do just fine.

Preparation confirmed for Triathlon season

2009-09-14T12:21:00.003+10:00

Yes, decision has been finally made and made formal. I had a few options to decide between for my preparation:

Compete in either the Sri Chinmoy Triathlon OR the bike event Fitz's Challenge
Compete in both events
Compete in neither

It wasn't a terribly hard decision to make. The bike race would have been a gruelling hilly course which would have prepared me well on the bike. But competing in the triathlon event I believe will put me in better stead. Plus, it also means I knock over a triathlon before the season starts.

So the Sri Chinmoy Sprint triathlon here I come. 500m swim/21km ride/5km run. Nothing too long and gruelling but hopefully I will be fit enough to push it out strongly. Looking foward to it to say the least. A little over a month til the event is here. So still as always - plenty of hard work in front of me.

Weekend update

2009-09-13T19:14:00.000+10:00

So it is the end of another weekend. I know right - where do they go? But anyways, was much enjoyed due to the warm weather being well and truly back. The coast was awesome. Chilled out and got some well earned rest. We did go for a little ride yesterday as it was too nice a day to ignore. Plus it was a new town so what better way to cruise around then on the bike. Today was a very light jog when I got home. But all in all, it was as I said in that it was a weekend of rest. Tomorrow is the start of a new week. And another tough one on the body. Bring it.

The week

2009-09-11T08:46:00.002+10:00

So the week so far has led to me to have to admit I didn't quite reach what I set out to achieve. I said I would complete 10 sessions before the weekend and in fact I have completed 9. I lazily missed a swim session yesterday morning, due to simply being unable to get out of bed. I know right - where is the will power? Wasn't there. It was just a case of if I had have got up, I wouldn't have been in the right mind frame to complete a good session. So I decided to skip it. Still though, with 9 sessions under my belt in 5 days, I can't complain. Bring on the weekend's sun and the little bit of R&R.

Will power & self-discipline: do you have it?

2009-09-08T13:38:00.001+10:00

OK so this is a bit different to the usual health topics of exercising and eating habits, but instead the plan is to dive into the mind and try to figure out the dark secrets that is the notion of will power. It is the best friend to 'self-discipline', in that both terms work together to achieve positive outcomes. To define will power, I have chosen this quote:

It is the ability to arrive to a decision and follow it with perseverance until its successful accomplishment

This definition says it all in my opinion. Will power can be applied to every facet of your life. Let's focus on the healthy life. Food - can you stop yourself from an eating habit? Exercise - can you complete that session at all cost? The bottom line - can you set a health goal and then dare yourself to reach it whilst stopping for nothing? If you can do these, you just may have considerable will power.

Habits are a part of us in our everyday lives, good or bad. We live certain ways, often defined by the habits we practice. A useless habit can be kicked with an intense level of will power and self-discipline. Plenty of people have bad health habits such as eating junk and being lazy, both of which can be beaten with a bit of hard work and the will power to kick the habit. In essence - to resist the habit.

So how do we develop will power? You need to perform actions that are out of your comfort zone. By doing something that your mind isn't used to doing, you are in fact training your mind to obey your new commands. This in turn will allow you develop that resistance by gaining an inner strength that is greater than you can imagine.

Will power has been defined as one of the "corner stones of success" as it builds up a strength inside of us that simply cannot be replaced. Will power will give you the belief and the motivation that tells you "yes you can achieve this", while self-discipline will provide you with the stamina to maintain the required perseverance.

Do not be mistaken however, as to develop these two powers is not an easy road. It is a road that will lead you on the way to being the boss of your mind. The mind will obey as you have control over every thought. You will become the master of your mind and enjoy that inner happiness and success.

Kick off to the week

2009-09-07T12:10:00.000+10:00

So I was a bit quiet over the weekend. I have my reasons. I was back in my hometown visiting family and helping my girlfriend to enjoy her upcoming birthday with friends and family. Being there made me realise how much I miss wearing a shirt and shorts in the warm weather. Not long now though til that dress code is a permanent outfit. While I was back home, I went out for a couple of very light rides. That was the plan all week - to work terribly hard so by Friday, the body was asking for a rest. It asked a million times Friday so the weekend it got its wish.

Straight back into it this morning. I have to admit - the eating on the weekend was far from nazi like but it didn't, nor ever will be nazi like so all is well. However, some amount of the food did need to be worked off in a gruelling session first thing on a Monday morning. The treadmill copped some flack, then the bike, then the ground for some core exercises. The treadmill was a long run so it hurt; the bike straight after hurt that little bit more; then the belly ached during the core workout. All in all, I say a successful session.

This week will be much the same as last week. Work terribly hard until Friday and then give the body a little rest during a coastal visit for the weekend. By Friday, about 10 sessions (if you include playing sport) should be completed which will leave no doubts in the body wanting a breather.

A bit about me

2009-09-04T11:27:00.000+10:00

I suppose to date I have not divulged a great deal about me personally. I have only stated what my new challenge is and how I came to deciding that would be my new challenge. But why? What triggered me to come to this? I shall explain...

During my youth and teenage years, I was always very fit. I was a swimmer all year round and a cricket/soccer player in the summer and winter respectively. After swimming, I turned to water polo and continued this throughout the remainder of my teenager years and still to date today. But last year was a changing year for me. I moved out of home and to a different state. I began work full-time and made new friends. Without going on forever, my life had changed dramatically.

What also changed were of course my sporting involvements. I played water polo but only a few games as it was towards the end of the season. I needed something new. But nothing happened. I joined a gym half-way through the year. But I frequented this rarely, wasting money in the process. I bought a road bike about the same time as joining the gym. I rode occasionally, but not enough, and certainly not far enough.

As a result I put on weight and did so without even really realising. Shirts were becoming tighter and I was becoming less confident with clothes I was wearing. I ate rubbish and accompanied this rubbish with frequent alcohol drinking sessions, whether that be with mates or just home alone watching television. This went on until the end of the year.

My kick to the stomach happened just before Christmas. This was no ordinary kick to the stomach. This was a full-blown sidekick with a steel cap boot. I was packing for my Christmas and New Year's trip when I realised my weight, and that I was trying to pack shirts that were a bit big on me. I knew that my belly would be showing in every shirt. I knew that my family would notice and say something, as they have been so used to me being a fit person. I was not fit and I knew it. My New Year's trip was on the coast which meant beach everyday. I did not have the confidence to frequent the beach as much as I wanted to. That was another kick. And it hurt.

This was the turning point. Enough was enough. I have a gym membership which includes a swimming centre and I have a road bike. What the hell am I doing not using any of this? Once I returned from my New Year's trip, I was a changed man. I worked hard. I ate healthy. I stopped boozing. Fast forwarding and 3 months later, I had lost the 15kgs I put on to make me feel like I did. I have not stopped to look back on that time, nor have I eased up on the training.

I do reflect on my past and wonder how I allowed myself to get there. How did I let myself get to the stage where I looked in the mirror and just thought one day. I looked down at my body and thought one day. I put a shirt on and thought one day. That one day would see me fit and healthy. I am grateful that I am now living in that day. I feel good. But more importantly, I am healthy. And I am ready for sport.

Stability ball - yes or no?

2009-09-03T10:03:00.001+10:00

Should we use a stability ball as part of our training? A big yes indeed. As you will know, I am a big fan of core work and never go without it. A stability ball only enhances this part of my training.

It works in a simple fashion. If you perform for example a crunch on the floor, your abs are fairly stable and only move throughout the action of the crunch. However, if you perform a crunch on a stability ball, your abs will have to adjust to remain stable due to the ball being unstable. Therefore, this helps you to improve your functional strength, balance and flexibility of the body. It also is a big player in strengthening the lower back during stability ball routines.

The crunch is of course only one of many exercises that can be performed with a stability ball. Incorporate strength exercises too with weights, where instead of using a bench, you use a stability ball. You will feel the difference immediately, followed by the feeling after of a productive workout. Do not forget that core stability is the foundation for your body.

Training

2009-09-01T12:04:00.000+10:00

So I know I have said before I like to ease into the week before stepping it up a notch come the weekend. But this week is a bit different. I have stepped it up from the beginning of the week and will maintain that intensity for the rest of the week. Why? Because it is time for a gruelling week of training. And also I have a weekend visit to my hometown which means less chance to train. Plan is for the body to be begging for a little rest come then.

Last night and this morning was in the gym. Was a packed gym last night, not only because it is the usual Monday-itis for people and working out, but also perhaps people just realising oh god Spring is here and that means Summer is soon so oh dear I need to be fit. Anyways, I busted out on the treadmill and knocked over 5km in 20mins. Before and after this run, there was lots of core work which left the stomach a bit sore, but better for the hit out. This morning was back to the intervals which had me carving out 5x400m sprints on the treadmill with a 2min walk in between. I did not take it easy on the sprints. They hurt. After this run was again plenty of core work and a couple of weights exercises. Nothing bodybuilder worthy - just a guy conducting whole body exercises.

My week looks fairly exercise busy. A couple of sports tonight and tomorrow night will raise the heart beat a little. A swim and ride tomorrow will also get the blood pumping. I also received my competitor's card yesterday for the triathlon season. That hit me right in the training zone. The road to peak fitness is becoming clearer.

Coffee & athlete - marriage or strangers?

2009-08-31T14:07:00.000+10:00

An issue that has been, is and will be debated for years - does caffeine enhance athlete's performances? Well, simply put, it depends on what sport you are participating. The general conclusion seems to be that caffeine will enhance the endurance sports but not the short-term sports. To define these, an example of an endurance sport is cycling and an example of short-term is sprint running.

So to answer the question of whether us athletes should marry caffeine or simply ignore it depends on once again...the individual. It is important to understand what caffeine does to all of us when it enters our body. It is well absorbed by our stomach and intestine, before entering our blood stream which provokes numerous responses in our bodies. It has stimulant effects on the brain, but also breaks down fat stores, releases fatty acids and increases blood pressure, pulse rate and stomach acid production. This happens to all of us upon inducing caffeine into the body.

But still the answer has not been specifically answered. Well in essence, it can't be answered. One person may experience effects while another is left floundering at the caffeine powers. The reality is that most that drink coffee on a regular basis won't experience any enhanced effect whatsoever.

If caffeine can enhance performance, how? To put it in a nutshell - we use glycogen as our main fuel source so once it is depleted, we are exhausted. When this happens, we turn to fat as our back-up fuel source. It has already been said the effects of caffeine on fat stores. As long as there is enough glycogen left in our body, caffeine encourages working muscles to use fat as fuel, therefore delaying the depletion of glycogen which delays the exercise threshold. Note this is for duration and not for quality of performance. Hence - endurance sports.

On a personal note, do I have coffee? I love a good cup of coffee but by no means do I average one a day. I'd say I consume between 3-5 coffees per week but this has nothing to do from a nutritional side of things. Sometimes, I just don't feel like one.

Marriage or strangers? Have a caffeine hit 3-4 hours before a long exercise session and see for yourself. More than likely, you will still be left wondering after testing the theory. But then again, the mental effects might be enormous and if there is one thing we can be sure about, it is that we cannot fool our minds.

The last half of week

2009-08-30T18:26:00.000+10:00

So the end of the week saw a little injury and a crash on my road bike, but neither keeps a hungry person down. If you fall of the horse you simply have two options - you get back up and get back on the horse; or you lie down and quit. I am not a quitter.

Less than 3 months until the triathlon season starts. I need to be ready. I will be ready. Just plenty of hard yards to go which will have me ready and raring to fire in my first ever triathlon.

My crash on my bike was rather lame but at least it was right at the end of my ride. My ride was enjoyable due to good weather and a good distance. It ended nasty though with my head going over my handlebars and my gear chain popping out making the bike unable to be ridden the rest of the way home. Somehow I landed fairly softly and only endured sore knees as a result. It could have been way worse to say the least. I am lucky.

The remainder of the weekend had me on the treadmill and in the pool. A return to the pool after several months which felt good but it always ends in a bit of pain after a long layoff. My body has been warned that it is only the start of a lot of hard work in the pool.

A decent week. But nothing in comparison to the will be weeks to come.

Core work to greet challenge

2009-08-26T09:34:00.001+10:00

The essence of core work is believed to "build better abs" and "gain that 6 pack" but is this only what it's about? I think not. If you think of your core strength, then you should be thinking of it as your base or foundation for moving in a strong and efficient manner. Yes, done properly and hard enough, advantages will come aesthetically but this should not be the goal. The goal should be to create that foundation of strength that will inevitably improve performance.

As for my schedule, I rarely skip a core workout on a daily basis. I have done pilates on several occasions and despite the society views on guys doing pilates, I ignore them because it is a bloody hard workout! I don't do core work to gain picture perfect abs, as I do it to make me stronger from head to toe. There are plenty of core strength exercises to achieve this where a variety utilised will not only increase the effect, but also keep you interested in core activities. Another beauty of performing core exercises is that you can do them at home, so any time, any where.

I believe that if you gain a high level of core strength, your overall performance will shoot through the roof. Hence, plenty of core work worked into my training regime. All to meet the challenge.

Interval training

2009-08-25T09:33:00.000+10:00

So this morning was a different type of workout. Well, by different I mean something that I don't do anywhere near enough. Maybe because it is the sort of training that inflicts serious pain, or it is just that I get so used to using other training styles I forget about interval training.

It refers to a cardiovascular workout that requires bursts of near-maximum efforts to get that heart racing. I was in the gym this morning so my source of pain was the treadmill. While it may not last a lifetime, simply because the body just cannot withstand that level of pressure, it lasts long enough to leave one gasping for breath.

So why would one do interval training if it inflicts this high level of pain? Well isn't that what hard training is all about? If we cannot withstand this level of pain, then why would one be in the sporting arena? It leaves you gasping for breath yes; but it also keeps you on that road to peak fitness.

Start of a new week

2009-08-24T17:33:00.002+10:00

So the start of a new week and some say that the best way to kick off a new week is to exercise. I am not a big believer in what everyone else says, more each to their own I say. My own is a weekend of exercising and a light Monday to ease into the week. Then I build and by the weekend I am ready to tear in and get the heart racing. Make sense? If you are a no then fair enough. Statistics will show that it is better to go hard early and try to hold on. Come race time, that is what I shall do. Stay with me folks. Long way to go yet.

The weekend

2009-08-23T15:03:00.003+10:00

I am a firm believer in not wasting a weekend to get into a bit of training. Purely because my full-time job is not training which limits my training time dramatically. The main aspect to concentrate on over the weekend is eating. It can be easy to head to the cupboard and fridge frequently to eat whatever you see. Fortunately, I am not this type of person.

So this weekend was very light. A Saturday morning gym session followed by an arvo ride was achieved. The gym was a light treadmill run and some core work, and the arvo a short ride of about 25km with the speed being pushed throughout for time trial effect. Not that I will be doing any time trials any time soon, but the length of the ride warranted the effort. Today was a light ride in beautiful weather. Can be a beautiful city here for riding. But still very windy here which makes for an easy one way effort followed by a sustained effort on the return leg. Overall, cannot complain.

A light weekend's work but a nice one. Allows me to sit back and watch some good Sunday sport. Plenty of hard work to come over next couple months though. Bring it on.

Do you exercise to the beats?

2009-08-22T14:42:00.003+10:00

Whether you are at the gym, passing runners while driving, the occasional cyclist or even watching professional athletes do their thing, the earphones to the ears will be very popular. So the question is do you listen to music during exercise? Does it help? Or if you don't, why not?

Studies have shown the effect that music has on individuals while exercising can be particularly high. In a nutshell, most health experts will say it dramatically improves performance. However, it has to be acknowledged that all of us are different and therefore we are affected on varying levels. One expert has stated that music can have:

potential physiological and psychological benefits such as lowering blood pressure, providing stress relief and elevating happy moods

But is this all mental? Is it just in our heads that if we play the pod, those kms will be easier or that extra kg will be lifted easier? Perhaps it is in the head but if it is and helps, who are we to argue?

So will listening to some "pump up" music really elevate your performance? As stated, each person will vary with us all reacting differently to having music in our ears when exercising or before competition. So even if one statistic says music increases performance by up to 30%, it has to be recognised that this is not standard for all.

Music most certainly plays a part in my sporting journey. Except for on the bike where the ears are needed to save your life.

Inspiration

2009-08-22T00:26:00.001+10:00

In my collection are numerous nutrition books, general health books, anatomy books and now also a couple of cycling books. One book which I am sure most have heard of is Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About the Bike". Before I turned to page one, I honestly didn't think of Armstrong as anything but a freakish cyclist. He has never seemed up himself which could be viewed as rare amongst high profile American athletes. Maybe that is why this book is terribly difficult to put down.

The inspiration that one can draw from Armstrong is immense. I am nowhere near the end of the book and I am already inspired to no end. Armstrong talks about life like I have never heard it before. In my world, I have viewed life on a few different levels, the top two being:

Approaching life with a laid-back attitude
Having your character defined by the actions you take when you get knocked down

Lance Armstrong has been knocked down several times and each time, not only has he got up, but he has got up a stronger person mentally. To me, that is something that one can only strive for but realistically, Armstrong is on another planet of strength.

I am not reading this book for my sporting challenges. I am reading it because simply I heard it is a very good book. As it turns out, it is already a very good book that will impact on my sporting challenges.

One vs Challenge

2009-08-21T18:41:00.004+10:00

There comes a time in our lives when you get to that point and wonder - what is my next challenge? I have come to that point in my sporting life and this blog is designed to share my experiences with you. I am certainly not here to give myself any wraps as I most certainly will sledge myself if warranted. And on my future chosen path, it most probably will be warranted.

So what is my challenge and how did I come to it? Triathlons. Turned out to be quite simple really. I was a swimmer in my youth (not old now but youth = teenager), rider of a road bike and avid treadmill user when at gym. Upon challenging myself to get super fit in each three disciplines, I begun to think why not triathlons.

Truth is I was undecided about it until the other night. My line of thinking was I will train my backside off for the next year and begin competition the following season. But my gorgeous girlfriend told me to give it a crack this year, as she does not want to be hearing the "I should haves" for the next year. Fair call. I woke up the next morning with my newfound challenge set in stone.

So what lies ahead? Plenty of hard work yes. None I m afraid of but most certainly a road that will be long and bumpy. But one that I look foward to, as it will lead me to the starting blocks of my first triathlon.

This blog will be a journey of hours spent in the gym, in the pool, on the bike, running and whatever else it takes, on my quest to conquering my challenge.