Made it

I got a nice bit of vindication that going to see a nutritionist was a good idea yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon I had a catch up with David Bryant to go over any last minute tweaks to the nutrition plan before Rottnest Long Course. While I was there he asked if I would like him to take my skinfolds. Now I haven't had my skinfolds measured for absolutely ages (years and years), I have never had much joy in getting low skinfold numbers and so it is not something that I have bothered to seek out. However, I have definitely lost some weight since I started David's plan, so I thought it might not be a bad idea to get the skinfolds measured so I have a good baseline to compare to.

Well I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. From what David told me the numbers are very low. About as low as safely sustainable (less than 35mm on a 7 site test for those wondering).
Whilst that is a nice boost to my ego and all, that isn't really the reason why I considered it good news. The reason I was happy to hear it is because it means that the new nutrition plan has worked, it is a success. Carrying a couple of kilos to much during racing is something that I have always been conscious of. An easy gain if I could get just myself to lose the weight, but try as I might I just couldn't do it. However, now it is done. In most sports improvements are like an endless piece of string. No matter how fast or fit you get you could be faster or fitter. In that world it is nice to actually hit a goal and know that it is enough. I probably could lose a little bit more, but it really wouldn't be a good idea. These tests tell me that I am now at about an ideal weight for somebody of my body composition. That is really good to know.

Also had a bit of training today. Taper week it is, but that doesn't mean the work stops entirely, it just tends to get a bit shorter. So this morning it was time for a mini-brick. Probably the last bit of serious work before race day. A nice hour on the bike and then a 5km run off it. The session went very nicely. The Falco is currently sitting in a bag on Rottnest (I really hope it is anyway) and so this morning I was out on the training bike. I was keen to get a bit more time on the new Caden wheels though so for laughs I threw them on the roadie. Looked pretty mean if I may say so myself, plus they went well. The wheels continue to impress me.

The run off the bike was a good little jog too. The only problem I had with the run was actually slowing myself down. It was supposed to be a race simulation brick, so done at 20km pace, not 5km pace. Whilst I was far from flat out, I still struggled to bring it back to proper race pace. A bit annoying, but at the same time the running did feel really, really good. All ticking along nicely and pretty much ready for race day.

Speaking of running. I have mentioned before that I have been doing a bit of running work with Front Runner Sports here in Perth. They have been doing a series of blog articles on different training paces for running and what the different paces are for. Anyway, today they put out the one for aerobic and recovery running. Very interesting read.

Why you run slow sometimes

This is stuff that I have sort of known about, but nobody has ever really explained to me before. Makes a lot of sense now that you read it.

Finally, on the topic of the Rottnest Long Course, I had a minor race related panic this afternoon.  Since I wasn't able to get accommodation on the Island, my plan for the race is to head across on Saturday, set up the bike etc (I have a friend I can leave all my gear with) and then head back across on Sunday morning for the race. There is a ferry that leaves Perth at 7:00 and gets there at 8:00 and the race starts at 9:30. All I have to do when I get there is pick up my stuff and check it in at transition. Plenty of time. Until of course the ferry company cancels the 7:00am ferry that you are booked on and books you instead on the 7:45am ferry that doesn't reach the Island until 9:00am. Sweet mother.....

I had about 20 minutes of panic before I could get to an Internet and found out that there is actually another ferry that leaves from a different terminal at 7:15am and gets to Rottnest at 8:00am. This other terminal is slightly closer to my house, so if anything the morning may have just become a little bit easier. But man I was freaking out for a minute there.

Hopefully no more surprises tomorrow.