So You Think You Can Run?

"First off the bike". Spend enough time with triathletes and you are bound to hear this phrase bounced around. A few words that say "catch me if you can"; that say you've swum and ridden faster than anyone; a few words that used to sound really cool and exciting. Now they sound tough. They sound heavy. A few words that bore down on my shoulders yesterday like Rubio with a deck of 'special' playing cards. That will make sense if you know Rubio. Anyway...

Bribie Triathlon - race one. We couldn't have dialed in a better day for racing. The sky was clear and blue, the air still and the water cool enough for a wetsuit. Perfect. While it doesn't seem to get any easier waking up at 4:15am to get ready, the trip there was easy and Adz was nice enough to give me a lift. The first debate of the day was 'to wetsuit, or not'. Everything pointed to not. A) It's Bribie, and tide assisted. B) It's only 750m. C) IT'S BRIBIE! So we wetsuited-up. I know, right? I tried to justify it as taking the opportunity to practice racing in a wetsuit and getting the transition right but really it is just hard to pass up the chance to float a bit more! Lance's justification was that he paid 'x' amount for a wetsuit, so why not wear it when you can as in sunny QLD opportunities are pretty sparse. And Adz... well, I think he just went with the flow. 

The game plan was pretty simple. Checking my times from this race last year I finished 2nd to a guy (TG) who I knew was racing this time. After talking with a few people the plan was to hold on as long as I could in the swim, kill it on the bike to catch him, and then duke it out on the run.

Once it the water I'll admit it didn't feel that cold. For the first time I positioned myself right at the front and ready to roll. I'm here to win! (thanks Macca for that quote). Adz and I started side by side and TG was there as well. A few handshakes later and we were off. For the first half of the swim Adz and I matched it stroke for stroke - a pretty quick tempo and one that had me wondering if I could keep it up for another 5 minutes or so. I could see TG pulling away up ahead with the Hawaii Ironman World Champion Macca's nemesis, Yo-Yo. I realized that I had slowly drawn closer to the shore, so angled back out a bit so I could make the most of the flowing current. For some reason I was really giving it in the kick - I think seeing TG up ahead made me push harder to minimize the damage! Around the final buoy and before I knew it was fingers dragged across sand and I was up on my feet and gunning it to my bike. At the time I was thinking I could be mistaken, but I think I was 3rd out of the water! (Turns out I was third out of the water, 36 seconds behind TG).

Focused when I got to the bike - wanting to get the wetsuit off quickly but knowing that when I try to rush the brain and hands don't talk to each other very well. Relaxed. But fast. Getting that balance right is a fine art! Pretty happy with that part of my transition, I got the wetsuit off easy enough, helmet on and out onto the bike course. The part for me to improve on is to keep the pace going and jumping on the bike, and also getting my feet into my shoes. I had pushed down hard on my shoes so when I tried to get my feet in, the top of the shoes were pushed in which made it hard to make the smooth transition. Once I was sorted though, I focused on the task at hand - a hard 20k TT! Having raced at Bribie a bit over the years I feel like I know the course layout pretty well - which is great because I can focus on hitting the corners smoothly and accelerating at the right time. No sign of TG for the entire first lap, but at the turnaround heading back for the second lap I caught sight of him - only 100m or so between us. Decision time. With nothing to lose I thought "let's see what these legs can do" and I made a determined effort to close the gap. The E-114 leaped under me and as the k's ticked over the gap was getting shorter and shorter and I knew I was going to catch him. Decision time 2. I decided to keep the pressure on and keep pushing past him. It wasn't until the final 200m or so I kicked it up to an easier gear to spin my legs at a high cadence to get ready for the task ahead. A quick transition and off onto the run course with about 8 seconds up my sleeve. First off the bike. But at what cost?

Decision time 3. I decided to put the foot down and gun it. Running is my thing, right? 5k I know I can do. Hard. I wanted TG to see me burn off into the distance and give up there are then. That would be a great plan if A) I hadn't just ridden a tough 20k like there was no run (which it was quite apparent now that there is!) and B) TG was a crap runner (which it is also apparent now not to be true!). I managed to hold him off until the last k or so, but man I was hurting. It has been a long time since I was in that much pain. Not just physically but mentally. My mind had a microphone this time - stop running you fool! - and it took a lot to get the positives to kick in - less than 10 minutes to go, you can do this. Pretty weak positives but that was about all I could muster! Picking off people one by one to help tick over the time and keep my mind occupied. When he passed me I had nothing. My heart felt like it was going into overdrive! It was pretty scary actually and for a moment I thought I'd have to stop. A look over my shoulder with 500m to go and I knew third was a long way off so I eased off and slipped the ol' rig back a gear. Something I have never done before but I was busted! So you think you can run? Apparently not as well as I thought.

Second place and a really good battle on the course! Some people race to train and others train to race - I am definitely the latter! In the end TG won by 16 seconds.

Swim 10:08 (3rd) Bike 28:53 (1st) Run 18:48 (2nd) Overall 57:51 (2nd).

Some lessons learned - a change of nutrition and adding caffeine pre-race may have influenced how my body felt late in the run. Also, I have a better idea of what my body can handle in terms of riding hard and then trying to run. With that in mind I knocked out the 2nd fastest bike time overall (1st in my category). Lastly, the need to be really mindful of what is happening around me. Maybe if I hadn't gone alpha male off the bike I could have eased off, caught my breath and waited for TG, then run shoulder to shoulder with him and made him set the pace. A bit of a breather may have let me reset enough to be able to push when I needed to on the run. 

Always something to take away from a race. Some lessons learned. And sometimes a pottery mug. 

Thanks ChainGang for an awesome steed and pre-race prep, and Reddog for getting me to the start line ready to rumble.

Beijing World Champs - The Wrap Up

After a mammoth day of traveling across the globe, stopping off in Hong Kong on the way and almost missing our final flight, we made it back safe and sound in Oz. If you were using customer service and efficiency of processes as the variable to compare countries, then it was like waking up in a place were headless chooks run the register, and landing in a place that is run by a cross between Jennifer Hawkins and Sheldon from 'Big Bang Theory'.

The race was held on the 2008 Olympic course in the north Beijing district of Changping, and it was stunning. By far one of the best courses that I have raced on. The 1.5k one-lap swim was in the Shishanling reservoir with a spectacular backdrop and easy sighting of the buoys; the ride was tough and honest, with sections of constant inclines and a few sharp kicks to get you climbing, followed by flowing downhill runs and a few technical turns; the run was 3-laps that included about 1km of running in front of the grandstand and 3 trips up a steep incline. This is what I would consider a 'pure race' - a course that is difficult to hide from given the variety and challenges you had to tackle to get through it. 

The conditions were perfect for racing. The Sprint Distance race was held the day before, and they lucked out. It was pouring rain and cold. For us racing the day after, this meant clear (for Beijing) skies after the rain and a nice mid-20s temperature. I couldn't have dialed the big man upstairs and ordered a better day!

A huge Aussie team was in my category; ours was the only category in the Australian team to fill up (20 spots are available in each group). We managed to get a group photo in our 'holding pen'. 

The swim start is interesting. There is no allocation for a warm-up swim - you are corralled like cattle into pens with your age group, until you make it to the pontoon and then 'GO!' For me, this bites. I find I am tight through the first part of my race and don't get a chance to shake off the pre-race nerves. This then plays on my mind, so for the first 150m I stress about it and my breathing goes out of whack. Something I need to work on, because I end up rolling my body too much to get a big face-full of air! When I got into a nice rhythm, I felt good in the swim. I sighted well, so did not swim an extra 200m as is normally the case. Apart from still swimming slow, I was happy with the swim. Plus the water was warm to boot! 

It was funny at the start; I was chatting to a few Brits and they were saying "good swimmers come from Australia, and with a name like 'Waters' you've got to be fast! I'm sticking on your feet!" Ha-ha! Suckers, man if you stick on my feet in the swim that works well for me because your time is going to be s-l-o-w! 35th out of the water (77 in my category) does not spell GOOD SWIMMER!

Into transition and out onto the bike course for 3-laps around the reservoir. This course was built for me (actually, it was built for the Olympics I think) as it required a lot of steady climbing at a small incline. I got into a good rhythm early, and found myself with 2 other Aussies on the first few laps. We each seemed to be good at different parts, so there was a bit of leap frogging (no drafting though - imagine traveling all the way to Beijing only to be disqualified for drafting!). At the end of the second lap we lost one, which left myself and Tim Molesworth. After the race I checked out his times: he came out of the water about the same time as me, spent a bit of time behind me on the bike and clocked almost the same time, and then smoked me on the run! Cheeky bugger. I've gotta say, the new E-114 was PHENOMENAL. The Di2 (electronic gear shifting) was OUTSTANDING! If you ever get a chance to ride Di2, go for it. Just be prepared for the longing you will feel for it when it is gone. Off the bike, and in 20th spot. 15 places made up over the ride, something in training must be going right.

Onto the run and having ridden like there is no run, my quads felt like they were full of sand! Not a new feeling, and one I knew would disappear pretty quickly. The run starts with a 1k stretch (500m one way, then turn around) in front of the grandstands. Nothing like a crowd of people and fear of looking like a fool to make you run fast! Man did I soak up the moment. The reservoir on my left, the crowd on my right, running on the same blue carpet that they did at the Olympics! Outta this world! Running alongside athletes from different countries just adds to the surreal feel of it all, seeing all the different countries tri-suits was really cool. Again, I settled into a rhythm pretty early and set on locking it in. Easier said than done when you have just ridden 40k up and down inclines, and are running up a hill! My shins (Tibialis Anterior to be specific) were so fatigued, I felt like my feet were slapping the ground with each stride. 

 

Coming onto the last lap, a guy from the USA passed me on a downhill section, with an 'F' on his calf (my category). I stayed on his shoulder for a bit but he started to pull away. That was, until the hill. I passed him about halfway up it and thought "this is it, about 1.5k to home, go for it!" I wasn't game to turn around, I just put my foot down (with a slap on the tarmac - not very elegant) and went for it. Up onto the blue carpet for the last 800m and with the crowd there I was pushed even more. It wasn't until the last turn around that I had a chance to see where he was - right there was the answer! About 20m between us. I could see the finish line and started the internal monologue - "hurt as much as you want body, in less than 90 seconds you can stop" "I want to stop now" "I've killed myself for 400m before" "ease off you're at the end" "the end is up there, almost done, make yourself proud". 

  

With about 50m to go I heard the chants of "Aussie Aussie Aussie - Oi Oi Oi" and someone yelling out "push push!" I turned and the US guy was sprinting for the finish! He was right there! I floored it, sprinting as best you can after 2+ hours of racing, and felt my hamstring start to cramp and the sudden change in pace. Go Go Go! I held him off and finished in 15th place, I don't think I have ever had such an exciting finish to a race! Looking at his times afterwards, he had the exact same finish time as me (he finished 16th) which shows how close it was. 

At the end of the day, I couldn't be happier with my race. I gave it everything and was able to take it all in at the same time. The day itself also turned out brilliantly. I hung out with a fantastic group of guys over the 5 days I was there. Great company; my cheeks have never been so sore from laughing!

My beautiful wife was there to experience the day with me. She was outrageously famous with all the locals (and other countries) in her well-thought out 'mascot' outfit. Seriously, there was one stage where the professional photographers turned away from the race to take her photo - "you very beautiful". Not a lot of hot blondes in China I don't think. 

I met and chatted with Chris McCormack (2x Hawaii Ironman Champion), which was exciting and says something about him that he would take the time to chat with a couple of bums. He seems genuinely disgruntled at the state of affairs in the mens race, and the lack of drive of those racing to close the gap on the bike rather than let the Brownlee's burn off into the distance. Fair call I have to say! Where is the "as long as I breath, I attack" attitude of the past?

My wife also got a photo with Macca, Courtney Atkinson and Brendan Sexton. For tri-geeks this is almost like winning the lottery. But for Al, really it was just an excuse for her to get Courtney Atkinson to touch her I think! She went all jelly in her legs afterwards!

 I managed to brush up against them all hoping some of their talent would rub off on me. That's why Sexton has a funny smile on his face I think. Maybe he experienced some unexpected movement...

We also got to see the women's race, which was great (for a number of reasons, such as observing their running technique and *ahem* form). 

Andrea Hewitt raced a very smart run, sitting on Helen Jenkins shoulder for most of the run and then exploding at the end of the last lap to take it home (she is in black above). I must say she is one of my favorite female triathletes (again, for a number of reasons!). Helen Jenkins took the overall World Championship series with her second place in Beijing.  

I loved the experience, and am keen to do it again. The Long Course World Championships are in Spain next year. With the boss (aka Allison) giving it the half-tick of approval, I think it may happen. We'll see. First, a few days of beer, ice-cream, and relaxing are calling me. Although with the glorious blue skies in Brisbane today, I could be tempted to head out for a light spin...

The Eagle Has Landed... just in time

Holidays started - check.

Training 'hard-yards' done - check. 

Rocket in my possession - check.

This is my new steed, ready to set a blistering 40k time in Beijing and beyond! The guys at Chain Gang Performance Bikes have done a great job. It's sleek. It's comfortable. And for a bike it is bloody sexy! This Argon E114 comes with Di2 - electronic shifting of the gears! It has not missed a beat so far (granted I have only spent an hour on it), silky smooth shifting each time, at the press of a button. To make it even more appealing, I can also shift the gears on the base bar as well as the aero bars. This means if I am climbing and sitting up, I don't have to stretch out to the end of the bars to change gears. Much more comfortable.

One more 'big' session today, a swim / bike / run effort, followed by a rest day tomorrow. Then a 'champions taper' as Trent puts it. It's all getting quite exciting! Not only am I looking forward to the race but also to experiencing a different culture.

I'll post more in the coming days, today I just wanted to share my bike news! Too good to not boast!

Take care guys,

Scotty

A classic "What am I doing here?" moment

To set the scene. It is 9am (late for a triathlon, I know) and for the last hour's drive out to Wivenhoe Dam I have been scanning the sky from left - blue sunshine, to right - an intimidatingly black wall of cloud and doom. Like a classic Hollywood movie I'm wondering, will good conquer evil today? Or will the weather gods rain down upon us. 

As the minutes passed, so did my optimism. The Sprint Distance was away first which meant more time to get soaked to the bone from the now constant rain. My wife had made the trip out to watch the race, and even though I was feeling guilty after prodding her to come out all I could offer was a feeble half-smile that looked like an old twistie. This was meant to be a pre-Beijing World Championships hit out, and all it was turning into was a cold and miserable day that left me thinking "What am I doing here again?". 

Before I knew it, I had procrastinated the last possible precious second that I could and found myself stretching my wetsuit over my goose-bumped flesh. It was time to walk down to the dam, reported temperature of 19.5 degrees (surface level - apparently quite cooler further under). Nervous laughter filled the air. You couldn't help but laugh. Who in their right mind would be in this spot right now? We must be crazy. You know what?  I think it's a bit of good ol' fashioned crazy. But also a certain drive. Commitment. And passion that puts a person on the starting line of a triathlon. Unless you've lost a bet, that doesn't just happen. In that moment, standing in the water and quickly loosing feeling in my feet, I felt ALIVE. Really alive. Cold. But living my life with a great awareness of it all.

Into the water we went, the start of a 2 lap 750m swim. The shock of the water lead to a brief bit of anxiety in my chest - which meant for the first 100m or so I swam with my head constantly out of the water. Relax. Relax. Breath out in the water. Breath in above the water. Relax. What the first lap lacked in style, the second lap made up for in rhythm. I settled into a good stroke technique and was able to focus on the task at hand. Out of the water in a not-so-flash time, but happy to be out of the water (and 4 seconds in front of Adz!). 

Glory was short lived, as Adz made it out of transition before me. My hands were so numb I had trouble getting my wetsuit off! I remember thinking "come on hands - move! Wake up! Do it!". Out onto the 4 lap bike course and it was evident from the start that this was going to be a tough day out. Always climbing. Or descending. Not flat. As much as it hurt, I enjoyed the suffering. This is my kind of suffering. Legs about to explode. Grimaces on the faces of everyone around you. I have learned my lesson from past races that I can push through a tough bike ride and still run ok. Sadly for my family, they had traveled a long way to watch but missed the cut off for the course - so their view of the race was on one turn (4 times). At least it was at the top of a climb so we weren't moving too quickly!

After narrowly missing a kangaroo on the bike (it was so close I could hear it's nail scrap across the road as it skidding to a stop and changed direction) I was back into transition and onto the run. Again, an honest course and it was about 2k UP out of transition. No time to recover the ol' legs! I fell into a good pace and tried to keep my tempo on the uphills, and strong core and fast legs on the downhills. While it was nice to be out in the bush, running around and being away from the traffic of the city, I was quite happy to be heading back down the hill and across the finish line. 

After such a miserable start to the day, I must admit by the time I was into the second lap of the swim I had forgotten all about the cold weather and rain. And while I didn't think of it at the time, when I crossed that finish line in first place I reflected on the race and remembered why I am here. I love it! I love the mental challenge. The competitiveness. The constant self talk. The goals. The mental negotiations. Seeing other people giving it a go. The rush. The sense of pride and accomplishment. Triathlons are consuming. And I love it. Generally. I also love a sleep in so sometimes they clash.

Finish times: 2:10:16 (swim - 27:52 / bike - 1:09:34 / run - 32:48)

No PB but solid times given the difficulty of each leg!

Congrats on second Adz! Pushing yourself faster and faster.With the effort you put in, you are paying (some) of your dues :)

Thanks gorgeous for taking the time to come out and watch ox

Nice work boys!

A Dog's Life - a pearl of wisdom from AP

I was reading an article recently by Allan Pitman, who is the very successful triathlete and coach of a triathlon club that shares our water hole (pool), the East Coast Cycos. I find AP to be quite an entertaining wordsmith, who captures simple ways to explain the great mysteries of the world. He is also a top bloke who has motivated and guided a number of Ironman athletes to the big dance in Kona, as well as competing there many times himself. If you are ever crazy enough to decide to take on an Ironman distance triathlon, it is well worth your time having a chat to AP first. 

I found the latest article too good not to share (hope you don't mind AP). 

Rest like a dog - 18 August 2011

 http://www.aptriathlon.com/2011/08/18/rest-like-a-dog/

 

I’ve been coaching Ironman athletes for around twenty years now. One of the crazy things about them. Many are not as smart as a dog.

I’ve always had good dogs. They’ve always been females, and either Australian Cattle dogs or cattle crosses. Many years ago I bought a book on dog training. It’s simple stuff. To have a good dog, one who’ll defend the family, stay up all night watching your property, and do what you tell them. All you have to do is treat them like a dog. A big mistake people make is to think they need to be treated like people. They’re not people, they don’t think like people, they’re dogs. They think like dogs, that’s if they think at all.

My dogs respect me as though I’m their leader, the Alpha male in their pack. They read my body language, and I read theirs. They never get to eat before I’ve eaten, that’s the way it is in our pack. They know their place in the pack. I could be going soft on them, this winter my wife bought them dog jackets. I have been putting them on each night before I feed them. In forty years I’ve never had a dog with a jacket till now. My wife feels that if her horse has a choice of four different rugs, the dogs should have a jacket for the cold nights.

One thing I have learned watching my dogs. When they’re tired, they sleep. When they have a sore foot, they just lie around and lick it. They don’t try to keep running on it. They will if duty calls and they have to defend the house when the postman comes. But they’ll soon go back to resting. Triathletes on the other hand have great difficulty in resting when they’re tired. Or stopping whatever activity hurt them, long enough to give it a chance to heal.

Another thing dogs are better than triathletes at, is racing for the sheer fun of it. They don’t take races too seriously, they just love to run. They love to chase balls, frisbies, anything. They have to be seriously sick to not be able to fire themselves up and be ready to perform in a really short time. No excuses, just give everything they have.

Dogs are not that hard to manage around each other. They soon sort out who’s going to be the boss, and then they just get on with it. There might be a bit of a snarl here and there, but it’s forgotten quickly. They don’t get offended and have to leave the pack. I’ve seen that happen with adult triathletes.

Our training is our play time. If we were always ready to go hard when the stop watch came out, and ready to switch off and rest like a dog, we’d probably gain more from our training and racing. If we could race for the sheer joy of racing, we’d go faster with less muscular tension. Have you ever watched a dog chase a ball, all they think of is the ball. If only humans could race like that, just focussed totally on the finish line, no distractions, just keep the “eyes on the ball”.

Dogs don’t know what their power output is, what their heart rate is, how many calories they need to do a days work in the hot sun. Working dogs often do a ten to twelve hour day with little more than a drink of water. They pace themselves, they make the job as easy as possible, but they get the job done.

Good things in small packages

After 2-and-a-bit years of studying and assignments I recently put my psych registration in the mail. I finished my honors in psychology a little while ago and have spent the last few years completing my supervised practice. As long as the psych board approves it this means I will be fully registered and can put a shingle out the front of my house. You know, "Scott Waters - Psychologist. As therapeutic as a puppy licking your face, just more expensive".

So I was thinking, pages and pages of assignments, supervision sessions, conferences, workshops, presentations, research, analysis - hours and hours of effort poured into the journey towards registration. Time away from friends and family as I tap away studiously on the keyboard (maybe a few emails were checked along the way - a healthy distraction). Yet here I was, standing in front of a big red Australia Post mail box, with ALL of this work and time represented by... A few sheets of paper that fit easily into an A4 envelope. Wow. Talk about a weird feeling! A harmless little envelope that is deceiving in its appearance. A lot more than meets the eye.

I thought, this is just like I feel standing on the waters edge on race day. I am one body, 73-odd kilos of man. That's it. Same as the person next to me. And the one next to him. But, under the surface lies hours and hours of training, repetition, pain, stretching, massages, physiotherapy, motivational reading, aerobic sessions, anaerobic sessions, time away from family and friends, ice-packs, time trials, early mornings, getting up before the sun, constantly feeling tire, in bed by 8... I think it is important to remember this on the day. To stop, reflect, and thank yourself for all of the hard work and dedication put into making this hunk of meat as efficient, powerful and effective as it can be in getting around the course quickly. That's your edge, it's what makes you different than the person next to you. Both of you are wearing a tri suit. Both have goggles. But guaranteed, come race day I have put in the time, done the 'one percenters', the stretching in front of the TV, to be able to give you a run for your money.

According to Freud, this is what is on a man's mind. Very perceptive man that Freud.

World Championship worthy? Maybe if I could ride like Cadel Evans.

Under 6 weeks. That's all that is left between today and a 2 hour race in Beijing. Funny when you look at it like that - in a 10-week training block I'll go through about 150 hours of preparation for a 2 hour race against the clock. What else would you put that much effort into for such a small window of time! Glory lasts forever though, right?

With a few years of racing under my belt I have taken the time to think about what I am doing differently to be 'worthy' of the World Championships. You know the saying, if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. Time to shake it up a bit. 

It's been a great build up so far. A solid ride with fellow Beijing'ers Adz and Jimmy (that's me on the right - shame about this photo - off to the right was a glowing sunrise over the ocean!). Not sure who's job it was to keep us 'aerobic' but whoever it was should be fired because it didn't happen! Too much 'length-measuring' I think! I have also added 2-3 sessions a week on the windtrainer using 'Spinervals' sessions. This gives me specific, targeted training that provides a great quality-to-time ratio. I can simulate time trials (long high intensity efforts) and threshold sessions. While some might find it boring bashing away alone in front of a laptop (ha! that sounds suspect! What I mean is I play the Spinerval sessions on the laptop) I am feeling a lot stronger on the bike. With a new bike from Chain Gang Performance Cycles arriving sometime soon I am keen to put together a competitive bike - run combination. 

I had a thrashing at the hands of Troy O'Shea (25-29 year old National Champ from last year) on the weekend - a brutal swim / bike / run session that involved 4 reps of 500m in the pool, 15 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes of hard running. Man that guy is an animal! For someone who has been working through a calf injury he ran like there was no tomorrow. Here's hoping some of it rubbed off on me!

That's the kind of thing I am looking for - something to shake the body into growing and pushing through to that next level. I have entered the Wivenhoe triathlon that is on in a few weeks. It will be a good hit-out before Beijing and a chance to iron-out any areas that need some attention. I'm looking forward to giving everyone a good run for there money - if they are going to beat me they'd better be prepared to enjoy some suffering!

If only I could ride like this guy I could continue being the slowest swimmer in the world and still rip out a sub-2 hour race...

What a machine!