Dog Leads and Diets

So I love running with my dog. I trained for my first marathon with our red cloud Kelpie Ruby and now we have a Labrador Kelpie Cross called Sasha. She isn't as spritely as Ruby was but is ok at shorter distances. Just can't do the long stuff...

Sasha is a great dog and runs better off the lead than on the lead, but in the streets mostly I keep her on the lead for the sake of other people and dogs ( I avoid any areas where there are likely to be bikes for both her and the riders sake).

the other morning I was out for a run and came across the a couple walking their dog with my least favourite product - a retractable lead. The problem with retractable leads is that you have NO control of your dog - they are generally off exploring all by themselves with limited distraction to your walk - perfect for you but not so for others around you. Solid leads can be long and give your dog a bit of scope but at least with a solid lead you and your dog can get close and in control quickly.....

 

This of course is not what happened with this dog - They didn't hear me coming and I just about tripped over the dog and it's lead darting out across my path to get to Sasha! GROAN. Do not kid yourself - you have less control of your dog on a retractable lead than I have with Sasha off a lead.... She follows along often close beside me and obeys the commands I use (mostly)...

 

 

The other problem I have at the moment is my diet.... its not really going to plan and as a result I unfortunately have gained some weight. Everyone keeps telling me I still look fit and healthy and I am but I really don't want to carry those extra kg up the hills in Canada.

 

So it is time for me to be the adult and stop my snacking, drink more water or green tea and less coffee. I am back to being about 77kg - still lighter than when I did my last ironman but Ideally I really would like to be about 72kg when I race so I am going to have to get smarter with my nutrition..... 

Missing in action for a week

So I have been neglecting my blog and unfortunately my training.

Had a great second week of hard training finishing a fortnight ago in Perth with a lovely 16km run with the marathon club. Starts at Helena Valley Primary school up to Mundaring Weir. Lots of hills and mostly up hill, in fact on a run like that running down hill is not fun..... cause you know you are going to have to run back up another one.

I was really happy with how I went.... 90 minutes for just under 16km.... not too shabby at all.

Then I spent Monday in Perth starting my recovery week.... so no training. Pulled up OK but a bit tight in the calf.... Then Tuesday after driving home I was tired so being a recovery week I decided to have a sleep in. Wednesday I got up for a run but 1km in to the run and decided my calf was still sore.... too busy at work so no time to get to the physio to have a tune up (and check up....). Then Thursday I decided I was too tired AGAIN.... looks like this week is going to be a VERY light training week.

Saturday I dusted myself off and got on the bike. What a great morning - cold but fine and I got a solid 2 and a half hours on the bike. Then a short run Sunday to test the legs - all good - fantastic I am back on track.

So since Monday I have been bang on the training and got to the physio too. changed the swim Monday as the weather was coming in and I got out on the road for my run instead. Good session on the trainer on Tuesday morning and much more pleasant that riding in the high winds and rain, then a swim session that night. Even did some drills. Followed by a gentle 13km run this morning and my standard 90 minutes of stretching. So weekly total to tonight is 6 hours on the training track.... more than all last week combined.

Listening to my body is how I have got out there and done these great things and last week I just needed to go missing in action..... but only for 1 week

Ahh Recovery Week

So it's recovery week for me. I have tried a few regimens but for my body at my age I find 2 weeks of hard training followed by 1 week of light training keeps me moving on without over training.

This whole idea of train hard or go home is all well and good but our bodies need time to adapt. Interestingly the "recovery week" on my program is aptly names "adaptation" Essentially its the time I need to spend not killing myself but being gentle on my body so it can adapt to the stress I have put it under for the previous 2 weeks. You see we can't keep up a high pace forever, sometimes we must all rest.

The EASY needs to be EASY so HARD can be done HARD.

This applies to efforts (or intervals) go hard or go home, but then rest and make sure the rest is as long as it should be. Lots of people struggle with this as going easy on yourself can be harder than running hard and wearing yourself out. Overtraining is a real risk and you can lose momentum and motivation if you aren't careful. Essentially improvement comes best from 2 steps forward and 1 step back... take a deep breath and go again.

I found this great quote

So this also includes having a light week every 3rd week for me. Actually usually by the second part of the second week I need a bit of a rest to get my heavy weekend in. Hence training this week has been
Monday - Swim only - a bit shorter than normal and not too hard.
Tuesday - 20 minutes Power threshold test - not as good as before but I realized I my wheel was rubbing so hopefully this will improve quickly.
Wednesday - 35 minute run with my dog and another 90 minute stretching session
Thursday - Sleep in and donated plasma (doesn't knock me around as much as giving blood)
Friday - 25 minute slow run

Tomorrow I am going to go out for a ride and might compete in the hill climb with the cycle club. I will also try and get a 5km run in as well on the weekend...

Ready to smash my training again next week......

13 weeks to go and it's going OK

This week I had some ups and down in training.

Monday was a public holiday so no swim session and I was feeling lazy so rather than run in the morning when it was beautiful I waited until the afternoon when the storm clouds had gathered... I go drenched but managed the 45 minute run as planned.

Tuesday is indoor trainer day.... This time I did the whole 83minute interval session... tough but I got it done.

Wednesday is run morning and again managed the 50 minute run. Sasha my dog, loves a run but she is getting a little old. The first 4km she was great, started lagging a little in the next 3km and by the last few km I was dragging her home. She collapsed on the floor when I got home but at least she wakes for food.

Wednesday night was stretching class again. Feels good to get these in each week.

 

Thursday I was dog tired (a little like my dog) and decided I needed to stay in bed .... so I did... not good for training but sometimes I just need to do this. Then that evening by the time I finished work I felt a bit snuffley like I was coming down with something. I know that it is important to rest early if you want your immune system to work well... so no swimming for me this week and home I went for chicken soup and oranges. Combined with some extra water and a herb called andrographis (cold combat is the brand I get) and early to bed...

 

Friday I felt OK so went for my recovery run.... Sunrises are spectacular in Winter when it isn't too cloudy and although I missed the sunrise on Friday I did get it on Saturday when I sent for my my longer run - 45minutes at a good pace.

It really is very grounding to witness such a spectacular sight....

Sunday morning was a early ride then meet with the group for the sunday morning ride. Got a gentle 70km ride in (160 minutes) and followed it up with a 1km run to the coffee shop. Great way to manage my day.

So to date in my program I have trained for just over 20 hours with this week being a little short due to my day off.

My diet on the other hand.... that's another story... I need to limit food in the house I think... when I am not training I get so hungry although realistically it's probably thirsty so this week its going to be drink more water week for me.

 

Is stretching really a luxury item or a necessity.

I have been layed up today... just couldn't get out of bed and by the end of the day I can feel a cold coming on... so it's chicken soup for me tonight and early to bed with a little andrographis (little known immune boosting herb) some extra water to keep hydrated and a honey lemon perhaps with a little ginger as a kicker.

The email from the 12wbt team today spoke about stretching which has been quite topical for me lately. So I ask the question is it a luxury or a necessity.

The necessity of stretching

 

I love a good stretch and have made it part of my routine and injury management / prevention for many years. Every program I have done for both ironman and half ironman distances I have included a stretching class in most weeks. Normally I go to body balance at the local gym. This is an hour of Tai chi, yoga and Pilates mixed together. It has the extra benefit of a great core/back session in the middle and my favourite part is the  relaxation at the end. Quite a few of the class don't stay for the relaxation but focusing your mind for 5 minutes especially before you go to work for the day.

 

This time a new class has started locally by a friend and physiotherapist. 90 minutes of stretching.... very long relaxing stretching. Stretching our hamstrings, back muscles and gluteus maximus.What a great class. I know for many people 90 minutes of stretching would seem excessive but Sharon has us stretching slowly, very slowly and holding the perfect stretch in the best position to get the most out of it. Great value.

 

I always count the time I spend in a class as part of my weekly training regimen. It may seem soft to include 90 minutes of stretching in my weekly training regimen but I value the benefit from these sessions often more than some of the other recovery session in my week. Its all about the balance.

 

So off I head to my happy baby pose 



The oxymoron of slowly getting quicker.

Yesterday was the local half marathon and 10km fun run. I competed last year and ran the best 10km time I have run for more than 10 years.

Yesterday I ran just a little faster again.


I managed to hold 5min km pace for the entire 10km (splits were very even 4:58 to 5:01 average for each 2km segment)

My time was 49:54 a new PB for the course..... it's looking good although mu muscles were a little sore this morning

Here is the link to my run

Hence the oxymoron....... Slowly getting Faster....

I had fun going through some of my rules of running.....

1. Always walk at drink stations
2. You are still in a drink station if you are still holding a cup.
3. Anything that would be illegal as a race walk must be a run!

Self Control and Smashing a training week

I love to self reflect and read interesting ideas. I remember reading something about 6 months ago about self control and how this is the actual key to a great life. We talk about self esteem being important but really self control is what sets you up. It gives you resilience and stops you doing stupid things. Its about not doing something just because you want to or more importantly not doing something cause you can't be bothered, or would rather stay in your lovely warm bed. Its doing things cause you so know they are the right thing to do and even though you would rather be doing something else, doing these things ARE going to make your life better.

Self Control enables you to achieve soooo much. I will say I don't always have self control but I probably have more than most and as a result I seem to be able to do things others find difficult. I don't think what I do is necessarily difficult it just needs some dedication and passion to achieve amazing things (and a dream to do more).

Not everything is going perfectly for me at present. I have put some weight back on and the last 3 weeks I have turned into a slug. Neither of these things are going to be helpful for achieving my dream of competing in Mont Tremblant and although I know I will not win the event I am hoping I can come in the top half of the field. Despite setting myself a goal realistically I am going to be happy to finish and be able to say I have competed in a world championships. This is something I never thought was ever going to be possible.

So where does the self control come in.

Weight blow outs!

To drop those extra kg and a couple more I am going to have to develop my self control around food. Bad habits and poor self control have crept back into my life. This is how I ended up at the hefty weight of 92kg about 4 years ago and self control (by reducing my portion size) is how I managed to get back down to 80kg. The 12wbt program 12 months ago was the extra push I needed and by the beginning of the year I got to 72kg. Now I am back up to 76kg..... time to get a bit of self control happening again. Diet has been pretty good this week and I have avoided getting hungry and therefore have stopped the inappropriate snacking.



Weekly challenge

This week the #WBTHydrate challenge was to drink only water. Now this little black duck is a big time coffee addict so there was no way I could go without coffee for a week (or even a day). Everything else I could drop.... no juice.... no soft drink..... no cordial....no sports drinks..... but no coffee that is a stretch too far. However I did exercise some self control and have only 1 coffee (which I made an espresso so there was no milk added and only a small amount of water). Other than this I have only had green tea (2 per day max) and water all week.

The training benefit

So as I mentioned I have been a slug when it comes to training in the last 3 weeks. I have rested well but this week was week ONE of the my 15 week program. The plan was

• Monday - Swim in the morning and run in the evening.
• Tuesday - Cycle in the morning on the indoor trainer (intervals)
• Wednesday - Run in the morning (with an effort) and try the new stretch class in the evening (90 minutes of stretching)
• Thursday - Cycle in the morning on the indoor trainer (maybe try the course on the computer) then body balance class when I knock off work and a swim to follow
• Friday - recovery run with my friend in the morning (more about helping motivate her than needed for the program as this should be my rest day)
• Saturday - 2 1/2 hour ride on my bike - flat ride
• Sunday - 10km fun run (entered during the week so no excuses)

I know this probably sounds impossible but for the first time in about 2 years I have managed to stick to the plan for the week. So at this point in time (Saturday night) I have managed to do 10.5 hours of training this week with about a 1 hour run to go tomorrow. Realistically achieving the entire week of 12WBT exercise is about 7 hours of training for the week and this equates to only 3 hours more (less than 30 minutes a day) At this point I am really pleased with my efforts. I wanted to stay in bed this morning and I had excuses.... My partner is home and my mother is in town looking for places to buy. I had to do some juggling to fit some of this in during the week and I don't feel like I have stopped much... but on the positive side the high that I get from exercise has already kicked in.

Self control is definitely the way to happiness so just go out there and do it.

Enough of the rest.....time to get back on the training wheel

I have been training at a reasonable level now for a number of years and as a result I understand you need both hard training sessions and REST.

I see all too often people going full on all the time and then they end up not improving like they want to or worse they get sick, injured or jaded (sometimes all 3). I have never been good at overtraining often only just doing enough to finish the race....

So despite the best intentions this week to start doing something I have ended up using an array of the oldest excuses in the book.

It is too wet to train

I'm too tired

I feel sleepy - need a sleep

It's too windy to ride my bike

Lack of motivation

So the rest is now over - I need to get back onto the plan, back on the program. Stop eating like a teenager who has been left alone with the fridge, control my inner Labrador.

 

It was really important for me to have this rest after Busselton and the reason for that is best explained by this great quote I found from Oprah

 



Time to get my plan in order and refocus on the goal.

Pre Training Fun

I have been busy getting the ducks aligned ready to start training. I have organised a program with thanks to Andrew Budge at Trysport. 15 weeks of training running as 2 weeks on 1 week off (or Adaptation as it is called). So this week is adaptation for me at present. I have also been busy organising my travel plans.

Not resting

On the weekend I competed again in an event but this one was some fun – 6 hours of fun I might add. I clearly have a strange idea of fun. It was an adventure quest run by boundless adventure. It involved essentially orienteering a course of mountain bike, canoe (inflatable) and run/ trek. I have to say my ability to stay calm and collected under pressure leaves a bit to be desired and my bull at a gate attitude essentially resulted in me having a few cuts on my legs. What was I thinking bush bashing to find the check point – why would they want to put the marker in the middle of the bush!

It was a bit of fun though and we were doing well until that point. I also learnt I am not good at paddling…. Or steering a boat but I am fit and that always counts for something.

This week's plan

So it is back into some exercise this week. Have a couple of massages, go for a few runs and a couple of rides in the hill of Perth. Mont Tremblant (which is pronounced Mon Tremblo) is hilly… essentially it's a ski resort with "choppy" hills. So getting some hill practice in is going to be needed.

Also need to get to fighting weights as although I have always said I aim for fit and fat…. The extra weight is not something you really want to lug up a hill on a bike if you can avoid it.

Where is the start line really?

So new blog time.

Last weekend I qualified to compete in the 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant Quebec Canada in September. 70.3 is also known as a half ironman triathlon or 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run all in one day (actually its a few hours).

So starting the new blog feels like I am at the start line but really this all started many years ago. I have been doing triathlon for many years. We have a small local club who run events each week over summer. Sprint distance or shorter generally so 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run.

In 2003 I decided to compete in a marathon. I had been running with friends who did them and decided as it was likely to be the only marathon I ever ran in my life I decided to go and do the London marathon. It was a hoot... tough but a hoot anyway. 35000 people all running at the same time and every pub had a band... there are lots of pubs in London. I didn't do the time I wanted but I did discover that my talent really lies in long distance event. I just keep ticking along all day.

The winter after returning from London my life changed a bit... I snapped my cruciate ligament and had a knee reconstruction. My ability to run in anything but a straight line was limited. It was at this stage I got back into to triathlon... long distance triathlon. There was a reasonable size group planning to complete in the Busselton half ironman that year and I joined in.

I loved it and finished in a really respectable time of 5:42. Much quicker than I thought, but I stirred my knee up in the process. So back for another arthroscope of the knee only to find I had loose bit on my medial ligament. Once cleaned up I got back into triathlon and despite my knees still causing problems and my physio telling me I would never manage an ironman.

So in 2010 I got brave and entered the full ironman at Busselton - 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run. Training was tough but I got to the start line with a dread about running the 42.2km at the end. I had done this before and I knew it hurt. I also stood at the start line and thought to myself.. I haven't swum 3.8km in a single session or ridden 180km in a session and I definitely haven't run 42.2km... oh well too late now. Then the commentator said - "don't think of it as an ironman its just a sunday training brick with 1500 friends". This was exactly what I needed.

I finished in a very respectable 12:50 min. Quicker than Tony Abbot who did Port Macquarie earlier that year.

I kept entering half and full ironman for a few years, Busselton half and full again the next year, with Gold Coast half ironman (in the pouring rain) in between. Port Maquarie the next year then Mandurah half later that year. It was at Mandurah that I got and idea. My half times were starting to come down..I was actually getting pretty good at these, especially the half distance. May just may be I might be able to qualify for the world championships. I was now knocking on the sub 5:30 time for the half... and that was with a terrible run leg.

In March last year I did my last full ironman in New Zealand. It was so much fun, but the training had been gruelling.

Next aim was to qualify for the worlds... I tried in Busselton 2013, but I was too far down the list and didn't go to roll down.

roll down is a process where the slot gets offered to the winner, then the second place person etc until all the slots are taken. The slot are allocate to age groups depending on how many compete. Any slots not taken by the age group are then redistributed to the larger age groups. Each slot stays within the gender it was allocate. So if the 60-64 women don't want their slot it goes to another age group.

So I did get to go to the final Las Vegas 70.3 World championships. The 2014 was announced as Mont Tremblant in Canada.

First chance to qualify was Mandurah Half Ironman. I was 10th in my age group with a PB time and the first time under 5:30. My father was very unwell and I raced the event with him in hospital in ICU. I went to the roll down where there were also slots available for Kona (full ironman worlds and a much bigger event - also much harder to qualify for). No way I was going to get one of those slots at 10th (went to 1st mostly but sometimes rolled down to 5th). Then the 70.3 roll down started. There were 4 people wanting slots in my age group and only 2 slots up for grab, so they went to 4th and 5th. Then more slots got allocated and 7th got to go on the last spot. So I missed out by 1!

Busselton is a tougher race. There is a more competitive field so I knew I would be struggling to get top 10 or even top 20. Making roll down more a lucky thing, although with less time to save and plan perhaps others wouldn't want the slots.

We I did another PB but only by seconds - 5:26:44 is my new PB and I was 14th. There were more people than slots so roll down was on.... Fortunately there were only 2 of us who wanted the slots so I got to go as did the 20th place.

So celebration time now and a little break... training starts 15 weeks out on the 19th of May. I will try and blog each week with my progress and mind set heading to the event.

Fit, not longer fat and now going to the world championships in Mont Tremblant.