When Mind Cannot Conquer Matter!

And so week 15 of the build up began on the back of the half marathon and at first glance it seemed a little meaty! All up I swam 14km, cycled 284km and ran 55km.

The 'lowlight' of the week was a 40km bike timetrial that appeared on my programme scheduled for Wednesday. My strategy for the start of the week was to therefore munch my way through the easier sessions to try and recover the legs enough from the half marathon to come to the party and produce a decent timetrial result. By Tuesday however I was beginning to have a crisis of confidence - I'd set out on an easy run and my legs were cramping on the downhills and sluggish on the uphills. I put in a quick call to the coach and I was given the 'it's time to front up talk'.

Now I've never needed any encouragement to 'front up' for a timetrial at any other time so the mere fact I had picked up the phone was a little unusual in itself and unsettling. I had a niggling feeling that something was not right and that I didn't feel good but I ignored it - put it back in it's box and proceeded to spend the next 24 hours amping myself up! It's at times like these that you fill your head with quotes such as 'just do it' 'impossible is nothing' 'mind over matter' and so forth! You tell yourself that you are invincible, super human almost! Perhaps that should have been the first alarm bell to can the timetrial the second might have been the 2 hours I spent creating a playlist of 'go get em' music on my ipod or thirdly the fact I felt the need to fill up on as much carbohydrate as I could get my hands on prior to my timetrial date! Either way on reflection it would seem that I was frantically trying to align the stars when the stars just wanted to be wonky!

Now I'm not entirely sure what my thought process was around the start of the timetrial - for some reason I slammed my gear into one of the biggest I had and pushed the pedals over like a crazy thing - perhaps the 24 hours of motivational slogans took over, perhaps I did indeed believe I was superhuman - but it is fair to say by kilometre 7 I had fried my legs and my brain - from there on in it became purely a battle of survival to make it to the end. And so for the remainder of the 33km I battled those demons that surface from time to time, the ones that make you question your ability, your goals - the ones that make you lose sight of rational thought where suddenly mind cannot conquer matter......more the mind conquers you! I managed to just squeeze under the 60 minute mark but it was far from the several minutes I normally have spare to play with at the end! So the coach marked it down as an 'OK' result and I marked it down as a learning experience! I protested my case and to my surprise was given the opportunity to repeat the timetrial if I really felt like I could do better - now there's a challenge - don't we always think that we could do better!

So watch out week 17 - I'm coming at you minus the motivational quotes, carbs and playlist!!

Run Auckland 21km Race Report

Event - Run Auckland Series 21km
Date - Sunday 11th July 2010
Distance - 21km (Half marathon)
Run Time - 1:33:30
Age Group - 30-39
Age Group Position - 6th
Overall Position - 8th

This event was a couple of weeks ago and the final event in the Run Auckland Series and offered up a 6km, 10km and 21km option and I was relieved that the coach had pencilled me in for the 21km. As always the most important element was the weather and the outdoor air temperature on race morning was 2 degrees - a little brisk! Generally I have been impressed with this race series in terms of organisation - as a winter race series you can't predict the weather - there have been sunny starts, torrential rain starts and very very chilly starts - but the starts up to press have been well managed and we have got away on time - a crucial element if you want to have a good crack at a solid run!

Unfortunately for the last race of the series the organisation for some reason seemed to fall down and we were left waiting on the start line for 26 minutes which in 2 degree winter temperatures is not ideal - particularly when you have handed in your layers at the bag drop before lining up - hence half naked in 2 degrees - you get the picture! So as we huddled together for warmth we were fed updates that the delayed start was due to 'traffic safety management'. Now this would have been semi-believable if it hadn't been for the long line of people stood behind the 'updater' queuing for late entries! Now I have no problem with people leaving things to the last minute and rocking up on the morning of an event to enter but I do have a slight issue with people turning up 10 minutes before the start of race expecting to register and being allowed to do so by the event organisers. For those of us who have entered in advance, got to the start with enough time to complete our usual race morning routines and are ready to go at the advertised time a 26 minute delay is a little hard to swallow - I would have preferred to spend the extra 26 minutes in bed! The start time of a race dictates your preparation for that event - when you wake up, what time you eat, when you do your warm up, when you take that pre-race carbo caffeine shot or whatever you use and so on! Consequently as I waited on the start line for the starting hooter to go I concluded that I could have had 26 minutes longer in bed, I could have eaten my creamed rice 26 minutes later than I did, my warm up run could have been abandoned as I was feeling anything but warm at this point in time and the carbo caffeine loaded GU shot I had eaten was doing a great job of keeping me wired on the start line but would have little effect when it actually came to racing!

Finally 23 minutes after the planned start the updater announced a 3 minute countdown to the start........I really had to wonder why it was necessary for a 3 minute countdown and just as I was about to verbalise my thoughts to my fellow runners there were several murmurs of can't we just go now! But no - so we waited out the 3 minute count down - the hooter sounded - and finally several hundred pairs of numb feet were on their way!

I had decided to try and hold a solid first 10km and then hang on for the remaining 11km! The first 5-6km were pretty flat and fast which played well into the plan! I had lost sight of few other runners I was hoping to pace myself against but there were plenty of other people to keep pushing me along the route! I had seen 'Ernie' one of my previous pacers at an earlier race just before the start but the man who races on coke and jet planes was much to my disappointment nowhere in sight - I was sort of looking forward to the offer of a jet plane further down the track!

Once through the first 6km it was really down to business! This course is hilly and solid with long sharp climbs that just keep coming! I had begun to get a little confused as to how I was pacing as the 6km marker was just a few metres around the corner from the 5km marker! Likewise the 8km marker appeared a little too early in the piece - well either that or I was on fire! As you can imagine my confusion as to actually how far I had run was further tainted by the thought that traffic management had an extra 26 minutes to lay the course out yet the km markers appeared to have been haphazardly thrown out at random intervals - there was no further opportunity along the course to get confused however - the 8km marker was the last marker out on the half marathon course!

The last segment of the course involves running up North Head which offers up some really spectacular views over the Waitemata Harbour! The last 10km of the course is pretty scenic but North Head really is the highlight (quite literally). I've attached an aerial shot to the post for you to get a bit of an idea of the views you would get! Once at the top I knew I was homeward bound and although the legs began to fizzle out a little on some of the downhills there is something about knowing you are on the home straight that gives you that little burst of energy to get you to the finish line! The last km feeds you along the beach for some sand running before hitting the finish line which I crossed in 1 hour 33 minutes and 30 seconds! For a pretty solid course I was happy with that and even more happy when I regained the feeling in my feet an hour or so later at brunch :)

Off the Radar!

So it appears that I may have fallen off the blogging radar over the last couple of weeks! Life seemed to become a mish mosh of nursey shift work combined with swim-bike-run-eat-sleep! No different in nature from my usual life cycle but some weeks it seems to knock the wind out of you more than others! And so in a rare moment of calm in the whirlwind I will catch you up on the missing weeks :)


After my week of wrestling with the art of spinning came an easy-ish week! I say easy-ish as it featured a half marathon at the end of it and some pretty solid sessions in between! The most notable event in the week (aside from the half marathon) was my first Pilates class experience!Now I have been considering trying to fit a regular Pilates class into my training schedule for quite some time. It seems to be the buzz thing amongst many of my triathlete pals at the moment and like anything that takes the group by storm you often feel the need to be on the in! I have recently moved gyms to try and enhance my relationship with the heavy round things otherwise known as weights! As much as I loved my old gym it was a 40 minute drive away from home and getting there for a 'quick' work out would end up chewing more than 2 hours out of my day! I rarely have 2 hours free to 'spend' so I bit the bullet and joined a gym that is a 2 minute drive from my local swimming pool - theory of proximity being if I'm swimming at that pool 5 or 6 times a week then I really have no excuse not to back up my swim on some of those days with a quick weights session - so far the theory is working! Anyway I digress......on one of my early trips to the gym I noticed a regular Pilates class for members and so decided on the next easy week I would factor it into the training schedule and give it a crack!

So Wednesday evening rocked around and I opted to do a quick leg weights work out before the start of the class......mistake number one! I met the instructor Deb who pointed me in the direction of a mat and some weights - they seemed very small and light so I selected a heavier pair to ensure I got a decent work out.....mistake number 2! In my mind as I settled down onto my mat I thought that the next 45 minutes would feature some gentle mat work and some core exercises.......I quickly found out that my impression of Pilates being a 'relaxing' pastime was very wrong!!! Fifteen minutes in my legs were burning from a hideous amount of squat jumps, my arms were shaking from the continuous cycle of various push ups and weight holds and my core felt like jelly! I was a broken woman! Of course at any point I had the option to leave the class - I suspected I was going to pay for a good couple of days and with the half marathon looming I knew I should just get up and leave but there really is something to be said for the class environment! My ego would not let me leave the room - I didn't want to to be the person who didn't finish the class and so with every thought of leaving the class came a ridiculous burst of energy to push harder and jump higher! It was fair to say by the end of the class I was ready for my bed and that my muscles reminded me frequently over the next couple of days of what I had put them through!! Not yet ventured back to the torture chamber of the Pilates class but it's on my agenda.......somewhere :)

Over and Out!

The Art of Spinning!

So I am finally through the other side of the hardest week in my current 4 week block and into the easy week! At first glance on paper the week didn't look too bad but by Thursday I was more than happy to retract that statement!

There were certainly a few sessions in there that I had underestimated - namely Tuesday night interval bike class and my long swim which had a few descending efforts splitting up the longer sets.......mental note to self....never underestimate your ability to 'descend' your send off times during a 5km swim session! Towards the end it starts to become a little pathetic!!

The vital statistics for the week are 316km of cycling, 16.5km of swimming and 56km spent running! I had a rather 'bumpy' long run this week managing to catapult myself down 14 wooden stairs whilst out on the tracks of the Waitakere Ranges! Miraculously I 'bounced' down all 14 and landed in a massive mud slip - the only war wounds I had to show for my escapade were two small bruises and a scratch! I did however resemble a Mississippi mud pie for the remainder of the run and gave the residents of Titirangi something to stare at as I ran past the packed cafes with a face and body caked in mud!

On the cycling front I had a PT with coach Tony to review my bike handling skills and my cycling efficiency! It would appear that I am neither proficient nor efficient! Currently I am stuck in a mindset of pushing the biggest gear I can to achieve speed - irrespective of whether I'm faced with a flat or an uphill climb - I am well aware that this is not an energy efficient way to cycle and that my legs are often rather hammered by the time I'm dismounting my bike to run in a race situation but it has always been the more natural path for me to take! I am therefore attempting to cycle like a 'strength' athlete which from my build it is clear that in the long term this isn't going to cut the mustard!

My stronger system is my cardiovascular one so I need to start to make the transition away from smashing my legs to pieces and towards selecting an easier gear and turning my legs over faster drawing on my cardiovascular strength! Easier said than done! Consequently Friday morning was spent doing a few 'semi-torturous' exercises along the waterfront and up a few hills......I discovered a few 'new' gears on my bike that made different muscles hurt and my lungs work a little harder .......and Tony got the 'pleasure' of riding behind me and survived to tell the tale! At the end of the session I have to admit to feeling a little despondent - cycling with spinning legs made me feel like an alien had taken over riding my bike and it was a little overwhelming to think that this change was critical to upping my cycling performance! So a little reality check was required to shake off the feelings of despondency! I hopped onto the Ironman New Zealand website to look up my bike split from this year - cycling the course in my favoured big gears had produced the 11th fastest bike split of the day for females (pros inclusive) - first note to self - I don't totally suck at cycling - second note to self - if I can nail the spinning I can hopefully produce a faster bike split and run better off the bike - third note to self - it's time to suck it up, put my head down and work HARD on nailing art of spinning!

And so with that in mind it's time to hit the easy week, recover and recharge the batteries! The Capricorn Half Ironman is now just 6 weeks away and Kona just over 12! I've got the Run Auckland Series Half Marathon at the end of this week so it will be nice to line up for something a little more in my ball park for distance :)