WEEK 4 of 16

Target: 11:16
Achieved: 11:51

I just finished another successful week of training in week 4. I did a little more that I was supposed to BUT I had the opportunity to do some training with my brother from Dubai (in Picture).

He is also getting ready for the Cape Epic and is also thus into the swing of training and preparation. Rick also had a solid week and “Team Old MTB Toppies” is getting into shape and all is on track. I am about to go and have a meeting with a small cycle shop and discuss how we can work with them to provide backup equipment and a mechanic for the week. I sure hope this goes well as it is a crucial part of the preparation.

Breaking it all up I did Suikerbosrand twice this week and the rest I did on the indoor trainer in front of some riveting cricket. The eating went well and I feel good. I am responding well to the training at the moment and it feels good. The legs are good and I seem to have the “free radicals” under control with my Vitamins and solid healthy eating.

All in all this was a great week and I am happy it went as well as it did taking into account that it was over the festive season and all. We have some logistical planning to do this week and I will update the Blog as and when we do it.

I also got a new toy to play with and it is the POLAR RS800G3 HRM. It is a great way to see where and how fast you got there and what effort was needed to climb that mountain (http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/products/running_multisport/RS800G3)

Happy training and may 2009 be an awesome year to all and the recession just be a vague memory by the end of 2009.

Polar 16 week plan Week 3

Hi All,

Just giving you all an update on week 3 of the polar plan.

The plan indicates that I should have done 9 hours of training this past week.

I finished on 9:03 hours.

Wow, I over achieved and feel good about it.

Monday was a rest day as well as last week and Sunday in preparation for a race on Tuesday.

I did the race at Babbas Lodge on Tuesday and felt real good.

I did 70km with 560m of climbing in wet conditions in 3:03

I then took rest days on Wednesday and Thursday.

I did 1 hour Base on my home trainer on Friday.

I then did a PB in Suikerbosrand on Saturday 3 hours flat

I then capped it off with another 2 hours of Base on my home trainer in front of the TV watching some riveting cricket.

Well done Graeme and all you boys.

Good lesson on mindset and all.

What I learned this week is that what you put in is what you will get out.

Nutrition:

Babbas Lodge,

I fell back to 2 bottles of game (4hours) BUT my bottle cage broke just before the race at Babbas.

I ended up with only 1 bottle 1 banana and Hammer Gel.

I cramped a little on the Hammer gel.

Friday,

This was less than 1 hour and thus I did not use anything specific.

Saturday,

I treated Saturday as a race and started with Pronutro in the morning.

I started with Game on min 15 and I ate half a banana on 30 minutes. I had some more game on min 45 and finished my Banana on 1 hour with some water.

I had some game on min 1:15 and followed with 50 grams of Sally Williams nougat on 1:30. I had some and finished the Game on 1:45. I had another 50 grams of SW nougat on 2 hours.

I had some more Game on 2:15, 2:30 and 2:45. I decided not to eat in the last hour. I finished 2 hours of Game in the last hour and it seems to have worked fine.

I ended up drinking 1.5l of Game and 750ml of water 1 Banana and 100 grams of SW nougat.

I topped it up with some recoverite just after the ride. I had a power recovery smoothie within 20 minutes of finishing.

I followed this with my food in my standard diet.

For my 2 hour base ride today I consumed 750ml of Game, 500ml of water, 1 banana, half a packet of jelly beans and 50 grams of SW nougat.

I followed this with a smoothie and some good food during the day.

This is my week and I will do another update next week.

I have to do 11:16 hours next week and hopefully I can report back to all with success next week and Sunday.

Have a great week and please comment if you want to know some more or have any questions for me.

My quote “The wind is your friend. When it blows in your back it makes you fast, when it blows in your face it makes you strong. Embrace the wind”

Polar 16 week plan

Hi All,

Rick and I decided to follow the Polar 16 week program for the final preparation for the Cape Epic.

It is important to take note that we are doing this on a huge base. I have only missed 1 week of training since the 18 April 2008.

I started my base the week following the IronMan 2008.

We decided to use a 15 hour week as we both hold high stress and demanding full time jobs.

This is also the most I could sacrifice away from my family.

I will update this Blog every week with the challenges and achievements and I will use this as a public space to measure myself against the plan.

Week 1

Planned time 10:14
Achieved 5:13

Reasons for being short: Work was a very big factor and I hate blaming work but we all know that this a real issue. I wish I could train all day but I sure do understand that money is what drives my participation and not sponsors.

Week 2

Planned time 11:16

Achieved 9:49

Tough week and I am to blame for being short. I did not train on Friday and thus could not make up the hours over the weekend. The plan was to use Sunday as a rest day as well as Monday as I had quite a big race on Tuesday.


Week 3

Still Busy

Suikerbosrand

26’28’17.68”S 28`13’04.22”E

Cost is R20 per day per rider or a season ticket for 6 months for R150 with unlimmited entry.

60km of tar torture and great fun all build into this ride. This 1150m of climbing and descending making this both a hard but real fun ride. I did the 94.7 in Sub 3 and this route also takes me in the region of three hours to complete.

You meet a lot of like minded people here and I met a couple of guys who completed the Cape Epic last year. I also met quite a couple of people some weeks ago preparing for the Sabie.

The Game is magnificent and if you come early you “ride” into and past quite a bit of game. If you manage to control your breathing you end up seeing a lot of animals.

This is an awesome place to ride and yes I know it is tar but this is also not a bad thing as I am not working on skill but rather strength. You just have to be careful as I clocked 78kmh on my MTB with knobblies. I have capped myself now to 70kmh.

This is a great place to do some hill work. You can do a loop where you start at the South Gate and then work your way to the main office and back to the gate. This loop will take about 1:30 and you will climb 700m in 25km. This is quite close to the prologue of the Cape Epic 2009.

The negatives are NO water on the ride at all. What you require for the entire ride you will have to bring yourself. This means a lot of weight but it can also be a blessing. I normally prepare for 4 hours.

I also do a 100km loop where I ride from my house to the resort then do the 60km loop and back home again. This normally takes me just over 5 hours if I stay in base. I hope to see some of you there soon.
Leave comments if you want more information

Why EPIC???

Why you may ask? I met Rick some time ago at a work function just before doing my second IronMan. We had quite a discussion on what preparation was needed for the IM versus the Cape Epic and which one was tougher. I went on to do the IM and could not shake the challenge from Rick on doing the Epic versus the IM. I must say that I got very intrigued by all of this. I decided to buy a Mountain Bike for some strength training in the winter for IM 2009. The plan was to spend just enough to get something worthwhile. I ended up with a Full Suspension Monster of a Merida Ready for the Cape Epic.

It so worked out that I went and did some riding in the Knysna Oyster festival and was hooked solidly. I just knew I would not be complete until I did the Cape Epic. This is where I started looking at getting into the 2010 Epic as it would be the logical thing to do. Along came Rick and said he had an entry BUT for 2009. EISH what to do? Yes, Yes, and Yes I thought and this is where it all started.

Here we are into week 3 of our 16 week program until D day. Yes this will be a challenge and yes this is going to be tough. This will be expensive and most importantly it will take lots of personal and family time yet I cannot begin to imagine what life would be like without a REAL challenge like this. I am addicted to this life and lifestyle.

I am hoping that we can inspire just 1 or 2 people to join the health revolution and to feel what real life feels like. I am hoping this could be you and if not now somewhere in future you may taste the extraordinary feeling that healthy living provides. Please feel free in asking whatever questions you feel we can answer and we will do our best to be as honest as we can.

I am looking forward to updating this site regularly and with as much content as I can. I will include both my good news and also all our challenges. I will talk about my training and will mention my eating plans. I will tell you when I am high and when I am low. I will use you as an inspiration to train and will not even feel guilty. I sure hope you will get something from this. Like a very famous brand would say “Just Do It”