From IT Geek to Triathlete

Dark & Dirty night ride

Went for my second night ride with the Dark & Dirty guys. These rides are more social and the focus is on fun rather than training. Good thing too, because I’m still suffering from fatigue. Fatigue or I’m getting sick, but I’m quite sure it’s fatigue.

I feel like a bit of a pansy. I did three different races (MTB, AR and trail run) the previous three weekends and it proved to be too much for my body. After this week’s Polar HR workshop, I know what I’m doing wrong during training, so it isn’t any wonder I’m feeling fatigued. But still… I feel like my body should have been able to keep up. Three races isn’t that tough.

Anyway, I’ll work on my base and build, and then I’ll be able to gun it again!

(P.S. The total ride time was closer to 3 hours, but just to keep track of my actual training time, I’m logging 1:30.)

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/22/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 135
• Max Heart rate: 170
• Calories: 806
• Distance: 26.48 km
• Average Speed: 17.65 kmph
• Ascent: 240 m

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AR: MTB leg

Our MTB leg was a bit disappointing… well disappointing at first. The terrain was rubbish for the first 4-5km. We had to go up very ‘technical’ hills (aka crappy terrain with WAY too many rocks) were the inclines were between 20-25%. That’s insane if you ask me. I managed to ride 2 of the 8 odd hills, but had to push my bike up the others. Really did not enjoy that at all. Didn’t see anyone else (other than Gert) who was able to ride those.

Then just as we reached the end of the ‘technical’ section, Cobus’ derailer broke off. Clean break. We spent around 30mins trying to turn his bike into a fixie. We couldn’t get him going an unfortunately he had to walk back to the start. Gert and I decided to press on though.
The rest of the MTB section was brilliant. Some twisty downhills with a bit of gravel. I managed to get the end out a couple of times. The flat sections was also great and at times we averaged around 35km/h.

We made up a lot of places but lost so much time that our total ride time was around 1:34:00. (I logged 1:01:30, purely because I want to keep track of how much time I actually spent exercising).

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/17/2008
• Time: 09:30:00
• Total Time: 1:01:30.00
• Average Heart rate: 158
• Max Heart rate: 190
• Calories: 602
• Distance: 12.7 km
• Average Speed: 12.39 kmph
• Max Speed: 43.6 kmph
• Ascent: 329 m

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Cycle - 1.7 hours - 05/07/2008

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/07/2008
• Time: 16:00:00
• Total Time: 1:44:29.00
• Average Heart rate: 147
• Calories: 1389
• Distance: 38.33 km
• Average Speed: 22.01 kmph
• Max Speed: 55.2 kmph
• Ascent: 426 m

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Forest2Falls MTB race

So I did the Forest2Falls 70km on Saturday (results can be found over at Spectrum Sport Timing). What a tough race that is! 70km off road with a total ascent of around 1450m. Crazy.

It’s the second time I’ve done this race, but it wasn’t any easier than the first time round. Well, actually it was a bit easier. My HR averaged around 165 last year and it was only around 156 for this race. So my fitness level is definitely up. But since I’m training for multiple disciplines, my legs weren’t that accustomed to peddling as I would’ve liked. Anyway, here is a brief report.

It rained the day before, so we were expecting a pretty muddy event. We had the race briefing 10mins before the race and set off on time at 8am. It was quite chilly at first, but after a few km’s I acclimatized and was thankful of the colder weather.

The first 10km or so was a bit dull. It was mostly dirt roads through chopped down plantations. Then we reached some narly single track through the pine trees. Unfortunately some of the noobs couldn’t stay on their bikes and we had to walk bits.

After that we reached the picturesque Berlin cascades. I kept pushing so did not really have much time to appreciate it though. A bit unfortunate. We then hit a 16-18% climb for about 200-300m. Literally crawled up that hill. We then passed over the top of the river and rode down some more plantation roads. Crossed a railway twice and managed to get some air in the process. Great fun!

After 35km we passed the start again to do a different 35km loop. The 35km race stopped here.

The second 35km sucked big time! A 900m ascent for the second loop. Blegh! Just as we left the start we were smacked right in the face with a 250m climb called Heartbreak Hill. That hill did indeed break me. Sort off.

The terrain was crazy. If you weren’t crawling up a hill you were flying down a bumpy dirt/grass road. The roads were overgrown with “savannah type” grass, which was only cut short for the race. Or so it seemed. It was like a million little speed bumps. You could never quite settle into a rhythm.

I made up some serious time on the downhills and reached a maximum speed of 66km! WHHOAHAAA!! No one ever passed me on the downhills… save a 50-60 year old guy down one of the final hills. Can you believe it!? He came flying passed me saying something childish like “WHHOAHAAA!! That was fun” Hehe. Awesome. I want to be that guy when I’m older. Anyway, back to race.

The final 15km had less grass, but my legs were dead by then and there were still plenty of hill climbs left. I considered walking up the hills a number of times, but my legs were dead. It would’ve been a waste of time. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to push the bike up the hills.

I must say, one cool thing about the final 35km was the patches of mud along the course. It wasn’t nearly as muddy I thought it would be. There was only a few puddles/ponds in the dips. I blasted through those and was dirty as hell by the end of it all!! Brilliant! As Murphy would have it, I fell 4km before the end in the last bit of mud of the race. I tried to overtake someone and my bike lost grip at around 25km/h. I slid down the road on my shoulder. It was spectacular!! Wish I had that on film.

In the end, I finished with an official time of 4:13:12, finishing 116th out of 240 competitors. Not too bad. Quite pleased with that. I say this after every event, but I wish I was a bit fitter. Just enough to get through that final 10-15km with greater ease.

All in all, a good race. I’ll recommend it. Especially the 35km race.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/03/2008
• Time: 08:00:00
• Total Time: 4:13:12.00
• Average Heart rate: 156
• Max Heart rate: 178
• Calories: 2916
• Distance: 70 km
• Average Speed: 16.59 kmph
• Max Speed: 66.96 kmph
• Ascent: 1445 m

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Pre-race ride

I did an easy 20km today in preparation for Saturday’s mtb race. I took it easy, or rather, forced myself to take it easy. I had to pull myself away from all those hill climbs and kept myself from gunning down the smooth straights. Damn… I’m almost drooling. Hehe. Think I have issues.  But its hard if your legs feel so fresh and you just touch on the pedals.

Hmm… Saturday is going to rock!! 65km of the sweetest single and jeep-track in the country. The race is called Forest-2-Falls, which is self-explanatory. It’s not all forest though. There’s a lot of rocky hills and trails through pine plantations. If I remember correctly the total ascent is around 1000-1200m., so it’s quite a hilly area.

I’ll have a short race report for you guys on Monday. Have a great weekend! Whopa!!

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/01/2008
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 1:02:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 125
• Max Heart rate: 155
• Calories: 644
• Distance: 20.76 km
• Average Speed: 20.09 kmph
• Max Speed: 31.6 kmph
• Ascent: 85 m

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Recovery reserve ride

I was still a bit stiff from Saturday’s ride and decided to keep a moderate pace today.

Since it’s a public holiday in SA, I decided to visit my parents over the weekend. There is a small nature reserve nearby, with a few animals. Love riding here. Saw a few small critters, but no big game today.

Winter is definitely here and it’s getting harder to get out of bed. I need to get some better gear for the cold. I have a cycling jersey thingy, but only cycling shorts. Come to think of it, I also have leg warmers, but they never worked well. Always kept slipping off. My new cycling shorts have a taut elastic strip though, so maybe they’ll hold.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 04/28/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:28:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 137
• Max Heart rate: 166
• Calories: 1091
• Distance: 30.78 km
• Average Speed: 20.99 kmph
• Max Speed: 45.5 kmph
• Ascent: 250 m

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Burning my mountain bike

I pushed the up-hills real hard today. I was standing up on anything greater than a 3% incline. I don’t really enjoy killing myself like this, but it felt pretty good afterwards. Man, I burned up those hills! A total ascent of 486m. Not bad.

Unfortunately I had some puncture issues along the way and spent around 30mins to get the tubeless tire to seal again. It went quite flat and wouldn’t seal. So I turned back home, pumping it ever kilometre or so. After 3 stops it seemed to have sealed again, so again I turned around to continue with my workout. I stopped another 4 times, each time increasing the tire pressure until it reached the correct bar. A bit frustrating, but I guess it comes with the territory. Quite pleased with the rest of the workout though.

The race I’m doing on Saturday has a total ascent of around 1000-1200m. The race distance 65km. Can’t wait!!

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 04/26/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:51:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 152
• Max Heart rate: 184
• Calories: 1472
• Distance: 41.12 km
• Average Speed: 22.23 kmph
• Max Speed: 53.7 kmph
• Ascent: 486 m

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Taking it easy

I got my flue shots yesterday and was told to stay off the bike for two days! Bleh. I’ve got a race next week, so against my better judgement I went for a cycle this afternoon… Technically it’s 1.5 days since the shot and I took it easy. I can get a HR of 136 merely by playing guitar hero. So I should be fine.

I kicked the bike into its highest gear and watched the minutes fly by. Fun ride, but it’s starting to get chilly.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 04/23/2008
• Time: 16:30:00
• Total Time: 1:00:07.00
• Average Heart rate: 136
• Max Heart rate: 157
• Calories: 738
• Distance: 22.28 km
• Average Speed: 22.24 kmph
• Max Speed: 39.2 kmph
• Ascent: 133 m

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Niece birthday cycle

I cycled to my niece’s 4th birthday party, which is around 30km from my place. It’s a pretty straight route, but there were some monster hill climbs. Ended up with a total ascent of 750m. I even managed to hit a sweet twisty single track.

The party itself was brilliant. Complete chaos. 15 little girls running around with puppies, Barbie’s, balloons and candy. And when they weren’t running they were jumping up and down the jumping castle. Chaos, but it was great fun!

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 04/19/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 2:51:00.00
• Average Heart rate: 150
• Max Heart rate: 175
• Calories: 2277
• Distance: 65.13 km
• Average Speed: 22.85 kmph
• Max Speed: 61.3 kmph
• Ascent: 749 m

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High cadence

I did a high cadence routine today. I tried to keep it steady at around 90-100. My cadence sensor magnet fell of a few months ago, so it’s tricky to judge exactly how fast I was actually spinning. I don’t think it was far off though.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 04/01/2008
• Time: 17:10:00
• Total Time: 1:25:09.00
• Average Heart rate: 153
• Max Heart rate: 183
• Calories: 1137
• Distance: 32.02 km
• Average Speed: 22.56 kmph
• Max Speed: 51.3 kmph
• Ascent: 310 m

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