Tuesday, December 24, 2013

2013 in Retrospect: A Year of Change

The festive season is often a time of reflection, and this year is no different. Rewinding the clock 12 months, and I'd just landed back in Australia and was looking forward to summer, Ironman Melbourne, and becoming a teacher. I ticked all of those boxes and then some.

After a number of years in Ottawa doing the 'same-old', this year has indeed been a roller-coaster on a number of levels - on a personal level particularly, as some of you may know.
Ironman Melbourne in March this year - a massive learning experience.


Most self-conscious moment of 2013: My mug in Australian Triathlete mag.

Athletically, it's been a tricky year with a stress fracture being most frustrating. But, things are looking up as I've made good progress on the bike and my run fitness and conditioning is coming back after a couple of consistent months of regular running. In fact, I've been able to do weekly 90 minute long runs in the last 4 weeks which I haven't been able to do since May. 


Hopefully I can carry some momentum into the new year and make 2014 even better. To help with that, I'll be enlisting the help of Alex Price of AP10. Alex is one of Australia's most respected triathlon coaches and physiotherapists with a long CV which includes work with Olympians, non-drafting champions and the like.  I've been lucky enough to do some riding with the group, based in Wollongong, this year which has - I believe - been key to having the confidence and the ability to ride harder than I ever have. 

On the racing menu for 2014 so far is Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championships in Auckland in a few weeks, Elite Energy Huskisson Long Course in February, and the Wollongong Olympic Tri in March. As you know the main goal for 2014 is racing Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Mont-Tremblant so with a bit of luck, I'll get my slot in Auckland. 
Petrol for 2013
Big thanks again to Saucony Australia and USN Australia for the ongoing support. Being an ambassador for these guys is unreal and I consider myself very lucky to have the chance to work with them. 

As for the rest of the year, anything else is possible! In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Shepparton

Reader's Digest Version: Good day, 4:30 and change, 10th m25-29, 60th Overall (1400 competitors), 42nd Age-Grouper. No WC ticket :(

NB: In interest of keeping this race report succinct, I wrote separately about the lead-up to the race HERE.

NB #2: Not many pics at the moment, I'll update soon :)

Lead Up:
This week we had a couple of days of Professional Development at uni - which then I spent Thursday and Friday building my new bike (which was a bit stressful and took trips to no less than four bike shops!). Packed up Friday night, then headed out for a cold one to relax before hitting the hay. 

Saturday was spent on the road, mostly, arriving in Shepparton around 3pm for check-in. Bed early to catch some Z's.

4am alarm. Ugh. We stayed in Benalla, about 45-50 minutes away, and had to hit the road early to make it there on time. Got to transition by 5:30 and got my race morning 'needs' out of the way. Phil announced shortly thereafter there were some changes made to the wave starts, and athletes should be looking for update start times posted around the site. m25-29 were initially set to go at 7:02am - just after the PRO wave - but instead would now be the second-last wave at 7:31! Still don't understand how the waves were re-shuffled like that the night before a race which was sold out for 6 months. Disappointing. This would have a few implications, with the main one being 'traffic'.

Nevertheless, can't stress about things outside of our control - so roll with the punches. I said goodbye to my folks and set about walking over to the swim start. Got to see the first few waves take off. Clayton and Josh stretched out the pro's right from the get-go. On their way around past the start, the lead kayak lead them off course, then proceeded to tell them to backtrack around a can - what a joke - poor girl was mortified. They kept most of their advantage over the main pack, but Hodgy got back on their feet in the process.
Cool and glassy conditions on the lake race morning.

What was evident at this point, was the congestion in the lake, as the boys began navigating their way through large packs of lapped swimmers. It's not a big lake, and to get 1.9km out of it, the course loops around 1.5 times and has a pretty awkward shape, hugging all the lake's edges. 

So my day began there, in the turbid and cold water with 1400 pairs of thrashing arms.

SWIM - 1.9km: 32:01
As I've said, the water was really flaming turbid (that's muddy, for you non-geographers) and pretty chilly (18 degrees). I jumped in and did a quick warm up, but nothing huge. We took off and it was an absolute shit-fight from the horn.
Old-mate Lake. Pretty cramped with 1400 athletes spaced out over only 30 minutes.


A couple of guys lined up on the front row in front of me and after about 10m it was pretty evident they shouldn't have been there. I got stuck behind them for the first 100m or so as the pack took off. Anyway, we merged in to a bit of traffic and began working our way through a lot of slower swimmers from prior waves. This continued and throughout the whole swim it felt like there was always someone to navigate around. 

Anyway, was chuffed to get out, even though my split was a few minutes slower than I hoped for.
Getting out the water with folks.. look at that milkshake of a lake



T1: 2:18
Classic T1 for me - pass people on the run in, lose a bunch of time struggling with my wetsuit and fumbling with my helmet. Quick bike mount and we're off.

BIKE - 90km: 2:24:40
I was really happy with my ride, for once. Without a good prep, I was lucky that the course was very fast and flat (allowing undercooked people like me to get away with it, to a certain extent). 

Having been in the last wave, there was a LOT of traffic on the course. A lot. I passed a huge number of competitors on the first lap - and a lot of them were in packs. For the entire first lap I didn't see a single Technical Official. Just a bunch of wheel suckers. To be fair, there were a lot of folks where were just 'stuck' - not intending to draft, just stuck without anywhere to go. The road was very narrow in certain sections, making it often unsafe to pass.
I know, I know, aero weenies - no disc and not a very good 'turtle' 


I rode to my watts, but was often soft-pedaling to keep a good distance back from those in front, before passing or whatever. A dude on a Shiv Tri and I kept passing each other, taking turns to pace and guide us through the field. He fell off about 10kms into the second lap though. 

Final numbers were 187 AP, 188 NP (i.e. steady effort), IF=0.75, 1605kj of work, and two pisses. I wasn't quite in shape to push more watts, though it would have been nice to get a few extra minutes. Next time.

Oh yeah, new whip was a dream! 

My Garmin shut off (no idea why) for a minute or so, right where it looks like I cut a corner through the paddocks ;)

A few notes on the course: The roads were chip seal, not the quickest, but still in pretty good shape and very consistent.  Some sections were pretty darn narrow. 

T2: 1:59
Fumbled with my socks a bit, but otherwise pretty standard.

RUN - 21.1km: 1:29:28
3 lap course around the lake and along the creek, plenty crowded. Bring it on.
I felt pretty ordinary from the get go. I drank plenty and got in 250g - 300g of carbs on my ride so I knew it wasn't that. Just fitness I think. I due to the stress fracture this year and lack of run prep, it was always going to be a battle. Jog on.
Dem crowds


Lap 1 was probably the toughest, mentally. Felt like it was going to be a long one. There were a lot of people on the course, and on the out-and-back section it was a constant battle getting around people. Most people stuck 'on-the-right', but it's certainly not a course where you can jog alongside your mate two abreast.

Was really cool seeing Terenzo, Bergs and Hodgy heading for home, then being passed by Matty White as he trucked it in for fourth.

Lap 2 hurt the most, physically. Gut was a bit bloated so getting in the coke was a little bit of a struggle. Suck it up. Was feeling the heat quite a bit, too, by this stage.

Lap 3 was the best. My legs felt great for the first half of it and I felt fit for a while, which was fun. I took on a bit of coke at the turn around, gritted my teeth, and headed for home.


 Didn't start my watch until a few minutes into the run. Dem satelites.

Crossing the line was really satisfying. Before the race I was a bit anxious with regards to how I
would actually go, but I was relieved to be able to run an OK half-marathon on crap preparation.


This felt good.


Post-Race:
Off to get some water, protein and a massage (AMAZING!) as soon as possible. Felt pretty good, certainly not too dehydrated like my two previous long-distance races. Mum showed me the tracker, which indicated I had finished 10th in my AG. 60th overall, but only 10th in my AG. So take out the pro field (18), and 10/42 top age-groupers were m25-29 and we only had one slot for the World Champs. Ugh.

I went to roll-down anyway, knowing miracles can happen. Unfortunately (for me), Gerard Wild (1st in m25-29) also showed up and grabbed the slot, leaving the other five guys in our AG a bit heartbroken. But, hope remained as there were 25 slots, and only 28 people who showed up to roll down, meaning only three people would go home empty-handed. After all initial slots were allocated, including two m35-39 slots to a couple of chuffed competitors who finished 69th and 120-something-ith in their age-group, there were four roll down slots. We got an extra one, but old-mate who finished fourth grabbed it. Spewing.

At the end of the day, I'm still very happy with the outcome: I came to lay down all my cards, and I'm confident I got the most out of my body today - I just didn't have the fitness to go to that next level.

Now I've got two-months to prepare for the Asia-Pacific Ironman 70.3 Championship in Auckland, NZ. There will be a lot more spots there, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll get a shot at competing next year in Mont-Tremblant.

Finally, I must acknowledge Shepparton Tri Club and the rest of the team including the fantastic volunteers, and the town of Shepparton and the amazing residents - this was, in terms of atmosphere and athlete experience, one of the best races I've ever been in.
Onwards!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Pre-Race Report - The Rocky Road to Shepparton

Confidence is knowing what to do when you don't know what to do.
                                                                                                                            - Alan Brunacini

I feel like I know what I'm doing. I'm in tune with my body and I am realistic with my expectations of what I can get out of it. I'll be digging deep on Sunday, no question about that
.





Since the announcement -heck, let's be honest, it was before the announcement- that the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship would be coming to Mont-Tremblant, the goal for this year was always going to be getting myself a M25-29 ticket to the big dance.

So, racing a few 70.3 events here in Australia was logical. I contemplated Port Macquarie, but decided it would have been too early to have a good race. After hearing a lot of good things about Shepparton Tri Club's running of the Shepp 70.3, it seemed like a good fit - particularly given I wouldn't need to rush back for work or uni.

I signed up early - back in the New Year - to guarantee myself an entry. Little did I know, I would have a crappy winter. A stress fracture in May meant squat-all running for 6 months. In fact, I've done one long run of 17kms in the last month. Heck, one month ago, I was running 20km a week if I was lucky! After a few OK run splits at Nepean and Husky where I managed 3:48/km and 3:46/km paces for the respective run legs, I'm confident my run legs are still there - for short course at least. We'll find out Sunday just how out of shape I am, as there's no way to hide poor fitness in a Half-Ironman.

Poor fitness? Yeah. I've averaged only 10hrs/week over the last few months and haven't done a long ride (4hrs+) since September (I think, from memory). Simply put, I'm going into this race way underdone on the back of the most inconsistent training period I've had in the past four years. It's a gamble, but I haven't necessarily been able to control the circumstances which prevented me from nailing the important long sessions. We'll see what happens. No excuses, but I may be looking at these factors for answers.

Come Monday, I'll be analysing the rest of the year's plans pending the result. I've already made plans to work with someone going forward, who will hopefully be able to help me get a plan of attack for 2014 and beyond - stay tuned for that!





Saturday, November 9, 2013

Race Report: Elite Energy Husky Sprint

Rain, cool temperatures and a pretty sleepless lead up. Fun times. It's been a pretty hectic few weeks, busy on my final teaching prac and working weekends meant squeezing in training has been pretty tough. The real test will be next weekend at Shepparton 70.3. Nevertheless, this was a good little hit-out and a fun day despite the weather.
Thanks for pic Mark

Overall result was 15th (out of 398) in the Sprint race, and 3rd in m25-29, with a 1:09 time. Ahead of me were a bunch of fast juniors and consistent dream-crusher Mick Maroney, as well as a number of other studs.

Swim (750m): 11:09. Easy triangle loop in J-Bay. Water looked pretty glassy at first glance, but there was a little bit of swell to contend with. Started in the front row and pushed to keep pace with a few fish. Lost touch ahead of the first can as I drifted off to the right 10m or so, but swam tightly across the next section and exited in 6th.


T1 + Bike (20km) + T2: 38:27 (Actual bike split was 35 and change). Felt much better on two wheels today, compared to Nepean.  I was in the third wave of starters, so there wasn't too much traffic ahead and the biggest challenge was the weather, with a few downpours early on. Cycling still very much a work in progress, but I'm happy with how it felt today. I hit T2 in 3rd.


 Run (5km) 19:32: Didn't quite feel magic, but was able to get along at a decent clip and hold onto 3rd. The kids from the U20 wave were well ahead, so it was pretty lonely for the most part. I saw Mick breathing fire just after the turnaround so I knew he was going to be on my heels if I let up. 3:46/km ave pace just a little quicker pace than Nepean the other week - I just don't have those high-end gears! The course was a touch long, I think - I measured it at 5.23km - but meh, all good.


Looking forward to heading down to Victoria and rolling the dice next weekend!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Race Report: Nepean Triathlon

Headed out to the 'Riff' today to have a run at the 32nd Nepean Triathlon, and have to say -aside from the flaming blisters- I'm happy with today's outcomes.

The Tell-All Trailer: Good swim, flat bike, good run. Happy Steve. Oh yeah, 87th OA, 8th in M25-29.

Feature-Length Version:
If you've been following the sparse updates offered on this lowly slice of the interweb, you'll know I've been dealing with a pain in the ass foot. Back in May, I did myself a doozy and picked up a low-grade stress fracture in my third metatarsal (L). As a result, I've run bugger all in the last 5 months or so, and consequently came to today's race with few expectations.

1km Swim: 15:21. Starting in the same pack as a the pros -including the odd Olympian, Long-Distance Champ, and ITU World Champ- was pretty cool. Those guys went hell-for-leather and the rest of us just tried to hang on as much as we could (probably about 10m). Settled in a chugged along. Pretty straightforward swim (literally) and we were upright before long. 



T1: 2:11. Meh. Wetsuit stuck like glue (suprise, suprise). 

30km Bike: 51:35. High heart-rate, crap power. Pretty punchy course with a lot of turns to power out of. Not a great course for me, I guess. No excuses, just need to improve.

T2: 1:50. Racks weren't labelled from the bike-in gate. As usual, ran to the wrong rack (Classic me). Struggled with my shoes, and off.

10km Run: 37:53. Chuffed with that. Second run off the bike since Ironman Melbourne, and one of the longest runs I've done since May. Such a flat course, it was good to settle in to a rythym and enjoy being passed by the pros. 

When I came onto the course, I was right behind Nat VanCovorden, who was in 3rd and just began her 2nd lap. Before long, Aaron Royle made my 3:45/km's feel very pedestrian - he passed me en route to the W. Appo (Who's on a roll!) then Sticksy ran by, also on the way to podiums. I ended up running alongside Charlotte McShane for a K or so as as she ran into 4th spot (I think she was in the hurt box and didn't care for my encouragement :P), but again - too cool running along with the U23 ITU World Champ! The Gong locals were killing it today.



Thanks to USN Australia for keeping me fuelled and to Saucony Australia for the kicks, as always. Looking forward to having a dig out at Husky in a few weeks then Shepparton 70.3 to -with a bit of luck- get myself a ticket to the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Next Elephant 2.0

I would have liked to start this post some a nugget of wisdom about rolling with the punches, or playing the hand you're dealt, but I won't bore you. I'm still on the way back from the stress fracture I posted about a few months ago. It's a slower recovery than I would have liked but I'm confident of a full return to run training soon.

In the meantime I have been busy training my butt off (not literally - it's still there) on the bike and in the pool. Using the PowerTap I got my hands in Autumn, I got busy restructuring my bike training and making inroads into what I perceived to be my weakness - top end and sustainable power on the bike. I can report that I've gained quite a few watts in the last few months which is really pleasing. Also, for those of you who put up with my whinging about not being at 'race weight' and dragging my fat ass around in the off-season, I'd like to share that I've shed ~4kgs since returning from Ottawa. So, upping my power and dropping a bit of weight  makes my Power:Weight (w/kg) ratio a bit less embarrassing! 

I feel I've made good technical progress on my swim stroke, too, over the last couple of months. I'm doing some more CSS training as we head towards race season here in Aus in the next few months, and things are looking good.

I've also made a few amendments to the initial season plan I posted about in May. Here's the new list below! As usual, there might be some tweaks, but the big dances will remain steady. 

  • Run Wollongong - October 20th 2013. This is going to be a really fun way to kick off the summer. The Cotton On Foundation is bringing a number of events around Australia to support local communities to improve the health of young people. 
  • Nepean Triathlon - October 27th 2013. The OLDEST triathlon in Australia and a true classic on the NSW Triathlon Calender. This is a hallmark event and this year they've upped the pro prize-purse which I think is fantastic - the pro races should be great to watch. Should be an awesome first triathlon of the season in a snappy 1km-30km-10km format. I thought about racing Port 70.3 given it's the Aussie AG Champs, but I reckon it will be a better for the overall season to hold off until Shepp. Still a little indecision here, we'll see!


  • Ironman 70.3 Shepparton - November 17th 2013. I'm really looking forward to this one! It's supposed to be one of those big races with a small-race-feel. It will be the weekend after finishing uni so Audrey and I are hoping to spend some time checking out the Snowies afterwards!
age-group-swim-start-ii

  • Elite Energy Callala Classic Triathlon - December 8th 2013.On minutes from where I grew up! A new Classic Distance this year from the guys at Elite Energy should be a lot of fun. 2km swim in Jervis Bay, 60km bike on Forest Rd (I rode that road a lot in training for Ironman Melbourne!) and a 15km run in around Callala and Myola - should be a cracker! 

  • Ironman 70.3 Auckland - January 2014. This is a big one for us - Audrey's first 70.3 and a big crack for a Half-Ironman World Championship qualification slot. Should be brilliant! Also, Aotearoa is calling us for a visit!

  • Pearl Izumi Long Course Triathlon - February 23rd, 2014. We're staying put the entire summer (mostly) so I feel I can commit to some 2014 events! I felt I left a lot on the table here in 2013 (mainly on the bike) and want another crack on this stellar course! (Just chuck m25-59 in an earlier wave Emo! PLEASE!) Here's a video I made of last year's race:

Husky Triathlon 2013 from Steve Crossman on Vimeo.


  • Elite Energy Wollongong Triathlon Festival - March 9th 2014. I wanted to race this badly in 2013 given it was close and it was an Australian AG World Championship qualifier where there would be a few studs. But, it was only 14 days out from Ironman Melbourne and things got too crazy at uni so I couldn't even go to watch, in the end. Now we've moved to the area, should be fun to hammer on this fast course with end-of-season fitness!



Sunday, August 11, 2013

Time in the fast lane

Not a swimming analogy, unfortunately (although I have been swimming a bit lately). We've been flat-out the last few weeks. I arrived from Ottawa after a 40-odd hour trip absolutely smashed on a Sunday morning with the worst jet lag I've ever had. After a couple of hours of sleep, I began my second uni semester of the year. That first week was full-on with teaching prac days to make up (becuase I had to jet out early) and uni on the go.

The following weekend, I picked up Audrey on the Saturday morning and we got straight into moving. Fast forward a few hectic weeks and we're still moving, more or less. Living room still a disaster and many things to organise.

Good news is, we're getting there.

Other good news is, the Illawarra is stellar place to train. I've been loving getting out and exploring some new routes. I'm looking forward to getting into a really good routine with training, and getting out more with the AP10 gang, which I really enjoyed on Saturday.

Here's the Royal National Park loop we did (Garmin battery died with 20km to go):
Here are a couple of shots from the last couple of weeks...





Sunday, July 7, 2013

Belated Update: A different kind off season

TT'ing my fat-ass around the Meech Lake Triathlon in a relay. Ouch.
Been a little while. Few things to catch up on.

Firstly, its been almost 6 weeks since I got the stress fracture and things are plodding along. My foot still feels a little tender and, at the moment, I would be hesitant to run. I will try and get a scan ahead of running. Hopefully I will able to get running soon - it's 5 weeks out to the City2Surf and whilst I have pretty well given up on 'racing' it, it would be nice to be able to make it a solid tempo hit-out.


Running aside, training has been good. I'm back in Ottawa at the moment to receive my Canadian Citizenship so I'm loving the warmer temps and long days. I've rocked some solid hours on the bike with lots of hard riding - I've gained at least 5 watts in my CP since getting back on the bike. Problem is, I've put on a few kilos too! Since the injury, my weight has blown out to 73kgs (I was 69kgs for IM Melbourne), despite doing 10+ hrs on the bike and just under 15-20kms in the water weekly. Given the racing I'll be doing in the next 12 months is quite a bit shorter than Ironman, I'll be looking to trim down to a good sustainable weight by October.


Some good open water swim sessions too with the boys, practicing drafting, swim starts and what-not. Fun times. Love Meech Lake. Folks in Ottawa are super lucky to have that at their disposal!

In other news, I've begun doing some work for Australian triathlon site Trizone.com.au. Head-honcho Karl Hayes has been kind enough to offer me the opportunity to try it out, writing some race previews, reports and interviews. I'm still learning the ropes, particularly being time-efficient with my writing, but loving it so far and looking forward to digging the heels in a little more as the Australian summer approaches. You can check out some my work so far here: http://www.trizone.com.au/author/steve-crossman/


Upon returning to Australia in a couple of weeks, Audrey and I will be relocating to Wollongong (Port Kembla, specifically) which is exciting. I'm really looking forward to another new training environment and the opportunity to train with a lot of quality athletes in the region. Bring it on!


Friday, June 21, 2013

Tidbits

Few little bits of news to report:
- I'm off to Canada (again). Will fly over on short-notice for a few weeks to receive Canadian citizenship (finally!). Should be good - long days and nothing but swim, bike, run, relax and socialise. Not bad, eh.
- The low-grade stress fracture is going OK. I've been in the pool daily and starting to get back into regular swimming instead of 100% band and pull work. I think it's been a pretty good swim block. This week I've been back on the back on the pushy. I'm on prac at the moment so have been pretty limited  on saddle time due to the short days. So, plenty of tempo riding has been the remedy.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Dealing with a Stress Fracture

Unfortunately, I've picked up a stress fracture in my ?3rd metatarsal of my left foot. Yeah, I know, it sucks.Training was going really consistently and I was hitting some good intensity and doing some great strength workouts. I had a little bit of soreness in my left foot for a week or so. Not the kind of soreness you really take notice of, though. Then, on a downhill return doing hill repeats BAM - something really hurt. I had to pull up and walk back to my car. I knew there and then that something was up and I had a nasty feeling it was a stress fracture in my foot which is a common overuse injury among runners. I made it back home later that evening (I was in Wollongong at the time) and got busy Googling. I didn't find a whole lot of related info for triathletes, so I thought I would put something together as a little resource for later on.

'What's a stress fracture, and how'd I get it?'
A SF is an overuse injury occurring when muscles become too tired to absorb shock. The result is energy from running (or other stress loads) is then transferred more by the bone which causes a tiny crack called a stress fracture. More than 50% of stress fractures occur in the lower leg (i.e. ankle and foot) and, for runners, that usually means metatarsals 2-5, or, in the tibia (shin). Keep in mind, though, there are 26 bones in the foot and they're also suseptable.

Commonly, SF's are cause by a rapid increase in training stress (in either volume or intensity). Dodgy old running shoes can be a factor, also, so make sure you're changing them every 500-600kms no matter what. A new pair of shoes will cost you less than physio. Besides, the colours of running shoes seem to turn over quicker than Apple products so you ought to stay in the loop! 
For the ladies, you're at an increased risk. Medical reviews show a phenomenon called the 'female athlete triad' of disordered eating, amenorrhea (dodgy menstrual happenings) and osteoporosis increases your chances of picking up a stress fracture due to decrease in bone mass - so keep an eye on the symptoms of the 'triad' and stay on top!

Symptoms of a stress fracture
It hurts, basically. Not like this guy, though. He 'Shit the F*cking bed'.
.
Usually, pain will occur during exercise before subsiding during rest. You can have bruising or swelling around the middle of your foot (for metatarsals 2-4) or on the side if it's a Jones Fracture (5th metatarsal). 

Diagnosis:
If you suspect you've picked up a stress fracture, get to a GP or a Podiatrist ASAP. If you're Doc isn't a POD, or is a newb (as was my case) they might think 'Hmm no visible trauma, get an Xray'. Xrays might not show the fracture so the Doc may just tell you to HTFU, so make sure you get a bone scan in order to get a proper diagnosis to begin with. Early diagnosis is essential for good management.

Treatment:

  • Rest. Rest. Rest. Take the weight off and avoid walking as much as possible. Depending on the case, healing will usually take 4-6 weeks but may take much longer, particularly if you push it during the acute stage and induce more stress. Crutches may help.
  • Immobilise that sucker. Get a CAM shoe or similar. 
  • Ice can reduce inflammation and pain during the acute stage.
  • Stay drug free. Evidence suggests avoiding NSAID's as they can inhibit bone healing.
  • Hit up your Vitamins - 1200mg of Calcium and of Vitamin D2 (400-800 IU) can help, particularly early on.
  • Encourage blood flow. Gentle massage can help.
'Can I exercise?'
Based on anecdotal evidence, you can, but at the risk of prolonging the healing. Basically, you should be resting as much as possible, staying off the foot in weight-bearing activities, and exercising patience. 
  • Cycling: It seems the medical community is kind of divided on this. Some have given guys the go-ahead to cycle, some have put up red flags. Early on, probably a no-no. Wait a few weeks. Doctors may clear you, but baby it, please! Start small. 20-30 minutes on the wind trainer. Any sign of pain STOP and R.I.E! Don't rush it. Folks who do more seem to take a longer time to heal and run into chronic problems down the road.
  • Swimming: This is recommend as a 'cross-training' method for runners who've picked up a stress fracture. Actually, the aerobic cross-over is pretty good from swimming to running. There's lots of anecdotal evidence out there that suggests runners who spend a good deal of time in the pool don't lose a lot, if any, of their running fitness (this is coming from triathletes who are from a pure running background and then jump into huge swimming blocks). Again, baby it. Avoid pushing off the wall and stay away from kick sets or flippers. This is a good time to do LOTS of pull and band work. Make Coach Paulo, Darren Smith and Joel Filliol proud. This is also a good time to smash a swim block, work on technique, etc - see below in Goal Settiing!

  • Running: Ideally, get in for a second scan. An xray should pick it up after a couple of weeks and by 4-6 weeks your Doc should be able to give you an idea on how it's healing. Once you get an all-clear (anywhere from 4-12 weeks out) start small. Like, really small. Try 5 minutes first. Baby it. Nothing more than 20 minutes first week back. Focus on frequent, small runs. Build slowly. Get some conditioning back before trying anything remotely intense. Make use of a treadmill, if you can, as it will take away from of that energy from impact. Soft surfaces like grass are also good. And for goodness sake, don't go barefoot.
Bottom line is to baby it. Take your time and do it right. This can be pretty tough, which is a segway into this next section.

Psychological Implications:
Firstly, if you're an athlete who's never had to really deal with injury before, it's really hard not to feel a bit like this guy and dwell on the negatives:

Frustration and anger are normal enough reactions. After-all, an injury is a setback from our initial plans and objectives. It's important to understand that most athletes are going to experience injury or illness at one point, or another. There are a few strategies sports psychologists recommend in order to deal with the injury and move-on.
  • Goal Setting: Necessary tool in any athlete's mindset. Get some direction. Set short-term, manageable goals and get to it. Having some goals which can be quantified is great to track your progress and get some assurance you're moving in the right direction. Stuff like spending a bit more time in the gym doing your rehab exercises each week or doing a bit more aqua-running. As triathletes, we're lucky in the sense that if we, as in this case, bust our foot, we can still work in the pool. So, having some swim related goals is a realistic and measurable goal - perfect!
  • Visualisation: Yep. Sounds a bit like Power Bracelets but there are a number of peer reviewed studies that show visualisation of positive athletic situations - past and future - can help you maintain a positive outlook to even rehearse skills. Try visualising a key race or practicing transitions, for example. 
Future prevention: staying smart!
  • Eat well, nothing as good as a balanced diet. Keep up the Calcium and vitamin D if you have the risk factors stacked against you. Crap little carbonated bevvies, booze and tobacco reduce bone mineral density - avoid that sh*t, although I hope no athletes really need to be told to lay off the smokes.
  • Good footwear - remember, 600kms max in your shoes (200-300kms in race kicks). 
  • Avoid big changes in training stress - don't increase the volume or intensity too quickly. 5-10% a week!
  • Stay on top of niggles - if you feel a little tenderness in your feet, rest immediately. Don't let it turn into a stress fracture.

Friday, May 10, 2013

The Next Elephant

Another decent elephant
I was reminded of a saying this morning in giving a few pointers to a friend of mine attempting her first Half Ironman next month (By the way - GO JULIE!), and it goes a little like this: ''When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.'' The next elephant on my metaphorical plate will be qualifying for the WTC Ironman 70.3 World Championships in 2014. In my books, that's a pretty good elephant.

This is a set a little while ago, some time before racing Ironman Melbourne. It was part of a long-term plan Jean-Phillip and I had to race 70.3 Worlds in 2014 and Ironman Hawaii in 2015 together, before we get the boot from m25-29.

So, we've got a goal and next step is getting together a plan and get busy with the process of training. More about that later.

For now, I'll share with you the racing menu for the forthcoming 12 months.

  • City2Surf - August 2013. There's just something about experiencing 'heartbreak hill' and racing alongside 80,000 other nutters. Every August when my mate Jeremy used to race it, I was pretty jelly! Now it's my turn!




  • Nepean Triathlon - October 2013. The OLDEST triathlon in Australia and a true classic on the NSW Triathlon Calender. This is a hallmark event and this year they've upped the pro prize-purse which I think is fantastic - the pro races should be great to watch. Should be an awesome first triathlon of the season in a snappy 1km-30km-10km format. I thought about racing Port 70.3 given it's the Aussie AG Champs, but I reckon it will be a better for the overall season to hold off until Shepp. Still a little indecision here, we'll see!


  • Ironman 70.3 Shepparton - November 2013. I'm really looking forward to this one! It's supposed to be one of those big races with a small-race-feel. It will be the weekend after finishing uni so Audrey and I are hoping to spend some time checking out the Snowies afterwards!
age-group-swim-start-ii

  • Ironman 70.3 Canberra - December 2013. This should be a good fun race a few weeks out from Christmas. A few hours from home and a good opportunity to punch that ticket! I also reckon it's pretty cool we get to play on the doorstep of Australian democracy. Maybe Abbott will be out for this one? 

  • Ironman 70.3 Auckland - January 2014. This is a big one for us. Audrey is planning on going around, too! M-P is planning to meet us there and dabble in a little racing with us. Should be brilliant! Also, Aotearoa is calling us for a visit!


After Auckland, there's nothing planned in stone. Maybe do Husky sprint in February if we're around here on the Coast. Likewise, there are a few races I would consider in March such as Challenge Bateman's Bay, but again, not sure what our plans are, just yet. We'll see! Watch this space.





Thursday, April 18, 2013

Continuing the Relentless Pursuit

Simon Whitfield, an athlete and a person for whom I have the utmost respect, talks a lot about 'the relentless pursuit' [of athletic excellence]. It's a philosophy based on great preparation  great performances, and having pride in your craft. I'm pretty passionate about my hobby and really want to perform well. Going forward, if I want to take it to the next level, I'll have to change things up a touch.

I worked hard in training for Ironman Melbourne. I put in a lot of miles and a lot of hours. I trained in the cold, in the heat, in the dark, in the snow, in the rain, in airports, open roads, crappy pools, dodgy surf, and even in my bedroom. And, I did most of it solo, flying-blind as it were. I didn't know a huge deal about periodisation or the optimum blend of intensities for an Ironman. I learned a lot in that race. I learned something key to endurance training, something that many others have experienced also, and I'll share with you 140-odd characters from Matt Dixon which really sums it up (it kind of has to, it's only 140 characters!):




Simply, it's not just about clocking the hours - there's much more to it. It begins months and months ahead, involves skills, technique, strength, speed, endurance not only physically but mentally. I didn't tick all those boxes, no sir.

So. Now I find myself in the "off-season" for the next 6 months. There will be the chance to dabble in a few events such as the City2Surf in August, but I am going to totally revamp my training and commit to a smarter training philosophy using the experience I gained in the last couple of races, and knowledge I gained from Pete Clifford and Triathlon NSW's Coaching program.

In the pool I have been doing a lot of drill work. I have a number of technical things I really need to work on. I'm also going to try and learn a number of new skills like dolphin kicking, and new strokes. It's going well so far!

The new hoops!
On the bike I've got myself a power meter, in the form of a Powertap, and I'm really looking forward to training with it and using it to really make bounds in my cycling capacity. I did a VO2 max lab test back in November for a mate's lab work and it basically showed that my peak power is OK, but my FTP could use work. I tested today, showing a 3.44w/kg FTP which isn't great. It's not pathetic, but it means there is a lot of room for improvement. I reckon I could write a post on that alone.. stay tuned!


My running could use some work, too. Once my legs begin to feel sharp (still a little sluggish after IM), I want to start hitting the track. Might even get another Half-Mara PB in September if I don't slack off.


So with my refreshed desire to improve and train efficiently and with purpose, I'll be looking forward to [hopefully] making my way up the placings a bit and being competitive with the studs on race day.



Enjoy a little Simon...

Friday, April 5, 2013

Recovery

It's been about 12 days Ironman Melbourne, and I must admit, I'm feeling scarily good. For a year, I had read or heard stories of long recoveries - several months long. And for a few days, I thought I would be in that boat, too, having shelled my legs at the big dance. Then, after a few good nights' sleep, some light activity (namely walking around and some easy swimming), eating reasonably well and doing plenty of stretching and trigger-point, I came back to life pretty darn quickly.

Last weekend (6-7days post-race), I did a couple of light rides at a recovery effort and felt really good. I tried a first jog early this week. It, however, did feel cumbersome and laboured - similar to the end of a +2hr long run. I ran today, and felt great. Not 100%, but 85% - which 12 days post-Ironman I am pretty happy with. I feel like I'm riding really strongly at the moment, as well, having done a couple of hilly little loops this week I was really please with the legs!
Had a good swim this morning with the local squad and even though they beat me up a bit, I still felt pretty good.

Nothing too much on the horizon, though, so there's no rush to do any more or push any harder than what I feel like on a day-to-day basis. I'll just keep training lightly and try to improve technically where I can. I've started doing more strength training, as well, which is a pleasant change.

To summarise for all you folks who skimmed lazily to the bottom in hope of something really exciting, here's Cliff-notes version of why I feel amazing only 12 days after an Ironman:

  • Getting in protein straight away - i.e. right after crossing the line
  • Good sleep
  • Good food
  • Light exercise
  • Stretching
  • Trigger-point (poor man's massage)
Recovery begins here, at the finish line.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Race Report: 2013 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship (Ironman Melbourne)

Where to begin? I completed my first Ironman triathlon last week in Melbourne at WTC's Asia-Pacific Ironman Championship. I completed the race in 9:19, finishing 235th overall, and 25th in m25-29 (Link to results).

This is a journey that began, I suppose, with my first triathlon a few years ago - it was inevitable that one day, I would do a 'big one'. 12 months ago, one of my best mates, Jeremy, talked me into signing up for the race. And so, in early April 2012 the journey had a finite timeline.

Jez getting rego'd up
In leading up to the race, I believed I had trained pretty well. I had nailed some good, consistent weeks of 20-odd hours each from the Christmas holidays on-wards, and felt my swim and run form was really good, particularly. Of course, I was a self-coached Ironman first-timer training solo, so my view on training was pretty subjective. After having a week to think about the race and my lead-up, I have learned a lot and would make a number of changes next time, but we'll talk about that later.

Pre-Race: I arrived in Melbourne on Friday morning. Jeremy and I headed down to registration that afternoon, picking up our kits, getting well-wishes from Ironman World-Champ Pete Jacobs, and all that jazz. We picked up my gear -kindly transported by my parents to Melbourne- and Audrey that evening and set about preparing our bags before heading to bed.


The beautiful Teschner 703 ready to go, loaded with USN fuel!

On Saturday, Jeremy and I did our 'warm-up' ride/run on a windy Beach Rd, which would give us a little taste of Sunday's weather. Afterwards, we did our final packing then headed down to Frankston to check in the gear, drool over some of the pros' gear, and get a good look of the chop coming across Port Philip Bay. At this time, there were some rumors of a changed swim course, or even a swim cancellation. We tried not to think too much about it, and headed back to have the 'last supper', and head to bed.

I slept pretty well, surprisingly, but woke to loud gusts of wind outside.We set about having breakfast and coffee before jumping in the car and driving, once again, back down to Frankston.

Jeremy and I before the start.
Breakfast was: a bowl of porridge; 4 squares of dark chocolate; a cup of coffee, and; a banana.

We hit the port-a-loos with plenty of other nervous folks before heading over to do final prep on the bikes. By this time, Mike Reilly was announcing that there would be a shortened swim due to the rough conditions, on a changed course. Jeremy and I, along with plenty of other folks, were pretty gutted. I guess when it's your first one, you want to tick all the boxes. As we would find out though, the race would still have plenty to throw at us.

Swim: 00:27:24 (1500m; 388th OA). It was disappointing enough to have such a shortened swim. The course the RD came up with, though, was truly heartbreaking. Mass start from the beach, hard right turn at the end of the pier, swim out and do a U-turn around a few cans, then head back past the pier, go hard left around a third can, and into the beach with the swell. Great. An out-and-back swim. A mass of swimmers, in chop, going head on at each other. I've no idea what that Swim Course Director had for breakfast. It lead to, first and foremost, dangerous swimming, and secondly, cheating where plenty of folks turned at the first buoy (SEE HERE).

The conditions for the swim




My swim was good, though, and I did actually enjoy heading out in the swell. Despite starting close to the front, the initial few hundred metres before turning was a mess. It was simply too soon to turn for such a big group (HAVE LOOK HERE AT THE START, YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN). I ended up quasi-bodysurfing my way into the beach which was really fun. The shortened course, though, lead to a lot of congestion in T1, and the first quarter of the bike leg.

T1: 00:03:29 (180th OA). Run up the beach, into the tent, grabbed my helmet bag, wetty off, helmet & sunnies on, run out, grab bike, mount and off we go. Easy.

Bike: 05:18:59 (477th OA). Out onto the bike, the course was pretty darn congested. With the shortened swim, we probably had half the field on there in less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately, this lead to a lot of drafting - a lot of it blatant cheating, some of it unintentional and somewhat forced. I can proudly say that I didn't partake in any group riding, and dropped back once passed. I did enjoy some pacing with other riders, though, something I don't often get to do.

Heading out from T1
Climbing out of the tunnel - a good opportunity to have a stand


Loads of folks down at the turn around


The first out section was into a brutal headwind. Going into the tunnel was a real buzz, and heading back with that knarley tail-wind was a lot of fun, on the first lap. This pacing and the buzz of finally being out there racing Ironman, lead me to probably over do it on the bike a little. I went 2:34 for the first lap, and roughly 2:45 for the second. The wind had picked up and was coming across us in a more gusty fashion by the second lap, which was reflected in most folks' splits. That said, I didn't feel quite as strong on the second lap, and the winds were less cooperative.

In terms of nutrition, my trusty bottle of USN Australia nutrition was serving me well, and I found it a really simple way to keep on top of the calories and the electrolytes. In it, I had about 1800 calories of nutrition which, over 5 hours, gave me about 400mg of sodium as well as plenty of other essential electrolytes. I was noticing I had a lot of salt on my suit, something I normally didn't have accumulated after most 5hr rides. Given this, and know the wind had the potential to 'dry us out' a bit, I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade each lap, instead of purely drinking water, to ensure I was getting enough sodium.

Even though I was well aware I had ridden too hard, I was really glad to dismount, and get into the run which is usually my strength.

T2: 00:02:36 (339th OA): Dismount, bike to amazing volunteer, bag handed to me in tent by 2nd amazing volunteer, helmet off, socks on, shoes on, hat on, race belt on, slap on some sunscreen, head out. Done.

Run: 03:27:03 (159th OA). I headed out on my usual long-run pace, about 4:35/km, and felt great. I was passing plenty of folks. The thing with drafting is, it makes a lot of riders ride harder than usual, way out of their comfort zone. There were a lot of overcooked athletes out there. By about 18km, I was still feeling really comfortable, with one exception: my feet. My socks were too thin and it felt like I was quickly getting blisters. It became harder and harder to ignore the pain. There was, also, a huger camber in the road until about 18km at Mordialloc, which may or may not have influenced it.


Feeling good early (maybe because I
was finally leaving Frankston?)
Still holding a decent clip; you can clearly
 see the salt on my suit, though.

At this point in the run, we ran down along a path by the beach and, into the wind. This was the most brutal part of the run, and the wheels fell off a little bit. This was my wall. At aid stations, I was drinking 1-2 'cups' of Gatorade and felt that was my limit, stomach-wise. My thought, then, was that this was the consequence of pushing my effort on the bike. I kept on pushing and walked through the aid-stations, taking my time and making sure to get the fluid in. My pace was slowing, too, but remained under 5-mins/km with exception of walking the aid stations. I stopped twice, also, to have a pee.

Chugging along and feeling pretty ordinary, the crowd kept my spirits up. Everyone -and I mean everyone- who was lined up on the course was clapping, cheering and giving me a shout out. "Looking good Stephen", "Good job Stephen", etc was heard often, and I tried to thank everyone. This was the amazing part of Ironman - the crowd support. Loads of kids wanting hi-fives (which I was happy to indulge) and great support from volunteers and the crowd really kept one going. Not to mention the amazing support from my own family and friends - Jeremy's did Lindsey, in particular, was fantastic as he rode the run course and said g'day every few kms.

Once I hit 32-odd km, it felt like a mental barrier had been broken. Only ten km to go. I've done this a million times. My pace began to quicken, in a relative sense, and I felt great ticking over the kms. From about 3kms out, you could see the finish line, and knowing there was only 15-odd minutes to go, was a real boost. 

I'm not sure where the energy came from, but I picked up the pace and ran in the last km really pumped up and geed up the crowd as much as I could down the chute. It was a lot of fun! I crossed the line in 9:19:33, to finish 235th Overall.  


The finish chute was epic!

What a feeling!

Post-Race: I was elated to be done and went quickly over to grab some water, get a protein shake in and absorb the feeling. I sat on the grass and Jeremy came along not too far behind, crushing it in 9:25. At this point, I was feeling cold, and began to shake a little. I went over to see Audrey at the fence, and, feeling light-headed I decided to make my way to the med tent. They checked and monitored my vitals, which were good, despite my skin temperature falling. I rested up for about 40 minutes (I think?), before being let go once my temperature had stabilised. We went and grabbed a meal and a beer before going home to rest and head back to Sydney on Monday morning.

Elation: we're done!

Feet up in the med tent - the ambos were amazing, thanks guys!

I can say that I learned a lot in this race - more than any other. It's such a different challenge to anything else, Half-Ironmans included.

Before I race another Ironman, I want to get a lot more half-iron racing under my belt, as well as >12months with a Powermeter, which will allow me to train and race much more smartly, and efficiently. At the moment, I'm thinking 2014 in Whistler or Mont-Tremblant, but we'll see. I can say that my bike training was not intense enough. Despite doing consistent >300km weeks, the intensity just was not there. There was too much 'easy' or 'LSR' riding.

In anycase, I am glad to have raced Ironman Melbourne. It was an interesting, challenging and fun event. I hope that organisers can learn from the mistakes of this year's swim, and implement a better strategy in future years should unfavourable conditions arise.

Thanks a bunch to everyone who supported me, and put up with me on the road to the startline. You've all been amazing! Special thanks goes to Audrey, my beautiful wife who has been there with me the whole way, and to my parents who've been great as well.

Teschner Bikes, USN Australia, Saucony and O2 Creation have all been brilliant - thanks a lot for the support and the faith, guys!