The countdown's on...

Well the year seems to be flying by and without really knowing it, it is nearly September and the Standard Distance World Champs on the Gold Coast!!! Just 28 days to go and I will be competing again. For more information on the race see the website: http://www.worldtriathlongoldcoast.com/

Well the last few weeks have had their ups and downs training wise. I have had some brilliant sessions, but then some sessions have been really tough! Some of the highlights have been:

* 5 hour ride, with 3 hours in the hills, followed by 5 * 6km intervals on the flat then a 45 min run at moderately hard pace (half marathon) pace.
* 1 hour 45 min run (at an average of 4.28 per kmh!).
* 4.5km swim set, including 400 tempo then 4 * 100 hard, 300m tempo then 3*100 hard, 200m tempo then 2 * 100m and 100m tempo then 100m hard.
* 2.5 hour ride after work with 5 * 10km intervals at 88%.
* 2 hour aero bar ride at 80% with a 50 min run off the bike which included 5 *1km intervals at sub 4 min km pace.
* Massive swim set including 6 * 200m with 50m kick, then 150m max pace (all no fins).

As with any training regime some of the lowlights have been:

* Ongoing stomach issues while running, I have had 5 run sessions in a row where I have had to have numerous toilet stops... not sure what's causing this.
* Getting dropped on a group ride for the first time in my life and then getting lost out in Armadale and having to flag down a highway cop to give me directions home.
* 5 hour ride where I just totally hit the wall and didn't think I was going to make it home, needed to stop at the garage 4 km from home and just eat and drink until I had enough energy to make the last 4km.
* Being attacked by Bogans out at Midland while riding.... they threw a full bottle of beer at me and hit got me in the middle of my back. It totally felt like I had been smashed in the back with a rugby ball from 2m away. I got such a fright and cried on the side of the road for about 5 minutes.
* Being hailed on while swimming backstroke at 5.30 in the morning.

So its not all been smooth sailing, but training in Perth has its up sides. I have only had to train in the wet four times in the fast 5 months, most days I can ride with just a cycle top and a vest and I never have to run with more than a singlet top on. Perth also has a number of awesome events- cycle time trials, triathlons and running races.

For the next three weeks of training I am going to be taking a day off work each week. This will really help with my recovery as well. I still have some pretty big sessions to go as the Long Distance World Champs are 6 weeks after the Gold Coast race.

I will leave this post with a couple of Perth sunset shots... pretty awesome...