3 Ways For Optimum Recovery As a Runner

In this video I give my best recommendations that I can give to a runner who needs to recover quickly, they're my three ways for optimum recovery as a runner. I base this of my own knowledge plus trial and error from my own training. As well as finding out this vital information you also get to hang out with me and come for the ride throughout my day! Watch now.

Getting Emotional About Training

Maybe, I trained too hard today and that's the reason that I wasn't able to perform to my standards. I smashed the day with a big bike ride before school and finishing it off with a tough run time trial to finish off the afternoon. I had a great day.

How To Stay Hydrated Throughout The Day

These are my tips to stay continually hydrated throughout the whole day, not just in the morning or night, but the whole day from the moment you wake to the time your head hits the pillow at night. Pee clear and drink water, watch the video to find out more. Enjoy!

I MET JENS VOIGT + My day

Today was somewhat similar to yesterday with the exception of getting to the start line. I woke up and almost jumped into the car. We headed to the start line and caught up with Lotto Soudal and wished Adam Hansen good luck before they ventured their way to Stirling. I know that we have the car and we can see just as much as what I would see on the bike but I miss the frantic rush to get to the next destination, time trialling through the hills and jumping onto the back of random bunches before arriving in the next town.

Watching the start of Stage 2 in Unley

Despite just following the race today I met a superstar of the sport, Jens Voigt. To finish off his career he set the hour record which is a race against the clock for one hour to see how far you can get and he travelled more than 50km in that hour. He is also the man that came up with the quote "Shut Up Legs" and he would talk about him saying that when his legs were absolutely burning and he needed that little bit more encouragement. We had the privilege of talking to him for about five minutes before he had to go and it was such an awesome opportunity.

Meeting Jens Voigt

After watching the finish of stage 2 we headed back down into Adelaide to check out the tour village and upon arrival we heard of news that a BMC rider had broken his collarbone in an accident riding home from the race. This is super disappointing because we later found out that it was Australian Campbell Flakemore and he had a stunner ride today being in the breakaway group for most of today's stage.

Just like usual we went to hang out with Lotto team mechanic Steven and I managed to sneak a few cool photos in while he was working and more importantly showing us a few tips.

Getting some tips from Steven

Cool photo checking out Adam Hansen's handle bars

After scouting around the village for some cool bikes I managed to find a Canyon which is being ridden by team Movistar. This green machine looks super fast and maybe one day I'd like to get my hands on one. These brand of bikes are almost flown up the mountain by super climber Nairo Quintana.

Movistar's team bikes

On an overall I think it was a fantastic day and we topped it off by watching the local criterium racing. Again just like Monday night it was super quick and I quickly realised how disappointed I am not being able to ride or race while I'm down here. I guess these things just happen and I'm gonna have to deal with it and come back stronger.

Little Athletics State Championships

The past week has been pretty busy for me due to racing and school commitments and I’ve found it difficult to find time to write. Last weekend I competed in the Little Athletics Queensland (LAQ) State Championships, here in Cairns.  I was nominated to race in the 800m and 1500m and to be completely honest I had no motivation to race in either event.

I arrived at the track on a wet and miserable Saturday morning for my first event, the 1500m, and all I could think about was missing out on my bike ride that morning. I completely missed my warm up due to that fact that I was called to marshalling early, and then having to wait there, because my race was delayed by ten minutes. By the time I got to the start line I had convinced myself to give it my all and as the gun sounded that’s what I tried to do. The first kilometre was on track, running it in approximately 2minutes 52seconds, but after that as I slowly lost contact with the leaders, my determination perished and I began to run at a jogging place. I finished the race in fourth place in a time of 4:44 which is twenty-one seconds slower than my personal best. I labelled it a horrible race, but I can’t have asked for anymore because it was my own fault.

Sunday morning proved to be a little better…weather-wise because I was able to ride to the track to make sure that I got at least the slightest warm up. Today I was determined to prove to everyone that I was better than what I was the day before and I took the race somewhat more seriously. This unfortunately made me anxious and walked up to the start line feeling as though my heart rate was over my maximum of 204BPM. I knew that today I was capable of standing on the podium after the race and I wanted to show my coach Jill that that was what I could do. I ran the race hard from the gun and I was sitting in third place, just good enough for a bronze medal. I knew that this would make me proud. As I came into the last 150 metres I could not feel one part of my body due to the immense lactic acids build up. This slowed me down and I ended up finishing in fourth, again, except this I knew that it was a good race and it was something that I could be proud of.

Unfortunately I didn't receive the medal I so desperately wanted but I can’t complain. The first day was my own fault and I know that if I didn't give up, I could have been in with a shot and in the 800m, I know for sure that I couldn't have asked for anything more of myself. It was a half-successful championship and this slight disappointment makes me even more determined to succeed in my up and coming triathlon on the Gold Coast and the local cycling and running events.

Finishing off my 1500m

Woah my legs hurt!

So after a few weeks now of sickness I am starting to get back to form. I have absolutely smashed my legs this weekend with 115km on the bike yesterday, followed by a 3km road run race, which I won, even after going the wrong way! This meant that I came away with an extremely slow time but I am still happy that I was able to get the win because in the last 1500m, I was in third place with a substantial gap between the two leaders and myself. I just had enough strength and determination to claw my way back to second place and from there I felt even stronger and was able to run myself into the lead position with a few hundred metres to go.

This morning I raced in the first of the Cairns Cycling Club criterium races. It was my second race in A grade and the field was very small with of only five riders. My only goal for the race was to stay with the main group and not get dropped. Fortunately for me the older riders were nice enough in backing the pace off for me when I dropped on the first occasion.

The field split dramatically, early on, and there was only three riders left which included myself. Paul Mashford, arguably the fastest man on a bike in Cairns, surged a number of times to weaken me and the only other rider, Brett. Mashford’s final acceleration led him to success and this left Brett and myself in a frantic chase to get back on to his wheel. Brett, who put down an explosive surge, left me dangling off the back where I found myself alone. I lapped one of the riders who had dropped off earlier and he jumped on my wheel. As I came up to closing the gap on Brett, who had fifteen metres on me at the time, I hit the U-turn too fast and tried to pedal too early which caused my inside pedal to hit the ground, this caused me to wobble and all I could think of was my last crash, so I directed my bike to the gutter where I was safely able to land on the grass. I got back up and Damian the rider who had been dropped helped me back onto my bike paced me to a third place finish.

I couldn’t have asked for anymore out of this race. It was a fantastic way at gaining some more experience in the A grade field and despite my little mishap, I finished the race in a strong position. I think that I am strong but not strong enough and now that my flu has gone, I am able to start putting in some worthwhile kilometres.

Working hard or hardly working...three laps to go!

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.