Drill it....just a little bit

So once again I didn't make it to Park run. I had a bit of a disturbed sleep and it was a grey day. The rain came over about 9am so I probably would have got caught in it anyway. I know I know I shouldn't be worried about running in the rain, it just something you have to deal with as a runner/triathlete.
In fact on a side note during our stay in the Great ocean road it bucketed down on the Saturday, Michael Clease and I did discuss what we would do if it rained like that on the Sunday. Of course we decided we hadn't spent months of training, hundreds of dollars and taken a day off work to let some rain stop us but we definitely considered it for a moment.

Anyway enough digressing. With no running done and not wanting to cycle in this rain (again I know I need to be able to cycle in rain but at the moment I am so unconfident with my cycling that I worry I'd slip and fall off!) I decided to go for a swim. It's an outdoor pool but obviously that doesn't matter in the rain. Having been the last two weeks in a row I thought it's time I think about some drills rather than just bashing out lengths until I get tired.

I found this site with some drills that though I'd give a try out http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_swim/tno_swimarticle_14.asp

• Drill 1 thumb to thigh. 

This one is simple but makes a lot of sense. It's aim is to have the most efficient stroke by not cutting it short. Start by standing up, with your hands by you side. Measure where your thumbs naturally sit against your thighs. As you make your stroke in the water you want to make sure you thumb lightly brushes against that area on your thigh before bringing it up out the water. 

• Drill 2 touch and go

So this one is about making sure you stroke at entry to the water is efficient. Some people have quite a bent elbow as the arm enters the water. For this stroke you keep your arm extended while the other arm completes the stroke so for a second you two hands are outstretched in front of you. 

• Drill 3 closed fist

This ones quite self explainitory, you swim with your fist closed. The logic behind this one is that your palm is not the only part of your body that is being used to pull you through the water. Swimming with you fist closed makes you aware how much the surface of your arm is working and should help you engage this extra bit of power. This one sounds hard work to me!

• Drill 4 balance and rotation drill

Ok this one sounds tricky! There are four different parts to it. You only use one arm, the other should rest at your side. 1. Swim using your left arm, breath to your left side. 2. Swim using your left arm, breath to your right. 3. Swim with your right arm, breath to your right. 4. Swim with you right arm, breath to your left. Hmm I'm a bit worried about this one. It's a 50m pool, I may well tire before the end. 

Right so this is what I planned to do:

Four lengths warm up

Two length on drill 1

Two lengths of drill 2

Two lengths of drill 3

Four lengths of drill 4 (one length per part) 

Two lengths drill 2

Two lengths drill 1

Two lengths cool down

I found drill 4 very hard, I did two lengths and then gave up. I think I need to go back and reread about that. Drill 2 was harder than expected but I managed and it made me feel like I was getting stronger. Drill 1 was good but felt like I was doing a normal stroke with a good technique. Obviously nothing wrong with that but it didn't so much feel like a drill. 

Drill 3 wasn't as tough as expected but I could feel the benefit. 

I enjoyed doing drills, it really mixed things up and made 1km a lot more interesting. I'm going to look for some more and also try and perfect 4!

X

Park life....i mean run

Okey Pokey, this weekend is operation get me to Park run!

Have you heard of Park run? Its growing quite quickly so you might have. Its a weekly 5km run which is organised on Saturday mornings by volunteers in a number of countries around the world.
You get timed and hand over a bar code at the end and they keep a record of how your doing. Its a great way of getting races in without having to pay the $30 plus that others often charge.

Our closest one is in Sydney Park in St Peters. Its not so easy to park there and the train from my place to St Peters is quite painful so I have devised the plan to run to the station, get the train part of the way, run to the park, do the race, run back to the station, get the train and run home!

The race starts at 8am. If I get the 7am train I can get to a nearby station by 7:39am. And then the run to the start is around 2.5km. So 1.3km to the station my end each way, 2.5km the other end each way and a 5km jog is 12.6km all up! It should be a good little warm up and cool down if I take my time and then really go for it on the 5km.

What do you think? Will I make it? Will I actually get out of bed in time?

It would be good to cycle to the park, great triathlon training but I think i'll build up to that ; )

Check it out http://www.parkrun.com/

In other exciting news I bought myself a exercise jackety thing, you know the thin fabic colourful tops that are in lots of shops at the moment. I'm sure its no good for actually exercise as it was cheap and doesn't have any wicking fabric but will be good to get to and from the gym and to go for pancakes after. he he!

Right i'll update you on Saturday about the run, assuming I make it.
Chubby Katie.x

Swim Swimeroo

On Sunday I had my first experience in Caringbah public pool and it was indeed a positive experience.
As i've mentioned before we have a number of good ocean pools in my area and so i've never really felt the need to pay to use the public pool. With winter here though and also with my intention to up training I decided to venture to the 50meter outdoor pool.

Sorry for the crappy little photo, its the largest I
can find without pulling them off a schools website!

Being the anxious person I am I roped in my sister-in-law to accompany me. It cost $5.20 but if you buy 10 or 20 tickets the price comes down. 
Luckily the day we went it was warming and the sun was coming up. We arrived at about 8:20am and I didn't struggle to much with stripping down to my bikini.

http://missironman.com/blog/march/
(I plan to check out this site soon)

The water is heated to a good temperature, its warm for swimming but once you stop you start to cool down, this makes it excellent encouragement to keep going!

I aimed for 20 lengths so equaling 1km. I managed this fine although I did around 4 breast stroke lengths. We had a warm shower and then headed back for a tasty mango smoothy!

It got me planning my schedule to include morning swims, including some drills and maybe using some of these bad boys to strengthen my shoulder, although judging by this mornings attempt to get out of bed at 5:50am when its dark and cold and misty i'm not sure how often i'll actually make it to the pool!

Backwards triathlon

OK this is a really short post, its short because it is something that has just popped into my head. 

I've always thought it would be a good idea to do triathlons backwards, it would be so nice to jump in some cool water after the run and bike. 

Now this is probably obvious to everyone else but it has just occurred to me. Its because it would be really dangerous! Imagine people who were struggling due to improper training, nutrition or just having a bad day and had to try and swim in deep water.

Like this woman! Julie Moss, a woman of Ironman legend. As part of her exercise physiology thesis she took part in the Hawaiian ironman, without adequate training and led most of the way until around two miles from the end until this happened...... 

Oh I struggle to watch it! I can just imagine that being me. Eeeeep!

A belated race report - The MS Gong ride

This post is as much for me as it is for you dear reader. 
I enjoy riding my bike, sometimes I need reminding though. Sometimes I sit at home and think about all the traffic around me when I cycle, I think about how it would feel if I fell off and skidded a long the tarmac, I think about the tough up hills and forget about the down hills. 

Thats why I wanted to write this post, to remind myself that cycling is fun, it can make you feel alive, its a different sort of effort than running, one where you can take it pretty easy if you desire. 

Back in October 2012 I did the Sydney to Wollongong MS bike ride. I did it with 5 other people and we decided to do it as super heros. I don't really train much for bike rides so I did this without much proper training but with a good base from running and some cycling at the gym.

I had planned on wearing my Wonder Woman costume that I wore for the Tough Mudder but the day before I got it out and realised it was in a pretty miserable state. I set about knocking myself up a Super girl costume, it wasn't great but at least it was comfortable on the bike.

The Gong ride is 90km and you start at the park in St Peters, we got the train down and met the rest of the guys. Despite the suggestions on the website that you could wear costumes there were not a lot of other people dressed up and so we got quite a few stares!

From St Peters we went through some quite boring residential/industrial type areas, then we got to Bright Le-Sands which was nice as we were riding next to the ocean. We then headed into the Sutherland Shire, I especially liked this bit as its by home turf and although we didn't ride past my house its always nice to see the areas you are so familiar with. 

At one point we got split up, three of the boys were up ahead, Michael Clease and I were in the middle and the girl dressed as Wonder Woman had got left behind. When I noticed this I told Michael Clease that we should wait for her. After a couple of minutes she caught up. As we headed out of the Sutherland Shire and towards the Royal National Park there was a big down hill. 

We went down quite fast and the next thing I knew Wonder Woman had hit the curb and skidded to a crash! Not being able to stop in time I squealed to a halt hitting her slightly and fell to the floor.

Well luckily Michael Clease was not too far ahead so he came back, Wonder Woman was cut and grazed and had injured her thumb. Later we found out she'd broken it and would need surgery!

She was helped by some kind volunteers and made it to the first rest stop at Loftus were we met with the other three in the team. Wonder Woman and her husband Batman pulled out of the ride and got a family member to pick them up. 

By this time we'd lost about an hour and were some of the last to leave the rest area.  

Next it was onto the Royal National Park, usually I'm a little scared about cycling in the RNP due to the cars, narrow roads and hidden bends so it was nice to have the roads clear. There were some big up and down hills but I am pleased to say I survived them. At one rest stop people were asking to have there photos taken with us!

There were a few steep down hills that tested my nerves and Michael Clease raced paced me. The last few ks were undulating through the outskirts of Wollongong and into the park at the finish.
My only gripe was that apparently we one first price for our costumes but as we arrived after the ceremony they gave it to someone else!
I had a great day, there were some awesome views, I was glad to get on the train at the end but I would definitely do it again.

http://www.gongride.org.au/