Compete at WMG Sydney 2009

Argh! Need to choose another event: 10k or half-marathon or something else entirely?

Found some awesome roads to ride in the 905.

Here’s how the script would read for an old movie version:

“You see, kid, the guards weren’t looking, see? So I made a break for it, see? And I busted out of this joint, see? I went through that invisible dog-fence [Director’s Note: Steeles Avenue] that keeps all those fru-fru high-maintenance pedigreed hounds of the 905 safe from all us 416 mutts!”

You know, the guy that the pure cycling community isn’t exactly fond of.

I bought a triathlon bike the other day (not the one pictured) but had not previously owned any other serious cycling gear other than a helmet and gloves. A friend had let me borrow his mountain bike for my first race and a rented road bike has been used for others.

So the bike went in for a fitting and now I’ve got all the gear after this ride was pimped: racing pedals, clip-in tri cycling shoes, seat, stem plus a pair of tri shorts and a cycling top for good measure.

I told the dude that the shirt should say “don’t look at me, I blend” but instead all they had were ones saying “look at me!” Those silly cycling people always calling attention to themselves ;)

That meant it was time to check out the ride. You know in flying where they say takeoffs=landings? I was riding fine around that neighbourhood until wanting to stop to chat with the fellas at the shop and forgot that I needed to unclip. I was taught how to do it but couldn’t get it done. Then I forgot to make momentum my friend. Then my right side met Mr. Sidewalk. Fall-down-go-boom. Clip-ins were greater than clip-outs at that stage. I hadn’t planned the landing at all there, no Mr. Grass to crash on in sight. Oh well, remember your first day using freaky new gear?

Curses! Foiled by the metric system again! Learned this week that the pool where I swim these days is 25 yards, not 25 metres. Rrrrrrrrrr!

Oh well, swam about 1500 yards last night so its all good.

Believe it or not, I blew a tire between 800 and 900. Yes, you read that correctly, while swimming front crawl, a muscle was pulled in the left calf area. Not sure of the technical term, charley horse or cramp? It required some stretching to quiet it down but the calf is still murmuring slightly today, thankfully it did not affect today’s run.

Can’t wait to race again!

To quote Eldric “Tiger” Woods: “The course looks good, my stroke feels good, I like my chances.”

To warm up, rode 12.5 miles (20.3125 km) at 85% or less of max. heart rate which turned out to be 30:46 or 39.613 kph avg speed.

Then a speedy run: started at 8.5 mph, moved up in tenths to 8.8 mph, then eased back to 8.6 by the end of 3047m in 12:57!!!

There is a race this Sunday so I was hoping to do a time trial of 5000m run after a 20 km cycle leg but my fueling, timing and hydration all fell apart so I thought it was better to quit after 3000m today seeing as this week would be a taper week if the race is a go.

Ran outside for the first time the other day in cool conditions but only ran 2 nice 1000m runs in approx 4:30 including a brief wait at the traffic light and 4:20 or better and then the tummy and points further downstream were acting up so I had to stop the workout. Happy with the times, disappointed by the length of the effort.

30 minutes on the bike as a cooldown after a great run (4 miles/6.4 km in 30 minutes) today while keeping to 82-85% of max. heart rate.

Cranked up by a few gears to get more resistance while lowering cadence.

The ride was 11.09 miles but that is completely unimportant.

1100m swimming today. Five stretches of 100m were done so that is a big improvement.

One 50m timed section was 40 seconds which is this season’s average swim speed goal. Now that pace must be lengthened to 100m, 200m, 250m, 400m, 500m and 750m.

Found a competition on April 15th which I would like to enter: 500m swim, 17.5km bike, 5k run; a little less than sprint-length.

Missed a few workouts over the past week while searching for a new home base but yesterday was good.

Run (see entry under Run a 22 minute 5k), upper body weights then 15 minutes of rowing.