Back to Busso

Well, this will be the final blog update before the big race….Might be a few mini updates of the Facebook if I feel like talking some smack or something. https://www.facebook.com/#!/bangdiddy

It’s been 4 years since my last IM, which was down in Busselton as well. That day back in 2007, I didn’t have a great day, but still crossed the line in 9.47 and change. That race did haunt me a little in the years that followed. Many things went wrong! I’ll list them

1.       Nutrition strategy, got complacent and failed to plan and dropped some food on the bike

2.       Ignored my race plan and increased my pace

3.       1 & 2 resulted in a big blow at 160km

4.       In T2 and thought my race was over, switched off mentally and ran the first 10k in 38/39 min. Opps,  2^nd blow up soon followed

5.       Obsess over time and every minute I lost ate away at me. Created a negative mindset

How not to pace and plan during an Ironman. Nerves also got to me on race morning.

My thoughts on that race have changed in the last year and I take a lot of confidence from that day. Yep, I did plenty wrong, but you learn from your mistakes and hopefully it will result in a good day this year.

Going into this one, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Yep it’s going to hurt; I’ll want to walk at some point.  That point when you are pushed to your limits, when courage, determination is all you’ve got to get you home. That is moment I’m looking forward to.

The final week has been pretty restful so far. On the weekend we had one last fun run in Fremantle for the Variety Santa Fun Run. Lauren, Junie, Matt and myself lined up in the sea of red and white.

Despite reminding myself it wasn’t a race, after 500m I eventually got a bit twitchy and had to take off to chase down the rabbits out in front.  Was quite fun running down the main drag of Freo and it also gave me a chance to practise my finish line Welchy impression.

Good luck to those competing in Busso and if you’re watching grab a super hero costume and head over to the Stadium tent!

My predictions

1^st male – Timo Bracht, Smokey Arron Farlow

1^st female -  Kate Belivaqua

My time - :P

Bang Diddy

BIB 230

Bunbury Race Report

I was pretty relaxed pre race and thought I had a good chance of going under the 2hr mark if the wind behaved. The forecast was for light winds, but the easterly was a bit stronger than expected.

Swim

The gun went off and I remained calm and relaxed. Settled into a pack, but started to really struggle heading into the chop. I couldn’t find my rhythm in my new blue seventy wetsuit and it looked like a pack moved away. Not great, but I started to get it together as I headed back into shore and the end of the first lap.

On the 2^nd lap it was still a struggle into the chop and in hindsight I wasn’t adapting well to the conditions. I had increased my stroke rate into the chop, but I wasn’t getting a good catch. The new wetsuit is a better fit than my old one and felt a bit different, which probably distracted me a bit on the day.

I came out of the water with Richard Yeo who hadn’t been training a lot (I’m thinking I’d swam poorly), but just ahead was Johan Borg who normally swims similar to me so maybe it wasn’t so bad. T1 went well and was onto the bike and plus 40 pretty quick.

Bike

I waited until the long straight until I put a bit of power through the pedals and took off in search of the leaders. Over the next few laps I took over plenty on the lapped course and got a call from the sidelines of 20 seconds. Figured that was the gap to Guy Crawford and continued to chase. Was surprised when Matt Illingsworth came by and then Michael Kent as we caught Guy and 1^st place. There was no sudden increase in pace, so I took the opportunity to get in a gel and some fluids.

Two laps to go on the bike and I was confident I had Matt and Guy covered on the run, Michael Kent has had some hot form and I knew I need to make a gap on the bike. Made a move and up past Matt for the lead….. maybe had it for 3 seconds before Matt came back through. Must have made him angry, but it might help open up a gap.

No luck in creating a gap and lost time to Matt through the tight corners and he was gone. It was going to come down to the run.  Finished the 40k averaging 42.2kph, so pretty happy with that. T2 needs some work as I lost ground straight away.

Run

I moved past Guy pretty early and then Matt, with Michael a further 100m up the road. I wasn’t feeling great, but was moving ok. As I got onto the boardwalk it was pretty obvious I wasn’t catching Michael as he was out of sight! I focused on holding my form and running my own race. Moving through the first lap, I was feeling better and knew I had at least 100m over 3^rd and 4^th. Thankfully no challenge came and I was able to keep my pace relatively comfortable to the end and sneaking under the 2hr mark in 1:59:46.

Pretty content, now just for the big one! I am feely pretty relaxed as there is not much more training I can do now. There is still a few descent sessions, but all easier than what has been done. This week will include plenty of visualization and going over and over nutrition for the day.

G-Pop

Weapon of choice

Well finally racing season has arrived and I can’t wait. After missing the duathlon it has been too long between races. I have felt that I have been ready to race for a couple of weeks now (even with a dodgy calf), so am starting to get excited about Bunbury this weekend and Busselton two weeks later. Would also like to welcome Fat Duck Cycles and Espresso as a sponsor, in an individual sport every bit of support is appreciated. So make sure you pop in for a coffee and have a look around when you’re in Busselton, they have plenty of Tri toys in stock.

Thought I’d show off my bike this week….

2010 Felt B2 PRO, Nicknamed “Slimer” due to its lovely lime green detailing. Absolute pleasure to ride!!

Details…

Frame – 2010 Felt B2 PRO

Bars - Felt Bayonet UHC-Nano Ultra Hybrid Composite carbon fiber base bar (that’s a lot of techie words) with f bend alloy bar extensions.

Shifters – Sram R2C

Cranks – Sram Red 175mm

Front derailleur – Sram Red

Rear derailleur – Sram Red

Chain rings – Sram 54-42 TT

Cassette – Sram 11-23

Wheels – Front – Zipp 404 Rear Zipp 808

Saddle – Fizik Arione

Pedals – Dura Ace

Cages – Elite

Bike Computer – Garmin Edge 800

Andrew Budge (http://www.trysport.com.au) set the bike up for me and also advised on purchasing the bike that would fit me the best. There have been a few little adjustments made; the main one was widening the arm rests. Yas Ueno (www.bikeclinic.com.au) made a custom mount to widen them and also services the bike when needed.

For the Bunbury Olympic distance race I’ll carry one bidon (weak Gatorade mix) and tape one gel to the Stem of the bike. I generally like to keep the front of the bike pretty clear.

For the Ironman, I’ll have to carry a bit more nutrition. On the day I’ll have two bars in pockets on my Skins tri suit and will tape my gels behind the stem. Am planning on having 8 gels and the only thing I’m still working out is where to store my salt tablets…. Suggestions are welcome.

Ironman prep is pretty much done and I’m starting to taper. I had planned to only have a 2 week taper with the limited running build up, but my body wasn’t responding well after my week down in Busso. The sudden increase in running on top of riding and swimming has pushed me a little into over training. On the plus side I did get some solid running in (didn’t break anything) and I’m a lot more confident in my run going into Ironman.

Good luck for those of you racing at Bunbury or anywhere else this weekend

Golly G

Busso Camp

With Busso IM only a few weeks away I should let you all know how the prep is going. Generally its going well, the run is the only thing with a question mark over it. After recovering from my calf strain I got back to running for 10 days and then it tightened up again, although in a slightly different spot. October was to be my biggest month of running in this build up, but is not to be. I am confident that I haven’t lost my running form, not so much confidence in my running endurance though. The end of an ironman is meant to be tough, so it doesn’t change much. It will still be battle between the ears to keep on going when the body screams stop! Looking forward to it, should be fun J

The good news is my biking is going very well! Partly due to not running and I sure the weights have also helped. I have been trying to get to the gym twice a week during the last 2months in an attempt to stay injury free and I think it has worked. The latest calf injury was due to me messy around with a bike saddle and getting my seat height wrong.... You’d think I would have learnt by now (yes I was pissed at myself, but can’t do much about it now). The weights I’ve been doing are very simple on machines, Leg press, lying leg curls, Lat pulldown and seated calf raises. Squats and straight leg deadlifts would be better exercises, but I try to get in, get these done and get to the pool. On machines I don’t need to worry about form and technique, just get the exercises done. Post Busso, I’ll continue weights to maintain strength while giving my body a rest from the hours on the bike for a few weeks, but will look at progressing onto the free weights and more specific exercises.

Swimming is going well, frequency is up and volume isn’t too far of pre Busso 70.3 levels. A few more ocean swims would be good, but summer hasn’t shown up yet and overcast conditions are a little too sharky to brave solo ocean swims.

I have been in Busselton since Friday the 4^th and if you never been it’s the type of place that as soon as you enter, you just relax... I set up base camp at sea shells cottage with Pete Hillman, Darrin Stobba, Clint Doak and he’s wife Michelle. We had a good weekend of training with a couple of bricks, ocean swims and a run. My training partners bought enough food to feed a small nation and then left back to Perth, no need to go to the shops, cheers lads.

The weather turned nasty on Sunday night, through Monday and Tuesday, so have spent a bit of time at the Busselton Aquatic centre, yep I feel like a local. Already know the only shower that works well and which life guard will let me hop in the spa for free. Also headed out for my first long run for a while, in an attempt to look after my legs I headed for the soft surfaces of a dirt track east of Sues road. For all you “born to run” fans I couldn’t catch any of the kangaroos and didn’t get anywhere near an emu. Still it was a good run in the bush, it got me out of the wind and I escaped the rain too somehow.

As with all my training camps, something seems to break. Last time it was my wheels (brought spare set this time) and this time it’s my Subaru. So it’s into Auto Masters tomorrow, hopefully it takes a while and I can be stuck here for a few extra days (it’s nice getting so much rest and recovery). I am here until the weekend, which should be enough. For the last three days I’ve relocated to a farm 10k north of Busselton, not far from the bike course and Sues road so I’m happy to be back on the bike tomorrow. The rest of the sessions this week will be nice and long, 180k ride with a short run tomorrow and a lap of the course with a long run off the bike on Thursday. Throw in a couple of swims and it should be a good week.

First tri for the season will be Bunbury on the 20^th of November. Olympic distance and seriously ready to race!

Banger