Cold is in the air....

With winter looming around the corner, I am steadily getting back in the groove. Early mornings and late afternoons I can smell the winter approaching us like a lion stalking its pray. It is hard to explain, but if you have trained outside through winter before you would know exactly what I am talking about.
Last week was great sticking 100% to the program and also eating well.....obviously on Sunday I had my weekly 'feed the munchies' day.....nice!! I started by keeping a log of my measurements (chest, hips, etc.) two weeks ago and I have already lots almost 5cm. By only keeping track of progress on the bathroom scale is difficult because of the gym work - fat is lighter than muscle, therefore you loose fat, but gain muscle in the gym and then you don't see the progress in kg's!! Obviously I am not bulking up on muscle and therefore in about 6 weeks my weight will start to drop steadily until it all eventually evens out - hopefully around the 70 - 72 mark.
I felt good running last week, but I felt tired on the bicycle. My long run felt exceptionally good and I am well ahead on running for where I wanted to be right now.
The swimming is also going great and I am easily swimming 20 min per km without a wetsuit, which is great for me this time of the year. I am aiming to get down to about 15min30sec by April next year.

Gym work will increase again this week which in turn will tire me out on the bike again. I think in around 8 weeks from now I wont feel the effects of the gym on my training any more.

Looking forward to a lovely week and remember to cast you vote!

Ciao

The Trijackal

IN THE GROOVE!

Its nice to be back in the training groove again. It is my second serious week in preparing for IMSA 2010. It is not nice training alone during winter time and that is why I am trying to get as many of my friends to train with me. During the week I am cycling with my good friend Warren and weekends I ride with Club 100. It makes the distance a lot shorter cycling with buddies!

Early morning swims and gym work I do alone, but at least Johan Stemmet (another friend of mine and also a good IMSA participant) is training the same time making it a bit easier.

For the run I have to battle it out on my own. Running pace differs a lot from cycling and it's hard to find a training partner with similar abilities. Also the roads are very busy so running behind one another is also boring!

I am slowly increasing the weights in gym to build power through winter and to get my left and right sides to equal strength. This will ensure ultimate performance and eliminate 'over fatigue' of the stronger side of the body. I am also joining a vets cycling team to keep me motivated whilst climbing the winter 'mountain'!

Swimming is not my favourite, but I will grind it out. If I can get my swim down to 60 minutes over the 3.8km swim - well, I'll be ecstatic!

Diet wise I am giving sugars and bad fats a kick in the butt! Bags of fruit and veggies, white meat aplenty and lots of water! If I can get around 70 - 72 kg next April I will fly like a bullet! Ha ha.....it felt good saying that!

Thanks for reading and I will post bits of my training program from early next month.

Have a great time!

The Trijackal

Congrats to all our mates at IMSA 2009

It was a day of records! Both the men and women swimming records were shattered as well as both course records! Our friend Johan Stemmet had a dream to qualify for Kona 2009 in the men's 34 - 39 age group. I just want to congratulate him for making it and I wish him all the best for his preparation leading up to the race.

Now it is full steam ahead for IMSA 2010 and we can only hold thumbs for good weather a third year in a row!!

Till later,
Trijackal