I finished my week’s training with a 4.5km run after work yeaterday, followed by a long bike ride this morning. I’d intended riding to La Perouse and back, with a few laps of the park on the way, but when I got to the park it was starting to drizzle, so I figured I’d be more sensible to stay off the roads and just do laps of the park. It also meant I could stay on the aerobars for longer and have the added bonus of not having to worry about avoiding potholes while on them, which might be an issue since I’ve only ridden on them once before.

I decided to do one hot lap on the bars, then one easy lap, then repeat, managing 9.5 laps in total before heading home. The hot laps were pretty good, with my fastest one being 6:16.5 (3.8km), which is an average of 36.5km/h, or about 4km/h faster than my previous best. The great thing about it was that I wasn’t killing myself, so it all augurs well for a faster bike split at the next Kurnell.

S: 5200m – B: 120.3km – R: 17.5km

Yesterday was finally almost a proper bike day, free of interruptions. I had cycled in to work although early rain meant I hadn’t done the laps of Centennial that I had planned to do. I cycled home last night and made up for it, incorporating 4 laps of the park into my commute.

This was the first time I got to use my new Profile Design Carbon Stryke aerobars, which I’d had fitted just before Christmas. The general idea is that you get rest your elbows on them, and get your overall bike position changed around to allow this. You end up with more of your weight over the front wheel, which takes a little bit of time to get used to, and far more aerodynamic, meaning you can go faster for the same amount of effort. In my case, I was 3km/h faster around a lap of the park with no extra effort which is a pretty good investment as far as I’m concerned. Time will tell.

Today’s lunchtime swim was pretty good. Lots of 200s which was a nice change from the usual fare of 100s. Felt pretty good and relaxed. The swim sessions are recovery sessions as far as I’m concerned, and are far less important than run or bike sessions, so I just use them to loosen out and stretch a bit.

800 as: 
    200 FS
    2 * {100 Catch/100 BC}
    200 FS
3 * {
    25K / 175 FS on 3:30 (2:55)
    200 Pull on 3:30 (3:00)}
2 * {
    100IM on 2:00 (1:30)
    100BC on 2:00 (1:40)
    100 8FS/8BC on 2:00 (1:42) }
Total: 2600m

S: 5200m – B: 67.3km – R: 12.5km

Collected my MTB from the bike shop and rode home last night, then headed out for my long run. Normally I do all my running on grass, but this time I decided to hit the roads/streets and see how it went. Wanting to run on grass restricts me to my local park, and doing laps of there gets a bit boring after a while. It’s fine for my short (5km) runs on Monday and Friday, but longer runs there would do my head in.

The aim was to run for around 45mins, so I started from the top of my street, then down to Rose Bay North, one lap of the golf course and then back up towards my road, finishing at the BP garage half-way up the hill to suck down a can of Solo! Felt pretty good throughout the run, though my knees were starting to tighten up towards the end of it. Did a bit of stretching afterwards and they feel fine this morning. Tried to keep the pulse in the low 160s, on the flat bits anyway. Once I got to the gradual hill up to the garage at the end it slowly crept up to a high of 177. Total time was 42:45 with an estimated distance of 7.5km.

I was supposed to go for a bike ride before work this morning, but when I woke up around 6 it was soaking wet outside so I went back to bed for a while. Got up at 7.30 and the roads were almost dry, so I cycled in via Centennial Park, but didn’t do any laps as I was later than I’d intended. Will have to do a few on the way home instead.

S: 2600m – B: 39.5km – R: 12.5km

Bought my MTB in to City Bike Depot last night for one of their ‘learn to service your own bike’ sessions and it was excellent. The basic deal is that you pay for a normal service, and then pay an extra $50 for you to take part in that service, one on one. You get shown how to do everything and you’re made to do stuff to ensure you understood it properly. In my case I learned how to:

- recable front & rear derailleurs, including a couple of tips on cable routing, cable type etc.

- ensure smooth shifting & what all those tiny screw adjustments actually do

- bleed hydro disc brakes & replace calipers

- remove, grease & replace bottom bracket

- remove, grease & replace rear cassette

- regrease & settle wheel hubs

- true wheels

I also got general tips on what needs greasing and what doesn’t, what types of grease to use on what components and things to check on a regular basis, and things which are more ‘set & forget’. They’ll also answer any other bike-related questions you want answers for. I learned shitloads and would be quite happy doing 90% of my own servicing from now on, so it’ll save me that $50 in no time.

Oh yeah, they also do it for road/tri bikes as well, not just MTBs. It just so happened that it was my MTB needing a service.

I was supposed to cycle in and out of work yesterday, with a few bonus laps around the park to total 50-60km but circumstances got in the way again. I was also supposed to go to the Open-Air Cinema with Jacqui, but I had to can that too. I’d forgotten that I’d book my MTB in for a service, and paid the extra to be shown how to service my own bike. Given that I’d been supposed to do this in November, except I’d forgotten about it then too and had never shown up, I figured I’d better go along this time. Just as well I’d set a reminder in my phone!

Anyway, what that meant was that I had to bring the MTB in to work, and since it had no front brake pads, cycling wasn’t a smart option. To compensate for missing out on the road cycle, I jumped on the indoor trainer in the morning for 30min session before going to work.

10mins cycle

5 * 20secs Single Leg Drills

5 mins cycle

Total: ~15km

S: 2600m – B: 15km – R: 5km

Woke up this morning for my first ride of 2006. Shit weather, recently rained, internal argument ensued:

Get up you lazy bastard, you said you’d train consistently this year…

Weather’s crap, I’ll just stay in bed and ride on Saturday…

You need time on the new aerobars!

But it’s wet…

Nope, the ground’s dry…

Oh, OK then, I’ll go the long way in to work, but I’m skipping the laps around CP…

OK.

Hit the road, get down to Bondi and notice that I’ve got my first puncture since I got my bike over a year ago. Oh well, better change the tube and keep going. Get the wheel off, the tyre off and the tube out. Open up the tool bag only to see that I’ve a 650C tube for some reason, whereas I need a 700C one?? I’ve no pump, only CO2 canisters, so I can’t pump up the old tube and patch the puncture. Oh well, that’s the end of that then.

Ring Jacqui to get her to pick me up on her way in to work, then retire to the Tratt across the road for a coffee and some buttermilk pancakes! Every cloud has a silver lining ;-)

Cycled home from work last night, met up with Niall and did a few laps around the park. Hadn’t been on the bike for a couple of weeks, but it felt pretty good. I was also trying out my new saddle which has a bit more padding than my last one. It’s not too bad, but still a bit stiff, though I expect it will get a bit more comfortable as I wear it in.

B: 30.2km

OK, a bit to catch up on. Wednesday lunchtime saw me in the pool for another swim session. I can’t remember what the session was, but did my usual 2km. Went for another run on Wednesday evening, following the same protocol as Tuesday. Managed a total of 5.35km this time, though went out fractionally too fast on the first half and I was pretty tired too. Felt a bit harder that Tuesday’s run.

Laps:
4:30 – 145
4:43 – 153
4:44 – 156
1:58
4:51 – 156
4:51 – 159
4:46 – 161
HR @ 1min: 122

The short lap is from the end of the 3rd lap until 15mins, at which point I turn around and run back to the start of the lap and proceed as normal.

Cycled home from work today and did a couple of laps of Centennial Park. I’d been out for a few beers on Thursday with Kev, Lisa, Chantal and Franciska, having our Sydney-Gong reunion so wasn’t that keen to get on the bike, but I felt surprisingly good. Came home and went out for another run, same deal as Wednesday (5.45km). Felt great too.

Laps:
4:25 – 142
4:40 – 151
4:42 – 153
2:16
4:42 – 155
4:40 – 156
4:32 – 160
HR @ 1min: 121

S: 4000m – B: 69.3km – R: 16km

After watching the whales last night I headed off for an evening run. I decided to head up to Christisson Park and just run for 30mins with the aim of keeping an even pace. I ran anti-clockwise for 15mins, then turned around and ran clockwise for another 15 and tried to cover the same distance. I managed a total of 5.25km quite comfortably without any complaints from my legs.

Laps:
4:39.6 – 142
4:45.4 – 150
4:49.8 – 152
1:20.5
4:47.8 – 152
4:57.3 – 152
4:49.0 – 155
HR @ 1min: 120

My CHO + PRO supplies had arrived, so when I got home I put my plan into action. Mixed up a bottle, drank half immediately then the other half 40mins later. Didn’t feel tired all night, and felt much better when I woke up this morning. It’s too early to tell from one sample, but the potential looks good.

Finally, jumped on the bike for a ride this morning and headed in to City Bike Depot who offer free coffee and croissants to cycle commuters on the second Wednesday of every month. Free breakfast – mmmmm!

S: 2000m – B: 31.1km – R: 5.25km

No training for the last two weeks, so got some catching up to do. At least I had two events instead, so I wasn’t completely lazy. Got the ferry in to work yesterday then cycled home. I had inteded going for a run but my legs were still a bit tired after the Gong ride, so I decided to wait until today before getting back into running. When I woke up this morning it was pissing rain, so that put paid to my cycle today.

I got my lunch-time swim in yesterday though, and while I felt really crap at the start of the session I was much better by the end of it. I’m restricting myself to 2km sessions at the moment to save my energy for running and cycling.

400 FS
100/200/300/200/100 FS, 15secs rest
300 Pull
4 * 25K/75 FS on 2:00 (1:35)
Total: 2000m

S: 2000m – B: 15km

Myself and Kevin met up this morning to do the annual Sydney To The Gong ride. As the construction of a new bridge is yet to finish past the Royal National Park, the route didn’t actually go to Wollongong, but turned back inland and finished up back at Sutherland. I rode from home to the start at St. Peters, then from St. Peters to Sutherland, via the Royal, then got the train back to Bondi Junction and cycled home from there for a total distance of 100.8km.

The first 30km of the ride were a bit scary as there were quite a lot of people who were riding all over the road, making it a bit dangerous trying to pass them. Once we got out towards the Royal things thinned out a bit and it was much better from then on. I’d never ridden in the Royal, and as it is quite hilly I was curious to see how I’d go. It turned out to be not as bad as I’d expected and while there were some long uphills they weren’t too much trouble. They were hard, but not uncomfortably so. Once I’d settled in to a good rhythm I was OK.

After reaching Stanwell Tops, the ride back to Sutherland was relatively straightforward. Undulating, but no serious hills. Even still, when we got to the end I was glad of the rest. Had a burger, kicked back in the sun for a while before heading home. Good fun.

B: 100.8km

Met up with Niall this morning for a few laps around Centennial Park on the way into work. Cycled via Military Road, Bondi, Bondi Road and then into the park via Queen’s Park and did a couple of laps before Niall showed up. We rode four laps together then I headed off into work while Niall stayed to do another lap. Total distance was 38.1km, and then another 10.2km on the way home this evening.

My lunchtime swim was OK. I was the only person there, so wasn’t that keen on doing a full session.

400 FS
100/200/300/200/100 FS, 15sec rest
7 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:30)
Total: 2000m

My legs are still feeling good, so I got another run in after getting home. Did 5 laps this time for a total distance of 4.2km.

4.2km, 22:49.4
4:26.2, 142
4:29.0, 151
4:33.9, 151
4:37.8, 151
4:42.2, 152
HR @ 1min: 118

S: 4700m – B: 49.1km – R: 10.9km

Myself, Niall and Kev headed off for a bike ride this morning, with the emphasis on doing a few hills. We drove out to Pymble and jumped on the train to our start at Berowra Waters. The train arrived in Hornsby and we sat there for a while waiting for it to continue on to Berowra, except when it did get moving, after about 15mins, it started heading back to the city. We were supposed to change trains! Oh well, jumped off at the next station, waited another 25mins for the train to Berowra to show up and finally got on the bikes, ready to start the ride, at 10:15, having left the house at 7:15!

With the show on the road, we spent the first few minutes flying downhill to the ferry at Berowra Waters, which we just missed. When we finally got to the other side, it was straight into the first of the climbs. I’d been a bit worried about the climbs, as it’s not easy lugging 88kg uphill, there were three decent climbs scheduled for the day and I’d had a couple of beers the night before at Craig’s birthday ;-) However, the first one put my mind at ease as it wasn’t too bad, and according to Kev and Niall it was the hardest.

After that it was another hour cycling through rolling countryside and down the switchbacks at Galston Gorge. We had a quick stop to adjust Kev’s gears before heading upward again to Hornsby Heights and continuing on to the Pacific Highway. We had debated yesterday whether we’d stop there, or continue on to Bobbin Head, but we were all feeling pretty good today so on we went for our third, and final downhill to Bobbin Head, followed by our third, and final climb of the day leading us back to Pymble and the comfort of the parked cars.

The stats for the day were:

Distance: 50km

Avg. HR: 101

Max. HR: 170

Avg. Speed: 22.4km/h

Max. Speed: 59.1km/h

Calories: 1577!

Yep, that’s 1577 calories (kcal) so I’ve been stuffing my face wtih pasta ever since I got home! ;-)

S: 2600m – B: 137.4km – R: 10.3km – Row: 5000m

Since my legs have been at me, I’ve been riding a bit more to make up for it. Both yesterday and today, I cycled in to work via Bondi, Bondi Road, a few laps around Centennial Park, Moore Park Road and Oxford St. then I cycled home yesterday as well. I was feeling pretty good yesterday, and thought everything was going great, but I was a bit tired this morning, so yesterday must just have been due to the day off on Wednesday. Ty and Dean are up from Canberra, so I’ll have to miss today’s swim session.

Update: just cycled straight home as it was a bit chilly and I was tired ;-)

S: 2600m – B: 87.4km – R: 10.3 km – Row: 5000m

Right, just a quick round-up of the oustanding sessions. Cycled home again last night and did a few laps of Centennial Park a little faster than yesterday (7:34, 7:31, 7:29). It was pretty windy again though, so I was getting a fair old push at various stages.

Went for a run after arriving home. 4 laps, 3.3km, 20:33.5. I felt pretty tired throughout the whole run, probably because it’s the end of the week.

Lap1: 5:00.7, 139
Lap2: 5:05.9, 143
Lap3: 5:13.6, 143
Lap4: 5:13.6, 144
@ 1min: 109

Went out for dinner last night and had some vino, then crawled out of bed this morning to go for a 3km run with Jacqui. So, I’ve just finished my biggest week’s training in 11 months, and my third biggest week since I started this fitness thing. However, the two bigger weeks had quite a bit more swimming & cycling, and a lot less running, so I’m happier with this one as my running is pretty weak.

I’ve Micky’s wedding tomorrow so that will be a nice party, Monday is a public holiday, I’m off to Canberra on Tuesday for three days then back up to Sydney for two more weddings. It’s going to be a relatively quiet week training wise. Perfect for a bit of recovery ;-)

S: 6000m – B: 84km – R: 18.2km – W: 1 session

Did another ride around Centennial on the way home yesterday. Three laps, nice and easy. I timed them this time and averaged around 7:42 (29.42km/h) which is a little quicker than the last time I recorded a time. It was pretty windy, though since it’s an almost circular loop you’d expect the wind to cancel itself out.

Felt pretty good in the pool this afternoon as well. Our coach didn’t show up, so I ended up choosing what the session would comprise. Nobody complained outright, apart from chancing their arms to see if they could make me give them an easy session.

100/200/300 FS, 30s rest
6 * 200 FS on 3:30 (2:52)
4 * {
    100 IM on 1:45 (1:31)
    100 FS on 2:00 (1:35) }
8 * 50 FS as {
    2 on 45,
    2 on 50,
    2 on 55,
    2 on 60 }
Total: 3000m

I’m pretty tired now though. On a positive note, I’ve now racked up five consecutive weeks of decent training, and next week is a rest week as I’ll be in Canberra, so I’m looking forward to the extra sleep ;-)

S: 6000m – B: 56km – R: 11.9km – W: 1 session

I missed my lunchtime swim yesterday. I wasn’t paying attention to the time and when I finally checked I’d missed the start of the session. Oh well, I’ll have to make it up on Friday instead. I rode home and did a couple of laps of Centennial Park as well to start the week off.

B: 28km

Well the weekend didn’t go quite to plan on the training front. Got up on Saturday morning and did some work on the indoor trainer. I had intended doing an hour, but I spent quite a bit of time adjusting various parts on the bike, so only rode for about 30mins. That was then end of that. I was supposed to do a run on Sunday morning, but as I spent Saturday afternoon on the beers watching the Sydney Swans with their first Grand Final in 72 years, there was no way I was running anywhere the next morning ;-)

S: 2900m – B: 71.4km – R: 13.3km – W: 1 session

Today I really noticed the effect beer has on training! Went out for dinner and a few beers with the Canberra guys last night. Not too late, home by 10.30 or so. However, I cycled home from work today, and did a couple of laps around Centennial Park too, but I felt bloody sluggish all the way. I had figured that if I drank loads of water during the day then all would be well, but that would have been too easy.

Went for a short run when I got home too, which wasn’t too bad, though I seem to have some issues lacing my left shoe correctly. Obviously I can tie my own laces, but for some reason my left shoe seems to end up too tight and I end up with a sore lower left leg, presumably from irrtating a nerve on the top of my foot, or constricting the blood flow. The problem is that it usually feels fine when I do my laces. It’s only after running for a couple of minutes that I notice something’s amiss. I’ll have to experiment with lacing patterns or something over the next week or so.

S: 2900m – B: 56.4km – R: 13.3km – W: 1 session

Well I rode straight home yesterday and forced myself to go out for a run. It was fully dark by the time I was setting off for the run, so I elected to skip the park and run on the footpath. It’s a bit more impact for the legs to handle, but on the positive side I can see where I’m going so there’s less risk of twisting my ankle. I did 3.4km with the usual HR limit in effect. My legs are bloody tired today, that’s for sure!

On an even better note, I weighed in at 88.2kg this morning: down 1.7kg in three weeks, so the work is paying off.

S: 2900m – B: 33.8km – R: 10km – W: 1 session