Podium Boohyahh!!!!!

 

 

For the last two years I have been chasing the goal of finishing an Ironman on the podium, and last Sunday I felt the great joy of raising the 3^rd place tape after a slow walk down one of the best finish chutes on the Ironman calendar. I can’t explain the deep pride, exhilaration and happiness I felt. Whilst I have certainly lapped up and enjoyed this result over the last week and I will do so for some time to come, I am still a long way off being a real contender to really threaten for a win. It is important for me not to sugar coat it that way for those of you reading this post or in my own mind. I believe in myself and the developmental process I am on, with my coach Kristian Mannietta. I will not allow this success to derail me from the long term plan to develop into the best Ironman athlete I can be.

For those of you that don’t know me, haven’t followed my blog or social media posts in the past I will quickly fill you in on my background. I work full-time as a Fire-fighter, have two kids 1 and 3, my wife works part-time as a Paramedic and races Ironman Triathlon also as an Age Grouper (she managed her first Kona spot on the weekend also, which has meant double the joy for us) and I coach a dozen or so triathletes as well. Therefore training has to be well structured, our week has to be organised and scheduled keeping both of our goals in mind.  Our priorities have to be kept in check, our kids and their future is at all times number 1. We love our lifestyle and think we have achieved a great balance of being able to fund our mortgage, living expenses and understand that our personal goals in sport are a luxury and treat it as such.

Whilst sitting here in Nelson Bay still enjoying the fruits of my immediate success, it is with a level head that I look to the future with a long term plan to develop into a stronger, faster and better athlete who is capable of being competitive with the best.  Massive congratulations to 1^st and 2^nd place athletes Luke Bell and Patrick Evoe on the weekend who both demonstrated how to race solo wire to wire from the outset. I look forward to and aspire to being able to race like this in the future.  Luckily for me I enjoy the process as much as the result and am prepared to be patient, consistent and measured in my training in order to reach my potential.

So the skinny on Sundays race –

A mass start, Pro’s and Agers all together. The small Pro field was given a 25-50m head start, as expected Luke Bell lead from the gun, but was soon to be over taken by super fish age grouper Ben Squiers. I jumped on the feet of Jason Shortis and had Patrick Evoe right beside me. After about 500m-1km we were over taken by a fast pack of Age Groupers, who we managed to tack on the back of. After this point the swim was relatively comfortable and I exited in 52.30 with a small group about 5min back from eventual race winner Luke Bell and even further behind the super fish Ben Squiers.

My plan on the bike was stick to a wattage I had trained for; I tried to keep it very conservative over the first 90km. Before long the small group I exited with had spread out and each of us settled into our own pace. Patrick Evoe overtook me early on in the piece and rode off into the distance as did fellow Victorian Dave Meade. By the end of the first lap had worked my way into 6^th place with a minute or two’s gap to 7^th. Out onto the second lap I tried to push the next headwind section but my goal power slowly dropped despite feeling like I was giving my best effort. I slowly lost more time to the guys in front and a few I had overtaken early began to creep back up to me after I took quick pitstop at the last turn around in Laurieton (I was scared of the usual Ironman toilet strategies after having to fight a DQ last time I raced in Port Mac, so was suffering stage fright and had to pull over and use the facilities). I exited T2 in 8^th position.

I must congratulate the race organisers, the Technical Officials (they were out in masses, great to see) and competitors for making this the fairest race I have been a part of. I didn’t see any drafting out on course and the top 20 guys seemed to spread out with at the very least 30sec gaps for most of the day.

(Heading over the top of Matthew Flinders Drive) Thanks Darrell from www.nashypix.com for this shot, check out his website to see if he got any of you!!

Like the bike, I planned to run a conservative pace, which I thought I could hold for the first 20-30km and then empty the tank over the last 10 (which would really mean just holding the same pace). I felt great on the run until about 12km when my paced dropped off because I was in urgent need of natural break. My legs felt great, but clenching my butt cheeks and praying for the next porta loo caused my pace to drop off 15sec or so per km. Once I found the next toilet I made a quick stop (about a minute I was watching the clockL) and was then able to continue on back at my planned pace. After another 5km the same issue started rear its ugly head once again. So again it was into the next loo. This continued for the remainder of the run, running 5km as planned, running 5km getting progressively slower until I visited the next loo and started all over again. I managed to work my way into 5^th position by approximately 8km then it was down to bridging the gap to fellow Victorians Dave Meade and Monty Frankish. I caught Dave at the 23km and 26km marks (he re-passed me during one of my stops) and finally Monty at the 33km mark to put myself into 3^rd position. Luke Bell continued on from his swim bike form to put on a clinic with the quickest run split, Patrick trailed about 12min back and ran just a fraction slower than Luke.   

 

I was happy to be able to work my way into third position and achieve a long term goal of gracing the podium at an Ironman despite a less than perfect race. It was a little frustrating feeling like I had the legs to run a lot faster, but my guts wouldn’t allow me. The funny thing was I couldn’t help thinking of Paul Finch a.k.a ‘Shitbreak’ from American Pie and the scene pictured above.

The day was even sweeter as my wife Tarryn had a great race to finish 2^nd in her age group, 8^th overall and qualify for Kona!!!! We are both excited to be heading to the Big Island in October with our kids, her racing and me as chief parent and supporter. It’s now time to enjoy our success for a while J.

A big thank-you to my sponsors; Saucony Runnners, Peak Cycles Heidelberg and Ryders Eyewear. It is fantastic to have access to fantastic products from Saucony and Ryders. My relationship with my local bike shop Peak Cycles is invaluable, they offer great service, a great mechanic who gets my bike working spot on before each race despite the hard time I give it in training and expert fitting which, I truly believe is essential to all triathletes and Sean does a terrific job of the Body Geometry fit!! 

Also Tarryn and would not have been able to race without the ongoing support we get from our friends and family. Especially my Mum and Dad last weekend who not only dealt with 1 and 3 yr old all day whilst spectating the Ironman but also keep them entertained in the days preceding whilst we prepared.

Lastly to my coach Kristian Mannietta, can't thank him enough for the contiual advice, motivation and encouragement to get the most out of the time I have and belief that I can achieve my dreams despite my other commitments.

Thanks for reading :))

Experiencing Ironman success

Defining Success

As defined dictionary.com

1.

the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.

In order to judge if we have been successful at something, goals must be set prior. Now this is the tricky bit, but so important. Setting appropriate goals can totally change your mindset, productivity and ultimately the levels of success you achieve. Set the goals too low and you will most likely achieve success, but will you experience the true euphoria that comes with the personal satisfaction of such success? Set the goals too high and you may continually fail and continually deny yourself the opportunity to be happy about your achievements. (Don’t get me wrong we need to fail, and shouldn’t be scared of failure because ultimately that makes us better)

This weekend is Ironman Melbourne and I am so bloody excited about watching my wife, athletes I coach, friends, the pointy end of the field and people I don’t even know execute their Ironman race this Sunday. For most it has been a long build with massive commitment from themselves, families and friends.  How do you set goals to measure success beyond the objective?

I like to look at goals from two perspectives and I think both are important. I believe you should have a number of Objective and Subjective goals leading into an Ironman. Objective goals are things that can be measured or they either happen or they don’t there is no grey. Qualify for Kona, Sub 10, Sub 12, Goal average power on the bike, Goal run time, Too finish. These goals are important and are really why we are on the start line to begin with. But I am a big fan of the old Journey Vs Destination or Process Vs Outcome analogy. If you focus on subjective goals (goals which require you to look deep into yourself, which require you to make an honest assessment as to whether they have been achieved) you are much more likely to achieve the objective ones. Examples of subjective goals: Did I stick to my pacing and not got too hard at the start, Did I maintain mental focus all day (lapses in concentration cost time), Did I ease off when things got a little uncomfortable, Did I walk when I could have run, Did I stick with my tried and tested nutrition plan, Did I maintain an aerodynamic position on the bike when it got a little uncomfortable, Did I truly push when things got hard as I knew it would, etc.

So whether or not you can look back at your last three months prep and say you achieved what you wanted to, it is still worthwhile setting your realistic yet challenging Objective and Subjective goals now (If you haven’t already done so). I like to have a list of at least five or six for an Ironman and judge my success based upon how many of those goals I was able to achieve.  Write them out, and replay them in the head. If you concentrate on the subjective ones race day, requiring you to be completely honest with yourself the objective outcomes will take care of themselves.

Hopefully this will stop you reaching the finish line looking at the clock and judging your whole experience on one number! Sometimes circumstances beyond our control affect the objective outcome but if you can truly look deep into yourself and say you gave it your absolute best you can still experience success. I truly hope you experience the deep joy of hard earned success this weekend, good luck! Time to hurt.

Below is an example of an athlete I coach experiencing deep success beyond achieving a goal time despite not seeing at the time.

 

Last year, Mark experienced the joy of achieving a goal within his reach, a sub-10 time at Ironman Melbourne. Through determination, good planning, perseverance despite setback (injury) etc etc! As a coach I was so happy to see the exhilaration he felt from such success. The next part of our plan was to have a quick turn around and back up for Port Macquarie Ironman six weeks later. Riding on the high experienced in Melbourne, Mark was truly excited by what was possible. Perhaps a Kona qualification was in his grasps if not in Port Macquarie certainly in the future. This all come un-stuck about 15km into the 180km bike ride when he hit a big pothole. He went over the handle bars at 50km/h (downhill section at the bottom of Matthew Flinders dve) taking skin form his face, torso and legs. His bike was a mess also and deemed un-safe by the officials. Rear brake cable snapped, Front Derailleur bent beyond being fixable and only three gears to choose from on the rear cog. Now Mark could have easily walked off the course then and there. Obviously he was pissed off, but the voice in his head could have justified that he had broken 10hrs six weeks ago, the mechanic is telling me he can’t fix my bike and it’s unsafe, call it a day, head back to town get the wounds clean and go get some lunch. 

 Mark told that voice to piss off, he called on his negotiation skills from his day job and convinced the mechanic that his bike was safe with a front brake (utilising some of the laws of physics) and decided he would ride the entire Port Macquarie (bloody hilly) course in the big dog, with three gears and weeping wounds. Needless to say what was to follow was a long day of agony. Mark persevered and got to the finish-line in the dark of the night. Talking to him that evening he was mightily pissed off because he was feeling great and confident he could improve upon to sub-10 mark he had set six weeks earlier. He saw this as failure. To me this was one of the best moments in coaching I had experienced. (Not through any of my doing) Marks in-built reaction was to finish at all costs and an attitude that no obstacle is too great. What an experience for his pre-teen kids to watch their Dad struggle to the line battered and bruised. That lesson is one that I have no-doubt will teach them much more than any Kona ticket, super-fast time or any other audacious goal Mark has. To me this is great success!!  

Portarlington Long Course

Portarlington Long Course!

Last Sunday I had the chance to test my form after a solid four week ‘camp’ block of training at Supersprint’s famous Portarlington Triathlon. This event now also boasts a long course option (2, 80, 20), and is held over an honest yet spectacular course. Supersprint, as always run a great event. They have done a great job of creating an event which is run with the same professionalism as some of the bigger events around the globe but retained a ‘country’ feel. I highly recommend putting this one on your to-do list.  

Cold, wet and windy pretty much sums up the pre-match talk Sunday morning. (Post race many prided themselves on being ‘hard men’ after racing in the aforementioned conditions, however such thoughts seemed ridiculous after watching the Milan-San Remo highlights this morning)

 

                                                                                                                   

This race for me was a lead in event, for my main goal, Ironman Port Macquarie in seven weeks. It came at an opportune time for me with Ironman Melbourne next weekend, meaning a small field. This really gave me the confidence to execute my race without getting caught up in chasing others (which I should do anyway, but often don’t). There was also a nice little bit of pocket money up for grabs for the winner.

 

Despite the horrible conditions the renowned Portarlington swim course remained pristine as the wind was blowing off shore meaning most of the course remained relatively calm as it was protected by the land mass behind. The six of us starting in the Elite male category took off together and stayed in a tight pack for the entire 2km swim. Lead by Monty Frankish and Tom Rodgers (I think) I battled away on their feet and was quite uncomfortable for the whole swim but managed to hang on.

Into T1 I was hurting from the swim, but happy I was able to hold the pace of the leaders. This made for a tardy T1 by me and I slowly made my way out onto the bike. Tom took the race by the scruff of the neck and really hit the start of the ride hard. I wasn’t too stressed as I thought once I settled my HR down I would be able to slowly bridge up but this wasn’t the case. For some reason I was super tight in the Hamstrings and Quads, heading out into the rain and headwind I thought I was in trouble. After 20km of Head / Cross wind we were blessed with a very solid tail wind, and for some reason that tightness sorted itself out and I was able to work myself into a rhythm. By the end of the first lap I had lost a couple of minutes to Tom. My next two laps were much better, in terms of speed and power. I finished the ride having negative split the second half. For the data geeks (which I am becoming one of) I was able to finish with an average power IF of .94 (.94 of threshold power) and VI of 1.01 (Normalised Power / Average Power) meaning I maximised the amount of actual power put through the pedals for nearly the least metabolic cost. For those of you who have just switched off it means I basically rode as efficient as I ever have, conserving more energy but this also resulted in a personal best overall output and left me a lot fresher for the run.

Into T2 my wife Tarryn was there to tell me to get a move on and let me know Tom was 4min up the road. So basically he had just over a km on me. I knew Tom was a solid runner and it was going to take a good run to peg that time back. I found myself working into a good rhythm straight away and for the first few kilometres sub 3.30 pace felt quite comfortable. As I progressed the body was feeling better and better and I was able to even split the run, holding the same pace for each of the three laps. I caught Tom at the 16km mark and was able to put enough buffer in on the way home to enjoy the finish. Congrats also to age grouper and hard man ‘Dave Meade’ rounding out the podium with a solo effort starting a few minutes behind us.

 

 

It was great to get the win and collect some prize money, but I was most happy about getting my pacing and nutrition spot on and consequently producing personal best efforts for long course / half distance with power on the bike and pace on the run after a hard swim. This gives me good confidence leading into the next 6 weeks of training that I am on target to achieve my goals in Port Macquarie. Thanks again to my great sponsors Peak Cycles, Saucony and Ryders Eyewear.

 

 

 

   

Injury Prevention

OVERUSE INJURY PREVENTION

Recently I have had several of the athletes I coach plus many others I have conversations with throughout my travels tell me how their training and or racing has been effected by overuse injury, cramping (muscle spasm) and the biggest one constant soreness. Just like a lot of people don’t realise how good they would feel, how much more energy they would have and how productive they could be if they addressed the issue of a crappy diet, a lot of triathletes don’t realise they are not meant to feel debilitated with soreness during ‘heavy’ training. In the most part this is caused by poor recovery, an essential component of any good training plan. This soreness will inevitably lead to overuse injury, impact training consistency and eventually reduce the enjoyment of training. So I am putting together my thoughts on recovery / overuse injury to hopefully assist you and persuade you to make recovery and session preparation a priority.  

“Overuse injury is caused by repeated use, stress and trauma to soft tissues of the body (muscles, tendons, bones and joints) without proper time for healing.” (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/glossary/g/chronic_def.htm)

From my long term experience, observation and learning from numerous sources in the sport of triathlon this is caused by inadequate recovery, poor program planning, muscle imbalance or repeated use of a muscle or tendon in a position it was not designed to be used. I will address these issues individually and hopefully provide you with practical solutions to do all you can to prevent having your goals being squashed by annoying niggles which turn into big issues.

RECOVERY

Recovery is overlooked by most athletes and many coaches as an integral part of your overall training plan. Too often we fall into the trap of squeezing as much volume and unstructured intensity into the limited time available in belief that more (distance, time) is better. This is at the expense of warming up properly, preparing the body to train properly, spending time maintaining stressed muscle tissue post session, eating an adequate recovery meal within 30min of every session and getting enough sleep. 

What you can do.

-          Warm Up I have recently (18mnths ago) begun using my Trigger Point tools as preparation for every session, it takes about 10min and it’s amazing how much better I feel. My coach Kristian from Trispecific http://www.trispecific.com/ put me onto this gear.The reason I feel better is because my tissue is placed back into ‘balance’ (Length / Tension relationship restored and elasticity is restored). http://www.tptherapy.com/unlock-your-body-awareness.php This allows me to move freely by reducing stress on myofascial tissue (Muscles and Tendons) and assists muscular tissue to contract with more force. When you wake up the in morning you have spent the night sleeping (8 hrs) in often awkward positions, shortening muscles and placing them out of ‘balance’. In order allow your body it’s correct range of motion you have to put everything back into ‘balance’ for want of a better word to minimise undue stress on compensating muscles (Restoring tissue back to its correct Length / Tension relationship). The same issue occurs after a long drive, sitting at a desk etc etc. So overtime continually training on ‘imbalanced’ muscles you are going to stress them to the point of breakdown (Inflammation, Tendonitis and Bursitis). You may say this first point isn’t recovery but you are essentially recovering your body from the stress’ you place it under carrying out all of life’s tasks  pre training and assisting your body’s recovery for the proceeding session by not placing it under undue stress during the current session. (This = better / faster recovery)

-          Preparing the body to train properly means mentally switching on. Switch hats from that business meeting you just finished and concentrate on doing every stroke, revolution, stride as effectively as possible. ‘Get in the zone’ a wandering mind can lead to poor technique, laziness and therefore injury.  Again doing what you can to speed up and maximise recovery before and during a session puts you ahead of the eight ball to begin with. 

-          Fuel your session correctly. Long sessions over 90min, don’t need to fuel before, Start fueling by dripping in the calories over the session starting from 20min in as you would in a race. Learn more about what and how much here http://www.hammernutrition.com.au/info-centre/caloric-intake-proper-amounts-during-endurance-exercise/. Shorter session’s, less than 90min (a lot less for less fitter athletes and those that don’t fuel properly post session) don’t need fuelling during but you can have a carb rich snack just before training. After ALL training you MUST have a post session snack within 30min including good carbs and protein. Here’s why http://www.hammernutrition.com.au/info-centre/recover-well-reap-rewards/ (DON’T READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE LINK) this is when the real carb loading is done,  not the race sabotaging gorging of as many carbs as possible too many endurance athletes do  race week. But I digress. On top of this a body that is just struggling to maintain homeostasis cannot put any emphasis on recovering from the trauma of training if it barely has enough fuel to keep the body doing whatever it is you are asking it do after your session! Nutritious, whole foods rich in Carbs and Protein along with plenty of vegetables! 

-          Make it a priority to roll every night! Spending 20min loosening up a stiff and tired body post session will restore the length / tension relationship stopping the damage done  by sleeping, working or whatever it is your doing post session with stressed ‘imbalanced’ muscles. I can’t urge you enough to spend some time checking out this gear and why it’s a vital piece of recovery equipment for athletes. I highly recommend you make this a priority on your purchase list if you want to avoid overuse injury http://www.tptherapy.com.au/. Then once you have it, learn how to use it properly and USE IT!!      

-          Get 8hrs sleep every night. Your body needs its rest to recover from the rigours of life and training. If you are not getting 8hrs your body will continually struggle to fully recover from your workouts and residual fatigue will build over time. Also get as much sleep before midnight as possible!

-          Check out this article by Matt Dixon http://www.purplepatchfitness.com/sites/default/files/Clarify_Recovery.pdf

Program Planning

The old adage “Failing to plan is planning to fail” rings very true in this case. Not only will fail mean potentially not reaching your goals and/or potential (another topic all together) it will be a sure path to injury. Without a plan you can’t measure fatigue, you will be unaware of the many of the signs and symptoms that become obvious when following a well structured, balanced and repetitious program.

I speak to so many people who seem to believe success of a training program is based on a set numbers of kilometres swam, biked and ran or total hours trained.  No regard is given to what intensity that training was completed at, individual life circumstances, repetition, specificity or overload. Now these are simple training principles and how they are applied differs greatly from one coach to the next. I won’t delve too far into my philosophies on this as it is another topic all together. But if you are to be successful you must understand how these principles work and how they can be best applied to your life circumstances, abilities, and the way your body responds to stimulus. Or at least chose a coach who understands this. Check out this article on how outside stress can impact your training http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2012/11/the-stress-of-life-how-stress-can.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+stevemagness+(Science+of+Running)&utm_content=Google+Reader&m=1    

Repeated use of a Muscle or Tendon in a position it is not designed to be used.

There are several causes of this starting from training on ‘imbalanced’ muscles as I discussed earlier, poor posture and poor core strength causing undue stress on compensating muscles. But the two biggies that you can do something about immediately is make sure you are running in the correct shoes for your foot and your bike has been fitted correctly.

Shoes – I recommend that if you have suffered from any type of running injury that you see a qualified sports podiatrist who has an expertise in running / endurance sports. Ensuring you have the correct footwear for your foot is vital.

Bike – When people ask me about bike selection, the single most important consideration I make is that it fits you properly. The most aerodynamic, ceramic bearinged, tricked up piece of machinery will be useless to you unless it fits you. If you are uncomfortable you won’t be able to generate your maximum power potential, you will encourage injury, you won’t enjoy riding and you won’t be able to maintain the most aerodynamic position possible for you. I highly recommend you budget the $$$ to get a professional BG fit into any bike purchase.

BG Fits - http://www.specialized.com/au/en-au/hub/bgfit I believe are the best bike fit system around at the moment. My wife Tarryn recently came back to training and racing after giving birth to our second child. She was suffering bad back pain when in the time trial position. It was evident that her body had significantly changed since riding her bike pre baby number 2. After she spent the three hours to have a professional BG fit done by Sean from http://www.peak.bikehub.com.au/Home/BikeFittingBGFit.aspx  the pain instantly stopped and her power numbers began to increase. This is a complete fit system, which is completely individualised and works. Check it out.

IN CONCLUSION

After reading this you will be gathering a picture that incorporating recovery into your program has nothing to do with lying on the couch all afternoon in between training sessions. In reality to make the above practical suggestions a reality you have to plan well (have all nutrition pre-prepared otherwise you will be caught out eating crap or nothing), stay motivated to complete what can be quite monotonous (rolling on TP gear can be a chore after a while but the benefits are certainly worth the effort), invest a few dollars in recovery equipment, bike and quality food and see the value in how incorporating a recovery approach to your training. Developing these habits will increase your enjoyment and success in the sport of Triathlon.  

Want to learn more about recovery, injury prevention and all things Triathlon check out this new resource from Trispecific. http://trispecificu.com/