Get the blog on Rosko

2008-05-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

Sri Chinmoy "PUFF PADDLE & PUSH"

Sunday 4th May saw the 3rd running of the Sri Chinmoy adventure race "Puff, Paddle and Push". Kaliegh and dearest friend Gab got up early, braved the cold and embarked on a 2.5km run, 3km kayak, 15km mountain bike and another run of 4km.

What a top event! The weather was sensational and as usual the Sri Chinmoy Races Team keep the spirit of endurance sport alive here in Canberra.

Since the week end i have told everyone that is willing to listen how good these types of events are especially if swimming is just not your thing. Why you wouldn't like to swim in one of Canberra's lakes is beyond me but hey, maybe murky brown lakes just aren't inviting anymore.

So i wanted to divulge a few insights on how to prep for an event such as this and give you a few key workouts that will ease the pain on race day.

Firstly endurance sporting events generally range from 30min- 50hrs. Most events that are "FUN" are around the 1-3hr mark. 5hrs+ is actually for the mentally insane and very damaging on the human body. So given that the main energy system used in these events is your "Aerobic Endurance System" your time in training is best spent building a good aerobic foundation. The "Aerobic Energy System" is reliant on fat for energy. This takes place in our bodies in the presence of oxygen (the air we breath). This process is called "Beta Oxidation".

So to train this energy system you would need to complete training sessions in each discipline of 1-2hrs 2-3 times per week. That's 2 rides, 2 kayaks and 2 runs per week, minimum. I would suggest doing this for 6-8 weeks. This will help teach your body to become more efficient at burning fat for energy. Then once you have completed your first phase of training you would then embark on another 4-6 weeks doing the same sessions but with a slightly greater intensity. This would mean adding in some intervals, surges, sprints and hills to lift your heart rate and fitness level. This will help get you "Race Ready" and help you adapt to the high heart rate of competing in races.

A typical Bike session in the "Race Ready" phase would look like this:

Ride 90mins at an easy -moderate pace and include 3x 30sec-5min intervals @ 90% (hard) with a 30sec-3min recover between intervals.

The same principles can be used in run and paddle work outs.

Simple..? I thinks so.

Go for it.

Ross

The big day

2008-04-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since i lasted did a post and man have i been copping it. But hey, getting married is kinda a big deal!

Firstly.. My Wife.. Kaliegh Blake!! Kales looked awesome. The moment she walked down that isle i was a blubbering mess. I will never forget the intensity of that moment by Lake Conjola in front of so many friends and family.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the day possible, everyone who travelled from a far and sacrificed your week end for us. We had the time of our lives and look back on it all with such happiness...

Our honeymoon in Thailand was just perfect and only made possible by the many generous gifts and contributions. We are forever in your debit!! Thank you!!

I will post some more pics soon.

What now?

Back to making it happen. Kales and i have some very solid health and business ambitions that we are continuing to pursue and it requires a lot of knuckling down.

As for my training and races i will be starting the steady build up to the Canberra Half Ironman as of this week. I'm looking at fitting in 2 gym workouts, 1 swim, 2 rides (MTB) and 2 runs per week for 6 weeks just to build back some consistency. From there i will do a few road races, fun runs and mtb events for fun prior to heating up for some bigger klms in late winter. A close friend of mine has targeted a marathon in October and a 24hr mtb event so i better get cracking.

Eat Right and Train Hard.

Rosko

Training camp and races!

2007-12-11T21:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last update mostly due to plenty of small races, a training camp, raising money for movember and a booming business!

Racing

Last month i raced my first Triathlon in over 3 years and was happy with how i felt. The race was the first in the CPS Credit Union series here in Canberra and otherwise known as the "Spring Fling". The skills are still there i just need some more specific training and equipment adjustments and i'll be ready to mix it up a little more. I tell ya, Canberra can cultivate some outstanding athletes! Look out for Elliot Wise, coached by one of the best Triathlon Coaches around (Ben Gathercole). Once this kid improves his swim he will rip limbs off other athletes!

1. Elliot Wise 50:19

2. Luke Grattan 50:39

3. Lindsay Wall 51:01

4. Ross Blake 52:45

Other races i've done of late have included some of the local crits with the canberra cycling club and the act cross country club. These races have just been training hit outs but with some faster sessions over the next few month i'll be ready to start having a crack..

Jindabyne Training Camp

At the start of December i headed up into the hills for a week end of leg bashing with Joshi Q and Ross H! That's right, there is nothing better then doing your total weeks riding klms over 3 days to kick your ass!

The weather was pretty up and down as was the terrain. We rode a bloody tough climb called "Dead Horse Gap" on day 2 which took 90mins to ride up!! It was an 11klm climb which should give you an indication as to how steep it was....

Camp details:

Day 1 - Ride 90klms (East Jindabyne - Berridale - Dalgety Jindabyne - East Jindabyne)

-30min Run

Day 2 - 135klms (East Jindabyne - Thredbo - Tom Groggin - Return)

Day 3 - 100klm (East Jindabyne - Charlotte Pass Return)

Big thanks to the Elvin family for providing us with fantastic accommodation!!

Team Swell: The Flying Fish

2007-11-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

The Sri Chinmoy Triple Ti is one of the greatest events Canberra has on it's sporting calendar. It has everything endurance junkies (like myself) need to get off!! The race offers competitors the adventure of off road triathlon in a team format which, lets face it, if you're into talking to people rather then going hammer and tong for several hours on end alone this event is unreal!

I raced with some good buddies of mine in TEAM SWELL: The Flying Fish. We all had a solid day in our designated legs (9 legs shared with 6 team members). Stand out performances went to Dave Simpendorph with the fastest ride split for ride 2 against some top riders and Ross Hamilton who charged home with the second fastest run split for the last run.

Hopefully I'll have some pics from the event shortly.

1 The team with no name
21:53 1:33:26 1:20:48 44:00 1:55:20 46:33 16:58 1:08:36 1:06:03 9 : 1 3 : 3 7

2 Stuff the Puffs
21:43 1:39:09 1:28:01 42:17 1:56:51 47:37 15:35 1:07:43 1:02:04 9 : 2 1 : 0 0

3 Team Swell: Flying Fish
23:29 1:54:43 1:35:10 56:14 1:47:57 54:40 21:08 1:20:37 1:01:31 10:15: 29
Ross Anton Ross Ross H Dave Burn Steve Anton Ross H

ccc crit

2007-11-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

Last week i raced the Canberra Cycling Club Crit. I felt pretty good considering i haven't raced one of these style of races for nearly 2 years! Apparently there was 290 starters through all categories! Which is a big sign that cycling here in Canberra is pumping!!

B Grade Men - 15 mins + 2 laps (39 starters)

1
Martin Mullin
Velo Canberra
2
Simon Dwyer
V-Mobile
3
Ross Blake
Juice Plus+/FiTREKS

Feeling it

2007-11-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

Well my last two planned hit outs have both been passed in for safer training workouts. Firstly the Canberra cycling club canned the crit on Wednesday evening due to bad weather conditions and second i decided to not race the Majura Vineyards Classic on Saturday for i have a sore plantafacsia (sole of foot).

I'm not too fussed over not getting these events in because I've been pretty busted up this last week. I've really suffered with the addition of extra klms!

My foot and my fatigue levels should all be OK in a few days. I've got 2 easy/rest days starting today with a massage and hot and cold session planned. I've been down this road before and i know not to keep pushing it when you actually need rest.

Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way.
-Eileen Caddy

5 weeks till the 1/2 IRONMAN!

Healthy regards

Rosko

Training Update

2007-11-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

It's been my goal to update this blog weekly however sometimes life gets it the way. Which could be a good thing considering the chasers blog page is blogsarefornerds.com!

So what have i been up to training wise?

Last week saw the end of "phase 2" and yeah you guessed it I'm now 3 days into "phase 3" and feeling it already! It feels good to know that by the end of the next four weeks i will have taken a big step towards getting my act together on an athletic level. It's amazing how much harder 9 sessions per week is compared to 6.....ouch!!

The biggest thing I'm finding hard to deal with is anticipating how my body will react to certain sessions. Some days I'm feeling great and almost like I'm not doing enough and other days I'm a busted man.. I'm learning that nothing can take the place of consistency and patience....

I had a great week end of training that included 3.5hrs on the bike, 1.5hrs in the gym, 30mins in the pool and 80mins of running. I felt great all week end and i pay this to keeping it simple over the last few months.

Anyway better be off. People to train etc.

Racing in the Canberra Cycling Club Criterium tonight. I will post the results over the next few days. I will post some pics from training shortly.

Healthy regards

Ross

Muscle up

2007-10-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

Phase 2 of my Half Ironman preparation is now complete. The biggest improvement i gained from this last 5 weeks was the strength gains from my gym workouts. I wasn't doing anything special, i don't look "massive", i just feel strong and ready to cope with some more volume in my training.

Over the years I've discussed training programs with many endurance athletes and I'm amazed at how little importance they place on correct strength and conditioning in a gym environment. Yet they wonder why they get so many injuries and fail to absorb their training volume. I feel that without the correct base (appropriate mix of aerobic endurance, technical skills and strength training) an athlete can be limiting their gains further down the track. I also feel that not doing strength work is ignoring a vital aspect of ones general health and well being. One of the ways the medical/wellness world classifies the rate of aging is muscle mass. The less muscle mass you maintain the faster you age!

Consider this:

Aerobic exercise (huffy puffy exercise that lasts 10mins or longer) breaks down fat for energy via a process called beta oxidation bit it also breaks down protein (muscle) in the process. Therefore aerobic exercise is classified as " Catabolic". Why do marathon runners always look real skinny? Catabolic breakdown of human tissue!

Weight training or strength training done in short and intense bursts on the other hand can be performed without the presence of oxygen. This is done via metabolizing muscle glycogen into pyruvate through glycolysis rather then breaking down human tissue and therefore makes it "Anabolic". This is why people who lift weights or in list in strength training have more muscle when compared to marathon runners etc.

So considering that most people would rather slow their rate of aging i would have to say maintaining moderate amounts of muscle mass is pretty darn important both on a health and well being aspect and a sports performance aspect.

I don't tell my athletes to hit the gym 5 times per week and get massive mind you, i just advocate 1-3 sessions geared to their postural needs and general strength. This is enough to generate the gains they require for their health maintenance and improved sporting performance.

Benefits from weight training:

Improved coordination
Better flexibility
Improved posture
Injury prevention
Greater body awareness
Improvements in blood pressure
Greater sporting performance
Makes you look great!!!

The type of exercises i have been doing to form my personal program have been simple however, I'm focused on doing them correctly and also in ways to emulate movements in my sport and in general life.

I have been generally doing 4x 8-15 reps depending on the exercise and desired result I'm after. I'm so excited at how well this has gone for me that I'm absolutely busting to start my next phase of training tomorrow morning. I am now moving into some more specific training that should give me enough endurance to complete the Canberra Half Ironman without too much drama.

Only 7 weeks to go!

Happy training

Rosko

Canberra Half here i come!

2007-10-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my timeline for this blog is a little behind due to the nature of what i call "progressive motivation". PM is generally how your motivation can evolve over a series of events and usually sparks up when you're feeling good and/or getting some results from your efforts. It can happen when you puchase a new bike or record a new best time running your favourite training loop. Whatever it is, it starts a train reaction of events that continually ups your motivation...

My training actually kicked off 8 weeks ago over a few black rats (bundy rums) at my mate Joe's bucks party when another good mate Ross H threw the idea out there to complete the Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon on December 16. Now considering all i had done this year was concern myself with other peoples health and fitness objectives, knock out a few night rides at Stromlo and do the odd set of pushies with my clients i was batting way out of my crease in this conversation. Yet i was quietly excited (also a little drunk) to give the lads a call come Monday and cement the commitment.

So given that my first objective was the Canberra Half and that it was only 17 weeks away i started training! I wrote out a training plan with a few test races along the way and got the ball rolling. I wanted to just get going so I've not programmed in any fancy workouts with heart rates to train to or specific power wattage's to follow. All I've done is set some "guidelines" that are pretty flexible based on how i cope with it all. I guess it all revolves around "feeling good" and if it's working i will just keep rolling with it. This is what i thought to be a fun way to approach this event and so far it's working.

The progression to my motivation started with the idea of completing my first Half Ironman, purchasing a new dual suspension mountain bike and then reading the lead up to the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon which has now been run and won by Australia's Chris Mccormack! Yeah! To top that off a mate of mine from way back Luke Mckenzie came 19th after a year that stated with injury. All these events have contributed to my "Progressive Motivation" and now i'm ready to rock.

The reason I'm so big on this Progressive Motivation cycle is because it's something i try and instill in my clients when we do some goal setting. I believe the biggest reward you get from achieving a goal is not so much crossing that line or actually quantifying your goal. I believe it's who you have to become or what you have to overcome in order to achieve your goal that holds the true glory!

Training has been broken down into 3 phases. Each phase is very simple and achievable around business commitments, planning a wedding and keeping up with social activities.

Phase 1 was the just get moving phase that focused mostly on gym work (3 sessions per week) to straighten out a few kinks with 1 swim, 1 ride and 1 run per week thrown into the mix. This phase also included the Canberra times 10km fun run mid September to test the fitness early. I surprised myself running in at 40:23 weighing 85kg (15kg over what i used to race at) and having had a little still in the tank. Recovery from this run was slow and painful which i guess is what you get without any base fitness for that type of event. All things considered i was happy with my first little step. Total training hrs per week averaged out at 7hrs per week.

Phase 2 was a small step up from phase one that mainly focused on staying consistent. It is the current phase I'm in right now with less then a week remaining till i hit phase 3. This phase focused on 2 swims, 2 rides and 2 runs per week however i dropped gym workouts down to just 2 per week to cope with the aerobic training volume increasing. I also competed in the Scott 24hr MTB race in Team Retrolight.com.au as part of a 4 man team. We all rode consistently and finished 20th out of 120 starting teams in our category. Recovery from this event was also slow but I'm told (by some respectable endurance elders) that i didn't sink enough beers after the event which hampered my recovery. Total training hrs per week are averaging out at 9hrs

And finally phase 3 will be another step up in aerobic endurance volume. Nothing fancy intensity wise, no training tricks and nothing new. Just focusing on consistency and upping it to 3 sessions in all disciplines while dropping my gym workouts to only one per week. I'm currently planning on doing my first Tri in 3yrs this month at the TACT Spring Fling which is a 400m swim, 18km Ride and a 4km run. It's not a long one but it will bust me up none the less. I will work through this phase until 2 weeks out from the Canberra Half with hopefully a 3-4 day ridding camp in the hills with my buddy Josh and then kick back for the 2 week taper!! Total training hrs per week will be between 14 and 17hrs per week...

On the Calendar:

4th November CORC MTB xc race

10th November Majura Vineyard classic xc 15km run
18th November Sri Chinmoy Triple Tri (1.5km swim, 20km run)

25th November TACT Spring Fling 400m swim,18km ride, 4km run
30th November - 3 December Jindabyne training camp
16 December Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon 1.9km swim, 90km ride, 21.1km run

It's fair to say I'll be racing my way into shape..

Healthy regards

Rosko

Virgin Blog Post

2007-10-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

Let the games begin! After years of torment for my lack of internet happenings i've finally got myself a blog. I can now say i'm fully up to date because i also have a facepage and mybook.

For the last 2 years i've been running a successful health & fitness consulting business, building a Juice PLUS+ Franchise and generally going under the radar with my own sporting adventures... Until now. Now is the time to not only start stepping up my own program but it's also time to give my clients, friends and family some insight into how i do it. Considering i have been asked 5 times this last week to set one up is a moderate sign a few punters may browse my dribble from time to time.

The focus of this blog is to blog (odly enough) the road to my first IRONMAN Triathlon in the summer of 2009 or sooner. I will be posting training, nutrition and race information to hopfully inspire others get a little more out of their training and health regimes.

So where has this sudden motivation come from you may be asking?

Well, it's not sudden at all, it's something that i've been planning since i ran down the finishing shoot at the 1992 Foster IRONMAN with my Dad - Paul Blake. It was such a great time, so much colour and excitement that i want to now have a go myself.

Stay tuned...

Rosko