Taper Time

Checking in now and it's in the middle of my taper (the wind-down in training before an event). I began tapering three weeks out, and I must admit, it's an odd period of time.

Going into the taper, I had a good few solid weeks of training, including Husky LC. 

Weekly totals were:

• 21h25m (Week of Feb 11)
• 21h48m (Week of Feb 18)
• 23h05m (Week of Feb 25)

I was pretty happy with how things went following Husky. I pulled up pretty well (much better than last year's long course race in MT) and within a few days was getting around training as-per normal. My only regret is not getting in any really killer swim sessions. Would'a, could'a, should'a.

My plan for the taper, in a nutshell:

• Week 1: an 80% run load vs. the average of the prior month, with similar swim/bike totals.
• Week 2: 80% of Week 1's running; 65-70% of cycling average volume; Normal swim volume.
• Week 3 (Race week): Bugger all, save some small sessions i.e. few 15 minute runs and bikes.

It'll be important to keep a good amount of intensity in there and not simply fall into a "short and slow" trap which will inevitably lead to a flat day. 

Anyhoo. 9 days to go!

Training Update: February furlongs for Frankston

Well February, that little short month between January and March, is over. That happened quickly. It was a really busy month for me, actually. Earlier this month was chillaxing and training, before I had a hit out at Huskisson Long Course, then straight into University work. The last two weeks, with uni, have flown by faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.

That being said, I did get down to some good training this month. With Ironman Melbourne now only three weeks away, February was always going to be that 'key month' (even though I don't really believe in 'key days/weeks/months etc).

Let's have a look at it, shall we:

January: 2.83hrs/day average

February: 2.91hrs/day average

In the last two weeks, I admit my performance - or quality - of training has perhaps suffered. After Huski, I was straight into a hectic week of Uni then a weekend in Sydney to complete a course. My sleep suffered and my stress levels were a bit higher. The last few days have been great, though, and I had a fantastic long brick (170km+15km) on Friday afternoon.

Run taper begins next week! Yay! I feel really ready for a taper, and more sleep!

Here are some shots of around the place taken during rides, for your perusal: 

Specky morning in Culburra

Roos hanging out in Currarong

Bald Hill on the way down to Wollongong from Sydney

Race Report: Huskisson Long Course Triathlon with VIDEO

Short Version: 4:24:22, 10th m25-29, 129th Overall (1400-odd competitors)


Long Version: Every race, I learn a lot. That being said, I am still quite an inexperienced athlete (certainly as far as long course racing is concerned). Ironman Melbourne (no less than 5 weeks away!) is the A-Race for early 2013. Huskisson LC, being only 5 weeks prior to the big dance, meant that having a really good rest beforehand would not be possible. Despite wanting to race well, I would have to 'train through it'. In essence, this would mean a near-normal training week would precede Husky, with a few tweaks, such as cutting out a tempo run and shifting a day forward in the cycle in order to get a full rest day on Saturday. In the end, I gave myself a few easy days on Thursday and Friday, and a complete day of rest on Saturday. I did feel quite well rested and ready to go.  It would be only my second long course race (meaning IM Melbourne is to be only my third!) and the first which would be a "B-Race".




Pre Race: With the roads closed at 6:30, I wanted to get to Huskisson early. We were out of bed at 5am and in the car 40 minutes later, coffee in hand. We got there and set ourselves up on the beach with our picnic breakfast of porridge to watch the first waves go off. The Pro men began at 6:30am, some 2 hours and 20-odd minutes before my wave which was the second last. After a bit of spectating and finishing my coffee, it was time to get into the transition to set up, before it re-closed at 8am. Once everything was set in the transition, and a visit to the can was out of the way, we had time to relax a bit and wait for my eventual start at 8:50am.

2km swim: 31:31. Despite having all the time in the world, I managed to almost miss my start. I had my wetty  half-on, and was sitting around with Audrey and my parents near the transition. I wandered down to the beach only to jump in the water to have a warm up and a piddle. It was then, standing ankle deep in the water that I heard the announcer say 'Next wave, men under 30 and Clydesdales'. Shit. I got to the start line OK, but didn't get a chance to warm up.
We were off and the first few hundred metres was quick as we headed out to the first can. We ran into a lot of folks doing their second lap and, at times, it was a little messy, forcing us to go around a lot of folks. It was easy going for the first lap, but by the second, my goggles had fogged up pretty badly which led to the poor decision of just following some random guys feet as we headed out into the sun again. Mistake. I ended up swimming 50-100m towards the right of the first buoy and had to stop to clear my goggles before restarting. I swam 'angry' for the rest of the second lap and felt like I was moving through a lot of the other swimmers, which was a nice feeling.

T1: 1:59. Small run up to transition was uneventful and I made it to my bike. It took my a little bit to get my wetty off. I must trim the ankles.

83km Bike: 2:26:32. This was the difference between me and the top-5 in my AG. I have the slowest split in the Top-15. On the first lap, things were good and I biked steadily. I did drop my nutrition bottle and had to stop to get off my bike and walk up the road to get it, costing me a minute or so, maybe. Once settled, I thought the second lap would be a bit quicker. Not so. I slowed, in fact. Not because of a lack of effort, or trying, I just didn't have the power. The third lap was a bit better and I was able to pick things up a little. Disappointing. I think it was simply a question of not having an ideal lead up to the race in terms of rest resulting in being flat on race day. All that being said, it was a really fun course with lots of rolling hills. Despite being a touch crowded on the first and second laps with stragglers from the first batch of waves, the TO's did a good job in pinging those who drafted.

T2: 2:00. Socks are slow, but I didn't want to risk blisters with a few important weeks to go.

20km run: 1:22:18. I felt good on the first lap and held a steady pace. There were lots of folks out on the course, including Macca and Paul Ambrose hamming it up with the crowd, and it made for some quick-footed moves around some of the slower runners. I was feeling strong until about 16kms when I started to develop a few nasty stomach cramps. I think I overdid it at an earlier aid station. I stopped to walk and massage them out a couple of times. In the end, I was able to pick it up to a decent clip and finish well.


I'm happy, in hindsight, with the race. I swam well, I cycled OK on tired legs, and ran strongly. I have learnt a lot and now I'm really counting down to Melbourne!

Thanks a lot to supporters and Elite Energy for another great weekend.



Husky Triathlon 2013 from Steve Crossman on Vimeo.

A helping hand from USN Australia

Late last year, USN Australia ran a series of ads in Australian Triathlete to find some amateur athletes to support for 2013. I thought I would submit an application, why not. Well, in a whirlwind of a week, I got the chance to speak to USN the day I landed in Australia and was able to 'seal-the-deal', so to speak. They selected me to be an ambassador for 2013. Admittedly, I was pretty chuffed - and still am!

USN ran a quick ad in the Jan/Feb issue of Australian Triathlete to announce the winners of the comp. 

So, here's my mug:

I'm extremely lucky to have been selected and I'm really looking forward to training and racing in 2013 with USN. USN bring to the table cutting-edge research and development in sports nutrition and a top-of-the-line range of products. 

As the year progresses, I will post some reviews about their products and hopefully introduce you all to the best gear out there! 

Finally, keep an eye out in the next issue of Australian Triathlete ;)

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:

The 2013 Plan

For a while, JP had a bit of banter going in terms of long term goals. By and large, we were thinking of meeting in both Vegas and Kona before our time was up in m25-29. Finally, in October 2012 at MP's insistence, we bit the bullet:

The road to Vegas will begin this year. After IM Melbourne is -hopefully- under my belt, the focus will go towards really improving my short distance speed and HIM racing. At this point in time, I am thinking I will try to compete in one or two local 70.3's at the end of 2013, in Port Macquarie 70.3 and/or Shepparton 70.3 and/or Canberra 70.3, as well as the "A Race" for next season: Auckland 70.3. Audrey has said she will also compete in Auckland -which is really exciting- as we are planning to meet MP and JP there to race it together! 

Qualifying in Australia for Vegas is, apparently, not too difficult according to most Trannies. Ironman 70.3 Worlds just doesn't have the same prestige as the Ironman World Champs in Kona. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it feels a bit like among amateur triathletes all roads lead to Kona. Afterall, it is the spiritual home of triathlon and hallowed ground for any triathlete, myself included. Consequently, qualification for other Championships -such as Vegas- isn't as highly sought after. 

In any case, the goal will be to try to punch my ticket to Vegas late this year at one of the local 70.3's. I'd prefer to have it out of the way for Auckland and really just try to have fun there with JP, MP, and Audrey.

Adios. 

Race Report: Elite Energy Nowra Triathlon

Sunday January 13th was my first race in a while. It showed. 

I wanted a local race to blow off the cobwebs and get a feeler for my fitness. Nowra, being 10 minutes from home, was perfect and I'd heard that Emo's Elite Energy crew puts on a good show. 

Being me, I didn't taper or rest and came into the race a bit flat. Well, I'm not building for that race so I'm not too concerned. My time wasn't very flattering thanks largely to a very bad swim. But I limped in to finish 25th position overall (17th AG'er behind the Open's), passing a few guys on the run. 

Swim: 30:02   Wow. Worst. Swim. Ever. Couple of things here. It was the culmination of a few things outside of my control, such as, questionable course accuracy, non-wetsuit conditions, a roaring tide and jellyfish stinging the be-jeesus out of everyone, and my own form. Since arriving in Australia my swimming has been poor. Can't offer an explanation other than I've been doing way too much long aerobic stuff and need to get into a few solid speed sets with lots of 25's, 50's and 100's. It just felt like my turnover was poor and my form ordinary. Oh well. 

T1+Bike+T2: 1:08:23    Not bad, but not great. It was my first ride on my new Teschner 703 TT rocket. That was a lot of fun but perhaps not a great idea. I hadn't had the chance to tweak my fit and I believe I have over-torqued the crank resulting in a lot of extra resistance. I'll take it into Ultimate Cycles and have the guys give it a good tune up and I'm sure it'll be ready for some lightening splits very soon! Not much else to report on that front. I haven't been doing any structured riding in a month or so. Time to start incorporating more intense race-pace efforts into my rides. I suppose I can't be too upset with this ride. 

Run: 38:50  Good. Have only done a few tempo runs since last season so it was good to see I can still hold a harder pace comfortably. Room for improvement though, here. I need to stop doing a lot of my runs right off the bike and focus on getting the quality of some of those runs up. 

Next race is potentially Elite Energy's TriOrange event on February 3rd. If not, I'll be in Huski for the Pearl Izumi Huskisson Long Course on February 17th.

Special thanks to Brendan and Luan from O2 Creation Australia for getting my sharp new kit to me on time!