The Plan.......

Well another busy week and a return trip to Mt. Nebo, two weeks in a row....

I managed to make it out for 3 runs 2 swims and a long ride this week. My focus was more for the run than the bike as I'm doing the Gold Coast 1/2 marathon next weekend. All in all a good week, but I'm starting to wonder what's in store starting Monday. I start my official training through my coach where we lay out what's up for the next set of 4 weeks. The training plan is geared towards 3 hard weeks followed by 1 of recovery, by who's definition I'm not sure, but time will tell.

Saturday's long run was a return to Mt. Coot-tha but a little farther, 19km. More hills as one could expect, but a good run all the same. Saturday night Colleen and I actually went out without the kids, yes I think it`s called a social life. A nice bottle of wine with great food and great company, followed by meeting up with our friends Trevor and Shelley to see Chaser (Australia`s closest thing to Royal Air Farce and This Hour has 22 Minutes). Lots of laughs but a late night. After dropping off the babysitter I crawled into bed at midnight. Next thing I knew the alarm was going off, 4:55am. I fought with myself to get out of bed, had my oatmeal and headed down to meet the squad for our long ride of the week.

With the return to Nebo, I wasn`t too sure what to expect, being tired and my legs were feeling the extra km`s from the day before. Similar to last week, I persevered and won round three. It was a battle on the way up, but I managed to dig deep to make it up.

Once I know what my `plan`is I`ll send out an update as I no longer control my life, it`s in the hands of my coach and my wife.

Cheers
the very tired but happy Canadian down under.

Mt. Nebo part II, Revenge of the Rider

The past week was a good training week. I made it out to two swims three rides and a long run.

A ride on Sunday, followed by a good pool swim on Tuesday for a 2100m swim. Lots of different things but the worst was all the backstroke we had to do.. It took two days for my shoulders to feel normal. Getting an update on what the training would be, I happen to notice Sunday's ride...MT NEBO. It was like a scene in a movie as the glass slowly drops from someone's hand only to smash on the floor. Shit! I don't want to go there again. People in the squad were pestering me wonder if I would return or not, so I took it all in stride and committed myself to the Mt Nebo ride on Sunday. More on that later.

Prior to the swim on Tuesday I sat down with Mark the head coach. We went over my goals and what I could do for training over the coming months. In just over a week from now my official training plan starts. It will comprise of 4 week sessions with 3 hard and 1 recovery week. We've worked out some potential goal races to keep me sharp and help with the preparation for IMA. As it stands right now, I'll be doing 3 half IM's between now and April with the first one being the Gold Coast 70.3 in October. November will see me head down to Port MacQuarrie to compete in the Port 70.3 which is run on the same course as Ironman. In February I hope to head down to Geelong in Victoria for another 70.3 event.

Thursday I was back in the water for killer sets of 500m. 6 in fact for a 3000m swim.

Friday was a spin session at "Ride Inside". I took the opportunity to ride to the session and then into work. A little wobbly my legs were but not too bad. My plan was to ride home, but 45 minutes before quitting time, the heavens opened up. I crossed my fingers and with about 10 minutes before I had to leave, the rain stopped. Off I went on the trek home on the rain soaked roads. It took about 50 minutes to get home, but it was a good ride. When I got into the house, I took off my socks and my legs were black from all the gunk on the roads. I looked at my bike and it had transformed somehow to a brown bike when I wasn't looking. A good cleaning was in order for both. The day was good with a total distance of approximately 70km.

Saturday morning we met at Mt. Coot-tha for another trail run. Lots and lots of hills. It seemed like every turn brought another hill to climb. At the end of it, another 15.4km run. All good. Thanks to Tim for these images for all to see where and how steep it was.






Now then, this morning. Today's ride would be the return trip to Mt. Nebo. I wasn't sure about what to think, but knew I had to get out there. This time we started from the city and rode for 25 minutes prior to tackling the mountain. Up up and away we went, however I was much slower going up with all the training which came in the previous days. As we past my corner I let it know how I felt. Feeling better I continued my climb, I still had another 15km to the top. Upon arriving at the top we waited for rest of the squad to finish before descending. The wind had picked up and it was cold...5 degrees which even for the Canuck in the group was cold enough to complain. We turned around and headed back to the city. Compared to a month ago when I went down this hill, I was slow. Okay Janice would have probably passed me I was going that slow. Each turn was taken safely before I would startup again. Upon arriving at my corner I stopped and took a couple of photos for my trophy wall. Down the hill and into the city for a total ride of 3 hours. Tired but happy I enjoyed my coffee with the squad...I had won round 2 of the tale of the mountain.

That's about it for now. A big congrats to all my friends back in Calgary who completed in the Chinook 1/2IM Saturday. Way to go Lawrence, Peter & Janice!!!!! Now I want to hear from you on how it was.

Cheers
Richard

Finding my groove

G'day blog watchers.

The past week was a good one for getting back into my training regime. It started out well, by living up to my promise of heading out after my last post for a run. That was followed up Holiday Monday by going out for a ride....ah yes, the ride. As I headed out, it was the first time since crashing. I must admit, it was somewhat scary. I hopped over the bike and had to wait a couple of minutes for the shaking to stop. Once I calmed down, I headed out to Redcliffe. It took a better part of 20 minutes before I could even think about getting into the aerobars, once in them though, it was good to be back. It was a great ride and finished off with 30 minutes in the rain. Soaked, but enjoying the ride, I kept a smile on my face knowing I was back on the way to IMA.

These two great training sessions, were followed up with a Swim on Tuesday & Thursday, a ride on Wednesday morning, Saturday great run through Mt. Coot-tha and a good ride this morning with the squad. All in all a great week.

For those watching from Canada, I keep saying where I've gone for training, but don't give you any idea of where the hell it is. Okay, if you follow the links below, they will give you a google map of where they are.

Mt. Coot-tha http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=mt+cootha,+qld&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=46.998309,91.054688&ie=UTF8&ll=-27.479415,152.965136&spn=0.046069,0.088921&t=h&z=14

Redcliffe
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=redcliffe,+qld&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=15

Also if you check out the right hand side, I've posted some links to some cool triathlon videos.

That's about it for me right now. Off to finish dinner before Big Brother starts. That and my wine glass is empty..

Until next time...

Richard

ps If you have some ideas for what to include on my posts, let me know.

No more excuses

This is it, the week to get back into a good training routine again. With last weeks wet weather and travel, I admit I slacked off a bit, but no more!!! After finishing my blog update, I'm going to head out the door for a long run and force myself out the door tomorrow morning for a long ride, probably out to Redcliff and back. Tuesday is our first day in our new office, so out for a run at lunch to find the new routes and follow that up by meeting the squad for a swim in the evening. I'm hoping that with the new office being close to the pool it will prompt me to getting out for possible mid day swims which would be an easier way to get more time in the pool which this floating rock needs.

Now for the good news....I have my bike back!!! I picked it up yesterday afternoon so missed the time trial and missed the long century ride this morning (had to sign up for it but didn't have a bike so didn't want to waste my money). There's a few scratches here and there on one side of the frame, but seems to be okay. I know the first ride tomorrow is going to be a bit weird, but hey, when you fall off your bike you are supposed to get back on....or something like that the saying goes.

I'm hoping by the end of this week I have signed up for my first half ironman, Yeppoon in mid August. Prior to IMA, I have to complete at least one 70.3 before the race, so this might be the one.

Oh well, enough procrastination, I have to get out and go for that run.... Until next time

Cheers
Richard

oh ya, for you bike lovers out there, here's my bike back with the new tires (tyres for you Ozzie's).

Back in the groove

How do sports fans. Well the past week started out rough, but turned out okay in the end.

Sunday I ran, but it was rough.
Tuesday, tried again, still rough, but only when I started and finished.
Saturday morning...well if it hurts, too bad, I'm running. I met up with the squad for a long run. Due to heavy rains, the run was changed from a trail run to a run in the river valley. The intent of the run was to be no less than 90 minutes, but no more than 120. It was a great run, wet, but fun. We had heavy down pours twice and lighter rains on and off for the balance. I ended up running continuously for the whole 90 minutes. After getting home, I checked out the route on google maps and found out I ran 16km. Not too bad at all. I felt really good both during and after, so here's to more of the same. No bike, yet, the parts have been on order for over a week and were supposed to be in Friday, but hopefully this week my bike will be ready.

This week is a big focus on the bike (go figure) and concludes with a 20km time trial Saturday and a century ride Sunday morning. I'll be on my own most of the week as I head to Sydney mid week for an evening seminar. With the majority of my wounds healed, I can actually get back into the pool. This week also will mark 10 months to Ironman!! Crikey where does the time go???

Until next time, keep the rubber side down and find some good toes to draft off.

Cheers
Richard (no longer the purple man)