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...