THE RACE

Well its all been and gone now and all that is left to do is let all you guys know what the day was like through my eyes, well as much as what I can remember. The conditions that I finished in meant that parts of the race are a bit blurry.

But before I get started I’d like to thank everyone for their support to know that there where at least everyone following that commented plus everyone that was just watching the happenings, plus all the texts that I received. This certainly kept me feeling good in the lead up and so proud once I found out after the race.

Thanks to Rob for his continued guidance on the bike. We have been working together for the last few years and everybody knows that my triathlon times wouldn’t be what they are if it wasn’t for the bike leg.

My small band of product sponsors that have helped me along the way. David and Robyn at G&D Cycles for their help with the bike keeping it up to scratch, Abi and Tiff at BluPod for some nice warm pre race clothing (didn’t need it at IM but came in handy at Beachport), Foxy and Kane at Hyland Fox Signs for providing all the graphics on the suit and a very affordable support crew t-shirt, Green Triangle Electronics for the use of a Garmin Edge for IM and the lead up training and to Bianca Gillin Multimedia (she will get a bit more of a rap later on)

Dob and Marlene for the car park and accommodation in the city before we flew out and the taxi service when we returned. It’s these sorts of things that make the organisation of a trip like this so much easier and relaxing. Also their help over the last couple of years when I’ve been chasing state titles the accommodation and support was great then it was all still part of this goal.

Another big thanks has to go to Mum, Dad, Mick, Nicki, Tiff and Dion. They all survived the road trip up from the South East to be there for me on the day and have saved me a heap on excess baggage by taking the bike back for me. 2500km round trip. Sometimes I’m sure they’d rather I’d stuck to B grade football but by the looks on all their faces after and during the race I don’t think they would have missed it for anything. To top it off was the dumb founded expression from Nicki at the awards ceremony when they announced the 70-74 age category winner and she thought I was crazy.

I don’t want to rank the thank youse’ but I have to put the highest of highest thanks to go to my super WAG, live-in lover, secretary, stylist, publicist, partner and girlfriend BIANCA. What she has done over the last four years and especially since I decided to really follow this goal since September 2009 has been a huge support. There has been numerous times where she has had to make sacrifices so I could get my training in and the times where she’s wanted me to do something and I’ve been unable due to my training commitments. There have been plenty of times she could of spat it at me but she’s held her composure and let me work towards this goal. For all these moments I can’t thank her enough. To top all of this off I never could of imagined the response that I was going to get from ‘How is Toby Going‘ and Bianca was the main driving force behind this idea and for the continued professional help to make this the success that it was.

Thank You.

The Race

Couldn’t of asked for a much better lead up to a race like this I got a reasonable sleep the night before with a nice and relaxing build up. I’d loaded up the bike the night before with nutrition and only had to pump the tyres up, drop off the special needs and get the wettie on the morning of the race.

Most races I’ve ever done I could categorically say that I’ve always felt I could of done a lot better in the swim. Well for one time I could say that this swim went as good as I could have hoped for. I found some good space and felt fast in the water at one stage I was even textbook style drafting off of somebody, which let me just zone out and conserve some energy. Only once did I need to break stroke to adjust my goggles after a smack to the back of the head which occurred around a turning can, the only time the race seemed to get congested was around every turning can but it did get better the longer the swim went on. Towards the end of the swim I had a feeling I was on track with my plan but little did I know how well compared to a goal time of somewhere between 1hr to 1:05, I came out of the water around the 57 min mark. Gave me heaps of confidence heading into the bike and a sniff at breaking the 10hr mark.

Onto the bike and heading out of town - what a feeling - apparently one of the biggest crowds ever lining the streets and going nuts for everyone. It was a struggle keeping things under control but you got to make yourself when you still have 180 km to go. Through the rolling hills (little did I realise that I’d enjoy the hills more than the flat) then out to Cathie Straight up Ghost Road then back again. The First lap was smack on target for my plan around the 37kmh ave drinking well and eating every 30 or so minutes. Even up the Matthew Flinders Drive Hill on the big chain ring the first time. Once out onto the flat section for the second time the wind had built up didn’t really feel like a there was a tail wind at any section out or back so the pace started to drop but I wasn’t too concerned there was still a long way to go. This caused a few dubious looking bunches to form so I just started to conserve a bit because the wind was getting stronger and I knew that my main goal was to get to the finish line and I didn’t need to blow up on the bike trying to be a hero and ride off on the bunch. To the technical officers credit there did seem to be people in the penalty box most of the day it doesn’t take long for this to make a statement to everyone especially when you can see people waiting in the box as you ride past. I didn’t really notice much more drafting after the first 1 1/2 laps the message must have got across. As it was I had a bit of difficulty at the 150 km mark, I’d started to cramp a little but managed it well and got well on top of this issue by the end of the ride. I think this issue came about because after about 2 hrs of the ride my body was telling me that I was well and truly in control of the nutrition (just didn’t feel like eating any more) so I laid off it a little but I reckon I went a bit too far. This was also about the time that my average speed started to drop below my race plan and I probably got a bit caught up in trying to chase this and not on riding in between my limitation. But I gained lots of confidence in the way that I was able to pull my body back from what could have been a disaster; I wasn’t going all that way to drop out 170km into the bike.

For everyone that wants to know the spectators that line the course are a reason to do the event in itself they are fantastic, cowbells everywhere and a Tour de France style hill crowd to get competitors through the tough bits. There were even blokes running around with capes and sluggos in super hero mode, Patrick Vernay who won the event even said he even saw streakers. Could work for the Range Hill for the 100mile better hope for some warm weather.

Ride stats from the Garmin - click to view larger

The run was a bit of a blur I can remember starting the run and thinking to myself “gee it’s good to be off the bike” but that lasted all of about 2km. The first 7km of the run (the run is 3 x 14km loops so you have to do this section 3x) was amongst houses and flat. This may sound like the easy part of the course but it wasn’t. I noticed as I was heading out there for the last time a billboard with a thermometer it was showing 29 degrees - later on after the event I found out that it peaked at 32. Out of the whole marathon I can break it down to sections where I was feeling great (relative to the circumstances) and where I was not so great. I had a good couple of K’s at the start then hit a bit of a wall for a couple. From then on until the 21km mark I was on top of the world even my supporters on the sidelines said I looked the best through then. At the 21km point I suddenly hit a wall but it didn’t seem like it was to do with my body. My brain realised that I was only half way through and still had a long way to go and this was when I started to feel pain. I walked a bit to re-group then got a bit of form back. I was never the same from then on walking most of the aid stations until the last 3 km where I just seemed to float to the finish at around 4 min km (well as close to 4min km as I got for the whole day). But like I always do is to take some experiences away from every race that are a positive and something for the future. I know if I ever come across those style of conditions again there will be a lot more slower aid stations and faster bits in between as it didn’t seem to hurt as much running harder if I had the fuel to do it.

Once again the support from the sidelines was amazing. Along the second half of the course it was shoulder to shoulder with spectators cheering out everybody’s name (it was printed on our race bibs). There was people sitting in the backs of utes on old couches with eskys all having a great time with the music pumping giving full support to all the competitors. At one section they had marked out with chalk a section of the track that was an unofficial ‘no walk zone’ and if you were caught walking in there a chant of “walker,walker,walker” started up but if you then started to run you got an even bigger cheer of support and all the spectators probably skulled their beers or something along those lines.

The finish line went all to quick but I was focussed on getting the fastest time I could on the day so apparently all I did was a bit of a retarded high five to the official fan club and missed nearly everybody a bit of a pirouette then I was across the line and into the hands of the catchers. But I had around my neck the all-important finishers medal and draped over my shoulders the just as important finishers towel.

The moment I crossed the finish line

My proud support crew after the event

Done! Toby is an IRONMAN! 10.13 and 141st overall

Under 14km to go

So it's 3.40 now and Toby passed around 10 minutes ago on his last lap!

All going well! Thought I would slip in another update as have been getting a few texts wanting to know and this is the easiest way for me at the mo.

Great here at moment with the music pumping and people finishing. Looking forward to going into the finishers chute and watching the man cross the line :)

Be in touch a little bit later on - hopefully around 4.45pm

Onto the Marathon!

It's now 1.30pm and Toby is now 20 min approx into the run and looking good. 42.2km to go and he can now call himself an ironman. Came into the transition in a good time - could be on track for his 10 hour goal depending on the run. Really the time does not matter as it was his first one and really who knows what to expect.


As for us, we do a great job of passing the time by posing with the promo girls and laying in the shade.



Seriously, spectating is a tough sport! We are now positioned under a nice shady tree ready to watch Toby come past on his first lap. The run is quite good as each 14km lap goes in a figure 8ish kind of shape so we get to see him more often. We also have a direct path to the grandstand at the end which is good. Looking forward to seeing where he comes.

Will be back for the final update once he is finished. I have the heads up from Glenn that he may just disappear afterwards in the medical tent so I should have time to update then.

Not far now!

Thanks for the comments - great to see people following the man.

Ok he just went past and I missed him due to updating! Doh!

Ciao!

The Big Day!!! BIKE update

Hello!

I am back! It is now 11.25am - Toby came past to start his third and final lap at about 11am - so we are on track still. He seemed to be probably 5 minutes slower than we were expecting (after the lead he made up in the swim) but that could be a puncture along the way or the heat - not sure? We have cheered on another local athlete David Chant who is about 12 minutes behind Toby at this stage. He was looking quite cheery and happy to see a fan club cheering him on!

To give you an idea of times we are expecting Toby from here
Finish bike - 12.35 - 12.40pm
Start Run - 12.45pm
Finish lap 1 of run - 2.00pm
Finish Lap 2 of run - 3.15pm
Finish - 4.30pm
This is for a 10 hour race time but it really depends on how the day pans out. The commentators seem to think that there will be a race record today as it is good conditions. Really it is pretty warm!

Has been a great day so far. Will get back on here again once Toby comes off the bike and starts the run to let you know how his times are going.

Adios amigos
b

Toby starting lap 2 - poor photo but they go too fast!

The Big Day!!! Swim update

Pre race photo with WAG in shirt

With Mum

The swim start - a beautiful morning in Port Macquarie

Toby coming out of the water a little bit earlier than expected!

Here we are - like I said we would be - updating ze blog!

On the side of the road, next to a chalked up GO TOBES sign like the good little cheer squad we are.

An update on how things are going... Toby planned 1.00 to 1.05 for the 3.8km swim - imagine our surprise to see him out of the water and in transition at 57 minutes!

He is now out on the bike and was around 350th out of the water (I think 1500 approx competitors in total) so in a very good place as his bike leg is his strongest.

We are expecting him to come by in an hour on the bike - we are positioned near the turnaround point so have 2 CHANCES of getting a photo - trust me it is difficult! :)

Good day so far - cannot wait to see him cross the line. Will be back later with more updates

b

Under 12 hrs to go

Well just sitting here chilling, have had a nice relaxed meal a good 12hrs before the start so doing everything by the book.

Took a drive along the complete length of the bike course today. All I know is that I'm going to have a sore butt by the end of the ride (for everyone from the Mount it's like riding to the caves but all the roads are like it not just a little section) and you can't go anywhere here without some sort of hill (you wouldn't like it here Spek - too many hills). The bike is now in transition loaded up with nutrition ready to go so all I have to do tomorrow is just get a bit of drink on and I should have a nice relaxed morning - after having a little tantrum with a new tube last night. So from the race perspective with no other experience to call on I'm pretty sure I have as much in place as I can think of just want to get it all underway.

Thank you to everyone for the texts and the comments through the blog. It has really kept me focused knowing the support I have behind me. Really looking forward to doing myself and everyone else proud, so pumped.

I'll give a bit more of a description of the weeks events in a later post seen so much (bikini promo girls at Ironman village WTF there are enough women running around in less clothing at a triathlon, but not really a huge complaint). Once again thanks to everyone and also a happy birthday to no.1 WAG Bianca

Toby

Checking in the bike

All the bags set up for transition

It's the final countdown!

do do do do dah dah dah dah dahhhh...

Sunday is looming closer and closer - we are now in Port Macquarie - have been to the Ironman village to sign in, get timing chips etc and check out the promo girls (WTF - like we need to see any more girls in tight fit gear in the sport but oh well, whatever).

So we are ready to rock and roll! Some members of the support crew are running the 5km fun run on Saturday morning as well to get into the spirit. After that, Tobes will be dropping his bike off into the transition area and coming back to our resort to CHILL OUT and prepare for Sundays event.

So what I think - (I know a lot of people read this but not all comment. Yep I track you all!) - now is the time to come out of the woodwork and leave a comment for Toby (if you have not done so already - or even if you have, go again!).

Knowing you all are behind him is so encouraging - he really appreciates it.

Will be taking this little laptop down on Sunday with the camera so shall keep you all posted...

Until then,

bianca

How Is Toby Going?

Well I'm as ready as I'm going to be now, just got off the massage table sitting back getting a bit of H2O into me to clear the rubbish out, gearing up for a hectic day of travel to get there.

The last week has been so enjoyable - I started my taper a week and a half out because I know my body likes a short taper or a bit more of an extended one to perform well. Being the case that this will be the hardest race of my career so far, I decided to go with the longer version, starting now to feel really fresh and ready to go.

Nothing real exciting to report on the training front, no interesting milestones. I just erred on the side of easy just to make sure I'll be well recovered, not going to make any huge fitness gains in the last 10 days.

Swim 10.5 km
Bike 290km
Run 50km

It may seem a little different but Bianca and I thought that for prosperity's sake I should get a few good photo's taken of me doing the three things I enjoy because I may never do something of this magnitude again (who knows how I'll feel when I cross the line on Sunday, I may decide to start lawn bowls). It's also really hard to find a good photo out of a race as your not usually thinking about giving the camera the blue steel treatment. So Friday we had a morning with photographer Ralph Meznar. The morning started off in the studio and we got the pose that I thought was going to be the hardest first shot (it still was hard but we only had to do it once) then we headed to various locations around the town to get a few more shots of swim bike run. Overall we got some great shots that will be fantastic to show the grand kids one day bit of a "back in my day" sort of scenario. So thanks to Ralph for his expertise and my new stylist Bianca for a very enjoyable day.

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes, I'm definitely not feeling at all nervous as I know I've done the work over the last 6 months and have done an appropriate apprenticeship over the last 4 years. This is just the next progression and I just want to get it started so I can sink my teeth into it, can't wait for that finish line feeling.

There is a plan in place at the moment for Bianca to do some live photo updates throughout the day through this blog with a bit of commentary also there will be live updates and live video stream from 2pm all available from here - http://www.ironmanoz.com/ironmanoz/race-day-coverage.htm. This won't be my last blog entry before the race I'll work on getting some more stories.

Toby

Are we there yet!

Things are coming together pretty well as perfect as I could hope for. Starting to feel the body recover and its showing some good signs of some strong form leading up to the big day.

This week started off with the end of last week if that makes any sense? I thoroughly enjoyed my time being involved with Nathan and Hayley's wedding. Due to my enjoyment of this weekend I didn't do my immune system any favours so this week started off by recovering from a slight cold. Luckily it didn't seem to affect my form too much I still felt strong through all my sessions (I actually felt better training than I did sitting still) just had to get used to all the snot. Wanted to give the body a shock this week so I really pushed some intensity. There was a few times this week where the HR got close to max which is quite an accomplishment considering I do all my training alone.

So the rough numbers for this week
Swim - 11km
Bike - 380km
Run - 58km

The body's getting to the recovery stage when at rest but can start to feel the deep fatigue when at the end of each session so the next two weeks are focused on getting rid of that so I'm completely fresh and ready on race day. This in mind got a pre massage in this week in readiness for the serious torture of the one week to go massage (this sentence is for you Sue). Also had some other milestones this weekend with the last time the bike computer will tick over into the 100's km and the last time a run session will take over 120mins. Had such a relaxing ride this Saturday even made it to the after bunch coffee session, usually got another 40 clicks to go as well as a run.

All the little administration things are starting to also come together for the day as well as the trip. Picked up a bike bag the other day, got all the function tickets sorted for the support crew and sent the design and shirts off to get printed.

The fan club tee

Also got in contact with Glenn and Rach, they are both past Mount Gambier Tri guys who actually now live in Port Macquarie. Glenn will be volunteering in the transition tent and at the finish line on the day, as well as this he competed last year. So this will be a great help for me to have him there to let me know all the little things that you don't know as a first timer.

Cheers
Toby

Runaway Train

Well its all done, now the efforts are in the bank and it's time to start the recovery.

It all started Sunday with one of the key sessions which included 160km ride followed by a 90min brick run (straight off of the bike). Sunday's ride also included my last Summer Series road race for the year, I was very pleased with the race it was the first race for the year where I was actually fresh due to just the race and a longer open water swim on the Saturday. Was good to see what I could do on a short taper, then to top off a great days training the run went really well then pulled up great ready to smash it out again on the Monday.

Monday included the standard swim set followed by another 150kmon the bike. Luckily Ben joined me for some of the bike helped me keep the pace high considering the conditions. For the time we where out on the bike the wind gusts stayed between 55-60kmh. Tough day out on the bike but I was still recovering really well after each of these days this kept me feeling confident that I've done the correct amount of work.

Tuesday was going to be a day of epic proportions but not so much on the training front. I'd organised Bianca to meet me in Millicent with some running gear so I could get a run in before heading off to Adelaide for ACDC. Helped with our time management a bit by riding a bit of the way we had to travel. So Tuesday was 120km bike with just a 30 min run to follow. Nothing beats getting up at 5am and not getting back into bed until 1am it was all worth it just to see Angus. He was definitely the star of the show but I reckon my fitness got put back about two weeks from all the passive smoking, what else could you expect from an ACDC crowd though.

Mick, Dion, myself and Bianca at ACDC
(Note I am drinking 2 beers at once - go me - one is Bianca's...)

The rest of the week just saw a 4.3km swim session (great feeling looking at the swim program and it says "70min straight swim" - mind numbing) then Thursday I followed it up with a 3hr run.

After the 3 hour run - end of big week

My fur kid Sebastian making sure I am okay while passed out on the front lawn after said run

So as you can see all the work has been done. I'm feeling like I've got the volumes and intensities just right, I'm recovering well and staying strong through each session. Really looking forward to having a few days recovery style training before the maintenance and maybe a little speed training (don't really know if the speed will help me too much on the day but will keep the interest up for the last two weeks).

Also getting the design sorted this week for the official "How is Toby going?" supporters shirt. So if anyone keen to get their hands on these limited edition collectors item, just post a comment (race day family cheer squad, sponsors and Spek are already on the list). I'm sure they will also look good given the person in charge of the design talent in this area.

Cheers
Toby

1st Win for the Year

Firstly I'd like to say how good of a job Helen and Gabby did with the inaugural Beachport Triathlon. I know firsthand what this can be like and they did such a good job. Things ran so smoothly and relaxed from a competitors point of view. I also know that it probably didn't seem like this from the organisers side but it I can honestly say that if there was any chaos it was not noticed by the competitors.

The race started slowly for me as I knew all week in training it had taken me a good 30 mins before I got any good results. So knowing this I started out wide and cut in towards the first turn I also knew that there would be a lot of guys die in the first 30m and I didn't want to get caught amongst it. I think I was about 4th out of the water after a very average swim for me.
Once on the bike I caught the first two in front of me by about 2km, then caught and took the lead in about the 5km mark and continued to push the bike hard.
On the run I had a goal to push it as hard as I could, in reality this didn't happen somehow I got my innersoles of my shoes all tangled up and it felt like I was running with big rocks in my shoes, hope I didn't lose too much time as I really wanted to do well with the short burst of running.

I was really happy to come across the line in first place as I had lots of my family and friends there watching so it was a buzz for me and them the way the race panned out. Also good to have a win this year as I got a few age group wins last year but nothing this year as the focused has changed.

Also the other success of the day was TEAM GILLIN, Bianca and her Dad did a team entry in the race with Bianca completing the swim and Mick the bike and run. For all interested Bianca only learnt to swim 3 months ago and Mick's only recently hit the fitness regime a bit more seriously. The whole race went well for them with only a slight hiccup from the bike dismount, predicted 1 minute before it happened by Nostradamus Dion Gillin from the sidelines. Even though they didn't get a placing I'm sure they're hooked and we will all hear about it for a little while yet, but that whats Triathlon is all about nothing beats being able to push your limits.

Once again great job by the organisers, great course and great atmosphere can't wait for it to come around again. With some better weather the possibilities are endless for this event.

I'll update about my training in a couple of days as it's been spread over a bit more than a week at the moment with all I got going on. In the middle of a big 3 days right now so will fill you in soon. Training like a pro at the moment (have taken a couple of days off work to get it all in).


Toby

Just Cruising

Things are still going along nicely with no real complaints to be made. I can't even think of anything that is exciting to write about on the training front with a pretty standard type week. The only interesting points where the effort required to get through the last 10km home of the 180km ride on Saturday, was pushing into gale force hot dry wind. This took it right out of me at the time but I surprisingly come good after a 10 minute hydration at home before heading out for a short run in the same conditions. But still felt pretty good during the course of the run.

Sunday was a bit bigger struggle had some heavy legs and I was really unsure if I could finish with my starting bunch during the Club cycling race, especially when it was going to be a hectic start with a good tail wind. To my surprise all went fine and I managed to stay in the bunch not a problem but I can't say it was easy.

Finished the arvo off by doing my long run, this run felt completely different to any other of my long runs as I was pretty tired and run down from the very start. This said I still felt good and was really enjoying it, I kept thinking to myself that this is as close as I'm going to get to simulating race day SO GET USED TO IT. Still one of the things I go by is 'Training to meet the demands of racing' and this was so true for me that afternoon.

Totals - Swim 10.5km Ride 440km Run 63km

Bit of a recovery planned for the end of this week before a sprint race on Saturday then got the last of the big stuff before starting the wind down.

Also think Sundays heavy legs had a bit to do with my change in recovery technique after Saturday's training. Instead of compression pants and couch it was Bus trip, Bar, Beer and torture my good mate Nathan, got to enjoy a good Bucks show! Looking forward to the wedding now where I'll be all done with my main bulk of training and can really enjoy my duties as part of the Wedding Party and help celebrate this special day for Nathan and Hayley

Toby


Also Ben I'll be looking to do 150km on the Monday after Beachport would be stoked for you to join me for all or part of it, probably look to start after 9am want to get a swim in first. Will also be looking at doing some K's on Tuesday if you keen then? If anyone else out there keen just post a comment.

Photos and Media from Geelong 70.3

I have been a very lazy WAG lately haven't I! Here are some pics from Geelong Half Ironman earlier this month. Above is Toby at the briefing the day before.

It is always pretty amazing to see all the bikes there, I guess with each one averaging a few thousand dollars there is quite a bit of moolah in the transition area...

Especially when you look at it from this angle!!!

Toby on his run leg. Probably the only decent photo I could get of him competing this time. Too many times I get the back of him or someone else, as mentioned in the article below. Tobys sister Kate and I were standing on the sideline when a journalist from the Geelong Advertiser approached us and asked a few questions about Toby to write a story on.

We were pretty surprised for it to have made page 3 of the paper the next day!! You can click on the image above to enlarge it enough to read.

The Border Watch also covered the story which was great for our local athletes to get some recognition. And back page!! Oh the fame.





A video of the day has been put on YouTube as well. If you look between 7:43 to 7:55 you will see Toby the man running towards the camera just as Crowie (world champion) is passing him. Enjoy the music!

And that is about it. I should have some more photos after the Beachport Tri next weekend - if you are even only half interested in triathlons I would recommend to do that one, such a great place and should be a fun day!

Ciao amigos.

Oh, and 36 days to go! Far out!

Just Another Week

Nothing too exciting to report on this week in the training department. Swimming was a little down on volume as i canned one of my sessions I had planned for after a massage, just too flat actually went home and had a nap. Running was just a matter of one foot in front of the other I could feel the fatigue every time I pushed some intensity except for my run off of the bike on Saturday felt pretty strong for the 40 mins I pushed. Then to top things off ran for two hours in continuous wind and rain on the Sunday. On the other hand the bike came up well the long ride I was good all the way through except for a 10 minute section where I got a bit hungry. Then backed up well at the Club race on the Sunday having a red hot go before the hill to try to break away and if not just get out of the way of everybody else so they can have the sprint for the line (I'm more than happy just staying on two wheels when the fields are as big as what they are at the moment).

Swim 9 km Ride 370 km Run 54 km

On a personal note I had some mixed emotions about the weekend, this is the first time since I started triathlon I have not competed at Kingston, actually Kingston was my first Tri. Also this meant not having another crack at a age group State Championship as well which I've won the last 2 years in my relevant category. It kind of goes against another one of my beliefs too which is I like to support local events as much as possible but this year I've got a plan and my eyes are set on a bigger goal. I like to get my inspiration for this mindset from the current World Champ Craig Alexander, in his last two times at Kona (which he's won) there was minimal lead up races with just eyes on the prize mentality. So at the moment I'm following his lead, at the same scale just a different level.

Made another trip down to Beachport for a swim, not for me this time but for Bianca. She's doing the swim leg as a part of a team with her Dad at the inaugural Beachport triathlon in two weeks time. Wasn't really the best day for it very windy and rough but at least it shouldn't be close to that bad on the day of the event so she is prepared for the worst at the moment. To think three months ago she couldn't even put her head underwater and now is attempting open water swims. It's a credit to her swimming instructor/Italian teacher/drinking buddy Toni on how well Bianca is doing.

While still on the Beachport theme I will be racing there in two weeks in front of all my family and friends, will be looking forward to see if I still have some short course speed. I'll be coming off of a recovery week so I should be in good condition hoping to find a new max HR. This will be the lead up to the biggest and key few days in my prep so if anyone is free on the first Monday and Tuesday in March I could do with some company on the bike got a fair few K's to do and any help is appreciated.

Toby

THE RACE

To sum up from Sunday's race

"I'm happy but not satisfied with the overall result"

The swim started well - the extra distances and technique sessions I've incorporated into the IM training has started to show I felt really comfy and felt I was keeping the pace quite high. Things went downhill for a good 900m of the swim when I came across my first encounter with a jellyfish and when the competitors out wide made their line towards the first turning can.



This was the first race for me where the jellyfish have been an issue, a couple of times in the swim I put my hand straight into the middle of them. It affected me a bit more because I use a sleeveless wetsuit I copped a few stings along my arms but luckily none on my face.

The other issue with the swim is nothing unusual just part of triathlon and something that you just have to deal with. Getting belted in a field as big as what there was is just part of it all. I'm hoping the extra distance at IM should string the field out as it felt on Sunday the last 600m heaps of people dropped off and this allowed me to find some room and I seemed to just be flying past other competitors. With the couple of issues I had I still swam faster than I've done before for that distance so things are looking good in that department.

Got off to a great start on the bike, once out of the technical bit I started to make up heaps of positions and being able to make it away from the bunches. On the second lap of the bike myself and another competitor had a good pace going taking it in turns to keep the pace while still keeping the required distance apart. Then about halfway through this lap I looked behind me only to see a bunch of about 40 just riding in peloton formation, they just swallowed us up.

At this stage I let them know my thoughts and I tried to ride away from them. I could get 100m in front but then they would just swallow me up again. So I just sat up let off some more steam and dropped off of the back.

The more annoying thing was that the Tech officers rode with this bunch but they still seemed to do the same thing, also most of that pack comprised of all the guys that I put the effort in to pass at the start of the bike. Then to add even more frustration I only saw about three of that bunch in the penalty box on the way back. As far as I could see you could of let the first four or five guys at the front of the bunch off but booked the rest of them for some time on the side of the road. I could of rode at the front of that bunch quite easily but why do I want to give everyone else a free ride just to get run over when we hop off of the bike. Before the bunch came along I was on track for a sub 2:20 on the bike which would of set me up well for an overall PB.

Once I started the run I knew I was not on target for a PB so I decided then to make this a real life trial for Pt Macquarie. This meant trying to keep good form and control my heart rate at certain points so I can take on food and drink. I'm quite happy to report that this went to plan beautifully I was in control of things the whole way. I didn't get the time I would of liked but I was able to take many more things away from the run than a PB. I also got to run with Crowie for about 5 metres.

As you can see that my opening sentence sums up the race for me pretty well, so my 4:36:16 was around the mark but just not as outstanding as I was hoping for. Still plenty of good points to take from the race and now I'm truly focused for the training that's ahead of me as I'm sure that things won't all go my way in the main race either.

With my sisters Kate and Sally post race

My number one fanatic Mum listening to race review - note stopwatch necklace she is sporting

Thanks also to all the crew that turned up to cheer me on they even made it into the local paper [check it out here] and gave me a big rap. But the journalist mustn't of been able to fit in the description of what it was like to watch a race like this with Mum, either that or just didn't believe what he was being told. I definitely couldn't do all this though If I didn't have the support of all these people close to me they help make it all worth while I hope I give them just as much enjoyment from watching me.

Also a big congratulation to Penny, I've been coaching Penny towards this goal since October and it was great to see all her hard work pay off. We got a race plan together last week and it was great to see that work perfectly so she could achieve her goals. To put things in perspective in August of last year Penny was unable to fully complete a Half Marathon but yesterday she completed a 1.9 swim , 90km bike and 21.1 run. Testament to what hard work and a good outlook can bring, even better was seeing her do it in front of her Mum, Dad and Richard. Must of been a huge relief for Richard as he's had to live with all the hard work required to get there.

Well it's back to the massage table for me this afternoon so I can get back to the training and I'll keep you all up to date with things in the future

Cheers Toby

On The Way

It's the day before my main lead up race and I'm not feeling too bad. I haven't got that jumping out of my skin feeling which I really like to have before a race but hopefully that will turn up this afternoon. Have had a couple of good nights sleep so they should start to take effect soon.

The week started with some treatment to get ready for this weekend. Took me a while to start to get over that - it was a bit more intense than I've ever had before but I could feel the good it did. This weeks was a taper so I work on cutting things back to about a 1/3 of what's been happening and increase the intensity/speed of the sessions, with the main focus of the week being sleep.

Looking forward to tomorrow there is a big field which will help me get use to what's to come and have got a full family of support crew watching on, It's great having my sisters in the Geelong area for my accommodation needs.

For anyone interested the site for the race is here
They might be posting live times during the race.

Tomorrows race has the current IM world champ Craig Alexander racing. That's the cool thing about this sport, the armatures get to race alongside their sporting idols. There's not many sports out there that you can do this with, imagine how many people out there would like to play footy or cricket with the stars of the game. But I know I don't even notice them when racing I'm either in too much pain to notice or totally focused on my own efforts. I mainly like perving on their bikes in transition.

Got to get over and recover from this race as quick as possible. Have mapped out my plan up until the big day and its time to hit some serious stuff real hard.

Next post will be a full race report from tomorrow hopefully with mainly good things

Toby

Here we go again

The start of the week was as standard as they come, then throw in a club Criterium race and the first of the Summer Series road racing to finish things off.

With the criterium it was just a matter of staying on two wheels for me I was a bit apprehensive during the whole race I've come to far and got a long way to go to have it all come crashing down. This and apart from the fact I've got a long way to go yet with taking tight corners at speed.

During all my training sessions after Tuesday I definitely started to feel the effects of the recovery week. All my sessions I seem to have at least 5 secs of extra speed per Km or rep, this has got me feeling really good going into next Sunday's 70.3 race. Also had my best week ever in the pool hitting 13km for the week. Put the extra effort in here this week because I know I can bounce back from the pool sessions easier than any other discipline, something to think about for me with the up coming race.

Another learning point from the week came during my long run. At about the 2hr 10 mark I noticed my heart rate rise with no extra perceived effort, this tells me that I need something. So I downed some sports drink from my fuel belt and worked on getting my HR down so it could be absorbed quicker. Then in a few more minutes things where back to normal and I could go back the original pace. I'm happy that I had this experience because I'm 99.9% sure that something similar will happen on race day no matter how vigilant I am with my nutrition and I hope now I can recognise it and work through it. This all probably happened from what I did at about the half way mark of this session. I met up with Bianca and we got a couple of laps in together of the Blue Lake, then she decided that we needed to do the stairs. At this stage I should just quote someone

"Can I have Nutri-Grain with that?? Ironman Food. Just mix with Concrete and I might just harden up. I am getting soft ".

But I was happy to be out there running with Bianca, It's great to see her enjoying running again

Weekly totals - Swim 13km Ride 385km Run 57km

This week saw both entries for Geelong 70.3 and Ironman Australia close. With Geelong at 1149 and Ironman at 1308. Pretty sure that the Ironman will get bigger slightly once a few more people validate at Geelong as the site says that it lists validated entrants.

Toby

Easy Does It

This week saw the completion of my first recovery week (only 1 more and two tapers to go).

I was pretty pleased with my efforts this week considering I was a bit worried about how I would cope mentally this week with having to cut back the load. The totals for this week 9km swim 300km bike and 40km run (also got stretching sessions in this week).

The actual body feels good (muscles,joints etc) but I feel a bit tired, saw the opportunity with a week of less training to try to fit in more social activities. It was good to catch up with my mates and live a little normal for a while but that's behind me now and it's eyes on the prize for the next 7 weeks.

This coming week I intend to top up on some speed with Geelong in 2 weeks then it's into a well structured week of taper an as much extra sleep as I can fit in. I'll be looking at trying to get around the same time as Shepparton or maybe a little faster. I feel and know that I've improved since then, I also think that if the weather is a little more comfy at Geelong then it was at Shepparton the two courses are probably about the same difficulty. I don't want to build up my hopes for a PB as no two races in triathlon can be the same there are just too many variables. All I know is that if I get a good lead up and the body is feeling good going to give it all and more than what I've got.

Toby

This week and what I eat

As I write this post I think I can feel my body start to appreciate the effects of a recovery week. I've got to know what to expect from my body during the recovery week phase, the first few days I don't feel all that great but as I get towards the end I get the recovered feeling start to set in and a real hunger to start to smash myself again.

Nothing exciting came from this week on the training front, I felt it was a real struggle to get any sort of form or speed in any of my sessions but the promising part was I did start to come good towards the end of each session. The club race on Tuesday even though I lacked a bit of zip I really enjoyed and I'm kind of looking forward to the Criterium this coming Tuesday. Just a bit concerned about going around that many corners.

Well the general theme I got from the last post was that every one's interested in what I consume. What usually happens is that I open the fridge or pantry then I open my mouth and start shovelling it all in. Not Exactly but I thought it was the most amusing way to describe it.

I just follow a few rules when it comes to this topic.
- Any training session above 2 hrs I use sports drink, anything below just gets water
- During the early stages of a preparation I try to use real food on my long training rides and days. Muesli Bars, Fruit Bread are a couple of my favourites. I'm pretty sure that using gels and sports bars all the time can't be good for you
- Straight after big training sessions hydrate then get some protein in as soon as possible, usually in the form of a iced coffee protein shake or scrambled eggs
- Use specific fuel as I plan to in a race during long rides and big sessions as It gets closer to the event. I'm pretty lucky that I have a bit of a cast iron stomach and can handle pretty much any type of gel/bar/drink. But my current favourites are any berry flavoured gel, GU Chomps and Staminade (it contains magnesium, I found this has cured my cramping issues where drinks without it couldn't).
- Don't try to consume carbs when heart rates too high, the body can't absorb them (found this out about 32kn into marathon 1)
- I've also found that in between say a swim and a bike session if I have a short black and a little chocolate or a couple of milk coffee biscuits I get a much better session in.
- When it comes to the main meals I keep it as simple as possible and stay clear of any pre processed foods. It's pretty easy to create tasty meals from scratch with a good variety of fresh and dried herbs and condiments. I guess I've also increased the amount of carbs I consume now with the extra workload, trying to include a good serv with most meals. I would probably eat rice or pasta based meals at least 4 times a week now.
- I also use food as motivation (I'm just like a pet dog) during a long ride on a cold day nothing gets me through like the thought of a coffee and a bakery product when I finish. Or on a hot day the thought of a cold beer or icy cold coke is Gold (after re hydrating first).

Sorry if I'm not technical enough on this topic but it's just one of those areas that gets only enough attention to get me through. Will be a good area for me to look at in the future when looking for those extra few percent, so far I haven't had too much trouble in this area on race day. But I do know I get better with knowing what I need with every race, there are guidelines out there to follow which I used as a starting point but nothing beats finding it out for yourself what you require. I think at Shepp last year I got it as spot on as I've ever done so I'll be using that as my template from now on until I stumble across something that works better.

Toby

Big Weekend

Well I survived my biggest training weekend ever and to tell the truth feeling a little shattered but not too bad.

It all started Saturday at 5:55am when I started out on a 6hr or 180km ride which ever came first, luckily for me the 180 came before the 6hr (177.6 run out of drink and didn't think it a good idea to get any more dehydrated than what I was, considering I wanted to run afterwards). Then had a 20 min rest and a refuel before a brisk 35min run just to top the day off.

Sunday I treated myself to a sleep in until 7:30 before heading out to the come'n'try race put on by the club to give new comers to cycling a taste of racing. They got a good taste of what a head wind is for the way home anyway.
The next part of the day was filled with 160mins of long running. About an hour into the run I was feeling great. Thinking about what I was going to put in this post about how relatively easy this weekend been considering the workload and how much further in front I'll be once I come out the other side of my up coming recovery week. But then about 90 mins in I hit a slight wall not too bad but a notable change in effort required to keep moving forward. Got through this little bump and didn't have another bad patch up until 10 mins out from the end.
Like I said earlier on in this blog I'm always looking for a chance to get some extra K's in the pool so after I'd recovered a bit from the run got a quick 1500m in just to give the weekly tally a bit of a boost.

Week Totals - Swim 11.7km Ride 422km Run 60km
You might think this is quite hefty considering it's just my second week in but I've got a big base foundation of training to call on before I started this. Also I need to get a lot of work done now because I know I've got some possible lean weeks towards the end of the prep.

Not only was it a big weekend training wise, it was a big weekend at our house. Bianca woke up Saturday morning with the urge to paint the bathroom, toilet and laundry. Which is fine but she also wanted some pictures hung and the bathroom accessories we bought months ago and have just been hiding in the spare room installed. It took me about an hour of sitting and recovering just to get some energy up to complete my part of these tasks and to Bianca's credit she didn't put the pressure on too much and just let me get them done in my own time.

So when I look back at the last week and especially now as I look back at the weekend and all that has been and done it's not a wonder I feel a little tired (amplified by the fact it was all done while working midnight starts at work). But overall I'm still not feeling as bad as what I thought I might be. Also super pumped about the recovery week and what I'll be like coming out the other side of it

Toby

Usual Routine

Got into a good routine this week with my training. Once again hitting some good numbers which will serv me well towards the end of the build up as I know things are going to get chaotic about 3 weeks out.

Had the standard routine at the start of the week with pretty much the same result from the club road race. I'm happy as long as I hit or get close to my max HR each week the race has served it's purpose well.

Had an awesome day Wednesday hit 4km in the pool then smashed out the best bike / run (brick) session for a long time. Felt like I was just floating on the run, just had one of those days. Paid for the good day on Thursday though. Was a bit flat but still made it through all my requirements for that day the thought of the massage on on Friday helped me carry on.

Well I can't help but have to write a bit about the massage, as it was as much a challenge as any training I've completed recently. I knew I was a bit overdue for one but the standard 1hr session carried well into 90mins, but I'm sure a lot of good came from it. Hopefully now I can get on top of these little injuries that have been annoying me. Sue can't believe that I can put myself through all that pain of training but can't lay relaxed enough on the massage table. Well I don't usually have someone sticking their elbow into my hip, back, calf and or any other major muscle group with all their force while I'm training. Big thanks to Sue though she's going to have allot more work to do before this blogs complete.

Will once again give all the numbers of the week after Sunday at the moment looking similar to last week but just in a different configuration. Also thanks to Robyn at G&D Cycles for her little gift today or should I say allowing me to be a guinea pig, who would of thought they would produce a ginger bread flavoured energy gel. Could be the taste sensation of 2010, can't see how though will get back to you with a review.

Toby

Motivation Music?

So I was lucky enough to witness this wind trainer session in the lounge room this afternoon with the one and only Peter Combe DVD for inspiration music. (Where's your bag, dad, your bag? You left your bag dad in Baghdad!)

The Nitty Gritty of the last few days

Since my last post I have just done a little bit, well probably a bit more than a little bit.

Last week saw me head into new territory, with higher load and intensity than I've ever attempted before but that’s what this whole thing is about. One of the most promising things to come out so far is the way my body is handling the extra workload the last few days of training I've felt the best I have for weeks. But I have been working hard on getting the most from my Monday and Friday recovery sessions so I can get more quality done in-between.

The key training sessions towards the end of the week included a brick session Wednesday, 160km ride Saturday, 2.5hr run Sunday (with the last hour of the run starting at 30 oC finishing at 35 0C) followed by a lovely open water swim in the arvo.
I usually don't worry about the brick sessions this early in the build up to an event but with Geelong 70.3 only 4 weeks away I need to make sure that the muscle memory is still firmly intact.
I was really impressed with my long ride this weeks, I hit the 100km mark and felt like I had just started and was fresh as a daisy. Such a good sign for me at this point of the prep, if I get my recovery spot on hopefully this sort of thing can carry on right through the lead up. Got a quick fire 5 km run in shortly after finishing the ride on Saturday and the legs felt fantastic from the start, had to hold myself back from hammering out some more k's I was feeling that good.
The long run was fine up until the last 45min it turned into a bit of a slog but had more to do with the temperature than anything else. People may call me extremely crazy (not just crazy) to head out in those conditions but I train to meet the demands of competition and I could quite possibly have to race in similar conditions as I had to at Shepp.
It was a great day for an open water swim, blue skies light winds and about 10 degrees cooler at the beach than home. Ended up doing around 45mins in the water a fantastic way to finish the weekend efforts.

Weekly approx totals (too hard to give exact numbers when swapping between bikes and haven't got the time to map each run)
Swim - 11km
Bike - 400km
Run - 57km

Also thank to Abi and Tiff of Blupod for there support, with Beachport holding there first triathlon later in the year and the finish line being right at the doorstep to the shop. Hopefully I can put in a good effort there.

Toby

Picture Update of the Weekend

What do you do after training for 6 hours on a hot Saturday morning - have a refreshing beer of course! Proof that triathletes still enjoy themselves a little.

Sunday afternoon open water swim in beautiful Beachport. Oh, there he is!


Going under the jetty - swimming strong (um is that a sting-ray under there?)



Toby the man coming out of the water. Beeeeyoootifool day!


Introducing the newest sponsors Abi and Tiff of Blu Pod Creative Artists.

I was looking over old photos last night and came across this one taken on our Great Eastern Australia Road Trip of 2007, where we spent 3 nights in Port Macquarie on the way home. It is SUCH a beautiful spot as you can see in the photo below.

Toby wanted a pic of him with the Ironman logo that is marked everywhere along the run course. Who would have thought that three years later we will be back there and he will be competing in it... I say go Toby!

In supporter news, the support crew - so far consisting of Tobys family and my family are going to be decking ourselves out in wicked tee-shirts for the day, thinking of a cool design to do for them... if anyone wants to support the man on the day with a shirt, let me know, I'll put you on the list. The more the merrier!

Going Strong

Still going full steam ahead as I get part the way through the first week, had a standard recovery style Monday with 3ks in the pool, which included 1800m of drills and then in the arvo 45mins on the bike.

Tuesday on the other hand I've set out to always make it a solid bike day, It started with 1hr 20 on the ergo with a brand new session that I've haven't done before but I really enjoyed. I know the ergo can be so boring but this session design somehow really made the time fly (or it could of been Steve Jacobs pitch/weather reports from the SCG, the Today show is heaps better than Sunrise). After work I managed a quick fire 4.5km run before having to head out to the Club Graded scratch race, would of been too long between drinks if I didn't get some sort of a run in today.

As usual I wasn't going to leave anything for the sprint in the club race, it's not the reason I'm out there. I'm just looking to keep pushing the threshold and hold it there for as long as I can. I'm really looking like hitting some good distances by the end of the week on the bike, will be interesting what the end total will be.

I like to find my limit in the first three weeks of a prep just so I got a measuring stick for the rest of the build up, hopefully timing my peak as best as possible.

Toby

Good Results from the 1st Weekend

All up around 200km on bike (pretty sure with an ave around 30-31kmhr will pay more attention next time of the speedo before resetting), 2hrs 20min running, 1800m in the pool and a full day fishing(12mullet 1 salmon trout), there are the numbers from the weekend. I started the weekend off on Friday bringing the whole weekend forward so I could have the Sunday off to treat myself spending the day with Bianca on a Fishing safari.

Friday started by making the most of the public holiday with a bunch ride of 2.5hrs then it back to bed for a nap before heading off for 2hrs15min of easy long run.

Saturday saw a big bunch head to Penola to join up with another bunch then head through to Glencoe via Klangadoo. Most of the guys headed back to Penola for lunch, but a few of us battled head and cross winds to make it back to home. Surprisingly there weren’t many spots on the way home below 30kmh, helps when you got Bruce up the front to sit behind.
Once home I headed out for my standard run after my long ride. But the combination of my long run the day before and the tough ride battling head and cross winds all the way home was too much for my knee. I could feel an injury that I'm slowly recovering from start to flare so I called it quits after about 5 mins. Then once home and again as the day before it was back off to bed for a nanna nap, gotta love training on days off just like being a pro.

I'm making a big effort with this build up to try to get as much extra swimming in as possible as it's pretty easy on the body and will help right across the board. With this in mind after the nap I got an extra bit of just straight no fuss swimming in until my legs started to show signs of cramping. Also got to put my coaches' hat on at the Pool and give Bianca lessons on how to tumble turn. The result was a nasal irrigation and a pretty good summersault for her first attempt (I did tell her to blow out her nose but she did it a bit late, I'm not that mean not to give that piece of advice).

All up as I finish this post I'm feeling as close to 100% as possible ready to smash it for 3 weeks got a week of good weather and I'm pumped. Will try to get some pics of training and anything else that might be interesting just to add to the experience. Thanks for all the comments and for those interested the chest hair did get helped by photoshop, not at my request.

Toby

First Post

Well I guess I should start by letting you all know that I've just entered, so there is no turning back now.

Also I've officially started my specific Ironman training today with the help of Rob the other day we went through and got a plan together for the up coming weeks for the bike and I added my plan for the Swim and the Run.

For all you guys that have just joined in on the action I'm not starting today from completely nothing, the build up has involved completing my second marathon and validating for the big day by competing in my third Shepp Half Ironman. So before now I've still been maintaining between 14 to 17 hrs a week over the three diciplines since the start of September and before that specific run training for the Marathon. Just some info for anyone whos thinking of trying this at home.

So thanks for all the support from everyone so far (thanks bianca for the excellent blog) and I look forward to keeping this up to date with relevent info and photos and keeping everyone up to speed with my progression as I move towards this goal

Cheers Toby