Kona inspired

Given that it's the 1st taper week, I thought that it would be a good idea drawing inspiration from the NBC coverage of this year's Kona Ironman World Championships. I think this is the best coverage thus far, with great highlights of the race day action and great capture of the emotions at the finish line. I get goosebumps each time I see a finisher crossing the arch.

Compared to the previous weeks, this week's training load has decreased but not significantly. The 2 hour rides during the week were reduced to 1.5 hours and I had a two mid week runs, each of about 30 minutes. Bill gave me some descending pace work for the swim sessions and even threw in some alternating freestyle and medley sets just to mix things up. 

Saturday's long ride was 4.5 hours down the Freeway bike path. I think it was one of the few rides which I had a tailwind on the way back, which was very much welcomed. I clocked 140kms, exceeding the plan by 5kms with 2 more minutes to spare :) Sunday was a run for 1 hour 40 minutes, with negative split for the 2nd half. I started a bit quick and thought I would struggle to run faster for the later half, but I surprised myself and did just that. 22.5km ran with an average pace of 4:27 per km.

Things are falling into place and with the reduced volume and more recovery time, I feel stronger (and less grumpy!) and this serves well for my confidence. Not long now until the big race day. Hang in there everyone!

Final build

One final big week before the taper. As much as I enjoy training, the long hours and the post workout fatigue is slowly taking a toll on my body. So I'm glad to have made it this far and looking forward to the taper.

The week started with a 25 minute recovery run on Monday following the big weekend. Tuesday I did 90 minutes ride in King's Park, and recovered in the afternoon with an easy swim session. Wednesday I rode again, for 2 hours to Shelley Reserve and Point Walter. In the afternoon I did a 45 minute run in the neighbourhood.

I swapped Thursday's morning session to another day as I had an early morning meeting. In the afternoon I swam with a main set of 4 x 800m varying with some fartlek efforts, pull buoy and paddles. Friday morning I ran for 80 minutes in King's Park. The temperature is beginning to rise as summer is closing in on us. I recovered with another easy swim session in the afternoon.

It was a hot one when I did my long 5 hour ride on Saturday. I think the temperature rose 10 degrees in the second half of my ride. The slight headwinds made it tougher too, and my return journey took an extra 15 minutes. I had to cut short my brick run to 30 minutes as I was going to be late for our lunch appointment. The rest of the group were having a training camp down south and raced Bunbury Classic the next day. I couldn't go as Li-Ann was flying off to Singapore that night. She'll be away for about 10 days, but being the wonderful wife she is, she cooked up and stored plenty of food so my nutrition will be well taken care of in these crucial weeks.

On Sunday I only had a 75 minute ride, which I went to Sorrento Beach. I joined Dennis Tan and NCTC for an open water swim but the water was so choppy and I gave up after swimming a few hundred metres. In the afternoon I ran for 2.5 hours, my longest run this build. My pace was much better compared to the last weekend, I clocked 33.2km, averaging 4:31 per km.

The volume will reduce in the coming weeks but still keeping moderately intense. It's important, more so than ever, to keep my nutrition, rest and recovery in check. And as Bill told me in his email, keep out of trouble!

Another big week

Four weeks to Ironman WA, it's so close I can almost smell it!

The week started with a 2 hour 15 minutes run on Tuesday along Mounts Bay road by the Swan River. I settled into my usual pace of 4:30 per km but again, it only lasted until halfway and I had to slow down about 10 seconds per km. I finished the run with clocking a distance of 29.5km, 500 meter short of my target. Still, happy with just logging in the miles and at least I did not die towards the end.

Wednesday I did 2 hours of riding in King's Park. The weather this week was much better than the last and I did not have to cross my fingers and toes hoping it will stay dry throughout my ride. In the afternoon I had a massage session with Nathan Doig. It's always painful but I felt much better after.

Thursday I was back in King's Park again but this time for a 75 minute run. I'm beginning to enjoy these undulating runs a lot more, attacking the climbs and just cruising on the descends. Clocked 16.6km with an average pace of 4:31 per km - my best effort this season.

Friday I did not have anything in the morning but I did some land exercises consisting of strength and resistance training. I try to do these at least once every 2 weeks as I think it is just as important, if not more, than just doing the long hours on the road. In the afternoon, I did another long swim set of 10 x 400m, averaging 1:35 per 100m.

For Saturday's long ride, I followed the BYL group down the Freeway. When I said followed I actually meant trying to keep up and that only lasted until we past the South Street exit. I got dropped and was riding solo up until Pinjarra Road. No matter, as we are not allowed to draft on race day anyway. I sent a text asking them to go ahead, they would have rode a bit longer to the servo. I started making my way back but it wasn't long until they caught up with me again. This time, I managed to stay on all the way home. 174.3km logged, just shy of the full 180km, in about 5.5 hours. Thanks for the ride guys! We had someone falling during the ride, luckily nothing broken and just some lost skin.

I started my Sunday 90 minute ride a bit late at 8.20am, as we had to drop an old mattress off at the recycling centre. Dennis Tan and the North Coasters were doing their open water swim practice at Sorrento Beach. I should have joined them rather than leaving my swim after my ride. With the howling wind and the choppy waters, I talked myself out of swimming solo. In the afternoon I ran for 2 hours 25 minutes. I started off with a 4:30 per km pace, managed to hold it for over 21kms. But the legs got tired, so I slowed down to 4:45 per km and in the end I finished with 31.8kms, 200m short than planned.

I guess I won't get too caught up in trying to hit targets in every session. My maximum weekly running mileage is about 20kms more than the last season. So it is almost impossible not to feel tired.

Celebratory dinner for this week's efforts with Li-Ann at the Hyde Park Hotel, North Perth. This is the mixed grill with rump steak, sausages, lamb chop and wagyu beef patties. The food was really good! But slightly let down by the less than friendly wait staff.

Embrace the suck

The week of training had a bit of a rocky start. I rested on Monday as I had a early morning meeting. I had a 2 hour run scheduled in on Tuesday morning, and with fresh legs, I was looking forward to a good one. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I was clocking 4:30 per km pace for the first hour, but my legs soon tightened up and I slowed down to a jog. In the end, I only clocked 25.5km, with an overall average of 4:42 per km.

Wednesday and Thursday had me riding in King's Park and Shelley loop respectively. It was very windy, and I stayed low on the aerobars, and kept it as tight as possible. I'm very happy with how this new bike performs on windy days like these. On Friday I had an hour's run in King's Park. It was like a redemption run for me, given the mediocre one on Tuesday. I pushed myself pretty hard and was glad with the result. Clocked 13.2km with a 4:33 per km average, quicker than the last time I ran in King's Park. In the evening, I had a swim session with a main set of 10 x 400m. Repetitive and long, but I much prefer these than doing pace work.

I swapped my rides on the weekend, as the weather was forecasted to be really wet and wild on Sunday. So I did my long ride on Saturday instead and followed the BYL group to the hills. We rode through Death Valley, Mundaring, Mundaring Weir and Zig Zag hill. It only started getting windy as we got back to Perth and it showered in the last 5 minutes of my ride back to home. Still, happy to clock another 180km ride and riding in a group makes it a whole lot more enjoyable and the kms go by a lot quicker, thanks boys and girls!

On Sunday, I rode laps on Sorrento to Burns Beach. The skies were black with ominous clouds and I kept my fingers crossed so that the weather will hold up for that 2.5 hours or so. Some parts of the road were crowded with parked cars, as it is abalone catching season again. There were occassional gusts of wind from the coast, which had me clutching tightly onto the handlebars. It was only until the last 10 minutes when it really poured and even hailed for a couple of minutes. I was soaking wet at the end of the ride and decided to skip my 45 minute run and headed home for a warm shower.

It rained and hailed a few more times that day. Pretty unusual for this time of the year. I was still keen to make up my run but wasn't sure whether I would have a chance to. In the end, I sneaked in a run at about 6pm, and it stayed dry for most of it.

This week wasn't ideal but sometimes it's not about how fast we go but more about how we persevere in less than ideal conditions. I think that goes a long a way in preparing for a big race. Another 5 weeks to go to Ironman WA, with 2-3 weeks of big sessions before the taper.

Let's get serious

It's been a while since I've last posted about my training, all geared towards the big race, Ironman Western Australia in December. I've been told by my wife that my posts on training can be a little too serious and more often then not, mundane. Well, with only 6 weeks to go the big race, things are starting to get serious. 

Just last week, I ran over 82kms - a new personal record for me. I had 3 long runs - two 90 minute and one 110 minute late Sunday afternoon, while most of Perth's triathletes were on their way back from Mandurah 70.3, which many scored fast times and PBs for, well done to all! I wasn't sure how my legs will respond to so many long runs in a single week and a first time doing a long run in the afternoon. Glad to say, that they responded pretty well and I kept to sub 4:30 pace for all of them. The key was to take one session and a time, and not worry about the next one. 

This week, I only had one long run, and it was 100 minutes, so 10 minutes less than the one on Sunday. Originally scheduled for Thursday morning but with an early meeting, I rested and ran on Friday instead. So with fresh legs, I was able to score sub 4:25 average pace. Hoping to carry the good momentum through to the weekend. I had to ride both Saturday - 2.5 hours, and Sunday - 6 hours. 

It was hot this weekend, with the mercury rising to a maximum of 35 degrees. The northerly winds hasn't quite died down either. Saturday's ride of laps from Sorrento to Burns Beach went alright. I did a short open water swim at Sorrento Beach after, I was the only one swimming, it was pretty scary especially with all the reports on shark sightings lately. On Sunday, I rode down the Freeway South bike path. It was alright going down but I didn't have much left in my legs on the return. The headwinds and the heat made it much harder. I stopped by Hungry Jack's at Safety Bay Road for a $1 thick shake and refilled with soft drink several times. 

As I got back to Raffles foot bridge, it was nearly midday and a storm was brewing - dashes of lighting could be seen, what a bizarre weather! The diagonal head/cross winds from Raffles to Mill Point Road had me clutching on the bars for my dear life. The thought of another thick shake was very tempting so I made my way to the Hungry Jack's in South Perth for another treat. It rained while I was in the restaurant, but it cleared as I did the remaining 45 minutes of my ride. Still did 180km, but 17 minutes over 6 hours and a very slow 28.6kph average. Surprisingly, I still found my legs for the 30 minute brick run and it was hot and sunny again, as I ran along Mounts Bay road to the Swan Brewery and back. There were some playful uni students were asking me for something but I gave a smile and just ran away, yes, not a very friendly I am! 

Another week to look forward to. I have a more manageable load during the week, but the weekend load builds on this week. Hope I'll survive that. I barely did this week.

A sad day for the running community

The Malaysian running community was shocked the sudden passing of a top veteran female runner last week. Cheah Meei Meei who recently won the Perhentian Island Challenge the previous weekend passed away on Thursday with the cause of death yet to be confirmed. Scepticemia, typhoid and leptospirosis were some of the possible causes being mentioned. One thing for sure, there were many participants of the Perhentian Island Challenge who had food poisoning from the race. I hope the race organizers do a detailed investigation into this.

Photo of Sin Chew newspaper article taken from Tey Eng Tiong's Facebook page 

May you rest in peace, Cheah Meei Meei. My deepest sympathy and condolences out to her family and closest friends. I wish them the strength to get through this difficult time.

The thrills and wheels of Kona

The recently concluded Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii was filled with plenty of excitement and drama. It was a pity that my pre race favourites of Craig 'Crowie' Alexander and Mirinda 'Rinny' Carfrae weren't able to come up tops. Rinny fought all the way to 3rd placed female and collapsed at the finish line, while Crowie could only manage a distant 12th. But it was nice to see Aussie Pete Jacobs coming up the ranks and taking the title. He has sure come a long way since the days when he was a neo pro competing at the Busselton Half (now Busselton 70.3) a few years ago. Also, special mention to fellow BYL athlete Scott Thomson who finished with an awesome time of 9:31:10 in some really tough conditions.

Apart from the race itself, one of the things that keeps us mere mortals watching at home entertained is the sizzling display of the latest bikes and gear at the check in, something we like to call bike porn! I'd like to share my own if I may, something which I have been partially disclosing before this.

A 2012 Felt DA 1 frame and Devox bars with the 2012 Sram Red groupset, finished with Zipp R2C shifters. I ordered the frame online and the friendly guys at PedalSpot in SS2, Malaysia took care of the rest. I initially requested for a different coloured frame but I think it was a blessing in disguise that this colour came instead. I like this much better! I managed to get a good discount on both the frame and the parts, and it's my last birthday before I turn 30, so don't judge me and let me splurge! I call it the Dark Knight.

I rode it for the first time on two occassions this weekend. A four ride down and back the Freeway South bike path. It was howling with wind on the way back and that gave the aerodynamics a good test. The second ride which I started at 10.30am on Sunday after watching Kona, was 3 hours in the hills - my usual route of Darlington, John Forrest National Park, Mundaring Weir and descending via Kalamunda. Both rides impressed me very much. The bike was stiff and aero in the wind, as well as super light when climbing the hills. I'm still getting used to the new fit, feeling more sore than what I usually do after these rides. But I have the next 8 weeks to get used to it. Can't wait for my next ride!