Eye sweet! Bike Improvement Needed! Uni around the corner!

Todays session on the bikes involved a 4-man time trial around Indro Golf Course. I was sorted into a so-called slow group. But in in this group I struggled at times to maintain the close quarters required for group bike. Whether this was a combination of uneasy following so close or simply my bike performance. In the aftermath of Bribie where it was my bike that let me down I am really seeking improvement. The main things I believe I need to improve is 1) My riding style, I am still putting too much weight on my forearms not on my core, back did not take kindly to this mornings high speed session, 2) Need to improve my riding at speed, more confidence on corners, 3) Simply need to get more hours on the bike i.e. no lazy weekends wasting time. Eye turned out to be fine as I suspected, must've been dust or an eyelash.

With Uni only 4-5 days away now I can really feel the car of my life reving its engine just waiting to knock up a gear. I up looking forward to this gear shift as I truly believe that I will be more productive in my training, gamsat prep, work and uni studies. Pump it Up!

Bloody Eye again, Grrrrrrrrr!

Can't believe my eye's are playing up again. It was extremely weird this morning as due to a number of bad nightmares I was tossing and turning and basically awake from 2am but the contact didn't feel bad until about 3:30 when I absent mindly rubbed it and all hell broke loose. As it is my left eye which generally does not get infected and also there is no redness apparent, I suspected that it was something else in my eye but playing it safe and missing training this morning. While this is not ideal build-up for Sunday's race, I definately need to be able to wear contacts for the race so it overrules. Have not swam for a fortnight since Bribie and haven't riden for almost a week which is concerning me a fair bit. Might depending on the state of my eye swim today or go for a bike ride. Fingers Crossed my eye clears up.

Boom!....I am IRONMAN!

Grrrrrr! Really pumped up still from this mornings session. It was 3 sets of 3 1km runs. One at easy, one at tempo and one at flat out with the aim to improve time each falt out 1km. First one got caught in the pack at the start and resulted in a 3:40 km. The second went a bit better as I got away from the pack and took 6 seconds off for 3:34. After a pump up by the coach of us as the news members of the group and the whole group everyone was raring to go. 1....2......3....(think the sound of a heart beat slowly pumping)..... Go! Every one rared off. Legs felt like concrete and lungs burning I turned to my mental slogan, while a bit cliqueish as I had just watched the new Iron man movie, it was...I AM IRONMAN!!... But as cliqueish as it is it really does work and with the help of a competing teammate on my heels I pumped through and exploded with 100 to go finishing with 3:26 taking 8 seconds off the previous and almost 20 sceonds in the session. The last 100m explosive sprint felt really good, I don't think I felt that strong and powerful before on a running track, I can tell you it was addictive. Live Strong & Peace Out! (picture from knoworacle.wordpress.com)

Year Begininng to Crank Up

I can feel a distinct change in my general feel, I can feel the momentum of 2009 really begin to fire up. Looking through my diary I realise that next week is my last week of holidays and it'll be under a month before GAMSAT. Really I am busting my gut in the proverbial dressingroom ready to "start" my 2009. The small remainder of the holidays has kicked me into gear. I am getting my mindset ready, registering for subjects and other prep for resuming a flat out life. Will have to write up my Uni avails for work, unfortunately work will pick up in 3-4 weeks as the new bars will be completed and more staff will be needed for them, which is annoying as I was hoping for a lot of hours during the hols but they just weren't there. But I believe that I can be organised to work more weekly hours this semester and am raring to get stuck into some more specifc Uni info. Push the limits!

TRI:Blind in one Eye and Can't see out the other

Had an interesting tri session on the bike today. Had a big time trial around St Lucia. Felt fairly good, had power, endurance, no cramps etc. Still only beating/ maintaining my position relative to the same people but then again have only had my "real" bike for 3 weeks now. The main problem in this session was that my contact had gone walkabout. This meant that I was pretty much blind in one eye. I had rubbed my eye and thought the contact had fallen out but I could still feel something present in my eye. Upon returing home having survived the session just, I had a poke and feel around and found the contact curled underneath my upper eyelid. Weird hey! Started the day in a decent mood hopefully this can be converted into motivation for GAMSAT study. Heres Hoping

Bumper Tri Session but still no Gamsat motivation

This morning we did 5x2km sets, alternating between tempo and hard. This is probaly my first really big session and I am very happy with my performance. I managed to keep up with or about 30 meters behind the coach, Smoothy who was also happy with my performance. Upon the warm down lap though the groin strain I picked up at oztag really tightened up and my eye started to sting. But otherwise an excellent session. Even though I had this bumper session I got home had a little rest etc and attempted to get into some serious Gamsat study but lasted only 1.25 hours, Then gave up and snoozed for the rest of the day. I am going to try to study early morning and late nights to see if this is a better more productive approach. Peace out!

3...2...1...And I'm hooked!

Early Sunday morning as I jumped into the car too find out if all those early morning sessions and the money I've invested in tri was worth it. Went through registration and transition pretty smoothly and was all ready for the race. The hooter blurted out and before I knew it I had began the swim. This is where I struggled. I found all the swimers in close, the murky water and the utter chaos that is the swim leg of a triathlon very confronting. I don't know why but my technique etc went out the window probaly due to this confrontation of the swim. Anyway I was in an average position from the start. However upon jumping on the bike and running the run confidence soon returned and I powered past many others. Overall it was a good starter race and it definately has made me addicted to the tri. In terms of how I felt after the race, I really felt it was too short, as in most circumstances I had just settled into the legs but before I knew it I was back in transition and into another leg. I probaly should have done more of a warm-down after the race but didn't and feel ok anyway. I have since had another eye issue arise and along with lack of sleep and a car service, this has lead me back into a lazy rut, which I'll have to pull myself out of tomorrow. Forward, Forward onto further challenges!