Health and fitness

[EJ]

This is a fantastic interview with the guy who just cycled nearly 30,000km around the world in under 79 days.

As someone who doesn't cycle, I still took a lot out of it from an endurance perspective as well as obviously just a fascinating insight into such an epic feat.

[Coastalraider]

Are you doing a HIM in Noosa Coastal? Going back in this thread a bit further there is no need to excuse your times for the Forster triathlon, they look fine to me and nothing to be ashamed of.

Back to Canberra in two weeks. Finally getting home , will unfortunately be living out of a suitcase for a bit longer so I'm just going to continue with some base fitness as I'm rocking an old pair of runners - which I had retired to 'walkers' and I won't have my bikes for another few months. Maybe I'll use the time to work on my swimming instead of cycling, although I have a few mates in Canberra who are bike hoarders who may be able to lend me one for a few months.

Noosa is another olympic distance Gerg, which is good as I will be working at the event as well, so can't wreck myself too much! Times were ok in hindsight, I've found some tricks in the swim since by doing drills, but a lot of those will get negated by Noosa being Non-Wetsuit. There is also a hill brig enough to be sponsored, which I won't see until race day, but it's an awesome event and vibe up there, so looking forward to it.

We should hook up for a ride one weekend the raiders are playing!

[Coastalraider]

This is a fantastic interview with the guy who just cycled nearly 30,000km around the world in under 79 days.

As someone who doesn't cycle, I still took a lot out of it from an endurance perspective as well as obviously just a fascinating insight into such an epic feat.

Fascinating mate, thanks for sharing.

[gerg]

Are you doing a HIM in Noosa Coastal? Going back in this thread a bit further there is no need to excuse your times for the Forster triathlon, they look fine to me and nothing to be ashamed of.

Back to Canberra in two weeks. Finally getting home , will unfortunately be living out of a suitcase for a bit longer so I'm just going to continue with some base fitness as I'm rocking an old pair of runners - which I had retired to 'walkers' and I won't have my bikes for another few months. Maybe I'll use the time to work on my swimming instead of cycling, although I have a few mates in Canberra who are bike hoarders who may be able to lend me one for a few months.

Noosa is another olympic distance Gerg, which is good as I will be working at the event as well, so can't wreck myself too much! Times were ok in hindsight, I've found some tricks in the swim since by doing drills, but a lot of those will get negated by Noosa being Non-Wetsuit. There is also a hill brig enough to be sponsored, which I won't see until race day, but it's an awesome event and vibe up there, so looking forward to it.

We should hook up for a ride one weekend the raiders are playing!

Sounds good, but I only have the one road bike, for now. I do have several mountain bikes though if you are keen to hit up Stromlo. All GH jokes aside the riding at Stromlo is exceptional. Failing that we could do a jog around one of the lakes instead.

Interesting clip EJ, only managed to watch the first ten minutes at this stage but will watch the rest later. When I was doing the cycle down the centre of Korea a few weeks back I met two blokes from Hong Kong who were cycling around the world. They were each carrying about 20kgs of equipment with them. I mentioned they must be fit and they just said they had both lost so much weight. Be awesome to do an adventure like that, but I'd never do it without a support vehicle. Riding with that much extra weight isn't much fun from my experience.

[Coastalraider]

Just back from Noosa - what an awesome event! If any of you are looking at olympic distance triathlons, find a way to get up to this one. Its the biggest olympic tri in the world, with 8000 participants every year.

Had a big week leading up to race day with work, I was running a lot of activations at the event for one of the major sponsors, so long days on the feet.

Woke up race day feeling very flat - went in just aiming to use it as a training day.

Swim was in the ocean, but once past the breakers was only marginally choppy - great conditions. Water temp was 24.4! Had a fairly good swim, got hit by about 5 blue bottle tentacles about 500m offshore and had to tread water just to make sure i was ok, but recovered well after that. Saw my split coming up the beach at 35min, and was pretty happy with that given its a non wetsuit swim, and I started feeling optimistic! There is a 500m odd run from the beach to transition, in bare feet on footpaths and road, with a few carpet runners mixed in. Transition is HUGE - at port mac 70.3, I had to remember to enter transition and run up the 3rd isle to my bike - at Noosa I had to run up isle 45!

Ride started well, but I knew there was a big climb coming, so was keeping something in the tank. Hit 'Garmin Hill' prepared for some pain - its approx 3-4km of steady climb, 200m vertical gain I think. I kept waiting for the really steep bit I was told about, and all of a sudden I was at the top - definitely left too much in the tank. You have to lose that altitude again 10km later, but on a straight section of road - I found out my new dish rims dont like getting out of straight over 70km/h, they get a fair wobble up, so I was sitting up using my upper body as a parachute. There was a guy that came past me at 100km minimum .... flying. Felt really good coming back in to town, and pushed to get my average speed up over 32kmh for a nice ego boost going into the run, which I was really happy with given the climb averaging 18-20kmh.

As always, the first run km feels like you are made of wood, but my first km split was a 5.20 something, so I was pleasantly surprised - I was able to hold a very easy steady 5.20-5.30 pace for the first 8 km of the run, knowing that the heat and humidity was going to be extremely painful at the end. But at the 8km mark, I realised it wasn't actually that hot, and I was running to my expectation of how bad the run would be, not the reality of how much easier it actually was. Dropped my pace to 5.10s, and hit the last 500m odd at 4.40.

Total Race time was 2.50 - which was not only a 2 min PB for this distance, but my previous best was a wetsuit swim, in cooler conditions, with an easy bike leg and no massive distances in and around transition. Its been a while, but Im actually really happy with the day.

Not sure what the next race is - Im toying with the idea of Western Sydney 70.3 later this month, but it will depend on some things with work.

[gerg]

Great race report Coastal. I heard some triathlons can be quite pricey. What sort of budget do you work with for a race, including entry, travel and accommodation?

[EJ]

Nice one Coastal. Very glad to hear you got a really successful race under the belt. They're so motivating.

Stromlo is 2 weeks away now. Just hoping for max temps under 25C and hopefully I'll get under that 5 hour cut off.

Did my biggest training run for Iceland last night. 60km odd in the mountains at night. It was a success, but very slow going when on any single track in the dark. Pretty damn happy that ones out of the way

[Coastalraider]

Great race report Coastal. I heard some triathlons can be quite pricey. What sort of budget do you work with for a race, including entry, travel and accommodation?

They sure can be, and price is a major factor in which/how many races I do. I'm very lucky that I often get components covered for races - port 70.3 my work covered entries as 5 of us raced as a team activity (best health and wellness program I've ever heard of!). Same for Forster. Noosa I was working for a client for the week, so travel and accom were covered. Also as the client was a major sponsor of the event I picked up a 'partner entry' so that was nil of any cost.

Having said that, there is the other end of the spectrum - ironman. Port mac entry is around $900, accom $800, travel and expenses probably $300. Add in the wear and tear on gear training those kms, also things like chiro and massage, it becomes a very expensive undertaking, one I will likely only ever do once. One of the main reasons I chose port as the full ironman over cairns, WA or NZ was lower cost of travel for me and the family. The other was already knowing the course, so removing one more variable.

I've actually had a fairly busy start to the season with lake mac half marathon, Sydney marathon, forster Olympic tri and Noosa Olympic tri since September. And if our numbers at work fall into place and a bonus comes in, I'll likely do western Sydney 70.3. If I was paying full ticket and travel for all of those I wouldnt be racing as much, that's for sure.

[Coastalraider]

Nice one Coastal. Very glad to hear you got a really successful race under the belt. They're so motivating.

Stromlo is 2 weeks away now. Just hoping for max temps under 25C and hopefully I'll get under that 5 hour cut off.

Did my biggest training run for Iceland last night. 60km odd in the mountains at night. It was a success, but very slow going when on any single track in the dark. Pretty damn happy that ones out of the way

Mate a 60k training run is immense! Did you do loops and set up aid stations??

[EJ]

I ran out of the bush to a train station to refill my water, then turned around and went back in. I really didn't drink much for a run that long, even though it felt pretty warm in the valleys. No sun obviously helped.

Started with 2L in my bladder with Tailwind mixed in. Plus 2 x 600mL plain water in my front pockets.

At the refill, I had gone through both bottles, but only 1.3L of my bladder. This was after about 5h40m and 32km.

By the time I finished (9h40m, 60km), all up I drank 2.3L with Tailwind and 2.4L plain water. Wow, less than 5L. I've gone through that in runs half the distance and time, but on hot days admittedly.

[Coastalraider]

I ran out of the bush to a train station to refill my water, then turned around and went back in. I really didn't drink much for a run that long, even though it felt pretty warm in the valleys. No sun obviously helped.

Started with 2L in my bladder with Tailwind mixed in. Plus 2 x 600mL plain water in my front pockets.

At the refill, I had gone through both bottles, but only 1.3L of my bladder. This was after about 5h40m and 32km.

By the time I finished (9h40m, 60km), all up I drank 2.3L with Tailwind and 2.4L plain water. Wow, less than 5L. I've gone through that in runs half the distance and time, but on hot days admittedly.

That's not a lot of fluids for 10 hours, make sure you keep drinking tonight! What did you use for food, gels? Bars?

[EJ]

Yep, the thirst hit as soon as I started eating after the run.

Pretty much did it all on Tailwind. I ate a Clif Bar at the refill, but more because I brought it with me than feeling like I needed it. It was the best tasting Clif Bar ever though!

What do you have for nutrition for your triathlons?

[gerg]

Nearly 10 hours. I'm struggling (almost) with the 6k runs around the lake at the moment.

[Coastalraider]

I probably over do nutrition a bit, but I'm wary of the tank ever getting low. I'll eat plain ravioli the night before for carbs and being simple it doesn't mess up the system the next morning. I'll have an endura and sports bar like a cliff for breakfast, no coffee on Raceday as it always loosens the system. Smash a gel 20 minutes before swim start to top up, one as soon as I'm in a rythym on the bike, one about half way and one as I'm about to get off the bike to fuel the back end of the run. That's based on an Olympic, but I want a gel every 45-60 minutes. I will drink about 1L endura on a 40k ride, and top up with mouthfuls at aid stations on the run.

For a longer race like 70.3 I will add a bar on the bike to get something solid for later in the day.

One thing I try to keep in mind though is that every stress you go through during a race, you go through go in training. While it's good to train 'dry' sometimes to get the body used to hitting the wall, try to get your body used to the Raceday nutrition before Raceday. If I train over an hour, like a long run or decent ride, I will use endura/gels/energy bar combos not only for energy, but by keeping up salts and glycogen, and finishing with a protein shake, it means you can get up and go the next day fresh. It also gives you a very good understanding of how much you actually need by trialling the process repeatedly.

[EJ]

Yeah, that's the thing. I train with Tailwind every run, but unless the event is ultra distance, I've rarely had Tailwind with me. I ran with two small flasks (bit under 300mL each) in City2Surf and the last half mara I did, with Tailwind, and took a small sip of plain water at a couple of water stations. That was so I didn't have to slow down to drink at every station like I normally would.

I think where I went wrong with my last Spartan was I was fuelling only with regular GU gels, so had zero electrolytes that I'm used to drip feeding myself with during training, hence the bad cramping that completely stuffed my race up. For Stromlo, I've bought GU Roctane gels, which have all the electrolytes except for magnesium, so found these gummy magnesium supplement chews at the chemist to fill the void. Haven't trialled this combo in training and likely won't before Stromlo, so fingers crossed. I did suffer from bad cramps for the last 20km when I ran it in 2015, but I was also in much worse shape then than I am now.

And as for eating before my big trail runs, it's usually two ham and cheese sandwiches. Yesterday I had the sandwiches and added a Clif Bar just because it was a bigger run than usual.

[Coastalraider]

Yeah, that's the thing. I train with Tailwind every run, but unless the event is ultra distance, I've rarely had Tailwind with me. I ran with two small flasks (bit under 300mL each) in City2Surf and the last half mara I did, with Tailwind, and took a small sip of plain water at a couple of water stations. That was so I didn't have to slow down to drink at every station like I normally would.

I think where I went wrong with my last Spartan was I was fuelling only with regular GU gels, so had zero electrolytes that I'm used to drip feeding myself with during training, hence the bad cramping that completely stuffed my race up. For Stromlo, I've bought GU Roctane gels, which have all the electrolytes except for magnesium, so found these gummy magnesium supplement chews at the chemist to fill the void. Haven't trialled this combo in training and likely won't before Stromlo, so fingers crossed. I did suffer from bad cramps for the last 20km when I ran it in 2015, but I was also in much worse shape then than I am now.

And as for eating before my big trail runs, it's usually two ham and cheese sandwiches. Yesterday I had the sandwiches and added a Clif Bar just because it was a bigger run than usual.

Keep salt tabs in mind as weel, I carry a few just in case on longer races, good for a top up if you feel cramping coming on.

[EJ]

I considered salt tabs. How do you store them when you know you're going to be submerged in water? If sealed, how quickly can you access them?

[Coastalraider]

I considered salt tabs. How do you store them when you know you're going to be submerged in water? If sealed, how quickly can you access them?

I got a sample pack of 3 or 4 tabs from my local runners shop I keep in a little pocket in my racebelt. The pack is fully sealed, but not resealable.

[Coastalraider]

I considered salt tabs. How do you store them when you know you're going to be submerged in water? If sealed, how quickly can you access them?

Is stromlo this weekend EJ??

[EJ]

Yep, Sunday!

Legs aren't feeling as fresh as I hoped for but I think I say this every taper. Still got another day and half.

Hope it doesn't get too hot!

[Coastalraider]

Yep, Sunday!

Legs aren't feeling as fresh as I hoped for but I think I say this every taper. Still got another day and half.

Hope it doesn't get too hot!

Im at Penrith for WS70.3, and its predicted for 32.....

Do you run tomorrow?? That looks like the hot one in Canberra.

[EJ]

Oh, good stuff. Good luck! Haha yeah that's pretty bloody hot for an endurance event. Penrith is always a bit of a stitch up.

Stromlo is Sunday. But the 50kers start at 6am so hopefully most of it should be still reasonable temp.

[Coastalraider]

Not actually sure what time I start yet, but hopefully Im all done by 12-1pm, so I might miss the peak.

Good luck, hope it goes well for you!

[Coastalraider]

Just saw Mick Ennis at check in - if I see him on course tomorrow I'm going for the Viking clap.

[Coastalraider]

How didn't you go EJ? Your pace looked good - are you happy with your run?

I had a good day out, legs were a little flat from recent races, had some stomach issues and lost a couple of minutes in porta-loo in transition, and it was WARM on the run leg, but I felt like I executed as best I could with the cards I had in the day, which I'm really happy with.

That lake though .... feels like swimming in a Petrie dish. To come from Noosa with crystal clear blue water, to the Regatta centre where you sometimes struggled to see your hands underwater

[EJ]

Sorry, Coastal. Been busy and pretty exhausted to be honest.

Haha, oh man. I've yet to use a port-a-loo number 2 during a race. I've never gotten through anything from a marathon up without at least one stop for a number 1 though. Was it your nutrition or something pre-race you reckon? I'm pretty paranoid about what I eat 24 hours before a race. That doesn't stop me from making bad decisions sometimes, but so far I've only had trouble during training.

Yep, that was a pretty hot day compared to what it's been. Glad you were happy with your performance. Do you ever track your whole event? Actually, what watch do you use? I use a Fenix 3, which is a necessity for really long runs. I'm hoping to track Iceland, but not sure if the battery will quite last the whole time. Used to have a Forerunner 620, which I used over the Fenix for anything under a marathon before it carked it. Really great running specific watch. Much smaller and lighter than my Fenix.

I am extremely satisfied with my run. They changed the course less than 24 hours before the start due to circumstances out of their control. It meant a significant increase in elevation and distance (ended up being 54km), but it suited me. Only 26 finishers and I was close to last after 10km. By 30km I had made up a lot of ground and by the finish I overtook about half the field to finish 11th. Everyone who finished behind me went out too hard and really blew up in the final third of the race. I was feeling good and actually increased my pace in that final third. So all my training is paying off and that's the really satisfying part.

I've still got 3 big runs to get through before I head to Iceland, but I've got more confidence that I've been doing the right thing all these months.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I fueled entirely on GU Roctane and these magnesium supplements in gummy form (by Nature's Way, I think). This will be my race fuel from now on (except for Iceland), it worked a treat. Well, I also smashed about 2/3 of a can of coke in 3 gulps at an unmanned drink station about 7km from the finish. I was starting to cramp, so I would've downed anything then and there if I thought it might help stave off the cramps.

[Coastalraider]

Hey EJ,

Great to hear you had a good day - pacing is such a massive part of these endurance events and its so fulfilling passing people at the back end who went out too early! Glad to hear your in good fitness for Iceland - what are the other long runs you have planned - training or events??

I think my stomach issues where a weird mix of cliff bar and endura, which I have done before but just didn't sit right on Sunday. Something wasn't right prior to the race, and I had a little vomit to clear it up before the swim, and I got a slight twinge during the swim as my first indication in the gut. About 20km into the ride it shifted form top end to bottom end, so there was no confidence in releasing any gas from that point! I clenched when needed for the rest of the ride thinking that i would loose less time using a porta loo in transition while I was already stationary, as opposed to having to slow the bike to a stop and start again. Once that was sorted out it was fine on the run, was rough for the rest of the day but didnt really loose me a lot of time. Not pleasant though!

I use a Garmin 910xt - fairly old but heaps of great data options as a multisport watch. I record all of the event, but record per discipline, as I have the screen set up to give different data readouts for different sport, and when you set it up to multisport mode you lose that variance. I want total swim time, split time per100m and total distance for swimming - total time, average speed, current speed and distance for cycling, current speed and distance for running. That gives me the ability to hit target speeds, and milestones on different legs. I use it as my everyday watch, and as long as I plug it in at night, Ive never had an issue with battery life, even when I leave GPS enabled continuously.

When is Iceland again??

[EJ]

Damn, you vomited? I've still never done that in training or a race. I've come close, but never followed through as yet.

Oh yeah, those 910xt/920xt models look like great watches. I've had my Fenix on since the morning of Stromlo. GPS is set to record every 1 second when tracking. After 5h20 Sunday and 2 hours today, it's down to 30%. I used it in Ultra-trac mode for my 9h40 night run the other week and it was on 55% when I finished. That indicates it probably won't last the full 24 hours in Iceland, but we'll see.

No more events in the next couple of weeks, just training runs, and make that 2 more big runs now. I actually wanted to knock off 30km today but fatigue, heat and not taking enough water with me meant I cut it to 25km. I thought I'd be disappointed with that, but I went pretty hard the last 7km and finished absolutely knackered, so can't complain. Will do my final mountains run Sunday, will be 5 hours+. Then final long run, probably 30km on the road next Thursday and fly out a few days later.

Event day is the 16th/17th.

Will be meeting up with a small group of racers from around the world for a casual 10km run around Reykjavik a few days before the race, and I'll also probably do one or two other small runs in the city during that week. Really looking forward to that.

[gerg]

Race of a lifetime. Hope it all goes well.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

[EJ]

Cheers, Gerg! So do I

[gerg]

I've only just joined Strava, how do I stalk you guys?
So tempted to also grab a Garmin hrm but not sure what to get. The 735xt is on special at Rebel atm but is still 400, but then looking at the 910xt and 920xt they are probably enough watch for me but still around the 300 mark. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a 735 but don't know how to seek permission from the boss.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

[Coastalraider]

Hey Greg, search for 'the Greenhouse' under clubs, join and when you look there in future you will see all members activities. Further to that you can follow anyone in the group, and those peoples activities will show up in your feed.

I love the 910, I bought a used one through gumtree 2 years ago for $150 and it hasn't missed a beat. 'Triathlon Marketplace' group on Facebook has used watched for sale constantly, just depends on what you want.

[EJ]

Welcome aboard, Gerg!

Haha, Spartan finally released some info about the race yesterday. So, they are 10km laps. With 580m elevation gain per lap

That's pretty crazy for this race. I originally had an A goal of 75 miles, and B goal of 100km. I think 50 miles is more reasonable now.

There is going to be carnage in the long night.

[Coastalraider]

Welcome aboard, Gerg!

Haha, Spartan finally released some info about the race yesterday. So, they are 10km laps. With 580m elevation gain per lap

That's pretty crazy for this race. I originally had an A goal of 75 miles, and B goal of 100km. I think 50 miles is more reasonable now.

There is going to be carnage in the long night.

Ouch - almost as bad as the 580m uphill is the 580m downhill every lap. That's going to sting at the back end..

Are you pumped yet???

[EJ]

Massively!

Finally booked all my sightseeing activities last night. Hope weather is kind. This will be a week to remember if all goes to plan.