Strewth's Training Blog

Saturday - Triathlon #4 - Swimming with a Water Rat!

Swim: 300m
Cycle: 8km
Run: 2km
Time: 38:54 (on my watch - to be confirmed on website)

Comments: It was a bit different from the last triathlon where the lake was choppy and there was a storm brewing. Today the weather and conditions were perfect. The lake was calm and the sun was lovely, not too hot but really pleasant. The triathlon was held at 3pm at the Acton Ferry Terminal, probably my least favourite venue, but as it turned out it was a good experience. I did have a bit of a bad start as while I was testing the water just before my wave left I slipped on a pipe in the water and cut my toe. I could feel it sting as I swam and when I was in transition I looked down to see the blood dripping from it as I pulled on my shoes. However, the most eventful part of the start of the swim was the sight of some creature swimming rapidly past just as Mr B and JS were about to start their wave. There was a bit of a rumble amongst everybody watching as we realised, "no, this is not a little dog or a large lizard, this is most definitely a water rat". We watched in horror hoping it wouldn't change direction and come back to our start but it was moving like one possessed probably in terror of all these strange bodies invading its territory! The general feeling was "please don't let there be any more of those creatures near us when our heads go under that water". However, once the whistle blew and we started swimming concentration took over and I soon forgot about water rats, human rats were the immediate worry!

I didn't have too much trouble finding my bike this time as:

a) I had tied a bright orange towel on the pole near my bike, and

b) there were very few bikes left racked as I was in the last swim wave to start so there weren't too many people left in the water!

The cycle was pretty good. There was a fair bit of traffic about at that time of day and I was a bit cautious. My average speed was 26.9kph and my maximum speed was 39kph.

The run course was through the tunnel and up and over hospital hill right down the other side then back up again. It's a tough little course for a triathlon leg but I didn't mind it too much as I run that quite often when I run round Lake Burley Griffin and actually felt quite comfortable. I managed the 2km run leg in 10mins so was happy with that and felt quite strong. JS and Mr B both did really well. Now we'll look forward to seeing the official results. Later we bought a yummy vege burger. We were surprisingly tired in the evening. We had been planning to go to the multicultural festival in Civic but bed was a more inviting alternative as I knew it was a very early start for the long run next morning.

Sunday's Long Slow Run

Activity: Run

Distance: 33:13km

Time: 3hours 30mins 57secs

Average pace per km: 6:22

Calories burned: 2025

Total distance this week: 90km

I woke very tired and it was difficult to get going. I set the first alarm for 4.45am, had two pieces of toast and honey, then went back to bed and re-set the alarm for 5.45am! I met JS at the yacht club at 6.30am and after getting ourselves organised we didn't actually start running until 6.45am. Actually, we both felt tired. In fact my legs were really struggling for the first 13km. We ran at a really really slow pace per km of 6.35 so we decided to stop talking so much after that and concentrate on improving our pace. We ran past Molonglo Reach and on through the Jerrabomberra Wetlands up to the start of Kingston Foreshore. Here we turned round and ran back the way we had come. The second half was much better than the first half. Our legs finally started to work and the pace improved a lot although we are going to have to work on speed for these long runs. They are definitely too slow if we want to achieve our goals in the Marathon. However, we did do the distance. Later we went for a soothing paddle in the lake at the yacht club where we met up with Jon and Mr B and drove to Beess Cafe at Yarralumla for a much appreciated brekkie and coffee.

After a short sleep at home, Mr B and I went to the fruit and vegie markets then on to our daughter and her boyfriend's for a paddle in their pool and pizza and icecream - definitely a healthy diet this weekend!

I must mention that on Friday, my rest day, I had the best sports massage ever. It was sooo good. Yes, I felt spots I never knew existed and wasn't aware they were painful or tight but soon discovered they were! I have booked a sports massage every two weeks until after the marathon. I have never done this before but it is recommended in the program and I'm more than happy to follow that idea.

I don't think I'll run in speedygeoff's group tomorrow night. My body is tired and I think the swim in the morning is about all I can manage. Instead I will run my 12km on Friday this week. If I run a long run on Sundays it's too difficult to run a tough session on Mondays. If I run the long run on Saturdays I can manage that session better.