Travel, Training & Tanita
It’s now week 10 of our round the world journey so i thought i would give a quick update on how things are going and more importantly share some exciting news. As Lisa has been keeping a fantastic travel blog (www.oneillsabroad.wordpress.com) i won’t elaborate too much on that. Except for the fact that we have just finished our time in the United States and Canada and are now on our way to Paris to catch the end of the Tour de France. That’s not the exciting news though. Ever since i left Perth back in May i have been trying to decide whether i would race Anaconda Augusta on my return and more importantly would i be able to maintain any form of fitness while i’m away?
Eating our way around America
To say that i haven’t been maintaining my fitness levels would be an understatement as i jumped on the scales for the first time a few days ago and weighed in a whopping 6kgs heavier than when i left! With no regular exercise and eating american food it was never going to be easy but still i am a little shocked. I have another 10 weeks of travelling ahead of me and plenty of French pastries so things aren’t looking much better. I then have 4 weeks from the date i fly home till race day down in Augusta and not even Lance Armstrong could launch a comeback in that time. Despite all this i have decided to inflict the most cruel form of punishment on myself by entering Anaconda anyway. I won’t be racing for line honours this year but instead i will use it as a way to regain fitness and hopefully prepare me for races later in the year such as Lorne.
To help me do this Tanita (Scales & body composition monitors) have kindly jumped on board and will be monitoring my weight, muscle & fat levels as i try to return to fitness. I used these last year and found them to be a great tool in knowing when i was in peak physical condition. This time i will be using them to hopefully reduce my skinfolds (fat). When i return home i will give regular updates on my progress and hopefully i will be fit enough to finish the race come November 7.
Regards,
Sean O’Neill
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Sate OD Champs – Race Report
What a race. The build up to this years state Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships was big and the field was a cracker. Felicity received a great write up in Saturday’s West Australian of all places (that is huge for triathlon) and Kenji and I were briefly mentioned at the end of the article. The pressure was now on and the amount of people who told me that I have to watch out for the flying Kenji I was really starting to worry. This kid is quick but going into the race I believed there were a number of others that could all snatch the win if I wasn’t careful, so to say I was nervous would be an understatement.
Scott Neyedli from the German professional racing team Commerzbank has been in Perth for the last few months and decided to come and race today. Scott has been doing a bit of swimming down at our Stadium swim sessions and giving us all a bit of a touch up. He finished 2nd at Ironman Busselton in the Pro field with a smoking run time and coming from Ironman his bike isn’t too shabby either. Paul Mackay is always one to watch out for with a strong swim and run combination and Lajos Varga who has been Mr consistent all season is never far behind. James Lewin, another up and coming junior has been over on the Gold Coast for the last month training the house down and Brynt McSwain, master of the bike can always shake up a race.
So my prediction going into today’s race was that there was going to be 4-5 guys all getting off the bike together and it would come down to the fastest runner on the day and the one to watch was the flying Kenji after his smoking run in Rockingham. Kenji has been racing for a few years now but being knee high to a grasshopper and weighing in less than a shitzu puppy he lacked the strength on the bike. His swim and run legs have always been fantastic and after growing a foot in the last year and filling out somewhat he has now found that strength on the bike. I had one thing up my sleeve though being crowd support from my amazing wife Lisa who always gives the biggest cheer along with my folks who were in Perth for the weekend, Lisa’s parents Linda and Paul, my running coach JK and the whole Stadium tent. It always gives you a huge lift during a race and today I was going to need it.
The swim started without incident and I found myself in good company swimming alongside Scott Neyedli who I knew was a strong swimmer. I was surprised to see at least a handful of guys ahead after just 500m or so but I just couldn’t latch on to their feet. I turned at the 1km mark and got an even bigger shock when Felicity Sheedy-Ryan swam up alongside, my first reaction was I couldn’t get chicked so I put in a surge and made sure I came out just in front. I exited the water nearly a minute down on James Lewin and Kenji but I was in good company and worked on reeling in the leaders on the bike. The first lap I rode solo and managed to catch Lewin but Kenji was riding very well out in front and didn’t want anyone to catch him. After a sluggish transition Scott Neyedli bridged the gap making it 3 of us now chasing down Kenji. Paul Mackay had just dropped off the pace and Troy Main was also loosing touch after a good swim.
It took us 30km’s to reel in Kenji and when we did the pace finally eased somewhat to my relief. I could now relax a bit before hitting the run where the real battle would begin. It almost ended in disaster as we approached transition with Scott Neyedli approaching the dismount line first and James Lewin coming flying in from behind at break-neck speed. I sat back a few metres and watched the two collide in a tangled mess of bikes. Thankfully for me I avoided the carnage which gave me a clear run through transition and a slight lead going out onto the final run leg. I quickly found a rhythm and thought I was running quite well until Kenji went flying past as if I was standing still. In the space of 2km’s I had lost over 100 metres and was starting to get a bit nervous. I thought it was just a surge and he would settle down into a more realistic pace after a kilometre or so but this kid wasn’t slowing and I had to do something. At the 5km mark the gap stopped growing and I could finally start making some ground back. I picked up the tempo slightly and with the help of the crowd I started to reel him in inch by inch until I was just 10m back. That final gap seemed almost impossible to bridge but I knew If I was to beat Kenji I had to go past him fast and not let him latch on.
I put in a surge at the 7km mark but he wasn’t giving up that easy and he hung on with everything he had left. I tried desperately to change the pace over the final kilometres but nothing seemed to work and as we hit the final turnaround he came up alongside to show he was still in this race. With a tailwind down the final straight we both started to pick up the pace until we were almost sprinting side by side. I knew we still had almost 1km left to run and there was no way I could keep this pace up for that long. The sprint lasted for almost 500m until Kenji finally faded giving me a huge burst of energy and one final surge, breaking free and allowing me to enjoy the finish straight with some high fives.
It would have to be one of the most exciting races I have been involved in and full credit to Kenji who led for the majority of it with a great swim, strong bike and a very fast run. I can only hope there are many more battles like that one in coming races. To say I am pleased with the result would be an understatement as I went into this season with mixed expectations and have now finished up with both the sprint and Olympic distance state titles. It will be a shame not to contest the Busselton Half Ironman and go for the state long course title as well but I’m still looking forward to the remainder of the season and some big races in the next few weeks.
Thanks to all those that came down and cheered today as it really helped to get me across that line. Trievents did a great job once again putting on a fantastic race and their efforts to raise the profile of the sport should be applauded after getting news coverage on 2 commercial TV stations as well as articles in the West Australian and various other papers. Thanks also to my sponsors SRG, Canton Lounge Bar, Glen Parker Cycles and Transition Wear/Zoot.
This weekend I am heading down to Karri Valley for our annual club race and next week will be another hit out up at the Hillary’s sprint race. Hope to see you all there.
Seano.
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Starting again
Well first official week of training done! Let’s start back at Friday 8th Jan with the aquathon!
Friday morning was a sleep in with the aquathon that night. I was absolutely petrified and considering pulling out after all of the shark sightings that week. My friend helpfully said “You’ll be fine, just don’t swim at dawn or dusk.” Lovely, the aquathon started at 6.15, just in time for dinner. After a pep talk from Sue (she said “i don’t know anyone who has been bitten by a shark, but plenty of people fall off their bikes so that’s why i don’t worry about swimming in the ocean” it helped ease my mind in the ocean but dang i was twitchy on my bike the next morning!). So I did it, i conquered my fear and it felt glorious (well apart from the running!). I had a huge smile once i’d completed my second swim “I’m alive!!” it was a buzz. I also came 2nd which was cool. My running was hideous but i knew the lack of training and general talent in the area, it was inevitable.
Saturday morning up early for a ride with Sue, Chris and Dave at Narrows. Got there late but hung on all the way to Point Walter before they sped off into the distance. Fortunately my bud Chris got dropped the same time so we rode together back to Atomic for a most deeeelicious coffee. Coffee at Atomic makes Saturday morning rides so worthwhile! Stretch session at 12.30 with Mum and Sean for body balance class, which was super. I’m getting so flexible with my yoga course! Sean was impressed 
Sunday was a day off after i partied a little harder/later than expected at my friend Bel’s bday bash at the Ellington Jazz Club the night before. I slept in and had a massage at Asian Jeff’s which was the usual fine line between pleasure and pain.
Monday night swim squad was tough, i got in 3.5km with a 20 x 100 set. The first lot was paddles on 1.30 cycle which was fine coming in under 1.25, but the second was 1.40 cycle but holding a faster time. I managed to hold under 1.20 the whole way which was fantastic and above expectation! Yay!
Tuesday morning Rode into Riders Choice to meet Nadia and Sue before heading out to City Beach for Reabold repeats. Urgh, it was slow city I was kind of embarrassed as Sue and Nadia seemed to jet up the hill! I kept repeating to myself “every session it’ll get easier” because time on the bike is the only thing that gets you fitter. Can’t wait to reclaim some speed and fitness on the bike and race up the hills again!! 46km with hills, good session. Somebody caffeinate me quick!
Tuesday arvo joined the STC long run for 45 minutes along Matilda Bay which was pretty hot, but gorgeous route. I had my Kimmy back in town to run with which was terrific and we had a lovely goss session in between pants. Approx 8km?
Wednesday morning exhaustion set in and both Sean and I piked on swimming, with him vowing to go tonight. I had yoga course so no making up, but nevermind. If there’s one thing i can afford to miss occasionally, it’s swimming.
Thursday morning I got ANGRY. My group from Narrows has gotten a lot bigger lately and some of the guys are clueless. They’ll do anything to avoid getting dropped including pushing in and going through red lights, both of which happened today. Katherine and I were at the back and decided staying with the group wasn’t worth getting hit by the cars already heading across from the other direction! So we waited and got dropped in the first 20 minutes of the ride. Number one pet hate, groups rolling through orange light at the start which is very red by the middle and the poor stragglers either risk lives or get dropped. I chose to get dropped and worked hard by self to get back on but gods were against me and got 90% red lights for rest of the ride. At least i got a work out but goodness, i was one mad lady by the end of that ride! 55km at 30kph by time i got home.
Thursday arvo Sue picked me up and we went to Robyn Scott’s interval session which was relocated to Bold Park to get some shade from the heat. I tried hard and tucked a little more fitness into my pocket, but suffering was still jogging beside me every step! Helped having Sue chat, she stayed with me most of the way and as she’s a better runner she did most of the talking, i did most of the listening, nodding and panting. Approx 50 minute run, maybe 8 or 9km?
Friday morning yayyyy best session of the week with Chi Chi coffee n muffin on the cards! Peter made us work for it though, phew hardest session in a while! It was a 5 x 600s set all different stuff. 6 x 100s on 130 to start (held around 1.20-1.22), 3 x 200 on 3.00, 2 x 300 on 4.30, 600 pull buoy and 600 free. I fell apart of the final 300 and didn’t really recover but plugged away to around 3.5km again. And yes, the coffee was awesome. And I met Anna’s dog Maya, too cute.
Saturday slept in… went for dinner last night, baked a cake and set alarm for 6.59 instead of 6.00 dammit!! Enjoyed the sleep though, i can’t deny. Down south for my mum’s bday which was very fun. I even drank a beer which never happens, i hate beer! But it was mango beer and very refreshing. Yum. Give it a go, Matso’s Mango Beer.
Sunday morning up and at ‘em for a 1 hour run, which was a little gruelling. Luckily being down south with gorgeous scenery helped a lot! Felt very proud of self to get through the time and 40 minutes felt good, last 20 minutes was tough. Good songs on the iPod also helped!
Monday morning Swim session 3.2km should have been more but i piked at 2km of the 3km time trial! Thought i could manage it but couldn’t bear the last 1km. Had Steve, Stu and Symo on the stop watches which was awesome (thanks guys!) and went through 500m at 7.02, 1km at 14.12, 1500m at 21.30 and 2km at 29.11. Progressively slower which was a bummer as I felt like i went out steady. I was happy with my 1km though because i’m pretty sure i could go a sub 14 mins at the moment which is a great start to the season. After pulling out a 13.30 before worlds, i really want to go 13.20 this season… you heard it here first!
Apologies my slack husband hasn’t hollered for a while, i keep telling him to but he reckons y’all will find him boring at the mo! He is still as ridiculously good looking, training hard and trying to get my mum to love him more than she loves me (it’ll never happen Prawn!!). Get on his back and comment if you want to hear what Sean’s up to!!!
Happy training y’all! I got my half entry in by the way, no way i was missing out! Hope everyone who wanted a guernsey got one.
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Anaconda Lorne Race Report
Just a quick update on yesterdays Anaconda Adventure Race as we are currently touring the Great Ocean Road and stopped at Appollo Bay while a brief shower passes. Well, after almost 4hrs of racing yesterday it came down to a nail biting finish where i crossed the line in 2nd place, 30sec behind the winner Grant Suckling. I have to admit that i’m a bit disappointed in yesterdays result after being in such a commanding position (3min ahead) before the final mountain bike stage. But Grant did execute a perfect race and he deserved the win in his home town in front in front of friends and family.
Luke Bell came down to race and led the individuals out of the water with a slender gap of just under a minute. I came out in 3rd and began the paddle with a 3.5min lead over Grant who i knew would be chasing me down. I felt as though i was paddling ok and managed to hold my position until the 5km mark where Grant and another individual Glenn Kirby went flying past. I did as much as i could to limit the damage but by the end of the paddle the gap was now out to 3mins.
Hitting the run i finally found my legs and started to make up some ground, catching Glenn Kirby after approx 2km’s. I was hoping to see Grant sooner and began to worry when i hadn’t caught him after 5kms. Finally, going up a steep climb, i caught and passed Grant to take the lead. I was feeling good on the run and worked hard over the final kms to establish a decent lead. By the end of the run my advantage was 3mins but i needed all of that on such a technical bike course. The hills worked to my favour for the first 12kms but i was feeling a bit average and just couldn’t get any power from the legs. Not knowing where others were in the race was hard and i just had to keep plugging away. The second half of the mountain bike was all descending and i lost a fair bit of time being cautious but it was the final descent that was my real undoing. I went over the handlebars at the very start then tripped over again while trying to run down with bike on shoulder. Grant passed me about half way down and amazingly stayed on his bike the whole way. I stacked it another 3 times before i reached the bottom and was a good 1min behind Grant when we hit the beach. I chased hard and left both Mtb shoes and helmet on for the final beach run not wanting to waste any time in transition. Unfortunately the gap was too much and Grant crossed the line comfortably with a 30sec lead.
It was an awesome race and an even better course. I’m looking forward to tackling the next race over in New Zealand and hopefully resetting the scoreboard in my favour.
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6 Weeks to Go
Monday 07/9
Another late Sunday night and another Monday morning sleep-in. With the option of swimming on Monday night it doesn’t make getting out of bed on Monday morning any easier. The weather was absolutely miserable today and Lisa phoned me about 3 times trying to get out of swimming tonight as well. I tried to convince her to come but her ultimate excuse was “i don’t like swimming when it is raining” and on that note she went home and cooked dinner for us both. I was glad i went along and ended up swimming much faster than i have been in the mornings. Having Mark Lawson and Paul McKay there to push me along certainly helped and we managed to hold 1:15 pace for the majority of the main set. Mark did his usual sprint finish for the final 50m but it didn’t make up for all the time he lost over the remainder of the set.
Tuesday 08/9
I jumped on the bike this morning feeling quite good and managed to do an 90km river ride before heading in to work. It seemed to be quite a big group today but i stayed up the front as much as possible trying to get a better workout. Snuck into work a bit late but thankfully no-one noticed and i spent the rest of the day dreading the afternoon intervals ahead.
I arrived at the track to meet Glenn who had already run 8kms from home along with Mark, Kim and Lisa who were all doing a similar session. Todays workout was 2×1600m, 4×1200m & 2×400m. It is one of the longer sessions we will be doing but the emphasis is still on quality so it was going to hurt. I felt OK for the first 2×1600m’s holding 4:58 and 4:55 but that was as good as it got. I faded throughout the 1200’s and was well off my previous times when it came to the 400’s. Very sore and tired after tonight and not looking forward to the 3km time trial in the pool tomorrow.
Wednesday 09/9
After arriving at the pool early Peter announced that the time trial wouldn’t be on today and had been re-scheduled for next week. Although i was dreading it, i was kind of looking forward to getting it done and posting a time so i was dissapointed to hear the news. Lisa, Anna and I decided that we would do it anyway and 2 others from the squad joined us. I led the lane but was nervous i would be holding up Anna who was hot on my heels. Sure enough, after 300m Anna had caught me but quickly jumped into the next lane and we swam side by side for the next kilometre. Lisa was absolutely flying and after 1500m i couldn’t shake her from my toes. Little did i know that we had gone through the first kilometre in 14:05, a long way outside of my target pace. I decided to slowly pick up the pace and after 2kms i was on my own without Anna to pace me or Lisa to push me. I felt surprisingly good over the last kilometre and was able to build on my pace the whole way without fading which is a good sign, finishing in a time of 41:28. I still think i may have gone out too easy but it was a much better feeling than fading towards the end. So i was relatively happy with the result and hope to break 41mins if we have another time trial before Worlds.
Wednesday night was a solo river ride on the way home with the intention to do a 30min run off the bike. After arriving home it was evident Lisa didn’t want me goiing anywhere and being 7pm and dark already i was quite happy to stay indoors.
Thursday 10/9
A slight bit of moisture in the air today and gusty winds were enough for Lisa to convince me to go to spin class instead of riding on the road. I have to admit it was a very soft option as Glenn and Bulldog still managed to ride and reminded me all about it throughout the day. The 40min spin class just doesn’t cut it regardless of how much you sweat so in future i will be riding rain, hail or shine.
Thursday night Lisa had booked us in for a dinner with Friends in Wembley at 7pm so i couldn’t do my usual run from Perry Lakes. I set the Garmin with a pre-recorded session of 6×3min efforts with 1min rest and proceeded to do my session around the Bridges after work. It was good to see where we will be running for the Worlds course but lets hope we don’t have gale force winds to contend with. Heading east along the south side of the river was great but the minute i turned into the wind if felt as though someone had applied the handbrake. My pace went from 3:15/km to 3:45 but it was good to get the session done.
Friday 11/9
This mornings swim session wasn’t overly difficult but my body was in taper mode due to the Sorrento Challenge tomorrow. I decided to swim second in the lane all morning getting a draft but even if i din’t have a race i would have stuggled today. My arms were still tired from the 3km time trial and the legs knackered from this weeks running. At least with Friday i only have the morning swim session then have the rest of the day off so i should be feeling better by tomorrow.
We had my brother Eugene and sister Bridie along with their partners around for dinner tonight and caught up on all the news. It was possibly the last time they would see our place before we move in a few weeks but we still have one last dinner party planned for tomorrow night.
Saturday 12/9 – Sorrento Challenge
Well, today was the day for the Sorrento Challenge but as i drove to the race along the coast i was dreading the thought of heading out in the conditions. With a 5m swell and 25knot westerly winds it was a day for the surf club athletes, i just hoped i could stay in my ski for the paddle leg. I did this event 2 years ago and come out about 12 times so hopefully i could do better this time. The gun went and i quickly settled in to about 10th position before i swam way off course and was told to head back to shore by a jet ski. I don’t think i went too far off course but trying to tell the difference between a white bouy and the whitecaps out there was impossible. I exited the swim still in about 10th spot before hitting the dreaded paddle leg. Thankfully i made it out through the surf OK and proceeded along the coast battling the wind and chop before the gun paddlers started flying past. I felt as though i was going backwards until Candice Falzon came by and i managed to stick with her for the remainder of the paddle. It was good to have some company and thankfully this year i didn’t fall out of the boat once but i was glad to hit dry land. After putting on the shoes i proceeded to try and make some ground back on the run but at this point i was 10mins behind the leaders and had no chance of catching them. I felt OK on the run and managed to catch a few guys working my way into 6th position which i was relatively happy with considering the conditions. I will need a bit more work on the paddle leg if i want a good result in Anaconda this year but the priority at the moment is worlds and paddling doesn’t quite fit into the training regime just yet.
Heading out through the surf
Saturday night was our last dinner party at our place and we got to have the Zani’s little baby Summer come around. Lisa cooked one of my favourite dishes being fish, wrapped in proscuitto and covered in garlic and caper butter, mmmmm!
Sunday 13/9
After missing the long ride yesterday i decided to head out in the hills with the Stadium group on my mountain bike. I figured it would give me some resistance training and get me use to the MTB setup before Gold Coast Anaconda next weekend. It certainly worked as i had to really push myself on the flats and uphills to remain with the group and by the time i returned home it was as if i had just done a 90km time trial. My legs havn’t felt that fatigued coming off the bike in a long time and it was a good test to see how i could run afterwards. I hobbled out the door and proceeded to run 10kms trying to negative split on the way home. I managed to hold 3:47/km pace on the way out and 3:45/km pace coming home but i was physically spent by the end and had nothing left so i will have to keep working on the distance over the coming weeks. The race is 20km’s and i will be just as fatigued coming off the bike so my aim will be to run 3:45/km for the entire run, something i haven’t been able to do very well in the past.
Thankfully we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon off and caught up with Dave and Sue for dinner and a movie night at their place. It is always good catching up with Sue and Dave as Dave has a similar Ice-Cream addiction to me.
Next week will be a slight taper week as i get ready for Gold Coast Anaconda and hopefully this year i can come home with the goods! Fingers crossed and i will report back on all the action next Monday.
Seano
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