Quick trip to Sydney

I am currently over in Sydney at the Triathlon Australia Nation Conference, along with 9 other TWA club reps.  The conference 'Building our Base: Foundations for the Future' has been about building participation in the sport from a club level.

It is been a great opportunity for me personally to meet and have a chat with other club presidents/reps to get a better understanding of my role as president of the Fremantle Triathlon Club.  I have lots of ideas and have a better understanding of the national structure of triathlon.

View from my room overlooking Botany Bay

Will be back home this evening ready for the final count down to the Busselton Ironman - 10 weeks to the day!

Happy to report training is going well. I have a big day on Saturday which is has been called 'Big Training Day' (BTD)- will be a good opportunity to test my some carbo loading, pre race nutrition, race nutrition, pacing and how my body reacts.  I am not overly concerned about it as I have had some big training day over the past few months which I have handled really well.

Not much else to report at the moment, life is busy, the days are not long enough and it is becoming increasingly hard to fit everything in - all part of the journey and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The ups and downs of training

The last three weeks have been tough both mentally and physically and I have been very busy with work! 

Training in general has been going really well, however there have been a few days where I have fallen apart.  I have found in these couple of sessions my thoughts quickly turn very negative, doubting my ability and questioning my reasons for doing the ironman.  I have written my goals down and my mantra I have been using - 'Earn the Dream' and refer back to these to help get me back on track.

It's all part of the journey and I am loving it!

I have just been sent through my program for the next two weeks and the fun it about to start! 11 weeks to go.

Some TP work on the legs after the weekends training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning to ride

A few photos from last weekend where I had my first ever ride on a motor bike!

Dave teaching me how to ride

  First ride by myself! AWESOME :-)

Lisa and I

Dad and I (it was Fathers Day)

Group photo time!

Love the run

+ Work = sore legs

This pretty much sums up the last few weeks (and next 13 weeks).

I have just had my biggest running week (not technically the weeks in my diary, but a 7 day period from Thursday to Wednesday) - clocking up 103.5km!

Thursday - 10.5km in Kings Park

Friday - 11.5km 2 laps around Bibra Lake

Saturday - 4.5km off the bike

Sunday - 30km City to Surf Half Marathon (1.28) and a cool down run back to the car

Monday - 12km recovery run

Tuesday - 15km with 7km of intervals

Wednesday - 20km mid distance run

Total = 103.5km

Very happy with how my body is responding to the increase in running volume. Now its time to introduce another ride in to the program!

Today is the first day of Spring and Perth has turned on the weather. I am really looking forward to getting out and doing an open water swim over the next few weeks. 

Thanks for checking in!

Andy 



City to Surf Half Marathon

Yesterday I participated in the Perth City to Surf Half Marathon. It was the first time I had taken part in the C2S and it was an awesome experience!

42,000+ people participated in the 6 events over the day

Saturday 27th  August was the one year anniversary of the passing of Greg Childs, a relation to the Luckin's. We all wore blue shirts embroidered 'In Memory of Greg' during the race.

I am not in this photo as I was already off and running - the half marathon was an hour before the 12km walk that everyone else participated in.

I did not really have a time in mind or any particular goal for the race, just to go under 1.30. My training has been going well and did not ease up for this race as it was purely a training run - the focus is all for December. My legs were defiantly not fresh going into the race as Johan, Helen and I all got out on Saturday and did our long ride in the hills (160km).

The half marathon course is awesome, taking us from St Georges Terrace in the Perth CBD, up Malcolm Street, through Kings Park, through Subiaco, Perry Lakes to City Beach. The weather was amazing and the 42,000+ participates made for a great atmosphere!

I had a reasonable run, finishing in 1.27.52, with my GPS showing an average of 4.10 min/km. Happy enough with the result considering the fatigue in my legs, but I could feel the lack of hill running up the hills - there a lots of them! Time to get back to Helena Valley for my long Sunday runs I think.

I am now 4 weeks into the ironman preparation and my riding and running are coming along really well. I am starting to feel strong on the bike again and I am really enjoying the long rides we are doing on Saturday. Swimming has been a bit of a struggle over the past few weeks and I believe this is a result of the increase in my bike and run training. I am confident that over the next few weeks my swimming will bounce back... stronger than ever!

Week 4 Training
Swim - 11.5km
Bike - 270km
Run - 71km



Business as usual

Not much to report over the last two weeks... I'm training hard and loving every second of it.

Last week I had my first big run week and I recorded 80km in the training diary. This week I will pull the running back slightly before building it the following week.

I had a big day of training on Saturday, which consisted of 170km in the hills with a 20min run off the bike and a 3.5km swim set in the arvo. A total of about 7 hours training. I loved it. Looking forward to another 15 weeks of it!

My training for the last two weeks:

Week 2 (17 Weeks to go):
Swim - 9km
Ride - 220km
Run - 50km

Week 3 (16 Weeks to go):
Swim - 12km
Ride- 270km
Run - 80km

I had a bit of a rest day today with a massage and an easy swim. My body is feeling great now and I am looking forward to yet another big day in the saddle on Saturday followed by the City to Surf half on Sunday!

Tomorrow is the 100 day mark till Busso Ironman.

I will give a more detailed update this weekend!

Cheers,

Andy

It's begun.... 118 days and counting!

The 2011 edition of Ironman Western Australia is 17 weeks away.... and I will be there on race day! I have worked out my training plan, penciled in a few half marathons and fun runs, cycling races, a duathlon and an Olympic distance race in preparation for the big day. My goals have been set and I am ready to begin my journey!

'Earn the Dream' - is the mantra that will help me get through the next 118 days!

Last week I was on board the Super Star Virgo (a cruise ship) cruising the Malacca Straits with the Luckin family. The cruise went from Singapore, to Penang, Phuket, KL and Redang. It was nice to have a week of doing nothing and relaxing - no work to think about, not  feeling guilty about missing a training session and eating all the food I wanted (we went a little crazy on the buffets....). This holiday has been planned for a while and has been an important 'flag in the sand'. I gave myself a few months of unstructured training after the Busselton 70.3 and this cruise represented the start of my Ironman program.

 Redang Island - Malaysia

 Mark, Lisa and I on the ship

 Lisa and I in the 'Bella Vista'

 View from the Singapore Flyer

 Redang Island, Malaysia

As of Monday, Ironman training has begun.... My training volume was low this week, however I will increase the distance over the next 4 weeks.

Week 1
Swim - 9km
Bike - 170km
Run - 52km

The sun is starting to show slightly earlier in the morning but the rain is still here! I am looking forward to seeing the end of this miserable weather.

Stay tuned for updates as I prepare for my first Ironman on 4 December 2011.

Cheers,

Andy