I admit... I had almost fallen off the rails in the last fortnight. My supposed coach, (Name withheld), basically has not replied to any of my emails since the initial startup, which left me feeling frustrated and unmotivated as the plan just wasn't sitting right. I'm still bitter about throwing a hundred odd dollars at a guy to develop a training plan which was full of errors that I had to contact him about. But what can you do.... can't email him as he seemingly isn't reading them, not much point in phoning him just to say.. I think your service is terrible and I've had to revert back to trying to figure it out myself.

Anyways, I've been coaxed back to some running thanks to my lovely wife, Jess. We'd bought a new bike for her (a semi mountain bike/ hybrid - a Giant with 700c wheels) and a Croozer 535 for Luke to be trailered in.

Not a bad combination as it allows it to convert from trailable to a runner (with the big wheel pictured) to a stroller with a moveable front wheel. I've finally managed to source a 50mm stem for the TT bike too, I'll just need to get a 3/8th 4mm hex socket so I can torque wrench the bolts.

Jess managed to get me out of my funk but dragging us all out on a ride/ run... and so the wheels were in motion again.

I have the City of Perth - Olympic Distance event on Sunday. It'll be interesting because its basically the same swim(1500m), half the bike (40km) and run (10km) of the Half Ironman in May. With my slight sojurn of apathy I'll predict a slow and painful completion of the course. Fingers crossed I don't injure myself.

I Miss my New Seat...

Unfortunately, like I have mentioned in previous posts, I am trying to train whilst doing a fly in/out roster. This isnt so hard except for the change in setup for equipment. Instead of my professional bikefit I have a spin bike which is ok except for the lack of clip in pedals and an anatomical seat... this week as programmed I've done two rides (30 & 40mins) each. I now know what people mean when they talk about how bad seats can place pressure on the blood flow and nerves to the penis.... I mean... after about 25mins I'd begun to lose sensation.. def not a pleasant sensation.... Not sure how i'm going to fix this... I guess the only way will be to get up out of the seat and crank a few minutes regularly to maintain adequate blood flow... hmmm

I came across another good quote today from a running blog as I was searching for reviews on Fitdeck

"EVERY MORNING IN AFRICA, A GAZELLE WAKES UP. IT KNOWS IT MUST OUTRUN THE FASTEST LION OR IT WILL BE KILLED. EVERY MORNING IN AFRICA, A LION WAKES UP. IT KNOWS IT MUST RUN FASTER THAN THE SLOWEST GAZELLE, OR IT WILL STARVE. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER YOU'RE A LION OR GAZELLE - WHEN THE SUN COMES UP, YOU'D BETTER BE RUNNING." - ANONYMOUS

So Fitdeck looks interesting. Basically a set of cards with one exercise on each that you shuffle to derive a different workout each time... There are a number of different sets aimed at different sports/jobs... The ranges are Bodyweight, Yoga, Pilates, Combat Sports, Firefighting, Speed and Agility, Stretching, Pullups, Kettlebells, Travel, Office... plus more... i guess they explain it better here...

I looked through the three sections Starter, Booster and Performance... and wanted to order about $150 worth of decks... bring on pay day!

Other than that training has been going as planned other than deciding not to run in 40-45 deg heat on Sat afternoon... I got up early on Sun morning (0420hrs) and shuffled everything back... so Tuesday (today) isn't going to be my day off... dammit!

Let the Reprogramming commence

Hey, Been a couple of weeks since I last posted.  With it being Xmas I think thats fair! Since I last posted we've managed to get our house under offer, which means a significant weight off my mind, with a reduced mortgage. I turned 36 as well... just another day, though Jess did buy me a great pair of Tri shorts.

I've also had a pro bike-fit which rearranged the geometry on my TT bike to resemble a road bike. According to the physio, this is the most biomechanical way to strengthen the legs... time will tell I guess. All I know is that it feels different. Part of this process was getting a new saddle as part of the service I was sat on a pressure pad and had my pelvis measured (where it contacts the saddle - the "sitting bones") which showed I had a woefully too narrow seat in place (86mm) so I was recommended to buy a Selle SMP Avant (145mm).

$300 of handmade Italian leather under my derriere (?sp)... The big groove down the centre is to protect my soft man-bits (hopefully). It certainly has stopped the numb toes and ball of foot that I'd been experiencing before. It also makes the contact feel more... planted I guess is what you could call it, like sitting on a table, but not in a bad way.

I've enlisted the services of Brian Kempson of Endurance Fitness - a Level 2 Triathlon Australia coach to develop a training program for me with the main goal of completing the Half IM without injury. Basically I said  to Brian - I don't care if I'm crawling over the line at 7:29:59 (the cutoff is 7:30) I just wanna do it. So I started mid week and in the 5 days of training I've covered 4.2km Swimming, 106km Riding and 12.74km Running. The challenges Brian and I face for my program is my Fly in/ Fly out roster. I think my biggest weakness will be the run though I feel like I am running faster than I have run before, for longer.

The next big investment will be a triathlon wetsuit (hopefully before the Olympic Distance tri at the end of the month) I have zero idea as to what to buy, guess some serious research will be occuring this swing.

Upcoming races/events
17th Jan - Cottesloe Classic Mile - 1600m purely swim event
31st Jan - City of Perth Triathlon - Olympic distance - 1.5km Swim/40km Cycle/10km Run

So to put that into perspective... its 400m short of the half ironman swim, a 1hr 20min Cycle and a City to Surf run at the end of it... 3hrs of fun...