From The Window, Looking Forward

It's been a while since I wrote up any sort of update so here goes.

Right now, it's about three months since my last race in Wollongong, and about three months out from the next big dance on the agenda- smack-bang in the middle of the 'window of opportunity'. So time for some reflection and forward thinking about the goals for the next twelve months.

@USNAustralia Fuel for autumn hit my doorstep! Step 1 to a winter of hard work, the right #nutrtion. #triathlon #gym pic.twitter.com/hcJK3CAheV
— Steve Crossman (@crosso_s) April 16, 2014

Training has been very solid since the Gong. Settling into a good routine (of chopping wood and carrying water) and getting plenty of great AP10 group sessions in. This time last year I had pulled up stumps with a stress fracture that put me in quite a pickle over the winter! So, ticking lots of boxes this winter and getting it done!

Do what you've always done, and you'll get what you always got!

We've been busy pulling apart the swim and working with a strong focus on technique. Early days but it's going to pay dividends. Jordan Rapp wrote a great article recently regarding breaking through swim plateaus and getting to the next level. Some key elements, he wrote, were: to take the opportunities to swim with purpose; to swim with a group of people who push you, and; to swim with a good coach on deck to watch you swim (and throw pull buoys at you). To that end, couldn't be happier to have Alex on deck and the AP10 Team to swim with consistently!

Been plugging away on the bike and making progress; strength is improving and riding better. Looking forward to getting amongst it at a few local run events too to keep the run legs on top of things. The big goal for the winter is to improve across the board, and get stronger as next season will be long.

Pondering Yuko's situation on the ever surplising Saturday AP10 ride!

Epic runs with JT!

Strength and conditionning work! 

So, looking forward, here's what I have pencilled in..

Ironman 70.3 World Championships (September 7th, 2014): This is the first big goal, or 'A-Race'. Focus this winter will be preparing for this. Can't wait to toe the line with JP, Lou, Nick, Dan and the other 2000+ athletes!

Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie - Australian Age-Group Championships (October 19th, 2014): Will head up to Port Mac for the first time to scout the course (for May) and take advantage of being in race shape.

Nepean Triathlon (October 26th, 2014): Had a lot of fun here last year and will go around again - should be a cracking pro field with an increase of prize money (again!).

TriHusky (Nov 10th, 2014): See how we go, but would like to do this again as it's always fun rolling through Husky. May end up being an and/or situation between Husky and Shepp, or Shepp and Callala.

Challenge Shepparton (November 16th, 2014): Had a great time last year down in Shepp at the 70.3 event. With the change in location to the bigger lake in town and a new course, it should be a good event by the Challenge Family. 

BREAK TIME! Will have a rest after Shepp and eat a few pies before rebuilding.

Husky Long Course (February, 2015): How can you resist the beauty of Jervis Bay. Always a great field, too. 

Wollongong (March, 2015): Bit of short course to keep the legs sharp! 

Challenge Bateman's Bay (March, 2015): Should be a tough race and great prep for the big one in May.

and lastly...

IRONMAN AUSTRALIA (May, 2015): YESSIR! Doing another Ironman has been on my mind. What better place, or time, than at Port Mac for the 30th anniversary of Ironman Australia, one of the toughest on the circuit. Goal - make it onto *the* video 

Quick stats:
2 - The number of beers it took to write this post.
0 - The number of times I moved from the lounge whilst writing this post.
0.5 - The number of slabs of Dark Chocolate consumed whilst writing this post.

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!

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!

• 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!

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...

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!

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!):

If you are judging training success by 'counting your weekly hours/miles' you are doing something seriously wrong.
— Matt Dixon (@purplepatch) April 4, 2013

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...

New Year Miles

Consistency. That's my yardstick. January, in terms of said yardstick, has been a most successful month. Since Christmas, I have had 6 very solid weeks of training to hang my hat on. Given January and February would always be where the heavy lifting for Ironman Melbourne would be, I am really happy with how January went. I would have liked to get some more open water swimming in (Nowra Triathlon + One swim in Jervis Bay with JB Tri Club have been my only times!) but there's plenty more time to go.

The total training hours are a bit inflated by virture of January covering 5 'mid-week' periods where I was doing those long rides essential to Ironman. As I sit here now, there's a mere 7 weeks until race day. Yikes.
In the meantime, I'll be racing Elite Energy Pearl Izumi Huskisson Long Course Triathlon on February 17th and am really looking forward to it!

I had to have Audrey take some photos of me training for something special coming up :) Here's one:

December Update: Southerly Change

I'm back down under after two years away. It is great to be back! I'm loving the sun, the open roads and, above all, catching up with everyone.
It was a bit of a nightmare getting here, though. I was supposed to leave on December 11th from Ottawa however it wasn't to be. Foolishly, I did not obtain an ESTA. I arrived at the airport on the 11th and wasn't able to leave! It was truly, truly heartbreaking. After a lot of stress, more money and a few extra days I was on my way on the 16th.

It was a rough few days off the plane with a decent shot of jet lag set in. I managed to settle in OK and got stuck into some good training with mate Jeremy. We nailed some good key sessions in the Christmas week and tallied 22-odd hours for the final week of 2012!

I've backdated this post so I'll get busy soon with a few more updates.



Here are a few shots from the 'workout of the week' (150km long ride + 30min run at HIM pace off the bike)

October Training Update

After a rather ordinary September, October proved to be a very good month consistency wise. I'm back into a nice rythym of base training and enjoying it thoroughly.
Goals were as follows:
- Enjoy it
- Cruise
- Swim lots
- Run lots
- Bike steady
- Nail some strength and plyo work

I nailed a great swim month (for me; not for a fish) with some great workouts. I'm feeling good in the water and thinking a 1hr swim is on the cards for IM Melbourne in about 5 months. We'll see.

I'm really pleased to have been able to nail four back-to-back 60km weeks on the run. I've only done one long run in there (not including the Half Mara), and will start picking up those next month. Run form is feeling good despite carrying an extra kilo or two at the moment.

I haven't been doing a lot of riding outdoors given the low light levels and the relatively ordinary weather. I have snuck a few good rides in on the weekends when weather was cooperative. Most of the riding, however, has been on the trainer using TrainerRoad.com. I love this program. I'll write a blog one day about why, but for the moment, just know that the hard work done in winter = the results in summer and TrainerRoad makes it really easy to put those hard yards in.

Fall Colours in Gatineau Park  on a ride last week. Too nice.

Chopping wood, carrying water (and smelling the roses)

And so, another solid week of training is in the bag! I am simply itching to race. I feel like I have a can of energy and I cannot wait to crack it. Will be great to express the hard work on June 24th. 


The short version:

The slightly-less-short version: 3 key rides including a 4-hour long ride with +1000m of vertical; 3 key runs including two tempo runs and a 24km long run, and; 2 key swims with ~2000m main-sets. 

In other news (a.k.a. more important and certainly more interesting happenings): Audrey is back from an amazing week in Gaspé where she spent time with friends on a grad-trip of sorts! Photos are amazing and I'm sure they don't quite capture the serenity and beauty of the peninsula. She brought us back some lovely fresh Gaspésien seafood, too!  

We've had a wonderful long-weekend here in Ottawa. The weather has been epic (~30 degrees) and the mood relaxed - perfect! There was a multi-day cycling event in Gatineau over the weekend which we went to take a look at this morning. It was fun! I only wish I had of gone to see the TT where Clara Hughes - a multiple Olympic medalist (summer AND winter games) and veritable Canadian sporting icon - backed up her 2011 title (see video below)

Looking forward now to Mum & Dad's arrival in no less than three weeks! Yikes!

Legs 11

In the hurt-box at the Physio Race

Throughout the winter I focused in on swimming and running whilst keeping the cycling hours down to a minimum. I ran, on average 6x week following a "Barry P" style program, concentrating on frequency and consistency. In fact, since mid-December there might only be a dozen or so days where I haven't run. Same with the swimming, where I tried to swim around 5x a week - a goal relatively easy to accomplish with the pool on campus. 


Since mid-April, I've been building up the volume (except in swimming, which has been cut down to 3x a week). In the last four weeks my training has been something like 17-20hrs/week (~8000-10000m of swimming, ~250-350km of cycling, ~60-70km of running). This stupid amount of training won't last forever (don't worry, Audrey). I'll start cutting down the hours in the next two weeks to be super-sharp (hopefully) for Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant. 


I've only done one little race this year, a 10km fun-run here in town, The Physio Race. It went OK. I think I had done one or two tempo runs prior to it (the rest being easy stuff). The goal was to see where my fitness was. The course was decieving in it's difficulty - a slightly undulating out-and-back along the Rideau Canal with a effin' nasty 25-odd km/h headwind on the second half. I finished in 5th with a time of 37:48 which I found encouraging, all things considered. I *should* be able to better that on some of the key Olympic distance races I'll do in the next few months. 


Enjoy a peek into it all.....


Nice ride after work on Friday:

Nasty fartlek the next day:

The take home message: Hopefully after my most consistent and demanding winter of training I can look forward to some good results in 2012! It all begins with an Olympic race in Mont-Tremblant June 9th followed by the 70.3 on the same course two weeks later!


À suivre...