Graham's Surf Coast Century in Pictures...

Watching others undertake crazy adventures, is what drives me to continue on my path to craziness.  And not just the actual event, but also the training.

With the advent of "social training media" such as Garmin Connect, Strava, run keeper, etc, i can keep track of what my crazy friends are doing, whilst i do similar.

At present i've got friends training for marathons, and all sorts of triathlons...

But at present the Captain Crazy Award goes to a good mate of mine, Graham Whittaker, who over the weekend competed in the Surf Coast Century 100km trail run.

Linky to race details --->>> CLICK HERE 

It's a run through along the Surf Coast beaches and through the near coastal parts of the Otway Ranges, linky to the course --->>> CLICK HERE 

To quote from the website... 
 

The Surf Coast Century will lead competitors through an incredibly diverse range of beautiful landscapes across the complete 100km... from running below towering ocean sea cliffs to weaving between towering tree ferns, competitors will run past lighthouses, waterfalls, scenic lookouts, renowned surf beaches (heard of Bells?), surf life saving clubs, remote wilderness and almost everything in between. This will be a 100km journey where no two footsteps are the same.

Graham has never ran a 100km ultramarathon before, his previous longest run was the 56k Two Bays Trail Run. And it's fair to say that this year he smashed it!

And Graham being the kind, giving person that he is decided to raise money to help a local (to Graham) Ipswich boy Blaise, who is suffering from Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy --->>> CLICK for more info or to donate to Blaise.

I could go into heaps of detail about the race, or i could just post pictures. Because as all runners will know you can tell a lot about how someone is going physically, mentally, emotionally just by their running form and expression.

So, on with the show!!

If you need to wait somewhere for the runners, looking from Point Addis toward Bells Beach & Torquay isn't too bad a spot!

Entering the 10k checkpoint at Point Addis.

And you thought the rocks were fun...welcome to the world famous Bells Beach, here's some soft sand!

No Graham, you can't go for a surf until you've run another 85k...

Leaving Bells Beach...

Graham and fellow BTR runner Michelle, playing up to the cheering crowd at Torquay, about 21km in.

Thumbs up! 21k down, 79k to go... 

On the trail above Bells Beach, about 27k down.

Damn it's hard work sitting in the sun watching and waiting...

Little creek crossing at Anglesea, approaching half way...Graham charges through, while the bloke behind looks a little sceptical...

Creek crossed...thumbs up - all good!

49k checkpoint done, let's go!!

70k down, and getting stuck into some AmazeBalls!

Powering out of the 77km checkpoint... Mentally strong, physically...hmm...well mentally strong!

86k down, heading into Airey's Inlet, hurting but still positive. Graham was starting to doubt whether he'd go sub 12...

92k down, struggling down the hill onto the beach. The second he saw the tide was outgoing and hard sand awaited, he was happy (in a thank god it's not soft sand sort of way!)

How far to go...5km! The end is nigh!!

Just in case you missed it...that's 95k down, 5k to go!

Finishing chute...enough said!

Emotional overload...what a day!

And DONE!!!...Happy...Shattered...

Well done mate, a great run and i was glad i could be part of it!!

A Relaxing Weekend In Lorne ... Alternative Title - Damn Those Hills Are BIG!!

This weekend just passed was that time of year, when cyclists of all abilities descend on Lorne to race 110 km (or ride - depending upon your goal) along the Great Ocean Road, and the Otway Ranges to raise money and awareness for cycling safety, in the name of The Amy Gillett Foundation.

For those of you who are unaware of the Amy Gillett Foundation...this line is a link...CLICK IT!!

Those of you who have been long-term listeners of my ramblings may remember that I got gastro en-route to this event last year, and instead of racing spent the weekend in bed.  Fortunately, this year was a happier trip!

So as is our way, Friday after work / school / kids' swimming lessons, we set off on a family weekend away to Lorne.  We stayed in an apartment on the main street of Lorne, so we were never too far from the activities.

Saturday morning I had a little sleep in before heading out for a run.  I think i missed the memo which said that this weekend was only about cycling...

So i donned my trusty Vibrams and set off. The run was a mix of beach (sand with a few rocky sections), boardwork, graded undulating gravel tracks and a bit of a mid run hill climb. The hill was about 700 m with an average grade of about 7%, up a muddy, grassy path. I didn't know that ground that steep could get that wet! But ankle deep mud in the Vibrams was kind of cool and it gave me an excuse to head home via the creek, to clean then!!

For those that know Lorne, here's a screen shot of where i went...

And here's a pic of my muddy shoes (which afterwards got hosed down, and are still drying) and my Garmin...riveting stuff, i know!!

 

After breaky and stuff we went to find coffee, and play in the park. That was closely followed by the kids playing multiple board games, because 1 board game at at time just isn't challenging enough!

Ok, back to the reason where here... Amy's Gran Fondo!

Prior to the race, is the mandatory race briefing and number / race pack collection.  The race for the door after the briefing, and subsequent avoidance of the long queue, is almost as hotly contested as the race!!

As all endurance athletes know, the key to a great race, is carbo-loading.  Well, as most of us are also aware, a lot of holiday accommodation doesn't cater for preparation of massive meals.  This pan was full, of chicken and veges, before the pasta was even thought of!!

And of course, you can't actually compete in an event of any type without laying out your gear the night before and posting a photo of it on your chosen form of social media.

Oh, and just for the record, the beer was last minute carb loading ;)

I got up early on race morning, wandered down the street to find coffee and was greeted by this sunrise...which was nothing short of amazing!

As the start time approached, i gathered up my awesome support crew...

...and wandered toward the start.

In accordance with the Rules of the Velominati, gear on the bike is limited to two frame mounted water bottles (i think the little under seat baggy may have contravened the rules though). With the remainder of my gear jammed into the jersey pockets....rain jacket, nutrition for 120km, extra nutrition in case i drop stuff, pump, phone... It's amazing how much crap you can fit in 3 pockets!!

Ok...bike ride.  Everyone who has driven along the Great Ocean Rd will know how spectacular it is...

So, once the ride began, i was faced with two options:

1 - sit on the wheel of the cyclist in-front of me, and try and hang on in a peloton for 110 km. OR

2 - ENJOY THE VIEW!!

Easy call really!

The ride itself, as shown on the map below, starts in Lorne and travels about 40 km along the undulating, winding coastal road. This section of the route is just awesome - some of the most spectacular roads you will ever travel along, and NO cars!!

I knew that at 38.5 km, we would be turning right and heading up. The whole way along this stretch of road, the cliff to your right is quite steep. In fact on more than one occasion i was wondering how the hell we were going to find a way up the hill!

But right on cue, there it was...the climb. There was no easing into, it was go... pretty much 5% from start to finish. There were a few flatter sections, but none to really give you too much of a chance to relax...

For the data freaks out there, the climb from Skenes Creek to Skenes Creek North is as follows:

• 9.52 km
• 491 vertical m
• average grade 5.2%

As far as climbs go, i found it quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, i had stomach cramps not long after the start of the climb, so thought i'd better try and climb with a reduced heart rate. 

But, i'm still pretty happy with the climb:

• 42min 20 seconds
• ave speed 13.5 km/hr
• ave HR 148
• ave power 180W (estimated by Strava)

The ride then continues across the ridge line for another 7 km or so, before dropping down the back of the range...The next 20 km was all downhill and i did it no faster than the flats... 

I CAN'T DESCEND!!!

After the major descent, the next 25 km, were flat / undulating.  That was fun again. I mostly rode solo, occasionally catching a group and then jumping off the front trying to drag them along...just for a bit of fun, but no-one was really playing ;) Still jumping off the front of packs is was a great workout!

The other major climb is from Deans Marsh up to Benwerrin. This climb starts near the 100 km mark.  I did this climb earlier in the year, so i knew what i was in for.  Overall, it's a longer climb that the first one, but doesn't have anywhere near as much gain. It also has several areas of flat and downhill - neither of which existed on the first climb!

The data on this climb is:

• 12.1 km
• 262 vertical m

My details (and the details from my previous attempt are:

• 46 min 40 sec (April 49:15)
• ave speed 15.7 kph (April 14.8 kph)
• ave HR 144 bpm (April 157 bpm)

As i mentioned earlier, the Climb started after 100 km this ride, having already climbed Skenes Creek Hill.  In April the climb started after about 73 km of relatively flat riding.

I was pretty happy with this climb, and think that my cycling fitness and strength has improved markedly in the last 6 months.

I'm also very happy with my nutrition / hydration / electrolyte plan - at no stage did i feel low on energy or cramp.

As i sit here and write this (the day after) my quads and calves are a little sore, but that also may have been the run on Saturday...

Hopefully, in the next 12 months i'll learn to descend, and come back and give the top 25% of my Age Group a shake, and get one of those medals!!

So to every cyclist out there...YOU NEED TO DO THIS RIDE!

And to every non-cyclist out there...YOU NEED TO GET A BIKE, GET FIT & DO THIS RIDE!!

204 days to go...Mental Note To Self!!!

Mental note to self:

You're 40, and have been running again (well, not really again as there wasn't a before)... you've been running for about 3 years and HALF OF THAT YOU'VE BEEN INJURED!

You got back into triathlon because you couldn't run as much as you wanted.

You can't train (run) as much as your mates who are training for marathons and ultras.

You don't need to train (run) as much as your mates who are training for marathons and ultras.

Your 42.2km will be a jog (with a high probability of sections of walking) to finish an Ironman NOT a stand alone marathon.

Your long run doesn't need to be a weekly 3-4 hour run. You read somewhere that Dave Scott (Ironman legend) didn't do a long run in excess of 24km - so why the hell should you!.

Your best chance of an *enjoyable* day, is to get off the bike and be able to run. To achieve this GET SWIM / BIKE STRONG!

You need only worry about your run form and consistency, running training is cumulative, cycling helps your running.

And you are allowed to do high intensity run sessions - BUT only if your legs feel fresh!! 

If you run enough with correct form and avoid injury (and even finish your long run with an hour or so spinning on the trainer) YOU WILL BE READY!!

DON'T RISK MORE INJURY!!!

The best laid plans...

Just a bit of a catch-up on what's been going down...

Those who have been taking notes, will know that I've been struggling with a knee injury of late.  I could use heaps of TLAs (and even some FLAs) to give a name to what's going on. Or I could just say that it appears my knee cap isn't tracking straight and there may be some crap under my knee which is getting aggravated   This has apparently been brought on by weak quad muscles, and exacerbated by tight calves and ITB issues.

The frustrating part is that I can still run - relatively pain free - but it hurts for a while afterwards...on the upside, the intensity and duration of the pain is getting less.

So...in the meantime, under the watchful eye of my Physio, I'm keeping my running to a minimum.  I'm allowed to run for an hour or so every second day.  

And as far as rehab goes, plenty of squats - both single and double legged - isolating my quads and concentrating on keeping my knees straight and not letting them move inward as I squat.  And, A LOT of time on the foam roller, with particular attention being paid to my ITB, calves, and quads.

So the upshot of all that, is that i don't think I'm going to have a marathon in me in 6 weeks time - particularly as I want to have a good crack at the Noosa OD Tri 3 weeks after that...

Oh well, them's the brakes...and it looks like my first marathon will be after a bit of a swim and bike ride :) 

So, now that i'm on the way to getting my training plan sorted...NUTRITION TIME!!

As the post title says...i'm well on the way to getting my training plan sorted, so i guess it's time i seriously started thinking about nutrition. Previously my longest training sessions have been 3hrs on the bike or a 2 hour run. To complete those sessions without going into melt down, putting a weak gatorade mix into the water and a gel or 2 has got me across the line. My longest races have been Olympic distance triathlons, and a 28k trail run... Let's recap how they went: First Oly Tri seriously under-prepared for no thought about nutrition 35 deg C at 6am - dehydrated before start had half a banana post swim, and probably drank half bottle of gatorade during the ride hit the wall 30k into bike slowest 10k run i've EVER done Noosa Oly Tri (last year) better prep, both training and nutrition gel out of swim, and a couple on the bike gatorade in water, probably drank 500ml on ride gel as started run, stomach cramps and vomited at 5k on run - took another gel ran home ok...considering humid day, became hot on run 2 Bays, 28k Trail Run (Jan this year) injured ankle after 3k so couldn't go as hard as i wanted - on course 3.5 hrs had camelbak with 50% gatorade mix (probably had 1/2 - so equivalent of 750ml energy drink) consumed 3 gels cooler day  stomach fine! Oh, and i also cramp in hot weather (possibly a "salty" sweater) What i *think* i've learnt... I'm getting better at getting to right i need to keep water and energy separate - so i can re-hydrate and replace energy at appropriate rates sweating out salts and putting water back isn't a good idea - i need electrolyte replacement  I need to start practising on my long training sessions.  And as it so happens, Hammer Nutrition just spammed my Facebook feed with their marketing, so here's a bit of a cut and paste hatchet job...  Loss vs. Assimilation What can your body really handle?
SUBSTANCE	RATE LOSS/hr	ASSIMILATION RATE
Fluids (ml)	1000-3000	500-830
Sodium (mg)	2000	500-700
Calories	700-900	240-280
So what i can take from this is that I've been under doing the fluids and electrolytes. And probably over did the calorie intake at Noosa - hence the stomach issues??  Below are the corresponding replenishment values that we have observed for the average size endurance athlete (160-165 lbs/72.5-75 kg) who is fit and acclimatized (+/-5%):
SUBSTANCE	IDEAL REPLENISHMENT
Fluids	20-33%
Sodium	20-35%
Fuels (Calories)	30-40%
Well, that weight range fits me pretty much perfectly, and I've been living on earth for a while, so i think i'm acclimatized to +/- 5% Our Fuelling Recommendations Based on what science has shown us, plus over two decades of working with athletes, we have determined the following ranges as ideal for most athletes, the majority of the time, for maintaining optimal exercise performance: SUBSTANCE IDEAL REPLENISHMENT Fluids 470-850 ml/hr Sodium 100-600 mg/hr Fuels (Calories) 150-280 cal/hr I suppose those numbers seem as good as any place to start. Now it's just down to trial and error to find out where in those ranges i lie, and what my stomach is going to tolerate! Better Get  My LONG Training On...!! Just got me some Hammer Perpetuem, so i'll shove this info sheet link here for future reference --->>   http://www.hammernutrition.com.au/shop/nutrition/perpetuem/

Putting "The Plan" together...

As i write this, the countdown ticker on my blog tells me I've got a little over 7 months until my first Ironman. Over the past few months I've been doing a lot of reading around training plans and I'm starting to hack together My Plan.

As much as i want to train with the tri-club, i think i have to be careful and train toward my needs and goals, not a program that suits the average Ironman - because I'm not the Average Ironman... ;)

As a start, I've kind of worked out which disciplines will fit into the week where.  Now it's about the details.

So, here's a brain dump of what I've learnt to date:

5 Training Intensities / Levels...

1. Rest : i.e. NOTHING!
2. Active Recovery : Light Training, HR < 130 bpm, no goals or expectations from session...
3. Foundation : Long Slow Distance, 130 bpm < HR < 150 bpm, main IM training zone.
4. Speed : High HR, low duration, tough, hard - the if you don't hate it you're not going hard enough sort of session!!
5. Strength : High load, high resistance training, the stuff that gets your muscles screaming!!

The key is apparently blending these sessions into your plan. Leaving enough time to recover between one Strength and/or Speed session and the next, and also recovery from the Foundation sessions.

Look at one key session per day, and if you want a second one make it compliment the first.

Other Random Things...

Go LONG on the bike - the bike uses similar muscles to the run, yet is far less impact. Cycling makes up about 50% of the day and you want to get of the bike feeling good!..GET BIKE STRONG!!

Short run, often - Ironman is about the ENTIRE race, trust your weekly (monthly...etc) cumulation of training.

OR

Run long, but not a lot - within reason, do your long run long as long as you want - but don't over do it (3 independent runs max)

Transition runs - every time you ride, get off the bike and immediately...RUN. Not long, just until your legs feel comfortable. 

So i think i'll be doing a hard (speed or strength) run each week, a 10-15k recovery run, and my long run - but also a short (up to 5k off the bike each ride).  This will probably change later a little as we get closer and i start to do a few long brick sessions...

Don't overdo Speed / Strength - you need to recover and go long..... 1 "hard" bike & run per week...

Swim - Technique = Speed... THAT IS ALL. Once you have technique, then worry about the rest. And that's OPEN WATER technique!! (Particularly in Melbourne - you want to learn, watch the surf ironmen swim!!)

Putting it together...

Training Blocks - 2 or 3 weeks hard, followed by 1 week easy, building slightly in the next block and repeat!

here's where the fun begins...looks like it's time to get stuck into an excel spreadsheet...

Your Thoughts...???

If anybody out there in reader-land has anything to add - feel free to let me know.

Cheers 

Progress, Injury and a DNS waiting to be...

Let's recap the last line of my previous post...

And most of all - fingers crossed i can remain injury free.

...when will i ever learn!!!

Those who follow my Facebook page... gratuitous click here for link to my Facebook page ;) ... will be well aware that recent weeks have been injury riddled... Nothing serious, just recurring injuries that i can't seem to shake.

Apart from my dodgy knee (which i'm hoping tomorrow's physio visit will fix) things have been progressing well.

I've been spending a bit of time in the pool and my swim is feeling better than i can remember.

I haven't been spending long hours on the bike, opting at this stage to work on some short sharp high intensity trainer sessions. The few times i have been on the TT bike, it's felt good - love the Trinity, it feels so fast and smooth. I'm looking forward to getting some long rides happening pretty soon.

And the run...well apart from the injury...i'm really pleased.  I'm starting to get some nice distance without pulling up too sore.  20k runs through the trails and hills are becoming the norm, and the progress toward the Melbourne Marathon is on track... 

I really believe the splitting my running between the Vibrams and the pseudo-minimal Brooks is paying dividends.  I'm comfortably running 8-10k in the Vibrams and really notice the change in style to a more natural fore to mid-foot strike.

Unfortunately, due to the knee injury i'm not confident that i'll be racing at Hazelwood this weekend.

Fingers crossed i'm running at full tilt again soon and can continue to build toward the Melbourne Marathon and Noosa.  I might even try to convince a few other people who are competing at Noosa to do a practice Olympic distance race in late September / early October... It's not that cold in bay, surely i'm not the only crazy one ;)

Until next time, happy training!!