As
I mentioned in my previous post,
I was sick after the Tri NSW Club Champs in Forster.
I
did no training between the 7th and 12th of April. On the Sunday when
I went for a local ride and passed on the dreaded "lurgy"
to my mate Phil during a morning ride.
I felt like
death but I needed to do something... I was going stir crazy.
It wasn't
until the 20th where I had almost shaken off the head cold, only
having to blow my nose a few times today rather than a few times
every hour.
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Garmin
Activity List between 2nd and 16th of April
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Week 8 and Easter (Week 9)
Following
illness and a huge few days of quite intense training sessions my
legs were suffering from prolonged delayed onset muscle soreness
("The DOMS") and no amount of carbs I ate could fuel them
up from the tiredness either.
Good
Friday was my first early morning cold ride
for the year, 90km and 10km run. 4.5
hours of training.
In
the afternoon I was meant to
do a 3km swim however at the 8km mark of the run I felt the effects
of having nothing to eat for breakfast which resulted in me finishing
the 10km then shuffling
home from my usual start/end point.
After
a piece of toast and peanut butter, I was good to go again. The kids
wanted to go for a ride so we went to the local BMX track for a few
laps. I was amazed at how quickly I had recovered from the morning's
training. Peanut butter
rocks!
The
afternoon swim didn't eventuate. It was replaced with more eating at
a local pub for my mum in law's birthday.
The celebrations kicked on into the night but I was shattered by 8:30
and dozed in the lounge room while the kids watched movies.
Easter Saturday
was meant to be a 150km ride then a 30km run.
That
turned into a combined 130km Strava - April Gran Fondo and MacTri
club Easter group ride along
the M7 motorway bike path.
I
did an extra 1h:30m before they arrived at 7:30,
the 80-odd kilometres then a another 5 or 6km to hit the 130km I
needed for the Gran Fondo. The
day was getting on and I had to get ready to go out for my nephew's
birthday.
I was
starting to wonder if I was ever going to get a 30km run in before
the race… It has been starting to stress me out.
Easter Sunday,
I woke up with the start of bronchitis... Fan-bloody-tastic!
My voice
sounded like Barry White. I
guess the recent cold 5:15am
rollouts were catching up with me.
Thankfully a
rest day. Sort of... We took
the kids to The Royal Easter
Show. An all day fairy floss eating, thrill ride, show bag queuing
marathon after the Easter Bunny delivered his bounty of choc-treats.
We were there for almost 12 hours!
Needless to
say, Easter Monday was a very slow day for the whole family. The kids
ate chocolate, played with the goodies from the showbags and watched
TV.
Michelle and
I were just able to muster enough strength to make a coffee and sit
outside in the morning sun. It took a while to get moving that day...
Week 10 & 11 (This week)
Early on
ANZAC Day (Friday 25th April) morning, I went out for a mountain bike
ride with some friends - Phil, Nico, Cam, Griffo and another fellow.
Phil washed
out on a sandy corner and landed on a steel pipe sticking upright out
of the ground, breaking at least one rib. I feel so bad for
suggesting we go out to this particular trail. It has stopped his
training for up to 6 weeks.
That Saturday
was a 200km training ride on the M7 with some other guys (Craig,
Jason, Luke and Justin) who will be also doing the Cairns Ironman.
I'll tell you the reason for all of us doing this crazy stuff in a
minute.
Hopefully I
can meet up with the guys again before the race to do some long runs
and much needed ocean swims.
Why do this?
I mentioned
in my last post that I would talk about the reasons for all this
training. You may already know that I am attempting my first full
Ironman triathlon in
Cairns.
The
race involves participants to
complete a 3.8km swim, 180km ride and a 42.2km marathon run.
There were a
couple of reasons before I started this monumental task and now that
I am
just over the
halfway point of my 16 week training plan and 6 weeks away from the
race, I have found a few more reasons.
- The adventure!
- Because I reckon I can and have always wanted to do one.
- To show a particular eff-wit who will remain nameless and anyone else who thinks I can’t do it that I can and will! Just thinking about the the eff-wit’s comments to my face makes me so angry and determined. This person doesn't even know me well enough to even make a comment… and to my face! The fat up-himself prick!
- My dad was a 12 year national champion spear fisherman, professional photographer and exceptional artist (still is). In some ways not fulfilling my (and his) aspirations of having a career in the diving industry makes me feel like I need to seek his , acceptance or acknowledgement in something and doing something as huge as an Ironman event might do it.
- I have always liked to push my physical boundaries and be satisfied in knowing that I am physically capable of doing something. Now that I am 41, lets just call it a mid-life crisis. LOL!
- - Breaking my
ankle in 1997 put a stop to my running. Surgery to clean the joint in
my ankle a few years later allowed me to walk and run without pain
again.
… It
is a father - son thing…
The main
reason for me choosing to enter the Cairns Ironman came when in
November 2013 I attended a fundraising event in support of a friend
Sharn who after nearly a year of tests was diagnosed with Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (known as ALS), an aggressive form of Motor
Neurone Disease (MND). At that stage Sharn had just completed a
Half Ironman (1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run) and was setting
her sights on a competing in a full Ironman event. This confirmed
diagnosis obviously would put an end to her dream of doing an event
of this kind.
During the
fundraising event, Sharn announced that her dream of competing in an
Ironman event was going to be a reality with the assistance of Craig,
her husbands mate. She will be towed in the swim, assisted in the
ride on a special recumbent bike and will do the marathon in a
wheelchair where needed.
Sharn and
Craig will have to do the race all themselves, without any help aside
from words of encouragement. If they finish within the allocated
cut-off time, they will be awarded the much deserved title of
“Ironman”.
I
will leave all the details for you to read on her
website http://www.shining4sharn.org.au.
Please take the time to read about this beautiful, inspiring lady and
support her any way you can
...Needless
to say I was so in awe of Sharn and Craig’s massive challenge that
I decided there and then that I wanted to support her by sharing the
experience and encouraging her along the way while helping to raise greater awareness of ALS and MND.
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Macarthur Triathlon Club Duathlon Series 2014 Round 1 (27/04/2014) |
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| April 2014 Strava Challenges... done... |
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