No way Ewen - Canberra is a cyclists-heaven compared to riding in Sydney where (assuming you believed - which I don't) you could end up in heaven....
Recovery week - and for once I had done enough work in the last 3 weeks to feel it was justified. If only I could get a recovery week from work...
Mon: 2.8km at swim squad; my longest swim since January. I felt a bit flat in the water early in the session. The green frogs I ate beforehand because I was hungry didn't kick in until later in the session.
Tue: 40min pilates in the morning, otherwise rest.
Wed: easy strength session in the gym before work.
Thu: Happiness is an empty pool for a lunchtime swim :-) 2.1kms
Fri: 1hr pilates with Carly in the morning & then about 40mins walk from Pymont to Central station (thankfully I had my Frees with me & it wasn't in high heels) after work by the least direct route known to (wo)man kind...
Sat: This session was rather removed from anything I've been doing lately - 1hr hill reps walking / running up & down a fire trail - but it came about as part of the mentorship I need to do with a PT as part of my Cert IV course. I have found a local PT who not only does group training but is also an athletics coach as well as a keen trekker; needless to say, very similar interests to mine. So as part of the mentorship, I went to his session & my job was basically to position myself roughly half way up the hill and encourage / support etc the clients during their hill reps. It was the first time I've been on a trail since about May last year; gee I've missed it.. 30min pilates in the evening.
Sun: nada. Not evening any pilates. I thought I would be crippled and/or set back my recovery weeks after yesterday's session. But much to my surprise I was only a tiny bit tight through my hip flexors; all this pilates must be working :-) I was due to ride today but the rain in the morning saw me get a much-needed sleep-in. The weather cleared later in the afternoon but I decided to do a slightly longer ride tomorrow instead & get as much study done as possible given that I won't have the opportunity next weekend.
That brings my (official) recovery week to an end. But next week will be light on training as I am spending 4 days at the fitness industry convention which, when combined with the travelling, with make for some very long days.
MTD:
Swim -14.3km
Bike - 257.1km
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Stepping up...
Another crazy working week but thankfully after working 10 days straight, I have been able to escape from doing any work this weekend which is great - more time to study ;-)
Mon: Pilates in the AM & then 2.6km at swim squad after work; my longest swim in several months now & I certainly felt it as the session went on (*she says yawning*).
Tue: 30mins pilates, otherwise rest.
Wed: more pilates, more rest.
Thu: 2.4km swim at lunch - a good session despite feeling sluggish & heavy in the water - and then 30mins pilates after work.
Fri: 45mins pilates with Carly before work. And then a short strength session at the gym after work.
Sat: hooley dooley. Today I headed out with R on my long ride to 'attempt' Team PIS sacred ground - Cobbitty Rd. As the complete lap from home is around 100km & I only had 2:30 on the program, I drove to Luddenham where I met R (who had ridden there) & then we set off along the Northern Road. The first time R rode Cobbitty Road he practically crawled in the front door whimpering (don't tell him I said that!) so I was a tad nervous as to whether I was able to do it. Combined with the fact that I woke tired after a busy week & was feeling very flat, I must confess that I wasn't filled with too much much confidence.
Onto Cobbitty and the rolling hills began & after not too long, we started climbing the real hills. After hill #5 (which I only just made it up), we came across road works & signs indicating a gravel road ahead. At this point we stopped to decide what to do; whether to push ahead & try the gravel road or turn around. To be honest, there was no way I could have turned around & ridden back over the 5 hills we had just come over - knowing that there were only 2 major ones ahead of us - so we decided to go on over the gravel road, which incidentally also happened to be hill #6. It wasn't quite Paris - Roubaix conditions...
but it wasn't too far off....
+17-04-2010,+Elevation+-+Distance.png)
It was a hard ride; the surface itself is dead. No hot mix a la West Head to be seen anywhere. Team PIS rides Cobbitty, Greendale Road (my usual training ground) & then Lapstone Hill up to Blaxland during their Saturday morning rides; no wonder they are so strong on the bike. 56.9km. 21.9k/h. 2:36. AvHR 143.
Needless to say, my Easter eggs vanished rapidly later in the afternoon....
Sun: not surprisingly, my legs felt a bit fatigued this morning so I set out to do my 'mid-week long ride' out & back along the Northern Road. A beautiful, calm morning, perfect for a relatively easy ride. Must admit that my legs reminded me of yesterday's ride anytime I went up a hill, incline or even false flat... 1:21. 32.4k. Av.24k/h. AvHR141
Another busy week at work ahead of the 'long weekend'. Fingers crossed I don't have to work too much during it...
MTD:
Swim - 9.4k
Bike - 257.1k
Mon: Pilates in the AM & then 2.6km at swim squad after work; my longest swim in several months now & I certainly felt it as the session went on (*she says yawning*).
Tue: 30mins pilates, otherwise rest.
Wed: more pilates, more rest.
Thu: 2.4km swim at lunch - a good session despite feeling sluggish & heavy in the water - and then 30mins pilates after work.
Fri: 45mins pilates with Carly before work. And then a short strength session at the gym after work.
Sat: hooley dooley. Today I headed out with R on my long ride to 'attempt' Team PIS sacred ground - Cobbitty Rd. As the complete lap from home is around 100km & I only had 2:30 on the program, I drove to Luddenham where I met R (who had ridden there) & then we set off along the Northern Road. The first time R rode Cobbitty Road he practically crawled in the front door whimpering (don't tell him I said that!) so I was a tad nervous as to whether I was able to do it. Combined with the fact that I woke tired after a busy week & was feeling very flat, I must confess that I wasn't filled with too much much confidence.
Onto Cobbitty and the rolling hills began & after not too long, we started climbing the real hills. After hill #5 (which I only just made it up), we came across road works & signs indicating a gravel road ahead. At this point we stopped to decide what to do; whether to push ahead & try the gravel road or turn around. To be honest, there was no way I could have turned around & ridden back over the 5 hills we had just come over - knowing that there were only 2 major ones ahead of us - so we decided to go on over the gravel road, which incidentally also happened to be hill #6. It wasn't quite Paris - Roubaix conditions...
but it wasn't too far off....
+17-04-2010,+Elevation+-+Distance.png)
It was a hard ride; the surface itself is dead. No hot mix a la West Head to be seen anywhere. Team PIS rides Cobbitty, Greendale Road (my usual training ground) & then Lapstone Hill up to Blaxland during their Saturday morning rides; no wonder they are so strong on the bike. 56.9km. 21.9k/h. 2:36. AvHR 143.
Needless to say, my Easter eggs vanished rapidly later in the afternoon....
Sun: not surprisingly, my legs felt a bit fatigued this morning so I set out to do my 'mid-week long ride' out & back along the Northern Road. A beautiful, calm morning, perfect for a relatively easy ride. Must admit that my legs reminded me of yesterday's ride anytime I went up a hill, incline or even false flat... 1:21. 32.4k. Av.24k/h. AvHR141
Another busy week at work ahead of the 'long weekend'. Fingers crossed I don't have to work too much during it...
MTD:
Swim - 9.4k
Bike - 257.1k
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ah, that feels better...
Although this week has seen a return of the low grade work-related anxiety at all hours of the day and night, I am actually feeling better this week (not only physically but mentally) after getting in some consistent training this week (not to mention cutting back the amount of cr*p food being consumed).
Mon: I had a 75mins mid-week long ride scheduled for later in the week. But knowing how cr*p this week in particular was going to be at work, I decided to take advantage of the public holiday & do it today instead which meant 3 rides in 4 days over Easter - nice! R & I left home about 7.15am & rode to the Regatta Centre to watch the joint club sprint race (Panthers, Hills, LAPD, Hawkesbury). Lovely as always to catch up with Gnome (*waves*) while watching TA race. Afterwards, R & I got back on the bikes & did an out & back along Castlereagh Rd towards Richmond. I haven't ridden that way before. But it's perfect for some efforts/intervals & for working on cadence. Finished with 1:23. 34.5k. 24.9k/h av. AvHR 148. Tired now.
This ride actually made 118km on the bike in the last 4 days; about 75% of March's total. The 10% rule is overrated if you ask me.
Tue: 2.3km swim at lunch; one of my longest swims in a while. Wee bit tired by the end though...
Wed: 30mins pilates
Thu: what was supposed to be a 2.1km swim at lunch was probably a tad longer due to my goldfish-like memory when it comes to counting laps.
Fri: 1hr pilates w/ Carly
Sat: headed out on my own today for what was supposed to be a 2:15 long ride. I was feeling tired after a long week at work so took it relatively easy, first heading out along the Northern Road to Luddenham before turning off & winding my way along the back (dead) roads until I got to Mamre Road at St Marys. This is a good ride for me in terms of working on speed; it's relatively flat with dead-road sections. I was averaging 24+k/h while keeping my HR at about 70% until I got to the M4 :-(
The traffic was banked up. Some of the drivers had (stoopidly) tried to drive up the inside / breakdown lane to get past the traffic, leaving no room to ride past. So I had to unclip one foot & push myself for about 200m down the road between the traffic. It was passing one of these cars that I heard the reason for the traffic; a group of cyclists had been hit by a truck (after getting home I learnt that it had been a fatality). I have heard of fatalities before of course but given that I was out on the road at the same time, and riding very close to the accident scene, this has really rattled me. It is a harsh reminder of the risks we take every time we head out the door in the morning to do something we love. Fortunately the road was blocked off & I didn't have to ride past of the site of the accident. But still it left me very shaken so I headed straight home for a cuddle :-) 2:01. 46.4k. 23.1k/h av. AvHR 141
Sun: "rest" day but no rest from triathlon. We were up at 5am to drive into the city to watch the ITU World Cup races. Spent the day sitting on the Opera House steps with some Panthers / PIS members enjoying the racing. Would love to stay up tonight to watch Paris - Roubaix cycle classic but alas I need to be up at 5am (again)..
MTD:
Swim - 4.4k
Bike - 165.1km
Mon: I had a 75mins mid-week long ride scheduled for later in the week. But knowing how cr*p this week in particular was going to be at work, I decided to take advantage of the public holiday & do it today instead which meant 3 rides in 4 days over Easter - nice! R & I left home about 7.15am & rode to the Regatta Centre to watch the joint club sprint race (Panthers, Hills, LAPD, Hawkesbury). Lovely as always to catch up with Gnome (*waves*) while watching TA race. Afterwards, R & I got back on the bikes & did an out & back along Castlereagh Rd towards Richmond. I haven't ridden that way before. But it's perfect for some efforts/intervals & for working on cadence. Finished with 1:23. 34.5k. 24.9k/h av. AvHR 148. Tired now.
This ride actually made 118km on the bike in the last 4 days; about 75% of March's total. The 10% rule is overrated if you ask me.
Tue: 2.3km swim at lunch; one of my longest swims in a while. Wee bit tired by the end though...
Wed: 30mins pilates
Thu: what was supposed to be a 2.1km swim at lunch was probably a tad longer due to my goldfish-like memory when it comes to counting laps.
Fri: 1hr pilates w/ Carly
Sat: headed out on my own today for what was supposed to be a 2:15 long ride. I was feeling tired after a long week at work so took it relatively easy, first heading out along the Northern Road to Luddenham before turning off & winding my way along the back (dead) roads until I got to Mamre Road at St Marys. This is a good ride for me in terms of working on speed; it's relatively flat with dead-road sections. I was averaging 24+k/h while keeping my HR at about 70% until I got to the M4 :-(
The traffic was banked up. Some of the drivers had (stoopidly) tried to drive up the inside / breakdown lane to get past the traffic, leaving no room to ride past. So I had to unclip one foot & push myself for about 200m down the road between the traffic. It was passing one of these cars that I heard the reason for the traffic; a group of cyclists had been hit by a truck (after getting home I learnt that it had been a fatality). I have heard of fatalities before of course but given that I was out on the road at the same time, and riding very close to the accident scene, this has really rattled me. It is a harsh reminder of the risks we take every time we head out the door in the morning to do something we love. Fortunately the road was blocked off & I didn't have to ride past of the site of the accident. But still it left me very shaken so I headed straight home for a cuddle :-) 2:01. 46.4k. 23.1k/h av. AvHR 141
Sun: "rest" day but no rest from triathlon. We were up at 5am to drive into the city to watch the ITU World Cup races. Spent the day sitting on the Opera House steps with some Panthers / PIS members enjoying the racing. Would love to stay up tonight to watch Paris - Roubaix cycle classic but alas I need to be up at 5am (again)..
MTD:
Swim - 4.4k
Bike - 165.1km
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Expect the unexpected..
...should be the motto of triathlons. Last Sunday certainly lived up to that. R had a fantastic swim - taking 10mins off his swim split from his debut race 2 years ago - but unfortunately crashed on the first lap of the bike. We were in town waiting outside a cafe for him to come past at the end of his first lap, when another member of PIS member (Penrith Institute of Sport) saw us & called out to us that he had come down. It was about 10mins - the longest of my life - until I received a call from the medic team to let me know that he was ok. About 30min later I was in the medical tent to collect him. He's lost skin, is very bruised, swollen & battered but thankfully nothing is broken. He is also already thinking about next year's race so he's in a good place mentally.
Aside from his crash & concern for him, I had a really enjoyable day. Team PIS (which is an informal training group consisting of members of the Panthers Tri Club), with about 50-60 members competing, dominated the day; with one of our AGers finishing 3rd overall & about 12 others finishing under 10 hours! It was great to be a part of a team with a sense of community & team spirit, something the Panthers Tri Club sadly lacks. So if you see R or myself in some in clothing with PIS written on it, don't be offended ;-)
Anyhoo, back to the training (or resting as the case may be)-
Mon: rest & recovery from IM - ie spent the day chained to my laptop working :-(
Tue: more rest (work, driving home from Port Mac & more work)
Wed: a return to the office & finally some more training! Forced myself out of the office at lunch for a swim. Only 1.5km but no signs of the (slight) niggle I experienced in my right shoulder last week :-) 15mins of pilates PM.
Of course this brought March to an end. Can't say that I was sad to see the back of it. My lowest month of training since I think I was off travelling around the world in late 2008 - early 2009. Hopefully now that I have some idea of what my work pressures are likely to be for the next 8 or so months (ie feral), I can get into something resembling a routine. My ride in Port Mac on Saturday - in which I overcame some mental demons/blocks I had associated with that course & my ability to climb hills on the bike - has also given me a much-needed confidence boost :-)
March:
Swim - 7k
Bike - 157.2k
Thu: a touch of sekrit training and 30mins pilates. Not to mention being excited at the prospect of doing no work over the (long) weekend; my first weekend without doing any work since I don't remember when. Yippee!
Fri: 71mins easy ride with R. His first since his crash last Sunday. Nice easy conversational ride from home out & back along the Northern Road. Great way to start a long weekend - not to mention the coffee & chocolate chip hot cross buns which followed :-D 25.5k 21.8k/h av (lost about 4mins stopped at traffic lights along the way)
Sat: a(nother) sleep-in (loving the long weekend sans-work!) followed by a lazy morning at home before a visit to the gym for a solid strength session. I haven't done a complete, hard session in several weeks now which is something I have really missed. Straight afterwards, I headed for a facial - nice way to spend a Saturday morning!
Sun: another (long) ride :-) Was supposed to be 2hrs but a few impulsive detours (including for a coffee + banana bread stop) saw that blow out to 2:37. Headed out along the Northern Road with a detour via Chain-O-Ponds road - which only re-affirmed why the PIS boys are so strong on the bike :-O. Then an out & back along Northern Rd before taking a 'short cut' to Mulgoa Rd which saw us ride past my pre-school! I don't think I've seen it since I left. And it hasn't changed in the 3x years since then!
This led us onto Mulgoa Rd & an incident which will probably result in another driver hating cyclists. The car behind me slowed, rather than squeeze past me on the narrow road, and got rear-ended by the car behind him! I was as far left as I could go so there was nothing more I could have done without ending up in the ditch on the side of the road. I don't think the impact was too hard - judging by the sound - but still, it was a not a nice sound to hear behind me. Good ride though for some reason my butt was really feeling it today :-O 58.79k. Av. 22.4k/h
MTD:
Bike - 84.2k
Aside from his crash & concern for him, I had a really enjoyable day. Team PIS (which is an informal training group consisting of members of the Panthers Tri Club), with about 50-60 members competing, dominated the day; with one of our AGers finishing 3rd overall & about 12 others finishing under 10 hours! It was great to be a part of a team with a sense of community & team spirit, something the Panthers Tri Club sadly lacks. So if you see R or myself in some in clothing with PIS written on it, don't be offended ;-)
Anyhoo, back to the training (or resting as the case may be)-
Mon: rest & recovery from IM - ie spent the day chained to my laptop working :-(
Tue: more rest (work, driving home from Port Mac & more work)
Wed: a return to the office & finally some more training! Forced myself out of the office at lunch for a swim. Only 1.5km but no signs of the (slight) niggle I experienced in my right shoulder last week :-) 15mins of pilates PM.
Of course this brought March to an end. Can't say that I was sad to see the back of it. My lowest month of training since I think I was off travelling around the world in late 2008 - early 2009. Hopefully now that I have some idea of what my work pressures are likely to be for the next 8 or so months (ie feral), I can get into something resembling a routine. My ride in Port Mac on Saturday - in which I overcame some mental demons/blocks I had associated with that course & my ability to climb hills on the bike - has also given me a much-needed confidence boost :-)
March:
Swim - 7k
Bike - 157.2k
Thu: a touch of sekrit training and 30mins pilates. Not to mention being excited at the prospect of doing no work over the (long) weekend; my first weekend without doing any work since I don't remember when. Yippee!
Fri: 71mins easy ride with R. His first since his crash last Sunday. Nice easy conversational ride from home out & back along the Northern Road. Great way to start a long weekend - not to mention the coffee & chocolate chip hot cross buns which followed :-D 25.5k 21.8k/h av (lost about 4mins stopped at traffic lights along the way)
Sat: a(nother) sleep-in (loving the long weekend sans-work!) followed by a lazy morning at home before a visit to the gym for a solid strength session. I haven't done a complete, hard session in several weeks now which is something I have really missed. Straight afterwards, I headed for a facial - nice way to spend a Saturday morning!
Sun: another (long) ride :-) Was supposed to be 2hrs but a few impulsive detours (including for a coffee + banana bread stop) saw that blow out to 2:37. Headed out along the Northern Road with a detour via Chain-O-Ponds road - which only re-affirmed why the PIS boys are so strong on the bike :-O. Then an out & back along Northern Rd before taking a 'short cut' to Mulgoa Rd which saw us ride past my pre-school! I don't think I've seen it since I left. And it hasn't changed in the 3x years since then!
This led us onto Mulgoa Rd & an incident which will probably result in another driver hating cyclists. The car behind me slowed, rather than squeeze past me on the narrow road, and got rear-ended by the car behind him! I was as far left as I could go so there was nothing more I could have done without ending up in the ditch on the side of the road. I don't think the impact was too hard - judging by the sound - but still, it was a not a nice sound to hear behind me. Good ride though for some reason my butt was really feeling it today :-O 58.79k. Av. 22.4k/h
MTD:
Bike - 84.2k
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