Road bike to Time Trial/Triathlon bike transformation

10 weeks and 3 days to the big day...

Ok... So I have a Cervélo S3. It is a road bike but with a few modifications can be a pretty good Time Trial (TT) bike.

Whack some on TT bars, drop the stem 10mm, slide the saddle forward, bolt on a dual bottle cage rack under the seat and tah-dah...
My poor Cervélo...
It isn't going to be the most comfortable thing to sit on for 180 kilometres... I dare not try buying a $200 TT seat after the recent wetsuit and helmet purchases, not that it would help comfort-wise too much anyway. TT bikes are not made for comfort. they are made for speed.

The question is should I bring out the TT helmet for the MacTri club champs race this weekend? It is only 20km. I think the NSW Club Champs in Forster the following weekend will be a better opportunity to use the TT helmet but I am thinking of removing the dual bottle cage rack and one cage in the frame for both races. It will be unnecessary weight and drag. I certainly do not need four bottles of electrolytes for these 20 and 30 kilometre races...

The weather is not looking very good at the moment. I hope it clears for the weekend. I didn't do a run last night because it was bucketing-down however I did another 4 kilometre swim.

Looks like I'll have to head to the gym for some strength training while this wet weather is around.

Here is a quick look at this week's training as of Thursday the 27th of March.

On Wednesday next week I am meant to do what would be my longest run ever - 32km as an interval structure - 5k easy, 5k at 4:30min/km, 12k easy, 5k at 4:30min/km & 5k easy. With the NSW Club Championships coming up that weekend I am a bit hesitant to do the 32kms and sap my energy systems before needing to call on them at the NSW Club Champs next weekend.

What I have done for this Saturday is backed off the intensity of the "brick" - ride and run session in the morning. In the afternoon, I'll take the wetsuit for it's first swim. With all this rain making the water dirty with run-off it might be best to swim in the salt water pool...

:Pat

My longest ride and swim ever...

Last Sunday I completed the Strava Gran Fondo for March. At 185 kilometers. I am fairly certain it was my longest ride ever.
My fellow 7 Peaks finisher - Phil and I started at 5:30am in Camden (south-west of Sydney) and rode 45km north to Penrith before turning west and climbed The Great Western Highway toward Springwood in the Blue Mountains.
From Springwood we headed north through Winmalee to stop for coffee at Richmond around 8:30.
We then rode through to Windsor and on to join the M7 orbital motorway (cycleway) for the trip home.
I felt good and was happy with the pace, around 29.4kph for the whole trip.

I also did my longest swim ever - 4km. I wasn't pushing it because I wanted to test out how I would go with toe, calf and full leg cramps. I only got a few at around the 3.5km mark, with one calf cramp that forced me to stop for around 30 seconds. So I am happy with the 1 hour 18 minute time it took. There were a few higher paced surges that probably contributed to the cramps but I think I could have done it a bit quicker.

I have just bought an Orca 3.8 wetsuit so I am ready for a bit of cold water swimming now that it is early autumn.

The Garneau Vorttice helmet just arrived. I'll get that on the weekend from the bro in-law bro. Bloody legend!

Things are starting to fall into place. All I need now is to concentrate on the big kays, in and out of the water.

I'll have to plan some regular open water swims in the ocean and at the Penrith Regatta Centre. Saturdays are the big days.

[Monday 24th of May]

The Melbourne Ironman race was on yesterday. While I was hanging out at home doing the lawns having brunch and doing normal weekend family get together things, two fellow MacTri members were smashing it out down south.

They did really well! Just over 9 and 13 hours. All through the day I was checking on their progress and as the hours passed it really started to psych me out as the realisation set in that in only 76 days from today I will be in the hurt locker for just as long as these guys. If it takes me longer, hopefully it won't be much more than that...

Now... Where's that training plan... I'd better review my training week.

Bye for now.

13 Weeks out: The "On Week", Resource Overload, Eating & helmets...

Training stats from 17th Feb to 13th Mar, 10:00am:

• Swimming 6h:21m/17.05km
• Cycling  16h:50m/416.51km
• Running  4h:07m/50.35km
• Gym      4h:00m

Week The "On Week"

After reading some articles on Ironman training and talking to an Ironman veteran late last week about my training, I started to worry about whether it is structured correctly or that I was (more accurately) blindly following the plan without thinking about training intensity and the "On Week - Off Week" methodology.

"On Week" meaning building and training at a higher intensity throughout the week and "Off Week" being the week for active recovery while still doing the large volume of training required to ensure the muscle endurance necessary to make it to and through the race.

The internet is full of articles and blogs discussing every aspect of training, nutrition and recovery. It is resource overload. I have so many articles that I want to read, adding them to Instapaper and Flipboard that I can't keep up!

This week is pretty full on. I am now looking forward to my "Off Week" next week! I have a half rest day tomorrow (Friday), thank goodness. All I have to do (somehow) is fit in a 5km swim. I am going out with Michelle (the missus). Good chance to carb-up for Saturday's big 4hr ride, 16km run and 2km swim. This will have been my first opportunity to have a "big day", linking all the disciplines together. I am thinking of doing it either at the Macquarie Fields pool & bike track or at the Regatta Centre in Penrith which is a lot flatter. I'll let you know how I go.

Somehow I stumbled on the highlights from the 2013 Cairns Ironman posted on YouTube. It makes me nervous just looking at the swim course. It goes out so far! I will be doing that twice... Wow...

Eating

In one of the articles I read recently, I realised I am not eating enough carbohydrates. So I have stepped that side of my nutrition up and now eating almost every hour on days where I have around 3 to 4 hours of training in the day.

Aero Helmet Sorted...

Look at this awesome piece of hardware!

It basically came down to the Kask Bambino and this Garneau Vorttice which I mentioned in the TdH post.

With any luck I might get it before the NSW Club Champs at Forster in early April.

Now I am on the hunt for a wetsuit which will hopefully be suitable for training here in Sydney as the water gets colder and the Ironman in June, up in Cairns... I need to swim with the added resistance on the shoulder movement. 

Bye for now...

The Di2 DIY battery debacle continued the club race

Training stats from 17th Feb to 10th Mar, 10:00am:

• Swimming 4h:55m/13.75km
• Cycling  14h:49m/369.55km
• Running  2h:02m/25.1km
• Gym      3h:00m

Following on from my previous post and the Di2 battery death crisis, at lunch time (on Thursday) I headed toward a shop that I had confirmed that they had an external Di2 Dura Ace battery in stock as the internal type wasn't going to be suitable.

On the way to the train station I decided to check if Clarence Street Cyclery had one. No good. I then stopped by Jet Cycles. Bingo. $99 later and a quick look at the internal battery. Done. No need to go to North Sydney and walk for another 15 minutes then get back in a reasonable amount of time.

A few more bits and pieces from JayCar and back to the office.

- DIY disaster averted

After making a mess on the train home from work while using a multi tool to dig the old batteries from the seatpost and stopping at Bunnings for some epoxy resin, I was ready to start.

While carefully opening the top of the battery container I ripped one of the connection points off the circuit board. IDIOT! There was only about 1mm of remaining copper under the surface of the coated circuit board so I had to scratch the coating off to get some purchase with a dab of solder. If I failed I would have wasted $99!

Thankfully it worked... just... It was hanging on with the slightest bit of solder.
I mixed up the epoxy and poured it into a plastic mold around the top of the circuit to set the wires in place permanently. The first attempt was too runny so it leaked down the sides of the battery, all over the makeshift bench - an old tallboy in the garage and the floor and my feet. IDIOT! I had some left and doing the typical DIY mistake... I added more catalyst. Obviously after a few minutes it all of a sudden went rock hard quicker than I could get to it and pour it in. So I had to mix another batch. Still with too much catalyst but I stood there watching and stirring until I was satisfied it was gluggy enough not to run out he bottom again or go hard before I could pour it in the mold.

Here is the finished product. Once the epoxy was set. A quick check with the multi tester and to my amazement, I actually did it without damaging the circuit board, having the batteries explode during the epoxy curing stage! The dodgy wire also held during the process which I think was more of a fluke than expertise!

Ripping the contact off early on was a massive stuff-up. I am surprised the small amount of solder. There would be no way to charge the batteries if I didn't fix it...

Getting it back in was a challenge. I wanted to wrap it in plastic, insert/drop it inside the frame then follow it in with the seatpost. No good. This is not enough room. After cleaning a lot of the No More Gaps off the sides of the seatpost I was able to slide the batteries back in the original position. It was a tight fit so it shouldn't drop out.

[Saturday]

The club race is on tomorrow (Sunday). Talk about recovery week. I'll have to just write this week off.
The battery problem really stopped my training, as well as the usual Tuesday night strength training - PT session. I am finally able to squat, sit down and up without the DOMS.

Intensity building next ("on") week.

[Sunday - Club Race day Round 6]

500m Swim: I felt really comfortable and strong. I probably held back a little because I fumbled around getting the Garmin into Auto-Multisport mode, doing a few frog style kicks (breaststroke without the arms) until I pressed the correct button to start so I was a little preoccupied.

I wasn't sure if it counted the lap so just in case, I counted as well.

20km Cycle: I didn't feel as strong as last time (Round 4) in the cycle leg but my average speed was up by almost 1km/h - 35.3km/h.
My quadriceps felt tired as if they had no strength to surge up the hill out of the lower corner and I felt like I was tiring too quickly on the hill. To my amazement, one of the laps was a Strava PR. 1m:34s.

4km Run: As usual it took the first 2 kilometres to work through the mild calf cramps and stretch the legs out.

It worked out that I had improved each discipline by 1 minute each since Round 4 in January.
I am happy with that, especially considering I had not trained since Wednesday and have done very little running lately. That will change next week...

Total Time: 1h:02m:43s (unofficial - My Garmin)

Cheers,

:Pat

Di2 battery death... A Rant & Dust off "The Hog"!

What-tha-what!

I am not a happy camper! My Di2 (DYI fitted) internal battery won't charge. I spent the 2 hours I should have been riding last night looking up the manuals to troubleshoot the issue. I finally find one all it said was when the indicator light on the charging unit next to the /!\ [picture of a battery] flashes red, there is a charging error or fault or something like that... No sh*t Sherlock!
Now I am madly trying to find somewhere I can get a new (not DIY) internal battery and charger because that has been modified (they were the external battery type). The added problem I have is the seatpost is a carbon bladed (aero) type... So hopefully the standard Shimano battery pack will fit inside.

[30 minutes later...] (The Rant)

I just got back from visiting the Giant-Shimano store in Sydney. The guy was a moron, shutting me down everytime I opened my mouth to answer his effing question with ..."I know mate. I know - I know" without me getting half the answer out...
He is clearly used to dealing people that are new to cycling and prefers to tell them what they want rather than listening and helping the customer who knows what he wants.
It looks like this guy would work up a sweat climbing the stairs to get out of the store, doesn't look like he even rides and expects to be viewed as an expert on cycling.
That is the second time I have been treated like that at that store... I won't be back!
So... I walked out of there with more great news... Di2 internal battery systems now have a different setup (9000 range) with recharging at one of the junction boxes.
This means I am stuck with the current solution which is to buy a new external battery, pull it apart set the head of the unit where the batteries join side by side via a circuit board and wiring in resin and try to fit it back in the seatpost.

The only helpful tid-bit of information the guy provided was that another bike store, BikeBug in North Sydney had batteries in stock... because, a store claiming to have direct access to Shimano either doesn't have Di2 batteries in stock of any variety with the only option being a 4 week wait. Nice...
No wonder shopping online overseas is such a better option. They are cheaper, faster (around 9 days) and I don't have to deal with d*ckheads!

The Hog

While I work to resolve the Di2 battery issue, I'll have to dust off The Hog. A Diamondback BSX mountain bike with some road tires on it. The Trek Top Fuel is not running at the moment as I haven't got round to shortening the new brake lines.

The Hog is so heavy but it will go anywhere. I might drag that thing up Old Razorback rd a few times...

It isn't too bad on the trainer either.

I think I have a broken spoke nipple on the front so I must fix that before I use it...

The weekend club triathlon is on Sunday... I better get this battery issue sorted!

Cheers,
:Pat

Week 3 (14 weeks to race day) - Tour de Hills and the looming NSW Club Championships

Training stats from 17th Feb to 5th Mar, 7:00am:

• Swimming 4h:16m/11.5km
• Cycling  14h:16m/349.68km
• Running  1h:45m/21.32km
• Gym      3h:00m

Well... I have just sent off a scan of my stamped 7 Peaks passport (see previous blog post). The next challenge is to do the Strava - March Gran Fondo. I missed out on the February one. Not happy about that...

The March challenge is 160km. I am thinking I might do the 180km Ironman distance at the Penrith Regatta Centre in using the course for the Sydney (half) Ironman in November.

I know, I know... It isn't a Gran Fondo without at least 2000 metres of elevation gain...

Maybe I should do either the Ironman 3.8km swim beforehand or the 42.2km run after. It depends on whether the Regatta Centre has any events on the day of my attempt. I really need to start doing the big kays and big days, linking the disciplines together!

It is either that or find some more mountains to make it more challenging than it really needs to be!

I really don't like making things easy for myself...  ;-)

Time and water temperature wise, it would make sense to do the swim and bike legs while the water is still warm which should take 7.5 to 8 hours - 1:30 for the swim and 6hrs for the ride at an average of 28-30km/h.

My Garmin GSC 10 for some reason has stopped transmitting ANT+ back to the unit. The cadence and speed sensors are picking up the magnets as they come past but the GSC 10 isn't pairing to both my Garmin 910XT or Edge 500 units! NOT HAPPY. It makes trainer sessions impossible to do properly.

Tour de Hills (TdH)

Last weekend (2nd of March), I rode in the 90km (actually 87km) Tour de Hills charity ride in north western Sydney. That was a really fun course. I felt strong and was able to stay on the front of a bunch of around 12 riders for around 80km of the total distance. The strong pace of 33.2km/h over the 87km distance dropped all but 2 riders (plus Nicholas, a friend I did the ride with on the day). I actually think we were the first riders to finish after starting 5 minutes behind everyone else.

Thank goodness Nicholas took a turns on the front to give my legs a break. I was really surprised at the sustained power I was producing!

I think the work in the pool, gym and mountains is starting to pay off. My average estimated power output based on what Strava says was 216 watts over the 2 hours and 37 mins for 87.1km at an average speed of 33.2km/h.

Cairns TO DO List (so far):

• Buy/borrow some aero bars
• Organise car hire
• Find out how to get CO2 cannisters for puncture repairs during the race. They will certainly not be allowed to go on the plane, being pressure vessels... Might have to get them posted to where we are staying and ready for when we arrive.
• Buy an aero-helmet! The winning candidates so far are the Kask Bambino:

• and Garneau - AeroTT/Vorttice Black Knight which is more aero:

Training and Racing

I have a club race (500m Swim/20km Cycle/4km Run) this Sunday so the Gran Fondo will have to wait till next weekend.

I have been feeling pretty good in the water lately so I am looking forward to the NSW Club Championships on the first weekend of April.

It will be my first open water swim as part of a race for some years so it will be good to get out of the pool!

The open water doesn't bother me (being a diver). The added wind chop, swell, currents and need for course correction is the thing that makes the open water races fun but so tiring!

My training this week started a bit slow due to Sunday's ride at TdH.

I had Monday off, Tuesday morning off and was faced with an evening smash-fest by Rena my personal trainer from My Way Personal Training:

Set Group 1:

5 Sets of 10:

• None weighted bar bell:
• Front squats
• Back squats
• Lunges using dumbbells
• One legged squats

Set Group 2:

As many rounds as possible in 7 minutes:

• 15 x Tire/box jumps
• 12 x push ups
• 10 x 6kg medicine ball high throws against a wall and catch into a squat

I got 5 rounds done, plus the jumps, push ups and 4 of the 10 ball throws...

To top it all off, I finished with 2 x 2 minute planks. One leaning against a weight bench then the second, horizontal on the floor.
Looks like my core is finally getting stronger. One day I might be able to keep up with my wife when we are doing sit ups!

After all those squats my knees were a little tender so I decided not to do the 1 hour run I was meant to do. Instead, I devoured several homemade burritos and tacos... :-)

Due to catching up on training planning, paying bills, entering events, making lunches and ironing for Wednesday, bedtime was pretty late so my plans to wake at 4:30am and run at 5 before swimming at 5:30 did not happen. I did swim at 5:30 though... My knees were still a little tender anyway.

The Rest of the Week

If I stick to the plan which I am still trying to modify to accommodate for Friday and Saturday, this is what it should sort of look like:

• Wednesday:
• Morning Swim up to 2km (easy with an increase on pace in the final 1km)
• Night: 2 x SufferFest videos (2 hours) - The Hunted (Climbing) & Downward Spiral (Speed)
• Thursday:
• Morning: Swim 2.5km
• Night: 2 x SufferFest videos (2 hours) - Maybe: The Hunted (Climbing) & Downward Spiral (Speed)
• Friday:
• Morning: Run 45min (easy-medium) and Swim 2.5km
• Night: Rest
• Saturday:
• Morning: Light jog with the kids on their bikes. 
• Night: Rest, stretch, eat and hydrate for Sunday's club race.
• Sunday:
• Morning: Macarthur Triathlon - Club race (500m Swim/20km Cycle/4km Run)
• Afternoon: 22km Run

Bye for now...

:Pat