Wilson's Adventure Racing, Multisport & Triathlon Sanctuary

I had my last decent off-day today. I did bugger-all training today, and instead spent the day running errands. That entailed:

- scouring the streets for that elusive 24 Solo DVD
- paying for the air ticket
- returning movie DVDs to the Carnegie Blockbuster

In truth, i just needed some time off after a pretty busy Easter weekend. A brick (paddle intervals + trail run) on Friday; a 1.5 hour MTB singletrack session on Saturday; a 2 hour trail run on Sunday; an hour's swim + strength/stability work on Monday...!

That is not counting a roller session on Thursday and the swim on Wednesday (both were nothing crazy lah).

Nah, don't think it was much... maybe i'm getting soft. Many mates of mine are on programs now that look positively homicidal in comparison. This is all still playing around. I guess i just want to ease back into the training properly. Too much, too fast will screw me up big time! Case in point: i still feel the 'dead quads' from Sunday's jaunt up and around Mount Dandenong.

So back to the highlights of THE BIG OFF-DAY... the last one i'll be having in awhile, i bet.

Food: Always a good topic to kick off with. Leftover cereal and milk for breakfast... that felt shite, so went to the cafe and gobbled an omelette to top off. Then pasta for lunch (oversized ravioli); tea time - a whole falafel roll; and bit the bullet for late dinner - a large pizza (mexicana and vegetarian) to be exact - which was enjoyed over a new set of DVDs.

Exercise consisted of riding the good ol' singlespeed through town (after a Caulfield-CBD train ride), checking out bike shops, then stopping for that falafel roll. The first bike shop i came to, Altitude, had the shit (that 24 Solo DVD) i was looking for. The shop assistants there were very helpful and a couple of them were avid mountain bike riders. They pointed out that the shop only started selling MTB stuff six weeks ago. I chatted a fair bit with them before going on my merry way.

DVDs? After returning Knocked Up, Fearless (re-watched) and Annapolis, i borrowed Daywatch, Apocalypto and Eastern Promises for tonight and tomorrow. Such is life (at least during Easter uni' break).

Tomorrow? Get a paddle back in... i can feel the calluses on my hands thinning already! And definitely a run, or two - haven't done double runs in a day for awhile now.

Headed out to the tri X off-raod triathlon this past Sunday. No i didn't race, but interviewed a few folks and got enough material to write and article/assignment for my Sports Writing unit at school. The article was also flogged off to the race director to see if it could make the rounds in the local sports magazines. As they say: Two birds with one stone.

Anyway, i met Liz and it was great catching up with her before and after the race. She finished as runner-up female behind Deanna (mother, multisport maven and all-round cyborg) and thoroughly enjoyed her day. Oh, she had but this to say about my SS Avanti (actually, rather than the bike itself, i think she was referring to the red fuzzy dice hanging from the stem): "You're a sad, sad man!" Jarad Kohlar secured the top male spot... guy's doing XTERRA too just before Keen!

So far this week, two paddles, two swims, a roller session and a technique run. Also, 1x acupuncture session. There'll be a paddle-run brick tomorrow, and an epic ride (i hope!) to Wombat State Forest on Saturday. Looking forward to it.

I’m really enjoying the off season now. It’s satisfying to have no structure to training, to make up ad hoc sessions, go at an easy pace, or just have a total rest day. Heck, when Simon offered to write up a training block leading up to next month’s Keen Adventure Race. I flatly refused. It’s not that I don’t trust him to ease me back into “the game”… I need a mental rest, if not a physical one, from his Jarasport training programs. Langkawi was a peak for me, but now it is time to savour the trough that follows.

Instead, it’s that time of the year where major adjustments to technique and biomechanics can be made. Of these, one chief concern of mine is to SERIOUSLY consider a time trial (TT) bike for the big trip to Hawaii. I can almost hear someone in the background going: “At long last!” Well, Simon, I think I ought to tell you also that up till now, I still don’t own a heart rate monitor.

Of course, there is still the hard work ahead: getting the body used to the bike is just one aspect; and good, old fashioned effort in training. As Simon points out, any TT bike frame just provides the angles – the rest is up to the engine (aka the rider). I have to admit I’ve had my share of satisfaction time trailing on a roadie with clip-on bars – it’s that “one bike does it all” sense of achievement. Yup, it has been a lot of fun riding those many kilometers on the ol’ Argon18… and hopefully many more kilometers are yet to come.

And so we come to THE TT BIKE FRAME. Choonwei from The Bike Boutique has been extolling the virtues of the Cervelo P2C ever since I caught up with him, post-Langkawi. I’m really looking forward to having my first go at “the TT experience” that I see many other triathletes enjoying. It was indeed a question of wants versus needs, but when the coach says it’s time to get a TT frame, I know for sure that there will be work cut out for us to get me up to speed and shape the potential of my new riding position.

Convinced that TT is the way to go? I just hope my running legs will be convinced - maybe even thank me for the decision - when I start the final 42 kilometres of the next Ironman I do!

Post-script: I did some research and found out that current Ironman World Champion Champion Chrissie Wellington rode to victory on a roadie-spec’ed Cervelo Soloist SLC (with clip-on aerobars) in 2007’s IM Korea, securing her pro slot to Hawaii in the process. Of course, come the big day in October, she hit the Queen ‘K on a P2C (her first TT bike), and the rest is history!

Having completed Ironman Malaysia last month, I had thought the remainder 2008 could be dedicated to adventure racing, the sport which I really love. I had put in the triathlon-specific training, but I had put aside almost all AR-related activity for the purpose of giving a good account of myself in Langkawi. Sure, I was fit, but I was longing to return to the dirt from whence I came.

But of course, life can throw you a curveball. And throw it did.

After battling to a third-place finish (with second and first place way, way ahead of me) in the 18-24 age group, I found myself sitting in a conference room the next day where the Hawaii qualification slot roll-downs and presentations were being conducted. The professional athlete slots were called, followed by the youngest age groups. First-placed 18-24 male Yu Shinozaki was present, but declined his Hawaii slot - of which there were only two allotted to our age group. I could scarcely believe my ears, even as runner-up Tim Hancock accepted his slot. Next thing I know I’m rushing to the neighbouring room where the cashier is located, a Hawaii race entry invoice in hand, and a stupid grin on my face. I subsequently find myself apologizing profusely to Dad for a US$500 violation of his credit card account.

Like I told several friends later, it was an American Idol moment. You’ve seen how it goes on television: Paula, Randy and Simon give their approval, some no-name singer repeatedly utters “thank you”, and then promptly goes bananas upon leaving the audition room. It was something similar as I excitedly hobbled down the hotel staircase to tell my Dad and friends that I had got a roll-down slot.

Objectively, I had a poorer finish time in Malaysia compared to my first try at the Ironman distance, more than a year back in Western Australia. Aside from a less-than-ideal race lead-up and being too over-confident on the bike section, groveling for most of the run amidst Langkawi’s heat and humidity was not a pretty sight. In summary, Langkawi humbled me - but I needed that lesson in humility. Clearly, my running is just one of many things I have to improve on if I am to take another shot at Ironman.

On the road now to triathlon’s equivalent of Hollywood, I cannot deny the fact that there was luck involved. Yu, I owe you one, especially after being so thoroughly owned by you at Langkawi. You have – to use the Singlish Hokkien vernacular - the “seh” to qualify for Hawaii, any time and any place.

Now I have the opportunity to make these improvements, to do a ‘personal best’, and to set the record straight with myself. And I am truly grateful for the opportunity to do it at the holiest of holies, the World Championship in Hawaii.

As age group athletes, we are the common people, the proletariats, but also, undeniably, the grassroots and foundation of the sport we love and do. There are common insights shared by us mere mortals. It’s the understanding that despite our best efforts, there will always be someone faster out there. It’s the acceptance that once the race is over it’s back to our regular, ordinary lives. But it’s also the knowledge that we have the permission to dream big.

I never thought I would actually get to go to Hawaii and race the Ironman – it is more just one of those dreams that you have.

But of course, anything is possible.

Labels: Adventure racing, Ironman, multisport, triathlon