Monday, June 4, 2012

Go Tigers

I've been to a winning grand final in 1980 and a losing one in 1982. Since then the tigers havent really even been that close to a premiership.  Now, I don't think we are going to win one this year either but the team Richmond has now, on and off the park,  is the best balanced, most complete team we've had in 30 years. I think finals this year are possible, even likely. That's enough for this Long suffering fan for a while.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

My blogging life

Putting aside the strictly personnel there are three 'public' areas of my life. These are:

1. My new found interest in triathlon.

2 Photography.

3. Philosophy, politics and general spouting of opinions.

What do I mean by public? I suppose I mean I write about them and post my ideas, theories and opinions on the net for all to see. Recently, Ive been thinking that my internet life has been very poorly thought out and in consistent.

So right, that's the first thing. Why do I care if my net presence is a mess. After all it's just a hobby isn't it? Well yes, but then again I do make (a little) money from photography and I'd like to boost this a little so a clean up (and more disciplined posting routine ) would be good there. Also, I'm sure my triathlon readers couldn't care less about the other parts of my life that get a run in my 'mindshaft gap' blog so separating those would be good.

So, with that in mind I've decided to do a few things. The first is I'm starting a new blog, goin down swingin.

So that will be three blogs.

PmacImagery. This deals with primarily stills photography and related topics. What related topics I hear you ask. Well this goes in two directions from the photography jumping off point. On one hand, coming from the camera end, I'll be looking at general technology issues, you know, computers, software audio visual kit, that sort of thing. Going in the other direction from photography I'll be discussing ideas around art and the creative side of my existence.

Goin Down Swingin. This is my new blog dedicated to my interest in triathlon. I love watching the DVDs of ironman triathlons, especially Kona, but I'll admit I'm not really interested in the elites. Rather it's the age groupers that reel me in. Even more specifically it's the old blokes in their 60s to 80s that slug it out with nature out there on the iron man course that inspire me. They know that in the end nature will win, that one day the body won't make it, but they are determined to go out fighting all the way. The are going to go down swinging at an opponent that can't be beaten but must be fought. I intend to follow that example, hence the title of the blog.

Mind Shaft Gap. The concluding scenes of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, Dr Strangelove, are a crazy mix of mindless optimism, unending paranoia, good people trying in vain to save the world and the routine being the greatest source of evil. To me this sums up so so much I see both I in myself and the world At large. Thus I've named my general blog where I consider the biggest and littlest topics of the day after perhaps the most insane concept in an insane situation. If you need more on the exact meaning of the 'mine shaft gap' Google it.

But I'm not done there. There is more. In addition to starting a third blog, I'm changing that colour scheme of the blogs, unifying them and creating a single look for my 'brand' .

So what's the colour scheme? Well basically it's three(ish) colours:

Black (or dark grey)
Blue
White (or silver)

Why those colours? Well No great story really, first I find them aesthetically pleasing (a fancy way of saying they look cool). Secondly they work well as a web format. Thirdly, I can easily get gear (that I would wear) in these colours.

So that's it, a new blog, some more careful distinctions in how and where I write and a new colour scheme. This isn't the end of the development but hopefully it's a solid beginning.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Stay tune. Changes coming

I've broken the number one rule of blogging of late. What's that. PUBLISH OR DIE. Well I've been thinking of where this blog, and my internet 'life in general was heading and I've made a few calls. Changes are a'comin.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A big move forward - coaching

A big week for me as a triathlete as my sporting life takes a big step up in seriousness. I've entered a half iron man, big deal I've entered one of those before and withdrawn, but I've also realised that I've hit my limit as a self trained athlete and gone and joined a training squad.

I'm sure there are many people out there with all the discipline required to self coach and the world sometimes seems full of lonely triathletes out there pounding up and down the pool, pavement and track by themselves but I'm not one of them, or more accurately, I now realise that if I continue to be one of them I am effectively limiting my progression quite seriously. Why is that?

1. In general I lack the self discipline to drive myself outside my comfort level for long enough in a training session. I know all about tempo run sessions, hill climbing/sprinting rides, properly structured swim sessions but when its gets hard and I'm on my own history has shown I'll back it off just a little, extend the rest just a little, shorten the set just a little. It would be great if I didnt. Theres probably a whole bunch of things I can do to build my personal will power but then again, how long would that take and does it guarantee success? On the other hand, getting a coach and training as part of a squad also has a long history (with me) of being remarkably successful. When part of a group I naturally work my arse off to keep in touch with the leaders, possibly even leading myself, even when I shouldnt.

2. Swimming. I hate swimming training. I can swim, I used to swim - A LOT! Perhaps everyone has only so many black lines in them and after you've seen your share and you're done? I dont know, but what I am certain of is that I will find every excuse I can to avaoid swimming training. But a coach pretty much demands I swim and gives him visibility of when I dont. Also, having a squad of like minded people with me also takes away some of the loneliness of just being out there by yourself trudging up and down the lanes with the public.

3. Knowledge. The internat and magazines are brilliant and I have learnt an enormous amount from them in getting from couch bound slob to an athlete that can do an olympic distance tri. Again though I feel I'm hitting a limit. I cant see myself run/swim/ride - a magazine will give me a good idea of good technique but it wont tell me how my technique compares to the ideal. I know my running especially is pretty dodgy. I have developed a few mental pointers to keep my form in some sort of control but these are designed to avoid pain, not generate speed or endurance, so while useful they only take me so far.

So far I'm one training session in and already I'm 99% sure that I will commit to training with the squad for as long as I am in Melbourne.

PS. I training session I did was swimming. My first 'session' in that sport in 20 years. It was an easy one designed to transition people back into training after the layoff immediately after the end of the Australian 2011/12 season. 3.1 k's, thats it. It killed me. Half way in and my arms were jelly, my lungs felt full of water, both legs were cramping and I could barely support my body position. Still, I made it and I know I'll get better.

Friday, April 27, 2012

First season down, my plan for the next one

So my plan for 2011/12 didn't quite come off. I had planned to do a short course club event with Tomaree (check), a long course with Tomaree (check), a sprint distance in a "big" tri like the Gatorade series( check) and Olympic distance tri - the Sparke Helmore specifically (check) and a half ironman in cairns (fail).

Looking back this wasn't really a bad run for my first year in the sport.   Now, what next? Well I'm thinking this broad plan.

1. Port Macquarrie 70.3 in Oct 12.

2. Gatorade Series (sprint) in Melbourne for the 12/13 season.

3. Cairns 70.3 in June 13.

4. Busselton IM Dec 13.

The thinking behind this plan is pretty simple.

A. Build more endurance til October with 20 something clear weeks to prep for my first really long event.

B. Work on speed for few months (and really enjoy some - comparatively - hell for leather racing)

C. Get back into serious endurance lead-in to my second the half ironman.

D. After my second half, take a week or so off and then launch into another 20 week program for my first full ironman until I hear those words:

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

That plan means two and a half years from lazy fat arse to ironman. I think that's a nice, realistic plan. Yeah I could do it faster and the magazines are full of stories of people going from zero to hero in less than a year but really, why risk it.  I'm 45 years old, my knees, ankles, shoulders arent what they once were.  I plan to do these triathlons "well", pressing to meet a meaningless schedule in a race against - well - no one - is a recipe for breaking down and achieving nothing.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Training tonite

I hate the wind trainer but sometimes it's the only option.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 9

The Socrates rule.  Be an elitist, not a democrat, when it comes to opinions.

Lots of people (including me) will offer you opinions, rules, ideas, philosophies etc to navigate your way through life.  DO NOT LISTEN TO ALL OF THEM! There is a saying "everyone is entitled to their opinion", that is true.  But it is not true that everyone opinion is worth of being heeded.  Carefully weigh the opinions, and the people giving them, before taking what people say to you to heart.


Monday, April 23, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 8

The Godfather rule. Its not personal, its strictly business.

Michael Corleone. The Godfather.

Very closely related to rule 7, however, subtly related.  Just as the universe will occasionally, or even often, be indifferent to our ideas of justice or fairness so too we and others might appear to be.  I say 'appear' because sometimes we confuse the context in which we and others make their decisions.  If someone doesnt like our paper, our opinion, our ideas, our products its rarely personal.  Its not us, its just something we thought, wrote, did.  I find remembering that and embracing that very liberating.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 7

The Will Munny rule. Deserves got nothin to do with it.

Will Munny. Unforgiven.

Basically, the rule here is to realise the world isnt fair, you have to deal with it as it is and not as you wish it was.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 6

The Omar  rule. A man's got to have a code.

Omar Little

Superficially this is a nice and simple rule but on the other hand, trying to develop, and then live by, a code is no easy task.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 5

5. The Bourne rule. To change you have to really change your identity otherwise you are still just a fat/unfit/unhappy/unsuccessful person on a diet,exercise program/happiness program/trying harder.

(this is one of my more complex rules and one of my most poorly phrased - more work to go)

Monday, April 9, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 4

The Gorilla rule. Dont give up. “Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.”
Robert Strauss

Sunday, April 8, 2012

A painful day. My first withdrawal.

Today I will be withdrawing from my 2.80.20 Cairns. I'm not injured, I'm probably fit enough, I've got the essential gear and I could get the time off so what gives? Basically, while I could just about squeeze everything in that's exactly what it would be, a squeeze. My gravel was reduced go getting there as late as possible, leaving virtually as soon as the race finished, going alone with the family staying behind and with none of the little upgrades( some Aero wheels, bar end Shifters etc) I'd promised myself.

So I could do it I just don't want to start my ironmonger experience that way. So rather than half search it I have withdrawn.

But this is a tactical redeployment, not a retreat from ironman distances. Stay tuned for news on my replacement event.

My ten rules for success, happiness or whatever. Rule 3

The Iron Mike rule. Flexibility. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
Mike Tyson

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Sparke Helmore triathlon review

OK, putting aside my performance what did I think of the sparke helmore triathlon overall. Well here goes:

Course. Swim. Brilliant. A little bit of a pain having a start a k and a bit from the transition and bag areas but the benefit of the straight 1.5k swim along the shore to the beach makes that minor inconvenience fade to nothing. Nice cool, but not cold, water. Clear and fresh. Well timed so we were just on the outgoing tide so there was a touch of a tailing current but that was all. Loved it.

Ride. Unique amongst every mainstream tri I've heard of. A really short course, only about 6.6 k per lap and 6 laps. So keeping count was really important. Also the course is super hilly. I reakon I spent about 25% of each lap standing, climbing. I'm not going to say a hilly course is good or bad. Personally I hated it but that probably says more about my climbing ability, or lack of, than the merits of the course. That said, I was disappointed that there was virtually no opportunity to employ 'normal tri techniques of getting down on the bars, getting up to speed and holding it. Instead, with the tight little course, lots of tight corners which often had cyclists three abreast going through them it didn't really feel like a triathlon, it felt like a bike race with a run and swim tacked on.

Run. Like the ride course, the run felt cramped, axis if the organizers simply didn't have enough room to squeeze everything in and so created quite a tight little course that coiled in on itself, wound in and around transition areas, crisscrossed other paths.

Personally I found it difficult to establish a rthymn on this course and never really settled in. On the other hand, this might also have been a reflection of my almost total collapse after the ride. But I think there was more to it that my personal issues. Some quick research I've found it difficult to find too many other 'big' events that require 4,5,6 laps of ride or run courses and I suspect I'm not alone in feeling these tight little courses a bit of a pain.

Overall course design. I've pretty much said it all. The swim course was brilliant mainly for being utterly different to the ride and run. A lovely, open and straight 1500m, a real delight. The ride and run suffered precisely the same problems. The courses were to small, too stop/start, and didn't allow the rider or runner any chance to settle into the event. The amount of energy I had to put into simple tasks like checking my lap count was a distraction I could have done without.

Organisation. Entry was dead easy, registration well organised and the transition areas well set up. The materials describing the event were OK but not great. I assumed there would be a bag check area, and guessed right, but the website and other materials didn't state there would be one or (obviously) where it would be, when it would open, close etc. Also, the course maps were just OK, but didn't really make clear precisely how some of the courses and transition areas would mix and mingle, making the first lap of the run in particular a bit of a voyage of discovery.

Finally, the portaloos ran out of paper, again. (Yes I had spare).

Conditions. I've tacked this bit on the end because it's not really fair to be critical, or positive, of events outside the organizer's control. Basically conditions on the day were mixed. The swim association brilliant. The water was cool, not cold, could have been clearer but it certainly wasn't soupy, and there was an ever so slight tailing tide. The ride was truly awful. The roads were wet and the wind was both strong and unpredictability gusty. Combine this with the very technical course and tight lap and there were lots of slow descents, crowded corners, spills and thrills. Hardcore cyclists might have loved it, I hated it. By the time of the run it had all settled down to be very nice. Some good sun but a gentle cool breeze, the rain was gone, the roads pretty dry and all in all not a bad time at all.


So score? Trying to put aside my personal bias I'd give Sparke Helmore 2012 three stars. I might do this event again next year but it will never be an 'A' race for me again.

Friday, April 6, 2012

My ten rules for success, happiness whatever. Rule 1

Ok, I've been spending a little more time thinking as I ride and run recently but not putting much of anything down. One of the things I've been (mentally) getting back into is how to live my life and I've been wondering if my thoughts would have any value for others. Well the egoism at the centre of all blogging assumes my thoughts are worthy of being distributed so I may as well throw my rules out there.


Note, these ideas are fully formed yet, nor will I promise not to change my mind moving forward (see rule three). But here goes.


1. The Oxygen Mask rule. You have to take responsibility for yourself first before you can really help others.


2. The Budda rule. Our lives cant be accidents - be mindful of what do want, eat, do etc


3. The Iron Mike rule. Flexibility. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
― Mike Tyson


4. The Gorilla rule. Dont give up. “Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.”
Robert Strauss


5. The Bourne rule. To change you have to really change your identity otherwise you are stil just a fat/unhappy/unsuccessful etc person trying something new.


6. The Omar rule. A man's got to have a code.


7. The Will Munny rule. Deserves got nothin to do with it.


8. The Godfather rule. Its not personal, its only business.


9. The Socrates rule. Be an elitist when it comes to opinions.


10. The John Kennedy emergency rule. Ok, all the above rules are based having time to contemplate your navel, carefully consider your options, choose the best and press on in accordance with the plan and following the process. But sometimes life just doesn't give you that time. When its all gone to shit an you feel paralyzed then follow the John Kennedy emergency rule. No, not John Kennedy the US president, yeah he said a few memorable things but he pales against the other great John Kennedy, Australian Football coach during the 60's and 70's. Once when his team was getting belted and the plan was shot to pieces he exhorted his players with this simple dictum:


"At least DO SOMETHING! DO! Don't think, don't hope, do! At least you can come off and say 'I did this, I shepherded, I played on. At least I did something.'"


A man could do worse.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

My first big goal done - an Olympic Distance tri

Finished my first olympic distance tri today, I did the Sparke Helmore in Newcastle. Toughest day in the office I've had in my short Tri 'career'. The swim was really sweet, I was worried about the 1500m distance, but it went really nicely.

Unfortunately, it was all horrible after that. A new bike course - now 6 laps of King Edward Park, 6 laps around Fort Scratchley, and so much wind that on the flats I still couldnt get off the small ring up front. Virtually zero time down on the tri bars as the cross winds were so strong it was hard to control the bike, the roads were so wet I tip toed through the decents and spent about a third of the ride in the stand climbing. After this I was wrecked for the run so my only aim was to tough it out and finish running not walking. I made it., it was slow, my knees hurt, my ankles hurt, my thighs were just dead, but I made it.

This distance at this tri was the goal I set myself in May 2011. To get here I've lost 35kg and done a shit load of work. Frankly I'm feeling sore but pretty good right now.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The value of tri magazines to us noobs

As a self coached tri noob, magazines are an invaluable source.of information. This week i've employed.twotraining techniques I picked up from these mags and so far they've proven themselves.to be brilliant ideas.

The first is the use of treadmills in speed training. Early in the week I missed my morning ride, got home too late to ride after work and didnt have a lot of time anyway. Then I remembered the story I had just read where a number of elite athletes discussed their use of treadmills, specifically I remembered a couple of athletes saying that the treadmill was great for short, sharp speed sessions, driving you to hit particular speeds.and to,keep your stride short and cadence up. So in that spirit I set myself a 5k time trial on the treadmill.

This was fantastic for a couple of reasons.

1. No drifting off and letting your speed slacken

2. No cheating by streching out my stride too far

3. I could see, and increase my speed at will.

So why is this great. Well speed is my major problem with running, distancee is coming along nicely but im stuck in a speed.rut, it like my body has decided that a 5:30 to 6:00 minute k is the fastest im going to do.

But on the treadmill I cansee that speed and withthe press of a little button make it faster. So starting at 10 kph (6 minute ks) I gradually drove ths up. 10.5 kph, 11 kph, 11.2, 11.5, 11.7, 12, 12.3, 12.5, 12.7, 13, 13.5...

I held 13.5 kph for the last 1.5 ks of my indoor timetrial.

So big deal, I ran fast on one treadmill session, so what. Well, the next day I went for a 'real' run. And im certain my body remebered that speed. Suddenly my average speed for 7ks out there on the road jumped 0.5 kph faster than ive ever managed before. Im convinced it was the speed session the previous.night that caused this.

So now the 5k time trial will be part of my weekly routine. It doesnt take long, doesnt hurt much, requires little recovery but has huge.payoffs.

I strongly recommend it as a workout for others.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Life and Training

Am I alone in this - that my life and my training is linked, when life is good, when everything is settled, training becomes easy and the little set backs liking waking to find your bike has a flat, getting ready for a run and discovering you forgot to recharge your MP3 player arent big deals and you push on.

But when life gets hard training gets hard.  When work stuff refuses to stay in its 9 to 5 box, when that big bill arrives out of the blue, when you and your family are still adjusting to a new way of life (like commuting between Melbourne and Newcastle and all the issues about not being there for your teenage daughter)  it takes bugger all to convince you that today isnt your day and how about we let this session slide.

Well, a review of my training diary over the fast four weeks has made it painfully clear I've drifted into that zone.  I kind of knew it had happened but it was really only when I went back and added up the k's I was running/swimming/riding before and after that it hit me in the forehead.

Well, I have been here before.  This is how I put on 30+ kilos over many years and never managed to shift it.  The key for me is the realization that the link between life and training is real and that it also works both ways.  Yeah, life can drag your training into the shitter with it, but training can pull your life out of there also.

I read an article recently that postulated that the single greatest difference between elite competers and we completers at the back of the field is mental strength. The ability to man up, take the pain and push on.  This applies in a race, in a training session, in a training season and in life.

Well right now my life is a little tough, all that means is that its time to man up.

So I'm off to the pool.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Paying my dues but a good test

I love riding to work. Yeah, sometimes its hard to get started but all in all when I'm on the road I can feel the fat burning, my heart pumping, my lungs expanding and my muscles driving - its an intensely physical thing and I get of the bike sore but invigorated.  Somedays though you have to pay your dues, today was that day.

It poured with rain the whole day, the wind swirled and gusted, the roads were slippery and in some cases sudden storms put the road under over 30cms (a foot in old person speak) under water.  In fact, in one place it was under about a meter (call it three and a bit feet) deep.

But I made it and actually the day turned into a pretty searching test of my latest purchase - some new tyres.

The Wilier came with Vredstein Fiammante Duo Comps.  A basic/entry level tyre but actually, like the Continental Ultra Sports that came with my Avanti (and reviewed here) , I actually really liked them.  In fact the had an enormous amount in common with the Ultra Sports.  The Fiammante's were fast, responsive, gave the bike an 'alive' feeling but were also fragile and short lived.  I reakon I got, maybe 2000k out of them.  Also, more than the Ultra Sports, the Fiammantes were relatively useless in the wet.  I never, really, felt confident on them.  So, when I got my second puncture in a week on the Fiammantes and saw the really squared off contact patch they were carrying I decided enough and ordered something new.

I've got Specialised Armadillo's on the Avanti now but to be frank I havent fallen in love with those tyres.  They arent bad, but they arent good either.  Yeah, they are tough but they feel like that toughness was achieved by just adding more and more layers of stuff until they were both a) unbreakable and b) great heavy sponges that suck the life out of the road.  So I wasnt going there again.  The obvious choice for the commuting I do are the Continental Gatorskins, or if I'm feeling a little more sporty the 4 Seasons.  Both these tyres are insanely popular, always test well and are the tyres of choice of many (perhaps all) of my mates.  However, my undying snobbishness always gets in the way of me doing the simple and sensible and I figured I could strike out from the pack again.  So I looked at both the Vredstein Fortezza Quattro and the Michelin Carbon Krylion (both Conti 4 Seasons equivalents).  Both were tested well and had good reps.  I chose the Michelins purely because I also wanted to test out a new supplier with a nice small, simple order before maybe committing to something bigger .

Anyway, while I will admit to being pretty tentative and cautious the new Michelins did great.  Despite being brand spanking new, still with a layer of protective silicon coating them these tyres were both wonderfully light and alive when I pushed it this morning while also being stable and grippy this afternoon in storms, standing water and slick train tracks and bridge expansion joints.  So, early days and more testing to come but so far the Michelins look really good.

PS. I bought the Michelins and a new seat through Bellatisport, a Swiss company that does a lot of Wilier and other exotic bikes at very reasonable prices.  Again, so far, so good.  My order was handled very smoothly and the delivery was perfect.  On the basis of this (yeah I know, one transaction) I'd recommend them and I will be using them again.



Monday, February 13, 2012

My times from the last event

Well Tomaree was a little quicker processing the times than back in September and I have a little more detail to add to yesterdays post.

My times were:

swim 9:14
ride 44:54
run 31:30
total 1:25:38

Looking at the times my gut feels were pretty right.  I was second out of the water but 6th out of T1.  That hurts.  My ride was solid, but not spectacular, as I thought I pretty much maintained by position, losing grip with the leaders but keeping the guys behind me at bay.  I will admit to being surprised that I lost almost 8 minutes to the leaders on the ride, on the other hand considering I was probably in T2 for about 30+ seconds and a little slow to start this means I was averaging about 30 kph whereas the leaders were riding at 36ish kph.  

Now, 36 kph was near enough to my speed in the Brighton tri but that was a more forgiving course and I was on the Wilier which is, in general, 2-4 kph faster than the Avanti in equivalent conditions.  But, more than anything I think I paid for not knowing my speed or having a target.  I thought that not having the Garmin along wouldnt hurt too much but now I know I was wrong.  KNOWING I need to be doing 35-36 to compete with the leaders and KNOWING my speed doesnt mean I'll magically start hitting a winning speed but it will sure increase the odds.  I am pretty confident that if I can remember to bring the Garmin next time and push to target I'm sure I could hold 32-33 kph.  Now that would that drop me to around 40 minutes for the ride, not winning yet but getting there.

Now the run. It was the disaster I figured it would be.  Now the real problem is that I was running at around 5 minute k's which is as fast as I've ever managed to run.  So in this instance if I want to get better here I've got to change something, because right now I'm hitting a wall.

More on this later.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

I survived another event

Well I got another tri under my belt today.  Nothing huge, just a little club event, but on the other hand its a useful step between my longest tri so far (a classic sprint of 750m/20k/5k) and the Olympic distance I'm shooting for in a few weeks.

First a little on my club.

My club (when I'm in Newcastle) is Tomaree Tri Club, a great little club based around Soldiers Point just north of Nelson Bay in NSW.  There are a couple of tri clubs in and around Newcastle and I'm sure there are great people in all of then but I chose (and recommend) Tomaree for one reason.  The swim course for its club tris.  Whereas all the other clubs in the region make do with pools for their swims, Tomaree has a truly gorgeous open water swim.  Its lovely.  

Anyway, the club runs an event each month in spring and summer.  Each event has a short and long course.  So far I've only done the short course at Tomaree, a 250m swim, an 11k ride, and a 3k run.  I did ok but wanted more.  I did that back in Sep 2011 and since then I've lost a bunch of weight (probably about 15kg), got fitter and done a full distance sprint so I was ready.

The long course is a slightly shorter than normal swim (about 500m) but then slightly longer than normal ride (22k) and run (6k).

So did that today and went pretty well.

As I discovered at my Gatorade tri, I'm a decent swimmer in a wetsuit.  As a result while there is a bunch of way better athlete's there than me I was second out of the water.  As usual I sucked in T1 and got passed by a bunch of people.  But on the ride I stabilized the damage, I got passed by 1 guy and I passed 1 guy, so all ok.  Actually not quite that great, I suspect a few others closed up on me without actually getting to pass.  And that all came home to roost on the run, again I was slow and again it cost me a bunch of spots and I tumbled backwards.

Still, this time my form was strong and all in all I am happy.  The swim was excellent, I still dont train enough but I'm getting though.    My ride was solid, I was down of the bars for 90% of the ride, I powered out of the corners and hills and kept up my cadence.  I need to get fitter and stronger but all in all ok.  My run sucked.  I need more speed.

Ok, so all this analysis is based on feel so far.  The club hasnt done the timings yet.  I'll post those when they come through.


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Travel.

Melbourne to Newcastle is near enough to 1000km. I have to walk to the shuttle, catch a shuttle to mlb airport, wait for a plane, fly 1000km, wait for a bus to newcastle from the airport, drive to newcastle, walk home. This whole trek takes five and a half hours. The hardest part is the wait for the bus into Newcastle.

So close but so far.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

A bad start to the week.

This week was always going to be another tough week for training. However, my apartment should have power, I should get on top of work, internet should be up at home by tuesday etc, so it was getting better.  The proverbial starter's pistol for this new week was to be an 0600 flight to melbourne getting me to work nice and early, post some quick runs, generate some momentum which I could carry through the week.

Well that didnt happen. Instead, I got up at 0300, walked 30 minutes in the rain to catch a 0415 bus to the airport for my 0600 flight only to find when I got to there the flight was cancelled. Not delayed, cancelled, dead, gone for all money, etc.

The airline instead bused us to Sydney, where I arrived at 0930, just in time to be told the earliest flight I could get was 1200.  That will see me at work by 1430.  I have to go, I will have to stay late, that probably means no training today, and another week starts badly.

Check tomorrow to see if I have the will power to push through this.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Getting back on the road

Well, a week of moving, unpacking, organizing power/water/hot water/ internet access etc etc has meant a week of bugger all training.  But I hit the road again today for the first time in 6 days.  A nice little run, 10ks and I was shocked at how fast I was and how good I felt afterwards.  I suppose I really should just consider this week as a taper and welcome the feeling of speed I've got.

This week has taught me one thing - my training and my diet are linked.  When my training falls away I've found my focus on my diet goes with it so an off week for me isnt just marked by little work,it probably also includes eating too much and eating the wrong stuff and generally going backwards at a rate of knots.

Ah well, lesson learned.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

A tough week for training.

This week has been a disaster for training. My first week of the melbourne-newcastle weekend commute, a busy week at work, moving into my apartment and then finding I have no power or hot water. All in all a tough week to carve out training time.  Still, I cant change the past, just learn from it.  So still six weeks to sparke-helmore and 18 to challenge cairns, so no need to panic.

Monday, January 16, 2012

A little more on my competition.

Well, its now clear I lost my timing chip sometime after the swim leg almost certainly in T1 as I didnt get a T1 time (so the chip didnt leave the area) but I got a time for the swim, 9:19 placing me 6th out of 50 odd in the 45-49 age group and 164th out of 1500.  Not to shabby.

So. Applying a little logic, guestimation and the odd assumption based on what the average times others took in transition and what I know from my bike computer and the time I saw crossing the line I'm guessing my times were sort of:

Swim. 9:19
T1  2:30
Ride 36:00
T2  1:30
Run 26:11

Assuming these are close enough to right my gut feel that my run is the weak link is borne out.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Competition. My first 'full' sprint.

Some quick details. This was a sprint tri held in Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne. It was my second tri ever, my first at this distance and my first 'big' event. I've written more than I planned so I'll break the report into 2 parts. Part 1 - my performance. Part 2 - the event.

Part 1 - My Performance.

Preparation. Well it started OK but quickly fell away. I was up nice and early, got everything ready and was on the road in plenty of time. Driving through Melbourne early on a Sunday morning is pretty easy and so I got to the race venue with plenty of time to spare. As a result I had plenty of time to rue forgetting both the bidons I'd taken off the bike last night, filled with sports drink and carefully put (and then left) in the fridge. Bugger. Still, as it turned out this wasnt that much of a drama. My new tri club was giving out bidons to new members (score!) and there was a drinking water dispenser so I was in business.

Apart from that everything else was pretty routine. I got into my gear with time to spare thanks to the guys from mtc for helping me do up my wetsuit (did I buy a size too small? I worry its too tight). I was at the beach 15 minutes before my wave listening to the pa guy patter wondering if I would ever get to swim. One thing I remember him saying was to check the timing chips were on properly, I wish I'd listened to that more carefully!!! Anyway after what felt like hours of waiting suddenly I was off and wondering where the time went.

Swim. I have never really needed a warm up when swimming, my body just drops into the routine and off we go. And so it was today. To be honest the conditions sucked, it was windy generating a fair surface chop but underlying that were were relatively strong waves driving you off course if you weren't careful. For a few minutes this had me worried. And my wetsuit felt odd (really, is it too small?), but then I saw I was out on my own, but in a good way. I'd opened up a little gap on most of my wave and appeared to be doing comparatively well. Despite constant course checks and corrections I soon caught people from the wave before me and I really started to feel good (perhaps this wetsuit is the right size). Turning for the return leg was not as satisfying as I had hoped. I'd half expected a bit of a surf back to the beach but alas no, while the chop was easier it wasn't exactly helpful either. As it was however I got out of the water OK and ready for the ride.

T1. I didn't do this well. It annoys me that I put all this effort into passing people in the water and then then breeze past me in:

a. The run up the beach.
b. The actual transition area.
c. The run out to the mounting area.

Seriously, I really have to do better here.

Ride. Well I didn't fall off when trying to mount so I did better than a bunch of others but that's a pretty low bar. All I really wanted to do was not shame my bike. That's sounds a bit silly, but basically with my new Wilier Imperiele I should be significantly faster than the Avanti Giro I rode in my previous tri. In that race, which like this one was on a basically flat course with some rollers and a gentle headwind in one direction and obviously a little tailwind the other way, I averaged around 26 kph for 10 k's. I also note that I was 12 kg lighter and a fair bit fitter by today as well. So broadly I was hoping to average 30 kph or better for 20 k's. Today I averaged 36 kph, only occasionally dipping under 30 kph on some of the hills and occasionally hitting 48 kph on the down slopes. Frankly I could have gone a lot faster downhill but I was hitting the average speed I had targeted, I was only occasionally getting overtaken and then by people way more serious than me so I let the gears spin out and gave my legs a rest before the run.  All in all I couldn't have hoped for better.  Oh, and I maintained form pretty much the whole race, the only times I dropped out of the aero position were the tight corners at the ends of the course and when standing in the climbs so all in all more happiness.

T2. Learning my lesson from T1 I pushed harder through here and did better but an important lesson here, speedplay pedals are great for riding, they suck at running.

Run. One word, slow! First I misread the course and believed I had 2 laps to run so went out easy and was getting really disheartened when the turn around I believed was just 1.2k from the start simply wouldn't come. Then I saw the 2k sign and quickly figured out my mistake. Clearly I was doing better than I'd feared, this freed up my mind more than anything and I started running easier. But all in all it was slow. Worse, I finished feeling great making we think I had left way to much in the tank. I need to step up my training with running to get used to more speed as I have the fitness, rather it seems my legs and head have just locked themselves into a plod that is safe but a lot less than I'm capable of.

Overall. Well lets start with the bad. Somewhere out on the course I lost my timing chip so I didn't officially finish. That's OK really. It wasn't an ironman, there was no finishing t shirt and at the moment I'm still more of a completer than a competer and I know I finished, I ran under that bloody arch, but still its annoying. Worse, I don't have good split times. I can guess my swim, the bike computer gives me good data but I'm really just guessing on T times and the run. That's a real pain.

Another lesson.  take care of that stuff in the event.  A few seconds to check timing chips, numbers etc can save an entire event.

Anyway, the good. Finishing is never going to be an issue for a sprint tri again. This might sound silly to those readers completing iron events but this was my second tri ever and first 'full' distance sprint event, finishing and knowing I can finish any event like this is a big deal to me a will let me approach future events a lot more aggressively. The swim, despite terrible conditions was good, that wetsuit may still be half a size to small but it really helps and I'm so glad I have it. The ride was way better than I could have hoped for. The run, well, I need to do more of those intervals and tempo runs the magazines say but lets not overlook it was still quite possibly the fastest 5k I've ever run.

So, I'm pumped, I'm happy and I cant wait for the next one.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Competition. A nervous night.

I am anything but a hardened pro at this triathlon lark.  In fact I am only one sleep away competing in just my second ever triathlon.  And this one is totally unlike my first.

That first, wonderful, triathlon was a little club event with about 50 competitors in a sleepy little town just north of Newcastle.  There was no pressure, the officials were able to provide enormous encouragement and patience to this newbie while other competitors were keen to see their new club member enjoy the experience.  Tomorrow will be very different.  The Gatorade series of tri's are big events and it really only struck me today at registration.  Yeah, that was the first surprise, registration the day before the event.  All the stickers, the timing chip, multiple wave starts etc are so different.  And worse, turning up to an event knowing nobody, having no support and just hoping I can muddle my way through is just a little daunting.

In fact it became so daunting I've joined a second tri club.  Is that legal? Dunno but I did it.  So now I belong to Tomaree Tri Club back home in NSW, and Melbourne Tri Club here in, you guessed it, Melbourne.  I picked Melbourne last week purely on the basis that they are big enough to run a support tent at every Gatorade event and help me as I find my feet.  I'm certain that as I get a few of these under my belt and the mystery evaporates it will all be a lot easier but right now I'm glad I'm not alone.

As for the actual racing? To be honest I feel pretty good.  I still havent done near enough swimming but I'm confident I can splash my way through 750m while the ride and run should be pretty routine.  I havent got goal times for anything yet.  My last tri was some months ago and half this distance but since then I've got a lot stronger, fitter and 13kg lighter so while I am feeling confident I dont know enough to even guess at likely/possible times.

Well, wish me luck, tomorrow I promise a race report and some lessons and new goals.


Friday, January 13, 2012

A shout out to Felicity

I barely knew Felicity. She worked with my wife as a midwife and was a friend of my wife's not mine. But what I knew was impressive.

As a young indigenous girl growing up in regional Australia her prospects werent good. But despite this she refused to be bound down, to be limited by the expectations of others. She got a job, she studied for her nursing degree, got it, then studied for her midwifery qualifications and got those. By all reports she was an excellent nurse and midwife. Felicity was also an excellent person to work with, while she wasnt my collegue I know I will always be grateful she swapped shifts with my wife on Christmas day giving us a special day to remember. A small gesture but the sort of small thing that reveals good people.

Then Felicity was murdered. Killed by her husband in one of those tragic, stupid, senseless murder/suicides we hear about but which never quite seem real.

Her murderer was everything Felicity was not. Again an indigenous kid growing up where its tough to be that, but this one apparently accepting the norms of society. He had a go at being a sports star but when that didnt work he continued to type taking up drinking, bits and pieces of work, hunting and shooting. He couldnt see worth for himself outside a narrow set of expectations and fatally, couldnt accept that his wife could either.

So he murdered her.

This is so sad for everyone involved, especially Felicity's two daughters, how do you mourn parents when one is murdered by the other? However, if they can be inspired by their mother, and seek to be the best they can be and can keep safe then at least there is hope.

Felicity, I barely knew you but I will miss you.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Moving on.

Well its moving day. Not entirely sure how long Ill be living out of suitcases but between work and training I cant afford to get stuck with stuff I need so the car has to have anything I might need for work, training, competition and occasionally doing something not tri related. So thats what im ready for.

Anyway, I could do the drive from newcastle to melbourne in a single day, thats about 950ks and would take about 11 hours (as I have to drive all the way around sydney). But I dont want to.  Its a horrible way ro spend a day and I feel like crap when its all over. So Im taking two days and breaking the drive in two.  So Ive stopped in Gundagai at a lovely little b&b and even got in a quick 10k run through the countryside.  A much nicer way to travel.



Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Training. Swimming - the least favored session

I grew up as a swimmer, my earliest childhood memories are of early mornings, chlorine, and always feeling wet (wet hair, water in ears, wet towel in school bag, and worst of all wet pants when you forgot to pack underwear and had to where the swimming suit from the morning session for underwear).

I was once able to complete 5 to 6 k sessions in a canter.  A 1k warm up was pretty normal.  At my very best I was somewhere around the top ten in the country for my favored event (50 m freestyle) getting it all done in under 23.5 seconds.  Well that was back in the day, and now is now.

Today I did my first swim session in a while and it wasnt pretty.  The session was basically:

Warm-up.  400 free, 100 brst

Main Set.   10 x 50 free @ 80% on 1:15 interval.
(averaged completion in 42-44 s per 50)

Dev Set. 4 x 100.  alternate kick/pull

Cool Down. 100m free, drills.

While it felt crap I did stick to plan and I'm confident I'm ready for the 750m swim I have on Sunday and pretty sure I'll be ready for the 2k swim in June, but the 1500m in March feels at risk.  I so need to get back into a regular swimming regime.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Locking in my (half) ironman plans

A couple of weeks ago I set my triathlon goals for 2012.  Some of this was locked in (the Sparke Helmore Olypmic Distance) but the big one, the 2:80:20 for Challenge Cairns was in the wind.  Well I decided to take the plunge, register and commit the cash for the entry.  So $270 spent and I feel pretty committed now.

This is almost a year earlier than the good books and writers I respect say I should be attempting something like a half ironman but I'm feeling strong, lean and I have a solid (and very importantly, achieveable) plan so I really do believe I'm going to be ok.

This blog will be part of the discipline I will need to achieve this safely.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Fuelling the Engine - 1. Getting it Wrong and a Lesson

I love my steak. Thats ok, tri training actually needs heaps of protein so usually I dont feel guilty but last night it all went wrong. What was the problem? Portion control!

While I love my steak, my local butcher (yeah its part of a chain prime quality meats - but they are reasonably priced, grow their own, hormone free and it tastes great) has cheap, but great quality, waygu rump. This is a trap and I fell for it. Two massive bits of meat and I felt like I was having a little waygu baby. Whether I did much damage to my diet or not I felt like crap all night.

The lessons?

1. Do not buy more than you should eat.

2. If its a sale and you really have to buy extras, freeze the excess immediately, DO NOT COOK IT!

Some of you may have the willpower to ignore these rules, I dont and I just got a nasty reminder of that weakness.

Well, a quick, unscheduled hour ride was added to my training this morning to compensate. Was this effective? Was it needed? Am I becoming a little obsessive? Dont know the answers to the first two questions yet but I suspect the answer to the last is yes.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Spur of the moment triathlon entry

What better way to reboot after christmas than with an event?  I'm moving to Melbourne next Wednesday, checked out whats going on down there that weekend, found a triathlon on and decided what the hey? and entered.

Should be fun.  I'll fill you in on how I go.

Oh, its race three in the Gatorade Series in Brighton.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Being scary in the gym

School holidays, especially when I'm also on holidays is a weird time for exercise. My normal routines are broken and I have to do find exercise where I can.  Today was supposed to be a ride and a run - like I was ever going to find time for that with my wifes and kids expecting time during holidays.

So we went to the gym.

Thats ok, but I have a lot of work to do.    I'm getting fitter so getting my heart rate up means I hit the machines pretty hard pushing quite high resistances and speeds.  What I noticed is that while everyone else was being almost genteel, barely sweating, and watching their videos, checking out their emails etc I was working my arse off.

I also noticed that I made others uncomfortable.  I was sweating like a pig, I was breathing really hard, when I high the hardest point of the 'climb' I was straining to keep pace.  Apparently this isnt how one works out.  A little space opened around me as people on the machines around me jumped ship as soon as they could.  It was really odd.

So right now there are probably all these pretty young things laughing about the funny/scary old man in the gym today.  Ah well, its a cross I can bear.


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Buying my dream

One of the worst things about triathlon is that it tends to be very gear focussed. Of course, there are compensations, and one of the best things about triathlons is all the gear. Sounds like a contradiction and it is, but whether the gear thing is a plus or a minus really comes down to where you happen to be at the time. Been working your arse off, losing weight, getting strong and have a little spare cash then that new helmet, tyres, suit etc can really cap off all the hard work for little real outlay and let you enjoy a little retail therapy.

On the other hand sometimes it feels like there is no gear that can help, or worse, that there is stuff out there you really need (like the new Shiv Crowie rode to victory in Kona) but cant afford. The idea that there is something out there that you need to make that pb breakthrough and that that is the only thing missing in your preparation is so seductive that it can be hard to resist. Worse, knowing there is gear out ther that will make us faster but also knowing its out of reach can lure us into thinking we cant improve and lead to some learned helplessness. I've experienced this before. Photography, the hobby I've been neglecting of late, has the same trap. Those periods where your creative juices have run out or you just cant be bothered finding out how to make the stuff you have work and its easier to lust after gear.

Anyway, thats why I generally try and steer clear of having lists of dream gear or long and never to be afforded wishlists at Wiggle or Pro Bike Kit.

But I needed something - no really I really NEEDED something. The bike I had was perfectly ok, I didnt need to upgrade, but with my part move to Melbourne during the week and weekend commute home to newcastle I needed bikes for training and competition in both places. So with the broad need established it was then time to go shopping.

So, what were my parameters;

1. I was congratulating myself for losing so much weight so I gave myself a bigger budget than my first bike, about $2500.

2. I was keen to move to a carbon framed bike and hoped I could get Shimano Ultegra running gear.

3. Something a little different would be nice.

So the search began and I quickly found some really interesting bikes for sale and started to narrow down on two bikes in particular, the Pinarello FP2 or the Wilier Izoard XP (I've linked to Port Melbourne Cycles because they were the first place I found these bikes, I dont know if these guys are good, bad or indifferent so dont take it as a recommendation). Of these the Wilier reallt attracted my attention.

1. It was pretty close to my budget.

2. It is carbon, has Ultegra (granted a previous version) running gear. And

3. Is pretty unusual.

In fact, I'd never even heard of the company so I started doing some research. First I found the Izoard got rave reviews across the net and Wilier has a pretty good rep for a variety of bikes. As I did more research I started looking up the food chain of Wilier bikes. Before I knew it I was looking at the Cento, seriously trying to justify spending more for a Granturismo and dreaming for the bike that really suited me for my training/tri aspirations, the Imperiale. Like I said earlier, having a dream bike/camera/car is always dangerous, the Izoard was still a better bike than I was a rider and while the Imperiale was lovely, perhaps even perfect, for me I could never afford it, after all these were selling for $6000 or more in Australia so it was never going to happen.

But then something weird happened. I found a shop selling an XL Imperiale with a Campagnolio Chorus groupset and Camppagnolio Zonda wheels for just $4000. Why the bargain? Apparently the integrated seat post had been cut for a previous customer who never came back for it and no the shop just couldnt find a buyer. So what to do, my dream bike, not something I was settling for, not something that was nice but not quite what I wanted, my actual dream bike in near as dammit ideal configuration was being offer to me at a 30% or more discount, just $1200 over my budget. Well I figured, I still didnt know if the bike would fit me so I thought that there's no harm in at least trying it out for size. So a 5 hour drive to Goulburn to visit Greengrocer Cycles who were selling the bike was planned. Well bugger me if the bike didnt fit perfectly. So there I was with a decision to make. Buy my dream or let it go, stick to plan, get a perfectly satisfactory bike and save$1500?

Well, I've spent most of my life not buying my dream, settling, making do. Well not this time! I bought the Imperiale. I have my dream bike. And I love it. It hasnt made me a better cyclist but it has made me a happier one, and thats not a bad outcome.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

2012 Training Outline

Following on from my last post, so whats the plan?

Well, so far I've basically followed the plans laid out for training in the Joel Friel book Your First Triathlon and Matt Fitzgerald in Racing Weight. These are great books, not only do they provide a great training/eating plan but they also provide a broader perspective which allows you the ability to modify the plans they give you to fit into your life. I'm still using the Matt Fitzgerald book but I need more than Friels first tri tome. I have Joel Friels follow-up, The Triathletes Training Bible and while its certainly given me even more info that I've built into a training program I've tried to build a comprehensive program but keep getting caught up into much detail and falling in a heap.

But just as I was wondeering what direction to take one of the magazines I subscribe to, 220 triathlon, came to the rescue in their dec 2011 edition. They provided a 20 week traing program for rookies preparing for their first ironman. Given im a rookie and im preparing for a half ironman in about 23 weeks well it seemed close enough for government work and im using it as the basis of my training moving forward.

So, I have the beginnings of a program, what other rules will I apply? In short I have the following.

1. Program starts on sunday 15 jan.

2. There are 9 'core' sessions a week (3 run, 3 swim, 3 ride).

3. I may replace 1 core session a week with gym work. I may add 1 extra session a week in the gym.

4. Try to not run two days in a row.

5. A ride to and from work equals ONE ride session.

6. I will program a forth ride session but may drop 1 session without a catchup required.

Also, there is another consideration. For the next two years I will we commuting between melbourne (where I work during the week) and newcastle (where my family will be living). I will generally fly home to newcastle on fridays and return to melbourne on Mondays.

So broadly, this is the plan.

Monday. Rest (possible catchup)

Tuesday. Ride (to and from work), swim.

Wednesday. Ride (to and from work), run.

Thursday. Ride (to and from work), swim.

Friday. Run.

Saturday. Long ride, swim.

Sunday. Long run.