Over the last few blog posts I’ve been mentioning that I’ve been in the process of making some changes. These have turned out to be both in my personal and sporting lives. Some of these have been major, some have been minor, some are new, some are going back to whats worked before. Firstly I got engaged to my lovely Girl Friend Dani. She has been/ put up with me for just under 4 years now and has helped me greatly with the balance in my life.
Now for the sporting changes. The first one has been to start working with Xavier Coppock as my coach. I’ve known Xavier for a fair few years going back into my cycling days and feel that this is the right move for me to progress. With the change of coach comes a change in how I am planning to race. This is only a small change but its a move to making me a more rounded athlete.
The next change is diet related and shifting back towards the way I ate in the last year I focused full time on cycling. That was when my weight was at its lowest and my performance and numbers ware at there best. Now I was still a fair way off what I could have been weight wise at that stage and I really believe that I was one of the reasons why it didn’t work better than what it did. All I will say is that its far from a conventional endurance athletes diet, but its what works for my genes. I will not preach it or even really say what it is at this stage for that reason. I’ve also been doing a fair bit of research on a few different areas from hydration to how the brains involved in performance. Some interesting and good findings found from it that will go towards those little 1% gains which all add up.
As for training, the first block in the lead up for Zofingen started this week. Some changes already being felt. A fair bit of running involved which I’m actually looking forward.
Until next time
Hopper
Friday, April 19, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Ironman Melbourne Race Report
Well race day has come and gone. Just like most people mine was full of up and downs with mine ending in the ultimate down of sitting on the side of the road waiting for the Sag Wagon. This was thanks to me popping my 5th lumbar out in my back and my Tensor Fascia Lata tightening up. Not the way I had planned for it to go but thats racing.
Was fairly excited on hearing news that the swim had been shortened. I had a shocker in the water just couldn't get going. I have done plenty of training in those conditions but when you add 2200 others with a lot not experienced in them it makes for one hell of a swim when your towards the back. had people swimming over the top of me all the way out to the turn buoy. The turn buoy it self was a shocker 180 degree u bolt around a single buoy mixed with all those athletes meant you were stopped and dealing with head on swimmers. A large number of athletes just turned around early. there were a couple of different options race organizers could of done to help stop this issue around the turn buoy but it is what it is and you deal with what your giving on race day.
Got out of the water and made up a bit of time duck diving and running on the beach. Got though transition and on to the bike and felt good straight away. I have had a few (BIG) issues with pacing before so was pleased I was able to keep it under control in the head wind on the way out. Had about 30 people drafting me at one stage in the head wind. The tail wind section was great just cruising back down the freeway was fun, a few people tried to hang on but they didn't last long. Went though the first lap in 2;25 which was right on target and watts on target too. Got to around the 110km mark and started to have some issues with my lower back and hip on the left side of my body then a few KM later had the pains started to shoot down my leg, stopped a few times trying to stretch it out with no luck. tried to limp my way back to T2 but body wasn't going to let me and had to get a TO to help me off my bike. spent a fair bit of time crying on the side of the road while I waited 2.5hrs to get picked up by the sage wagon.
Here is a link to my SRM file on training peaks for anyone interested
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/2AKVJZYCFML2E35G6H42R3253Y
I would like to give a big thanks to my Mum and Dad for being there on race day, my GF Dani for putting up with me through all the training and all the support from random supporters out on course. To all the volunteers and race officials thank you because with out you there is simply no race.
It was a shit way to finish the day was really looking to finish and get another long race in my legs before PM Zofingen this year. About the only positive to come from it is that I didn't go deep at all so will be starting my prep a lot fresher and sooner. This is not the first time I've had hip issues on the bike so may need to go back to the drawing board there. Time to move on and except what happened. Plenty of work to be done before Zofingen included starting to shift my strength to make me a more rounded athlete.
Until next time
Hopper
 |
| Happy to be on land. |
Was fairly excited on hearing news that the swim had been shortened. I had a shocker in the water just couldn't get going. I have done plenty of training in those conditions but when you add 2200 others with a lot not experienced in them it makes for one hell of a swim when your towards the back. had people swimming over the top of me all the way out to the turn buoy. The turn buoy it self was a shocker 180 degree u bolt around a single buoy mixed with all those athletes meant you were stopped and dealing with head on swimmers. A large number of athletes just turned around early. there were a couple of different options race organizers could of done to help stop this issue around the turn buoy but it is what it is and you deal with what your giving on race day.
 |
| Before things went pear shaped. |
Got out of the water and made up a bit of time duck diving and running on the beach. Got though transition and on to the bike and felt good straight away. I have had a few (BIG) issues with pacing before so was pleased I was able to keep it under control in the head wind on the way out. Had about 30 people drafting me at one stage in the head wind. The tail wind section was great just cruising back down the freeway was fun, a few people tried to hang on but they didn't last long. Went though the first lap in 2;25 which was right on target and watts on target too. Got to around the 110km mark and started to have some issues with my lower back and hip on the left side of my body then a few KM later had the pains started to shoot down my leg, stopped a few times trying to stretch it out with no luck. tried to limp my way back to T2 but body wasn't going to let me and had to get a TO to help me off my bike. spent a fair bit of time crying on the side of the road while I waited 2.5hrs to get picked up by the sage wagon.
Here is a link to my SRM file on training peaks for anyone interested
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/2AKVJZYCFML2E35G6H42R3253Y
I would like to give a big thanks to my Mum and Dad for being there on race day, my GF Dani for putting up with me through all the training and all the support from random supporters out on course. To all the volunteers and race officials thank you because with out you there is simply no race.
It was a shit way to finish the day was really looking to finish and get another long race in my legs before PM Zofingen this year. About the only positive to come from it is that I didn't go deep at all so will be starting my prep a lot fresher and sooner. This is not the first time I've had hip issues on the bike so may need to go back to the drawing board there. Time to move on and except what happened. Plenty of work to be done before Zofingen included starting to shift my strength to make me a more rounded athlete.
Until next time
Hopper
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Time To Go Race!!!
Well the Ironman circus has hit the town. Its now 3 sleeps till race day and that means one thing, I’ve got more energy than I know what to do with thanks to taping for the last 10 or so days. The body is starting to come good and I’m as ready as I can be to step into the unknown for me.
Since Geelong Ive been able to string together a fairly solid block of training. Things haven’t always gone to plan or been the greatest block but its been honest. I’ve blown up on many occasions for a number of different reasons but every time its happened I’ve looked at why/how it happened and made changes to try stop it happen again. I have to give a big thanks Xavier Coppock, Ben Hughes, Ben Robinson, Kane Roach, Adam McCarthy, Adrian Brunato, Clayton Stairmand, Damo Harris, Jerome Peyton, Tom and anyone else who I have been able to train with in the lead up to this race. I have to give an even bigger thanks to Xavier for helping me keep on track and passing on some of his endless knowledge.
I have had a few different goals I have wanted to get through this experience. Some I will not know if I have achieved till after I cross the finish line but there are a few I have already achieved. The big one is that I’ve continued to learn and gain more experience in how I need to train and prepare for Long distance multi sport races. the first one is that I’ve been able to maintain some type of fitness and focus in my training so I’m in a good position to start my prep for Powerman Zofingen.
Moving forward after Ironman Melbourne, theres a few different things that I’m starting to work on and plan which I’ll explain more after the dust has settled from Melbourne and things are finalized.
Finally Good luck to all the athletes racing IM Melbourne.
Until after race day
Hopper
Since Geelong Ive been able to string together a fairly solid block of training. Things haven’t always gone to plan or been the greatest block but its been honest. I’ve blown up on many occasions for a number of different reasons but every time its happened I’ve looked at why/how it happened and made changes to try stop it happen again. I have to give a big thanks Xavier Coppock, Ben Hughes, Ben Robinson, Kane Roach, Adam McCarthy, Adrian Brunato, Clayton Stairmand, Damo Harris, Jerome Peyton, Tom and anyone else who I have been able to train with in the lead up to this race. I have to give an even bigger thanks to Xavier for helping me keep on track and passing on some of his endless knowledge.
I have had a few different goals I have wanted to get through this experience. Some I will not know if I have achieved till after I cross the finish line but there are a few I have already achieved. The big one is that I’ve continued to learn and gain more experience in how I need to train and prepare for Long distance multi sport races. the first one is that I’ve been able to maintain some type of fitness and focus in my training so I’m in a good position to start my prep for Powerman Zofingen.
Moving forward after Ironman Melbourne, theres a few different things that I’m starting to work on and plan which I’ll explain more after the dust has settled from Melbourne and things are finalized.
Finally Good luck to all the athletes racing IM Melbourne.
Until after race day
Hopper
Sunday, February 17, 2013
And Where Racing
Been a while since my last update. We are now a scary 5 weeks out from IM Melbourne, which means for me about 3.5 weeks of real training before I taper. Time to start to cram like Ambrose. Since my last update works continued to be busy, and I’ve had my first race for the year, the Urban Geelong Long Course Triathlon. Which was my first Half Ironman (70.3) distance race.
Not to much to report on the results at Geelong, had a bad race but I’m blaming no body other than myself for it. I just didn't get it right, Made some mistakes in the lead up to the race and then the way I handled situations during the race which all added up. Gained plenty of useful experience and data to move forward and kick on to Melbourne. I was over the moon with my swim and actually think I lost positions on dry land which as a duathlon specialist is frustrating.
Training this week after Geelong as gone well. Have had no real issues recovering from it and was able to lodge my biggest 7 day run block ever, 62km. Still not big km’s but ones got to start somewhere. The run is something that I know there's still plenty of room for improvement. I’ve been a lot more focused on making sure my running technique is as good as I can get it and am working on improving it in every session. Not only is that a key for getting through Melbourne but also for going fast come Zofingen. I’ve also started doing some geeky testing on some marginal gains methods and equipment for me to use in Melbourne, some are working out perfectly others need some further work.
On the Zofingen, some great news. There is currently 5 other Aussies on the start list which is a load better than just me as the only one there last year. Its a great start but the more Aussies that go across the better!!!
Till next time
Hopper
Not to much to report on the results at Geelong, had a bad race but I’m blaming no body other than myself for it. I just didn't get it right, Made some mistakes in the lead up to the race and then the way I handled situations during the race which all added up. Gained plenty of useful experience and data to move forward and kick on to Melbourne. I was over the moon with my swim and actually think I lost positions on dry land which as a duathlon specialist is frustrating.
Training this week after Geelong as gone well. Have had no real issues recovering from it and was able to lodge my biggest 7 day run block ever, 62km. Still not big km’s but ones got to start somewhere. The run is something that I know there's still plenty of room for improvement. I’ve been a lot more focused on making sure my running technique is as good as I can get it and am working on improving it in every session. Not only is that a key for getting through Melbourne but also for going fast come Zofingen. I’ve also started doing some geeky testing on some marginal gains methods and equipment for me to use in Melbourne, some are working out perfectly others need some further work.
On the Zofingen, some great news. There is currently 5 other Aussies on the start list which is a load better than just me as the only one there last year. Its a great start but the more Aussies that go across the better!!!
Till next time
Hopper
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Long Time No Blog!
Happy New Year everyone. Its been a while since I’ve posted on here. the last 6 or so weeks have been a bit hectic and a big change for me so I’ll bring you up to speed. I started a new job at the start of December which meant that the last 2 weeks of November and the first 3 weeks of December were a bit of write off training wise. I was able to keep some swimming up but the rest wasn't great. Wasn’t the best time to change in terms of my training but it was an opportunity to good to turn down.
From the weekend before Christmas to now I've managed to start to train the house down again. I’ve logged around 25hrs in the 11 days with a few rest days thrown in. The body is responding well to the work load which I’m more than pleased with. I’m in a fairly critical block now building for Melbourne but more importantly I’m laying down some solid foundations for for later on in the year and for the years to come. I’m only starting year 2 in my transition from cyclist to multi-sport athlete and it takes time to build up the strength needed to race long course in the other areas of the sport.
The best news to come out of this 11 day block is that I’m mentally back with it and motivated to train again. I’m putting this down to a few things. First one is that I’ve been able to to a large portion of the training with a solid group of athletes. I have to thank Xavier Coppock for letting me tag along with his training group. Secondly there is the MX12 group on Facebook to keep me accountable.
The final reason is a big change for me, a change up in the way I train and what I look at or more importantly what I don’t look at. I have all but given up training with a powermeter and the numbers. I’ve been training without looking at the numbers on and off for the last couple of months and my training has improved. I’m going back to training on feel and listening to my body. In the past I would throw in training sessions if i couldn't hit the numbers that the session required. Now I go by feel and am getting the training done. My sessions have changed with this new style for me and am going to do a large amount of KISS training. KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid or Keep It Simple Sutton which comes from Brett “doc” Sutton, head coach of Team TBB. It pretty much comes down to doing the simple stuff that works and don't try to reinvent the wheel.
The plan for the next few weeks is just to keep building on these last 11 days and get my body closer to ‘race fit’
Hopper
From the weekend before Christmas to now I've managed to start to train the house down again. I’ve logged around 25hrs in the 11 days with a few rest days thrown in. The body is responding well to the work load which I’m more than pleased with. I’m in a fairly critical block now building for Melbourne but more importantly I’m laying down some solid foundations for for later on in the year and for the years to come. I’m only starting year 2 in my transition from cyclist to multi-sport athlete and it takes time to build up the strength needed to race long course in the other areas of the sport.
The best news to come out of this 11 day block is that I’m mentally back with it and motivated to train again. I’m putting this down to a few things. First one is that I’ve been able to to a large portion of the training with a solid group of athletes. I have to thank Xavier Coppock for letting me tag along with his training group. Secondly there is the MX12 group on Facebook to keep me accountable.
The final reason is a big change for me, a change up in the way I train and what I look at or more importantly what I don’t look at. I have all but given up training with a powermeter and the numbers. I’ve been training without looking at the numbers on and off for the last couple of months and my training has improved. I’m going back to training on feel and listening to my body. In the past I would throw in training sessions if i couldn't hit the numbers that the session required. Now I go by feel and am getting the training done. My sessions have changed with this new style for me and am going to do a large amount of KISS training. KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid or Keep It Simple Sutton which comes from Brett “doc” Sutton, head coach of Team TBB. It pretty much comes down to doing the simple stuff that works and don't try to reinvent the wheel.
The plan for the next few weeks is just to keep building on these last 11 days and get my body closer to ‘race fit’
Hopper
Monday, October 29, 2012
Life On Call
I’ve ended up writing this in 2 different plant rooms in to different suburbs while I’ve waited for high temp alarms to clear on systems. One part of my job is being on a rotating after hours on call roster. Not bad for the money if you can bag enough call outs but can wreck your training for not only the week on it but the following week after it if you don't manage your fatigue levels.
Seeing though I’ve had to have my phone on me and be able to jump in the work car as soon as a call comes though, my training is pretty much limited to the wind trainer and weights. With that in mind I made sure i had a few big, for me, swim weeks just before going on call. When it came around my upper body was thanking me for a week off. In those 2 weeks I did end up making some pretty solid gains and improvements so was please.
I was pretty happy with my weekend training block I was able to put together. Wind trainer session friday night, saturday, sunday morning and weight sessions based of what long track speed skaters doing in the gym saturday and sunday arvo. These gym session hurt big time and leave your legs like jelly and end up find some solid gains from doing them without needing to do a great deal of them. Started to find my old bike legs on Sunday which was great coz they have been missing for a fair bit. Hopefully I can get my bike back up to where it should be and not where its been for about the last 6 months.
Race schedule is now pretty much complete with Geelong Long Course and IM Melbourne being my 2 goal races with a few club races thrown in for training. I have been a bit iffy about doing Geelong but have decided to add it in for a number of reasons. One I would like to put together one really good race this summer and get a strong result. Banking everything on a Ironman when its your first time over the distance is a little risky. Two it allows me to build up my results list and gain some more exposure. Three I just love to race. Now there is key thing for Geelong, I will shut it down on the run if I have to if I’m not right. I cant afford to go to deep 6 weeks out from an IM. Swim and bike I’m not worried about pushing but my legs still haven't fully adapted to fast running just yet, they can go pretty hard but it comes at a high muscle damage price.
Thats all for now
Hopper
Seeing though I’ve had to have my phone on me and be able to jump in the work car as soon as a call comes though, my training is pretty much limited to the wind trainer and weights. With that in mind I made sure i had a few big, for me, swim weeks just before going on call. When it came around my upper body was thanking me for a week off. In those 2 weeks I did end up making some pretty solid gains and improvements so was please.
I was pretty happy with my weekend training block I was able to put together. Wind trainer session friday night, saturday, sunday morning and weight sessions based of what long track speed skaters doing in the gym saturday and sunday arvo. These gym session hurt big time and leave your legs like jelly and end up find some solid gains from doing them without needing to do a great deal of them. Started to find my old bike legs on Sunday which was great coz they have been missing for a fair bit. Hopefully I can get my bike back up to where it should be and not where its been for about the last 6 months.
Race schedule is now pretty much complete with Geelong Long Course and IM Melbourne being my 2 goal races with a few club races thrown in for training. I have been a bit iffy about doing Geelong but have decided to add it in for a number of reasons. One I would like to put together one really good race this summer and get a strong result. Banking everything on a Ironman when its your first time over the distance is a little risky. Two it allows me to build up my results list and gain some more exposure. Three I just love to race. Now there is key thing for Geelong, I will shut it down on the run if I have to if I’m not right. I cant afford to go to deep 6 weeks out from an IM. Swim and bike I’m not worried about pushing but my legs still haven't fully adapted to fast running just yet, they can go pretty hard but it comes at a high muscle damage price.
Thats all for now
Hopper
Monday, October 22, 2012
Getting Back Into The Swing of Things
A few weeks have past since my last update so thought I would give a bit of an update. Trainings been slowly progressing. I’ve been mainly working on my swimming these last few weeks knowing thats the thing I have to work on the most. I’m happy with how I’m progressing at this time, distance is going up and times are slowly coming down with the biggest improvement being that I’m getting more comfortable in the water. I'm not so worried about drowning anymore. These gains have come at a bit of a cost. Fatigue levels at the moment are fairly high and are effecting other sessions on land. At the moment I’m not to concerned as I know what i need to get down and how long it takes to get it done on land. Another thing behind the fatigue and the main reason for suffering with other training has been some changes to my diet that I haven’t quite got right. Diet changes being introduced are aimed at improving my fuel economy. I’ve eating very similar to this way before a few years back with a fair bit of success but this was when I was just a cyclist. I’ve got it dialed for one afternoon session a day during the week. Now that I’m swimming in the morning and then training again in the afternoon and my upper body muscles are currently inefficient which make both fuel volume and timing critical. This is the thing I need to work on and am slowly getting it to where in needs to be.
I'm just putting the finish touches on my program up to Ironman Melbourne and will update my race schedule when finalized as well as updating the rest of my pages. From Thursday I become a slave to the wind trainer and treadmill for a week thanks to having to be “on call” for work. Pretty much a week of waiting 24/7 for my phone to go off and head back off to work.
Until next time
Hopper
I'm just putting the finish touches on my program up to Ironman Melbourne and will update my race schedule when finalized as well as updating the rest of my pages. From Thursday I become a slave to the wind trainer and treadmill for a week thanks to having to be “on call” for work. Pretty much a week of waiting 24/7 for my phone to go off and head back off to work.
Until next time
Hopper
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