On Board with LSDsports.com

I am pleased to announce that I am now a member of the LSDsports.com Elite Age Group Triathlon Team for 2010/2011. The team has just been finalised and the team sponsors will be confirmed shortly. Thanks for Tony and Cam for giving me the chance to join the team. I am really excited about the season ahead and look forward to working with LSDsports to achieve my goals.

I'm just back from a paddle session. I am quite happy with how my paddling is coming along given we are still 6 weeks out from Anaconda.

I am planning a training camp down in Busselton in a few weeks time. It will be 2 and a half days based in Busso before heading down to Augusta on Sunday for the Anaconda Course Familiarisation Session.

Everything is coming along well in training. Its just business as usual getting my fitness back and my body is holding up really well. My swimming is really improving which I am excited about.

The weather in Perth is fantastic at the moment with temperatures in the mid 20s forecast for next week!

Andy

Training Training Training

Not to much to report on over the last couple of weeks. I have been logging some good kms in the pool, on the bike and on foot. Paddling is coming along slowly, but steadily.

On Wednesday morning I went to did a swim analysis with Paul Newsome. It was a really valuable session that I have taken a lot of positives out of. Paul was generally happy with my stroke and has given me a few areas to work that will hopefully get me a little bit faster! Its so much easier to understand what you are doing wrong with a video of you swimming!

I am really happy with how my swimming is coming along. I think I now have the understanding (through my session with Paul) of how I can improve my stroke and I have now been with Stu for 2 season so we both have a pretty good understanding of what I am capable of and will work hard to make the most of my ability.

My cycling is coming along. We are riding with another group on Saturday mornings, who at the moment are all on fire. A lot of them are training for Hawaii (4 weeks away), so are in great shape. Its a bit of a struggle for me up the hills but I can feel some real improvement.

Running is also coming along. I am lacking speed but I am getting the kms into my legs which at this early point in the season is important. From next week I will start to get into some longer runs to build up for Anaconda and Canberra.

I have been doing some good sessions with Mark recently which are fun. As we train with different groups we don't often get the chance to.

Triathlon Australia has finally given some details on qualifying races for Long Course Worlds next year and Canberra and Busselton will be qualifying races to get me into the green and gold again.

Its about a month away from the Sorrento Challenge (swim, paddle, run) and then the next day is the State Duathlon Champs which I will do for a bit of fun (duathlons are not my specialty!).

Last week I received my race top with TANITA branding on the the Anaconda Adventure Race. Its a long sleeve compression top (white), so hopefully will provide some advantage with muscle fatigue, getting the wetsuit on after the run and also keep the sun off my arms and neck. It looks great. I will post some photos up soon.

Things are coming along really well. I will keep working hard to get myself in the best possible shape to achieve my goals.

Andy

the week just gone....

On the training front things are coming along really nicely. I am happy with how I am progressing and building up fitness back up. I had a couple of really solid swimming sessions and and running sessions through the week and I got out on a long ride with Mark out to Jarahdale on Friday morning. I will give a more detailed update through the week.

The last 48 hours have been extremely difficult for myself and the closest people in my life. Starting on Friday evening a close relative to the Luckin's (my girl friend Lisa and best mate Marks family) passed away in a car accident. The following morning, Mark had a car accident which thankfully he wasn't hurt at all. And to top it off, we had to put our dog (Lucky) who has been with us for the last 14 years down.

I find myself sitting here writing this blog here tonight, with fond memories of the ones lost over the last few days and a heavy heart. It has been a really tough weekend for everyone but I am thankful for the amazing people I have in my life.

Chase your dreams and stay happy.

Andy

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