See you later , capitulator!
How the heck are we all? It was a weekend where the priority was staying about 100kms away from anyone with a flu or cold. That achieved, the weekend started with a solid BFSR ride of 60kms. It was our usual ride but I can feel myself getting stronger as a cyclist. I sprinted a little prematurely at the end of Shelley. At Riverside Drive, once Clarky had swung out as ‘lead out’, Luke, Richard and Rob were thrashing it out at front. I tried to get on but they tucked in behind a little white van which took the sting out of my effort to catch them.
Unfortunately, Brendan had a puncture and didn’t manage to rejoin the group. Todd Panietz and Peter Clark both look lean and fit. Good strong efforts from both of them on the bike. The taper will only build their reserves of strength now.
I put in strong efforts against the breeze though and felt a real quad burn going up ‘Gino’s Revenge’ along Garden St. I then went out for a 12km run with a slight detour pat Kelly’s Café to greet my fellow cyclists as they were sipping on their latte’s. I hadn’t really hydrated that well and took a good 5min break at Bannister Rd which was my 6km turnaround point. We had a Mt Kilimanjaro afternoon as we invited some friends to watch the DVD we had ordered from the USA.
On Sunday, I had set myself a time of 1hr 7m30s for the 15kms (2 laps of Deepwater Pt). As I drew close to finishing my first lap, I could feel a bit of pain in my right knee and decided to do just one lap. I managed this in just over 33mins so I was still on the 4min30s/km pace. Tim Roach managed a very credible 30m30s effort to be just fractionally over 4min/km pace. Jo Youd finished around 1hr 8mins for the 2 laps. She was going to be my benchmark as she finished around 1m40s ahead of me on the 10km Peninsula run. She was around 1min behind me at the first lap but would no doubt have caught me on the 2nd. I also saw the Poss (Amanda Smith) who also gave the 7.5km a go. There’ll be a good number of us on board for Busso Half Ironman this May.
Based on both my time and Tim’s, I would reckon him to be around 15 to 20mins quicker for the full marathon effort. Its interesting but Toddy said that he and Peter Clark could also race against our two teams as they will have a 15min headstart on us. In truth, they are both very quick at all 3 disciplines so its hard to see where , as teams, we can make significant inroads against them.
Still, I think it was wise to nurse the knee at this stage. I’m cycle commuting this week up to Thursday. I will also plan 5km runs from today to Thurs as well.
Emily Panietz, our team swimmer, did the Cottesloe swim on Saturday as a good test of the ‘washing machine’ phenonomenon. In reality, both her and Ashleigh should benefit from being in the team swim as their group is only a max of 70 and they start a good 15mins behind the individuals.
I see that those of you unable to make it down to Busso will be able to watch it on live streaming, including interviews, on
I know you are all keen to see what the weather holds for Busselton for the Ironman on Sunday. Now , my initial thoughts on all facets of the weather are that it should be close to ideal. You wouldn’t expect a day totally free of swell on the water or free of wind in the bike and run. So here’s the prediction on
www.seabreeze.com.auSunday Swell Wind
6am 1m 16SE
730am 1m 15SE
900am 14SE
1030am 12SE
1200pm 10SSE
130pm 12S
300pm 14SSW
430pm 17SSW
600 20SSW
The temperature range is 11min to 26max. This means the swim should have a slight swell but, with an Easterly dominant, should make for a decent swim without any real chop. The bike will be interesting as through most of it the wind will actually be dying off. It will start as 15SE but down to 10SSE by midday. This is probably about as good as can be expected for Busso for the 180kms and the cyclists should be reasonably happy with this. If there is any headwind, it will likely be on the southward sweep toward the Bussell Hwy turnaround and perhaps from the marina back toward the Busso city centre. With extra southerly in the breeze as the day progresses, the wind will get a little cooler so it should also be ideal for the runners.
Diet is progressing well and I should get to the start line at 76kgs which can only help (compared to my 81.4kg weight a few weeks ago).
By the way, I did tell all of you the one of Matty’s good cross country running mates, Kieran King, would get picked in the draft. And, at number 81, he was indeed picked up by Brisbane. Well done to him and all the other WA draftees.
Arsenal also winners over Chelsea (and unfortunately Man Utd over Man City). Lets hope West Ham get over Liverpool to even out the top few teams a little.
Stay healthy,happy and focussed.
Regards
CHRISTO