Monday, January 10, 2005
Day 1
Oh......dear. Today started off okay but got a little tough towards the end. We started at 5:45am with a 13km run (1 point) around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour stopping for a few photo opportunities before doing 4km in the pool. Of course I was in the slow lane but I was pretty happy. We did:
500m warm up
5 x 100 descending
10x50m (building going up, long strokes coming back)
2000 (27:00 for the 1500 and 36:21 for 2k - I caught the guys in front of me at the 1400 mark).
2x100m (50 backstroke, 50 breast stroke)
300 cool down
4k in total - 1 point
Then the ride. We had to negotiate busy city streets wih many traffic lights to get out of town. We crossed the Harbour Bridge and went up the Pacific Highway then on to the M2. After the frustration of the city streets the boys opened it up a bit on the motor way but one guy near me, Jeff, had a puncture. A few stopped and I was deciding whether I should also but one of the other guys who stopped was Bjorn so I though I didn't want to be part of that train coming back to the main group.
We then bridged to the M4 and then out to Penrith via a few back streets. We had lunch in a nice park after 98km and I was feeling pretty good. The lunch was an amazing spread of all types of food and drink. Our ride guide for the day was the General Manager of the Holiday Inn at Penrith Panthers (and Ironman athlete), Marcus Tait and he took us for anothe 65km loop to Windsor and back. It was on some quite country roads on this loop where it got tough. I was sucking wheels like there was no tomorrow but my intensity was a bit higher than I really wanted it to be. I had no choice but to hold on however because I had no idea how to get home. With about 10km to go a few of us fell off the back. I passed a few and thought about bridging up to the main group but realised that it would take too much out of me given the riding coming up in the next few days so I switched off and rolled into town with a couple of other guys, Mark and Kevin.
The ride was 161km all up (3 points) at 30 km/h which meant a 1 point SBR bonus for the day for a total of 6. The yellow jersey for tomorrow goes to my room mate and only other Aussie, Peter, mainly because he was the only one who stuck it out with Gordo in the pool for 6.5km - the longest swim of his life! He's confident it hasn't taken too much out of him...
So, I must say that I was surprised how fast the group was going on that 65km loop. It wasn't everyone however because several had dropped off earlier when they caught a red light getting out of Penrith. I only got back on because Peter O'Brien, the head of our support crew who had come for a ride, came back and got me. I was sitting on his wheel in aero with an HR of 141 for about 15 minutes. Pretty intense for me on such a ride. So the support crew feed you and come and help you bridge back up to the main group. Not bad. I later found out that Peter is racing IMNZ in my age group so we will be competing for one of the six Hawaii slots.
Tomorrow is 180+ to Goulburn and I understand it is a bit hilly. At least four of us will miss the swim (or do a shorter swim) and leave an hour before the main group. The faster riders are going to beat the slower guys by 1-1.5 hours so it seems smart to get away. My priority is the riding and it's going to be 33 degrees.
Swim: 4km, 1:20
Ride: 161, 5:22
Run: 13.5km 1:05
Cheers
Vernon
500m warm up
5 x 100 descending
10x50m (building going up, long strokes coming back)
2000 (27:00 for the 1500 and 36:21 for 2k - I caught the guys in front of me at the 1400 mark).
2x100m (50 backstroke, 50 breast stroke)
300 cool down
4k in total - 1 point
Then the ride. We had to negotiate busy city streets wih many traffic lights to get out of town. We crossed the Harbour Bridge and went up the Pacific Highway then on to the M2. After the frustration of the city streets the boys opened it up a bit on the motor way but one guy near me, Jeff, had a puncture. A few stopped and I was deciding whether I should also but one of the other guys who stopped was Bjorn so I though I didn't want to be part of that train coming back to the main group.
We then bridged to the M4 and then out to Penrith via a few back streets. We had lunch in a nice park after 98km and I was feeling pretty good. The lunch was an amazing spread of all types of food and drink. Our ride guide for the day was the General Manager of the Holiday Inn at Penrith Panthers (and Ironman athlete), Marcus Tait and he took us for anothe 65km loop to Windsor and back. It was on some quite country roads on this loop where it got tough. I was sucking wheels like there was no tomorrow but my intensity was a bit higher than I really wanted it to be. I had no choice but to hold on however because I had no idea how to get home. With about 10km to go a few of us fell off the back. I passed a few and thought about bridging up to the main group but realised that it would take too much out of me given the riding coming up in the next few days so I switched off and rolled into town with a couple of other guys, Mark and Kevin.
The ride was 161km all up (3 points) at 30 km/h which meant a 1 point SBR bonus for the day for a total of 6. The yellow jersey for tomorrow goes to my room mate and only other Aussie, Peter, mainly because he was the only one who stuck it out with Gordo in the pool for 6.5km - the longest swim of his life! He's confident it hasn't taken too much out of him...
So, I must say that I was surprised how fast the group was going on that 65km loop. It wasn't everyone however because several had dropped off earlier when they caught a red light getting out of Penrith. I only got back on because Peter O'Brien, the head of our support crew who had come for a ride, came back and got me. I was sitting on his wheel in aero with an HR of 141 for about 15 minutes. Pretty intense for me on such a ride. So the support crew feed you and come and help you bridge back up to the main group. Not bad. I later found out that Peter is racing IMNZ in my age group so we will be competing for one of the six Hawaii slots.
Tomorrow is 180+ to Goulburn and I understand it is a bit hilly. At least four of us will miss the swim (or do a shorter swim) and leave an hour before the main group. The faster riders are going to beat the slower guys by 1-1.5 hours so it seems smart to get away. My priority is the riding and it's going to be 33 degrees.
Swim: 4km, 1:20
Ride: 161, 5:22
Run: 13.5km 1:05
Cheers
Vernon
# posted by Vernon @ 2:06 AM 
