Go Hard

Well it's finally the end of the year. Even though the change from one year to the next is an arbitrary thing, it still does hold some personal significance. Gone are the days when I would head out looking for a massive New Year's party (usually to be disappointed). Usually I now spend the night with just some good friends. Tonight however, I may not even be awake through midnight as I have an early start at work tomorrow. I am not in a habit of making specific resolutions. I like to think I can keep my goals in check throughout the rest of the year. New Year resolutions tend be made just so you have an answer when someone asks you what your resolutions are. Instead I take a quick moment to reflect on 2007. Unfortunately it wasn't what I had hoped. With some family members suffering significant health problems. My wife and I experienced a miscarriage at the start of the year, followed by the stillbirth of our daughter later in July. This year has forced me to take stock o...

I like trying out new training routes. I tend to find at least one variation per week. Something I picked up on a recent run. If a road has "hill" in it's name, then there is probably a good reason for it. I got to thinking about this while on Hill martin Road, when I was reduced to a walk just to complete the long steep climb.

It is now 100 days out from Ironman Australia. It isn't really that much time to get things right. In fact, I'm starting to get a bit stressed by it. Wondering if I actually have time to make the gains I need to. I think the combination of way too much food and a good few doses of alcohol over Christmas have me feeling a bit unfit too. The solution is to take a quick look at what I need to do over the next hundred days without getting too involved in the detail. Then do it. So here it is: Ensure I complete my key workouts which include: Long ride (150-240km) Long run (2:45-3:30) Long swim (3000-6000m) SBR Combo (6-8 hours) To complete these I need to be on top of the other tasks of life, including: house work, garden, shopping, cooking, bike maintenance. To be on top of these I have to do some each day (and not leave it until the last minute). This means thinking ahead. Doing things like planning my meals for when I'm on shift at work and making sure I have food in the cu...

It is that time of year. The silly season, where people spread the good cheer of getting narcy in shopping centre carparks, stressed because they can't find the present they want at 11pm on Christmas Eve, drive way too fast around the streets because they don't have time and expose themselves to the family arguments that have been kept at bay for a year. Of course there is also all the good bits of spending time with friends and family that you want to. Enjoying way too much good food and a few too many drinks. Plus doing very little training for a few days, and feeling good about it at the same time. Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the Silly Season.

As I have mentioned before, cycling is where I am going to focus most of my energy. I did give the general outline, but there were a few specifics I didn't get into. So how will I focus on the bike? Firstly I still believe in the principles I outline in Cycling For The Ironman last October. These principles I summarise as: Develop central endurance and fat metabolism with long rides (4-8 hours) at 55-75% VO2max (approx 60-80% HRmax) Keep general pedal cadence moderate and gradually progress my comfortable range Keep the long rides steady (minimise freewheeling) Ensure good core conditioning and flexibility Train in race position Now to get a little more specific to Ironman Australia. The race course is 180km divided into three laps. The majority of the course is undulating with a relatively short but steep hill on each lap. There are hardly any flat areas at all. The course profile can be viewed here. This creates some interesting points in regard to race strategy. The main challe...

I have had so many people tell me how tired I look over the last few days. Funny thing is I don't feel too bad. I am a bit tired at the moment, but being on night shift that is to be expected. I'll see how training goes over the next few days and take stock of things.

There are times when it feels easier to shift responsibility away from yourself. It is easy to take the credit when things are going well, but spreading the blame when things don't go as planned can be such an easy thing to do. I am writing this for one main reason. To give myself a kick up the backside, since I noticed myself not taking responsibility. First I'll get into where I come from on this topic. I strongly believe that the increasing lack of personal responsibility is a blight on our society. There are many people who always have an excuse, it is always someone else's fault. There are many examples. As a paramedic I get to deal with this style of thinking often. From the lady who drives her car through a stop sign causing a crash resulting in significant injuries to other people who stated, "It wasn't my fault, the other car must have been going too fast." To the teenager, too young to hold a license who claimed he "wasn't doing anything stu...

The motivation just wasn't there for yesterday's ride. Maybe it was because I was still feeling the lagging effects of night shift. Maybe it was because I had a few other commitments for the day. Maybe it was simply that the planned route wasn't capturing my attention. I headed out anyway. Sometimes these feeling disappear and the motivation reappears. Half an hour in I was working at the appropriate level, but for some reason I just wasn't keen about heading down to the Warburton highway. Why I don't know, but I had a simple solution. Change my route. Once out of the Christmas Hills I decided to turn left at Yarra Glen instead of right. This was the best decision I could have made. The weather was perfect. High 20's, a nice breeze, hardly a cloud in the sky. It was exactly the sort of day you should enjoy riding along the Yarra Valley, before taking in the sites from up on Kinglake. Suddenly my motivation was back and I began enjoying my ride. Now this did...

With the first week down, I am starting to remember what it feels like to train for the Ironman. When training specifically for any type of sporting event, brings on certain sensations that specific to each event. Short course racing has moments of intense but short lived pain combined with moments of uncoordinated movements as I try to run faster than my body is capable of. 10,000m running is about the deep, strong burn that turns your legs into heavy stumps that somehow still give a feeling of being fast right towards the end of a race. Many of these aspects cross over between events, but I find Ironman is unique. This is one reason I enjoy it so much. The main focus of training at the moment is to develop the ability to just keep going. At the moment speed takes a back seat. Being able to set an upper limit on the intensity in order to be able to sustain an effort for hours is a skill. This skill is practiced a few days a week. Therefore training sessions that last for a few hours a...

For work I am currently stationed away from my normal branch. This is a recent roster change that I am not too happy about due to a number of reasons that I won't go into here. The good thing is that it gives me different roads to ride on when commuting. Nothing like a bit of variety to break things up. One particular bit of terrain that I now get to cover is known as the Gorge. It is exactly as the name suggests. The road that takes you into the Gorge is simple. One side is a very wide bend, that could almost be thought of as a straight road. The other side involves a couple of reasonable bends, which wouldn't normally be an issue, but can be when hitting speeds of 60km/hr on the descent. I want to make it clear that the Gorge is far from the toughest of climbs, while quite steep on both sides it is relatively short. So what is it about the Gorge. For me it has provided a good bench mark for my cycling fitness. Back when I first started on the bike it took all my ef...

Focus, focus, focus. Full concentration on form, pulling back across the bottom of the pedal stroke, keep the cadence in the set range, stay aero, keep outside thoughts away. That's how we ride those long rides. No room for anything else if we want to get faster. How else can we brag about being so focused on our goal and during training? That's not exactly how my last long ride went. For the most part I would have to say I was thinking about anything that was not related to cycling. In fact, it was almost a surreal experience. I wasn't even one hour in when I realised I was singing Cold Chisel's "Bow River" out load. On the return home I noticed the prompt was that I had passed a property titled "Bow River". Rolling over the country roads, well out the suburbs. So far out of the 'burbs, that there were plenty of paddocks with cows, sheep or crops. So why were there so many items of clothing along the edge of the road. An inventory taken ove...

With going over my plan for Ironman training, I forgot to report on Sunday's race. A few days before hand Big Daz asked my to join him for a 10km race. Originally I hadn't planned on it, but hey, seems like a good way to kick off the next 18 weeks. So the usual happened. I got to the race venue very early and Daz arrived close to start time. After a light two-part warm up. This was 10 minutes of very easy running plus about 7 min of dynamic mobility exercises started 40 minutes before race start. Then a break. 15 minutes out I then ran steady, progressing towards race pace for 10 minutes. This had me feeling very race ready. Looking around I recognised some of the usual subjects. There were two guys I knew who were likely to be out in front. My challenge was to see how close I could stick with them. Then we were off. This is a race I always enjoy. Small numbers, very friendly competitors and organisers, and just plain well organised. The course starts and finishes on...

Now it's time for the real deal. Not just preparing my body to handle training. Not just for shorter races. Not just whatever I feel like. It is now time to do what it takes to go fast at Port Macquarie next April. Time to start Ironman training. Here's the plan. I have 18 weeks. These weeks will be broken up into three phases: IM I (8 weeks) IM II (6 weeks) Taper (4 weeks) IM I The main goal of IM I is pretty simple. Build up my endurance to cover the distance. Therefore the key sessions will be the long days. These will generally be performed at heart rate ranges of 60-80% HRmax. Initially most of the work will be at the lower end of the scale. The challenge is just to be out there covering those kilometres (with good form of course). The challenge is not in the intensity. During these 8 weeks the distances will progress as follows: Swim: 3000-5600m Bike: 120-180km Run: 3-3.5 hours SBR Combo 6-8 hours To help ensure appropriate recovery these key sessions will fit into 8-9 da...

Now that I'm recovered from Shepparton HIM, it is now time to begin real Ironman training. Over the last year my I have taken a slightly different approach to my triathlon training. I have learnt a few new things about how my body responds to training. Combining this with my previous history I have developed what I believe will be a very solid, productive and doable program. I believe I will be capable of achieving a significant personal best at Ironman Australia next April. My approach during the year has been to develop a strong base across many fitness elements. I aimed to work on developing a strong efficient body that is capable of completing the training and racing requirements of the Ironman. I believe I have achieved a good balance of aerobic endurance, threshold efficiency, maximal oxygen uptake, anaerobic capacity, general musculoskeletal strength and basic workload resilience. I now have the base to handle the training for Ironman. There is just over 18 weeks to the Iro...

After my disappointment at the Shepparton HIM a week away from my usual world was exactly what the doctor ordered. Kristy and I packed our gear and off we headed to the Gold Coast for some relaxation on the beach. Of course we stayed away from Surfer's Paradise as it was Schoolies week also. Each day consisted of roughly the same. No alarm to wake me, but since I wasn't working or training too hard, I was still waking up early, but the real difference was I was feeling refreshed and ready for the day. I would head out and run along the beach or in the National park. No heart rate monitor, no watch, no plan. I loved it. The rest of the day consisted of sleeping on the beach, drinking, eating, swimming, catching up with friends or relatives and whatever else we felt like doing. Today back home I headed for a long run. During this run I started thinking about the little difference I noticed when out running on the Gold Coast compared to home. The Gold Coast (GC) is predominantly ...

Just arrived back in Melbourne after a week of sun, surf, sand, drinking, eating, sleeping and basically anything relaxing or fun. The break was great and I'm now ready get back to reality.

I appreciate all the support from everyone. I'm now feeling better, in fact I'm actually feeling pretty good. My body obviously didn't take the pounding it normally would during the race, so looks like recovery may be a bit faster. Anyway I'm off north looking to find some relaxation on some beaches. I'll be back in week ready and hopefully ready for Ironman training.

If I wanted to sum this day up in one word it would have to be: - unexpected . I think it is best to start from the beginning. The Day Before After a cruisy morning we headed out for the 2 hour drive to Shepparton. Air-conditioner running, the trip soon passed. We arrived at registration early and got the necessities out of the way before the crowd arrived. I had been checking the weather forecast for the last three days and they all said race day was going to be a hot one at 36 degrees Celsius. Now that I was at the race venue, rumours were spreading saying the latest was an expected top of 39! Bike checked in, some food down the hatch, nothing left to do but get my nutritionals together and relax before dinner. The last supper involved a simple pasta at an overpriced restaurant. Soon enough I was back at the motel with my wife and sister-in-law ready to put the head down. Race Day 0430 After a broken sleep (as usual pre-race) my alarm sounded. It's amazing how much more energy I...

Here's a quick post of my nutrition plan for this weekend's HIM. I've had to rethink the hydration side of things. I have been expecting it be hot, but not like the weather forecast now suggests. Yep, it's going to be a bit tougher than expected at 36 degrees! So here's my plan: Wednesday 2.5 hours of swim/bike/run at just below race pace, with a few short efforts at just above race pace to deplete muscle glycogen stores. Consume a high carbohydrate (CHO), low fat, moderate protein diet for the rest of the day. Should give me about 500g CHO for the day. Thursday Rest day. CHO loading, 500-600g per day, 100g protein, 50g fat Friday & Saturday Easy and short sessions of all discplines just to loosen up. Keep CHO loading as above, but focus on low fibre foods. Sunday Pre-race : Bowl of corn-flakes, small amount of low-fat milk + sports drink Giving me 150-200g CHO to restock the hepatic glycogen. Race Time ! Swim : Kialla Lake water (I'll try to minimise how...

After a week of test sessions followed by a sprint distance triathlon, I should now be in a position to plan my race strategy for the Shepparton HIM next Sunday. For a review of the week's test sessions check out A Testing Week . What was the main thing I learnt during this? Unfortunately I am slower than I want to be in the swim and on the bike. As for the run I'm exactly where I'd like to be. Guess that's what happens when you take a year off swimming and cycling, then spend a few months playing catch up. I have the data, now it's time to get down to the nuts and bolts of the plan. Swim One and a half laps in Kialla Lake will give 1.9km. From my training I know I can hammer out a hard 2000m in the pool. I can also swim significantly faster over shorter distances with the pace feeling fairly easy until I suddenly tire. So I need to make sure I keep the first half manageable and not spend myself early resulting in survival swimming to the end. However, I have traine...

Yesterday was the first triathlon for my season. It was the Hahn Super Dry Sprint, down at Mordialloc. The race was billed at 500/20/5, but yet again the distances were questionable, with the run approaching a full kilometre short. Anyway, it was my first tri in over a year. Yes my last swim, bike and run event was my DNF back at the Port Macquarie IM in 2006. So the basic goal was just to have a good, fast hit out and remember how to actually race these things. The weather was perfect. Warm and sunny, a light wind and the bay was nice and still. I felt relaxed during the morning preparations. The little things of setting up transition, walking/running through the entries and exits, tire pressures, race briefing and even getting into the wetsuit all felt second nature. The Washing Machine I lined up behind the first row at the race start. I know my swimming is still well down on what it used to be. Then it was on. Down the sand and into the water. It was a very short wade, only two dol...

New racing flats. Unfortunately the glitter doesn't show up in the photo. The Brooks T4 Racer look fast, so therefore they must be fast.

Sunny, mid 20s, mild winds... perfect weather for training and BBQ's. Summer must be getting closer.

Thanks for the questions Hamburglar . The main goal of this week's training is to determine at what intensity I'll be racing at during Shepparton Half Ironman (HIM). Once I have the weeks data all together, I'll get stuck into the details. During the bike leg, yes I plan on watching the heart rate. In fact I will basically use heart rate along with monitoring how I feel as my guide for the middle leg. You asked why I don't plan on using a cadence meter. This is a personal thing and I appreciate that many other people find it very helpful to watch their cadence while racing. For me however, I find it has the tendency to slow me down. From experience I have found that by settling into a comfortable or natural cadence not only feels better during the ride, but seems to result in less heaviness on the run when compared to trying to sustain an arbitrary rpm. I don't have science behind me on this one. It simply feels better. Just keep in mind that I don't h...

The rain was falling as a steady downpour this morning. It wasn't too cold, but safety on the roads was a concern. This meant my morning ride was back on the turbo-trainer. Time to put a lot of effort into staying in the one spot. The main course was six VO2 intervals of three minutes, followed by 90 seconds of recovery. Entree was a 20 minute warm up. I am planning on racing using only a combination of heart rate and feel. No power meter, no cadence meter, no speedometer, just sticking to the basics of swimming, cycling and running. Because of this, today I ignored all data from my monitor except for the beeps that told me when to start and end the hard efforts. I am hoping this will help enhance the feel for how my body is handling the pacing. An important skill for race day. The result? Looks like I know my body quite well. The end heart rate of each interval started at 88% progressing to 92% of HRmax by the last repeat. Cadence average was 88rpm +/- 4rpm. All exact...

Here's my approach to heat acclimation in the lead up to the Shepparton HIM. There is a lot of science behind heat acclimatisation or acclimation, to read more on this check out The Science of Sport Blog. I started three weeks out from the HIM as it is generally accepted it takes about 14 days for the body to make the appropriate adjustments. Based on the long term weather outlook, it looks like I can't rely on Mother Nature to provide the best conditions. Instead I'll have to generate the conditions myself. While I don't have to perform every session in the heat, it is best if I include a moderately hard effort most days. The basic prescription is at an intensity greater than 70%VO2 for a minimum of 40min which will see an appropriate shift in blood volume and electrolyte management, but preferably at over 90-120min to see changes in substrate metabolism. To achieve this I will perform my runs with an extra layer, head gear and gloves. The bike will see me wearin...

I'm now on my second extra night shift in a week. As a result I've had to cut a few training sessions. Three weeks out from the half ironman is not the time to start burning the candle at both ends. With the reduction in volume, I've had to change the format of training. Instead of the continuing on with over distance work on the bike and run combined with threshold workouts, I've taken to moderate distance race pace efforts combined with some VO2max intervals. In short I am aiming to be efficient at race pace, while ensuring my body still gets some high end work that doesn't leave me too fatigued. The training days feel almost too easy. Hopefully this feeling transfers to race day.

I seem to have misplaced an hour. Which is never a good thing on the night before work. Less sleep always sucks, especially when you stay up forgetting that daylight savings is about to start. Yes that's right, it is now daylight savings. This means the clock were put forward an hour leading to more sunshine in the evening and less light around my usual waking time. To mark the official celebration of sunlight the temperature has also decided to rise. It was a warm one last night. Already 24 degrees when I woke up for an easy run. This had me thinking about the Shepparton Half Ironman coming up. Traditionally the race has been held in hot conditions, often over 30 degrees. The first year saw it reach about 37. While it is now a couple of weeks earlier, there is still potential for a hot day around the fruit orchards. This got me thinking about race performance in the heat. It is generally well accepted that racing in hot conditions leads to slower times, but what tempera...

It's been a bit longer than usual since my last post. It's not because I've been lazy, but the shifts at work are now consistently busier. Not only does there seem to be more people calling for an ambulance, but we're also being tied up at hospital for longer. So as a result I haven't been getting any extra down time. Add to that doing an extra 14 hour night shift thrown into the mix, work has really been my priority this week. Despite all that I have been training reasonably well, with only missing one planned swim. My main issue has been my mindset. My focus has shifted away from the Shepparton Half Ironman in three weeks to looking at the training required for the Australian Ironman next April. While it is good to plan ahead and keep in the back of the mind what I have to do, the problem is I can focus too far ahead. It is something I often do as a big race gets close. I lose focus on what I have do now and often find I'm trying to talk myself out of...

The Yan Yean duathlon was held on our hottest day so far this year. It was great, I just love racing in the heat. It was a sprint distance duathlon with distances advertised at 5/20/3. However I don't think these were too accurate. I'm sure I didn't run sub-3 minute kilometres on the second run. My head wasn't in its normal racing mindset. One reason was because I was planning on only using the event as a solid threshold training set. Therefore I was planning on holding back a bit during the race. The other reason is I only had 3 hours of sleep due to enjoying a friends engagement party the night before. From forcing myself out of bed until I was part way through my warm up, my mind was in a no-man's land. To help with keeping my pacing under control I lined up in the middle of the starting bunch. It was quite pleasant not being concerned about what the lead guys were doing. I felt almost relaxed over the first few hundred metres. Not exactly what I'm used to. ...

I'm really starting to get headaches if I'm without good coffee for too long. That's probably a cue to start rethinking my caffeine intake. With my first big race around the corner I'm probably going to have to cut down so I can actually get some performance benefits from my race day intake. I used to be a high responder to caffeine, but not lately. I've de veloped a tolerance which I think is progressing to a dependence. That said, I am writing this while drinking a long machiato.

What does it take to improve bike performance for an Ironman race? Thanks for the question Tea . Here's my attempt at explaining my current philosophy in regard to the cycling portion of the Ironman triathlon. My Background Having attempted a mixture of so-called old school and scientific training over the years on the bike I have found a simple approach works best for me. Initially I just went out riding with different people over different terrain, and before I had any of my studies under my belt, I aimed to replicate the demands of racing in training. Later, after I had a bit of research, a degree and other knowledge under my belt I decided to take a more directed, scientific approach to my cycling. I imposed cadence guidelines, very specific heart rate zones and interval times. With hindsight, I found I raced better following the old school approach, but to get the best out my training some direction is needed. Demands Of The Event Different courses require some different eleme...

Since I've called this month of training my Threshold Phase, I thought it might be a good idea to discuss the concept of a training threshold. First of all let me point out that when I am training in this phase, most of it done on feel. I am far from concerned about exact heart rates, lactate values or specific speeds. With that said, there is a little bit of theory behind the concept. What exactly is this threshold concept? The short answer is that it depends on who you ask. There are so many different definitions, slightly different names and different testing procedures to define the threshold. It is no wonder people get confused. The list of names include: anaerobic threshold; lactate threshold; onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA), aerobic threshold; ventilatory threshold; aerobic threshold1 and or 2; maximal lactate steady state (MLSS); threshold 4.0; lactate turn point and plenty of others. Basically I like to accept that there is an area of intensity at which the...

Yesterday morning I was in the pool for my harder swim set. It consisted of: 4x200m free @ 85% 4x100m free @ 90-95% 4x50m free @ 95% 6x25m fly 6x25m free sprint It was a good hard set that even though it hurt, it almost felt easy. By easy I mean it just felt like my body is getting used to this swimming thing again. On exiting the water, my lats and delts felt as if they were engorged with a new swimming ability. It's these days I look forward to, and I get fitter I always seem to have more of them.

The half marathon last Sunday signalled the end of my VO2 Phase. The last four weeks of training did not go quite as expected with 10 days out of the water and having to miss a couple of key workouts due to extra commitments. However, I still feel as though I achieve most of what I needed. The plan for my last phase can be read here. I highlighted three criteria that would help determine if my VO2 Phase was successful. There were: Reduced resting heart (due to increased cardiac output) Faster speeds at submaximal heart rates or lower heart rates at submaximal speeds A feeling of efficiency or ease in shorter aerobic sessions My actual results were as follows: Resting heart rate reduced from 52bpm down to 49bpm. Speed at submaximal hearts increased as measured in half marathon time performed at 85-88%HRmax average reduced from 1:29:39 down to 1:25:49. The average pace of my long runs has come down from 5:41 to 5:20 and still feel nice and comfortable. Cycling on the other hand has bee...

The go out fast, then run hard approach made for one of my harder half marathon efforts. Melbourne put on perfect conditions for a day of running. The starting line for the full marathon and half marathon was crowded with nearly 8000 people lined up to take through the city's streets and finish on the MCG. The morning was kind of social, well as social as you can be with waking up at 5:30am. My sister and next door neighbour were both competing in the half marathon, and in support was my wife and my sister's husband. I found myself a bit more talkative on race morning compared to usual. My warm up only consisted of an extended walk to find the baggage area and then to the finish line. The number of people already lined up meant my energy was directed towards trying to find a reasonable starting position. That is, as close to the front as possible and with no extra slow people to run around over the first few hundred metres. After a delayed start resulting in standing in ...

So far I've had a good solid week of training. While I won't be tapering for Sunday's Half Marathon, I also won't be doing anything overly taxing in the final three days. So after three moderate training days I'll put my running legs to the test to see what I'm currently capable of doing of 21.1km. Hopefully I'll run something under 1 hour 25min, but since I haven't been measuring times or distances accurately over my last month of training I guess I'm a bit up in the air on pacing. So my plan is to hopefully finish work on time Saturday night. It's a 9pm finish, and I wouldn't mind getting in a reasonable night's sleep. I'll head in with the neighbour and some family and as usual plan on getting in fairly early. Once the gun sounds I plan to head out fast. Just a bit faster than I think I should be running. Why? The first half of the race is mainly downhill. No big descents, just a slight average slope from the city down towards the ...

I love endurance events. I love competing in so-called ultra-endurance races. Part of the appeal definitely has to do with that it considered crazy or extreme by many people. However, it is far from the key reason for taking on the Ironman challenge. After all, if I was just after extreme and crazy experiences then I could choose some bizarre record attempt that may involve bees, lack of oxygen and mutilation of body parts. I have previously described Some Thoughts on the reasons I enjoy what I do. I have just read a very good article about what is considered possible or extreme. I found it really put a few things in perspective, while at the same time being very inspirational. What Is Possible Speaking of running a long way, it's now time to head out the door for my own long run. While it isn't up there with the 90miles between sunrise and sunset, 200miles in 24 hours or 30-50miles everyday for 300 days straight that others have achieved, at approximately 30km or so it is stil...

New Marathon World Record: Haile Gebrselassie. Nothing else needs to be said.

For those not from Australia and don't understand the significance of the MCG, here's a brief lead in. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG, the G) is the sports stadium in Melbourne. The traditional and natural home of Australian Rules Football, host of the AFL Grand Final, the One Day in September event. Venue to many, many other sporting events including hosting the athletics track and ceremonies for the Commonwealth games recently and of course the Boxing Day Cricket Test Match. I have very fond memories of watching Collingwood from the Southern Stand. The reason I mention this is because I am racing in the Melbourne Half Marathon next Sunday. The day also plays host to the full marathon and a 10km event as well. The big appeal of these events is that each race finishes on the MCG. This is a rare event for the general public. The so-called Run to the G doesn't even finish inside the stadium. So it is with child-like excitement I look forward to next Sunday and feeling the...

Recently I had a colleague who is very into cycling ask me how she can improve her running. In the past she has told me she couldn't imagine herself running, but obviously things change. While asking for some ideas on how she could improve the running side of things over the next few months she also mentioned that she would not be doing a triathlon. I am unconvinced. Based on my own experiences as an athlete and coach I have met many people making similar statements. Why on earth would you just throw in the line that there is no way you would do a triathlon? To me it suggests you have been thinking about it. Most of these people have ended upcompleting at least one triathlon. It takes me back to how I got started doing this multisport thing. I had spent a year taking my distance running quite seriously when I became injured. I can't remember exactly what the injury was, but it did involve a few weeks off my feet. My sister suggested I should head down to the local pool and try...