Check in time.

I haven't blogged for a while - despite saying I would keep it up this round.

As is often the case I have been having motivation problems after such a busy lead up to the start of March. Training hasn't really been on track and I am feeling tired at this stage

Here is a summary of my last 3 weeks training.

Week beginning 3/3/14 - General Prep week on program.

1 hour swim, 2 hours cycling, 72 minutes of running and a 60 minute gym class
I was also away in Perth for the weekend and despite planning a run I didn't quite do the distance as planned (at this point I haven't even got a 10km run in)

Week beginning 10/3/14 - General Prep week
no swimming (various excuses used), 2:50 hours of riding (including a race), 3:20 of running including my first long run, 90 minutes of gym work and a 72 minute triathlon event for a total weekly amount of over 8 hours of training. at least I got a long run in this week.

Week beginning 17/3/14 - adaptation (recovery week)  

1 hour swim (quality session), 3:40 cycling (111 km including a long rolling hills ride), 3:30 hours of running including speed work, tempo, recovery and long steady distance and my usual 60 minute gym class. Almost got to 10 hours for the week which is OK for a recovery week although I am not sure what I am recovering from

So the next 2 weeks are crunch time for me. They are called Special Prep and they should be long and hard. It is the final set up for the taper down to the event. Think 3 hour bike rides and 2 hour runs and lots of fast sessions. Planned hours for this week is about 14 hours although I already know this is going to be a problem as I have a quick trip to Perth planned, but I have adjusted the session to minimize the impact.

Roll on the week.

Phew - got the other side

Wow what a day.

Stress levels were through the roof but these are the times you need to remember to not sweat the stuff you can't change and work on the things you can.

Yesterday I received lots positive comments about how the day went and everyone loved the new course.

We organized a triathlon of which I did lots of the leg work but also had lots of great help on the day. Each year the Albany Triathlon club organize a state calendar event which is also our major fund raiser for the year. this year finances were tight as we didn't have a major sponsor. Despite this our plan was to put on a fabulous event and by all account we did.

 First to things you can't control.

Weather

Perfect day 26 with light winds.



Couldn't get any better than that. The picture shows fog which rolled in around us.

So got the event set and the briefing done (a little late - oops) then off to the start.

About 70 individuals set off and 5 minutes later about 20 teams. Into the water. The Surf Club did a sensational job again of managing the water safety. Our local club pride themselves on the job they do. As many of them race they know how to watch and respond quickly to swimmers but also do little things like keep the jetski fumes and IRB fumes away from the swimmers.

We have some new timing equipment which went almost seamlessly during the event. With only 3 chip problems (one was a failure of the tag - others were operator error). Timing was  a big problem last year but this year it was better managed.

The Road were closed - by a professional company who arrived as planned and for the road marshals we used our own. No one understands the needs of athletes like athletes and using local tri and cycle club members on the lollypops works much better than using "professionals". These bikes travel fast.

Cycle leg

Speaking of the cycle leg. This was a new course this year - We sent them up the hill.... There is a knoll next to the beach and we closed the scenic drive that takes people back to town. 3 laps so 3 times up the hill, but 3 times down the hill and the rest of the course is flat...

Feedback was fantastic. there is nothing like a long hill to spread the field out - so no penalties. Got to be happy with that. Although we have fun and made the penalty box the bus stop - If you get caught drafting of a competitor it's a period in the bus stop - waiting for a bus - but there are no busses on sunday!

Only one problem on the bike with a local competitor coming off and needing some help from the ambulance. He will heal but is going to take some time for the skin to grow back.

The rest of the day went well and the technical official we happy with how we managed the day. Lots of great feedback about how well run the event was.

These days are stressful but it's all about JFDI... setting yourself up to succeed. This is what we did... with lots of help from some great volunteers on the day who gave out drinks on the run, cut up the fruit at the finish and called people through on the PA

I am glad it is over for another year but WOW what a day

The only problem is - pity about the exercise the last 3 days.... kinda fell in a hole there - but food intake was great.

Now it's off for a ride and hill repeats.... back to training for the half.

Its going to be a big week

So it's Monday .... and I have already had one melt down. I am sure there will be more this week.

I am president of the local triathlon club.... and the main organiser of the local state calendar classic event. This is a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run. There is so much to do and so I have taken the week of work.

There are so many things to be stressed about
- organising volunteers (finding volunteers!)
- Sorting traffic management plans
- writing race briefings
- Setting up the event profile on the timing equipment (new equipment worth $$$)
- organizing the PA system
- getting fruit for the finish line
- getting drinks for the finish line
- moving around a variable message sign to maximize the visibility
- making sure the volunteers I do have know what they are doing
- touting for business.....

I just need to remind myself that regardless of how well the event goes I can only do so much.....

So today after calling into work for a meeting I couldn't get away from I sat on my couch and cried .... all caused by my partner being a little unkind to me... he only asked me a simple question and it isn't his fault .. he has been really lovely but I am just so fragile at the moment....

So at least with the week off work - I have no excuse not to exercise (although it is a recovery week on my program)

So this morning I got up at 5:30am and met a friend down the track where we did 6x400m. All in a great time under 1:40 per 400m. Now I just need to keep the diet under control too......

Hope it all goes well and I am looking forward to sleeping next week sometime!

Why I call my blog fit and fat.

I am fit, I have been fit for a long time. I have done amazing things but despite being a 4 times ironman, finishing the London marathon and clocking up 8 half ironman triathlons in my time.... I was still fat. Not obese but overweight anyway. I have bad knees .... I was told I would never do an ironman. But I have something more powerful than anything else....

I have tenacity

I keep going and going and going

So last year I decided it was time to be more than fit and fat (although this is much less stressful) and now I am fit and no longer fat (although technically I am still just overweight). Now the aim is to get fast.....

We all have the most amazing qualities inside us .... we just need to focus on our strengths, get fit, stay fit and get out and enjoy life.

So here I am fit and looking fabulous - no longer fat - my other half is loving it (although not like the fact that he is heavier than me) and all because I decided to do something about it.

Things are slowly getting better

What a week that was..... phew

Stomach cramps Monday - which settles with a bit of medications. still got some hill repeats in for my run on Monday night.

Tuesday I dragged my tired but out of bed and did some efforts. Basically these are riding hard and stready (kinda like a tempo run) for Xkm. In this case X was 6km. I got 3 in then joined the boys on the regular ride. Its good for my mental health to ride with other people. Triathlon and especially long course triathlon involves lots of long km often by yourself. I also added a swim in at the beach. It was quite unpleasant.... like swimming in a washing machine with stingers.... yuk

Wednesday I got up for my usual stretch with an hour of body balance. It makes me do it and I guess its a case of getting stretching and core in anyway you can is important. Then I got home to discover I forgot to turn off my garmin yesterday so no garmin to do my 12 minute run with. I was already running late but I headed out anyway and tried to use a running app. I am definitely no used to this.... sigh. Perhaps someone can give me tips on how to set these up to do a 12 minute test. Anyway I think I was a little slower (2.4km)

Thursday morning I just couldn't get out of bed. I was suppose to be doing hill repeats but just couldn't face it this morning so I took the morning off. I know this is one session I can get away with missing. Then Thursday afternoon was swim squad for a hour. 800m using paddles! that was tough.

Friday is my rest day and so I went for my usual walk with the dog and a friend.

Saturday was the first championship race of the cycle season. Not sure if I am going to do much of the season this year but Time Trialling is a lot like what I do for triathlon. Its an individual thing you against the clock and your mind. I was well rested having had a double rest day for the legs and the wind conditions were spot on ... I managed a PB just over 1 hour 10 minutes for the 40km. Averaging about 34km/h for the 40km and I was fastest of the women (thanks to the 2 women who would have beaten my for having other things to do on the day :) )

Then it was off to Peaceful Bay A lovely little settlement about an hour west of Albany. We hold an annual Kids tri on the Saturday afternoon and an adult tri the next morning. The kids tri was fantastic - 60 kids mostly from the local areas ... maybe next year we should include an adult enticer tri afterwards.... for the parents / aunts and uncles to have a go and have the kids cheer them on :)

Sunday morning after a terrible nights sleep on a camping bed I went for a run. We kept it short as the track we went down soon turned to sand.... tough. Also snuck a little run leg for the adult tri in as well.

So keeping my exercise diary going I have managed 7 1/2 hours of training this week and travelled over 100km for the week. Need to build it up more next week. I am aiming for a big step up next week - 13 hours of planned exercise.



Food has not been so great but plenty of time to work on that.....

Kids Triathlon - the under 7s "swimming"

Stomach cramps !!!

So I got very organised for the weekend - Took snacks to eat on the trip and water to drink
Took my running gear and charged to Garmin up ready to map the run....

Then Friday night I started getting stomach cramps - almost like something working it's way through - maybe it was too much fibre in the snack balls?? But the worst thing is the cramps continued all weekend and never developed into anything more. As a result I didn't manage to run at all.

On the positive side
1. I kept my diet in check
2. I didn't over eat in the road. Stuck to drinking water
3. I did lots of incidental exercise - helped my mum clean up taking 2 loads of cardboard to the tip and a load of asbestos. Lots of walking up and down hills plus heavy lifting.
4. I got out and got a run in tonight.
5. My training diary arrived on Friday. I entered my exercise for last week and was surprised to discover I got over 5 hours of the 8 hours planned done (despite not training Friday to Sunday)

so tomorrow it is on wards and up wards with a swim and a ride planned.

How to beat the snack attack!

So time to talk about snacks.

Meals are easy to manage but the "hungry Hippo" who comes home from work each day is not so easy to manage.

Here are some things that have worked well and no to well for me

First the not so good:

• Drinking water once I am hungry doesn't work for me!
• Having any cheese in the fridge is dangerous - especially a cheese
• Ice cream is best left at the supermarket - it is too easy to eat on a couch with a spoon 
• High fat and tasty yoghurt is a close second for things to avoid.
• Peanut butter is also dangerous but I can ignore it is I lock it up. Although it makes great satay curry rice cakes.
• Not planning snacks when I travel is VERY dangerous.
• I can eat too much fruit really easily
• I can eat WAY WAY too much dried fruit - my mother makes home made fruit leather and I can eat the equivalent of 10 apricots in a sitting!

And the Good

- Protein fills you up very well - So low fat yoghurt is a great snack
- Snack balls are great - Dried fruit in this form is portion controlled.
- Home made hummus and ryvita cracker make a good snack.
- Planning your snacks is critical - This is what Sundays should be for
- Drink water BEFORE you get hungry
- When you are learning to drink Green Tea - make it weak.

Also exercising when I get home from work BEFORE I sit on the couch means I don't have time to eat and drink things I shouldn't

Here are the  Fig and Cranberry balls I made on the weekend. I also made a batch of snack balls with nuts and coconut.

I am travelling to Perth on the weekend so the plan it to take some of these morsels with me to eat - no buying chips or lollies to travel with.

And of course take a bottle of water to drink - helps manage the boredom of a long trip.