Long Bike Ride with BTS

We headed out from Chalk Hotel at 7am - a very civilised time indeed!

It was quite a large group. Unfortunately, it took me ages to settle into the ride. I will get better the more of these group rides we do, but this one wasn't great. Because I was so unsettled (read freaking out!) I was wasting energy and got dropped on a few of the early hills. Not by a lot but enough. It was quite a tough ride and the pace felt as though it was on.

We rode out to Manly and Wynnum and then back which ended up being about 50kms. The view over the water was beautiful, it was a millpond with no clouds in the sky. We stopped there for a toilet break and then we were off again through Gumdale and Old Cleveland Road. By this stage I had settled into the ride and was feeling a lot more comfortable. Bronny took the ride and she kept telling me to move up closer to the wheel in front of me, whenever my concentration lapsed I would drop off the wheel, so I really need to stay on top of this so that it is second nature and that I can relax holding onto the wheel. I got better on the way back, so I know that this is something I can do, I just need to have more confidence and not spend half of the ride before I am comfortable there. I'm sure once we start our regular winter rides it won't take me long.

I felt OK with the distance, although at this stage I am out for the 160km Portfolio Partners ride as I think this is going to be asking too much! I'll see how I go and will probably end up doing the 100k instead.

Stairs...

Today was stairs with Robson and the BTS crew.

Goddam stairs! We headed out to Kangaroo Point where we did some drills and then we ran up the stairs a couple of times. Then we headed across the top of Kangaroo Point towards the bridge and then found some more stairs where we did 4 loops of stairs and then running up to the top of the road at race pace and then easy jog recovery back. This was hard work. I managed to keep up with Sophie which was good. We then did a 5k race pace back to the Kangaroo Point stairs (which always ends up being just a bit quicker than 5k race pace!!!).

We then did another 2 lots of stairs and then we had a bit of a tempo run back where we set out an easy pace for 1/3rd then upped the tempo for the 2nd 3rd and then flat out for the last bit. This was hard work, the last part was coming up the hill towards to Goodwill bridge. I knew that somebody was right behind me so I was trying to hold them off or gain some distance from them, but I couldn't shake them. I kept trying to go faster and was just under the "oh my god I am going to throw up" threshold. I got to the top of the hill and walked, gasping for breath and then Sophie ran past me and called out "All the way to the bridge Emma". I forgot that the top of the hill wasn't where we were stoping, it was the bridge! Oh well... All in all it was a great session. I am starting to feel as though I am getting somewhere with my running.

Long Pocket Ride

This morning was our BTS session with Byron.

We rode out to Long Pocket to do some hill work!

I had a good session today. The session was hills with a high cadence. We regrouped at the CSIRO at the top of Long Pocket and then rode down easy to the end of the road and then rode back at race pace and then up the hill in 110 cadence up to the bus stop, turn around and then do it all again.

I found it OK. I really struggle with the high cadence and got down as low as 68 coming up the hill, but overall I felt alright.

It was a beautiful morning, it was one of those mornings where it was good to be alive. I saw some hot air balloons just about to set off. The sun rising over the river was lovely.

It is starting to get to the point where I am going to have to wear warmer clothes though! I was freezing cold when we set off and then I warmed up quickly up Dornoch Tce.

Run and Swim

Tonight was a sort of brick session.

I ran from work and then did the swim session. The run from work was an evil necessity as I had worked late the night before and didn't want to get up early for a run. I was going to run at lunchtime but it just didn't work so I ended up doing the run from work to the pool thing.

It was not the most enjoyable run; people smoking on the footpath, pollution from the cars and buses, having to wait for the lights to change, etc.

I got to the pool in 14 minutes and ended up doing a loop around the block to make it up to just over 20 minutes. I was just starting to feel OK towards the end of the run.

Then I got changed and did the swim.

We did the following:
500m flippers
500m pool buoy
400m 25 kick/25 free
400m IM with flippers -butterfly, breaststroke with butterfly kick, backstroke and then freestyle. This was quite tiring, you never really get into a stroke as you are changing so quickly.

I ended up with a cramp in my foot and toes, so opted to finish the session prior to the warmup. Overall it was an OK session, although not one I loved due to the pool buoy and flippers!

PB in the rain!

Today was Race 6 of the Raby Bay race which was a 400mtr swim, 15km cycle and a 4km run.

I got there nice and early; I think I was first! I went for a ride on my bike just to make sure that all is OK. Registered, helped out some team members from QR that were giving it a go, got my back into transition and was doing OK.

As we were waiting to start it started raining - not just spitting, but raining. I started freaking out about riding in the rain in a race. It's a 3 loop course and it is quite bendy so there were a number of turns and U turns to be navigated. I was starting to get quite worried. Craig was there after riding out from home and suggested I hammer the swim, just get round on the bike not worrying about my time, etc and then hammer the run. I thought that was a great idea! It kind of took the pressure off me too.

So I headed off to the start after reluctantly removing my warm gear as it was absolutely freezing. I thought that I would get into the water early as it would probably be warmer in there, but it actually wasn't. They measured it at 21 degrees, but it felt much cooler.

The gun went off and we were away. I managed to get mainly clear water the whole way around which was good. I concentrated on having a nice clean long stroke and ended up clocking a time of 6:34 which I was thrilled with even if the course was short!

The cycle we just won't talk about other than to say that it was just awful, it was wet on the roads, it was raining, the ambulance was out attending to 2 people that had fallen off and there was a girl that came off just behind me around a turnaround. So, I didn't worry about trying to chase anyone down, I didn't get on my tri-bars or drops, I just chortled around. I really do need to get more confident riding in the rain... Time (not that we are counting it was 38:02 - not pretty).

The run I struggled with motivation. Normally Jacque is chasing me down however she is in marathon training at the moment and didn't compete. I had to visualise my time on the spreadsheet results afterwards and imagined comparing it to other peoples times that I train with to get some form of motivation going. It must have worked as I broke the 5min/kms again just scraping in with a 19:53. So, I was thrilled with that. (More thrilled when I got off the bike though!!!).

So, I can say that it is a PB for racing in the rain and the fact that I survived it without falling off is a positive that I can draw on next time I'm out on a ride and get caught out in the rain.

Overall time: 01:04:31.

Ride Inside

It is becomng quite apparent that my cycling has suffered the most from my break. Jeez I struggled with this session!

We did a warmup followed by a ladder of 8min, 6min, 4min, 2min efforts at 110 cadence with a 3min break between each. I could not for life or money get my cadence at 110. I don't know why, I just couldn't do it! My legs were just not there for me today.

Ray was beside me and using me to measure cadence as he doesn't have a cadence computer so I had to tell him to go a bit quicker than me as I was at 100, not 110. This was on my third easiest gear with no resistance. Not pretty...

After this set we did 3 x 3 min efforts with a 90 cadence but in our big chain ring and in a hard gear at the back with resistance on the trainer.

Again, I really struggled with this, it felt as though I was climbing Mt Cootha! My cadence was at about 65 for most of this.

The only way is up from here!

We did a run off the bike, I started out with quick short steps to get the legs pumping from the Mt Cootha climb that I just did and was running quite nicely, but then after about 100mtrs I started to get my left calf twinging with the threat of a cramp, so I backed it off a bit and just chortled along at 80%.

This session was really hard, it took me until after lunchtime before I had recovered, I was feeling shattered!

Swim

Tonights swim was hard.

We did a lot of drills which included catch up and one arm drill.

We then did a 1km main set which was all done with a pool buoy. The pool was split so that it was a 25mtr pool.

1 x 200mtr on the 4min
2 x 150mtr on the 3min
3 x 100mtr on the 2min
4 x 50mtr on the 1min

I couldn't keep up. There was a couple that I was coming in on the minute, but mostly I was over the minute.

It goes to show that I still really suck at the pool buoy. Hopefully I can improve this over winter and get my stroke more reliant on my pull rather than my kick which will help with the cycle and run.

Run with Robson

Robson loves stairs.

I hate stairs...

You can see where this is going! We managed to find stairs at South Bank that I didn't even know existed! We did a lot of drills, quick steps, lunges, high knees, butt kicks, the works.

We then ran over the bridge and did a bit of race pace efforts with a final effort over the Goodwill bridge - then some more stairs at the Ship Inn! Where does he find these stairs?

My quads were feeling it. However I was pretty happy with my overall fitness, it feels as though I have lost fitness which you would expect, but not too much. I can see myself being back to where I was in a couple of weeks.

We did a lot of stretching which was great. Poor Robson, Dad was the only guy and the girsl were all talking and gossiping rather than listening to his stretching instructions. Robson does know some great stretches, they were great. We did a bit of shoulder stretching which went down well.

Coffee and toast afterwards made for a very civilised morning.

Uni cycle

Today was my first trip back on the bike and it was all that I was expecting!!

I struggled up Dornoch Tce, we went over the Goodwill Bridge and then regrouped at the Uni, but because I was last and I wasn't really paying attention (Tanya and I were chatting) we lost the pack. We struggled to keep up and got tailed off big time! Never mind, they regrouped around the corner.

The main set was riding from the University out to the end of Long Pocket and back at race pace. We rode in groups of 4 and worked together.

We only got 1 and a half loops in before it was time to head back so that was a bit disappointing. I struggled with the cycle this morning. I felt as though I had lost a fair bit of fitness and I felt as though my confidence had declined as well. I think that the best thing that I can do now is get on the bike and ride as often as I can. I am hoping to ride 4 times a week with 3 of them being on the road. We'll see how that goes.

First swim back

Tonight was my first squad swim since my break after Mooloolaba.

I felt great. I felt fresh and felt as though I was moving through the water OK.

Our main set was 5 x 200mtrs on the 4mins and I was getting a 20sec break which was great swimming for me.

We did "Ins and Outs" which Sara won, she's a legend!

Sloth to Athlete transition - slowly!

I was down to do a 20 - 30 minute easy run today.

So I toddled down to Roma Street Parklands and commenced my run. It was horrible. I felt awful, my legs were really tight and I couldn't get my HR down to less than 150 something even though I was being overtaken by waddling ducks!

My calves were really tight and I was swimming straight after so I decided to settle on 20 minutes waddle, oops I mean run and do a bit of stretching afterwards.

Normally it takes me 20 minutes to warm up so I'm hoping that this felt so horrible because I hadn't warmed up (and the two weeks off probably didn't help!).

Ahh, the life of a Sloth!

I have been living it up! I have been sleeping in, staying up late, eating junk food (ok, this is normal - just I've been eating more of it than normal!) and basically not exercising.

However, it has been a full on two weeks! I have played touch football on both Wednesday's with the guys from work which has been the sum total of my exercise with the exception of a swim down at Port Macquarie. We went down there to watch the Ironman which was quite an experience. 12 of us from BTS went down in a bus to support Tim from BTS and there were a number of other athletes down there that we knew competing. It was awesome to watch everyone. Such a tiring day, I don't know how they do it... We managed to stay and watch the last guy in at 23:26, with 4 minutes to spare before the 17 hour cutoff!!! Absolutely amazing.

Craig is wanting to do this next year so it was good to go and get a feel for it and know what he would be up against.

Whilst down there I purchased a wetsuit! Lyndell from the Aqua Shop and her husband Craig were a great help. The let my try on a couple and then go for a swim an see how it went. What a difference that makes! It does feel a bit tight around my neck, but I wasn't too panicky in it so I should be OK once I have swum in it a number of times and gotten the hang of it.

I am considering training for the Gold Coast Half Ironman triathlon in October of this year. This is big for me and it is freaking me out a little! My main problem is going to be the run as I can't seem to get a great deal of run training in without getting injured which means I am going to be spending a lot of time on my trusty steed getting cardio fitness on the bike! I am considering upping the ante on my cycing to 4 times a week. I'll then do 2 runs and 3 to 4 swims and see if I can get there on that. I should be able to if I am consistent enough.

Feel funny writing all of that when I have just consumed a huge pile of ice cream and have done no exercise for what feels like ages. I am feeling slothful and have put on weight so I think it will be good that my break is up and I am back into it next week!

Tomorrow I am volunteering for the Weet Bix Kids Tryathlon, this is a great event. Blake and Rachel (Craig's kids) will be doing it. We set up a transition practice in the back yard this afternoon and they are all sorted. They know what they are up against and they are all geared up. Luckily there will be no timing, no places and they are encouraged to take as long as they need to take. They did this event last year and had an absolute ball. I can't wait to see how they go tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't rain!