June has been
the month of increased volume, all of a sudden each session has increased by at
least 30% percent which doesn't sound like much but getting up at 5:45am to
2.5km in the pool is definitely noticeable. The great thing about the early
morning swims is that there is plenty of motivation once you are in the water
with the Karori pirates swimming club in the lanes next to me….I will ignore
the fact that they are twice as fast and more than half my age; it is inspiring
to see these young adults religiously pounding the lanes with the support of
their coach in preparation for the next competition...how to make someone feel
old, especially aching after the previous nights workout.
As the training
is increasing my body is slowly adapting, a slight groin strain has emerged
which is frustrating as my progress has been solid. Fortunately, this doesn't
affect the other 2 disciplines so I have no excuses to steal an extra hour in
bed.
With the slight
groin strain I thought that I would step down from running the Armstrong 10km
road race with my support crew and cheer from the sidelines. While it was a
cold and dry day it was perfect for a fast race and I watched people with envy
start their 10km, half or full marathon. Theresa had a target time to work to and
I thought that I would find a spot with little Mia two thirds of the way
around. Regardless of my careful planning of where she would be at a specific
time I received a phone call from the finishing line..."where are you, I
have finished " .... Oops...so much for supporting my support crew.
As Winter starts
to take a firm hold of Wellington with biting southerly winds the cycle has
become a reliable source of pain....the outdoor sessions are now left to the
weekends along with other "roadies" who are wrapped up In warm
clothes and leggings. I have had a few weird looks as we pass as I am the only
person wearing shorts…I don't have time to tell them that I plan to go for a
run straight after the bike and get too hot while running to wear full
leggings.
As the distances
start to increase, this phase has been to workout what is the best nutrition to
use. From all the reading and my experience at the Auckland Half Ironman it is
clear that nutrition and hydration is going to be the key to survival. In that race I
suffered severely from cramps and realized that salt and electrolytes were
critical. Challenge Wanaka is double the distance so food is also
fundamentally important. I have been using Nuun electrolytes that are great to
address the cramping but don't sit well only stomach, which is proving to cause
problems when running so I am experimenting with salt tablets from salt stick
and Leppin gels. Cliff bars are great on the bike but I can imagine after
several hours the novelty may wear off of eating the same bar. There are so
many options with suppliers and experts advising the "best
product"….. it can be quite confusing (from gels, bars, electrolytes,
liquid food).it's just great that I can keep trying all the different products
without having to think about my waistline.... It's just a shame that the good
old fashioned pie is not on the list of sports foods. My plan is to find a
combination that sits well on my stomach, avoids all the cramping issues, have
a nice refreshing taste and is not too costly…I will let you know if I find
this holy grail.
Support Crews
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So June has come
and gone and involved me doing a 10km race - plan was for Ian to push Mia in
the buggy but we found the night before after reading the T's & C's that
there were no buggies permitted. Ian was kind enough to let me run the
'race'. After my severe lack of training I managed to beat my target time
- the only things that kept me going was my friend also running and knowing the
pain Ian will have to go through to do this Iron distance in January.
Holidays to Sydney didn't even stop Ian's training - only wish we'd
bought Mia's buggy so I could have gone running round the Botanical Gardens and
round the Opera House….but that might have been more of a 'walk' for Ian at my
slow coach pace…….
