pre-season 2.0

Well finally having a good pre-season, what a nice change :) (touch wood!! touch wood!!!)

Im swimming a LOT, but funny thing is I'm starting to feel like a swimmer? Weird, but swimming is becoming more and more enjoyable, and a heated pool is helping a lot.

Gym, my god, this is embarrasing. It is seriously embarrasing going to the gym, but I have to swallow my pride haha. Although I must say I do enjoy going and watching the 'not-so-ultimate-fighters' do their work outs.. veryyyy entertaining. But I am seriously starting to feel some good strength come through, loving it, first time in my life!

Riding is getting there. Although these cold mornings are NOT helping. I am learning to love my wind trainer, over 2 hours the other day :/ almost a record for me, how do you people do it? Getting back into some good road racing as well (managed to grab a couple of wins through breaks) and hit up a 20k tt this morning at champion lakes, ouchies. Loving it though!



Running, well finally a pre-season with no injuries (touch wood again) I've done a few running racing and for a build phase I am actually pretty happy :D 10k tt in a couple of weeks and the 21k half to test the legs will be funsies. Loving the off road too.

Over all a really good few weeks getting back into it. New motivation and new goals, it's all really looking good. Now to try and post more. Stay warm, and try and get some sleep during the tour..

Cheers

a frank and 'better late than never' season review

well...better late than never i guess

It's been way to long and there is way to much to catch up on so it'll be pretty brief.

Busso was a disaster unfortunately. After an average (and i do mean that i should have been faster) swim, my day was over 45k into the bike. The most soul destroying part about this is i dont know why. Smart pacing, nutrition etc, but my body decided it wasnt to be. No power on the bike (i know, i was using a power meter) and i felt good on the run for about 4 of the long 21.1k - quite simply not to be.

Since then i have had a lot of time to soul search, and disect by below par performances for the season. In my eyes i performed well below what i was capable of this season, unfortunetly the most annoying part about that fact is that i think it can all be attributed to myself.

So i thought i'd write a blog about it, enjoy.

Gold Coast: Here i believe i was the fittest i have ever been, except for my swimming. Going into this race i had a SOLID pre season behind me of road racing (even having won a few) and some really strong running, having run a 1.18 at the city to surf half. I swam ok (just under 30 mins for the 1.9k) and got onto the bike feeling good, i was riding super strong for 70k and was well on track for a 2.20ish bike time, then boom flat tyre. I panicked and lost 15mins on the bike. I finally got off and ran a 1.20 of the bike, however the damage was done. (6th place)

This is where my season ended.

After putting in so much effort and having something like that stop me in my tracks and take away a solid result, i broke. I got depressed about training and racing and did sweet all untill January. what a loser!

New Zealand: I honestly felt a little foolish heading into this race, i really literally had bugger all prep under my belt. However it really took the pressure off and i was really enjoying my self. Race morning and i was actually looking forward to it. Another eh swim (sub 30) and i was onto the bike feeling really excellent :) for the whole 90k, it was great, and i rode about a 2.25. Onto the run and i was on track to run a sub 1.24 but fell apart in the last 5-6ish k. Seriously, you know how no matter how bad you feel in a race, the last k with the crowd there is always super fast? yea well i did mine in like 6 minutes haha! Completely expected, but this race really bought my confidence back, and i did a 4.25 :) (3rd)




After this race i went straight to the tour down under and got some solid training done in Adelaide :) it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life :)




I really found my motivation again but having so long off before NZ i was really struggling to find form again :/

Singapore: by the time Singapore came around i was starting to feel really good again, but this time i made some real shitty mistakes that made a potentially great performance just a good one. 1. i got really dehydrated the day before the race (by running from transition back to my hotel in the midday sun) and loosing the front two boys in the swim after a really really stupid error. Pretty good swim, but then i had instant and constant cramps for 90 whole k's on the bike. It was depressing and painful and f*ck it sucked. I got off that bike the angriest i have ever been and ran myself into the ground. I dont regret that decision for a second and i would do it again and again. It needed to be done, i wasnt going to catch the two infront pissing around. I ran 3.45's for 12k then found a dirty big scary dark deep hole. Seriously about 75 meters before the finish line i saw my mum on the side of the road, i ran up to her and said "i dont want to do this any more :(" she literally had to push me away haha. (3rd)



But my hunger was back, i made my self hurt and i loved it.

In between then and busso, i was really focused, i worked on my swim and let everything else take care of itself. I got a power meter and ran smarter.

Busso: Man i f*cked this one up for my self. 2 weeks before i did the relay for life, this let the fatigue really set in. 1 week out i ran for over 2 hours in one run. idiot. It actually wasnt intentional but when you get stuck out in the bush with a group of mtn bike riders and home is over half an hour away 1.30 hours in you have no choice. 1 day out from the race i rode, ran and swam and got a massage, inbetween that i was on my feet all day, idiot..again. Race day came around and all of this caught up to me, game over. (6th)




The most annoying part of this self assessment if you will is that almost all of this was preventable. The flat wasnt but the unecessary down afterwards was. As was everything else.

But ive had a couple of weeks to dwell on that and i am done :)

One things for sure, next year, next season rather, i need to lift, not give any excuses, get my sh*t together and perform.

Last weekend started a new pre season and i cant wait :) demons need to be settled and revenge served.

Also, massive props to a few friends through the season. Johan had some stunning preformances and is the real deal, good on you mate. Andy you had a great season mate and topped it off with a huge performance at busso. awesome. just remember i did beat you this season...once.. :/ haha. Seano had a killer at Busso and is a constant constant inspiration to me, thank you mate. And my GF paige ended with a 3rd in her age group for triathlete of the year and a killerrrr bike leg at busso, im so proud :)

A thanks to everyone that was there for me this season :) my parent and fam who cheered me on literally at every race including singas :) best family ever. My training buddies and others for their constant help and advice. Especially sean jermy. Finally Paige Bowman that has been there for me every second of this past season. You'll never know how much you mean to me :)

So bring on next season! Train hard and there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing :P

Singapore

Well time for a quick race update, a general trip update will follow later.

I woke up race morning after a good sleep, which was quite unusual for me. We were at transition 10 minutes after it opened (which made me very happy) and i was set up in no time. Down to the swim start and after giving and receiving well wishes to all i was into my warm up and on the start line.

I started on the front row and after a quick introduction from the commentator we were given the 30 seconds....Boom and the horn went off. As i hit the water, Andrew and i were side by side, schweet! i thought to my self as i would have been quite happy to sit on his feet for the remaining 1850 metres. (i tried mate ;)) So i went about swimming in out small group of 4 (one team swimmer, matty burton, andy and i).

As soon as we turned the first can we had dropped everyone else, and were also the first to feel the horrible current flowing against us along the long back straight. I was feeling good but as soon as we made the second turn for the short trip towards shore, i lost focus and within 5 strokes, the current had pushed me to the left away from our little group - group lost - dammit! I was pretty annoyed at my self but there was nothing i could do so i swam on.

I neared the end of the first lap of the swim, stood up and got instant cramping in both my legs, i knew instantly from here it was going to be a long day. I swam the remainder of the swim by my self and got out of the water and onto the lonnngggg run into transition about a minute or so down on andy and matt. Not a bad swim :)

Onto the bike and i was struck with the same problem. Every time i tried to push, instant cramping. It quickly became quite demoralising as i worked hard on getting my pre and during race nutrition right, but there was nothing i could do but work with what i had, apart from the cramps i was feeling good.

I rode the first lap pretty conservatively with the aim of building. I was feeling good. Unfortunately the course led to some really bad drafting going on behind - but hey, those people were only cheating themselves. Good on you guys. In saying that the course didn't really lead to a clean race, 1600 people on 30k of road?! Hrmm.

My second lap was pretty uneventful as i rode well and watched the gap grow between me and uber bikers Matty and Andy. I kept downing nutrition and staying positive.

Onto the start of my third lap and i was joined by Scotty and a group of drafters behind. As soon as i saw them, i let Scotty know i was going hard to get rid of all the leeches, he obliged and we set about (legally) getting rid of them. It worked in some part, however my cramps were stopping me from doing any real damage.

Before i knew it we were 5k out of transition and i was preparing myself to run. To be honest here i was considering pulling out or walking the 21k. If i couldn't push on the bike i sure as hell wasn't going to be able to run, however not wanting to give it quite yet i decided to push on.

I had a good dismount and after chucking the socks and shoes on i was off....and feeling OK!! :D For the next 11k i actually felt really, good. I was running target pace taking in all the nutrition i could handle, and felt i was running within my self to finish strong.

However

It was not to be.. At around 12k i heard a BOOMMM. Oh yea it was me..blowing up, big time.

I'm still not really sure what happened but boy did it hurt. For the next 9k, well, i was a mess. I went to some deep, deep dark places, that i would re-healllyyy prefer never to go back to again, but hey i guess that's racing.

Some time later i crossed the finish line, a few minutes behind Andy who had a great one. It was a tough tough day and it honestly took me 3 days before i could walk properly again. That also may have had something to do with the copious amounts of alcohol consumed that night by a number of the races participants.

In hindsight (a beautiful thing), the race was interesting for me. My swim is ever improving which means all the extra time in the pool is paying off. But to loose a set of feet through loosing focus is frustrating and is something that must be addressed. My ride was good, but needs more work, however the cramps didn't help. My run showed some good signs too, but falling apart the way i did, wasn't exactly on the cards.

All things i need to work on, but hey for a race with a few problems i still put down a good finish.

I'll post some race photos in the post above and the follow up with a general update, later this week.

Cheers folks, Markus.

Counting down

Well Singapore is now less than three weeks away and I am in my last little block of training.

I've been hitting the (various forms off) track really hard and am quite happy with the results, it's all looking on track. Some highlights have included our regular Tuesday track sets, which have been turned up a notch over the last few weeks, swimming 10k in one day last Wednesday (possibly more of a low-light at the time), receiving a nice kick in the arse when I was forced to walk through Jarrahdale forrest for what seemed like an eternity after going out a littleeee to hard on a trail run and and absolute smashfest with Guy last Thursday.

I also had a pretty reasonable race at Hillarys finishing in the top 10 in the Open category and just outside the top 10 overall. Some good signs there.

Next up is the Albany Olympic distance this coming weekend and then one more hard week of training before taper. I'm bloody excited ;)

It is also great to see a lot of local elite athletes putting up new blogs and keeping us all posted. Most of these guys are much better than me so it's great to see the keeping us updated so we can follow their progression.

Also a quick shout out to Todd one of my biggest fans, who I just learnt yesterday reads my blog and loves it - thanks mate! Keep training hard ;)

Hopefully everyone in Perth is putting up with this heat ok, stay hydrated guys :)

Cheers, Markus.

On track

Well, there has been a little down time between my last post and this one, but it's for good reason i promise!

It's due to some serious time, in the pool, on the bike, on the track and fighting the invasion of jellyfish off the coast of WA.

That's right I am head down into some serious training for Singapore at the moment and am loving it. I am swimming 6 times a week, to really get my times up. Not that they are shocking but you know what they say, you can't win it from the swim but you can certainly loose it. My biking has picked up quite a lot thanks to my tour down under trip and some really good sets with Seano and Paige.

As for the running it is certainly on the way back with the highlight so far, my 16 x 400's along riverside drive on 1.20's. Into the head wind was just hurtbox galore. :/

But the great thing is my head is right and I am really positive with my training, I can't wait to get out the door every morning. (i think this is a good sign).

Apart from that not much else really...woah what mark?! Not another 100 page blog? No unfortunately not, in fact I am not even sure i have a picture for this one...

Just a side note, massive props to everyone who competed in the City of Perth Olympic Distance a couple of weeks back. The conditions were absolutely the harshest of the harsh and well done to everyone who gutted it through. :)

Short and sweet is the theme and I am really looking forward to a continuation of the roll i have (touch wood) and the couple of races i have before Singas, Hillarys and Albany.

Continue training hard friends, and enjoy.

Markus