Right, I’ve decided to restart the whole running issue and take it very gradually since it’s by far the easiest way to injure myself out of the three disciplines. I bought and read Jeff Galloway’s Book On Running which talk about the benefits of a run/walk approach. The basic idea is that you start taking short walk breaks right from the start of your run, which leaves you fresher towards the end. He has documented cases of people using this method to run sub-2:30 marathons, so it should be adequate for my purposes!

Anyway, I’m adopting the run/walk method for the forseeable future, specifically 5mins running at approx. 10kmh followed by 1min walking at 6kmh. This results in 933m every 6mins. Last night I hit the hotel gym and started off with 3 reps of that and felt pretty good. All is still well this morning, so I’ll give it another shot tonight. I’ll stick to 3 reps for a couple of weeks until I can get used to running outside again, then gradually add more and more reps.

Got up this morning and went for a swim. Didn’t really feel like it though, so only did 400m.

R: 2.8km – S: 400m

His new video is massively anti-Bush and exhorts viewers to get out and vote to get rid of Bush. Very good video and the lyrics almost advocate an uprising.

5 * {
    50 Hypoxic 4/6, 50 Pull, 10sec
    50 Hypoxic 4/6, 50 Drag, 10sec
}
6 * 50 as 25 IM order/25 FS on 60 (43)
300 Paddles on 5:45
300 Effort on 5:45 (4:13)
300 Pull on 5:45 (4:30)
300 Efffort on 5:45 (4:15)
6 * 50 as 25 IM order/25 FS on 60 (43)
Total: 2800

Just finished a pretty good session in the pool. I’d suspected over the last week that my cruising speed was only slightly slower than my ‘making an effort’ speed, so I decided to check it out today. The plan was to do the whole session at a nice, relaxed pace and see what sort of times I got. I thought it would be around 1:30/100, but the 4:13 and 4:15 on the 300s translate to a 1:25/100 or so, which I’m pretty pleased with. Last week I only managed 4:05 on a 300 in which I put in a fair bit of effort.

However, the sessions are dropping below 3000m so I might have to add in at least one more session per week, as I’d like to be doing at least 10,000m/week, maybe up to 12,000.

S: 8500

Felt a bit tired in the swim this afternoon. The 6 100’s on 1:30 were quite tough, but I was pretty happy to average 1:19. I’m getting faster, slowly but surely.

100 K, 100 FS, 200 Form
3 * {
    100 P, 15s
    100 Fist, 15s
    100 Fast on 1:45}
6 * 100 FS on 1:30 (1:19)
6 * 50 FS Easy on 1:10 (42)
4 * 50 Hypoxic 3/5/7, 20s (42)
2 * 200 Easy FS
Total: 2800

S: 5700

Here’s an article in the New York Times magazine which basically says that Bush thinks he’s on a mission from God. Funny how God’s missions always involve killing shitloads of other people.

Well, the official results of the sea swim have just been published. My official time was 16:25, I came 11th overall, and 4th in my age group. So that guy who I beat out of the water but who out-sprinted me to the line came third and got a prize. If only I’d known I was going that well. Still, I’m pretty happy with that ;-)

John was listed as last in 27:50, but that’s crap, since we went back to the car, got changed into civvies and walked back down to the beach to witness someone finishing. Also, I timed my swim at 17:14, so there’s no way I’m suddenly a minute faster.

Update: Turns out they’d forgotten to put quite a few people up on the web site, so there’s now about 25 people behind John, some by over to 10mins.

200 FS Hypoxic 3/5
25 K/25 S * 2
25 L/25 S/25 R/25 S
25 K/25 S * 2
25 L/25 S/25 R/25 S
3 * {
    4 * 50 Sprint on 55 (35)
    300 Pull on 5:15 (4:32) }
4 * {
    50 Form/50 FS} on 1:50 (1:30)
Total: 2900

S: 2900

Got a call from Tom last night to say that they were going for a ride this morning form Hornsby to Brooklyn and back and did I want to come. I said yes and I’ve jsut returned. Total distance was around 48km, but the hill up from the bridge at Brooklyn was the main focus of the ride. It’s a 4km long 6% grade and the last time I did it I maintained a 14kmh pace and found it quite tough. This time it was a whole different story. It was quite easy and my average pace was just under 19kmh, so a 5kmh an hour improvement which is partly due to being fitter and partly due to the bike. It’s quite a nice ride, with most of the uphill work in the first half, which works out nicely when you’re a bit tired on the way home, so I think we’ll be doing it a few more times. Next time I’ll have my speedo on the bike, so I’ll be able to get an accurate figure rather than calculating it from Tom’s speed and a time differential. It also put me up over 100kms on the bike for the week which was an added bonus.

B: 136.2km – S: 9850m

Well, I had my first swim race in about 7 years today, and my first ever swim in open water. Myself and John entered the first race of the Men’s Health Ocean Racing Series in Watsons Bay this morning. 1.4km, starting at Camp Cove and swimming around the headland to Watsons Bay itself.

It was quite funny waking up this morning and feeling all nervous, wondering what it would be like. Would the water be freezing? What’s it like swimming with nothing below you? What’s it like swimming amongst a crowd of people? What time would I do? Hell, even what’s it like swimming a race longer than 200m! So many unknowns.

John had a dodgy shoulder yesterday, but he was determined to swim anyway. Kevin had planned on entering, but as he hadn’t done any training, and he had a work function last night, he decided it would probably be pointless. John picked me up around 9am and we headed down, paid our entry fee, had our race numbers scrawled on our arms in black magic marker, and got a nice yellow cap to signify we were in the 31-40 age group, along with our timing chip. Went back to the car and changed into our speedos, then walked the 5mins to the start at Camp Cove.

Had a quick dip to make sure my body was aware of the water temperature and wouldn’t seize with the shock when I jumped in. It turned out to be a couple of degrees warmer than it had been last weekend, which is probably down to the fact that we were in the Harbour and not the ocean. The 21-30 age group went off first, then we were next. Wished John good luck then we got started, heading straight out to the first buoy about 80m offshore. Got a good start, out in front of the crowd until I got to the turn when everyone converged at the same point. It was starting to get a bit crowded, and since there are no niceties in the middle of a race, I administered a few swift kicks to random punters trying to swim over me. Once around the buoy it improved quite a lot and I started to swim my own race.

We started catching the slow people in the previous wave which was great as it meant that I didn’t have to look up as often to make sure I wasn’t drifting off track. I got a few cuts on my hand from swimming too close to the rocks as I rounded the headland but I thought I was doing OK as I hadn’t seen a yellow hat since the first turn. Once around the point I had a few look ups to sight the next buoy and started swimming again. I was now at the front of a group, with about a 50m gap to the next bunch, and my compass started veering around a bit as I had no-one to sight off. It was then I noticed a yellow hat slighty behind and to my right, so I figured I’d better get my act together so he wouldn’t pass me. He was right beside me the whole way, then as we appraoched the final buoy he picked up the pace trying to get there first. I was having none of that, so I matched him and we went around the turn neck and neck. We were now down to the final leg, a straight 150m swim to the flags where we coul stand and run ashore. I picked up the pace and got ahead of him, but only by a metre or so. Kept the lead up to the flags, stood up and immediately had some wobbly legs since my upper body had been doing all the work. He came out of the water right behind me and sprinted up the beach to beat my by a couple of seconds. I crossed the line, stopped my watch and looked at the time: 17:14.40! I was pretty pleased with that as I’d expected to be around 20mins.

I watched the rest of the swimmers come in and cheered John home. The guy I’d raced to the end came over and mentioned that he thought we’d done quite well and wanted to know if I’d any idea where we’d placed. I hadn’t even thought of it so I couldn’t help him, but at the same time I hadn’t noticed any other yellow hats when I’d finished. Got changed, got a beer and went along to the presentation just in case I had won something. Alas, it was not to be, though I did win a spot prize which consisted largely of hair styling products which went to John. The results aren’t up on the site yet, so I’ll have to wait a bit longer to see where I placed. Hopefully Top 10. Anyway, it was good fun which is the main thing, so I reckon I’ll do a few more this year.

B: 88.2km – S: 9850m

Lunchtime squad session today. Quite a tough session, in that there was very little which was not supposed to be done at a quick pace. It also seems to be the case that there’s a different fast guy each day. Friday last week was quite tough, but Wednesday was quite easy. This week there were fast guys there on Monday, Wednesday and today, though never the same one on two days. I guess I’ll have to wait a fee weeks to build up some speed. At the moment my technique feels reasonably good, but I have no endurance.

4 * {
    50 DPS,
    25 R arm, 25 Swim,
    25 L arm, 25 Swim} continuous
400 Pull
400 Effort
4 * 50 Sprint on 55 (36)
300 Hypoxic 3/5
300 Effort
4 * 50 Sprint on 55 (36)
200 Build
200 Effort
3 * 50 Sprint on 55 (36)
4 * 50 Choice Easy
Total: 3150

B: 88.2km – S: 8450m

Another few laps of Centennial Park this morning. I hit a bird almost as soon as I started. Well, it hit me really, bouncing off my front spokes. Lots of sqawking. I didn’t stop to see if it was alright. Not sure what I could have done anyway – brain it with a rock? Anyway, it wasn’t there on the next lap, so I assume it flew off.

It was 23C already by 7am, so I think I’m going to have to start leaving the house a bit earlier. Traffic is also starting to build up by 7.30, which means I’ve a few cars trying to squeeze by me on the way up Old South Head Rd. which isn’t a great experience. Came home by Military Road again for a total of 32km. The plan was to get 150km+ in this week but that’s unlikely to happen now as I forgot I’m doing the ocean swim in Watsons Bay on Saturday morning, so that’s the long ride out the window. Still, I’ll try and get a few laps in with Niall tonight to get over 100km.

B: 88.2km – S: 5300m

250 FS, 150 Form
3 * {
    100 as 10 strokes FS, 10 BC, 15s rest,
    100 as 6 strokes BF, rest FS, 15s rest,
    50 FS/50 BC, 60s rest }
300 Fast on 4:40 (4:07)
300 Easy on 5:00 (4:22)
300 Build on 4:50 (4:14)
3 * 100 Choice, 15s rest
200 easy
Total: 2700m

B: 54.2km – S: 5300m

Did a few laps of Centennial Park; some on my own this morning, then a few more with Niall this evening. Met up with Tom for a bit of breakfast and then rode back home via Military Road. I had thought that since it was uphill for quite a distance that it would be a bit harder than it ended up being. I guess I’d overestimated the steepness, so now that I know that it’s quite easy I’ll do it a bit more often.

B: 54.2 – S: 2600m

Lunchtime swim squad.

3 * {
  200, 10s rest
  50 single arm, 10s rest
  25 K/25 Full, 10s rest} FS
3 * {
  200 FS Pull on 3:45, (2:50)
  150 FS Build on 2:40, (2:00)
  100 IM on 2:00,
  50 FS sprint, 60s rest (37)}
200 FS easy
Total: 2600

S: 2600m

Not Centennial Park this week as the beginner’s group winds up. This was the last week, so we were out on the open road the whole time. Down to La Perouse via Malabar Beach, where the ocean swim series takes place, then a few hard laps around the oil storage depot at Botany Bay, then over to Heffron Park where the club holds their triathlons for a few more hard laps of the biks course, then back to the park for the traditional bacon & egg burger. A grand total of 70km. Next week we join the regular 6:30am ride leaving from Cheeky Monkey, going down to Kurnell and back. We’ll have to be on the ball as it’s no longer a beginner group so I’m not sure how tolerant people will be if we forget to call out obstacles.

B: 104km – S: 5900m – R: 10mins – W: 1 session

Lunch-time swim again today. This one was a good bit faster with two lanes on the go. There were five of us all around a similar pace, so it augurs well for the future.

300 FS
3 * {
    100 Kick on 2:20,
    200 Pull on 3:20 } FS
2 * {
    200 FS on 3:20,
    200 Form on 4:00}
2 * {
    100 FS on 1:30,
    100 Form on 1:50}
2 * 100 IM on 1:50
300 Easy
Total: 2900

B: 34km – S: 5900m – R: 10mins – W: 1 session

Went back to Adam at Cheeky Monkey this morning to adjust my bike position in an effort to sort out my right knee. I ended up buying a new pair of bike shoes, as the ones I had were too big. I could feel my feet sliding around in them, and since your feet on the pedal is the most important part of the bike, there was no point shelling out moeny for a good bike and then runing it with poorly fitting shoes. So, I’m not the proud owner of a pair of Shimano SH-R215s which fit like gloves. Yes, they are silver, so I’ll have to get a bit faster to justify wearing them!

Anyway, the end result of the bike fit was that the most likely cause of the knee issue is pushing big gears up a hill, so I’ve to stop doing that for a while. No need to change the position beyond the adjustments necessary for the new shoes. He said to come back in three weeks or so if there’s still an issue.

B: 34km – S: 3000m – R: 10mins – W: 1 session

On a more positive note, myself, John and Kevin have decided to do the Men’s Health Ocean Racing 1.5km swim at Watsons Bay. John’s been doing a bit of training, Kev hasn’t (but he’s going to enter anyway). It’s on in two weeks – October 16th.

It’s bloody never ending. Went for a cycle around Centennial Park this morning and noticed that my right knee is giving me trouble. About two weeks ago, while doing hill work as part of the group training, I noticed a slight pain toward the rear of my right knee, as if I’d hyperextended it (which I hadn’t). I haven’t been on the bike since, but the sensation is still there, albeit only when I’m pushing hard or climbing. Not sure what the problem is, but I’m off back to the bike shop tomorrow to get my fit tuned, so hopefully that will be the end of it.

My plan was to stop running until the New Year, doing lots of stretching and leg strengthening exercises in the meantime, and doing extra cycling and swimming to keep the weight going down. If I don’t get this knee sorted I’ll be reduced to only swmiming!

B: 22km – S: 3000m – R: 10mins – W: 1 session

Went along to my first organised swim session in about 7 years at lunch today. Misread the times though and got there at 12:00 instead of 12:30 ;-) Turned into a good session. I was fastest, but there are other days with swimmers who are faster again which will be cool. Got an easy 3000m done, which is almost three times any session I’ve done in the last while. It makes a big difference when I just have a session that I have to get through, rather than trying to make up something to keep myself going. I thought I’d struggle with the 3km, but it was fine.

400 FS
3 * {
	100 Kick on 2:00,
	100 Pull on 1:45,
	100 Full on 1:40 } 2 FS, 1 BC
3 * {200 FS on 3:20, 200 BC on 4:00)
3 * 100 FS arms/ BF kick on 1:40
200 easy
Total: 3000

S: 3000m – R: 10mins – W: 1 session