Training in AUS

I arrived in Wollongong, AUS on the 11th of Jan. It was a very long and boring journey on the plane. Arrived safely and stayed at Jamie's place for the weekend and there was someone staying at the room I was renting. Did a light run that evening, felt pretty good. The next morning I swam, biked and run like a pre race stimulation as I'm doing a race in Sydney on Sunday morning. I'm so not fit to do it but thought i'd give it a go, see how 3 weeks of rest did to my fitness.

We drove down to Sydney at 5a.m. got to the race site at 7a.m. Had to register and set up transition so had not much time for a warm up. Briefing was 15 mins before race starts at 8a.m. The water was cold!! Didn't swim so well and felt very bad on the bike, my ITB was very tight and sore so I didn't run. Don't want to make it worse. After the race we slowly drove back to Wollongong.

After lunch I moved in to my new place, it's very nice!! I even have my own bathroom with a bath tub, how good is that!! I had to pay $120 a week but its all good, near to everything. We swim and do gym at the Uni of Wollongong which is 3km from home and we normally meet for bike rides and run at North beach which is bout 5km from home. The 1st few days I actually had to have a map with me but now I know it from the back of my head.

The 1st 2 weeks of training was the hardest and most suffering time of my career, my body is getting back into all the trainings. Everyday was a hard day for me, I come home anytime of the day and needed a sleep. Here's the menu:

14/01/2008- 20/01/2008

MON     Cycle 6:20a.m. Recovery

TUE      Cycle 6:20a.m. with bunch inc 20mins Crit

              Swim 11a.m. 4km

              Run 40mins easy

WED    Cycle 6:20a.m. 3hrs tempo/AS

              Gym 4:30p.m

              Run 6:30p.m. 40mins tempo

THU     Cycle/ Run 6:20a.m. quality brick

              Swim 11a.m. HR and quality pull 5km

              Run quality 3p.m.

FRI       Open water swim 8a.m.

              Long run 1hr 9a.m.

SAT      Swim 7a.m. AT

              Ride SE 10a.m. north

SUN     Race at Illawara tri club (didn't race but rode dawn to race site with bunch)

21/01/2008- 27/01/2008

MON    Cycle 6:20a.m. SE 2hrs

             Swim 11a.m. 4km

             Gym 4:30p.m. 

             Run 6:30p.m. North 40mins LSD

TUE    Cycle 6:20a.m. bunch inc 20mins Crit

             Swim 11a.m. inc 1km TT (12:58)

             Run 4p.m. quality track

WED   Cycle 6:20a.m. 3hrs tempo/AS

             Gym 4:30p.m. 

             Run 6:30p.m. north 40mins tempo

THU    Cycle 7a.m. easy 40mins spin

             Swim 11a.m. HR and quality pull 5km

             Run 3p.m. 40mins fartlek

FRI      Open water swim @ north 8a.m.

             Cycle/run pre race brick

SAT     Aquathlon race @ north (800m swim and 8km run)

Race report:

This race was organized in conjunction of Australia Day, there was so many people at North beach. I rode down on my mountain bike, a good warm up for me. Got my race pack and went for my run warm up, i was feeling very good on the run. 8:30 sharp the men started their race then 3 mins later it was our turn. I had an awesome swim, the run was painful but manage to hold my lead and paced the mens. I won the race, at least something to boost my confidence. My training hasn't been going good lately. Glad that Jamie talked me into doing the race. HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!