Back in the game

I am now well and truly back into the swing of working and training and I am happy with how things are coming along. I have added the Canberra Half Ironman into my racing schedule in December which I am really excited about. Flights to New Zealand have been organised and the season is slowly taking shape.

Over the past week I have eased back into some more structured training and have started my official build to Anaconda (and the rest of the season) as of yesterday. My mind and body is rested so I am ready to hit is hard over the next few months.

On the working front my days have been cut to 3 a week. We are just too quiet with the GFC and uncertainty in the market place at the moment. So I now have a bit more capacity to train and recover properly (which I am really excited about). So the timing has been good on this unfortunate situation as I am not saving for our Europe trip anymore and I have no immediate financial commitments!

I have a double swim set tomorrow before a couple of big days on my days off!

Cheers,

Andy

Tanita Scales

This season I have been lucky enough to get some support from Tanita which has been a huge help. I have just received a set of Tanita Body Composition Scales which I will be using to monitor my progress throughout the upcoming season.

Tanita is one of the series sponsors of the Anaconda Adventure Race and have been for the last few years. At each of the races they have been there getting people on the scales and giving them some feed back. At the Anaconda race in Augusta last year I was given an assessment. You will see below those results compared to my results from today (please note that I have been in Europe for the past 2 months and have been back 10 days!)

Weight 67.9kg / 70.5kg
Body Fat 5%/11%
Body Water 68.2%/ 63%
Visceral Fat 1/1
Bone Mass 3.2 kg / 3.1 kg
Muscle Mass 61.3 kg / 59.7 kg
Physique Rating 8 / 5
Metabolic Age 12 / 12

*The first figure is from pre Anaconda 2009/the next is from today!

The Tanita scale will become an important part of my training to help me keep a close eye on what my body is doing and hopefully get that fat level down a bit!

Video Blog 1

Back to training

I have now been back at home for nearly a week and it feels like I have never been away! I was straight back to work and slowly easing back into some easy training.

A mid week wind trainer set with Mark

I have been working through my plan with Stu for the build up to the Anaconda Adventure Race in November and my mountain bike is finally getting fixed (from my crash in the Gold Coast last September!).

I have just received some trigger point massage tools which I am really looking forward to using. Recovery is an area I am really going to focus on (something I have neglected previously) this season and into the future.

The TRIWA race calender has been released and I have penciled in the races I am hoping to do to get me in the best possible shape for NZ, Singapore and Busso. I also saw today that the Sorrento Challenge is on again (a race I have done previously in a team), so I will be entering that as a lead up race to Anaconda.

I am enjoying getting back into the training routine, although I haven't seen an early morning yet! (that will start next week).

Good luck to all my training friends racing Yepoon half this weekend!

Cheers,

Andy

Anaconda Adventure Race

With the Anaconda Adventure Race now 13 Weeks away its time to get my fitness back. I have set out my build to the race and I am really excited to begin this afternoon with my first swim in 2 months!

I would like to thank Kevin from Tanita, one of the sponsors of the Anaconda Adventure Race series for organising my entry to the Augusta Race.

Last year I raced 2 of the races in the Series, finishing 12th in both of them. I am hoping for a top 10 finish this year at Augusta.

The logistics for the race have been organised and they are not the ideal situation. I have my cousins wedding on Saturday night so I will be leaving at around 10pm to Augusta. I have organised Mark to go down earlier on Saturday and set up my gear and tent, so I will be able to crawl into bed for a few hours before race start (thanks Mark!).

I will keep updating this blog with my progress in training.

Andy

Back to the real world

After 9 weeks in Europe Lisa and I arrived home last night. We had an amazing time exploring France, Greece, Italy, Croatia and Spain while drinking and eating far too much! We both worked really hard to save for our trip for the last 6 months and it was well worth the sacrifice.

I am sitting here now with a new perspective on life, new goals and ambitions and a desire to become with best athlete I can.

In order to achieve my goals and ambitions, I will be training and racing with the mantra 'Earn your Dream'. With hard work, dedication, the right group of people and the passion I have, my mantra will one day become 'Live your dream'.

After 9 weeks of NO training, I got out on my bike with Mark this morning for a pedal to Point Walter. It was a great feeling to be back out there, but my fitness was obviously not there. I am really looking forward to building up for the Anaconda Adventure Race in November, and then on to NZ half in Jan. I am hoping it doesn't take too long to get my fitness back to where it was.

Back to the real world tomorrow starting with work. I will have a sleep in to try and recover from the jet lag and then get wet for a swim in the evening.

Count down to anaconda is on! 3 Months.

Time to get fit!

Andy

Europe Bound

After 7 months of planning, saving, dreaming and waiting.... it is finally the day before Lisa and I leave for our European Adventures.

My backpack is packed, tickets and passport ready, so now i just have to get through the last few hours of work, clean my room and car..... sleep and wake up nice and early tomorrow morning (3.30)to be at the airport for 4am for our 6am flight to Dubai. Awesome!

We are spending 3 nights in Dubai, then onto Paris, Athens, Mykonos, Ios, Santorini, Corfu, Sorrento, Rome, Croatia, Florence, Venice, Nice, Bordeaux (for the tour de france TT stage!!), Barcelona, Valencia and back to Paris. So quite a busy schedule of the next 9 weeks but boy is it going to be fun!

My sister Lauren is also heading overseas for a 4 month trip on Wednesday so Mum and Dad will have the house to themselves for 9 weeks.

On the training front, well i have been doing bits and pieces, getting out for our Saturday group rides, and running and the odd swim. We did do some lunges at running on Tuesday evening and I have been paying for that since!

I have packed my speedos, goggles and running shoes with the intention of getting some very light maintenance training done while I am away (with the hope of making my return to full time training slightly less of a shock to my body).

Until I get back (August 7th).... don't hold your breath for another blog!

Andy :)