Bunbury Classic

Last weekend I competed in the Bunbury Classic (an Olympic distance triathlon). It was my first race since May and I was very excited to be racing again!  I will give a quick recap of my race and where I am at leading into Ironman WA.

The 1500m swim was split into two laps.  I had a good start in the swim and tried to find a nice rhythm into the chop.  There was a big group that reached the first turning buoy at the same time however everyone was calm which was nice!  I managed to separate myself from the group on the way back into the shore and turned onto the second lap... heading out was hard and slow and I struggled to get into a rhythm.  I swam the last half a lap shoulder to shoulder with Johan and we exited the water together reasonably well placed.

Johan and I finishing the swim

T1

A quick transition and out onto the bike for 6 laps.  It took my legs about a lap and a half to get going and once they were firing, we were moving along nicely.  Johan and I stayed together for the ride and worked well taking turns at setting the pace.  I do most of my bike training with Johan so it worked well as we both know how each other ride.  We kept the race high throughout the bike and averaged 41.2km/hr.

On the way to a 41.2km average!

A quick T2 and off for the 10km run

The run was okay... I knew it would not be fast given that fact I am about to race an ironman, but I felt strong for the 10km which is what I wanted! I cruised home and finished with an overall time of 2.03.54, 6th in the open category.

I am happy with how the race went. I got exactly what I needed to out of it in preparation for Busso (now 7 days away).

I am now well into my taper (this report was written a week after the race) and I am feeling great. Yesterday was the last Saturday ride before the race and I had a nice ride with the athletes from Eclipse Fitness that are doing Ironman (& Lisa!) We did a 90km loop with a coffee stop which was a nice change and I had a short run off the bike (the last brick!).  This morning we all had an open water swim and another coffee - you can tell it's taper!

Almost there!

Looking forward to getting down to Busselton on Wednesday evening and relaxing for a few days before the race.

In other exciting news... Lisa and I are buying a house! It will be ours at the start of the new year!

Cheers,

Andy

The last long run :)

Well I am happy to say that I have made it through the last long run of my program to Ironman WA. It was a tough one, mentally and physically but I made it.

A big THANK YOU to Lisa for once again following me on the bike with water, nutrition and words of encouragement (sorry for being a little grumpy).  

A couple of images for the last long one:

The first 20km of the 36km were a struggle, but I managed to get it together in the second half and finished off strongly.

I am slowly getting all my gear sorted for the race and it is making me very excited and very nervous.  I will be racing the Bunbury Classic (Olympic distance race) on Sunday and will then begin my taper. 

20 days to go!

Bike for busso

A few images of my bike, almost ready for Ironman WA - i will not be riding on the wheels on the bike here, I will be on Schnell wheels (disc on the rear).

  I also recieved a package from LSD Sports with my new cycling/racing gear! Thanks Tony & Cam.

30 days to go!

Another boring blog title... But today is November 4. We are now 1 month out from Ironman WA. 30 days.... Tomorrow I have a big day on training to get through and Sunday will be a total recovery day.

Tomorrow will be a key session to ensure my nutrition is dialed in. I have tried and tested my nutrition over my long sessions in the past few months so tomorrow will be the final test.

Exciting times!

Good luck to Mark, Tom and Caitlin who are all racing Port Mac 70.3 & to Scotty and Vince who are racing ITU world long course  champs in Vegas.

The anaconda adventure race is on this weekend in Augusta. This is the first race in 5 years I have missed! Good luck to everyone competing!

I love training!

Happy to report another solid weekend of training is in the bank.

Friday was the long swim at Champion Lakes (as previously mentioned) and a 'recovery' run around Bibra Lake (6km) with Lisa and Helen.

Saturday was a long ride (surprise surprise). Unfortunately mum accidently took my phone instead of hers when she went out on Friday night and I did not get a message from Johan letting me know our usual ride was leaving earlier. So I tagged along with Lisa and Helen with a group that goes down the freeway.

It was a slow start to the ride, with my cable to the front derailleur coming loose leaving me in the small chain ring for a while (not ideal down the freeway). I managed to fix it thanks to Helen's allen key (thanks Helen!). After the turn around I did an effort but unfortunately got a flat....I bumped into Matty Burton on the way and rode with him for a while. Was great to chat to the 18-24 Ironman World Champion about his race in Hawaii amongst other things.

I ended up with just over 200km and felt very strong towards the end. My nutrition is now tried and tested and I am again feeling confident with my nutrition plan. I had a great run off the bike and I was supported my Lisa on her bike giving me water! Thanks Lisa :-)

A Saturday arvo swim and my body felt surprisingly good considering the punishment it had earlier in the day.

Sunday was a LONG run. 36km to be exact... the longest run of my program.  I started off nice and easy and built into the run. Again race nutrition was a key to the session and I feel like I am on the right track.  I bumped into Johan at about 21km and had a chat with him and once I gto going again, the legs felt a little heavy. At 30km I had a coke, which is what I will be using in the race and I felt amazing after that. Was a great feeling getting 36km under the belt!

Today was a recovery day with a sleep in and a massage in the arvo. My legs needed it!

5 weeks to go and I am loving every minute of training!

No news is good news

Well it has been a while since my last update... but i suppose no news is good news!

Training has been going to plan and I am feeling ready and confident for Ironman Western Australia.

The last week has given me a lot of confidence in my preparation with some great training sessions.  Last Saturday was a long day on the bike (200km) followed by a short run.  Sunday, a solid 32km run followed by 6km fartlek run in the evening, giving me a total of 38km for the day.

Today was a public holiday in Perth thanks to GHOGM and we had an open water swim at Champion Lakes. I had a great swim and I finally felt like I could swim again! Happy Days :-)

Another couple of big weeks in the program!

A big congratulations to Matty Burton on his win at the Ironman World Championship (18-24 age group) a couple of weeks ago. The way Matty prepared for this race was very inspiring and his win was well deserved!

Will try and keep my blog updated over the next few weeks.

Cheers,

Andy

'Big Training Day' #1

I have just completed a huge day of training in preparation for Ironman Western Australia - which is now 9 short weeks away!

The focus on the day was to work on pacing and race nutrition. I chose to do it solo and stick to the flats on the bike to get used to being in the aero position for 5+ hours.

After a solid ride it was home for an hour to refuel and prepare for task 2, the long run.

Nutella & banana on toast to keep me going :)

Following the run, it was home again and off to the pool for a recovery swim.

A solid day in the bank. I'm ready for bed!

Day off tomorrow = sleep in!

Good night