PB

Yesterday morning I decided that my 10K PB has stood for too long so decided to have a crack at it. Got up a 6:30 in the morning thanks to no more day light savings it felt like 7:30 and the sun was well up into the sky. Set buddy to run 10K in 80 minutes (my PB is 76) so I new I had to flog by a lot but I wanted to take the first 4K easy and didn’t want to get behind. So took of and by the 4K mark I was fully awake and feeling strong in the legs so started to pick up the pace had a few little problems along the way just have a look at the splits and I think you can tell where the hills were (I wasn’t running around the Bay). Pushed really hard at the end cause I had a chance of getting under 70 Minutes but was just to buggered and just scrapped in the other side with a 70:39. So was very happy with that as it’s almost 6 minutes (5:58 to be exact) of my previous PB so yes very happy.

It’s getting down to the business end of things here to as its 20 weeks till C2s and 26 weeks till my Half Marathon so it’s time to step up and start lifting the weekly mileage.

Splits
7:30
7:29
7:29
7:29
6:11
7:46
6:36
7:26
6:44
5:56

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 23:47
5K PB: 29:55
10K PB: 70:39

Last Run: 10
Week: 10
Month: 28
Year to Date: 113
Life to Date: 498

All Good

Pebbles and I braved the dark this morning and headed out at 4:30 down the M2 from Lane Cove Road up to Sunny Holt Road and Back. Things were going great and I was maintaining a better pace today until we got to Sunny Holt Road then I had a flat tire. Luckily I had my spare Tube with me this time and managed to swap it out in less than 5 minutes. Unfortunately I failed to check the tire before putting the spare in 100 meters down the road and I had another flat and I had run out of spare tubes. Luckily Pebbles had a patch it on her so we managed to patch up the tube get it back in the tire and of we went. We had wasted a bit of time so we tried to pick up the pace a bit here ( well pebbles picked up the pace and I tried to keep up) but not meant to be and then low and behold Pebbles got a flat tire. So she waved me by as I tried to get ahead of her as she was going to change the tube and then catch up to me. Only got 5 minutes down the road and she had caught up. So the 50K which took 2 hours and 10 minutes to ride actually took 2 hours and 47 minutes to ride. Luckily we left early.


1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 23:47
5K PB: 29:55
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 4
Week: 4
Month: 18
Year to Date: 103
Life to Date: 488

TRI

Wow what an experience this by far is the hardest thing I have ever done so far with my new sporting life. Was very hard on me mentally yesterday with the rain but I just couldn’t stop smiling the whole way around.

Pre Race
My day started at 3:30 in the morning as I we had to leave the house by 4 to make it up to Newcastle. I jumped out of bed as I just couldn’t wait for the day to start had my Yogurt and Nutri-Grain for breakfast and then we were of. The excitement laster all the way to the edge of Newcastle until I realised that the rain I thought would go away in fact was not going to go anywhere. Started to worry here as I had no idea how my equipment would handle the rain as I had tested my clothes in the wet but only in 30oC heat so they dried pretty quick so wasn’t sure what would happen if they were constantly wet. Decided to put that behind me and just see what happens. So I picked up my registration pack and then dropped my bike if in the transition area. Then walked down to the beach to check out the swim leg and the route we had to take back to the transition as it was about 250 meters. Then I had my race briefing and then we were all headed down to the beach. Let me tell you I was a little scared by this stage once I got down to the beach and had the Swimming Cap on I realised that there was no escape I was really going to do this the nerves were amazing I was really scared but then I just focused on everything I had done in the last 9 weeks everything I had achieved and got myself into my racing mindset.

The Tri

Well how many things can go wrong on the day lets count. Firstly I had my Swimming cap on and my goggle’s on my head waiting to go into the water then with 10 seconds to go the guy called out goggle’s on I was alive at this stage with so many emotions everything was running through my head. This time last year I couldn’t even run 100 meters and here I was ready to go for a whole Tri what was I thinking. Then the lights went out. As I put my goggle’s on they were fogged up to the max so I could see anything I lifted them of my face and was trying to clean them as I didn’t want to pull them all the way off as they took to long to get on in the right position. I could hear the starter counting down so I was in a real hurry to get them cleared then bang off we go and as I raced into the water ready to attack the Tri I made my first mistake unfortunately I got a little excited and dived a little to early and came up with a mouthful of sand luckily nothing was hurt except my pride so I ran a little deeper into the water and we where off. Now we had to swim out and back twice and I had a little trouble on the direction I was going so I probably swam 600 to 700 meters instead of 500 but still I got out of the water in 14:30 which was 30 seconds in front of my goal so things where going well. Just jogged easily back to T1 so I could catch my breath as I had sallowed a little too much sea water. Changed my shirt and put my shoes on but because of the rain everything was wet so I was unable to dry myself properly and my stupid race number wasn’t staying on my shirt they really did give us the worst safety pins I have seen so far in any race. So it just kind of had it half sticking on as I took of on the bike.

Now the plan was to go easy for the first lap to get into it and then pick up for the last two. Unfortunately due to the wet conditions and the fact my back breaks weren’t working properly I decided in the interest of safety to take it easy for the whole bike leg and then really push the run. Half way around the bike leg I noticed my Watch wasn’t working so no longer had any idea of how I was going. The bike leg was a lot harder than I thought it would be as it was described as a flat course when in fact there wasn’t really a flat edge on the course. Also my mountain bike might have the heart of a Felt but she doesn’t ride like one so I felt slow and unsure over the whole ride leg. Looking for a new bike today as I’ll never ride that bike again just not built for the road. So pulled back into T2 a little sore and feeling like there wasn’t much left in the tank as the final hills really took it out of me. T2 was a lot faster for me as all I had to do was jump of the bike and go.

Took of for the run and 2 minutes into it I new it was going to be a bad run my shorts were drenched and they were starting to chafe but dug deep and tried to push on but by the 2K mark things weren’t going well so had to pull up and just coast in didn’t see the point in ripping my legs apart to cut a few minutes of the run. I was in no danger of winning so pulled up and put it down as I learning experience.

Crossing the finish line was an amazing experience it just felt so good to finish I was on top of the moon it didn’t matter what the time was or what place I came I had finished I had been challenged and I came out on top. Really was something to remember was just awesome.


Official Results
Swim: 16:25
Bike: 47:12
Run: 25:14
Total: 88:51

Not sure how I feel about those cause I know I came out of the water in 14:30 I remember looking at my watch I would admit to a small error but not 2 minutes. The bike leg also seems a bit slow but then again it was bad conditions. The run I fully believe because I really was buggered by that stage and with the chafing I really wasn’t up to running a fast time.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and I look forward to next year so I can smash it in under an hour hopefully but for now the focus is C2S then the Half Marathon in September those are the goals for this year so thanks to all for there encouragement I really wouldn’t of got over the line if it wasn’t for everyone’s advise and support.

Catch up

Well the weekend so a lot slower than the last couple as my training is starting to slow down. Did my old boxing training on Sunday for something different and was amazed at how easy it was 20 minutes skipping use to kill me but got through it well easier than I use to then 20 minutes of shadow boxing. Was a great feeling at the end and almost felt like my old fit self. Road to and from work on Monday which took longer than I thought it should but did have a lot of gear on the back of the bike plus there are a lot of hills between Revesby and Burwood. Then came this morning, my last run before the Tri and I decided that my 5K PB has stood for long enough so headed out to the bay and just decided to go for it and see how I went. There was also a little bit of theory behind this. See in races I also hold back to much and I don’t push myself had enough so I needed to remind myself of how far I can actually push myself. So set up Buddy Jnr to run 5k in 33:35 (my current PB) and set of. I felt great out there today really strong in the legs and the breathing was working so I new that a PB was possible. I decided to run the first 3K without looking to see how Buddy was going which I normally do every 5 seconds. At the 3K post I looked down expecting to see Buddy way out in front as I hadn’t felt I had gone fast enough as I was still feeling fresh was very surprised to see I was in fact 358 meters in front. So put the petal to the metal and took of for the last 2K. Powered through and crossed the line at 29:55 it’s only 5 seconds but still averaged under 6min/K was very happy with the result now BRING ON THE TRI.

5:43
5:51
6:06
6:06
6:08

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 23:47
5K PB: 29:55
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 5
Week: 5
Month: 12
Year to Date: 97
Life to Date: 482

Every Time I see this it makes me laugh

“Sing us a song, you’re the piano man”

Well things have been going okay since Sunday. I decided against better judgement to go for a run on Monday afternoon just to see how the leg felt. After 2K I had to pull up as although it didn’t hurt it just didn’t feel right. So just walked home and decided to leave it for the day.

Tuesday I road to work its 30K there and back so not to bad a ride and quite enjoyable (except for the bus that failed to indicate and cut across 3 lanes of traffic to try and run me over). Felt slow on the bike with the bags on the back but still covered the 15K both ways in less than 50 minutes. The leg felt good on the bike and I could ride with no problems so going to try another slow run this afternoon and see how it goes. Got swim training tomorrow morning which should prove no problems so hopefully I’ll be back on track by the weekend for my last long ride.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 2
Week: 2
Month: 7
Year to Date: 92
Life to Date: 477

“Sing us a song tonight”

Well had an interesting weekend but not much training happened which was a bit of a shame. Did 5K on Saturday with Jill which flew by in 33:37 YES 2 seconds of my PB but hey was still a good run and nice to be out there with some company. Forgot Last Friday morning had a really good swim and managed 500 meters in 12:25 which is a great time for me and actually felt good in the water for the first time so was really pumped for the Tri then came Sunday. Had some friends over and I was sratching around in the garage and I cut my leg on the lawn mower not to deep but it is across my shin and my leg has some pretty serious bruising so hopefully everything will come good by the 18th.

1K PB: 4.28
4K PB: 25:28
5K PB: 33:35
7K PB: 48:54
10K PB: 76:37

Last Run: 5
Week: 0
Month: 5
Year to Date: 90
Life to Date: 475