It’s GO TIME!!! and BASE TIME

First off I’m thrilled to announce my new partnership with Base Performance supplements. Chris Lieto started this company up a few years ago, so you know they will meet the needs of endurance athletes. They make a great multivitamin and the best electrolyte salt I have ever used! If you sweat heavy, this is for you. The salt is also great to sprinkle over meals leading up to races. The recovery activator is great to use in addition to your post race recovery drink. It helps facilitate  faster glycogen absorption so you come back stronger! The base amino is perfect for taking care of your muscles during strenuous exercise. If you are looking for something new to help stay healthy and fast all year, Base Performance is where you need to be looking.


Now lets talk training back in Christchurch.
Well, all the base work/miles/volume has been accumulating and I’m starting to see big gains in the ease holding wattage and run pace at heart rate is getting quicker. It has all started kicking in at the right time because the next three weeks are going to be big weeks and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about going long again!
On the schedule Saturday was a 4hr and 30 min ride. I had been eagerly waiting for this weekend workout! There is a great loop called “Gorges” that is 140-150km long. I did this ride on Wednesday as well with Triathlon legend Scott Molina. Scott is still in phenomenal shape and was up front pushing the pace for a good chunk of the ride. I made sure to pick him out when he wasn’t crushing it to ask some questions since he racked up lots of Ws in his career. Great guy and I’m going to see if I can can buy him beer at some point during this trip!
The riding here to me is great because it is very flat and straight. Lots of people may argue this is boring. However, I have crazy mind that hates going down hills or  riding rolling hills because it messes up my average power during sets! I love working hard and pedaling the entire time to burn up more kilojoules. The more kJs I burn the more moro bars/candy and pies I get to eat for my re-fueling! That is how my mind works.
The main set was 6x30’ at high end Z3 power with an easy 7 minutes between efforts. The ride started out going out back behind the airport which is pretty neat when 777 and 767 are taking off or landing right over you. I spent lots of time out here while I was flying and earning my private pilot’s license way back in 2000. Once out of the vicinity of the airport you hit old west coast road which is dead flat and straight for a good 45 minutes but the view is pretty cool.

Once the long flat section is done, you pass over the Waimakariri bridge which is nice sight. You get to parallel the Waimak the entire time on the flat section and gives a very “Lord of the Rings” feel.

20-30 minutes after the bridge you arrive in the small town of Oxford for the refuel break. I opted out of a coffee stop and just bought a powerade so I can get going again. I did have a new bar in the back the pocket that I was wanting to try, and it was worth it! The EM’s Power cookie bar was DELICIOUS!!!. The gal who makes them, Emily Miazga, is x3 winner of the coast-to-coast race here in the south island. It is a race from the west coast to the east coast and consists of Kayaking 67km, Runing 36km, and Cycling 140km over some very tough terrian. I will be using these more from now! Chocolate oat explosion is my favorite.
The beautiful, slick, and fast QR CD 0.1 at the diary.
   
The ride was awesome and I added some more kilometers to finish off the day. Sunday was a very promising run as well.
Hope the training is going well for you all.
JC

Shakey Week

This has been a pretty shaky week since arriving back from the North Island. After another long haul of  9-10 hours of driving and a 3 hour boat crossing we arrived back to Christchurch on Tuesday morning (2am). Once Lindsay and I were settled in bed, we heard a rumble, and then we had a nice 5 second shake of 3.3 I think it was. Pretty much every morning around 2-4am we have had shakes. More to come on the bigger one we had this morning.

This week was another solid and consistent week for the log book. Received a nice surprise when I arrived on deck Thursday to see Bryan Rhodes! All the other guys are down south for the Tri New Zealand elite training camp. Rhodsey and I put in two days (Th, F) of 6km session.

Thursday was 1000 warm up, 4x25 Fly, 4x50 drill, 100 kick, 3x300 fast to slow+4x25 fly, 1000 Pull, 3x300 slow to fast, 1000Pull and

Friday we were 100o warm up, 8x100 and 200 Pull, 6x100+400Pull, 5x100+500Pull, 5x100+500 pull, 4x100+600 pull. The 100s were descending ending with 1:15s. It was pretty tough!

Saturday was a great long ride on the Quintana Roo CD 0.1  out near Porter Heights ski field. It was a VERY WINDY day which can be a good and bad thing. The set was 3x1hr Z3 and 40min 90-95rpm, 20 min/ 75rpm, 40min 90-95rpm/ 20 min 100rpm, 1hour Z3. Since it was so windy it was not going to be possible to turn where I had wanted. Going out the max speed was 16-18mph…..Coming home the average was 35-37 mph!!! It is not so much fun trying to holding power with so much power pushing you along!

Sunday was the day I was really looking forward to as it was the long run over the Port Hills. The day started off at 0247 this morning when the dressers slowly started banging the walls to REALLY banging against the walls. Next thing I know, Lindsay grabbed my arm pretty tight. It became pretty violent for 3 seconds then settled  for about another 6 seconds. We has a 5.0 this morning and it got the HR and nerves up pretty good. The rest of the day it feels as if you just departed a boat. You aren’t sure if the earth is shaking or if it is in your head!

After the nice wake up call in the morning, a good feed, we were off to the Port Hills for a big strength endurance run with lots of climbing!

5 min up climb

Traversing the climb. Can you see the trail?

The switch backs going up

Video from the top (WINDY)

I was very surprised at what happened today during the run. I guess it has taken 29 years and a serious injury to finally have some common sense when it comes to training. In my head I wanted to run for X amount of minutes. I never reached X amount of minutes because my ego did not get the way! I still have a few more Sunday sessions to go before I can reach X a few times! I also had a very good chat with x10 Ironman New Zealand winner about training and racing. He put lots of things in perspective for me. As athletes, some of us tend to train so hard that we have nothing left on race day. I was that guy.Sometimes to much ambition can be a negative.  Pay day is race day, and I will now be very careful with how much intensity I exert each session.

                            **************GIVE AWAY**************************

Ok, Wild Kiwi is owned and operated by my uncle. He has some very nice shirts. I will give away one shirt of your choice to a lucky winner. Please go to Facebook and like Wild Kiwi Clothing and give him a “Go Wild Kiwi”. Post on blog that you have done so and tell me shirt of choice and size from looking at website www.wildkiwiclothing.co.nz. I will then pick a winner. Or just give Wild Kiwi a like! Trying to get him more followers

JC

Tauranga Half And Wild Kiwi

GIVEAWAY!!!

Ok, Wild Kiwi is owned and operated by my uncle. He has some very nice shirts. I will give away one shirt of your choice to a lucky winner. Please go to Facebook and like Wild Kiwi Clothing and give him a “Go Wild Kiwi”. Post on blog that you have done so and tell me shirt of choice and size from looking at website www.wildkiwiclothing.co.nz. I will then pick a winner.

 

After a fantastic 10 days of training in Auckland it was time to head back to Tauranga to compete in the Tauranga Half. It is a quick 90 minute trip through beautiful green scenery which makes all trips that much faster. After meeting up with Team Wild Kiwi it was on!

The Half Ironman was on Saturday and I was entered in with Team Wild Kiwi. Jack was going to be our swimmer and I was going to be doing the bike-run. Jack is extremely talented athlete and is well versed in all sports. He is one of those guys who can show up to any events with minimal training and do well. Jack decided to do the swim and probably did 5-6 swims max before tackling the 1.2 mile effort. Jack came out of the water in 35 minutes!! Pretty incredible since he is not a swimmer. Here is Jack and I after the race.



The goal for me on the bike was just to execute IM goal watts. It wasn’t too hard to hold back as the pro men had a 40 min head start. Although we were up front in our race, there was no rabbits to lure you along to do something stupid. I ended up riding very strong and easily holding IM goal watts. Was my split close to the lead men splits? No, but that was not the goal of the day.

Bike Nutrition:
x2 bottle: Bottle #1 and #2  was two scoops of horley’s electrolyte powder, 1 scoop base amino, pinch of base salt.
x2 trail mix bar

The run included two loops around Mount Maunganui as was beautiful. The run is all along the drag in town and is littered with support. I had not run 13 miles off the bike since Sept 11, so it was going to be a great test. I ran steady and used it as a solid training day. Great news was that knee held up! The confidence is growing and it perfect timing since the mileage is going to be turned up.
Caught some flack from team manager and owner of Wild Kiwi for stopping and having two 5minutes chats during the run! Still managed a 1:40.

Of course we had to have Burger Fuel after the event!

JC

Training in Auckland

We have been in Auckland for the past 10 days and the training has been fantastic! It is a nice change to Christchurch since there are so many hills around this area! I have used this past 10 days as a solid strength training block. The running here is also great with many trails minutes from the front door.
Once you head out the door it’s about a 10 min jog to get to the start of the main trail head Lindsay and I have been running, and it is a nice hilly route to get there. I think a big focus of the beginning of the year needs to be incorporate lots of hills to develop and strengthen the quads. Since they compliment the heart to make efforts and distances much easier to sustain later in the year. Strong quads will also reduce risk of injury around the knee as well. Trust me, I know:). The more you use and activate the powerful quads the better off you are in my mind.

Below is the part of the climbs I run aerobically up. So, head to hills regularly to keep the quads strong which will help keep a good knee lift throughout the duration of your running or triathlon events. Now this is Cameron Brown country back here, and I now know why he is such a strong runner who can hold his form so well, especially during IMNZ each year. He dominates it that run!

I’m on a huge injury prevention, cover all the bases mission this year. I just wish I could back to my 21 year old self and tell him/me to stretch and strengthen everything. Then again, I don’t think my 21 year old self would have listened at all. I have been working lots on ankle flexibility…WHY? Because the device is in Cameron Brown’s house, so I’m doing it! I’m also using the TP Massage ball kit daily!! This is the must have item for all athletes. I swear by this device. I spent lots of time on the quads, IT band, and TFL.
                                    
Today was in training was a steady Z2/3 ride followed by a 60 min transition run with 4x4’ hill efforts. This was a huge day for me as the two previous days were 45 min and 90 min runs. Good to know that the knee is holding up. Since I logged a good three hours I earned myself a treat!!!
                





Until next time…

Tell All Tuesday, Dec 27

After a fantastic Christmas in Tauranga with my Aunt and Uncle it was off to Auckland for a little 10 days of training. We had a quick stop in Whangamata to meet up with Cameron Brown and pick up his keys and then we were off. Huge thank you to Cameron and Jenny Brown for letting us look after there place while they are further South.

This morning I swam with a former top New Zealand swimmer, Mark Bone, and now a high performance coach for some of New Zealand's best swimmers and triathletes.

Pool: 25 meter indoor pool 07:00-08:30
Warm Up: x4(100Swim, 50 kick, 50Pull)
Main set: 6x200 pull w/Paddles on 2:30 send off
100 Easy backstroke
12x100 as x2( 4 fast 1:15, 2 moderate on 1:30 (made this set, but this was a real burner!)
50 easy Free
8x25 HARD Kick on :30, 8x25 fly on :30, 4x25 fly kick on back, 8x25fly head out of water to half way, then polo. We did a few more 25s with some variations with emphasis on fast turn over but I’m drawing a blank.
400 Free with paddles and bands
100 Cool down.

I was starving after this workout! I can handle volume in the pool now, but speed is another story! Once I arrived home I jumped onto the bowl of oats. It is very important to get carbs back into you within 60 min post workout.

Before the bike ride of the day I had another snack to top off off some calories.
Bike Ride:
3 hour ride with 4x15’ at Z3 over rolling terrain (it was very hilly) with easy 3’ spin between, 2x6’ Z4 hill climb with easy spin down, then last hour was TT home at IM goal watts. My goal is to hold between 4.0-4.4 w/kg for Ironman. Took in two bars and x2bottle of EFS fruit punch.
                                 

Finished off with some strength work and then a nice tasty dinner. I made the ride end late as I could go into a more hearty dinner.

Till Next week!

-JAMES

Tell All Tuesday

Lately I have seen a few posts on tri forums about what a pro athletes schedule may look like compared to an age grouper over the course of the year. That being said, I decided I will now bring to you a Tell all Tuesday. Here I will reveal to you what I (the average pro) do during each phase of my build up to Ironman Taupo every Tuesday. Well, I try my best to do so.

This time of year I’m in a general phase (Base) of training were the focus is on more endurance work in the Z2/3 zones. The training volume is fairly high in most session, but the intensity is very low especially in biking and running. Swimming is a little different as I always like to inject some speed into each session. Unlike endurance, where  indicators for endurance improvement normally take 3-4 weeks, speed is 10-14 days. It is always nice to feel fast to boosts your confidence and the belief of yourself while you slog out the aerobic work on the bike and run.

Lets get into my training day today!!

Swim Session in 25m pool. 2x500 set done outdoors in 50m Pool: 1hr 30 minutes for 5.3km
Warm up 600 EZ Free
x2 rounds of ( 4x25 Fly on :40, 2x50 Back on :45, 2x50 breast on 1:10)
Main Set x2 rounds of (10x50 as 25FAST/25 Easy on:45, 2x500 out side 50m pool on 7:00, 10x50 as 25 steady, 25 FAST
300 Cool Down

BREAKFAST: oatmeal with poached egg on top. This is delicious! Quick snack and fueling up before bike ride. Have to have your vitamins as well!
          
Bike Ride: 3:15 ride all Z2 effort. I warmed up 15’ then held high Z2 for 2:45. Then easy 15’ cool down. What did I eat and use? x2 bottles of EFS and x3 bars eating at 60 min, 120 min and 150 min. I use mission care for bib cream.
                     
Once I got home I was straight into lunch. I was pretty beat since there was a stiff headwind going out and back! Plus the roads go and go with no traffic signals. I was a little beat after the swim today and just the volume of the past two weeks. I had lunch #1 of a mince pie and crunchie bar. Lunch two was five minutes later and was peaches and yogurt.
          
After a little down time, it was up for an easy 40 min run. Nothing hard, all aerobic. Then I arrived home for dinner of baked beans on toast and a side of lamb.


Total Workout time: 5hrs and 10min+ 30 minutes of stretching.

Swimming and more swimming

First up is a PRP update

Last week I joined the swim squad at Jellie Park under the guidance of Coach Roly. Boy did I get a shock. I like to consider myself a front pack swimmer when I’m going well, and that usually means putting in x4  2.5-3,000 yards each session with the Nitro crew or by myself while in Texas. I received a big wake up call this week with Roly as each session was 5.5km! You do the conversion and that is around a 6,000 yard swim. The volume initially just destroys your arms and I had to focus so hard in executing excellence on all my flip turns, making sure I was as streamlined as possible at all times during my stroke. It took me three sessions to finally adapt to the volume and move up from last place in the lane. Yes, last place. We all have to start from the bottom and work our way up. I’m really hoping this volume with all the speed injected into each session will take my swimming to higher level. It would great to be able to go sub 2 min and sub 5 min for the 200 and 500 free again!
The biking and running have been coming along much more slowly. The biking increased in volume this week, but there was still only three sessions. I completed the week with a FTP test and was rather surprised with my number. I knew the number wasn’t going to be as high because of lack of endurance training the past 10 weeks. However, all the strength work I did with Scott Woolwine at Wild Basin really paid off and I ended  up in the Cat I. cat in the power profile chart. It helped that I lost a bit of weight and gained more strength to get solid power-weight ratio. Now the goal is to be working very closely at, and around FTP levels in the training toward Tauranga Half Ironman! If you are looking for a great read on Power, I suggest “Training and Racing with a Power Meter 2nd edition”. Has given much more insight on how to improve my cycling in 2012.
The riding here is great with long country roads that go for miles and miles with no traffic signals and little traffic. This is old on Old West Coast road. It was overcast on Saturday so the view was not as spectacular, but you can see the long straights on the green Canterbury plains. Having a blast riding my QR here.

Running is the toughest event for me while training here in New Zealand. Running is so simple with just shoes and minimal amounts of clothing. It is easy to get out of the house, get into rhythm, and just feel great. The running here is great with some many parks and trails with soft surfaces, so  you can see how hard it is to hold back.  Coming back from injury is a slow process. Last week I was running 4 min/ walk 1 min for 30 minutes. This week I advanced up to a whopping 5 min run/1min walk for 45 minutes! This weekend I get to advanced to hill work. As you can see in the pick below, there are some very cool running trials in the Port Hills. Can’t wait!



















Keep training hard. Till Next time.

James