So, a metre matters right?

Here I am 2 months or so into this little adventure, and despite my flippant musings in this blog, I am trying to take the whole thing seriously.  I know what has to happen between now and next March.  I know all about the amount of work involved, the sacrifices, the lack of sleep and the taper tantrums.  But sometimes things happen that just put things into perspective and make you realise that Ironman, whilst an important and fulfilling part of your life, is really, well, not that important at all.

Indulge me for a moment whilst I tell a story.

Jodie Ridges was a wife to Scott and a Mum to four beautiful children.  She was a daughter, a sister, and a friend to many.  Yet, sadly, Jodie was taken far too early due to an accident when she was knocked from her bike and seriously injured.  Jodie had spent the last 15 months in Melbourne in a coma.

Jodie was faithfully tended by Scott and the rest of the family; however this was extremely difficult due to the distance between here and Melbourne and the need to try and keep the routine as normal as possible for the kids.  After a series of setbacks with Jodie’s health, Scott made the heart wrenching decision to turn off Jodie’s life support several weeks ago, and she passed away last Friday.

Her funeral was today.

I am not trying to lay blame here.  The driver of the vehicle was charged and the case has gone through the relevant process with the punishment handed out.  However, one needs to stop and think her for a moment.  This accident has not just taken one life.  It has significantly impacted on at least 5 others and has had some kind of impact on many, many others as well.

And why?  Well, simply because someone was a little bit blasé………wasn’t paying quite enough attention.  What a price to pay.

For the record, I had never met Jodie however my thoughts are with her family at this time.

Sadly, this happens far too often.  Tragedy again struck in Shepparton on Saturday when another local cyclist was struck and killed by a vehicle.  This time, Peggy Allan and 3 friends were out riding at approximately 11am and had stopped on the side of the road to repair a puncture.  (Allegedly) a vehicle has come around the bend and has struck Peggy.

Again, my thoughts are with Peggy’s family and friends, particularly the 3 who were with Peggy at the time and will need to live with that experience for the rest of their lives.

Please, I urge ALL road users to be vigilant and have a little care for all other road users.  A metre really DOES matter.

As for my week, well it really does pale into insignificance in comparison to the families of Jodie and Peggy.

Due to a combination of commitments with work and with the kids, during the week I wasn’t able to get out Monday, Wednesday or Friday, which all happen to be my normal bike days.  I did, however, manage to get out for my scheduled Tuesday & Thursday runs, as well as fit in swims on Tuesday & Thursday evenings.

The weekend was going to be a fluid one as I was heading up to my Mum’s place in Wagga, but I packed all the gear just in case.  Unfortunately, training wise Saturday was a write off with heaps of family wanting to catch up and the bike was left neglected.  The plan was then to get up early and get 50 or 60km done before heading out with the family for breakfast.

So, getting up at 6am I stuck my head out the door and with visibility down to less than a metre due to the fog, and on the back of the news about the accident at home in Shepp, I have got to admit heading out in that type of weather held absolutely no attraction for me at all – particularly on unfamiliar roads.  After a great brekkie, I did pull my head in though and pulled the gear on for a run and ended up doing 14.5km.  Felt good too.

So for the record the weeks training was:

Monday                               N/A

Tuesday                               Run 6km (inc. 8 x 1min intervals), approx. 40mins

                                                Swim 1750m, approx. 40mins

Wednesday                        N/A

Thursday                             Run 10km, 54.15mins

                                                Swim 2000m, 44.20mins

Friday                                    N/A

Saturday                              N/A

Sunday                                 Run 14.5km, 1hr 23mins

I have pulled my head in from the previous week’s blowout and made sure that I have kept a close eye on the diet, and despite the lighter training week, have still managed to drop 1.9kg for the week, with an official weigh in of 109.6kg.  A total loss of 10.4kgs in 8 weeks.  It’s amazing what can happen when you pull your head in!!

Just a matter now of putting consistent weeks together, both training and diet.  Having said that……….it’s only Ironman and it's really not that important in the scheme of things.

I’ll also be making sure that I’ll be kissing the kids goodnight and telling them I love them as often as possible, every night I see them.

Take it seriously………….but keep it in perspective as well.

Stay safe everyone

Ayto

So, Two steps forward........one giant step back!

It all started at the end of last weekend; when after a big weekend on the river with some good mates in the canoes and getting home, unpacking and doing the washing I started to feel, well, crap actually.

Spent a few hours Sunday afternoon on the couch and steadily felt worse and worse and by dinner time I realised that I was heading into full blown “man-flu” territory. My contacts were making my eyes feel woeful so it was out with them and then pretty much it was off to bed.
Before lights out I got the bike gear ready, more in hope than anything and when the alarm went off at 5.30 it was quickly dispatched and reset for the more reasonable time of 7.30 when I dragged myself out of bed and off to work.

Wandering into work, the ladies in the office had plenty of advice to give but sadly, no sympathy. Amazing considering that this was by this stage the full throws of man-flu complete with runny nose, annoying cough, sore joints and a pounding headache. Couldn’t they see how close to expiring I was? So I sniffed a little louder, coughed and groaned loudly…………still no sympathy. Tough crowd!

Not long after clearly my weak and serious condition was noticed and the girls told me they thought it was best if I headed home for the day to rest up and get well. I reluctantly agreed, even though I was keen to sit at my desk and plough through the workload, I could see that they were right. I may or may not have mentioned that I thought I might need someone to come home with me to ensure that I was looked after however it appears that all the phones in the office must have rung at once as everyone appeared to be busy……….

As I gathered my things and wandered out of the office I’m sure I heard someone say that they hoped I felt better soon…………..or it may have been something along the lines of “thanks for passing your friggin’ bugs on tosser” but I’m not sure as I was somewhat delirious by this stage.
The day was spent on the couch feeling sorry for myself and no one to answer my little bell, even though I continued to ring and ring and ring. Whilst I was feeling pretty crappy, at the least the diet was going pretty well with nothing consumed since lunchtime on Sunday.

I was supposed to be heading to a breakfast meeting for work on Tuesday however woke up feeling just as bad so sent a quick text message to say I wouldn’t be able to make it in to work. Flopped back down on the pillow and next thing it was 11am. Pretty much the only activity for the day was to move from bed to couch. Fortunately, over the course of the afternoon I felt progressively better and by dinner time I felt well enough to head out to a scheduled meeting at 7pm.

By the time the meeting was finished, having not eaten apart from some dry biscuits since Sunday lunchtime, it’s fair to say I was now hungry. And therein…………..the binge started!!

After a month and a half of being very vigilant with both exercise and diet, the wheels had now fallen off the wagon and I found myself standing in Macca’s. Thank Christ for 24hr filthy Ronnies!!!! A large big mac meal and a Fillet of fish thank you VERY much Ronnie.

Unfortunately it did not stop there, as after an awesome sleep, it was back to Macca’s for breakfast. Oh, and dare I say I didn’t ride on Wednesday as I was still ahem, recovering.
I’m not sure about anyone else, but I can be a bit farked in the head sometimes. You see, if I don’t get my training done and dusted first thing my diet for the day tends to go out the window and I think to myself that “It’s ok – start fresh tomorrow”. However, if I DO get my training done I think to myself “I am NOT going to waste that session”.

So this is why I now found myself starting in the queue at Filthy Ronnie’s eyeing of the sausage and egg mcmuffins, hash browns and hotcakes. Given the day had got off to a bad start diet wise, and my stupid head, the day went downhill from there with all manner of chocolate, refined sugar and other copious amounts of crap being consumed over the course of the next 8 hours or so.

The only positive thing going through my head was a quote from Sunnygirl on my facebook page saying “Don’t worry Ayto – macca’s will kill off any of those nasty man-flu bugs”. Thanks Lisa! I wasn’t gonna take any chances, so it was off to try the new smoked Angus burger (quality, if you must know).

Thursday morning was also no training as I needed to be around at the kid’s house at 6am to sit with Regan whilst Jorja was dropped off to school by her Mum for her school excursion to Melbourne. Off to work without brekkie, so by the time lunch came around and given my man sized appetite there really was only one way to satisfy this – one large serve of Chips and gravy………and a coke zero (watching those calories after all).

Sadly, a similar theme carried over for the remainder of the week until such time to pick the kids up Friday night for the weekend with me, when it was time to pull my head in and make sure there were some decent meals prepared for all of us. Not before it was too late however and I am sure that this kind of carbo loading is enough to even make TGL go crying back to his Mummy!!

Saturday (normally a wind trainer session for me on the weekend I have the kids) was absolutely flat out with kids sport (Netball for Jorja) and then down the street for the kids to pick out their Mums Mother’s day pressies, some time at the skate park, some colouring in, dinner, bath and then bed. All this means that I feel into bed pretty early as well without getting said wind trainer session done.

However, Sunday was scheduled as the day to get back on the wagon and pull my head out of my arse. I was under strict instructions by the coach to turn up for our clubs Mother’s day fun run to complete the 5k option so Ruley could get an idea of where I was at. To date the only discipline I had completed a time trail in was in the pool.
As well as the 5k, there was a 2.5k and a 10k option, so after dragging the kids out of bed and heading out, I was pleased to see a total of 16 competitors turn up for the runs. The kids were quickly given jobs as marshals and they had a ball doing that.

I was eager to see what the result would be, as I had not run for 10 days and had virtually done nothing (but eat) for a week. However I was also a bit apprehensive as Ruley was also running the 5k option. As the course was 2 x 2.5km laps there was the very real possibility that Ruley could well be finishing his second lap as I was finishing my first! I was determined to not let this happen……..or I hoped at least.

At the gun, Ruley was off like a jack rabbit and before we knew it had made it to the first corner and was soon out of sight. I was also moving, but more like a jack rabbit minus legs, stuck in a trap, with myxomatosis……….I was slow but steady. lol

The rest of the field had started to spread a little and I kept the head down and made my way back towards the start finish line for the end of my first lap, sneaking sly glances back over my shoulder for the sight of Ruley but in the end, I had no need to worry. I had completed my first lap in 13min and change. Ruley only managed to finish in 16.10…………yes, smashed him with 3 minutes to spare!!! Now just to finish the last lap LOL

The second lap was more of the same however noticed there was some slowing in the pace until a kilometre to go when I was able to push it up a bit to a shuffle and finish STRONG, in 26min 50sec. An average of 5.22 per kilometre.
Whilst till trying to catch my breath Ruley was in my ear talking about expected improvements of 3/5sec per kilo of bodyweight and goal times and threshold and something or other. I tried to pay attention, however I was more concerned with trying to draw air in via every available orifice before I collapsed and passed over, leaving my kids to have to drag my phone out of my cold lifeless hand and ring their Mum to come and pick them up.

Ruley talking stats...........................me, just breathing!


Fortunately I recovered reasonably quickly and loaded us all in the car and made our way to Auskick, where my little bloke broke my heart just a little more by pulling on his Tigers jumper. Fortunately, Jorja looked awesome in her Blues jumper and mended that break somewhat.
After Auskick, I dropped the kids back to their Mums so they could spend the day with her for Mother’s day and it a quick trip home to get the bike gear on and head out. Called past Fee’s place to pick her up and it was out for a loop. By this stage (nearly midday) the wind had come up and was blowing fairly well by now which made the whole length of Boundary road into a bloke headwind and we struggled to maintain 28km/hr. Turning west into Mitchell was slightly better but was still hard going, but managed to get an hour and a half on the bike and knew it by the time I was finished.

So, where did this week leave me in the search for continued weight loss?

Well, in true Biggest Loser fashion, after many weeks of good, solid weight loss the whole thing came screeching to a halt and the scales protested loudly when I climbed on board this morning, for a readout of 111.5kg………..a gain of 1.0kg.

Funnily enough, this is less than what I thought would be the case so I was somewhat surprised. Subconsciously, I think that falling off the wagon this week was part of a grander plan. You see, we are now only 3 weeks out from the Williamtown Half Marathon BOP invitational, as evidenced by the package that arrived this week.
I have very good designs on taking out this prestigious event, and I will be endeavouring to do my utmost to best Mank, Anti-sport et al in just a few short weeks.
I really should just confirm that to win this coveted event, you do have to come last right?

Watch for the race number on the 29th!.............you might have to wait a while!!

So training this week is a very short list:
Sunday Run 5km t/t – 26min 50sec (5.22 per km)
Bike 43km, 1hr 31min, Avg 28.7k

Official weigh in – 111.5kg. A gain of 1.0kg (Surely worthy of an honourable mention in Rattie's post IM Biggest Gainer competition?)

Legs are VERY sore today, but I guess that’s what you get for doing nothing for 10 days or so and unfortunately the left knee is still proving troublesome. Funnily enough, the run did not seem to bother it much at all, but was quite painful on the bike. Will find some time this week to check out my cleats and bike position to see if this is contributing to making it any sorer. Hopefully, I am able to get it sorted soon rather than it continuing to be troublesome over this whole Ironman campaign. 10 months is a long way to go carrying a pain in the arse injury!!

Finally thought I would share the feedback I got from coach Ruley after Sunday’s run, whereby I received a text message stating “Great work today and exceeded expectations. Tell’s us there is a FOP engine currently on a BOP’er chassis. By Christmas it will be a FOP engine on a MOP chassis”.

Gold Ruley!!

Train safe
Ayto

So, Let’s go for a paddle.

This week was a bit hodge-podge due to the extra long Easter Weekend.  I was fortunate to have or see my kids on 4 of the 5 days of the break and we made the most of it by doing heaps of fun stuff.  They have both decided that the best place in the world is the skate park and they have a ball on their scooters!

Tuesday was organised to have the kids for lunch, so it gave me the morning free to get some training done, so I headed down to the track to meet the runners group for an interval session.  The only question I have is why?  Why 6am? On a public holiday? 

Surely a public holiday is a great excuse for a sleep in and the session to start at a reasonable hour……but sadly no.  At least it was all over by 7am and I was able to get coffee, head home and do a few hours study before picking the kids up just before lunch.

Sadly the day was over before too long and it was back into the (short) working week.  I was still suffering from the lingering cold I had picked up from the office and was still feeling flat.  Also, the left knee is still a bit sore with the suspected tendonitis so I decided to skip the longer run scheduled for Thursday morning and swim instead.  Then it was back on the bike on Friday morning for a ride in awesome conditions – no wind, not too cold and the perfect amount of sledging.

That brought us to Friday night and the weekend got off to a perfect start with the Blues beating the Swans in Sydney for the first time in 18 years.  Go BlueBaggers!!!!

Whilst the game was on I was busily packing some gear for a weekend away on the river.  A group of 9 blokes had organised to spend the weekend paddling approximately 40km from about 10km South of Mitchelton winery through to the Goulburn Weir.

Getting up early Saturday morning I decided to jump on the scales out of interest and was pleased to see them sitting on exactly 110kg, down 1.9kg from the previous Monday’s weigh in.  Interesting as I had missed my run sessions.

So, loaded up the car and got going early to meet the rest of the blokes and off to the river.  We arrived and were in the canoes by about 9.30 for the first stint of 10km or so.  A few of the guys hadn’t been in a canoe before and it took a bit for them to get the hang of it, but we made it to just past Mitchelton Winery where we had a break and something to eat.

Back into the boats for the next stint to Tahbilk winery.  Upon arrival we found that Rob (the tour organiser) had everything set up and a feed on the BBQ.  Once lunch was finished Rob gave us a bit of a talk on the history of the river and the surrounding area and then a quick tour of the winery.

I took the opportunity to have a crack at one of the kayaks before we started off again, something I haven’t tried before and had a ball.  They are a heap of fun!



These things are heaps of fun!



Althought they are also hard work!



Once everyone was back in the boats we had to make our way downstream to the Nagambie Lake, a total of about 25km for the day.  With another quick break and something to eat we made it into the Lake at about 3.30pm.  A quick coffee and then loaded up and off to the spot where we were camping for the night.

After collecting some firewood and getting the fire going then rolling the swag out, the BBQ was fired up again and another feed was quickly on the go.  Considering I have done bugger all paddling before I felt ok.  My arms and shoulders were feeling good however my ankles and hip flexors were suffering from sitting in the boat all day.

Rolled into the swag reasonably early and then up early again to get organised and back on the river as we had approximately 15km to get to the weir and we were planning to be there by 11.30am. Again, upon arriving Rob had the BBQ fired up and it was another feed.  It seems all we had done for the weekend was bloody eat!!

All up we had covered about 40km of the river in about 6 hours of paddling.  Not a bad effort considering the river is quite “dead” at the moment as there is bugger all water getting let through the weir, so there was next to no current to enjoy.

Had started to feel a bit crook again on the trip home just from the cold that has been hanging around for the last few weeks and once getting home had to get my contacts out as my eyes were killing me.  Not unusual that they start to play up when you get a bit crook but even after taking them out, felt progressively worse and my eyes got irritated and sorer than normal.

Woke up this morning and skipped the bike as my eyes were simply too sore to get my contacts in again.  Ended up going to work, but only lasted a few hours before being told to piss off home, so did exactly that and flake on the couch for the afternoon.

I did jump on the scales this morning and was expecting a good number after the Saturday morning weigh in, so was slightly disappointed to see 110.5kg on the read out.  This is still a loss of 1.4kg for the week, but was disappointed not to be under 110.  Not surprising though considering that over the course of the weekend virtually every meal considered of 9 different kinds of BBQ animal and the odd egg!  Typical camping fare…….

So, the weeks training consisted of:

Monday                Bike 60km, 1hr 53mins, Avg 31.6k

Tuesday                Run 6km (inc 15 x 30s intervals) Approximately 40 mins

Wednesday          Swim 1700m (inc 4 x 200m), approx. 39mins

Thursday               Rest

Friday                    Bike 44km, 1hr 22mins, Avg 32.0k

                             Swim 1700m (inc 12 x 100m), approx. 39mins

Saturday               Paddle approx. 25km, 4hrs

Sunday                 Paddle approx. 15km, 2hrs

So a great weekend in all and in the 7 weeks to date, a total loss of 9.5kg in all.  Struggling to consistently get every session done every week at this stage, but Ruley has been awesome working out a program that suits me and fits in around work and my time with the kids.

Looking forward to knocking this friggin’ cold on its head once and for all and getting some regular running in. I am amazed at how quickly I have come to enjoy the running again and now I am missing it since the knee has gotten sore.   All good though.  On track at this stage and I am pretty pleased with how the weight is dropping off.

Now just to get through a full working week!  Gonna be tough after the last few weeks of short ones.

Special mention to all those who competed up at Port Mac yesterday.  Some awesome results on what was a tough day by all accounts and I enjoyed some of the photos posted on Trannies and facebook.  Great job to everyone.

Train safe.

Ayto

So, the Easter Bunny is coming..........

And this is why I knew it was important to be disciplined this week, with both training and what went in the gob.  Sadly……..both fell of the rails slightly.

Not my fault really, but it appears the 16km run last Saturday had scarred me, or perhaps that was scared……..nope, most likely both.  And I blame Fee!!

So, kicking off the week on Monday after getting the bike and all the gear ready on Sunday night, I wandered out at 5.30am and stuck my head out the door.  Given it was dark it was decided that bed was a better option.  With a short run and a swim scheduled for Tuesday morning I was a bit doubtful that the pool would be open given we were in Easter week……..so bed was again, a better option.

Wednesday morning was a little better and I did actually get out with the PnW’s much to their chagrin.  I didn’t mean to, but inadvertently put some hurt into the legs of the bunch.  Sorry guys, but sometimes I have to go at my pace and if that strings you all out I apologise whole-heartedly.  I’ll just try to sit on next time!!

Thursday was scheduled to be the normal 10km run with the crew, so up and dressed and about to walk out the door when the text message was received from Fee saying she was a bit crook and was gonna have the morning off.  With absolutely no hesitation, I turned the lights off and climbed into bed, still dressed in my running gear, complete with socks.

It was the socks that caused the most discomfort as I awoke about an hour later with my feet overheating and me a sweaty mess……..probably would have sweated less running!!

So far this week the diet had been pretty good, so even though the training was a bit, ahem, light on I was still feeling pretty good and a sneaky check on the scales proved the same.

Thursday night I had Ruley coming around to work through the next few weeks of training and factoring in some time around the kids over Easter and the next few weekends.  So whilst the Tuna Casserole was bubbling away in the oven, we started working through it, including a review of what I had done the last few weeks.  Clearly the week BEFORE this one was a little better!!

Once the program was finalised and the kids were sitting quietly with their desert Ruley has started the rubbish off for the weekend, dragging out the White Chocolate & Raspberry Ice Cream that he had brought around.  It’s Thursday night of Easter Weekend and he is starting this rubbish!!



So much ice cream it's made Ruley's eyes go wonky........or is that normal?



Does he not know that I am only 48 hours away from eating my body weight in chocolate??

Does he not know that I am about to consume enough chocolate to make Willy Wonka cry??

Does he not know I am WEAK??

Damn you Ruley……….

Anyway, the ice cream was magic.  I did however tell him to take the rest of the tub home to remove the temptation, to which he obliged……….and he more than likely polished the rest of it off that night.

So into the weekend properly and I knew that I wouldn’t get much of a chance to do anything as I had the kids from Thursday night to Saturday night.  A couple of solid wind trainer and treadmill sessions, right?

No, sadly not. I did take the kids to the skate park and watched them get around on their scooters for a couple of hours.  They make me tired just watching them doing that stuff so surely that counts as a session?

To this point (excluding Thursday nights Ice cream massacre) the diet had been pretty good AND then, at the respectable time of 8am on Sunday, I was on the bike for a lap of “the loop”.  Unfortunately, only 2 others, Scotty & Meags, turned up so I had nowhere to hide and had to do some work at the front.  A total of 63km at an average of 29.1k.

I was somewhat disappointed after diligently checking Weatherzone before mounting my bike to discover that there was a bit of breeze out there.  What is the go Weatherzone?  You told me “calm” conditions…….what is the go here?  Why would you set an expectation like this only to disappoint?  Damn you to hell!!!

Fortunately, I was able to finish without expiring (although I did whinge a bit) and was quickly revived during a “recovery” session at Friars with Coffee & Raisin Toast.  Another couple of coffee’s and then off home to tidy up a bit before I was to pick the kids up again later in the day for dinner at my house and dare I say……..Easter Eggs.

Once they were here and given it was the kids treat I asked them what they wanted for dinner.  Hot Dogs was the resounding answer, those wonderful mystery bags full of protein and vitamins and heaps of other, ummmm, stuff………all good for you right?

Then it was onto the Chocolate.  The kids were very excited to have both picked something out for me, however it must be said, nowhere near as excited as receiving the treats I had got for them.  Given they were due to head home shortly I told them to knock themselves out and polish off as much as they liked!!!

Once they had gone home, and I was busily tidying up, I thought I heard someone calling me.  Ducking my head out of the kitchen I couldn’t see anyone, but could still hear it…………..”Come to me Ayto”………..”you know you want to”……………do not resist”……………

Damn you Crunchie Bunny – I am ignoring you.

Well, for all of about 5 seconds anyway.  Onto the couch with said bunny and a bowl.  You see, a wise old mate of mine had once said (earlier that day coincidently) that if you break the egg/bunny first then all of the calories fly out of it.  Sounds logical to me.

So, after coming down off my sugar high about 4 hours later I got the gear ready for another bike session first thing the next morning………and when I say first thing, I mean first friggin thing!!  Who schedules a ride for 6am on a public holiday??  Sadists, apparently………or Collingwood supporters.  Apparently they needed to get the ride out of the way early so that they could get ready for the game.  Who friggin’ cares.  The Blues had won on Saturday night so as far as I was concerned the weekend of footy was already over!

Anyway, jumping on the scales prior to the ride for the official Monday morning weigh in showed a figure of 111.9kg.  Amazingly, a loss of 0.6kg for the week given the poor weekend of diet and the ahem, one or two missed training sessions.

Fortunately, upon turning up at the designated meeting spot, we were 6 strong and thought I might be able to hide in the bunch a bit.  Even better, rolling around the golf course loop, we had another 2 join us at about the 10km mark.  8 strong, plenty of room to hide!!

Unfortunately not, with half wheel full wheel Larry there the pace was kept solid and the turns rolled through fairly quickly.  A total of 60km at 31.6k average and again, it was off to the recovery session at Friars for coffee and more Raisin toast.

Then off to the Harrisons for the traditional Anzac day clash between the ‘Pies and the ‘Dons.  I know – “Who Cares” I hear you ask?  Well, not me, but it does amuse me to see these tosser “pies supporters getting so passionate about the game.  Hopefully some of them put some dough on the result and came in winners – perhaps they will book appointments to the dentists now!

So, what was the training for the week?

Monday                          Too Dark

Tuesday                          Pool closed (or so someone told me…….)

Wednesday                    Bike (PnW’s) 43km, 1hr 21m, 32.4k avg

Thursday                        Dressed……then back into bed

Friday                             Good Friday – national day of rest

Saturday                         Ummmm………

Sunday                            Bike 63km, 2hr 9min, 29.1k avg

Monday                          Easter Monday – Bike 60km, 1hr 53min, 31.6k avg

As mentioned above, the official weigh in was 111.9kg, a loss of 0.6kg for the week and total loss of 8.1kg in 6 weeks.  I am the first to admit actually losing weight this week is amazing considering that I have seen more chocolate this weekend than a Swiss Chocolatier (is that a word?).  Seriously, in comparison to me, Willy Wonka is a lightweight.  If he ever wants a new Oompa Loompa I would suggest my C.V stacks up pretty well.

On the serious side for a moment, I have worryingly developed some soreness in my left knee and it was quite noticeable the last 2 days on the bike.  The pain is on the inside of the knee, right at the side.  I have had some pain before towards the bottom of the knee caused by tendonitis, but have not experienced it in this spot before.

I mentioned at the start that the 16km run last Saturday had scarred me………….perhaps more than I knew???

Dickhead!!!  Ruley has been quite vocal about not doing too much too early.   Must try to listen to him – seems he knows what he is talking about lol.

Actually, in hindsight it appears that subconsciously I knew I was carrying an injury which is why I have had the light training week.  Yeah, that’s it………surely!

Anyway, will see what the track session tomorrow morning shows.  Just an easy one with 15 x 30sec intervals and a total of 30mins or so.  Will be interesting to see how it pulls up.

So, better go. Can hear someone calling my name…………..Damn you, Red Tulip Humpty Dumpty with chocolate beanies inside!!!   Damn you to hell!!

Train safe

Ayto

So, let’s go a little longer.

Well the week started a bit slow with a touch of the dreaded “Man-Flu” coming to visit early in the week when I started to feel a bit crook late on Sunday.  Most mere mortals would have quietly curled up in the corner and silently expired, however an Ironman (or wannabe one at least) is made of much tougher stuff!

So, after a bit of a sleep in Monday morning I slowly dragged myself out of bed and made my way to work.  Clearly desperately ill, I made sure to cough strategically so that the girls in the office knew exactly how close to death’s door I actually was and to portray my absolute dedication to the job, simply by turning up whilst most would have called their lawyer to ensure their last Will & Testament was up to date.

After putting on a brave show for the majority of the morning, I finally agreed to accept the advice of my peers (as well as their sympathy…………yeah, right!) and head home at lunchtime for an afternoon of napping on the couch and feeling sorry for myself.

Upon waking with the alarm at 5.30 Tuesday morning, I still didn’t feel 100% although I was somewhat better.  Clearly not well enough to swim though!

By lunchtime I had the guilt’s and made my way to the pool and got my swim session done and after work got my 30 minute run in as well as advised by Ruley.  So it was back on track!  The rest of the week I got through all of my scheduled sessions including a 10km run on Thursday morning in the smoking time of 56 minutes.  This was my first 10km run in over 2 years………although I did “run” 21km at the Geelong 70.3 in February 2010.  You will note I use the term very, very loosely.

So that brings us to the weekend (and a kid free weekend at that) so I was looking forward to getting some key sessions in across both days – a run and swim on Saturday, with a ride and an optional swim on Sunday.

Leaving work on Friday night, my old mate “C’mon it’ll be fun” Fee says she is running Saturday morning if I was interested. Given I was scheduled to run we agreed to meet at 7.30am for a “moderately” long run.

So, all ready on Saturday morning and off we go.  We get literally just around the corner when we are passed by friends Ron & Deb on their way to footy.  I find out later that Ron commented that “Ayto looks to be running pretty well”.  Very kind of you Ron and very much appreciated.  However Deb’s response of “C’mon – he’s only just run around the bloody corner!!”  leaves a little to be desired. Come on Deb.  Get with the program!!!!

Once into the run for 10 minutes or so, Fee says “so, let’s go a little longer” and we are just “going to cruise” this morning.  All good thinks Ayto, thinking that slightly longer might be perhaps 11 kms or so.

Unfortunately, when we hit the 11km mark we were way to buggery over the other end of town and the only way home was to run.  A quick water stop and it was off again to trudge home.  With about a km to go Fee mentions that “this is where I normally pick it up a bit” and sprints off.  Not wanting to be shown up too much I also pick up the pace from snail to tortoise and huff and puff my way through the final kilometre back to Fee’s place.  I could see Fee’s hubby Grant up ahead out the front of their place doing some work out the front.  Despite my cracking pace it seemed to take forever to finally get there.  However, we finally made it and I stopped for a quick chat with Grant and to offer some tips on the fence painting that was presently happening…………I am VERY handy.

So, after a break of 5 minutes or so I made the comment that I had better start the 1km run back home “before I seize up”. Hahahahahahahahah – too late!!!

I managed to run around the corner and to the end of the next block where I was stopped by traffic at which time I attempted to start again.  Sadly, my hamstrings didn’t think that was a very good idea……….at all.  So the final 500m or so was done at a walk, a very slow walk at that.

After getting home and showering, I was curious how far we had actually run, so a quick check of Map My Run reveals a lazy 16km has been chalked up…………Dickhead!!!   Shhhhhhh, let’s not tell Ruley.

Time for Brekkie of some scrambled eggs on toast and then a bit of a sit down on the couch.  It was about this time that, with hamstrings screaming and knees creaking, that I thought that maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea.  So on with the compression tights.  That’ll fix ‘em up! Surely……..

Once on the couch and you know what’s gonna happen here right?  Yep, lasted about 30 minutes before it was off to the land of nod!  3 hours later, and feeling very much refreshed, it was time for a late lunch.  Sadly, in this time my legs had decided that I was indeed a dickhead and that in protest, would pay me back in spades by concurrently locking up, seizing, aching and creaking! 

Just gotta give the compression tights some time, right?

So, a low impact afternoon for me and then off to the Footy at Deakin reserve for the Shepp United / Kyabram game and then off to a 40^th birthday party.  Great recovery right?

Sunday was scheduled for the Shepp Tri Club Winery ride to Monachino winery.  A pleasant 50km ride along quiet back roads followed by an afternoon of platters and wine tasting.  A bus had been organised to get all home later in the day.  A group of 10 left the starting point (and other 2 were riding from the winery to meet us after dropping off the bus) in pleasant conditions with only a little bit of breeze to contend with.  Surprisingly the legs felt pretty good.  I love those 2XU compression tights!



This can't be right - Guysy is on the front of the bunch!!

At about the 40km mark we finally met the other 2 who turned around to ride in with us.  Only 10km to go thinks Ayto, as it was about this time that the benefits of the compression had worn off and my legs were knackered.  It was also about this time that Ruley mentioned it was 30km to go given we had taken a bit of a roundabout route.  Damn you Ruley!!! 

I’m not sure about anyone else but when someone tells me how far we are going, my mindset is on that distance and that distance only.  So when it changes, such as it did on Sunday, it cocks me up.  It’s not a major thing but enough to make me query why we do all this.

Anyhoo, got here in the end and I must admit it was a great ride.  The weather was perfect (and I have the sunburn to prove it) on nice quiet roads with some great company.

Upon arriving and loading bikes and gear up in the trailer we were treated to an awesome spread of cheese and other goodies, along with a selection of great wines to taste.  Some chose to taste a few more than others and, as a result, there were plenty of great stories to be heard.  For me, I was good and stayed away from the wine and enjoyed a couple of coffees instead.

Carol & Row enjoying just a wine or two!

With such a great afternoon underway no one was overly keen to get going quickly, so it was a late return to Shepp by 5.30 so sadly, the pool was already shut……..Shame really! 

Was a great way to finish the week, sitting under the trees with some great company.  Awesome.

So the scheduled training for the week was mostly done except for the sessions affected by “Man-Flu”, as follows:

Monday                               Man flu

Tuesday                               Swim 1500m (inc 4 x 200m @ 4.05). Total 32 minutes

                                            Run 4.5km (inc. 3 x 1 minute walk).  Total 32 minutes

Wednesday                         Oops – soft

Thursday                             Run 10km. Total 56 minutes

Friday                                  Bike 44km, Avg 32.1k/hr.  Total 1 hr 22 minutes

Saturday                              Run 16km.  Total 1hr 45minutes (approx. 6.30 pace)

Sunday                                Bike 69km, Avg 29.2k/hr.  Total 2 hr 21 minutes

So, all of this resulted in a weigh in on Monday morning of 112.5kg representing a loss of 1.3kg for the week.  This is a total loss so far of 7.5kg in 5 weeks.  This is probably a bit quick, but it will naturally slow as more comes off over time.  Still heading south at the moment, so all good I suppose.

Looking forward to the next week and the extended break over Easter. Will have the kids for a few days of it, but looking forward to getting out and doing a bit as well.  Might need to invest in another pair of compression tights!!!

Train safe

Ayto

So, is it time to get serious yet?

This is what I was asking myself late last week when Ruley was sitting at my place and he and I were starting to work out a training plan for the next 11 months or so.

Apparently, it’s never too soon to get started, as evidenced by the quote Ruley used when signing off on his email to me the next day – “The journey of a thousand steps starts with a hamburger”…….or something to that effect anyway.

The start of the week went well after a short recovery from the Murray to Moyne ride, with a sleep in on Monday morning.  Apparently that was my rest day.  But I did train every day for the rest of the week and even twice a day on a couple of them.  Have I mentioned how much I hate swimming?

The coach tells me that he is pleasantly surprised by my position in the water.  I don’t think that has anything to do with my actually body position – I think it is just that I am actually IN the water!!  So to celebrate, he gets me doing a set of 25’s.  Fun!!

Have I mentioned how much I hate swimming?

So there has been some bike and runs as well.  So far he hasn’t tried to torture me too much on the bike (that’s coming next weekend), but the program for the weekend was a treadmill and wind trainer session as I had the kids with me.

So, got the kids to bed on Saturday night and got myself ready for the tready session – a 10 minute warm up followed by 15 x 30secs on, 30secs off.  We are still trying to work a few things out so the speed was a bit of a guess, so it was set for 15k/hr.

 Off we go and only about 5 minutes into the warm up I am sweatier than an Arab’s armpit.  Should have set the fan up, or opened a window, or the front door………or all of the above.  Then it’s into the set.  Man…..15k/hr is fast.  I’m flying and so is the sweat.  Seriously, there is sweat going everywhere.  It’s nasty.

The first five or so are ok and I am still going alright. The next five or so and I start to realise I’m not really having any fun anymore.  It’s about this time that I think to myself that Ruley won’t mind if I only complete 10 of the 15………will he?

After about the 12^th interval, I now realise that Ruley and a bunch of his sadistic mates are probably sitting around a computer watching the live feed from the camera he has secretly installed in my lounge room, specifically so he can watch the fat bloke eventually fail, trip up and go smashing into the wall behind him as the treadmill spits him out.

After the 13^th interval, I am now firmly convinced that Ruley is the spawn of Satan.

After the 14^th, I have cursed him to hell and back.

After the 15^th, and I have stared my cool down, I think to myself “that wasn’t so bad”.  Next week’s session at 17km/hr should be easy.  Won’t it??

After finishing and a few stretches, it took about 20 minutes to get back up off the floor.  Fortunately, Iron Chef was on SBS so I was able to watch the final half whilst taking in a few pointers for the next time I cook Gung Pow Chicken……….or something like that.

The coach checked in with me on Sunday morning via text to see how the session had gone.  After advising him I have cursed his first born, I told him that I got through the session ok.  In typical fashion, and just keeping it real, he quickly put it in perspective for me telling me that he now has his own Mum doing 500m intervals at 20km/hr.  His mum is doing 500m intervals at 3min k pace!!!  Jesus H Christ!!!  What have I done recruiting him??

Sunday was only moderately better with a 1 hour wind trainer session, so it was on with a DVD for the kids (Home Alone – I love when they get smacked in the face with the paint tins!) and got started.  The kids were being good so it just left me to get the 60 minutes done.  Looking at my watch I realised I had clocked up 3mins.  Damn!  It seems to take so much longer than when on the road!

Soon enough, the sweat was flying again – I really need to ensure that I get a door or window or something open.  Fortunately, I was able to get Jorja to open the door with only a small threat to withhold afternoon tea.  The hour was soon done and that was it for another week.

So, after all that I managed to get the following training sessions done for the week.

Monday -             Sleep In

Tuesday -             Swim 1500m (inc 500m T/T – 10.10) Total 34mins

Wednesday -       Bike 43km, 1hr 18min, Avg 33.5k

Thursday -           (AM) Run Approx 8km, 46m20s

                            (PM) Swim 1500m (inc 8 x 25’s) Total 34mins

Friday -                Bike 43km, 1hr 22min, Avg 32.0

Saturday -           Run 5.6km (inc 15x30secs @ 15k/hr), 30mins (Treadmill)

Sunday -              Bike approx. 30km, 60mins (Windtrainer)

Diet has also been pretty good this week and special thanks must go to the girls at work.  All of my fruit and snacks get labelled with “Ironman food” and they are working hard to ensure my discipline remains top notch, by purchasing packets of lollies and chocolates and offering same to me.  If I were to crumble and decide to partake I am sure that I would get the literal slap on the wrist.  Thanks Deb & Sim – doing a great job LOL.

Weigh in this morning was 113.8, a loss of 0.9kg for the week and a total of 6.2kg in 4 weeks.  Pretty happy with that considering the Pizza pigout at Hymies place on Friday night – Damn you Hymie!

Oh yeah, there may or may not have been a slight blowout at lunchtime today – but that’s to worry about at next week’s weigh in!

Train safe

Ayto

C'mon....It’ll be heaps of fun………..

And they were the words that had me signing up for the Murray to Moyne charity bike relay late on Thursday afternoon.  Apparently some late withdrawals saw the G.V Hospice Care team a couple of riders short for the event which started on Saturday morning in Echuca.

I had nothing planned for the weekend as it was my weekend off from having the kids.  I had thought I might get out on the bike a bit, maybe have a run, tidy up around the house and the like, you know……a normal weekend.

Instead, here I was reading Fee’s response to my tentative email query saying “C’mon…..It’ll be heaps of fun…..”  Yes, this is the same Fee who just the weekend before had dragged me out for the now infamous “Death Run” of 10km in the heat and sadly, hungover state.  There seems to be an ongoing theme emerging – something along the lines of her trying to kill me!!

So here I was on Friday night running around like an idiot getting all my gear together for an early start to get on the bus to head to Echuca for the start.  Finally got all my gear organised and into bed at about midnight.  All too soon the alarm had gone off at 5.30, I had a bit of brekkie and I was out the door to meet the other lunatics who were planning on doing this.

We loaded up the buses with gear and bikes and were soon on our way.  A total of 3 relay teams of 8 riders, a further 2 support vehicles loaded with all the tucker and the cooks and a 3^rd vehicle (and probably the most important) loaded up with the masseur and her gear.

Upon arrival in Echuca we got ourselves organised and waiting for the ride briefing before the ride officially started at 9.30am. Maps of the ride can be found here - http://www.murraytomoyne.com.au/.   The obligatory team photo was taken and then it was time to start.

All smiles at the start......

Our “A” team started the ride on our behalf and were soon on the way, including my old mate “Foss”.  Foss is a bit of a legend and just loves being on his bike, and is a hell of a nice bloke to boot. Foss has done the ride a few times now, including last year when he completed just over 400km of the 520 odd km route.  This year, he had decided he was going to ride the entire bloody thing!!

As a member of the “B” team we were due to take over the relay at Tennyson road, just East of Mitiamo, for a 45km stint into Pyramid Hill.  Once on the bikes we realised how much wind was actually out there and a check of the weather reports later advised that the wind was blowing at 20km/hr with gusts to 35km.  Upon turning due North for the run into Pyramid Hill we enjoyed a tailwind for the next 12km.  Sadly this was the only time the wind was with us for the entire ride.  Foss was still going strong with nearly 90km into the legs.

Once the “C” team took over, it was time for us to have a bit of a feed and the cooks already had the trailer mounted BBQ fired up and pushing out snags and hamburgers.  Once satisfied, we loaded up the bus again and leap frogged ahead to get ready for our next stint.

We were due to remount again at Charleton for the leg into St Arnaud, another run of approximately 45km. The wind was still blowing and the route was starting to get a bit of up and down about it.  It was about this time that my cursing of Fee starting to gain some real momentum.  I was also starting to bemoan my lack of training, the total of which has been 3 rides so far this year.   I was still pulling my turns though and our average was going ok when we pulled into St Arnaud at about 4.30pm.  Foss continued on again and was like a machine – a total of 210km down.  Once again the cooks were doing a great job with a mix of food available including the biggest pot of pasta I have ever seen.  A quick feed, load the bus and we were again on our way.

The next stop was at Stawell, and upon exiting the bus, we realised how cold it was now and I wasn’t looking forward to the next leg into Moyston, a total of approx. 43km.  We started to get our gear together and the call came through to say that the “A” team would be arriving by about 7pm.  Soon enough they were there and it became apparent that one of their number had consumed a few too many gels.  Hymie was absolutely buzzing!!!

Heading out of Stawell the sun was just setting and only minutes later we were riding in the dark.  For me this is a good thing because I can’t see the friggin’ hills coming. But about halfway onto the leg, coming into Pomonel we hit (for me) a sizable hill and the bunch rides off on me by about 100m or so.  Fortunately at the top of the hill sits the footy ground and one of the boys needs a leak so a quick stop there gives me a quick breather.  From there it is pretty uneventful into Moyston.  Foss was still going very strong and was an inspiration to us all.  The man is a machine!

After finishing our leg and leaving Foss and the “C” team to it we again leap frogged to our next starting point at Dunkeld.  We had plenty of time to spare so it was just a matter of killing time on the bus under the heater – it was pretty fresh outside by now.  Back into our gear, unload the bikes and then at 11.40pm it was back onto the bikes for the 36km run into Hamilton and the compulsory rest stop.

This was actually my favourite leg of the entire ride.  The wind had dropped slightly, the night was crystal clear, albeit a bit fresh and the company was excellent.  We also made pretty good time, and despite a slight detour around Hamilton looking for the Showgrounds, we managed to get to the Scout Hall where all of our teams were staying at 1am.  We quickly set up our sleeping bags and it was lights out at about 1.45am.  Fortunately, with the change to daylight savings we scored an extra hour, which we would need.

Foss had done an awesome job and had ridden a total of 427km for the day.  He was knackered but still managed a smile for everyone.  An amazing effort!  Although, I’ve never seen anyone roll out his bed, get into it and fall asleep so fast.

Getting up at 6am, we awoke to the cooks preparing a great feed of bacon and eggs and porridge to get us all going, packed the buses and then down to the start line for the 95km leg into Port Fairy and the finish line.  We were away by 7am and again, the friggin’ wind was relentless.  My legs felt ok-ish but I knew that we had a few hills ahead and the wind was doing my head in.

Our 3 teams were all riding the last leg, with some of the stronger guys heading off a bit quicker.  The remaining 15/16 of us were riding well together and pulling turns to try and keep everyone fresh. We made it into the little town of Hawkesdale at the 60km mark and called a quick stop to top up drinks and have something to eat.  We had 35km left to cover and finally get a shower.

Upon leaving Hawkesdale saw us head slightly downhill and then it was into a long drag uphill of about 3km.  This is where my legs fell off and the bunch slowly rode away from me, Marion and Foss.  We plodded on together for a while into the headwind, but I slowly rode away from Marion & Foss, so I found myself out in no man’s land.  I buried my head and just kept grinding away for the next 15km or so when I started to come across team mates waiting for Foss, as we all wanted to cross the line with him.

Getting to the outskirts of Port Fairy, whilst a relief, was shit-house.  It was open and exposed, I was tired and sore and the bloody finish line couldn’t come quick enough.  We eventually got into the centre of town and could hear the music coming from the finish line area and finally we were there! We crossed the line and congratulated each other before heading off to our Caravan Park where showers awaited.

Unbelievably, Foss had completed the entire 522km from Echuca in a total of just under 19 hours ride time, at an average of 28.0km/hr.  Not bad for a young fella of, well, early 50’s anyway.  An awesome effort and we are all in awe of what he was able to achieve.

The legendary "Foss" - 522km Echuca to Port Fairy - LEGEND!

My total for the weekend was 263km in just under 9hr 30 mins at an average of 27.8km/hr. 

After showers, it was time for another awesome feed thanks to the cooks and then pack the buses for the 6hr drive home.  A couple of beers and a lot of stories and we arrived home in Shepp by 7pm.  A huge weekend in all and a heap of fun with some great people.  An awesome ride by everyone involved but a special mention to Fee, Marion, Hymie, Meags, and of course, to Foss.  I was fortunate to witness a great feat of endurance by him and to see an awesome display of determination to finish a huge challenge.  Well done!!



Meags, Marion, Fee, Ayto, Foss & Hymie



Today, I don’t feel too bad.  The legs are a bit heavy and still a bit tired………oh, and of course, the gooch has been rubbed raw – nothing a good dose of mineral turps can’t fix!

So this week saw the following training completed:

Wednesday  – Bike 43km at an average of 32.4k

Thursday -  Run 8km in 45 mins

Saturday – Bike 168km at an average of 28.2 in just under 5 hours

Sunday – Bike 95km at an average of 27.5 in just under 4 hours

This morning I had a sleep in (justified, I think) and my weigh in came in at 114.7kg.  Only a small loss of 0.6kg, but understandable considering how much tucker the cooks kept pumping into us each weekend.  I think the plan will be to ease back into it with a swim tomorrow morning.

Whilst the weekend was only a last minute thing and I was nowhere near prepared, I think it has been a great thing for me mentally.  I feel that I can just about tackle anything that is thrown at me, so it has given me a bit of a confidence boost when thinking about the long year ahead.

Once again, a special mention to Fee, Marion, Meags, Hymie & Foss.  I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend a weekend with riding a bike at all hours!!!

Finally, if anyone feels like throwing a bit of dough at something, it's not too late to donate to the cause (GV Hospice Care).  Just let me know and I will gladly take you dough!!

Train safe

Ayto