Hi Team
Welcome to Blog # 4 as we travel the journey with Qwik Kiwi’s Coach Ray to prepare me for the biggest challenge of my life to date the 3+2+1= Charity.
To refresh your memory, as even I struggle to comprehend it sometimes lol…
The 3 = 3 Half Ironman events over 3 consecutive weekends (IronMaori on 3 December 2016, Taupo 70.3 on 10 December 2016 and Rotorua Half Ironman on 17 December 2016).
The 2 = 2 Ironman distance events over 2 weeks being Challenge Wanaka on 18 February 2017 and Ironman New Zealand in Taupo on 4 March 2017.
The 1 = 1 Ultraman event over 1 long weekend being Ultraman Australia (13-15 May 2017).
The distances equate to 1306 kilometres in total, all in the name of charity where I continue to fundraise for the children left behind from the Fallen Heroes.
This weeks training set by Coach Ray, and with guidance from my Nutritionist Nicky Martin, has helped my recovery feel a lot better for the next training sessions.
Ray and I are still working on the issue with the recording of my training levels on the bike training. I have deliberately stayed on the flat as that appears to provide more time in the correct zone. However Ray thinks that perhaps my choice of clothing is creating some static electricity that is causing interference with the signal from the heart rate strap to the Garmin. I normally throw on a T-Shirt and my heavier Reflect 26 – Proviz Jacket which is completely reflective as it is dark after work when I hit training.
I was alarmed when the heart rate strap sent a message to my Garmin after about 30 minutes of riding that my HR had jumped to 180+ then a few minutes later down to 30+ then a few minutes later it flat lined, then bounced back to 220+. Obviously that was not the case as I still carried on cycling with effort.
The Garmin then returned to normal then went haywire again, so the next session I wore a normal lycra cycling top with a light-weight running jacket on top due to the night cold wind this time of year and it stayed okay. I will continue to monitor this.
The purpose my mentioning this, is to advise the readers of something I did not realise – that clothing can effect your HR Monitor/Garmin data.
My nutrition plan is working well. The only slip up I have had is a few zero percent (0%) beers when watching Super Rugby.
I do recall though (through one of Coach Rays on-line Webinar Seminars) that sleeping is just as important as training and nutrition (possibly a 5th discipline). If I am correct, I recall Ray advising that an hours sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours sleep after midnight, so this has made me consciously try and get to bed earlier. For those that know me I am a chronic insomniac, so this will always be a battle. Going to sleep is not the problem. Staying asleep is my struggle. One would think with the amount of training I do I should be able to sleep quite well. Hopefully the nutrition plan will help me.
The enclosed photo’s for the blog and upcoming blogs will take you through my journey of Ultraman Australia 2016, with other previous Ironman events also occasionally displayed.
The contrast is darker than I would like. This is because these photos were taken at dawn on Day 1, as the Safety Kayakers headed out to prepare themselves for the 40 swimmers.
The next photo is of the 40 swimmers heading out to their start point. I was one nervous kid at this stage. Coach Ray identified my nervousness the night before and gave me stuff to do to keep me occupied. One of the Safety Kayakers was my 12 year old Paddler Lilly who did an awesome job and kept me on the straight and narrow. She navigated the course for me as I swam and religiously provided me nutrition to keep me going. The guy in the swim photo appearing to be chest deep is the infamous Andre Kajilich, the guy with no legs, who is such an inspiration and left many swimmers in his wake.
Photo’s courtesy of Barry Alsop – Eyes Wide Open Images (Official photographer for Ultraman Australia 2016).
Bring on the events of 3+2+1=Charity!
Regards UltraHumps (John Humphries)