Upcoming Races

Tour of Great South Coast NRS , Sam Miranda Tour NRS,

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Stepping up the volume

A question asked by some many people when you explain what you are training for is ,
How do you find time?
Coming from a cycling background over the last 20 years and concentrating on one discipline the leap to train for an Ironman is a very challenging obstacle to overcome. Habits are the hardest to break and being a cyclist is the feeling you have to be on the bike 6-7 days a week and the old attitude there is no substitute for kilometers. With three disciplines to engage and focusing on long distance events will always be a juggling act.

In the recent few weeks i have had good fortune of getting solid training in the bank (money saved now is cash to spend later) across all three sports. Slowly building up to prevent injuries incurred in steeping up the load. I personally have had a good run with injuries over the years but thats as a cyclist. Once the running load increases the impact is a lot more savage thnt pedalling round on the bike. One bonus of living in Melbourne is being spoilt for choice across all disciplines to train either in a group or squad or even solo and so many options.

My current weekly training consists of 3 swim sessions ,4 bike sessions and 4 run sessions so currently going from 5 training sessions a week to doubling that with approx 10 - 12 sessions a week no training for an Ironman. All this to fit round my normal day job as a project manager currently working 45- 50 hours a week with www.mcelligotts.com.au at Eastern treatment plant Carrum which is 50 minute drive each way currently to and from work.

This last week has been really good with better weather and some spare time with Melbourne cup public holiday mid week really help step up the workload.

Weekly Training schedule last week Nov 5 - 12

Monday  am 1.5 km  swim set    70 km  bike          pm 8 km run

Tuesday  am  90 km bike   2 km swim     pm 8 km run

Wednesday  am 2km swim set    pm 12km run session with tri group

Thursday   pm 60 km bike including Footscray cycling club crit

Friday    Rest Day

Saturday am 85 km bike  pm afternoon at the races Emirates Stakes day

Sunday  am 90 km bike   pm 14km run

Weekly total  Swim  5.5km   Bike 395km   Run 42 km  and a few power naps in between.

I will be happy if i can maintain solid consistency like last week over the next few months to build for www.ironmanmelbourne.com .

It can be done but as we all know each week throws up suprises.

Damo
              

Monday 12 November 2012

Open water swimming

Another task added to the long ongoing list of items to complete prior to competing in my first ironman is to get used to the open water swimming in the ocean . With summer on its way (not sure when) it was time to get a wetsuit purchased and start getting in some hours in the open water. The crew at www.xosize.com.au fitted me up with a suit from www.rocketsciencesports.com and instantly felt comfortable on and had no restriction in the shoulders which for my poor swim stroke is a must. So all was in place to attend monday night open water swimming session with www.triathlonandmultisportcoaching.com.au  coach Xavier Coppock
http://xaviercoppock.blogspot.com.au/ .  Weekend weather in Melbourne had been fantastic mid to high 20 degree days woke up monday morning and still warm but a howling wind at 5 am getting ready for work so i knew that the evening session would be interesting. By the time the session rolled round the wind had swung around from the south so the swells had started to roll in some awesome sets of waves.

Suited up and we headed towards the water crew of a dozen or so committed or stupid people jumped into the water and got set for the nights session. Coach had instructed to swim out to a buoy couple hundred metres off shore and head back into shore to practice some deep water starts. This is where the fun begins. Started to head out off shore and the waves were smashing us all over place 50 m forward then 50 m back this continued several times all we could do was laugh and keep pushing on. Finally i had to abort this mission and headed back towards the calmer waters in the shallows. With a few other first timers also there we all shared our battle stories. As the session went further into the evening so did the amount of surfboards getting peeled off cars roofs and even surf boat from local surf lifesaving club was out.By the time the session finished we were dodging surfboards so was time to call it a night.
Great learning curve every open water swim will be a breeze after this session.

First race of triathlon season will be on in just under 2 weeks time Race 1 of the Gatorade series in Melbourne over a sprint distance format so will be nice to have a full race hit out to see what i need to work on in the next few months heading into Ironmn Melbourne in march 2013.
http://www.supersprint.com.au/events/gatorade-triathlon-series-201213/race-1---st-kilda.aspx

Will keep you posted with upoming events and results as the season progresses.

Damo