It's not normal for me to not have energy and for my body to have muscle soreness. I'm not sure what it is but last night had about thirteen hours of sleep, I was wrecked. Today on the bike my legs just didn't feel like they wanted to turn over and I had a soreness in my back. Everything has been good, diet, water intake, I haven't been training so this doesn't make sense to me. I think I am going to have to wait this one out until I get another massage.
Feel free to comment any solutions.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Tips from Tim Reed, Australian Triathlete
I’m writing this in response to Tim Reed's Tips for Starting Out Triathletes, which can be found at on his website. Tim is an Australian professional triathlete who races long course triathlon. He is someone who has made a name for himself and looks to have a good future, despite saying on his website that he is only looking to keep on improving.
1. Remember that Triathlon is simply how fast you swim, ride and
run. It doesn't make you a better person because you do this well
I think this is such a great point. You can train all that you
want, but if you get into the pool with an unhappy negative attitude you will
still have the same negative unhappy attitude when you get out of the pool or
get off the bike.
2. Balance in life is everything. It will keep motivational levels
high, make you train more effectively and hopefully keep the most important
aspect of life, relationships, healthy and happy.
This is so important! There are too many people out there that
become triathlon/sport obsessed and their life becomes revolved around that
rather than their families or other important life requirements. Keep
everything balanced and it will definitely help.
3. Don't waist time doing junk kilometres. Get physiological
testing, get a good coach and let your coach help you train efficiently so that
every session has a specific purpose and increases your improvement whilst
reducing your chance of injury.
I have had a few coaches now tell me that it is quality over
quantity or train smart. What Tim has said here sums it up. Many of the people
who are triathlon obsessed are the ones doing junk kilometres, which ends up
destroying your body.
4. Learn and understand the ‘power of the present’ and how to have
fun while racing
I am a big fan of this. My mum has always tells me to have fun
when I'm racing and I always tell her that it is harder said than done.
Although she is right, we should understand this ‘power of the
present’ because it is something that I have found that a lot of
people don't do very well.
5. Stay injury free – Work on your core strength, ensure body
balance and learn correct technique before getting stuck into conditioning work.
This is the most important tip in my opinion that is given. Too
many people have poor running technique or swim with their arms everywhere. I
have seen it too much where athletes are at the cognitive state of learning and
they are trying to do drill or exercises that are far too advanced. Tim is
right, get your technique sorted and then build up to more difficult work.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Recovering
This week is going to be a very easy week after my race last Friday. Since Sunday night I have started to come down with a bit of the flu and sore throat and although I have only had it a short time it's driving me insane because it might mean that I have to start training again later than I wanted too. I absolutely hate feeling this way and I am trying very hard to flush the bug out of my system by staying hydrated and eating lots of healthy foods. Hopefully I can get rid of it soon and start training again.
I am having a massage on Thursday which should be really good as I have a few sore spots after the weekend. My hip is still giving me a bit of grief so hopefully after this treatment I'll be back to full speed.
The last piece of news that I have is that on Saturday when we had the relay event my team that I was in came 5th. I thought this was a pretty good effort considering I didn't think that we would even come close to getting a medal.
I am having a massage on Thursday which should be really good as I have a few sore spots after the weekend. My hip is still giving me a bit of grief so hopefully after this treatment I'll be back to full speed.
The last piece of news that I have is that on Saturday when we had the relay event my team that I was in came 5th. I thought this was a pretty good effort considering I didn't think that we would even come close to getting a medal.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
State Triathlon
Well! What a week it has been! We had troubles at the airport and great success in the water, on the bike and on the footpaths.
Last Wednesday the Peninsula Triathlon Team were scheduled to fly out to race at Hervey Bay for the state championships. When we arrived at the airport, there was a slight drama. Half of the team was supposed to fly out at 10 o'clock that morning. I unfortunately was in the half that was supposed to be on the early flight. The managers said that we were being put on a flight at 9pm that night and then having a four hour drive to Hervey Bay after that. They also said that we would have to send our bikes with someone else as there was not enough room on for the amount of bikes on the late flight. This made me uneasy as I was using the shop bike. I was lucky enough that Dad got me onto a flight with him for the next morning, which meant I was able to get a good nights sleep.
When I arrived in Hervey Bay the next day I found out that the people that went on the late flight got there at 4am which would have been unfortunate for them as they wouldn't have had a great sleep. Thankfully I made it there in one piece and my mum received my bike safely.
I felt really good going into the race on Friday morning. It wasn't a very big field this year, maybe about 30 athletes. I woke up and this year I felt that I was ready and that it was going to be a good year. I worked so hard in the swim leg but as I watched the quick swimmers swim away I thought that I was coming dead last. I actually came out about 18th place (unofficially) which is incredible for me. I knew that I was going to have to work extra hard on the bike and I secretly had a goal of having a top 10 ride time. I rode extremely well, maybe not my best ride ever but I could tell that it was good. For the first time ever I had caught Adam (one of the other local boys from Cairns) in a state championship race, although I think that I put too much effort into catching him on the bike that when I passed him I didn't accelerate and he was able to follow my wheel. We came off the bike together and I thought in my head that I would be able to run away from him but that was not the case. He was closing quickly and on the last lap of the run I pushed even harder to stay away. As he got onto my shoulder I vomited and when he tried to run past the same thing happened too him. He slowed and I was able to pull away. It wasn't long to the finish and I knew that the pain would be over. I gave it one last go but everything was in agony, I had blisters on my feet and my hip was pulling. As we came into the finish chute I heard someone yell, "GO! GO! GO! He's coming!" I pushed one last time and was just able to beat Adam across the line.
I finished in 11th place which is my best ever result at those championships and I also achieved my other goal of having a top 10 bike time, with 8th best. I don't think that these championships could have gone any better than they did. Next year I am aiming for a spot on the Queensland Team in my last year of school sport racing. I want to put out a big thank you to my Mum for always taking me away to these events and giving her time up to get me to training sessions so I can succeed. She saw the finished product of the hard work on the weekend and I think that she was proud.
Last Wednesday the Peninsula Triathlon Team were scheduled to fly out to race at Hervey Bay for the state championships. When we arrived at the airport, there was a slight drama. Half of the team was supposed to fly out at 10 o'clock that morning. I unfortunately was in the half that was supposed to be on the early flight. The managers said that we were being put on a flight at 9pm that night and then having a four hour drive to Hervey Bay after that. They also said that we would have to send our bikes with someone else as there was not enough room on for the amount of bikes on the late flight. This made me uneasy as I was using the shop bike. I was lucky enough that Dad got me onto a flight with him for the next morning, which meant I was able to get a good nights sleep.
When I arrived in Hervey Bay the next day I found out that the people that went on the late flight got there at 4am which would have been unfortunate for them as they wouldn't have had a great sleep. Thankfully I made it there in one piece and my mum received my bike safely.
I felt really good going into the race on Friday morning. It wasn't a very big field this year, maybe about 30 athletes. I woke up and this year I felt that I was ready and that it was going to be a good year. I worked so hard in the swim leg but as I watched the quick swimmers swim away I thought that I was coming dead last. I actually came out about 18th place (unofficially) which is incredible for me. I knew that I was going to have to work extra hard on the bike and I secretly had a goal of having a top 10 ride time. I rode extremely well, maybe not my best ride ever but I could tell that it was good. For the first time ever I had caught Adam (one of the other local boys from Cairns) in a state championship race, although I think that I put too much effort into catching him on the bike that when I passed him I didn't accelerate and he was able to follow my wheel. We came off the bike together and I thought in my head that I would be able to run away from him but that was not the case. He was closing quickly and on the last lap of the run I pushed even harder to stay away. As he got onto my shoulder I vomited and when he tried to run past the same thing happened too him. He slowed and I was able to pull away. It wasn't long to the finish and I knew that the pain would be over. I gave it one last go but everything was in agony, I had blisters on my feet and my hip was pulling. As we came into the finish chute I heard someone yell, "GO! GO! GO! He's coming!" I pushed one last time and was just able to beat Adam across the line.
I finished in 11th place which is my best ever result at those championships and I also achieved my other goal of having a top 10 bike time, with 8th best. I don't think that these championships could have gone any better than they did. Next year I am aiming for a spot on the Queensland Team in my last year of school sport racing. I want to put out a big thank you to my Mum for always taking me away to these events and giving her time up to get me to training sessions so I can succeed. She saw the finished product of the hard work on the weekend and I think that she was proud.
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| Sprinting for the line in the individual race. |
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Shout out to Marlin Coast Cycles
I can't possibly go another day with out thanking Marlin Coast Cycle Sport for helping me out with an amazing machine for states this week. Steve the owner set me up with a Trek Speed Concept 7.5 with Reynolds Assault race wheels. I got out for a ride on it today as it had finally stopped raining and I got out about 45km and all I can say that is fast.
Yesterday morning I ran in the Cairns Parkrun for the first time and it wasn't very pleasant because it was absolutely pouring rain when we got there. Thankfully the rain eased to a drizzle but the course had way too many puddles and we came away with soaking wet shoes and mud stained shirts. I felt sick for most of the race which did not help, but I was able to run an 18:31 which is my second fastest time this year.
That afternoon Jill (my coach) had asked me to do a 4x 200m as part of a summer series and I said yes. On the way in the rain was so heavy that I lost all motivation to run. By the time we got into town the rain had eased once again and lets just say my motivation came back because I now wanted to run the 800m. I was feeling the pain from the morning but I decided on racing anyway. I know that I pushed the first lap too hard because it was about 61 seconds and I'm not in the kind of form to run that quick. I couldn't feel my arms for the last 300m because of the lactic acid build up but I pushed on and ran a 2:09. For the start of the year and the fact that I am training for longer races this has given me a lot of confidence going into this year. Last year I took off an enormous amount of time off my 800m and if I could do something similar this year, I think I have a chance of running sub two minutes.
Yesterday morning I ran in the Cairns Parkrun for the first time and it wasn't very pleasant because it was absolutely pouring rain when we got there. Thankfully the rain eased to a drizzle but the course had way too many puddles and we came away with soaking wet shoes and mud stained shirts. I felt sick for most of the race which did not help, but I was able to run an 18:31 which is my second fastest time this year.
That afternoon Jill (my coach) had asked me to do a 4x 200m as part of a summer series and I said yes. On the way in the rain was so heavy that I lost all motivation to run. By the time we got into town the rain had eased once again and lets just say my motivation came back because I now wanted to run the 800m. I was feeling the pain from the morning but I decided on racing anyway. I know that I pushed the first lap too hard because it was about 61 seconds and I'm not in the kind of form to run that quick. I couldn't feel my arms for the last 300m because of the lactic acid build up but I pushed on and ran a 2:09. For the start of the year and the fact that I am training for longer races this has given me a lot of confidence going into this year. Last year I took off an enormous amount of time off my 800m and if I could do something similar this year, I think I have a chance of running sub two minutes.
.JPG) |
| Trek Speed Concept 7.5- The bike I am riding on for states |
Saturday, February 8, 2014
The unforgiving wet season
It's possible to cope with the rain for a certain amount of time, but after that it just becomes too much! I really am fed up with this drizzling rain that just keeps hanging around. It disrupts my training and it's not the right time to be missing out on the last few sessions leading up to State Triathlon.
Despite this horrible, miserable and disgusting weather I forced myself out rain, hail or shine this afternoon to go and do an easy ride. It looked nice this morning when the cloud started to break up and I was able to spot some blue sky. By five o'clock this afternoon when it was time to go the rain was back, but I pushed on, determined not to let the rain stop me. In a sense it made me feel really good, knowing that I was probably the only person out there training in that sort of weather and those thoughts seemed to motivate me.
Yesterday my calves were so sore that I found it hard to walk. I didn't think that it would be even remotely possible that I made it through a session but I went anyway. The track was so muddy it could have been home to some feral farm animals and we could only use half the track. I got through the session but I was at the back and it was a struggle to finish.
I really like the feeling of pushing myself harder. Recently I have felt that in the middle of a session I feel like collapsing or stopping or slowing down, but I don't slow down, I run harder, I push more because I know that soon the pain will be over, I'll have positive memories and I'll be stronger than the day before. I personally don't see this kind of attitude in a lot of people and I think that I am lucky to have this because it helps me to strive to reach my goals.
Despite this horrible, miserable and disgusting weather I forced myself out rain, hail or shine this afternoon to go and do an easy ride. It looked nice this morning when the cloud started to break up and I was able to spot some blue sky. By five o'clock this afternoon when it was time to go the rain was back, but I pushed on, determined not to let the rain stop me. In a sense it made me feel really good, knowing that I was probably the only person out there training in that sort of weather and those thoughts seemed to motivate me.
Yesterday my calves were so sore that I found it hard to walk. I didn't think that it would be even remotely possible that I made it through a session but I went anyway. The track was so muddy it could have been home to some feral farm animals and we could only use half the track. I got through the session but I was at the back and it was a struggle to finish.
I really like the feeling of pushing myself harder. Recently I have felt that in the middle of a session I feel like collapsing or stopping or slowing down, but I don't slow down, I run harder, I push more because I know that soon the pain will be over, I'll have positive memories and I'll be stronger than the day before. I personally don't see this kind of attitude in a lot of people and I think that I am lucky to have this because it helps me to strive to reach my goals.
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| Covered in mud at the end of the session |
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
How I am Feeling
I thought that I should try and post as much as I can in the lead up to State Triathlon. Yesterday I had a run session on the track and I didn't feel like I had any energy, so I thought my times were a little bit off and I was coming in second or third where as I prefer to lead out the intervals. I told myself to stay strong and at least get through the session because soon the pain would be over and I would only be getting stronger. I managed to get through the tough session and I ran my last 400 metres in 59 seconds which is quite fast considering it was at the end of the set.
Today I was supposed to do an easy 5km recovery run and I also wanted to get out on the time trial (tt) bike to get some kilometres in but it was raining and I just didn't have the motivation to run or clean my bike after riding in the wet. That sounds so slack of me considering I am racing next week, but it is exactly how I felt. Although I can't say that I didn't do anything because this morning I did my second swim session for the week and today we did 30x 100m leaving off 1:45. As hard as this sounds I felt really strong and I think that has to do with the strength training that I have been doing.
Not too much is planned for the rest of the week except a Parkrun on Saturday. Other than that it should be pretty easy up until states with a few short intense sessions but nothing that'll destroy me.
Today I was supposed to do an easy 5km recovery run and I also wanted to get out on the time trial (tt) bike to get some kilometres in but it was raining and I just didn't have the motivation to run or clean my bike after riding in the wet. That sounds so slack of me considering I am racing next week, but it is exactly how I felt. Although I can't say that I didn't do anything because this morning I did my second swim session for the week and today we did 30x 100m leaving off 1:45. As hard as this sounds I felt really strong and I think that has to do with the strength training that I have been doing.
Not too much is planned for the rest of the week except a Parkrun on Saturday. Other than that it should be pretty easy up until states with a few short intense sessions but nothing that'll destroy me.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
2 Weeks until States
I have just under two weeks until State Titles for triathlon. I feel like that I am in good shape despite not having started my swim training just yet. I feel that I am still strong enough to power through the water as I have been doing strength and core work. I think my bike leg is the strongest that it has ever been, I also feel super strong in my run leg.
Running this week was tough but I got through all the sessions. Thursday was especially hard because the track was pretty much a mud pit and that slowed down our intervals. I ran just under 9km this afternoon, after not running in Adelaide I think that my strength is back and I'm feeling fast.
Yesterday I got out 108km on the bike. Although I struggled up one the steeper climbs and I had to take a short cut, I came back and was able to win the sprint back into town. I honestly didn't think that I had it in me but the 13,000 metres of climbing that I did in Adelaide has made riding on the flat a breeze. I got set up on the time trial bike today which I am planning on riding at states so all my cycling should be on that bike until I pack it away before I travel south.
I'm going to have this week of intense training before I ease off next week before my race a week on Friday. I want to race really well in Harvey Bay and I just really hope that I haven't peaked too early.
Running this week was tough but I got through all the sessions. Thursday was especially hard because the track was pretty much a mud pit and that slowed down our intervals. I ran just under 9km this afternoon, after not running in Adelaide I think that my strength is back and I'm feeling fast.
Yesterday I got out 108km on the bike. Although I struggled up one the steeper climbs and I had to take a short cut, I came back and was able to win the sprint back into town. I honestly didn't think that I had it in me but the 13,000 metres of climbing that I did in Adelaide has made riding on the flat a breeze. I got set up on the time trial bike today which I am planning on riding at states so all my cycling should be on that bike until I pack it away before I travel south.
I'm going to have this week of intense training before I ease off next week before my race a week on Friday. I want to race really well in Harvey Bay and I just really hope that I haven't peaked too early.
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