Last week I got to train in the aptly-named Sunshine Coast. Noosa has long been the Mecca of triathlon in Australia, and while Melbourne struggles on with its coldest winter for years, I had an opportunity to escape for my "big week" of training.
I'm under no illusions that the life of a pro triathlete is easy; I was looked after by my friends, the Caiafas. As in LOOKED AFTER! They hardly let me exert myself, outside of my training. A pro triathlete still has plenty of chores to do around their training, whereas I did not. I did manage to fit in a few hours computer work a day, which at least kept me from getting bored while my legs were up!
So my
Example of gratitude number 1 is to the Caiafas. They are both ironman athletes (and vets, interestingly; in fact Tony lectured to me when I went through vet school). They both completely "got" what I was up here for, and did everything they could to make my week run smoothly. Tony is a great cook!
So how did I fare? Well I was really pleasantly surprised that by Sunday, when my long run came around, although I had a lot of muscular fatigue, my energy levels were still great. In fact, there was only really one day (Friday, which was a lighter day anyway) when I felt a bit flat. So my impression is that my base fitness is already pretty good, and the big increase in volume doesn't hurt me anymore.
I won't go into stats, as I promised not to, but my Strava profile is public, so for anyone who wants a nosey, here is my Strava page
https://www.strava.com/athletes/179268
What I know to be a big limiter for me is sustained efforts on the bike. I can ride and ride and ride, all day, and I can sprint flat out, but I always get dropped on any hill that is longer than a few hundred metres. During the week, I really worked on riding the hills strongly, usually seated. By the end of the week, I was definitely finding them easier. I think another big factor in feeling so good is that I sat within my aerobic zone throughout the long rides, apart from when a hill was too steep to allow that. This meant that I never had to dip into my anaerobic reserves. In other similar weeks, I've invariably pushed too hard at certain times, and ended up very fatigued s the week has gone on. For me, the whole idea of a camp like this is to give my aerobic fitness a big boost (with some muscular strength developed from climbing). To achieve that, it's important to sit in that aerobic zone, not the grey zone.
And what about my mental limiters on the bike? That loneliness? Well, I was lucky enough to be able to ride with Alison and some of her triathlete friends. They are all in their 50s, and although they were faster than me on a lot of the climbs, I would catch them on the descents, so we essentially rode together. But my
Example of gratitude, number 2 came at about the 4hr mark of my long Saturday ride. I was rolling through Cooroy, about 20k from Noosa, when a chap called Russell, who was clearly a much stronger rider than me, invited me to sit on his wheel back to Tewantin. I protested that I would be too slow for him, but he said he wasn't in a rush, and he slowed down until I was comfortably able to ride with him. Such a nice gesture at a point in the ride when I needed the company.
I had a couple of easy days training wise when I got back. On Friday I went for a spin on my beautiful new race wheels. I was busy looking at my Garmin in Albert Park and rode straight into a large plastic traffic bollard and hit the road, quite hard. Although as a rugby player, I learned to never put my arm out when I fell (in case of breaking a wrist), it appears I have forgotten that, and my wrist and elbow broke my fall. In fact, that probably saved my collarbone. So
I'd been quite nervous about coming back and doing my long ride in the cold and wet this weekend. It was damp, but didn't feel too cold at all. I had a lovely ride with a load of friends that I swim with, a great run off the bike, and 2hrs later I ran my best time at the Brighton 9k handicap; a brutal race that finishes with about 800m on soft sand! Yet another example of how I (or my body) can surprise me when I have no expectations.
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| After a swim with Tony Caiafa |
So my
Example of gratitude number 1 is to the Caiafas. They are both ironman athletes (and vets, interestingly; in fact Tony lectured to me when I went through vet school). They both completely "got" what I was up here for, and did everything they could to make my week run smoothly. Tony is a great cook!
So how did I fare? Well I was really pleasantly surprised that by Sunday, when my long run came around, although I had a lot of muscular fatigue, my energy levels were still great. In fact, there was only really one day (Friday, which was a lighter day anyway) when I felt a bit flat. So my impression is that my base fitness is already pretty good, and the big increase in volume doesn't hurt me anymore.
I won't go into stats, as I promised not to, but my Strava profile is public, so for anyone who wants a nosey, here is my Strava page
https://www.strava.com/athletes/179268
What I know to be a big limiter for me is sustained efforts on the bike. I can ride and ride and ride, all day, and I can sprint flat out, but I always get dropped on any hill that is longer than a few hundred metres. During the week, I really worked on riding the hills strongly, usually seated. By the end of the week, I was definitely finding them easier. I think another big factor in feeling so good is that I sat within my aerobic zone throughout the long rides, apart from when a hill was too steep to allow that. This meant that I never had to dip into my anaerobic reserves. In other similar weeks, I've invariably pushed too hard at certain times, and ended up very fatigued s the week has gone on. For me, the whole idea of a camp like this is to give my aerobic fitness a big boost (with some muscular strength developed from climbing). To achieve that, it's important to sit in that aerobic zone, not the grey zone.
And what about my mental limiters on the bike? That loneliness? Well, I was lucky enough to be able to ride with Alison and some of her triathlete friends. They are all in their 50s, and although they were faster than me on a lot of the climbs, I would catch them on the descents, so we essentially rode together. But my
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| During my long ride |
I grudgingly finished my 9 days in Noosa, having fallen in love with the place and came back to a chilly Melbourne but a lovely warm welcome from Pete. My first day back at work was full-on; teaching practical skills to vet students on the yards all day. I did pull out a chair a few times to rest my weary legs!!
Example of gratitude number 3 has to be directed to my supervisor at work, Peter Mansell. Not only did he cover some teaching for me while I was away, he told the students about my training camp, seemingly with some pride. I have had bosses who made life quite difficult for me when I was playing serious rugby in the UK. To have a boss who is so supportive is absolutely gold.
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| Lucky to only be bruised |
Example of gratitude number 4 is that I came away from my fall with a few bruises rather than breaking anything.
Gratitude is an enlightening state of mind. It needs to be cultivated from a place of kindness though. Instead of telling yourself you "should" be grateful, try asking yourself "what has happened today that made me feel grateful?" It's quite amazing how it can change your outlook on your life, your relationships and your training. Thank you to Rosie McCaughey from Rise Yoga for this picture.
9 weeks to go
Postscript - my sister pointed out that there were only 4 examples of gratitude! My 5th is to everyone who reads this blog that closely!!!
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