Whats happening this weekend?

This weekend I am competing in three different races over the two days. I’m racing in a time trial, criterium and a road race. I am so happy to be back racing on my bike after a few weeks of basically no riding but I am worried that with the lack of cycling training whether or not I’ll be able to hang on to A grade and get some good results.

Saturday morning starts the racing off with a 20km followed by a criterium in the afternoon and then on Sunday there is a road race, which incorporates the ‘super steep’ climb called Green Hill. I have never been up there but I have heard it’s not that long. I still don't want to underestimate it especially with no training over the past few weeks.

I think that I am really going to struggle and I’m almost not looking forward to it. Racing is always good fun but this weekend might be a little different. I’m still going to give it my all and hopefully I’ll have enough strength to be able to perform to where I like.

State Cross-Country 2014

Over the past weekend I have been in Toowoomba competing in the State Cross Country Championships. After having a week and a half of solid training in Canberra I noticed that there was a huge difference in how I was able to breathe during the race and at no point did I feel like the air was burning in my lungs. I was now preparing for a 6km battle.

Sunday was my individual race and the race was at 3:25 in the afternoon. I knew that having my race at this time meant that the temperature would be hovering around the maximum allowing for perfect racing conditions. I was aware that I have been very inconsistent this year so I didn’t put any pressure on myself and I wasn’t nervous. After lining up on the start line I gave myself the goal of beating my best performance of 24^th and possibly even slipping into the top 20. As the gun sounded I didn’t sprint off at a blistering pace because I knew that I wanted to save myself. The long start line shortly came to a tight squeeze around the first corner where I found myself in the perfect position of about 15^th-20^th and I knew that all I had to do was stay here or even try move up, keeping in mind that I had 6km’s. About 2.5km into the race I started losing feeling in my arms and I knew that this was a bad sign because I wouldn't have anything to drive with. I didn’t give up and just tried to keep pushing through whilst trying to shake some blood into my arms while I ran. It was around the 4km mark where the feeling came back and instantly I made up around 5 places easily putting me in the top 20, but as soon as I came to the hills I lost the feeling again and those people came straight past again. I knew this wasn’t good and I was trying so hard to maintain where I was in the pack. As I crested the last hill and onto the oval with around 500m to go I was exhausted and had nothing left in the tank. I was able to cross the line without ending up in the medical tent this year.

I lost two places in the last 200m and this hurt a bit on the inside because I didn't have anything else to fight with. I ended up finishing in 25^th and although this isn’t anything to be ashamed of, I am a little bit disappointed in how I finished. I knew that I could have easily ran myself into the top 20 and to miss out on my best performance by only one spot was really quite annoying.

On an overall the whole trip was really good and our teamed finished around 7^th or 8^th in the relays, which is always good fun. I am undecided on whether or not I will race next year because of the distance (8km). I am now shifting my focus to athletics where I think I have a chance of making the top 10 in the 1500m and the final in the 800m. I get more enjoyment out of track running these days so I really want to work hard for those championships later this year.

My favourite photo from the race. (Early stages of the 6km)

The last couple of days + running with Brad

The past few days have been quite busy due to the fact that my sister has had her baby boy. I have still been training everyday, except for today, which turned out to be a rest day. Yesterday was a great run up on some trails with a mate of mine Brad, who lives in Canberra and I wanted to give you a little bit of an insight into who he is and how we came to know each other.

I met Brad a few years ago as he ran into Cairns. He had been running from Canberra and was headed for the top of Australia raising money for mental health research. For anyone who doesn't quite understand the enormity of what he did, the distance from Brisbane to Cairns is about 2000km and I assume it would be around 1500-2000km from Canberra to Brisbane. I first ran with Brad for the last 8km as he ran into Cairns and then I ran with him for about 20km as he left Cairns to continue his run. I still find it hard to comprehend what he actually did, but since then we have remained in contact and most times that I come to Canberra we catch up for a run and usually a coffee.

Yesterday we had the chance to go for an awesome run in what he describes as his backyard. We ran up what I think was black mountain here in Canberra and some of the trails he took me on were astonishing. I have never run on such fantastic terrain and running through the fog as we ran up this mountain in about 5 degree temperatures made the experience so much better. We finished off with about 9km of hilly and not so easy running, but I can say that I want to go back there.

After a rest day today, my coach has asked me to do a Parkrun tomorrow just to test my fitness and see how I am going. Keeping in mind that I’m about two weeks out from state cross-country. I’m not sure on the course or anything so I’m aiming to just run hard. I have a time in my head, but that’s something I want to keep to myself in case I don't achieve to the level that I think I’m at.

Unfortunately I haven’t taken any photos since I’ve been here so I’m hoping to get some tomorrow at the Parkrun. It’s expected to be about 5 degrees again so I’m quite nervous about racing in such cold temperatures, but I know for sure that I’ll have my gloves on. As far as training for the next week, I’ll be here in Canberra acclimatising until Wednesday before I return home for some very intense sessions leading up to state cross-country.

Hydration in Cold Climates

I just wanted to write something about water intake and hydration in colder climates. I did a little bit of research and monitored my hydration over the past two days while I’ve been training in Canberra and this is what I’ve come up with.

After training in Cairns for my whole life, whenever I travel south, I find that my water intake suddenly decreases because I’m not as thirsty. This is put down to the fact that when it’s not as hot you don't sweat as much and therefore you aren’t going to drink as much. I never really used to take much notice of this until I came back to Canberra this time.

The first thing that I noticed on Monday morning was that I woke up with a headache, something that I don't often get. I straightaway put this down to dehydration and the fact that I had travelled for the most part of the previous day. So for all of Monday I carried around a water bottle, trying to get in, as much water as possible, although I wasn’t thirsty and I didn't even feel like drinking.

As much as this may sound stupid, cold weather can actually increase your risk of becoming dehydrated. I found out that when we are in hot weather the body automatically send out signals for increase in fluids. This is done for example by sweating or having a dry mouth. I know it’s still possible to get some fluids through water based foods like fruit but it’s still very important that there is still an intake in water to help prevent dehydration.

Some tips that I’ve come up with to make sure that you stay hydrated especially in cold weather are:

·      Carry around a water bottle

·      Having clear urine at least 5 times a day

·      Have an electrolyte at least once a day

·      Limit intake of coffee and soft drinks

·      Start exercise hydrated and finish it by drinking water and if possible an electrolyte even if it’s cold

·      Consume between 1.5-3 litres of water each day

A water or electrolyte for optimal hydration

I think that I’ve learnt a lot about hydration after only two days of training here. Staying hydrated in the cold is just as important as being hydrated in the warmer climates. So next time you are out take a water bottle and skip the morning coffee and stay as hydrated as possible.

First Run in Canberra

So yesterday was my first day in Canberra and I managed to get out and do my first run in what I call freezing temperatures. The top temperature was 10 degrees and didn't that make it quite an experience. I even had to buy a pair of running gloves to make it more bearable.

I only had to run 10km but I struggled for the most part of it because of the cold. My sister lives in fairly hilly neighbourhood so this made finding my rhythm a lot harder as I was always ascending and descending the hills. For the majority of the run I was running around 5 minutes per kilometre until around the 7km mark where I started to find my legs and I started to run under 4:30/km.

It felt like one of the hardest run that I’ve ever done and I put that down to the cold. My hands were cold, my feet were cold and my face was cold. After taking a long time to warm up I finally got through the run and started to find my legs. I think that training down here is going to give me an advantage for when I go to Toowoomba this month. The next week is full of running and I know it’s going to be tough, but definitely worth it.