Found an effecient way to get a training 'upsize'.
Headed off to the pool for a tempo swim set the tagged on a treadmill session at the gym.
Saved about 50 minutes all up. Only changed once, swim was a warm up for the treadmill, one set of clothes (no spending 20minutes hunting the missing sock!) and only one shower at the end.
Sure I might've missed some deeper aerobic conditioning but speed/tempo intervals on the treadmill are great for developing running stride economy. While it's not as technical as running or in a dense medium, improving running technique means you use less energy to move the same speed - ironman is all about economy of movement. It's smart fitness.
Plus it's a lot more family friendly and encourages adaptation to changing movement modes like you do on a tri.
Try it out
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Get good at the bad days
Second great trip from the Cameron brown camp.
It's easy to have great days but the real talent is in managing and learning from the bad days.
Be good at the bad days, there's always something to learn and develop from them
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
It's easy to have great days but the real talent is in managing and learning from the bad days.
Be good at the bad days, there's always something to learn and develop from them
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
Location:New Zealand
Postcards from the cam brown camp
Just been for an easy run on the ironman new Zealand course with Cameron Brown, 8 times IMNZ champ. Pretty cool to be jogging along with him getting some great run tips.
Tip 1 - when you get to a hill, shorten your stride, get your hips under you and take baby steps to get up the hill with the least effort as possible
Thanks Cameron. Now I just need to drop 15kg, increase my watts by about 60 on the bike and develop a 3rd lung - then I might be able to run like you.....for at least 1km
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
Tip 1 - when you get to a hill, shorten your stride, get your hips under you and take baby steps to get up the hill with the least effort as possible
Thanks Cameron. Now I just need to drop 15kg, increase my watts by about 60 on the bike and develop a 3rd lung - then I might be able to run like you.....for at least 1km
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
Location:New Zealand
5 hour ride booster
Knocked off a 5 hour ride last weekend. Headed off at 6am which is damn early but it made the ride more family friendly as we were all done by 11:30 including a 30 min run off the bike.
Did have to sneak in a wee power nap but good to go again by 2.
I used the First Endurance EFS and Liquid Shots. Quite amazing, had constant energy the whole ride. No flagging or 'hollow' spots
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
Did have to sneak in a wee power nap but good to go again by 2.
I used the First Endurance EFS and Liquid Shots. Quite amazing, had constant energy the whole ride. No flagging or 'hollow' spots
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
Sunday, January 17, 2010
iPhone app
Just found a new Ironman focussed iPhone app - 'Crowie Backstage'
It has videos, training, and interviews from Craig Alexander and ..... It's free :-)
Check the App Store and search for 'Crowie Backstage' or 'Ironman'.
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
It has videos, training, and interviews from Craig Alexander and ..... It's free :-)
Check the App Store and search for 'Crowie Backstage' or 'Ironman'.
Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand
My name's Tim and I'm a Chocoholic
The first time I did Ironman I was able to give up beer, ice cream, cakes, biscuits, chocolate ...... Pretty much everything for 2 1/2 months. And, with some training, I lost 13kg to hit 83kg. My motto was 'if I eat it, I've got to carry it for 226km'.
Over the last 3 years I've bounced back to 87kg - not a big gain, so you think it would be pretty simple to knock off 3 - 4 kgs? Nup!
Whereas last time I went about 70 days junk food free, this time I'm struggling to do 7 hours!
Why do i want to drop some weight?
A range of reasons from simple things like it's so much easier to get into your wetsuit, to knowing your not hauling the equivalent of an extra two to three 2 litre bottles of milk up every hill during the race, to the health reasons of dropping abdominal fat (not good for men) and of course, the pure vanity reason of looking lean!
So here's my plan to drop 4 kgs.
1: set a SMART goal - to weigh in at Ironman at 83kg on March 6 2010.
2: 'vocalise' the goal. Research shows that telling others your goals strengthens your goal drive and motivation. (check '59 seconds' for a great book that summarizes the proven research in the 'self help' area.) Ok, I've just told the entire cyber world, that should do it!
3: Set daily functional goals -
Make sure I have a good breakfast including protein
Get my wife to hide all chocolate (I work from home so my stress/procrastination/thinking about a problem behaviour is to chomp Nestle chocolate bits! I know it's my brain searching for a 'feel good' response from the chocolate to help with the stress. And I know that a a quick walk and a glass of water will do the same but ...... If there's chocolate in the house, I'll find it!). I've tried buying dark chocolate and putting it in the freezer - that slowed me down ..... a little.
Add protein to lunch to help manage afternoon sugar cravings. There's a feedback mechanism that gets your body searching for sugar 20 - 30 minutes after a 'sugary' meal. Protein (a boiled egg, smoothie, 1/2 a protein bar etc) helps you feel full and satiated as well as helping to manage sugar cravings.
I've also been using the First Endurance products and I've noticed that if I take the Optygen/Multi V comb before a long session, I don't come home with that 'wolf like', ravenous, gotta eat the entire pantry/fridge feeling. So I'll get more stringent on doing that before every long session.
So that's my start. Got any tips that you use? Let me know.....please!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Over the last 3 years I've bounced back to 87kg - not a big gain, so you think it would be pretty simple to knock off 3 - 4 kgs? Nup!
Whereas last time I went about 70 days junk food free, this time I'm struggling to do 7 hours!
Why do i want to drop some weight?
A range of reasons from simple things like it's so much easier to get into your wetsuit, to knowing your not hauling the equivalent of an extra two to three 2 litre bottles of milk up every hill during the race, to the health reasons of dropping abdominal fat (not good for men) and of course, the pure vanity reason of looking lean!
So here's my plan to drop 4 kgs.
1: set a SMART goal - to weigh in at Ironman at 83kg on March 6 2010.
2: 'vocalise' the goal. Research shows that telling others your goals strengthens your goal drive and motivation. (check '59 seconds' for a great book that summarizes the proven research in the 'self help' area.) Ok, I've just told the entire cyber world, that should do it!
3: Set daily functional goals -
Make sure I have a good breakfast including protein
Get my wife to hide all chocolate (I work from home so my stress/procrastination/thinking about a problem behaviour is to chomp Nestle chocolate bits! I know it's my brain searching for a 'feel good' response from the chocolate to help with the stress. And I know that a a quick walk and a glass of water will do the same but ...... If there's chocolate in the house, I'll find it!). I've tried buying dark chocolate and putting it in the freezer - that slowed me down ..... a little.
Add protein to lunch to help manage afternoon sugar cravings. There's a feedback mechanism that gets your body searching for sugar 20 - 30 minutes after a 'sugary' meal. Protein (a boiled egg, smoothie, 1/2 a protein bar etc) helps you feel full and satiated as well as helping to manage sugar cravings.
I've also been using the First Endurance products and I've noticed that if I take the Optygen/Multi V comb before a long session, I don't come home with that 'wolf like', ravenous, gotta eat the entire pantry/fridge feeling. So I'll get more stringent on doing that before every long session.
So that's my start. Got any tips that you use? Let me know.....please!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Great swim www tool
I've just come across a very good swim web site - Www.swimsmooth.com
It's very well set out, has great articles and video clips of 'before and after' swimmers but best of all, it has Mr Smooth.
This is a 3D animation that is the 'perfect stroke'. You can download it to your desktop and view the freestyle stroke from all angles, speed it up or slow it down and even take away the water so you can see the whole stroke clearly - and it's free :-)
See www.swimsmooth.com
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It's very well set out, has great articles and video clips of 'before and after' swimmers but best of all, it has Mr Smooth.
This is a 3D animation that is the 'perfect stroke'. You can download it to your desktop and view the freestyle stroke from all angles, speed it up or slow it down and even take away the water so you can see the whole stroke clearly - and it's free :-)
See www.swimsmooth.com
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Cheap shoes
Just picked up a pair of Louis garneau carbon tri shoes for $199 at Multisport bikes in Takapuna. Normally $300 - 'look how much I saved' :-)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, January 10, 2010
First endurance gel
Just tried out the First Endurance liquid shot gel - and it's great.
First up the packaging is a 100ml 'squeezy' bottle so no ripping gels with your teeth and getting covered with sticky gel. The number of times I've wasted half a gel as I've ripped it open and seen the gel go squirting across the road is so many I could've bought a new pair of shoes with the money - maybe I'm just a messy eater!
Second, the liquid shot 'system' is a 6 pack of prefilled gels which you use up, keep the bottles, then refill from a 'bulk' bottle so nice an Eco friendly. Plus i've seen companies charging $8 -$10 nz$ for a 'squeezy' bottle so good value getting 6 of them for the price of just a gel.
Third great thing is that 1 bottle lasts all ride. 100ml goes a long way - that's about 5 normal gel packets. So also nice and simple. Pop 1 gel bottle in your back pocket and your ready for a 3 hour ride or a 2 hour run.
And, no stcky fingers or gel packets tucked into your shorts (Its amazing but when I'm deep in the pain of an Ironman run, the thing that drives me nuts the most is having sticky gel all over my fingers - anal or what!?)
Last but not least, the gel itself is a premium product. Great carbs, electrolytes and amino acids all rolled into a gel flavour that I actually like and don't gag on.
Do they work better? Yep, knocked off a strong 2 hour run including tempo intervals the other night and felt stronger as it went longer. I actually wanted to keep going longer. Plus I didn't get sick of the taste like I usually do. So all good. Have a look at www.firstendurance.co.nz
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
First up the packaging is a 100ml 'squeezy' bottle so no ripping gels with your teeth and getting covered with sticky gel. The number of times I've wasted half a gel as I've ripped it open and seen the gel go squirting across the road is so many I could've bought a new pair of shoes with the money - maybe I'm just a messy eater!
Second, the liquid shot 'system' is a 6 pack of prefilled gels which you use up, keep the bottles, then refill from a 'bulk' bottle so nice an Eco friendly. Plus i've seen companies charging $8 -$10 nz$ for a 'squeezy' bottle so good value getting 6 of them for the price of just a gel.
Third great thing is that 1 bottle lasts all ride. 100ml goes a long way - that's about 5 normal gel packets. So also nice and simple. Pop 1 gel bottle in your back pocket and your ready for a 3 hour ride or a 2 hour run.
And, no stcky fingers or gel packets tucked into your shorts (Its amazing but when I'm deep in the pain of an Ironman run, the thing that drives me nuts the most is having sticky gel all over my fingers - anal or what!?)
Last but not least, the gel itself is a premium product. Great carbs, electrolytes and amino acids all rolled into a gel flavour that I actually like and don't gag on.
Do they work better? Yep, knocked off a strong 2 hour run including tempo intervals the other night and felt stronger as it went longer. I actually wanted to keep going longer. Plus I didn't get sick of the taste like I usually do. So all good. Have a look at www.firstendurance.co.nz
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Kesteven Ave,Auckland,New Zealand
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Great boost
I'm still being amazed by the boost and 'bounce back' I'm getting from the First Endurance supplements. These could be the 'secret weapon' of the Ironman Dad with no time to train.
Did a hilly 60 min run with cruise intervals plus a pull and paddles swim this morning.
Legs felt heavy from long ride yesterday but I popped 3 multi Vs and 4 Optygens 90 minutes before the run and I really noticed the difference. Again, the biggest difference was the mental focus and strength during the run - which I don't normally have. Also, later tonight I had thephysical and mental energy to go out with my wife for a drink with friends - again, I normally wouldn't want or be able to do that, or if I did, I'd be sitting in the corner nodding off.
Good stuff
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Did a hilly 60 min run with cruise intervals plus a pull and paddles swim this morning.
Legs felt heavy from long ride yesterday but I popped 3 multi Vs and 4 Optygens 90 minutes before the run and I really noticed the difference. Again, the biggest difference was the mental focus and strength during the run - which I don't normally have. Also, later tonight I had thephysical and mental energy to go out with my wife for a drink with friends - again, I normally wouldn't want or be able to do that, or if I did, I'd be sitting in the corner nodding off.
Good stuff
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Kesteven Ave,Auckland,New Zealand
Saturday, January 2, 2010
I should've 'bonked'
Did my first long road ride today. Out through Howick, Manukau then Airport, Parnell and finished on the waterfront to St heliers. 75km. Stiff winds that shifted around a lot.
I went with a friend of mine who's been riding a lot. From the first km my heart rate was hitting 160 and the watts were way up. I was worried as this is the sort of beginning that leaves you grovelling your way home. But no, I felt strong the whole way and even kicked in a 46kph stretch at the end along the waterfront.
I used the First Endurance EFS electrolyte mix and sipped a Liquid Shot over the 3 hours. Quite incredible how these 2 products got me through this ride so strong - I should've 'bonked'.
Better still, after a shower I headed off to the supermarket to 'hunt and gather' for the family. Normally after a ride like this, the trolley will be chokka full with beer, several varieties of chocolate and ice cream as a deep sugar craving hits. But no, my head and body were calm. No cravings and no ravenous hoovering of complete blocks of Caramello chocolate (I can do whole King size bars in a sitting after a long ride!).
So the First Endurance stuff works during the ride and after. I'm interested to see how I bounce back tomorrow morning and in my long run tomorrow afternoon.
Thinking too that using First Endurance saved me probably about $20 bucks in beer and chocolate and about 1/2 a kg in weight gain! So it's pretty good value for money all round.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I went with a friend of mine who's been riding a lot. From the first km my heart rate was hitting 160 and the watts were way up. I was worried as this is the sort of beginning that leaves you grovelling your way home. But no, I felt strong the whole way and even kicked in a 46kph stretch at the end along the waterfront.
I used the First Endurance EFS electrolyte mix and sipped a Liquid Shot over the 3 hours. Quite incredible how these 2 products got me through this ride so strong - I should've 'bonked'.
Better still, after a shower I headed off to the supermarket to 'hunt and gather' for the family. Normally after a ride like this, the trolley will be chokka full with beer, several varieties of chocolate and ice cream as a deep sugar craving hits. But no, my head and body were calm. No cravings and no ravenous hoovering of complete blocks of Caramello chocolate (I can do whole King size bars in a sitting after a long ride!).
So the First Endurance stuff works during the ride and after. I'm interested to see how I bounce back tomorrow morning and in my long run tomorrow afternoon.
Thinking too that using First Endurance saved me probably about $20 bucks in beer and chocolate and about 1/2 a kg in weight gain! So it's pretty good value for money all round.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Maskell St,Auckland,New Zealand
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