Sunday, 28 August 2011

Duathlon number 3 of the season - Win number 2!

Sunday was day of the third day of suit testing… my third Duathlon of the season as well.
After saluting the judges once and coming 2nd to the Honky Tonk Man Matt Porta in race 2, the goal for this race was always going to be for the win. I missed last month’s race due to other commitments so it was comeback time… plus I knew there was no Honky Tonk. I didn’t really want to leave myself a mess on the floor at the end of the race, but nor did I not want to not win, so the plan as usual was to go nuts out on the first run, get a lead, then see what happens on the bike. If I extend the lead, then the 2nd run can be eased a touch… if it’s looking tight, then bugger me, I’d have to keep going!

Ok, so as per plan, I went for it on Run leg 1. Passing the first km the Garmin beeped… I looked down… 3:12… too fast. Good lead already, but not sustainable if I want to finish the race! The next to k’s passed at slightly slower speeds and the run was done in 10:30. I could go faster now I think back, but I had the lead so I subconsciously probably took the pedal off I think.


Transition was ok I guess… never been overly fast in my T’s but this one was fine… after all, what can go wrong in a Duathlon transition??? You change your shoes (if they aren’t already clipped on the bike) and put a helmet on and go. I chose the shoes not clipped in tactic and took those precious few seconds to put my shoes on and do the robotic run to the mounting area. Runner number 2, who was about 15-20 seconds behind, went for the clipped in version of T1 and breezed past me in the mount as I was clipping in. No harm done, it’s a tactic I chose knowing full well it might cost me the lead in T1… of course I hoped it wouldn’t… but not unexpected.
Up around the first 2 corners and it’s lap time… 5 laps of the fabled Summerland Point course. Basically an “L” like course that angles up to the top turn, then comes back down round a fast sweeping bend and a small flat straight before we turn around again. Considering the position I was in (very close to the lead) I decided attacking while the leader was putting his shoes on properly was the way to go… the fact he was having trouble doing said task only made it easier for me. The 30 or so metres gap was eliminated in seconds and I was gone. The first lap my lead was maintained… the remaining 4 laps I surged further ahead.


Going into T2 I knew my lead was enough to win comfortably so even though I remained efficient I made sure that I composed myself and didn’t panic. Shoes put on carefully with no fumbling, headsweat donned and sunnies reposition… a couple of steps walking then off I trotted.
Pretty uneventful run really.. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if I could see anyone, but nope… there’s a few too many corners on the course so if you get a decent lead on anyone it can seem as though your further ahead than you are… or conversely, if you’re chasing, it can make the gap to make up insurmountable at times.
Turning the corner at 1.5km I could see 2nd place coming along… so I timed it… when we passed it made the gap 40 seconds. On current pace, he’s gotta run 3:30’s to run me down… and if that started happening, I was only trotting and could easily have punched out a similar if not faster pace for the reminder of the run. Plenty in the gas tank my friends… my only real danger was the tree roots, which I am happy to say, did not get the best of me.


Race over, saluting of the judge for the second time this Duathlon season and suitably chuffed with myself in my last racing hitout before flying on LA and Vegas on Saturday. The win was comfortable while remaining testing, I didn’t hurt myself, I had plenty in the tank, I had good speed on the run, I’d played with my saddle positioning again and it was comfortable and as it’s a topic of choice at the moment, the EJ suit was perfect. On a winters morning, albeit not a cold one… the suit was fine on its own. I had arm warmers on, held on by electrical tape (due to my dwindling arms… from all the aerobic training)… but they came off prior to the race.

So the record is now 1 2 x 1… and looking forward to race number 5… the day after my brothers bucks party at the races… Good to see the results though. It shows progress has been made… a fair amount of it too, over the last 12 – 18 months.

Vegas here we come!

Hope I'm lucky in Vegas!

Ok, so have the goals for Vegas changed? Bah.. hopefully not… but I did do a Computrainer ride of the course on Saturday that confirmed what I already basically knew. This course is gonna be tough. Very tough!
Unfortunately for me, the 92.57km course (as per the description in the athlete guide converted to Google Maps) was proven to be a plus 3 hour course… close to the mark, but couldn’t quite get the bike up to the 30km/h average mark. Did I mention it was tough? 9 and 10% climbs regularly on the course make it a monster compared to most of the riding I do on the trainer and in and around the coast… even the famed Bobbin Head and Mooney hills seemed like mere sand hills compared to this beast. Blood hill at Calga (6%?) was the closest I could compare it with…
Fingers crossed though that it was just a miscalculation of the course and it doesn’t really come gift wrapped with all that rubbish in two Sunday’s time.
                                                                                 
Gave the EJ suit it’s second work out and I am pleased to say I am unwavering in my support for the suit and it is on course for its Triathlon debut in the biggest race of my Triathlon career thus far. That’s a pretty big call I reckon… going head on into such a huge race for me as the Ironman World championship 70.3 with a brand new “never tried in a race” suit. More than happy to though as for the second week in a row I found the suit to be flawless. Completely comfortable from neck to thigh in a test that yielded a pacific ocean’s worth of sweat… no fans in Vegas = no fans in the Finesse Cycling studio’s for the man in the OJB in his prep for the big race.

Crucial error made in session though… forgot electrolyte drinks and had to purchase a couple of Powerades from the fridge. Normally a great tasting drop… however not to be consumed in training for the first time 2 weeks out from a major race when I have no intention of racing with it and being such a tough session.. I can only reiterate it wasn’t best to incorporate it for the first time. End result? Hahaha… I am pleased to the say the facilities at McDonalds West Gosford were clean and tidy and in perfect working order. I do apologise to the patrons of said family restaurant who, some of which, seemed to be taken aback by this strapping young man in his triathlon gear as opposed to normal Macca’s attire.

Props to Zim for dropping in to Finesse on his way home from his 120km “recovery ride” outdoors just as I was in the final throws of my sessions. The run invite was appreciated and I can honestly say you saved me from ruining myself with the stupid 20km I had planned off the bike. Hey, the way I died in Yeppoon 2 weeks back has had me questioning my run and I wanted to know I could still do it. Would have been stupid though as a) I was already ruined from the Vegas test and b) I know I didn’t complete the Yeppoon run to the best of my abilities as I was not well on the day. Anyway, it’s always good to the do the run with someone else as it keeps you honest and keeps you from deviating from what you are supposed to be doing… ie 90km ride with an easy 30-40min jog off the bike. Sure, we ran just under 10km still, but it wasn’t taxing at all so no harm done in adding a few minutes.

Not sure Eli appreciates the hard work I am putting in at training…. Here I am “playing” with him soon as I got in the door!

Monday, 22 August 2011

Endurance Junkie to the rescue - Review of the Hot Ice suit

G’day People!

A few months ago when I first qualified to head off to the Ironman World Championship 70.3 I panicked. We can't afford this... there's so many things I'd need to buy, travel to pay for, insurance, I'd need to get time off work etc... so many things to consider that really made this trip look like a pipe dream and one that just came a year too early.
So what did I do?... well firstly, I paid the entry fee of course... without even thinking about all that stuff...
Then I sat down and had a look at what I had and what I would need between now and then.
I've got a bike, check! I've got a wetsuit, check! I've got a helmet, check! I've got shoes, check! 
Nutrition... need more. Pedals & cleats... need replacing. Bag... got big hole in it! Tri suit? Hanging in there... but it's seen a few races now and looking a little battered!

In short, I needed help.
So I called and emailed people or companies I thought might want to help out a Triathlete in need.
Can't say I got a whole lotta love in return to be honest... but one great fella came to the party. Through my association with my great Belgian friend Simon Belleflamme (see link to the right) who came to Australia for a summer of Triathlon and training, I approached Endurance Junkie for a Tri Suit to test and review for them. Simon had been wearing the gear all summer and quite simply, I thought it looked the goods!

So here we are... I can’t thank Peter from EJ enough for this one. It really is very much appreciated!

Here’s a very comprehensive review of the suit so far :)
Grab a coffee guys, a tasty muffin... and get comfortable!

When I first opened the package and checked out the new Hot Ice Tri suit my first impression was WOW… this is an impressive piece of machinery! So many different looking fabrics and surfaces to take in and the construction and panelling made it look very strong and durable. Having been sunburnt on my shoulders competing in Ironman Yeppoon 70.3 the weekend just gone , the sleeves were a very welcome addition, as were the 4 pockets located on the upper and mid though area as my current suit only had 2 very small hard to reach ones on the back. The chamois also looked a good size and had a good amount of padding to make an Ironman ride no issue at all.
Lastly, how can you go past the design? Simple, you can’t. It looks great… the white logo written vertically on a black background is enough to grab anyone’s attention, and the orange band tops it off perfectly.

Ok, that’s the plusses… here’s the pre testing scepticism. The all-white back is interesting and I did have a few giggling comments from my training mates about being careful not to “have an accident” while wearing the suit. The pockets… although I had seen the original Sportwool suit in action I still had my doubts about the pockets capacity to hold very much… maybe one gel or small bar in each I thought? The sleeves… I haven’t used a suit with sleeves before and coming from a football striker background I do have quite muscular shoulders and arms… I was worried there may be some uncomfortable rubbing or chaffing under the arms?

Let the testing begin! While I still have 2 weeks to test the suit before I fly out to Los Angeles and then Las Vegas for the Ironman World Championships 70.3, I have done some preliminary tests already. Being winter, I don’t really have too much choice but to use the suit on the  Computrainer indoors (otherwise I’d be freezing outside!), before heading out for a run when the sun is out.
So, on Saturday I rocked up to my local Cycle training Centre, Finesse Cycles, for a session with my good friends. 3 hours on the Computrainer doing flats followed by hill repeats, then straight off the bike and out for a 10km run.
The unveiling of the suit definitely got some comments… none negative mind you… joking comments about being a professional and wearing a fancy new suit for the ride. All agreed the suit looked great though and I confirmed to everyone that it felt awesome. It was a great fit from neck to knee and was easy to get on. Chamois felt a little bigger and padded than my Skins branded suit, but felt more than ok for riding and running. I was very confident it was going to be a comfortable ride. The white backing? Yeah ok, I did get a couple of comments at first… but as we began riding nobody said a word, and I didn’t give it a second thought as the suit was THAT comfortable.

At first while riding I did think it felt a little heavier and warmer than my Skins branded suit… but I don’t know what… but something just seemed to click and all of a sudden I was used to it very quickly. Perhaps it was just my body getting used to something new.. after all, I had been wearing my other suit for a year now, so something new is always going to feel different… just like buying a different brand of runners I guess!
The chamois was comfortable for the entire 3 hours. I didn’t give it a 2nd thought. It’s not big and bulky like cycling knicks at all, but it did the same job.
Sweating in the suit? Being on the computrainer and indoors, I sweated bucket loads! I could see it coming from my arms and face, I knew it was pouring out everywhere… all my mates were the same, but I kid you not, I was not uncomfortable. Not one iota! In fact, what I actually did was run my finger down the top of my quad while riding and I was very surprised to feel ALL the moisture was on the outside of the suit… and I mean all of it! I was extremely comfortable throughout the entire ride, the suit regulated all the sweat away from me perfectly and in an ideal world if I was riding outdoors, it would have all been blown away or dried up from the wind you naturally come across leaving me to ride in perfect dry comfort in a maximal effort scenario like a race.
The sleeves and potential rubbing? Nothing.
Did the legs ride up at all while riding? No.
Was there any discomfort? No. I felt comfortable and confident the entire ride, and whether it is suit related or my own personal conditioning, but I finished the 3 hour session off very strongly and riding above my normal Wattage levels. Admittedly, I was taking it a little easy for the first part of the session due to my race last weekend and Vegas coming up, however in the end I couldn’t help myself and was riding very strongly right until the end.
Pockets feedback – perfect. I use Dextro Carbohydrate bars for my training and racing and was easily able to fit 2 in one pocket, 2 gels (one Gu and one SIS) in another pocket, my iphone in one of the upper pockets and I had some small items in the 4th pocket. Bars and gels… I’m confident I could get more in there if I wanted to, however I had more than enough for the training ride. More than 2 of the larger sized SIS gels might be pushing it… but I reckon I could easily get more of the smaller gels in there.
Guys, pockets are important to me and these are great. They fitted exactly what I needed and they were tight… not like a big bulky cycling jersey pocket. Oh also, my phone remained perfectly dry. I don’t know how, but it did. It’s normally covered in sweat when sitting in my cycling top!

On to the run. As mentioned above, it is either my training and conditioning or it was also due to the suit, but I was very fresh for the run and ready to go immediately. So we headed out onto the 10km run with me having just 2 things I wanted to know. 1. How would the sleeves go? and 2. Basically how did the suit feel to run in?
A tick for both here. The sleeves were no issue at all. No rubbing whatsoever. The material is more than soft enough to not cause any bother, and the suit had a great fit that left me feeling fresh and confident for the whole trip. In short, the immediate performance of the suit impressed my greatly.

Ok, that’s the positive… it wouldn’t be a proper review though if I didn’t reveal the only drawback. Just to reiterate, awesome suit however when I got home and the suit was removed I did notice a lose thread under both arms. Possibly could have caused some damage if I had have just done my normal thread pulling antics... luckily, my trusty mum is more than handy with a needle and thread though and we'll reinforce the stitching and all should be sweet.
I must admit though I was surprised to see this as the suit looks super well constructed.
These things happen though and any item of clothing from any brand can occasionally have a loose thread.
This coming weekend I will be doing a ride and run again on Saturday… Sunday there will be a swim test, both with a wetsuit and without.

Sunday, 21 August 2011

Ironman Yeppoon 70.3

Listen to your body… that should be the moral of this story…
Either that, or to avoid trouble in the first place sit back and ask yourself the age old question that every good Triathlete should ask themselves when at the crossroads… What would Matt Porta do?
Without further ado, sit back.. and as that famous fellow Matt P would say, grab a coffee, some bickies… a comfy PC chair.. and enjoy.. hopefully.
My preparations for Yeppoon 70.3 and Las Vegas 70.3 had been going very well the last month or two since having a short recovery from Port Mac and Club Champs. I was running well, swimming well enough to not drown and having done 3 weekends in a row (plus a couple of mid week sessions) in the punishment chamber that is Finesse Cycling… I was feeling strong on the bike and ready to fire.
Then it hit. As I was spinning down from my Yeppoon test ride at Finesse one week out from Yeppoon I felt faint. All the blood had rushed from my face, I felt white as a ghost and thought I was headed for a trip on the good old porcelain express bus of fun!
A few minutes passed and I came good… so of course… I popped a Dextro bar down and headed off for my run off the bike… all 10kms of it.
Saturday afternoon I grew very tired
Sunday I got worse
Monday I couldn’t move and pretty much slept all day.
Tuesday I shouldn’t have, but I went to work… what a long day!
After that, improvement started to occur over the next few days and apart from a few headaches and feeling tired, I felt like the illness was passing.
Saturday, the day before race day arrived and Amanda, Eli and I boarded our flights for Rockhampton. Still tired and still getting headaches, I slept most of the way to Brisbane, then again to Rockhampton after our connection.
We arrived, found our lodgings (after a few wrong turns)… and it was rest time. Well, it was time to build the bike, then it was rest time.
Late afternoon we headed over to register and check out the expo J
Great work Yeppoon on the blacks hoodies instead of tech tshirts… great work on some of the crazy cheap prices for some of the stalls… not so great work on the other 70.3 gear that looked very poor quality, including the singlets and “headsweats” that looked very shabby in construction… and not so great work on the late race brief that went way over time and had Nick Munting and some other bird repeat the exact same information twice. It left a lot of people shivering in the cold after a brief that had originally started with a glimmer of sunshine remaining.
So with flying green ants dropping from the trees and carefully placed feet we walked our way out of the poo riddled briefing area just before the brief ended.
Off to Woody’s Foodworks to buy my pasta and other sundries for my race prep… then home to cook and rest. There was no pre race swim, ride and run happening today. No time, headache, tired and a little boy to look after meant I was quite happy to head home, double check the bike, eat and rest up for the next day. Good thing I did at least check the bike… as I hadn’t tightened the handlebars properly and they were loose!
Ok, enough with the background noise, wake up race day and head off to transition… we arrive with just 20mins to spare for me to set everything up.. plenty of time! Haha… lucky for me the race director hearded everyone back into transition for the race brief. I was pretty much set, but it gave me time to finish up and get a few pre race photos with Eli.


Off to the swim. The swim looked pretty standard on paper… walk up the beach… then swim back. For starters, the walk up the beach is a psyche out! It seemed like a 10km walk instead of 1.7km… and the whole time all I could do was look at the rough swell that awaited me. There was supposed to be a good current out there so times would be quick… if you had a surf background and had no issue with swell. This is not me of course and I bumbled my way out through the breaking waves from the shore start and managed no rhythm by the turn of the first buoy. From there I did find some sort of rhythm… but could not find any feet to drag off… instead, some clown thought it would be best to sit on my toes. Why? I don’t know. The swim felt like it went forever in the rough swell.. swimming along and just bobbing up and down the whole way grabbing glimpses of the buoys whenever I could. Every buoy I was looking left to see if everyone was heading to shore… alas though, it went on. Finally I got there and headed in. I tried in vain to catch a wave or two on the way in, they just didn’t seem strong enough to hold a human though and no one was able to get one that I could see.
300m run to transition, stop the clock at 31:30… a PB for me in 70.3.


Transition was uneventful. I got my stuff, had a dash of caffiene and headed out… uncharacteristically I had my shoes already clipped in. I normally put them on and run in the them but new cleats made me go the other way so as not to ruin them straight away. Onto the bike I jumped, took a few pedals, got up some speed and went to put my feet in… BANG! Some thoughtful clown had decided a bloody big tangerine was the best thing to leave on the road just after the start of the bike leg… brilliant. I was dislodged from the saddle and landed heavily on the rough road with my bare feet. Not cool. I feared I had cut the bottoms of my feet to shreds but just chose not to look and jumped back on… little did I know there was possibly a little relative of Pearso’s in the bush giggling away to himself seeing me hit his carefully planted fruit… I wonder how many more idiots hit it…
The ride.
The course was almost pan flat… just a couple of changes in gradient here and there to make you think about that heavy gear you were in, but other than that, it was the flattest course I’ve ridden. It would have been a whole lot better had the road surface not been extremely granular and rough (no pot holes though).. and has there been no wind. But it was rough for most of it and wind covered about 70% of the bike leg. If it wasn’t a head wind, it was a cross wind… there was one section at the far turnaround though that put it fair and square in your back and I was loving it cruising back at 45km/h at one point.
It wasn’t that bad though and the course was pretty good. Good enough for me to lodge another PB for a 70.3 90km ride. 2:39:00
Going well here I thought, I headed into transition and did my usual methodical break in putting my socks and shoes on while sitting down… hey, I’ll take a seat if it gives me a little extra recharge. Quick dash of Caffiene, grab a dextro bar and out I went.
I started well I think… the first 1km was a touch slow due to transition time, but after that I was lapping my km’s at 4mins or there abouts… which is par for me at the start of my 70.3 runs. After that I slow down and get into a rhythym at around the 4:20 per km range… with the target being 1:30.
One lap of the course down (7km), I felt ok… well, maybe a bit heavy in the legs and a sore back… but pretty much ok. Looking at my watch I was on track for a race PB if I just pulled out a stock run and didn’t do anything stupid.
Each lap consisted of a start by running through the crowded pool area (with a few twists and turns and bridges and rises), then out onto a dry unshaded unforgiving flat road, followed by a bush track (with many twists and turns and little rises to give you a sting), then finally some flat grassy oval areas out the back before coming back to the crowds. It was lap 2… when I came to the bush area that I came undone.
I didn’t know what it was but I started to feel very weak… there was no spring in the step anymore… and the watch started spitting out some very ordinary lap times. I battled on though and at the end of lap 2 I was still close to PB time, but possibly just behind now. I’d made up 30seconds on the swim and at least 7mins on the bike… and that time had been eroded. Lap 3 was all about hanging on.
Lap 3… lets be honest here… I was in all sorts. I was weak, my legs were wobbling, my back was burning…and I was getting very cold.
Would Matt Porta stop at this point and save himself for Vegas?? Probably. Did I? nope. I didn’t want to DNF… I reflect back to Pearso again here… a man who has told me he has never DNF’d ever… so neither was I! Fact is, he won’t race is there’s even a hint of DNF… but that’s beside the point. It is a perfect record I’m not ready to tarnish! I want my medal and I want my towel.
Anyhoo, I was now walking about 50m after each aid station and I was taking on board anything I could each time. I didn’t help and by bush time on lap 3 I was goooone… it was walk time… normal walk time too, not fast walk, just a normal walk to the shops pace walk time. I did this for about 1km and watched the time slip away.
Looking at the watch as I came near the exit of the bush I saw that I had limited time to get home if I still wanted to finish in my new target of under 5 hours. So I cracked the jog up again and somehow trotted back at 5-5:30min pace and made it in 4:59:00 flat.
I crossed the line (not wanting Amanda to take any photos of me coming up the shute) and sat down immediately in a recovery chair at the finish line. I did not move for a long time from here… I was freezing, my hands were shaking, when I tried to get up my legs wouldn’t hold me and bugger it… even my eyes kept welling up and my head felt void of any blood… in short, I was in all sorts of trouble.
What felt like 30min of sipping coke with my head under a towel later I finally managed to find my feet. I’d waived off numerous calls to get me an Ambo and stumbled over and gave Amanda my towel and medal. I turned and headed to the food tent to get some sustenance… only to find all they actually provided for the race was ice cream with fruit… and nothing else.
I needed more than that after such an ordeal!
Anyhoo race over, lessons learnt about listening to your body and knowing your limits. On reflection I will take a lot of positives from the result. I don’t look at 4:59:00 and think beauty, sub 5 hours, I gotta be happy with that… because no, if I had raced well and healthy, then that course is a lot faster than that and with my prep for Vegas in mind I was on target to go a lot quicker. What I am very pleased with is the swim PB… it shows my 5am sessions 3 to 4 times a week in Gosford are paying off… Zim, Pearso and the Honky Tonk man are getting me there… my ride was also fantastic time considering the wind, the road surface and the early mishap I had with the Tangerine…
I don’t mind falling apart on the run. I was not well and possibly shouldn’t have been racing. A trip to the docs on Monday confirms I had a high temperature and should have taken it easy… so to get that far is ok by me.
The downsides and questions though… I didn’t give my health and the race enough thought prior to the actual event.
What would Matt Porta do?
In hindsight I reckon he would have taken stock and looked at the main prize… Vegas. If I must race… and most Triathletes will say they must… then I should have toned it down a notch or two and just swam comfortably, ridden a steady ride without ripping in and saving my energy so I had enough in the tank to finish in good health.
I didn’t do this though and as a result I have been laid low most of the week post race. I am still pretty tired and am still getting headaches and I have another appointment with the doc to see how to speed up my recovery. I have started training again, but only light… perhaps if I’d been more careful I could have been back into it by now?
Apologies for the long report guys, just a couple of thanks to get through… that Angry Little Man again, Pearso, Brett “Zim” Isaac and “Roo” Mildren for helping with my training recently as well as the “Honky Tonk Man” Porta for the advice and tips… and the bike suitcase! Also to Club Sponsor Mick Hull of Finesse Cycles for flogging me silly for the last month (see you this Saturday Mick!), Rod for the program I try to stick to!… and to Amanda and Eli… I tell you what, if those two weren’t in attendance in Yeppoon, I really don’t think I would have finished the race!

Hi there!

Hi guys, I'm new to this lark so bare with me! Basically I'm a regular Joe kind of fella who struck it lucky this year and qualified to race in the Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Las Vegas this September. so I thought why not, let's create this blog for anyone who's interested in reading about my preparations, races and training... not only for Vegas, but also for my Ironman debut in Port Macquarie in May 2012. It'll be tough, but it should also be fun!
Along the way I'll share a few snippets from my home life as well... and a few stories and anecdotes from my mates and training buddies if they have any insights and tips worth sharing with the world!
I'm 33 years young, fiance to Amanda and father of my young fella Elijah James... both of whom will be taking this journey with me :)