It’s a good thing when you experience the human factor behind heavy hitters. We have been extended a helping hand from Spartan Race Australia. I was [a tad] optimistic when I registered for their 7km sprint event due to kick off on 2 March 2013.  I now know I was ever-so-slightly kidding myself as I’m currently in no condition to tackle the calibre of obstacles these guys throw down…not yet anyway.

So, instead of ditching last year’s paid registration, I had thought of transferring it to Marcelle as she was asking me to find an event for her to work towards.  I spoke with the lovely Sarah at Spartan Race Australia and was stoked to be offered this solution:

1. Free entry for Marcelle!  Starting in the Saturday 1230 wave.
2. Keep my race entry, but have it moved from the Elite/Competitive start wave at 0830 to join Marcelle at 1230.  I can run the course and receive a  ”Governor’s Pardon” from all obstacles…essentially allowing me to just run alongside Marcelle and bark “encouragement” at her.

I’m looking into getting Gus registered too…he’s only 13 but is very keen to dabble in his dad’s sport.  I’ll give you guys an update on that one next week!

Want to know more about this obstacle racing icon coming to Australia??  Give their logo above a click and become one of the addicted! You’ll never look back.

_____________________________________________________________

Although my training is soft by comparison to six months ago, it’s a start and it feels good!  After being so sedentary after the shoulder operation it is awesome to be mobile again.  While the early treadmill runs felt pretty weird…like I was running with a chicken wing in place of my right arm…the subsequent outdoor efforts have been much better.

It is a relief to feel that my base fitness doesn’t seem to have suffered too badly….the outdoor runs were completed in perfect morning weather around the Melbourne CBD and the numbers at the end were encouraging.  I ran two 7.3km runs in consecutive days and happily maintained 4:17min/km and 4:31min/km respectively.  These times were much better than I expected and I’m assuming are the result of running “clean” as opposed to while carrying 7kg CamelBaks or wearing a full wetsuit like WTM12 demanded. The distance of the run was taken from MapMyRun.com to over-rule the variance I was getting between my Polar G5 GPS and the Nike+ Run app on my iPhone.  I figure the MapMyRun distance is more accurate as it’s taken straight from a ground map and not dependant on satellite feeds.

I’ll use this route as a bit of a benchmark to check consistency and [hopefully] progress.  I’ll be looking for a chance to push out a 10km time trial next week just to see how it feels.  Running and riding will be the dominant factors in the coming months while the shoulder goes through it’s phases of rehabilitation.  At this stage it’s a series of range-of-motion stretches which take around 15mins 2-3 times per day.

These stretches were prescribed by my physio, Roger Moore (no, not the retired Bond) at Melbourne Sports Medicine Clinic.  Roger has 20yrs+ of AFL physiotherapy with North Melbourne and clearly knows his way around a shoulder.  He was happy with my current state and optimistic of a great recovery which was really good to hear. I’ll be seeing him weekly for around 4-5 weeks before returning to Locky at Cityosteopathy.

_____________________________________________________________

As I was when leading into WTM12, I am still receiving some amazing support from sponsors. Given my training limitations, Life Fitness Australia have loaned me a Keiser M3 spin bike to help with my recovery and rebuild.  These bikes are awesome.  The combination of a belt driven fly wheel with a very clever magnetic resistance system make these things absolutely whisper quiet (keeping everyone happy while I’m spinning away in the lounge room). The ergonomics are excellent and they also feature an integrated, self-powered computer system providing essential feedback including RPM, wattage, HR, time, cadence, mileage (total/trip) and energy.

_____________________________________________________________

A WEEK’S WORTH OF NUTRITION

(organic, local and free range whenever possible)

FLUID

Water ++, almond milk, orange juice (organic, no additives)

ANIMAL PROTEIN

Sushimi, salmon steak, beef, chicken, eggs, bacon, turkey breast, pork

It’s important to note that red meat is the minority here.  Maybe once or twice per week…sometimes I’ll have more because I operate with an iron deficiency caused by a fairly common blood condition (Thalassemia Minor) and the dose of red meat helps a bit.

VEGETABLE / FRUIT

Apples, grapes, nectarines, cherries, blueberries, mango, banana

Stewed vegetables (mixed), spinach, lettuce mix, cabbage (the purple stuff), carrot, cucumber, chilli

NUTS / SEEDS / GOOD FATS

Flax seed, almonds, olive oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil

SUPPLEMENTS

Protein powder (Bioceuticals AminoPlex), chlorella powder, spirulina powder

Want some fantastic paleo-compliant recipes?  Want to make some magic paleo-compliant shakes?  Want to know more about the nutritional power of spirulina and chlorella?  Send me a note via the COMMENTS field and I’ll happily email you a couple of recipe books and other great material.

A WEEK’S WORTH OF TRAINING

Distance Run 18.6 km  |  Distance Ride  15.0 km  |  Training Time 188 minutes

Average HR 139 (78%)  |  Energy 2,750 kcal