Cuttin the mustard?: Drowning.. not waving

Cuttin the mustard?: Drowning.. not waving: "Ok, I am locked into the biggest and ‘badest’ Ironman race of them all in 5months, the Hawaii Ironman. I should be super motivated all the t..."

Drowning.. not waving

Ok, I am locked into the biggest and ‘badest’ Ironman race of them all in 5months, the Hawaii Ironman. I should be super motivated all the time…right…..jumping out of bed, doing every session and then some, whilst smiling and making it look easy.

Well, that just isn’t me right now. I just fell over the line at New Zealand, and haven’t really picked myself up yet. On the outside, the race looked easy enough, but it was a real battle, and the battle just got more challenging. Yes I am s.t..ruggling, mentally and physically.

I suppose I shouldn’t be putting this out there for public consumption. Heck I coach a big squad of super athletes, and back in the day I used to be hard as nails….supposedly. I should be playing the role of the perfect example of how things should be done when it comes to training. No, nothing to see here… just yet

Being a slave

This game is so mental, and so much about reinforcing good training and lifestyle habits. The big road block with this is the downside to the upside?? being a slave to habits and routine is that you can slip either way, the wrong or the right side of OK.

At present HMAS Foz is locked on the wrong tact with training frequency and application. My head is wrapped in cotton wool, and driven mostly by finding comfort in overindulging in all things… NOT GOOD.

To defer back to the nautical theme, I’m looking at the sand, instead of the sky, and hoping I can right myself before the next big wave!

The tipping point

There is a tipping point where there isn’t a choice for me. My old motto once was…’Your best weapon is preparation’.

The more prepared I was, the more confident I became.

The tipping point of the ideal time frame for good preparation is fast approaching with around 23weeks to go the big show. I’ve been there before and its scary if you haven’t brought you’re A.Game  

To quote Dave Chappelle….Time to ‘Keep it Real!’ Attending 2 goal driven seminars in 3days in my duties as a coach has been a good reality check. The question of what drives you to reach your goals came up in discussion

I can come up with all the right things to say to you at the point, but I wouldn’t be honest if at this time the word fear didn’t come into the equation. 

Time to shut up? and find a way to right this ship and get back on tact.

Time to remember why I do this, and what it feels like to reach a challenging goal.

No it aint all peaches and cream, I am not going to lie to you just coz in my position I should be seen to be doing all the right things.
Frankly, things don’t always come easy for me. Most of time it’s a battle, a battle mostly fought in my own mind. 

Finding a way to replace the cotton wool with concrete is now high on my list of goals.

Sorry for my introverted, absorbed little rant. Quite selfish really, but without breaking it back to the bare bones, I can’t rebuild a solid foundation to spring off on.

Hoping for fairer seas and smoother sailing ahead.  

Foz

Cuttin the mustard?: Keeping it Simple!!!

Cuttin the mustard?: Keeping it Simple!!!: "It’s been great to dip the toe back into the training pool again in preparation for Hawaii! First time I have coached myself in a long time...."

Keeping it Simple!!!

It’s been great to dip the toe back into the training pool again in preparation for Hawaii! First time I have coached myself in a long time. Don’t like myself already, and talking to myself a lot, which can be embarrassing.

I’ve had to go back to the drawing board, and work out what things I need to work onto get the best result. What are my strengths and weaknesses are, my time availability to train each week, the training period duration, and what environment best motivates me to train.

This is quite cathartic to be honest. I have had to cut out the bullshit, not spending time (training wise) doing things that won’t help me reach my goal. This process has also re opened my eyes to what a pro level training program really should consist of!

Its common sense really… keep.it.simple.!

Had to assess my ability in the endurance, speed, and strength endurance training zones.

I know I’m strong and have bucket loads of endurance, but definitely not powerful, especially top end neural power. The screening with the awesome Rosie Mc showed me that. So what to do? Please refer to my Hawaii program mantra…… ‘No Compromises’

No power eh? So do sets that increase power and my ability to change pace. One big hill ride session midweek. Same set every Thursday for 6weeks in a row. Yep, aint looking to be entertained by the training, just to get better by doing it!

Note, this is something I don’t always do with the age groupers as it needs to be fun too. I’m not doing Hawaii for the fun of it, its tough, and if you go in underprepared, you will be found out, and the pain will just last longer. I’m hoping to see the joy in it once I’m smashing it along the Queen K at 40clicks plus!....Hopefully

Finally a big thanks is in order to my training buddy KK. Last Saturday I could of easily wimped out and just ridden back from Kinglake the short way with the others, instead of via Chrissy Hills. But I didn’t coz KK was there. I didn’t even ask her about this option, coz I knew the easy way wouldn’t be an option for her.

Rock on, no compromises!

Leave you with this one – The will to succeed is only as strong as the will to prepare.

Train Smart, Train hard, but most of all, have fun going really really fast!

Fozlington

Cuttin the mustard?: Hawaii Ironman Training week 1/2

Cuttin the mustard?: Hawaii Ironman Training week 1/2: "Well week 1 and 2 are just about done of Hawaii transition phase 2011. I’m rating my performance to date at 6 out of 10!!! This is the firs..."

Hawaii Ironman Training week 1/2

Well week 1 and 2 are just about done of Hawaii transition phase 2011. I’m rating my performance to date at 6 out of 10!!!

This is the first time in 8years that I have followed some sort of training program. The last time was in 2003 when I last qualified for Hawaii! Geez, what does this mean, I have to be organised?!....
Been pretty inconsistent so far, except for the sessions I’ve done with my Hawaii training buddy KK and haven’t hit the water since New Zealand. Not exactly the best start but there’s plenty of time to correct that.

Bill my dog is tickle pink with the new setup though, been taking him out on easy runs with me. He runs fartlek whilst smelling bums and chasing me when I get out of eyesight!

The separation of work and training has gone great guns too, training quite separate to the squad schedule. So when coaching I can devote 100% of my time to my athletes, and when training, I can do the same time to my training.
I have found though that I get the best training ideas for work when I am out training myself. My training partner unfortunately is constantly being ear bashed with these as we ride… Sorry!!

The double edged sword of committing to racing Hawaii is that I get to try some new stuff on myself that I have yet to integrate into any athletes programs. Spose I can call it educated experimentation!
This will definitely be a win win. For me as an athlete and for my experience as a coach.

Enter barefoot jogging post Thursday strength ride being one of them. Far from being a training fad type coach, I have started doing some barefoot jogging for the first time. Slow jog just to strengthen the integrity of the lower leg and calf for the next phase of training. The three old Italian Bocce fellas who share grass oval space at Studley park with me every Thursday think I am a bit crazy though. They smile politely, but quite possibly think otherwise as I run past every few minutes.

Bonus too is I get to train with people that until now I have respected from afar. Case in point, the star Bev Thomas, who KK and I bumped into Saturday. Bev joined us for our last power ride to the Dandys

Finally, I am bummed to hear the great man Lance Armstrong has pulled the pin on Hawaii 2011. I would have loved to race against the great man this year

Anyway, better stop taking and work on getting a little more consistent.

Happy training.

Foz

Ironman New Zealand - the qualifier

I had just recently clicked over to the 40-44age group. I felt a very very long way from the peak of my racing powers. I hadn’t finished an Ironman in 2years, and most of the guys that I coach only have a recent memory of me DNFíng in my last Ironman, which I was copping shit for.

My recent racing history had included an active feet baby tri at Port Arlington and a XOSize team event where I flatted with 10k to go…. This could be a disaster…

The Race

I took a walk by Lake Taupo the night before the race to attempt to settle the inner demons. My distinct lack of confidence belied the fact that this would be my 17^th finish if all went to plan. My state of mind seemed intrinsically linked to the short prep I had done, due to troubles with Osteitis Pubis for most of 2010.

I did know I had the ability to hurt like no one else, I had confidence in that, but the for how long it would take was the million dollar question

Race Day

The weather was average. It was windy and poured with rain, but for those that know me, that was what I was hoping for. ; )

I was banking on being as smart as I could for this race. My hope was I could put to good use some of the race tips that I regularly spewed out to the athletes I coached.

Swim

**Error one, going to the start line too early for the swim, and not doing my accels and keeping my shoulders warm… Not a good start!! OK, lets redeem yourself FOZ. Get a good start, then think about keeping the right arm over the barrel all the way, if I do that I usually swim ok.

Had a solid swim, was hoping for 53mins and came out in 52:33. No dramas after an initial rough start, and got out on the bike safe and sound after that long run to T1.

Bike

Ok, my creedo for the bike was to attack early, and attack hard.  After that, hold a solid rhythm, stay away from packs, or be on the front of them, and keep my cadence up!

I hit the bike hard, dragging a group up the first hill out of town. Of course when I got to the top, a few accelerated hard off me.

I knew that I had to keep in touch with them, this was a crucial part of the ride!

I did, and once a few of them popped from the initial effort, I passed them and settled into my solid rhythm for the race.

I felt surprisingly good, and stuck mostly to my pace and maintained a good cadence. Shit, I even put a speedo on so I could keep an eye on my pacing. Yes don’t faint people, this is unusual for me!

I usually go by feel, but I was glad that I had the computer, and I was smiling as most of the time the speedo was well above 40km/hr

I had a surprisingly good bike, finishing with a split of 5hrs. I was hoping for anything sub 5:10, as I hadn’t felt good on the bike in the lead up. I ended up sitting on the front of a group of around 7riders for around 150k of the ride. With 45k to go I managed to get away, with only 2 coming with. I arrived in T2 leading my age group and top 3 age grouper.

Run

Onto the run, and once again it was a matter of take it out hard and hanging on. All that ran through my mind in the early stages was keep the nutrition and my stride cadence up and relax the shoulders. I had to find anyway to save energy, as I was a bit underdone, and I knew the run would bring this out.

As it happens I ran strongly to 25kms, averaging just over 4:30min k’s, and was in 2^nd spot in my age. The plan was working!!!

From there though, I lost a lot of condition in my quads and it felt like I was running on egg shells down the hills.  

I was worried enough from 25k on that I told myself that I had to run 90strides hard, then 60 strides easy. I was scared I was slacking off!

I also resorted to counting calves all the way through the final lap when anyone ran past me, hoping they weren’t in my age group. Not until that point did the possibility of reaching my goal of racing Hawaii again come into my head.

Finally with about 10k to go I could switch from thinking I hope I make it to Hawaii, to hope I make it to the podium, maybe second was on the cards.

The Chute

Not knowing what time I was doing, it was like a ‘chicken surprise’ moment running down the finish chute. To my surprise the clock glowed 9:18, only 3mins slower than my goal time. A sense of relief washed over me, as I crossed the line. I had given all I could and I was shattered; the quads were like glass and I struggled to get to the massage tent.

Immediately, my mind switched to ok, I am going back to Hawaii.

Evidently I had forgotten how much it had hurt in 2001!

Big thanks to all the awesome supporters out there and the volunteers on race day in such average conditions

Foz

Cuttin the mustard?

My name is Sean 'fozzy' Foster

I’m 40years old and been a coach since 1995, and a has been triathlete.

I run a team in Melbourne called Fluid Movements Sports and have been the Melbourne Tri Club head coach for 7years.

I’ve raced to World Champs Olympic standard in 1998, and age semi-pro level ironman till 2003. In recent history, a lot of water under the bridge had a lot of time off regular training to develop myself as a triathlon coach.

I’ve earmarked 2011 as the year where I will attempt to go back to the Hawaii Ironman, having completed it twice before in 99 and 01 and qualified in 03 as a pro, but DNS due to injury.

Its time to put my coaching experience to the sword and see what I can do.

This blog is about trying to coach myself, work full time, and juggle getting older and fatter all at the same time. Hope this is entertaining and even maybe informative.

Stay tuned !!

Foz