12 weeks to go till Ironman WA 2009…aaaaarggh!!

 

How the heck are we all? Let’s hope the real Spring weather visits soon. Dee and I knocked off a Bridges run recently and it was just a fantastic day….well….for anything! Dee put in a solid 146bpm average and just kept great form. I’m really enjoying her journey toward her first marathon much more than I would my own. We watched a harrowing documentary about an Everest climb that just went wrong (and Dee’s actually had someone ask her if she’d like to climb Everest!!!!!) I think Bluff Knoll will more than suffice in a few weeks time.

We then travelled to Manning Park to watch our young Year 4 niece Sarah compete in her inter-school cross country run. I just love all the enthusiasm of the younger for running. Sarah had a great run and finished 9th out of around 55 runners, full of beans and with a smile on her face. I felt myself slowly turning into a cross country coach again so I had to keep it under control. As it was, we offered to take her to next season’s cross country training and events in Winter as part of Little Athletics.

On the training news front: Dec is selling has fantastic Zipp tubular wheels with some bonus 4000S Conti’s on them - his ad is on the

www.triwa.org.au

website. Shannon was looking for a female cyclist for the State TTT teammate to join them on 20 Sept at Pinjarra. There’s still some recuperation from her injuries but she sure is showing some by literally climbing back onto the bike.Thanks to those offering advice for my indoor trainer. It seems I should buy training wheels (ha, ha, very funny, yes!) or, alternatively, wrap some electrical tape around the tyres where they contact the trainer. I couldn’t believe how much of her Bontragers were just lying in tiny bits on the floor. I’ll probably just take a bit of the tension off the mag roller and that should do it.

A full 7 weeks on from first getting the flu - still coughing up clear phlegm ( hope you’ve all finished lunch). I had a call from Red Cross again, still after my plasma donation. I had to tell them to give it another couple of weeks. A friend of mine managed an average heart rate in excess of 180bpm for the 12km City to Surf for a 46min effort. And my running coach Raf Baugh was a mere 12sec away from winning the 12km City to Surf event. How do you people do that?? It just amazes me.

I was recently watching the London ITU Tri champs and saw Kahlefeldt damage the tendons under his foot. Ouch!! From a near certain 3rd place finish to a DNF.

I’m now officially down as a volunteer for the Long Distance World Tri Champs being held in Perth in October.

On the way home lately, I’ve been spotting ‘fixies’ everywhere. I told you of the tall dude with the red bike and Dunlop Volley shoes. Well, I had a guy with a powder blue fixed wheel bike come zooming past on my trip between Narrows and Roe Hwy turnoff.

He continued south and all I could do really was just try to keep 10m behind him. This morning, because I am it ‘ITT’ mode, I tend not to respond to guys (and girls) that whizz past me in a rush of adrenalin. Slowly but surely however there is a part of me that wants to chase down the rabbit. And I ended up doing just that on the way in. I’m not really looking forward to starting off at position 101 for this Sunday’s ITT at Shenton Park. Those hills just hurt like mad when you’re trying to maintain an even time.

 

 

It’s been pretty depressing these past few weeks with precious little decent weather for outdoor training. Friday night saw my first swim as part of my 12wk IMWA swimming program. Ok, was supposed to knock off 3kms of swimming at Beatty Park. Actually did 1500m - my ‘brick’ qualities re-emerged as a swimmer. But I am unperturbed - I may even invest in a long-sleeved wetsuit ….(and one of those mini hand-held submarine thingies to help propel me along!!)

Saturday morning’s group bike ride was just plain hard. The wind was not our friend but it made for a few soul-searching turns out front. Notably, I had some good hard digs along Mts Bay Rd to UWA, Canning Hwy and also the Esplanade, Mt Pleasant. No 60kph sprints along Riverside Drive for this little black duck. But it felt good at the end of the ride and I supplemented the endorphin hit with a large flat white at the Dome. Jason John had our new bike jerseys and arm warmers all ready to pick up. He had taken delivery of them on Friday from Sprint Design and they look fantastic.

They have the words ‘Team Force’ etched on the back with Force Equipment, Slater Gartrell Sports and Pure Fitness emblazoned. Some heavy duty earthmoving machinery pictures thrown in for good measure and a snazzy looking carbon weave effect on the sleeves and arm warmers.

It looks like we will have two teams for the Pinjarra cyclosportif which is great. For those of you contemplating the opening of the new Perth to Bunbury Hwy ride next week 20 September, it will cost $25 and you need to register at

 

www.cyclosportif.com.au

 I had a solid 18km run around Deepwater Pt (2.5 laps) on Sunday with lots of other runners and cyclists on this circuit.My program said an easy 24km run was called for (I’d call that an oxymoron!) but I feel good that I have at last achieved a decent mix of running, swimming and cycling. Actually, for good measure, I joined Dee on Saturday after my bike ride and ran the last 10kms of her 20km effort.

Dee has sorted out a nutritious eating program for us for these next 12 weeks. We will both benefit from better food intake and hydration.

Its getting close to registration time for IMWA 09. Unfortunately my brother John has readjusted his marathon aspirations to May next year for the Great Ocean Road Marathon. I’ve been training as if I were doing the 3.8km swim and marathon anyway so there’s no dramas.

I watched Emma Moffatt’s 5 sec triathlon win which was well-timed and showed her grit and determination.

Not sure if I regaled you all with this last time but Dee and I will scale Bluff Knoll soon. It was about a year ago that we last did this.

Not too many hard efforts this week as the Freo Half Marathon is looming on 20 Sept 2009.

Adios amoebas!! Stay fit, healthy and happy!

CHRISTO

 

 

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