Countdown to Ironman NZ 2010

ironmantim — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:43:02 +0000

Tim Corbett, Auckland, New Zealand

Combo upsize

ironmantim — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:34:21 +0000

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

Get good at the bad days

ironmantim — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:50:29 +0000

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

Location:New Zealand

Postcards from the cam brown camp

ironmantim — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:49:17 +0000

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

Location:New Zealand

5 hour ride booster

ironmantim — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:47:03 +0000

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

iPhone app

ironmantim — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:13:45 +0000

Just found a new Ironman focussed iPhone app – ‘Crowie Backstage’

It has videos, training, and interviews from Craig Alexander and ….. It cost …. nothing.

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

ironmantim — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:11:53 +0000

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

Great swim www tool

ironmantim — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:56:51 +0000

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

Hello world!

ironmantim — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:19:09 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!