Big daddy Ironman

Well I have managed to get back into training after being sick a couple of weeks ago. Lost 5 days completely and then slowly got back into it. The following week was a little lack lustre and had to take it a little easier. Certainly lost a bit of strength, and the top end appeared to be locked-out! It just was not even worth trying harder efforts! The start of this week has gone quite well (this week), and while I still feel slightly under where I was before I got sick, I feel the body is adapting to the training much better. I have even managed to get over 4km in the pool twice this week! Already! The longer run at the weekend was a struggle. I was after an hour and a half, and got to just over an hour and the legs were just hammered. 20 minutes for the quickest way home, but managed to get my ass around a bigger block to get the 1hr30min in. I think my shoes have gone! They were a "stop gap" pair, until I sorted out if they were worth continuing with that model. They seem to be working OK, just not lasting very long! Probably working out around $15 per run at the moment I think!! So have to sort that out in the next week or so! Darn it! Long rides have also been getting ticked off - nothing spectacular, and feeling a little average, but all good training I think. Having said that I am not really looking forward to K2 - I think it is going to hurt - perhaps more than I want it to...
The big daddy of Ironman has come and gone for the year. Ironman Hawaii is an interesting race, all the big names come with their A game (usually), some have great races, and for many the wheels fall off! It is quite brutal, and having been there once, I don't really have the burning desire to return. It just did not light my fire. It was a very desolate place, and probably not really that well suited for me. It is always hot, and always windy - and just the degree of the extremes that vary on the day. I, as with many other "bigger" guys that typically sweat a lot, struggle with the heat aspect. There is only so much you can do if you sweat 2-3 liters per hour and can only absorb around 1.5 liters of fluid per hour. For 8 hours plus you are going to struggle (the numbers just do not balance out!)! But it is the pinnacle of the sport for many. I thought this years race was great, a little bit of a shame that Macca had a mechanical, and that Chrissie Wellington punctured and had to get help with that (but she still won easily!!). Some outstanding performances, and some people really layed it on the line this year - great stuff. Very close racing in the top ten, when often there can be big time gaps.
One of the interesting things that has come up in the last few years, is that times have not really improved that much! There have been significant technical advances (supposedly), both in equipment and training (tools and knowledge). We have aero this, and aero that, powermeters, watches that give pace as well as HR and fatigue levels in training. Plenty of research has been done for the endurance athlete, yet times have not really improved. We are also a relatively young sport - so we should still be improving our performances quite regularly (especially relative to athletics and swimming). There are a few theories of course, from drugs, course changes/conditions, different athletes and their approaches. So what is the answer? Is there an answer?
My thoughts for the performance levels in Triathlon in general are (no particular order:
Competitive training and racing brings out the best in people. I have seen this in many areas in the last 20 years. In the early days, many of the big names in the sport trained and raced together often. That is not so much the case now. There are also many more races (particularly Ironman - form 7 up to 23 WTC events), so you get less head-to-head racing with the best. Where you have a group of talented and focused athletes training together, you often get the training bought to a new level - sometimes for good, and sometimes not!
Drugs are a factor in sport, there are probably less at the very top now than there was, but I would think there may in fact be more at the second tier, where there is no drug testing. I am sure there are a few athletes reasonably doped up, going around cherry picking races that have no testing.
I think sports science has been a bit of a cope-out in some areas. While it has certainly helped in the general knowledge in many aspects, it has also limited "pushing the limits" in some aspects too. For example, knowing the benefits quantitatively for drafting in swimming, cycling and running under different conditions is very useful. However a study (and there are a few) that show that "weight training does not significantly improve performance in endurance running" maybe a bit of a misleading statement. There maybe an improvement, but it is too small to be statistically significant, or there maybe those for whom there was an improvement and those for whom it was detrimental, and overall it averaged out even. Often studies do not let the truth get in the way of a good story! I feel those that rely heavily on sports science often play it very safe, and get modest improvements in performance. Break-through performances often come from a "risk it all" approach, that either succeeds or fails in spectacular fashion!
I think every generation has great athletes, so that is not so much of an issue, and on courses such as Hawaii Ironman, the changes in the course sort of balance out. there maybe some differences, but they are small. In fact we are probably starting to see the results of "triathletes" now - those that have started there sporting careers as triathletes, rather than swimmers, cyclists or runners that have changed sports.
The equipment side of things make me laugh a little. everything sort of goes in cycles - and many of the latest and greatest "developments" were around decades ago and went out of favor for what ever reason. Take Aero helmets - One of my first helmets was an aero Helmet - back in the '80's! It was effectively a fibreglass shell with a basic cradle and Velcro chin strap. It would probably not absorb much shock, but was probably a lot more aerodynamic that the current range of aero helmets. While HR monitors and powermeters etc are great tools, they are just tools - and I think the down side of many of these tools is that they are seen as some holy grail solution to peak fitness and performance. In reality they are just tools. Many of the great coaches and athletes of past eras, that did not have these tools available to them, found useful work-around that helped get a similar result instead of using these tools. I think the challenge with many new "toys" is to separate the marketing hype from fact.
Right - time to go and train! :-)

warning - man flu!

Last week was the first week without the school cycling - which was very different! It did free up a bit more time, which was appreciated, but did also drop a scheduled in not-really-negotiable ride. The week did not start very well, with a txt saying the pool temperature was 22 degrees - and I don't do cold water swimming! Took until Wednesday before I clicked that I could actually turn up with my wetsuit - which I did, but the pool was back to temperature by then. Missed two swims, gained one easy run in the process, and as I have Thursday morning free, did actually get to swim squad then as well. 
The weekend had a bit of a longer ride scheduled in - as Maddog was keen to ride to "Mt Auckland". Not really sure why - it is not really a mountain, and it is in the middle of nowhere, or maybe just this side of nowhere. I have only ridden out that direction a couple of times since living in Auckland (it is only 50-60km away), and every time the wind has been a right pain, and the road surface leaves a lot to be desired! Half a dozen of us set off - heading north west, with a nice north west wind blowing... Great - creeping from the start - at least there is potential for a tail wind home - but experience says that is unlikely. Three and a half hours of hills and head wind we creep into Wellsford (83km covered), plenty of wind, plenty of hills, and the potential for a 5 hour ride to blow out to 7 hours plus! A scone and a coffee to build some reserves for the trip home, and there is one call home for a ride... Might not be much waiting around on the trip home! Head back, with what should be a tail wind - and yes we are still riding INTO the wind! Damn it! Five km's later and the wind is sort off to the side, but definitely not a tail wind. At least the hills are not as steep going home, and without the strong head wind, I can actually climb them without looking for "extra gears" - something I have not had to do this year until this day! It is a bit of a quiet ride home, the friendly banter goes pretty quiet, and a puncture does not really help lift the spirits. We make it back, feeling sort of OK - all things considered, for having ridden for 6hours and 20minutes. The hundred and sixty something km's felt more like 200 plus, which was a little more depressing. But with K2 (200km bike ride/race) in less than a month, it was a good ride to get done.
On the Saturday before the ride I did feel like the beginnings of a cold come on. I figured the long ride would either kill the bugs or kill me. Went swimming Monday morning and felt like crap - which I sort of expected after the long ride. A run was just not going to happen. Started sneezing and getting the sniffles quite a bit, but no flu symptoms - so figured it was hay fever. Took some anti-histamines. Tuesday got up to go swimming and the "hay fever" was not getting any better - then a bit of a nice chesty cough... Oh right - it is not hay fever then... So 2 days pretty much in bed feeling like crap! I think I am almost over the worst of it now - so hopefully one more day off and then into some light training. It is the second bug for the winter, which is good for me. Usually I get 2-3 bugs that lay me up for a couple of weeks each time. This time I have not been hit that hard (hopefully only x2), and have avoiding a couple of bugs that other have got - that I would also normally get. So perhaps the heath is quite good - touch wood...
Next week (what was going to be this week) is really the start of a new phase in the build-up, and I think I am going to have to sharpen up a little! I certainly feel that overall I am fitter, although not really any faster. I can back days up a lot better (not great - but better), and I am probably now at a stage that I am fit enough to train properly! I don't feel that I have been at this level for 6-7 years!! I think I have been faster in that period of time, but not generally fit. If I did do something hard - it would take a week or more to recover from (or more). I do get tired training at the moment, everything feels sore, and I still have some shocking performances in training (mostly in the pool), but I can get up most days and get something done! 
There are at least two things I need to do far better moving forward - the long run and the weights! I would also like a couple of extra swims (to make 4 per week), but that is being a little picky! The other thing I really want to get into is a brick session. Now I run these every week as a squad session, but have not really had the opportunity to do them myself. I want to start with an easier swim-bike-run combo (small breaks between - such as breakfast is OK). Having said that, I think I am due for a bike TT, so I think that next week I am going to have to do a TT on my combo day, probably after a squad swim. I don't expect it will be fast, but hopefully it is not slow! 
Time to make some goals for the up coming month! So here they are:
1. two runs over 2 hours
2. survive K2 (200km bike race) - I have had bad experiences here! I think last time I punctured at 15km and 195km.
3. 25km bike TT - I don't think it will be much different - but just need to do it.
4. 2 brick sessions (swim-bike-run sessions in the same day)
5. get on top of work!! I do need to get this under control or it will seriously derail my training! Not only the time factor, but probably more so the stress (I don't like being behind all the time!)! 
6. I need to do something to spark my running up a little too - it is my weak link at the moment. I have not quite decided what that is, probably will be a bigger week of running... I do have a couple of test sessions I want to try, but more on that later...

training camps and racing...

Last week was a funny old week this week. We had a training camp over the weekend (20/21st september), which included the north island interclub duathlon champs. The weekend was a one and a half hour swim Saturday morning, the duathlon at lunch time and just under an hour run in the forest that night. Sunday was a long ride and a short run after, for those left standing! Overall I think the weekend went quite well. I find training camps funny things, particularly the way in which different people cope with them. Usually you are out of your comfort zone at some point, for some that starts when you arrive and ends when you leave! A different environment is usually good for a change, and if not - then it just makes you appreciate what you do have! Training with others can also be a pleasant change - even if it is just to see others suffer with you. 
My training week sort of went to pack a little during the week, loosing a little with organizing the weekends training. The main cause of "going to the pack" though was too much intensity and not enough easy! Pretty much every day had something solid or hard in it, and the sessions I missed were generally the easy ones! I don't really cope that well with that scenario. Once I am doing over 8-10 hours training per week, I need 2-3 days per week that are just lower intensity days, or at least half the training time is quite easy, and my easy is quite easy! So for the last week, Monday had a solid swim, and an easy run, missed the Tuesday swim and did the Tuesday spin class (hard), Wednesday morning swim was also quite solid - with a solid 1500m pull, trying not to get lapped more than twice - and just achieving that. Thursday was probably the killer, with the school team time trial training in the morning - with a few solid-steady efforts there, and then taking young Katie out for sprint training in the afternoon. That power graph looked good - plenty of recovery effort and then plenty of "supra-max" efforts too. Friday run intervals early Friday morning, duathlon race on Saturday, and finished off with a long ride on Sunday. The HR in duathlon was not really that high - 157, so I suspect I was a little fatigued at that point in the week. I should really be able to average high 160's or low 170's for an hour and 20min of racing. 
The Duathlon itself was the first race in a while, and while I was a bit toasty going in to it, I still gave close to the best I had on the day. I knew the first run was going to be fast, and I was not up to pace. I chucked a pair of racing flats on in the hope it would give me a few extra seconds that might help get me into a better group on the bike. Well that plan went out the window in the first 200m when I was behind about 30 more people that I wanted to be behind (and that is without huge expectations!). We will move to plan B - move steadily through the field - hopefully. Narrow trails sort of cut that plan to shreds a little, and the un-even off road terrain did not lend itself to racing flats. Hmmm - I should probably race a bit more so I remember these things... I finished the run with a couple of others, and thought they might be useful to get up a little further, however I did manage a good transition, and was not waiting! The bike was draft legal, and went quite well. I think I actually rode OK, although riding on your own in a drafting event is usually not a good thing! Caught a few slackers toward the end of the bike, and another OK transition put a little distance on them going into the second run. I was pretty sure they would come past in the first 500m of the run, and was stoked to hold them off for at least 800m. Not sure if it is good or bad when people you coach pass you - I will take it that I am doing an OK job - perhaps they should have been in front of me all the way though... :-) All in all, I did enjoy racing - it was a nice day. 

This coming week is the last week of the school cycling training. I will sort of miss that a little. Perhaps the time and a few of the frustrations will not be missed, but watching them improve and get good results when they do is kind of cool. So this coming week will be the last of this current block and next week it will be time to move to a new phase. I do need to improve my running, so that has to come on a little more and be a bit more structured. I probably need to do a few more injury prevention things with that - bit more stretching, massage, weights, and core strength. I know if I don't - I simply will not tolerate more training without getting injured at some point. 


The HR graph for the Duathlon - not really revving freely and there were a couple of hills in the bike...

The Auckland city Tri club team photo - we even managed third in the teams!! where are our prizes Boys??
Here is the power profile from the cycling sprint session - probably not a threat in tour de France. The latter ones were in limited gears, adding to the diminishing power outputs...