Well over the weekend I took the plunge and entered the Capricorn Half IM.

So over the next few months I will have to start building up my base fitness and starting swim training...Recently I have been trying to slow down my runs and train at a lower HR and have found this to be quite effective - especially for recovery after.

Anyhow yesterday arvo I thought would do a long run by doing a couple of laps around the bay run, my first lap was done fine in around 40 mins (about 6mins slower than usual). I kept on going not sure how far I would run as I was looking to run for a certain time rather than distance. When I crossed over the bridge the 2nd time I thought I knew the runner ahead, so my pacing went out the window in trying to catch them only to find it wasn't them . I kept up the pace for a while and then slowed down to a walk while getting a drink. I was amazed at how easy it was to start up running again after the short break.

All in all I ran just under to laps (about 13.5k) in 74mins which I was happy with as it was the longest I have run in quite some time and it has given me confidence in the up comming SMH Half Marathon

Good for you SimonMac!

This was my first ever Half IM.

It is a great race in a beautiful location.

My biggest tip for the race & something that was recommended to me - wear loads of sunscreen!! it get's pretty darn hot up there, and I got fried on the day

Also, start swimming in the open water. I didn't do this and found my very first HIM was a open water swim & i was a little freaked out by it.

Train safe & take care.

All the best,
AK

Hi there Simon

Nice to see you out cycling on Sunday!

Nice to see you posting on CR too.

Good luck with your HIM training. I think you will find that there is a quite a few Balance knights heading up there too!

wt
(KB)

Well done mate!

I did my first HIM last year at Port Mac and it was great fun (and lots of pain..).

Have fun in training!

Yes the ride on Sunday wasn't too bad, although I spent too long sitting at Pie in the Sky and then got back to Nth Turramurra and the cafe was closed.

Ohhhhhhhhh NINJA!! now I know who i'm speaking to!!

Welcome to CR Ninja!

When is Shot'is going to post here as well??

AK

I have been posting here for a while but under the name SimonMac and some other username that I forgot the login for.

How is the puppy going ?

AK

Shot'is is too scared to post on CR

KB

Puppy is an adorable rascal

K



We will have to change this me thinks

K

To get back on track. Ahem.

Capricornia is on my list of Must Do races for next season. It has to be next season because I want to do Gold Coast HIM again this year AND Sydney Marathon in Sept.

So many races, so little time. Sigh.

At this rate, I will still be checkin' em off my To Do List when I'm in the 70-74 age group. Hehe.

M

Whoever let time get in the way.
Just do them all, unless of course you have a partner and kids and a mortgage to pay off then other priorities might get in the way, but time (or lack there of) is the mother of all evils and you mustn't let it win.
I have tentitively put this on the list for this year. I can't swim 50m yet but i'm working on it and figure if i can just get through it then passing lots of people on the ride and run will be great fun.

Tim

Time to bump this back to the top of the pile I reckon!

Lets just remember that this post is about Ninjas journey to Half Ironman and also about my apparent lack of gumption to post on CR.

Ninja, see you at the bay tonight for a run.

Muzman, relax, this forum should be for a bit of a laugh and is definately not the end of the earth. We all know people who live under rocks and using log in names to live out fantasy lives, dont be one of those people.

Aunty K and Wildthing, stick that one up ya. I do post so there. See you at Port Tomorrow.

Shotis (or should I use my REAL name?)

Yay!! Shotis finally got his log-on sorted out

Yep, see you here very soon!

Cheers,
K

Well I am off to the physio on Saturday with any luck, had a great run on Thursday with Shot'is (got around in 33:52) and then the knee went on me somehow.
Hoping I will wake up in the morning and it will have fixed itself

I shall be keeping watch on the web of everyone in the race !!

Ninja,
89 dyas to go brother, tell us all how the training is panning out! Have you got any race time predictions for us? I reckon that you will have Ice covered given his lack of recent hard work but I can tell you that the Sam and Lou are fairly screaming in training right now, get to it mate. Last one into the pool buys drinks! If you are riding tomorrow morning bring your runners for a brick session.

Shot'is

Shot'is - The Sam & Guns are coming along very nicely... but what have you done to Ninja ?!?!

Ninja - hope you are ok, keep us posted.

AK

Ah yes the training.........last week was the first week of full training ! Yes Shot'is I swam twice

Training is actually going well, especially the running up around the 30k mark a week and will probably get it up to 35k.
If I get all bike sessions in, thats getting me around 230k a week ( should be there for the brick session on Tuesday although may have to dissapear early)

Swim is still the weakest link but will get there in the end, will move up to doing sets of 200 on tuesday night and will just see how long I can swim for on Wed night.

Predictions........
Swim would be happy if I can get it done in 45 mins
Bike am aiming for 3 hours or less
Run with any luck will be sub 2 hours - will see how I go in the SMH Half this sunday as a guide....

Overall though I will be happy with a sub 6 hour Half IM debut

Will keep you all posted on the progress !

Good luck Ninjah



wt/kb

Keep posting on how you are going Ninja.

I too will be attempting my first half IM in Port Macquaire this year. If only I could swim

Well I had my first brick session on Tuesday morning, the first in around 6 or 7 years ! Was happy with the way I went, even if I didn't push myself too hard on the runs (4 days in a row of running) with the Half Mara this w/e I need something left in the legs.

On a plus I did the Mothers Day 4k last Sunday and managed 17:40 which I was happy with, got me 127th Overall and 30th in my Category (Male 30-39).

Managed to get 500m done in the pool last night with the following breakdown;
200m in 4:20
rest of 1:10
100m in 2:03
rest of 1:50
200m in 4:20

Will go swimming again tonight to see how far I can go with out stopping, hopefully next week I will build up to doing atleast 1k in the pool each time I go.

later
ninja

Ninja - there is a small group of us who meet regularly on Friday morning 6am at Homebush pool.

You are welcome to join us

K

Mr and Mrs Shot'is are threatening to be there on Friday morning with Shoes and Kez I imagine will be there as well. Mmmm the lovely clear waters of the SOPAC training pool early on a Friday morning, what else would you be doing at 5:30am?

I will be there at 5am to squeeze in 3.6km before work.

wt/kb

I should be there too. But not as early as KB - she is a hard core training triathlete and is leaving me for dead at the moment.

H

you kids be careful driving to the pool so early.

make sure you have a good dinner the night before and get lots of sleep.

and be nice to the other swimmers in the pool.

m & p bear

Geez - anyone would think these 2 are an item always together training

Ok - it looks as though there is training somewhere between 5 & 6am, you can pick your poison

AK

Ya reckon?

It all sounds very tempting but when do I get to sleep in

Someone let me know the cost of a swim at SOPAC and I may just turn up although it won't be pretty..... Probably best to just inform me down at the Bay on Thursday night. Although I do want some energy left for the Half Mara this weekend.

later all

it's possible

Ninja - $6.40, free parking at Homebush pool.

K

Ninjah

Real triathletes don't need sleep. 4am wake up is par for the course.

wt/kb

try 3:30 to be out at the Riff for a 5am start in the pool

Nice little session today Ninja, look forward to seeing you swim

K

I am pretty sure my swim is going to be a let down......

Not sure if I will be able to make it on Friday morning as I am suppose to be at a customers place before 8am but will try anyway, maybe 30 mins in the pool. Will not repeat last nights effort where I forgot to put my swimmers in the bag.

Anyway it was a nice little workout this morning, I think my legs had warmed up by 9am

See you on the bay tonight if you are there.

Shame on you two. This forum is not the place to be airing dirty laundry with little or no proof! Are you sure that the two you mention are not already lurking this joint in any case?!!!

Did uncle Iceman flog the riders this morning? Winky and I enjoyed a lovely sleep in watching the fog rise above the Opera House and bridge from our bed

Shotis - you would be amazed at what this forum is used for maybe you wouldn't

Ohhh... yes... Uncle Iceman was very kind to us today, must be old age! LOL

Are you two on a second honeymoon??

K

A sleep in, now that is just uncalled for As for the ride, let's justs say it could be a slow run tonight !

A little update.......

Had my first hit out over the Half Marathon distance on the SMH Half last Sunday. Went into the race with the aim of going sub 2 hours and ended up doing the course in 1 hour 50 mins I found the first lap pretty easy but faded in the last few k's, mostly due to the fact that my training had not included any runs over 14k. Was happy that I kept my HR to an average of 162 until the last 500m when the ninja sprint made an appearance.

Will try and enter another Half Marathon in July if there are any around to see how my endurance is going. Decided to give myself last night off but had a little session on the bike this morning that was thrown into kaos by 2 flat's !

Off for a swim this arvo hoping the chaffing doesnt sting......

Well done Ninja!

Isn't the Gold Coast Mara & Half in July just a suggestion & would be a good hitout for you.

K

ps. i don't envy your little chaffing issue

That chaffing was NASTY ! When Vaso is your friend Ninja = always on runs over an hour or so!

That chaffing was NASTY ! When Vaso is your friend Ninja = always on runs over an hour or so!

Opps double post, send me to the room of mirros quick.

Well after recovering from the Half Marathon, I had a bit of a slow week alowing the body to recover.

My recovery week went downhill rather quick on Thursday nights run, was suppose to be a slow one but got to a point where I said stuff it and decided to lengthen my stride - problem was when I slowed down Shot'is caught me and for some reason I decided to follow instead of recovering. Needless to say I ended up in the red zone towards the end, I never learn

Saturday morning started off with a nice ride out to Sutherland from Centenial Park with only one clown in a car on the road ! Saturday arvo was suppose to be an easy 14k with a couple of laps of the Bay Run but ended up doing a 5:30 min SB doing it in 1:14:28, helps when you have company on the run and end up pushing each other that little bit more than you would on your own.

Sunday was a nice hilly ride from Nth Turramurra to the Road Warriors cafe at Mt White and back through Bobbin Head. Hadn't done this ride in about 6 weeks and my legs let me know all about it while going up hill ! Sunday arvo was spent on the couch with my legs spent from the weekend, had no hope of going running monday morning although I will do my usual 7k recovery run tonight.

Hey Ninja
Congrats on booking in for your first half IM!
This was my first half as well, a few years ago.
I agree with whoever it was that recommended sunscreen - def essential.

get some open water training in - the day i raced was quite rough with waves etc which was tough. The day before the race and the day after were perfect calm conditions so we got a shock when we woke up on race morning!

i found it hard to train in the Sydney winter for a race that might have temps around 25-28C.

The roads are quite rough - think they call it hotmix? but there's a few setions that are smooth which you will get to appreciate!

The run is nice although most of it isnt shaded so it gets quite hot. The hard thing about running through the resort is watching people by the pool whilst you're running a half marathon!

Its a great race, enjoy training and hopefully you have a few days afterwards to enjoy lounging around the resort if you're staying there.

Another little update on proceedings......

My knee flared up again last and I had to miss out on a couple of runs which I though was the best thing to do. Still managed to get my bike rides in, a nice 100k on Saturday and 20k of hills on the weekend although the weather was crap. Was happy that the knee held up on the bike rides, so I went out for a 12k run on moday night and felt great.

Tuesday morning was on the bike doing some hill work in the fog at Homebush, unfortunately I didn't get my swim in as I had work training This morning the rain held off enough to get 6.8k of running done , saw Aunty K out running as well.

Need to get my swim in tonight, hopefully there is no lightening tonight as this is the reason I didn't get a swim in last week. Will be back out to Homebush in the morning for a recovery ride if the weather holds up.

Am looking forward to Friday as it is a rest day.

Over the past week I have managed a couple of swims !

Last Wednesday I swam my first 1k non stop in 21:59 and was happy with that Went again last night and swam the 1k in 20:14 and came out of the water a little surprised as I was not expecting to beat my time by that much Am going to go swimming again tonight and with any luck will get 1500m done non stop.

Knee recovered quickly and I managed to get 37k done in 3 runs last week with a nice 15k done last Thursday. Hoping for better weather over the weekend so I can get some decent bike rides in.

Time for an update Ninja.
We hear that a HM might be completed this weekend between parties. Enjoy!

Rightio another update....

Training has been going quite well, lots of running in the rain and wind that had been in Sydney of late. Have not done too much on the bike but when I have gone out I have done a bit of hill work. Hopefully will get some decent rides done this coming weekend. Was down in Melbourne over the past weekend and did the Run Melbourne Half Marathon and came out of it with a PB of 1:45, which meant that I took close to 4min 30 off my previous time. The weeks of running consistantly getting around 30k done have paid off big time along with the odd speed session. Big thanks go out to Jacqs (Balance Tri Member) for running in the crappy weather on Monday nights and the odd Saturday arvo.

Unfortunately I have only been getting one swim session in a week at the moment, will try to get both Tue and Wed nights done this week. Having said that I have managed to swim 1100m in 22:30 which I was happy with, although I think it is time to try and get 1500m done non stop.

Anyway only 54 days until Yepoon but still lots of work to be done.

That is fabulous news ninja!

FYI it is very chilly on the bike these days at Homebush

Hopefully you will make it along on Thursday morning.

Thanks for the update also.

Cheers,
AK

All things being equal I will be there, although I have to head to Newcastle for work that day and will hopefully be back in time to go to the pub for dinner.

Well not much has been done this past week and a bit due to a cold

Had a decent 5k last Thursday in 21:49 which I was happy with as I was still down with a bit of a cold. Saturday morning was rather cold on the bike and only did about 40k, the ride was so short we had to wait for the coffee van to open after we got back to centennial park.

Went out of a short run on Monday night just to try and shake of the blocked nose and cold, only did around 3.5 or 4k. Actually got out of bed on Wednesday morning and went running, alittle windy but enjoyed the run. Got a swim in last night which I found was hard due to the fact that my breathing is still recovering from the cold - I think I did 1200m in the less than 26 mins but lost count of laps which seems to be happening a fair bit lately.

I totally understand what you mean there.
I never thought it would be so hard to count to 30.

Well I thought it would be time for another update.

Have been finding it a little hard to drag myself out of bed for the early morning training sessions, it's amazing some of the excuses that you can come up with before you even get out of bed. Have given myself a few weeks of rest while getting over a cold but need to get a few solid weeks of training in before Yepoon next month. After putting alot of running in over the past few months, I have cut back a bit to save the knees although I will still try and get some quality sessions done but will be limiting my long run to around 16k at an easy pace. Have been doing some interval and speed work on a grass track once a week instead of my recovery run to mix things up a little.

The question I get asked most is have I started my swim training, I have but it just has not had the consistency of the bike and run. I will be aiming to get 3 swims in a week for the next three weeks otherwise it's not going to be a pretty race. I know I will switch on to race mode on the day but would like to have a bit more confidence.

Anyway not much more that I can add, like most training it's all about the consistency - which has been lacking the past few weeks but the mind is back on the job although I do blame the Tour de France for the lack of morning training