Week 4 - Training Camp!

Phew! I made it out of training camp alive! I am a little delirious at the moment; a mixture of exhaustion, soreness and general fatigue from a big weekend of training but somehow I feel on top of the world with how my Ironman preparation is going. 2012 couldn't have gotten off to a better start.

This week was a huge goal kicker for me. Tuesday saw my first hill session on the bike with the Balmoral Triathlon Club (BTC) girls since having surgery. I managed about 45 mins of hills around Chowder Bay and was pretty happy with that as a start, given I had only been on the wind trainer & around Centennial Park (flat road).

On Thursday morning, I drove up to Port Macquarie (4.5hrs north of Sydney) for the "Her Coach" Ironman Training Camp. It was expected to be a very rainy weekend. The weather forecast had predicted flash flooding for northern NSW but thankfully Port was spared. In fact, it was more humid than anything. We started with a swim session at the pool where Coach Mel filmed our technique. I highly recommend this to anyone who competes in triathlon. It provides invaluable feedback for your stroke & technique. Now that my technique is sorted, all I need to do is go faster!

On Friday, we took the ferry over to the North Shore for a 20km cycle time trial. For those of you who haven't cycled in Port before, the road surfaces leave a lot to be desired. Its pot hole central and really bumpy, compared to the roads in Sydney (or at least, where I ride anyway). I was with a very fast group of athletes but just tried to keep my head down & my legs moving. I felt like the last few kilometres went on forever. I wasn't in a good head space & started to get the sookie la la's at the half way mark because I was about 5-10 mins behind everybody else. Its hard to stay mentally tough when you're struggling at the back by yourself but I got there in the end, with sweat stinging my eyes. Beastly!

Brekky @ The Peleton Cafe (well done Loz for backing up, with a beer binge hangover)! 

We then headed to the pool for a heart rate set which was pretty intense. Definitely character building & lots of things I need to work on. That's probably all I need to say about that!

On Friday arvo, the sun started to heat up the pavement & we headed down to Shelly Beach for a run set. My ankle is at about 85% flexibility now & I am finding it is loosening up the more I ease into training. My good friend Nat told me her  husband (Matthew Nicholson, who used to play cricket for NSW) had the same surgery a few years ago & advised that light running actually helped his range of movement. I was quite surprised when I heard this but, I attempted my first run since September & he was right; after a kilometre or so, it was like I was never injured. I was still cautious of not overdoing it & also being aware that I had lost a a lot of running fitness. So I ended up running for 2 mins & power walking for 1 minute for a total of 2.7kms. Sounds like a piece of piss, right?! For me, it was like the hugest weight had been lifted off my shoulders. There is no greater feeling than returning to exercise after being injured. I had the biggest rush of endorphins ever! Friggin stoked.

 Shelly Beach, Port Macquarie

Saturday morning we did a 30 min flat ride, with some high cadence efforts, trying to control our bodies as we spun our legs. Very weird feeling but good practice for when I cycle the hills in Ironman (god knows, there are enough of them)! Then we headed home & did Mel's Yoga For Triathletes DVD (part of the Coach Troy series) which was so awesome that we did it twice! Felt so good to stretch & lengthen our muscles properly & got some new ideas for stretches too. I'm not usually one to watch exercise DVDs but I am actually going to buy this one. It was so good.

At midday, we drove out to Laurieton to compete in the Port Mac Tri Club 1km ocean swim. The goal was to try & get on someone's feet & stay there, but in usual Fonginator style, I was too slow & swam by myself for most of it. I managed to help another lady out there though & she came up to me afterwards to thank me for letting her swim on my feet! There's my good deed done for the day. A long run was scheduled for Saturday afternoon - 17kms for LJ (doing Husky Long Course in Feb), 12kms for Murray (Byron Olympic in May) & Sarah (Geelong Olympic in two weeks), and Paula & I did 5kms of 3 mins running/1-2 mins walking at 5.30/6 min/k pace. Took a while for my ankle to warm up but on the whole, it felt really good. Cannot wait to start running non-stop!

On our last day (Sunday), we did a 60km ride out to Lake Cathie, Wrights Hill & finally, Matthew Flinders Dr. For those of you who don't know this road, we have to ride up it twice in Ironman. According to the Australian Cycling Forum, this hill is about 18-20% gradient - in other words, it's measured in vomits per kilometre! The first time I attempted it was in late 2010, just before the Port Macquarie Half Ironman (my first long distance triathlon). I almost sh!t myself it was so steep. At one point, I thought I was going to fall off & slide down the hill. But with my heart coming out of my chest, I just kept spinning my legs & held on for dear life til I reached the top & almost passed out! This time was different. I gave myself about 2-3kms to prepare for it, and as I looked up, I thought, oh its not as steep as I remember it. I can totally do this! I got into granny gear & spun my legs til they couldn't spin any more. I got half way up & felt ok (much better than the first time I did it, when I felt like I was going to have a coronary). So I jumped out of the saddle for the final part & sprinted as fast as I could to the top. I was completely out of breath by the end, but was so proud of myself because I felt like I had improved so much since I last time I did it, almost a year & a half before. Woo Hoo! Mentally, I needed to do it before race day & I feel great for it.

After demolishing some pancakes (thanks Todd - best I've ever had), it was time to say good bye & head on back to Sydney, but not before a stop at Heatherbrae Pies for a cheeky pie.

Best pancakes ever, by Masterchef Todd

Fuel stop on the way home with LJ @ Heatherbrae Pies

Thank you to all of the "Her Coach" crew, especially Mel who led the sessions. I learnt so many things to take away & improve on & I am excited about what the next 13 weeks will bring. Thank you to Laura, Rhona, Tammy, LJ, Sarah Paula, Alicia & Murray for all the laughs. Some memorable moments from the weekend:
Laura: Backing up is my forte.
LJ: Its because you guys have a fanny hole in your seat.
Alicia: My vagina hurts
Sarah: My arms have stopped working
Todd: I'm just going for a trail run with Rhona (two days after he did a 50km running race)
Mel: Bloody ambulance!

And of course, riding on the newly paved highway, 6 abreast! Good bloody times!

The Her Coach crew - loving the super smooth road (currently still closed to cars)!

Day off training tomorrow then straight back into Ironman training. 13 weeks to go - Woo Hoo! Am currently watching the Nadal vs Djokovic match. So hard to turn the TV off but I'm afraid but bed is calling...

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Feel free to repost & share the Fonginator love.

HTFU,

Bel