Training Log Archive: fletch

Good Ole Main drive up the east side of Reabold. S, M, H x 2 ,recoveries down. Been a long time. I really love this session (I mst be a sadist). No chance to back off today as Oscar turned up for his annual run training session. He matched me stride for stride through the first set and held me for the 4th and 5th rep bt I could tell he was starting to struggle and he finally cracked on the last hard rep and I got him by about 10 seconds. Hate to think how much he'll kick my backside by in 5 years or so.

Up Down
3:06.7 3:50.0
3:00.1 3:54.6
2:37.7 4:28.2
3:31.0 4:04.1
2:58.4 4:27.0
2:37.8 5:30

Didn't realise how much the recoveries blew out, although I knew they were slow as I was trying to protect my knee a little by short striding. Couldn't believe the last rep wasn't significantly faster than hte 3rd. Absolutely buried myself last time p the hill. Can't remember last time I hurt that bad. Oh wait... SAS sandhills last time round... but still, it was hard

Windtrainer was the last thing I wanted to do, but was the only thing I could fit in between breaks in parent-teacher interviews (and the weather outside was horrible). 7 min w-u, meant to be 5 x (8 on 2 off). Got through the first three and a bit, then had an unscheduled appointment and phone call, so did a 2 min loosener then smashed out the last effort in a single 15 minute block. Legs pretty sore at the start, but got better till about halfway thru, then getting sore again. Dunno what sort of impression I madr talking to a parent in sweating bike gear... Oh well.

Event: Marginata - Badge & SS
 

Herdsman Lake Loop. Little longer than last time I think as I unintentionally added the boardwalk loop at the Gould League centre. Forgot it only went in a circle. solid effort. Right knee sore on the medial side of the bottom of the patella. right hip flexor a bit sore in the last 20 minutes. Really need to get a few consective solid weeks of training under my belt again.

C • Colours 11

A bit of a mix and match session in the evening, just to get the legs moving and doing something that approximated real training. Efforts of between 2-7 minutes, recoveries 2-4 minutes.

Well - a second crap week of not training in a row. A couple of days of general lethargy coupled with work/family commitments, then three days in Dwellingup on school camp. Can't really log a 15km hike that took 4.5 hours as training, nor the paddle on the Murray, where the only real effort came in tipping the water out of my students' capssized canoes. The short, fat little kaya I was it was quite fun. Very manouverable, and spent half the paddle backwards, as I had to lead, but keep an eye on everyone else to make sure they didn't need rescuing.

One decade of marriage today!

C • Congratulations 2

Event: Killamunda Challenge
 

Much more Advetre Racey than last year. Really good fun. Started off in the edge of John Forrest with a short nav exercise. Had to collect 200 points, with point values per control of between 20 and 50, with the 50 pointers being the semi-finalists from the last soccer World Cup. I had a qick look and decided to head left, picking up Kenya and something else insignificant first for a total of 50, followed by Germany, Brazil and Italy. Ended up running straight back thru the bush from pretty mch the furthest point on the map and was surprised when I had a clear lead and was out of transition before anyone else appeared. This was explained later when it turned out that I cannot read, and read the 20 points for Brazil as a 50, leaving me 30 points short and handing me a 15 minute penalty. Annoying as I had pretty much run straight past Portugal on the way in (50 pts). Would have cost me a minute or so to actually stop and get it...
the errors continued as I headed out on the first MTB leg along Falls Rd and the n the Railway Heritage trail. Didn't see the first control and stopped just ast it to check things ot, as I had by then realised that I had left my punch card buried in my running waist belt at the bottom of my pack. Got out my instructions and tourist map, as I thought these might help, shoved everything back in the pack, put it back on... and realised I never got te punch card. Repeat the process and just as I was getting moving again, MTBJen, Wally and Wil appeared, punched the control back where I suspected it may have been. I was pretty annoyed with myself, but probably not as much as Wally when I pointed out that he wasn't wearing his bike helmet. After leading the train a bit on the way to the next control, I went straight past it again and had to ride hard to rejoin Wil and Jen. Wally made a move and was off the front. On the way to the 3rd control Wil and I missed a turn when we were dstracted by a fallen tree across the trail (just after the turn we were meant to take). MTBJen got a couple of hundred metres and got significnatly more, when Wally, Wil and I all misread the location of the third control and had to double back around the pipeline. Met Tricky here too, bt he took off back the way he had come from and didn;t see him again for ages. Didn't think we could get to transition thr the edge of the conservation area, so back on the other side of the pipeline and along we powered, only to see the transition and realise that we needed to throw or bikes over the pipleine back to the side we were on at the third control. So many little errors.
The second nav exercise required s to collect the 5 checkpoints with codes corresponding to number plates from towns south of Perth. Headed out thru Plantaganet, WA (can't remember what it stands for, but knew it was south) and Boyup Brook. From there I had no idea what SB was, thought MI was Mingenew, knew Carnarvon and Geraldton and didn't know the last 2, but suspected that PH was port Hedland and that I would need to get MY. Made a (nother) stupid error going to double check MI first and then SB (Shark Bay), meaning I then had t double back past Mingenew again to get out to AW.
OUt of transition, and missed the turn on the map that got us back out to the railway trail, so bush bashed it. Rode too much of the way to Chidlow on the rubbish trail next to the pipeline istead of the nice heritage trail and jst as I was going to suggest to Wil switching paths, I stuck my front wheel in a rut and went flying. Lots of scrapes on my forearm and shoulder and knocked the stuffing out of me, but quickly figured out I wasn't spouting blood, could breathe relatively pain free and could grip the handlebars, so off again.
The third Nav challenge, just thru Chidlow was on a 1:100 aerial photo, with each of the 10 very closely spaced controls non-compulsory but worth a 3 minute time penalty. Went pretty much straight into number 1, but didn't see it, so back out on the road and rode a few hundred metres further before I saw the scale on the map and quickly returned to where we had come from. Got through the rest of them fairly quickly and eficiently and headed south towards the complsory 11th control for the leg. Started along Gorrie Rd, but I had totally lost where I was on the map and Wil got away from me a bit. Took a calculated gamble trusting Wil when he took an unmapped track that he asumed would end up on the powerline trail. He was right, but it looked a bit dodgy when we had to cross thru a quarry part way along. Onto the powerline trail and Wil was struggling on the uphills, but riding me down on the downs. Knew that MTBJen and Wally couldn't be too far ahead - could see their wheel tracks but hadn't seen either of them for ages.
Straight past the AR balloons for the final transition area on Flynn Rd, but some nice orienteering types pointed us towards the right place. Wil and I headed out together, jst as tRicky rolled into transition. Knew I could outrun Wil and make gains on Jen and Wally, but wasn't keen on a footrace with tRicky, so eased thru the first 4 close controls making sure not to waste any significant time. Along under all the under growth then stright up the hill thru the clearing to the first one, clearing to the second, was a little low on the third and the rocks going to 4 made me wish I was wearing spikes. Then it was time to open up and see what the legs had and I pushed pretty hard thru the rest of the 6.2km course. Contoured the first half of 4-5, hit the track, then aied up at the knoll, 5-6 swung around the end of the ridge a little lower than intended, aimed right to 7, powerline trail to 8 thru the dozens of 4WDers who were going significantly slower than me. Thru the saddle 11-12 at which point I impaled my shin on a stick. That one's gonna hurt for a while. Ran the track a bit towards 13 bfeore angling down the slope and it was pretty straight forward from there, Last couple were pretty straight forward and I was happy to learn I had passed both MTBJen and Wally out there without seeing either of them. Jen came in 10 minutes later, which with my 15 minute penalty and the 6 minutes she picked up for missing two of the aerial photo controls left me clear by about a minute. tRicky was next in, followed by Wil and Wally.
Team Padlly Pallin Shotz 1-2-3 (with the 4th being the organiser - he didn't tell us anything, honest).
Good solid hitout. Cold obviously didn't affect me. A bit weak on the bike and very weak on the bike nav, but happy with the running. Need to check the set-up of both my bikes to get them right (and then the same as each other) as my back got a little sore near the end of the ride.

Awesome day. Lots of thinking, with the different challenges, constant changes of scale and detail levels of the maps. Happy that the rain had done its dash before we began. The bush was wet, but it was lovely conditions to race.

Thanks Tooms. Now do I have to organise the next one???

No word from the bike shop. Had to be home earlyish, so no training. Knee is feeling totally stuffed anyway. Worst it has been for ages. Walked my way around a netball court this arvo for 20 minutes and got some strange shooting pains across my patella. Pain has moved from just being on the lateral side of the tendon to a much broader area across the lower border of the patella. Eccentrics here we come (and maybe another trip to the doc).

Also have to remember to book in for a medical before they take away my bus licence. Gee, I wonder if I'll pass that one...

Bit of a cold. Still wanted to ride in, but forgot to pick up back wheel last night, making things rather difficult in that regard. Settled on a windtrainer after work, but after dropping in to the bike shop at lunchtime, found out that wheel John gave me is not compatible with an 8 speed cluster. And they don't have any others in stock, so still no bike ride. Went past Scarborough BEach cycles on the way home and they reckon they might be able to get me a new wheel on warranty (only about 15 months old). In any case, they have wheels actually int their store ready, so will have one soon.

Something to aim for (May 2008 times) for Reabold West
1:46, 1:44, 1:44, 1:42, 1:44
1:28, 1:32, 1:32, 1:30, 1:28

Well - how did the times compare??
1:40 1:41 1:41 1:42 1:42
1:28 1:30 1:29 1:26 1:26

Looks like a little improvement from last year :)

Recoveries between 2:05 and 2:20. 2 minutes extra between sets.

C • Nice! 2

Warm up/down for reabold reps

Start of Easy week

Bugger. Really didn't want another rest day, but the only thing I could fit in was a commute, and my bike doesn't have a back wheel. It's in the shop now. Thanks for the replacement rim Tooms.

Event: Darkin River - Standard
 

Morning roadie with Tooms and RoadieJen. Cold! Hands were sore for the fist hour, then jst cold the rest of the way. Pace generally felt pretty relaxed, but I was starting to struggle a bit by the end. Not surprising, as it was over 70 minutes, unlike any of my other training. Good fun. Need to do more.
Got to do a little extra on Toodyay Rd when I didn't hear John say he was getting to hot and stopping (freak) and rode on alone for a bit before I noticed and doubled back. I certainly never got warm enough to consider removing my thermal.

Glad I left a bit late today, as the rain started as I was getting my helmet, so I got araincoat at hte same time. Proved concl;usively that the bottom of my pack is not waterproof when I went to retireve my work shirt. Yuk.
Pretty slow and tired effort. Very wet. Started with a buckle in hte rim as I still ahdn't fixed it and a spoke snapped about 200m from school, so I've gotten to the point where I'm looking seriously at getting another wheel.
Time approx as bike computer obviously wasn't working with that much water around. Saw a few poor souls early on the ride who had obviously left in fine weather, then pretty much nobody the rest of the way. No surprises.

C • ...raincoat? 7

Ride home from the bike shop. Getting back into wet gear wasn't much fun. Wheel is already slightly buckled again and the real downer is what I had been trying to ignore for a few weeks - that there are several cracks around the spokes in the actual rim and these are getting bigger. Next time my wheel goes right out of whack it's gotta go in the bin, or I might be facing a high speed disaster when my wheel disintegrates.

Didn't have time to fix up the bike before morning, so switched the windtrainer and the commute. Legs pretty heavy doing a windtrainer the day after hill intervals.
Not very inspired, but worked the legs hard.

8 min w/u, 5on 2 off x 6, 5 min cooldown

Similar to last week, but sets of 3, 3, 2.
Felt tired and crap at the start. Improved after the first set. Sore spot on calf not too bad, knee sore on downhills, shoulders and ribs a bit achey from yesterday's adventures off the bike.

Up Down
1:59.1 2:43.8
1:59.0 2:37.6
1:55.7 2:34.9 (+2)
1:52.4 2:46.3
1:53.3 2:39.8
1:51.9 2:36.1 (+2)
1:45.3 3:00.0
1:47.1

Just looked up a Kalinda session from April last year... 1:43-low 1:50's for 2 sets of 3. No wonder I was feeling 'strong' and in control this time round. Jus twasn't going hard enough. Bugger.

Cold morning. Glad to have the windproof gloves for the first time in a year or so. All cruising along nicely until I dropped down from the footpath onto the road about 5km from school and as I was looking to check traffic stuck my front wheel straight down a roadside drain. Over the handlebars, landed on my shoulder and the bike on top of me. Ouch. Nothing appears totally broken although will need to re-tighten a bar end.

Time approx as for some reason the bike computer never started this morning.

Almost a really good ride home. Rolled out of school and leg felt OK, wind wasn't too bad, so started to push hard. All was going swimmingly until 4 km to go when I punctured again. Had been well above 30km/he average. Grrrr. No spare tube as I haven't replaced the one from last week. Pulled the glass out of tyre and gave it a bit of a spin as it had goo in it and I was hopeful of not having to do a serious patch job. Seemed to work, but needed to inflate tyre. Emptied bag and discovered I had left my pump at school. Walked a km before a kind cyclist offered help. Air in, stayed up OK and I rolled gently home.

Run around Herdsman Lake from home. felt good fitnes wise, but legs were awful. Slight knee discomfort all the way, but it never really got any worse, although that may have jst been masked by my calves. They were very tight last night and when I started running and got worse rapidly. Seriously sore for most of the run.

Grumpy with myself for skipping my run this morning and having a sleep in, bt my knee was a bit sore at school today in any case, so may not have been a bad thing.
Started paddle a bit later than sual and stupidly decided that having done a massive 2 paddles in the last month, it was time to up the distance a bit. Got very thirsty and faded a bit by the end. Core very tired in the last half hour. Disappointed with the slowness given that I worked significantly harder than last week in the first half. I spose it's the same as running great for a couple of sessions when you come back fresh only to get worse for a bit after a week or 2 of training. Ah well.

Wasn't feeling very motivated and couldn't be bothered looking at my watch too often, so tried to keep the effort steady on 2 x 20 minute blocks, with 5 min recovery. Second half of the second rep was rather unpleasant.

A lacklustre recovery roll into work, finished off with a pinch flat a few hundred metres from the end when I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and hit a limestone rock (after deciding I could get away with one more commute before I bothered to pump up my very soft tyres)

Stupid headwind. Started solidly, but was not motivated by my racing towards oncoming rain clouds. These hit about the half way mark, which made the rest of the ride unpleasant. Also coincided with me running out of puff after spending a hard day at work surfing and chasing a football rather harder than i should have). Struggle city by the time I got home.

Kalinda Rd Hills. Approx 500m bottom to top, one set of 4, one set of 3, recoveries jog down, 2 min extra between sets.

1:58.3 2:39.8
1:59.9 2:36.6
1:57.1 2:30.4
1:55.4 4:25.8

1:48.5 2:31.7
1:53.1 2:34.6
1:49.4

Felt good to be running hard with a long stride rather than on sand for a change :) Knee a little sore on the downhills, but not too bad.

Slow w/u and cooldown to Kalinda and return

afternoon paddle with paddleJen. Pretty much the same as 2 days ago, except we went exploring (nsuccessfully) a little bit and cut straight thru the canal instead of going up th garratt Rd bridge. Felt easier than the last one, but surprisingly seemed to be a similar speed. Already done as much paddling in June as I did in May :)