Commitment to Training...FOUND!

It was tough to get out of bed this morning. 
The alarm went off at 4:45 am for the third morning in a row.
My running gear was neatly laid out beside the bed.
In bed it was cosy and warm.
I could hear the rain beat against the window.
I think i'm starting to feel a bit coldy / fluey.
Maybe i should rest.
I've had quite a few good training sessions this week.
I could have the morning off.

NO...GET UP! 

Hang on, what was that noise, was that thunder.
Surely i couldn't run if there was thunder and lightning about.

NO...you're hearing things...GET UP!

OK...i'm out of bed...GO!

Gear on, standing at the front door...
Waiting for the Garmin to locate satellites...
It's raining...
It looks cold...
I'm still dry...
I could go back to bed...
I'll make up for it tonight...

Satellites located...GO!! 

Off into the cold, dark, wet, Melbourne morning i went...
And loved it!!

For me, this stage of the off season is about getting km's in the legs and making getting up before 5 am a habit.

Today, I won!

Bike Rollers.... If Siri can make an omelette while on them, surely i can just ride on them!

It's like i don't know how to ride a bike and have to learn again!!!

A mate of mine was down sizing his apartment, and had no room to keep his rollers, so offered them to me.  Apparently they're good for you bike handling and general cycling skills, balance, etc, so i thought i'd look after them for him.

How hard could it be...apparently you can make an omelette whilst cycling on rollers.  (well Norwegian pro-cyclist Siri Minge can anyway!)  

Well... Last night was go time... me, my trusty Avanti and the rollers...

Ok, so where was i going to set this "funniest home video in the making" up?? A ha, rumpus room, beside the couch, on carpet...soft landing all around! Winning!!

Nup...the carpet too soft, the rollers were rubbing... 

So here i am walking around firstly the house and then the backyard, looking for something that was at the perfect height, so i could hold onto it with one hand and the handle bars, the other.  Outside beside the kids cubby house was the winner...

First off i thought i'd just ride in sneakers - why would i want my feet attached to the bike when i suspected there was a high potential i was going to come seriously unstuck! Nah, that was no good, pedal stroke was off...so proper clip-in shoes it was!

Once i got sorted, i happily managed to keep my cadence in the 90-100 region for twenty minutes.  At the start there was more hanging onto the cubby house than two hands on the bars, but after a while i started to hold the bars for a couple of seconds before i started to lean too much and needed the support.  It was a pretty frustrating ten minutes, and i reckon i know what kids go through learning without training wheels!!

But by the end of the session, i had managed to relax and ride a couple of stints of a minute or so without any support, so i'm thinking that could be considered a successful first roller outing!!

Once i got sorted, my heart rate was in the 140-150 bpm range, so I'm thinking for endurance workouts the rollers may be a better bet than the turbo trainer. But the turbo will definitely have a place for the balls to the wall sessions that are The Sufferefest!

Why am I training, and why have i entered an Ironman....Putting it all into perspective!

I read an interview with successful triathlon coach Brett Sutton on First Time Ironman (firsttimeironman.com) Linky Here and i thought i'd share his answer to the first question...

Thank you for taking the time out to chat with us.   Your training philosophy has been called different to a lot of other coaches in the sport, could you explain the core principles that have made you such a successful coach?

My philosophy is very simple there is no difference between a pro and an age grouper. Its just the time one has to train, and the speed at which one goes. Everything else is the same.

So we first need to work out if you’re a pro, or you’re an over exuberant age grouper, or someone that is doing the sport for the benefits that the three interconnecting sports can provide us with. In enhancing our life style, all three are very different . Somehow triathlon has grown as all three are one and the same under the life style heading 

This is very misleading to the participants themselves. We have life stylers thinking they are pros, we have age groupers who act out their life as pros to the detriment of those around them and we have those who do the sport for its health benefits.

Our philosophy is to look as a life coach at each athlete’s circumstance then manufacture a program that enhances their abilities with in that frame work. We do that from a nicola spirig, down to the slowest age grouper. The philosophy stays the same.

This got me thinking...

Firstly, why do i (triathlon) train?

Secondly, why did i enter Ironman?

Thirdly, which of Brett's groups do i fit into?

So, why do i train?? 

A few years back i realised that between the ages of 28 and 38, i'd put on 1 kg each year - i know...massive! Yeah, not really, but i could see a trend starting which i knew i needed to arrest.  So i started running a little more regularly.  I'd always jogged and rode my bike for a bit of fun, but thought i should get a bit more serious.  Soon i realised that my knees couldn't handle too much running.  I'd done some tri's in my distant past - why not give that a crack again... So, yep...GO!!

Over the past few years i've done a handful of fun runs - longest being a 28k trail run, and a few triathlons - most notably 2 Olympic distance races.  

This leads perfectly into the next question...

Why did i enter Ironman??

There's a number of reasons i decided to enter an IM...some valid / some not...

• because it's there
• growing up loved watching Mark Allen and Dave Scott at Hawaii
• inspired by this year's "everyday people" competitors
• do it now while my knees still allow the training km's required
• life can only get busier
• i enjoy swimming / cycling / running
• the challenge
• and it doesn't hurt for the kids to see me being active

Notice that i haven't entered for such reasons as:

• break x hours
• qualify for Kona

They are valid reasons...but they're not for me.

So, which of Brett Sutton's groups do i fit onto??

We have life stylers thinking they are pros, we have age groupers who act out their life as pros to the detriment of those around them and we have those who do the sport for its health benefits.

I fit well and truly into the third group - i do the sport for its health benefits!  

I need to remember this, and not get sucked into the second group...

I can and will get up early on the weekend to do my long runs and rides, leaving the rest of the day free. 

And I will train, before and after work, during the week when commitments allow.

But what i won't do is worry if I miss a training session...

My family comes first!

The people you meet...

This morning i dropped my car off at the car dealer to get serviced and ran back to the cafe near Jamesy's school to meet Claire and Em for a coffee, followed by a walk home.

Apart from the fact it was about 5 degrees (i really need running gloves - my hands are still frozen as i write this!!) it was a great, albiet short, run.

The majority of the run was along the Kananook Creek Trail, which on the adjacent map is the section running south to north adjacent to the beach.  The trail follows the creek along what is essentially a sand ridge between the beach and the swamp and as i discovered this morning is a favourite haunt of the Oldies for their morning walks!!

It was a cold and foggy morning, with the general friendly conversation with everyone you passed being something along the lines of "gee, it's cold" with the reply of "yeah, but at least it's not raining".  One conversation went beyond this.

As i was running past Seaford Railway Station, say g'day to old mate, he replies with "lovely morning, what's MPTC stand for?", to which i reply "Mornington Peninsula Triathlon Club".  He went on to tell me how he'd have loved to have had triathlon in his day, it would have saved him from the monotony of just training for and racing marathons - but he continues, the road trips to compete interstate were pretty amazing fun.

Oh, and his parting advice... Look after your knees!! (Cheers mate, i'm all over that one!)

Even though this was a 20 second conversation, as we crossed paths, his face seemed to light up and he told his story, and remembered events past.

For me, today was one of those, it's all about your journey not your destination, days!

Puffing Billy Great Train Race & Where I'm At...

There hasn't been much training happening over the past few weeks, mostly due to sickness. I'm figuring there's no use busting myself while I'm still a fair way from the Melbourne Marathon and IM Melbourne.

Oh yeah, did I mention I entered Melbourne Marathon, figured I should know what a marathon feels like before the IM.

Anyway, the past few weeks I've been trying to develop a training program leading up to IM Melbourne.

Between now and then I've pretty much decided to do a minimal number of events and just focus on 226km next March! So the lead up is:

Melbourne Marathon

Noosa Olympic Distance Triathlon

Challenge Melbourne 1/2 IM

IM Melbourne

My program is being developed by the guidelines presented in Joe Friel's "The Triathlete'sTraining Bible", and I'm fairly happy with where it's at - but I guess time will tell.

So back to the current... Last Sunday was Puffing Billy's Great Train Race. The idea behind this race is the runners race a hundred year old steam train through 13.2 km of twisty hill roads. A number of runners beat the train, which depending upon conditions takes between about 50 and 57 minutes.

For mine, it's a brilliant run with a couple of challenging climbs and some fast down hill stretches. If you know how to run fast down hill you can make up some some serious time!!

I went into the race seriously under prepared, having done less than 80 km of flat running since injuring my ankle in January.

Come race day, it was a cool, overcast day - perfect conditions! I managed to get around the course in a PB, but really struggled uphill. 

Over the last week I've managed to run every second day, so I'm pretty happy with that. Although I'm still only training for fun and fitness at present, I know that over the next few weeks it need to get more serious and start to build my long sessions in the pool, on the bike and on the path....

See you out there :)