Kia Ora guys,

With less than two weeks left until my car will be packed and I’ll be heading to Taupo for the week I am reminded of the importance of the 5 P’s as we end the final crucial build of quality; Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
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As we enter the final build of simulations and fine tuning which as you can see on my performance management below from Training Peaks it’s starting to look like the tip of Everest as you look at where I have come from when I started training in July through to this week.

It’s amazing to look back and see where I have come from and what I have banked through hard work and support from those around me however, it all means nothing if I line up on race day feeling overdone.

My training has been consistent since day one with only one niggle (Touch wood) back in October however by adjusting what I could do we managed to continue to truck along consistently as we tapered off over three months for Sunshine coast, Taupo and Tauranga half ironman’s before building the phase through January/February.

So back to my point; I have found over the last four weeks as we added in another five hours to my training week I had started to struggle to put sessions together, although the perceived (Feel and heart rate) effort was there the numbers weren’t. What was happening is I was continuing to do everything I had been and running around the country side for work however, what this was doing was slowing down my ability to recover and sitting in a car for 5-8 hours a day was not helping.

(If you want to have a bit of a laugh at me listen to Bevan McKinnon’ latest Fitter podcast and he talks about an athlete at a Taupo training camp who got frustrated over not hitting the numbers… well that was me, his example is slightly over exaggerated from what was actually going through my head but it is a great podcast for you all to listen too.)

So, with just over two weeks to go it’s the 5 P’s that is at the forefront of my mind and making sure I am as prepared as possible to prevent poor performance and make sure that when I line up not only is my body recovered that my mind is as strong as it has been before.

With a decent training weekend ahead this is it for me this week but I hope you are all safe and well, train hard and remember the 5 P’s “Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance”

Robo

Kia Ora guys,

Well its only three weeks and what better way to get ready for an IRONMAN but purchase a new bike ah-ha, I’m thankful that the geometry is very similar and I have been able to get settled in however, after my coach dropped a hint to my girlfriend Penny who asked him for more info while I was out riding so it didn’t take her long to talk me into getting a bike fit done to ensure I maximise not only my investment in a new bike but also the last 7 months of training for this big day which is now only 22 days away.

So firstly for some of you who are asking the question, what is a bike fit for? Well, everyone’s body is different; some of us have long legs and short torsos. Some people may pedal a little bit differently than others; maybe you have one leg that is slightly longer than the other and you never even knew it! In addition to our bodies being the way they are, injuries or personal goals can affect how your bike should be set up to maximize comfort, efficiency and power. Luckily, bicycles are machines with many adjustable parts with these goals in mind;

• Enhancing overall rider comfort
• Preventing injuries
• Diagnosing saddle discomfort
• Reducing or eliminating pain and numbness
• Reducing or eliminating discomfort associated with riding
• Reducing rider fatigue by enhancing efficiency
• Improving overall performance on the bike

So, when it came to me it didn’t take long for David Bowden to pin point where some of my discomfort could come from in an IRONMAN with my current set up which resulted in trialing different positions, as you can see in my time-lapse I have yellow dots on joints over my body with two cameras facing me backed with David’ software which read what my body is doing and also projected my positions efficiency so not only could he correct my position to make it more comfortable it also can highlight whether it is more efficient or not.

Once we got my position dialed in we were then able to tweak certain areas and test efficiency and measure what difference it would make over an Ironman distance and whither I would be able to hold that position efficiently over 180km (approx. 5 hour ride), this is where comfort vs efficiency comes to play, we opted to stay with what I am used to with a tweak or two that I can easily adjust in the coming weekend if I don’t find it suitable.
What I thought was really neat is within the first 5 minutes David could pick up that my knees went out slightly and said right away that it could be due to a tight lower back, to correct this he put my seat slightly above level and moved it back slightly then over the course of an hour my knee movement was reducing which is a massive positive.

So what do I say…? Get a fit done, no matter what, the small investment will be beneficial not only on a level of comfort but to ensure you are preventing injury.

So with that said, Thanks Simon and Penny for talking me into it and we are now ready to roll!

Roll on IRONMAN :)

Robo

Kia ora guys,

Well it's been a few weeks since my last post and man time has flown by!

In only three weeks I will be in my way to Taupo for IRONMAN NZL and I have just wrapped up my biggest weekend of training which I have survived J

Over the three day weekend I clocked up 5km open water swimming, 10.5 hours on the bike and 44km running and despite suffering on one of the days due to dehydration I can take a few key points away which reinforced what I already knew but highlighted the importance of staying fuelled.

On the Saturday 10km in on a 180km ride one of my bottles fell out, I thought I would be ok and pick it up on the way back in and drink one bottle over 80km however, when I got back to where the bottle fell out it was no longer there.

Thankfully we stopped in Taupo before our second lap with race efforts and I thought with two bottles topped up I would be ok but, I was quickly reminded that 2.40 hours on one bottle is not enough, after the first 30min effort I found myself in the box and when you have 70km to go it is soul destroying and your body shuts down not wanting to take on fuel and no matter what you put in when you are behind it is near impossible to get back on top of it.

I got through the ride and was thankful to see Penny waiting for me with a bottle of coke and water before I headed on to the run, I felt really good but by the forth km due to lack of electrolytes I got cramp in my left quad which left me standing on the road side for four minutes before I could continue. Once I got back going it was great to know how strong my mind game is and how strong my running firm currently is, Penny surprised me in a few areas handing me a bottle of water and I finished the day being reminded to look at the positives from a tough day… better to happen now than on race day.

So, what was my lesson learned... apart from ALWAYS go back and pick up your bottle in a training ride the session has highlighted the importance of having a solid nutrition plan and sticking to it, although I am lucky to be able to look at the positives from the session it could easily demotivate someone so close to an event but I have put in too much work for that to be the case.

I have a few light days of training this week and have a good catch up with my coach (Simon Cochrane) to go over a few points get them nailed over the next four weeks to make sure my hard work pays off on race day!

Until next time, train hard, smart and ALWAYS go back and get your bottle! ;)

Robo