Day 7, Week 8

Sleep: 7 hours

Main activity: race day

Training: 1 session - Triathlon race (400m/17K/4K)

Alarm went off in the dark once again. Got ready and rode down to the start line near Customs House in Newy. Great to be able to roll out the front door for an event.
Enjoyed a strong current pushing us along in the swim. Came out and onto the bike for 5 hard laps. Lap 1 went too hard and legs were stinging. Settled into a better rhythm and came off the bike ready to launch a strong run. All went well and managed to pass a few people before the finish line. Top 10 finish and managed to win my age group which I was stoked with. Confirms that the work in training is making a difference. Especially on the back of a long, hard session yesterday. Looking forward to the next hit-out tri in 3 weeks - Olympic Distance in Newy.

All up, another good week. And looking forward to the big one as every day passes.

End of week summary: 9 sessions (2 swims, 3 rides, 3 runs, 1 tri); Total time: 15hours; Mileage: 344K

Day 6, Week 8

Sleep: 6 hours

Main activity: Training and rest

Training: 1 session - Long ride/brick run (165K/6.5K)

Rolled out just after 6am heading north towards Karuah. Had a couple of stops to alter the new saddle position. Beautiful morning for riding. Enjoyed good road surface for most of the ride. Still managed to sustain a flat however. Ended up taking the turn into Tea Gardens off the highway and then checked out Pindimar, a beutifully peaceful little place with great views over the water to Nelsom Bay and Soldier's Point.

 

Came home strong and averaged around 33km/h for the 5hour ride. Felt good on the brick run (30mins). Able to push a decent pace.
Lazed around for the arvo. Legs feeling like they've worked hard. Put the new handlebar tape on and got stuff sorted for the tri in the morning. Another early start tomorrow so off to bed to get the body rested.

Day 5, Week 8

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work and training

Training: 2 sessions - Long Run (24K) and Run/swim/run brick (5K/1K/3K)

Planned this week's long run for today due to the tri on Sunday. Got out for 2 hours around Mayfield and Lambton. Found a park with great 360degree views over Newy and surrounds, Braye Park. Very humid and not feeling the freshest, possibly after hard ride yesterday.
Picked up some new gear in the arvo including a helmet, saddle and handlebar tape in racing red. Home to test it all out before going for a run/swim/run that lasted ~60mins. Funly enough the running felt good this afternoon. Again, focussing on keeping good form. Out for dinner and show in the evening. Kitami Japanese restaurant and Tim Minchin at the Civic Thetre - a good night out. Home to get ready for long ride in the morning.

Day 4, Week 8

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work/travel and training

Training: 1 session - Ride/run brick (65K/5K)

Got out early for a hard ride over towards Stockton, then Tomago and looped back through Hexham. Maintained good speed through-out and felt strong (2hours). Recovery run down around the beaches (25mins) felt good.
Travelled out for work in the afternoon. Pasta for dinner and off to bed.

Day 3, Week 8

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work from home

Training: 1 session - Run (10K time trial + 3K recovery)

Able to catch up on a bunch of jobs today. Got out for a great run. Wanted to try a speedier session to did the local 10K loop. Worked hard on keeping a better technique with fast foot turnover. Got round in a tick under 40mins which I was very happy with - have only gone that fast once before on that route. Good to know the running legs seem to be there again. Walked the dogs in the morning also. Not too much else for the day. Had intended to get a swim in but it didn't happen. Out for dinner and movie, Nowhere Boy - a good flick about early Beatles growing up in Liverpool.

Day 2, Week 8

Sleep: 8 hours

Main activity: travel/work and training

Training: 2 sessions - Swim (3K) and Ride (32K)

Headed down to Merewether Baths for a swim. Felt OK. 65mins all up for the 3K. Drove to Sydney for work, and back. Got some other jobs done in the arvo. Ended up doing a Spinervals session on the windtrainer for 65mins - a good sweat session. Off and running for training in Week 8, planning another fairly big week.

Day 1, Week 8

Sleep: 7 hours

Main activity: work and travel

Weather: stinking hot

Training: 0 sessions - Rest Day

Long day of work. Letting the body recover and re-charge to prepare for another big week of training.

Day 7, Week 7

Sleep: 8.5 hours

Weather: Hot, sunny

Main activity: Training

Training: 1 session - Long run (32K)

Ran down to catch the ferry across to Stockton. Did a lap of Stockton and then ran home. Legs felt better than expected. Just bloody hot. Happy to get through longest run of the campaign so far. Out for lunch after and took it easy all arvo. Another week down. 5 to go.

End of week summary: 10 sessions (3 swims, 4 rides, 3 runs); 18hrs33; 362.5K

Day 6, Week 7

Sleep: 7 hours

Main activity: Training and rest

Training: 1 session - Long ride and recovery run (186K/3.5K)

Got away around 6am and headed south to the Central Coast. Made it to Gosford, turned around and came home. Into some wind on the way back but managed OK. Exhausted by the time I got back. Fairly ginger on the recovery run. Ran out of energy and had to walk. Very happy to have cracked 180K on the bike though (6hrs20 and 20min run). Got some food in pretty quickly. Out for a trivia night in the evening.

Day 5, Week 7

Sleep: 7 hours

Main activity: work

Training: 1 session - Ride-Swim-Ride (10K/1K/15K)

Up early to visit worksite. Out for lunch with work at Caves Beach. Knocked off and planned an arvo training session. Rode to Newy Baths, swam 1K and rode around Newy to Lowlands Bowling Club (total 75mins).
Played some bowls and had dinner out. Excited about long ride in the morning.

Day 4, Week 7

Sleep: 8 hours

Main activity: work/travel

Training: 2 sessions - Swim (3K) and Run (11K)

Travelled out to run a work training session. Swam at Singleton on the way home (73mins). Home in time to get a run in. Tried a barefoot beach run for something different - inspired by listening to the talking book 'Born to Run'. Felt OK except for painful 4th left toe.

Day 3, Week 7

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work (office)

Training: 2 sessions - Run (12.5K) and Ride (34K)

Up early to take the dogs for a walk. Got back and didn't feel much like going for a run. Must have worked the legs a bit harder than I thought last night. Warmed into it and felt pretty good through-out. At the office most of the day. Came home and got out for a ride around the Redhead/Fernleigh Track Loop (1hr18). Still windy but not too bad. Threw the new Skins400 half tights on - get the thumbs up. Chicken, corn and potato for dinner. Bit of telly then a read and bed.

Day 2, Week 7

Sleep: 7 hours

Main activity: work and training

Training: 2 sessions - Swim (5K) and Ride (50K windtrainer)

Up early for another clinic. Drove back to Newy deciding on where to swim. Opted to try Mayfield pool as it was the only pool without a school carnival on. Intended to do 4K but felt really good for the first hour. Not pushing the pace at all but felt very smooth and under control. Ended up cracking the century - 100 laps in around 1hr50. Wanted to get a ride in but heavy afternoon wind prevented an outside session. Did 1hr20 on the windtrainer which went well. Late dinner and off to bed.

Day 1, Week 7

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work and travel

Training: 0 sessions - Rest Day

Usual Monday out in the clinics. Stayed over in Singleton for the night. Had contemplated a swim but opted for a rest day which I think was a good idea to recharge. Legs feeling slightly heavy after the weekend sessions. Enjoyed the day off, will get back into it tomorrow.

Day 7, Week 6

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Weather: hot and humid

Training: 1 session - Long run (30K)

Weight: 78.4kg (post long run)

Woke up at 5:50am and got out the door by 6:10am for this week's long run. Kept a pretty good tempo through-out. Made sure to keep the hydration and energy levels up much better than last week which helped. Came home fairly strong to finish just under 2hrs30, so around 5min/km pace which is my target for the IM marathon. Instant relief after falling into the pool on the return home!
Didn't get up to much for the rest of the day. Had a read and a sleep and took it easy.

End of week summary: 8 sessions (3 swims, 3rides, 2 runs); Total time: 17hrs50; Mileage: 350K

Day 6, Week 6

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Weather: warm, some cloud

Main activity: Training, eating, rest

Training: 1 session - Ride/run brick (158K/4K)

The alarm woke me from a deep sleep this morning. Getting darker and darker in the mornings now. Saddled up and got away soon after 6am. Headed up through Stockton, Raymond Terrace and Seaham before looping around Karuah and returning home. Felt very lively on the bike this morning. Had some good stretches hooking along down in the aero position. Have decided I will ride the old Giant road bike at IM Aus. Have been generously offered some racing wheels which will help speed things up a bit hopefully. So, dreams of a new bike will have to wait. Averaged well over 30kph for much of the ride. Ended up taking a touch over 5 hours in total, making it once again my longest ever ride in both time and distance. Jumped off the bike and went for a short run of just under 20mins which also felt very good. Gained a lot of confidence from this morning and really feel like its all coming together. Need to keep building on this over the next few weeks however. Out for brunch which hit the spot. Caught up on a few jobs in the arvo and chilled out. Long run and maybe an easy swim planned for tomorrow.

Day 5, Week 6

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Weather: hot and sunny

Main activity: travel and work (onsite)

Training: 1 session (split) - Swim 2(x2K)

Faced with a long day onsite in the Valley I managed to squeeze in an early swim in Singleton on the way. 45min session feeling much better than Wednesday's swim. Beautiful morning as the sun came up over the pool - makes you really appreciate being out in it. After a cancellation of part of my day at the mine, I suddenly had a few spare hours so filled them in by returning to the pool for another session. This time in the 25m pool as there was a carnival on in the big pool. Again, around 45mins and concentrated more on improving my technique in the water. Drive home once finished out there to enjoy the start of the weekend. Eyeing off another Sat morning long run so off to bed to bag a few hours sleep.

Day 4, Week 6

Sleep: 8.5 hours

Main activity: work (onsite clinic)

Training: 1 session - Ride (65K)

Enjoyed not having to get up too early once again. Got out for a good session on the bike, riding fairly hard through-out over to Stockton. Took about 2hrs and felt strong during entire ride.
Usual clinic out in the Valley took up the rest of the day. Enjoying listening to the talking book version of 'Born to Run' - helps the time and Km's go by on the road.
Again, pretty quiet night before early start in the morning.

Day 3, Week 6

Sleep: 8.5 hours

Main activity: work (office)

Training: 2 sessions - Run (18K); Swim (2K)

Enjoyed a bit of a sleep-in this morning. Got out for a decent run out around Glenrock and the Fernleigh Track. Felt pretty good and ran for 1hr39. Caught up on some work at the office. Got out for a swim after work at Charlestown pool. It was the wrong time to be there as there were squads taking most of the lanes and the rest of us fighting for space. Got through 2K (53mins), but felt slow and was a bit uninterested. A bit sore in the arms after Monday's swim I think. Still, happy to get through it. Quiet evening of dinner and bed.

Day 2, Week 6

Sleep: 8.5 hours

Weather: warm, humid, fine

Main activity: work (from home) and training

Training: 1 session - Ride/Run brick (60K/5K)

Took the dog for a rare walk (first in a few weeks for me). Caught up on a bunch of work jobs. Able to get out for a ride in the afternoon out around Minmi, Cardiff, Charlestown. Rode for 2hr10 and then ran an easy 28mins off the bike. Felt good through-out the ride - hopefully a sign that the riding legs are kicking in. Run felt fine also. Overall energy levels are OK. Feeling a bit tired/worn out occasisonally so very important to keep eating and sleeping as best I can. Read before bed.

Day 1, Week 6

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work and travel

Training: 1 session - Swim (3K)

Usual Monday out in the Valley. Had planned to head to Syd for work on Tues but got called off which I was pretty happy about - less driving time. So considered my options for a swim on the way home and opted for Beresfield pool. Wanted to swim for about an hour so set myself a goal of swimming 3K in under 1hour, which I managed to do. Was fairly tough to stick to it for that long but felt very good to have done it. Just gotta tag an extra 800m on it to prepare for race day.
Home for Grill'd burger and looking forward to a longer sleep.

Day 7, Week 5

Sleep: 9 hours

Weather: humid, overcast

Main activity: training

Training: 1 session - Long Run (30K)

Weight: 79.3kg (recorded post long run)

Got ready and left around 7:30am to head out for a long run with a mate. Pushed the pace a little quicker than I have been recently which I needed and was good. A couple of hills took it out of me on the way back in and I struggled over the last few K's. Needed to get more drink/gel in towards the end. All up, very happy to have punched out a fairly solid run (2hr35). Happy to be putting some long rides and runs together. Need to keep building on that over the next fews week as I aim to ramp up the mileage. Not sure what I will do about a bike for race day yet. Options are: a) buy a time trial bike, or b) continue using the roadie but stick race wheels on it.

End of week summary: 8 sessions (2swims, 3rides, 3runs, 1tri); Total time: 15hrs05; Mileage: 260K

Day 6, Week 5

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Weather: overcast, humid.

Main activity: training

Training: 1 session - Long Ride (135K)

Got away soon after 6am on this week's long ride which was to include a loop of Lake Macquarie. Check out the link for the offical event that's run each year: http://www.loopthelake.com.au/the-route/
Happy that the weather was kind to us through-out. It was to be my longest ride in both time and distance. Very undulating in parts of the loop. All up it took 4hrs50 including the Loop and the warm-up and warm-down to get there and back. Home to finish off the cold home-made pizza and rehydrate. Went out for coffee and more food. Followed by watching a movie in the arvo and taking it pretty easy. Seems to be the way most week-end days are played out currently. Chicken and veges for dinner. Made plans for tomorrow's long run. Skins on and lights out.

Day 5, Week 5

Sleep: 8 hours

Weather: humid, overcast

Main activity: work (office)

Training: 1 session - practice Tri (1K/20K/5K)

Into the office this morning, plenty to do. Managed to get away by mid arvo and had planned to do a small triathlon to finish the working week off. Swam at Merewether Baths, Rode laps of criterium-style course along the beaches, and ran around Merewether. 1hr50 all up including 2 fairly long transitions to sort all the gear out. Was a lot of fun and I think important to do things like this occasionally to remind yourself why you're doing all this - for the enjoyment of it. Home-made pizzas for dinner and usual planning of Sat morning long ride. 

Day 4, Week 5

Sleep: 8.5 hours

Weather: wet, overcast

Main activity: work including travel

Training: 2 sessions - Swim (4K) and Run (20K)

Woke to the sound of rain and was happy to lie in a bit longer than usual. Drove out to the Hunter Valley for a job and came home via Wallsend pool for a long swim. All up about 1hr30 worth of watching the black line go by. Felt fine through-out, took it fairly easy again. Went home and felt like a sleep. Had a quick lie-down before heading out on a run. Explored a new-ish route which made things interesting. A good hit-out at 1hr40. Again, legs felt good running. Thinking of how good I have felt this week after having a rest day - well worth it to recharge a little. Full skins on for dinner and bed.

Day 3, Week 5

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Weather: overcast

Main activity: work (office)

Training: 1 session - Ride/Run 34K/4K

Early start for work but didn't have to travel far which was good. Kept busy with work stuff all day so was very ready to get and do something in the arvo. Rode a loop I've been doing a bit lately quicker than previous times (1hr12). Short recovery run off the bike (20mins) during which I felt really good. Hopefully this means I'm finding my running legs again. Very tasty dinner at home of roast lamb and veges. Skins on, a bit of reading and bed.

Day 2, Week 5

Sleep: 8 hours

Weather: overcast

Main activity: work

Training: 1 session - Swim (3K)

Early start and kept busy out in the Hunter Valley for the day. Stopped in at Beresfield pool on the way home for a fairly easy session (73mins). Finding it hard to keep myself interested on these longer swims. Came up with a few songs in my head to pass the laps a bit quicker. Considered a ride after this but passed on it today, will get out for a ride tomorrow. Planning an easier training week this week. Had Thai takeaway for dinner and a read before bed.

Day 1, Week 5

Sleep: 7.5 hours

Main activity: work

Rest Day

Had a decent sleep and felt OK through-out the day. Had expected to feel more sore in the legs after yesterday's run. Was contemplating a swim after work but decided against it as still a bit worn out in general. Figure its not the worst idea to let the body recover a bit. Watched some telly, ate dinner and got to bed pretty early (Skins on of course).