Black Max Review: Open Water Swimmers Secret

Have you ever tried Speed Black Max goggles? If you haven’t please do. 19years of swimming, one type of goggles - Black Max. I currently have 5 pairs in my house.

If you are considering what to buy or are in need of a replacement pair try them out for me! If they fit your face then I guarantee you won’t turn back. My brother unfortunately can’t wear them as they don’t fit his face well, however most Open Water Swimmers I know wear them.
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Japan IM. Geelong 70.3 - 180km time trial.

I decided a couple of days ago to not compete in the Geelong 70.3. It was a tough decision to make, this was the one we were aiming for since October to do well at as it is the only race in Aus that has Clearwater spots up for grabs. But with my recent knee injury I am not confident in its recovery yet. Only 3 weeks out I can still only really run solid for 7kms or so. If I go down I could either not finish the race due to a bad knee or finish but damage my knee and have to have a few months off running. Long term there is only one real answer to skip it.

So with this upset I really needed to think of another goal, set my sights on another race. The current thoughts at the moment between my coach and I are to try and find my first Ironman so I can focus on it. I am looking around still but the idea of Japan in June has been tossed up it looks ok, so if I can get together the funding I will definitely have a shot at it.

With this in mind, I set out on Tuesday Morning on what I hoped would be a 180km time trial. You may have seen me twitter about it, so may already know the result. Let me also clarify being brought up as a swimmer I refer to anything you do for time as a time trial. Apparently some of you guys and pure cyclists get a little confused about this as some cycling races are called time trials. Whenever I say time trial, I mean by myself on the road seeing how fast I can go, if it was in a race time trial I will let you know haha!

The course was to be the same as my recent 120km ride I blogged about where I recorded my fastest ever average speed of 33kph. The intention was to go a little further to the Spit which is about 8km past where I stopped last time, then to do a loop out where I did my first Half Ironman then return home.

I set off as I normally do at 4:20. Why 4:20? I get up at 4, and by the time I have driven to the pool and set my bike up etc it’s normally 4:20 - 4:30. I start from the pool as the 13km from my house to the pool is laboriously slow so I skipped that part. I get up at 4 because 1 min earlier would be in the realms of 3am and I really don’t want to do that yet!

Things went a lot quicker than the 120 I did a week prior. I have certain checkpoints I know and tally off if I am ahead of the previous ride or not. Eagleby roundabout - 45mins or so, Dreamworld 1hour 20mins, Southport 1hour 53mins. Anything ahead of this and I am on PB pace.

Well the first half I was definitely on pb pace, I really hammered it. This time I approached it differently to the 120. The 120 was really about making it, but now after completing that and the mountain run in big chain I knew i could go at least 120. I shot past my check points early, 40mins, 1hour and 10mins, 1hour 45 and had got to the 68km turn around point by 2 hours and 1min exactly. Average speed 33.5 pb pace definitely, but I could easily drop from that. And honestly I was hurting quite a bit.

From the spit I rode back into a bit of a headwind with a rider I had picked up on my tail for a bit of a ride, he peeled off after 6kms thanking me and I began my return trip to Brisbane, quickly stopping at McDonalds to refill my bottles.

I surmised in my head that if I could go back as fast as I did on the 120 (I had gone to the turn around at 31kph and managed to do the last half at 36kph) I would complete at least 120 at around 34.5kph which would be outstanding. Doing this proved to be a lot more difficult than I had anticipated!

I don’t know if I went into a headwind (I think at times I had some) or I just died but it was tough. I decided when I passed the breakaway point for the extra loop I would have to do that I didn’t have the legs for a 180km time trial at this pace. I really wanted to do a PB pace ride.

So i continued on, pushing hard up the hills checking off my average speed as I went. It wasn’t budging, which annoyed me. Great that it wasn’t dropping but I had visions of grandeur in the back of my mind. Phenomenal speeds and that average speed just getting faster and faster.

115km's average speed 33.5kph time around 3:27 from memory. I was in Struggle Street. Not blow up cant continue, but definitely that average speed was in jeopardy. I pushed and pushed as hard as I could all that was in my mind was the Ironman. I want to hold 33kph in my first race or something to that tune anything over 30kph would be great so I have to train hard.

At around 6km from my end point, 130kms my tired popped. Maybe it was a sign from god that I should not continue, or maybe I was just clutching at straws to finish this, but that was the end of my ride. I changed the tired quickly, and went to inject a c02 canister into it only to discover the tip wouldn’t work. For some reason it wasn’t puncturing the canister so I couldn’t fill my tyre with air. I called Dean, he came and got me and that was the end of my first attempt to do a 180km time trial.

130kms, fairly flat road with a few rolling hills. By the end I had dropped to 33.2kph a total time of 3hours 54mins. Pb pace again for longer distance so that’s a great achievement. Next time I ride, I will be riding to finish. More than likely start at 31kph or so, and just make sure I get the 180 done. It will be slower than I like, but I think before I can time trial it properly I need to know how I handle it, and also know the check points etc along the way so I can gauge how I’m feeling.

More practise to come, and many more long rides, things are coming together my legs are getting bigger and more toned. Call me vain but being a skinny swimmer with small legs I can help by look in the mirror and be happy that I am starting to actually have calves and quads!

Hopefully soon some great running blogs!

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My Bike

Frame & Fork
Frame Construction TIG-welded
Frame Tubing Material 7005 aluminum
Fork Brand & Model Scott
Fork Material Aluminum, aero crown
Rear Shock Not applicable
Weight 10.1kg

Components
Component Group Shimano Tiagra
Brakeset Scott Pro brakes, Shimano Tiagra STI Dual Control levers
Shift Levers Shimano Tiagra STI Dual Control
Front Derailleur Shimano Tiagra
Rear Derailleur Shimano Tiagra SS
Crankset Shimano Tiagra, 39/53 teeth
Pedals Not included
Bottom Bracket Shimano BB-ES30
BB Shell Width Unspecified
Rear Cogs 9-speed, 12 - 25 teeth
Chain Shimano CN-HG50, 1/2 x 3/32"
Seatpost Scott AFD Comp, 31.6mm diameter
Saddle Scott Road
Handlebar Ritchey Road V2
Handlebar Extensions Not included
Handlebar Stem Ritchey Road V2
Headset 1 1/8" integrated steel

Wheels
Hubs Front: Scott Comp, Rear: Shimano HB-2200
Rims Alex - Scott R500, 32-hole
Tires 700 x 23c Maxxis Fuse
Spoke Brand Stainless steel, 14ga. (2.0mm) straight gauge
Spoke Nipples Unspecified

Scott Speedster s4, 2005 model. I thought I would show you what I ride on. Tiagra gear set, all alloy, alloy areos I picked up for around $70 off torpedo7.com. The bike cost me $700 with cleats and computer included off eBay. So as you can see, I'm not riding anything fancy, not too sure how much it weighs but would definitely be more than 10kgs easy. When I pack it up in a bike bag with cleats and helmet inside and a few cloths its 20kg.





On it are my new Michelin Krylion tyres I got when my last Maxxis Refuse pair had worn to the matting. No flats ever with them just thought as there was no rubber left in parts I should replace! The Michelin where suggested to me by a man of few words at my local bike shop. "They are good for training and roll fast." Well he got the rolling fast part right. Training not so much. 5 days old, a broken bottle and they were a complete write off.

I now sport continental GP4000s which so far I feel are a lot more durable. Definitely don’t roll as fast as the Michelins. The Michelins seemed to be a lot smoother and more rounded than the Continentals. Needless to say apparently this makes them suited for racing due to the faster rolling ability and the Continentals are tough so will last longer during training



I also have fitted on the front an Aqua Cell water bottle. I got the bigger one I think it holds 1.5-2Lts or something. Has two sections one which I put Gatorade and Gastrolyte (a salt replenisher used to treat dehydration due to diarrhoea) and the other section just straight Gatorade. This along with my two water bottles adds around 4-5kgs to my bike. So we are starting too look at something pretty heavy! A lot say I shouldn’t have got the bigger water bottle. It was an impulse buy before my first half Ironman but I don’t regret it. Not now anyway. In my first few races it’s more important for me to be comfortable and to hydrate well rather than worry about a few extra kgs. Once I start to race better I will drop to a smaller one.

I use a Cateye Strada Cadence wired computer fitted on the stem holding my handle bars, and always carry two tubes, 4 c02 canisters and my tyre levers in my seat pack.

All in all, I am happy with it, I won’t be upgrading or getting a better bike until 1) I am racing a lot faster or 2) I can get some sponsorship. At these early stages I am happy having the bare essentials and beating my competitors on their carbon fibre super light bikes with zipp 808s and aero helmets!

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Technique vs Kms

Technique vs Kms
A lot of cyclists and Ironman triathletes I have met over the past few months have told me many things how how to develop my riding. The sentiment from everyone is resounding, lots and lots of kilometres. You won’t get faster working on technique, its time in the saddle and leg strength that will get you to the top.
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Mountain Run Mach 2.

Wednesday. 180km is the general plan, it is my biggest day of the week. Last week I did 120, this week hopefully I would do the full 180. I set off on a brand new course at 4.20 in the morning. The plan was to ride until my coach finished training the swim team then he would catch up with me at around 7:30 to provide support and drive behind me up any mountains to stop the crazy drives from smashing into me.

I didn’t really have many supplies in my food stockpile at home as I had slowly depleted them through my training. I try to steer clear of GUs etc during my training rides just because they are so expensive, however in reality I just get pretty lazy. So I grabbed two fresh bananas, 4 gel shots, and a powerbar.

The first 60km of my ride where fairly easy, was interesting going through a course I hadn’t done before, however at times it slowed me down not knowing how safe certain areas where etc. I was glad it was 4 in the morning; the road I was on would have been a bit scary at around 8 if the traffic had picked up. Sure there was a little bit of a side strip for me to ride on but 45km in the road became a 100km zone and cars flying past at that speed if not paying attention would not be a very good thing!

I really should have researched the route a little more before leaving. I had a quick glance at the map and tried to remember key roads and turn offs. The aim was to ride out to Beaudesert and ride back home, a ride with continuous rolling hills. What actually happened turned out to be the toughest ride of my life, but when I was done I was over the moon.

At 60km I read a text message from my coast, "Make sure to take the 1st turn off, not the 2nd." As I stood at the foot of Mt Tamborine I realised I had taken the second. I did a quick Google map check and plotted a course. I was at the base, I might as well go over. It took me around 45mins to get to the top then another 30 or so to go along the ridge to the other side. It was a very nice ride up some areas almost seeming like a tropic rainforest in nature.

I started to get fairly frustrated at the top however as it just went on and on. I didn’t realise it was like I ridge, what I had anticipated was going up then quickly shooting back down the other side. I stopped very quickly to take some pics at a lookout to show you guys how high up I was. Riding places like this just make it so much easier, the view was incredible.





The descent was interesting. I had heard about the route I had taken being very dangerous during the day as it has a 14% gradient, at times single lane, and around 34 hairpins all the way down. I made sure to be on the breaks as much as possible but there is only so much you can do on that angle. My descent was relatively safe, some great stretches I peaked at 75km and hour, could have easily gone faster but I was unsure of how quick the turns would come and how safe they where.

I exited at the middle of Canungra, it is only a hill really 2km long or so, and quickly shot down it to the little cafe I stopped at on my first mountain run (one of my first blogs a while back!). I grabbed a Gatorade and chocolate bar and told Dean where I was. He was just leaving, on his way and would just scout the track for me.

Ahead of me lay Canungra, Beechmount and Binna Burra. Last time I did these was a very slow ride, this time however I seemed to eat them up. Canungra was a hill really, not struggle at all. By the time I got to Beechmount I realised I had done everything to this point in big chain, never taking advantage of the easier small chain ring. So with this thought in mind I endeavoured to complete the ride with only big chain.

Beechmount took a while, some parts where very tough averaging on 10kph, but never once did I think of popping down into small chain. I made up for the slow ascent with the flat ridge that runs along to Binna Burra. 50-60kph averages helped to boost my average speed. By the time I got to the base of Binna Burra I was wondering where dean was, he was missing out on all the fun!

Binna Burra is a lot shorter than Beechmount but kicks up a lot at the end making the last km fairly tough. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to make it so I just put my head down and focused on the road not what was ahead. About a km from the top Dean passed. We met at the top after a gruelling climb. I had completed 90km, 4 climbs all in big chain. We talked a little about the next course of action before setting out.

We took a different route home going down a very long descent of around 20mins or so, was amazing for the legs. At the 120km mark I was exhausted, my technique sloppy speeds slowly dropping. Dean checked up on me more often. I wanted to do Tamborine once more finish with that.

I arrived at the base, taking a different route for the ascent this time, at around 134kms. My heart dropped. Average gradient 18%, if you haven’t seen a climb like this you seriously won’t even be able to comprehend. 2.4km long.

Without hesitation I hit it with speed, big chain ring. 4 pedals in I was in small chain ring, big ring on the back. Average speed 5-6kph, this mountain was going to take me at least 30mins probably 40. Dean was unable to sit behind me for the climb so had to meet me up top, as he shot past I slipped into the gravel, my tyres just spun continuously until I had to get off and jump back onto the road. How would I ever complete this?

I put my head down determined; slipping into the gravel once more I quickly pulled myself out of it. I didn’t even dare look ahead. My legs where burning and the pace was horrendously slow, I even saw a mountain goat! 800m in I looked ahead. It got steeper, a lot steeper. And suddenly I was hit with tunnel vision, everything blurred and I shivered. With one last pedal I knew I was spent. I pulled over to the other side of the road defeated.

"If you need me to pick you up let me know," my phone read. "Dear god come get me," I responded. It was only once we drove up that I realised the true feat of what I had tried to attempt. This climb would potentially defeat me fresh. I tried after 135km of 4 climbs all in big chain ring.

What a day. It’s after days like this that you feel like you can accomplish anything. I finished in 5:19:24, average speed of around 25.7km per hour. My toughest ride yet, not 180kms, but I had achieved far more than I would have on a flat road. Many more to come!

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120km Time trial. To the coast and back

Saturday morning. This was going to be my second longest ride ever; Wednesday rides are the only opportunity I would have to beat it. I decided to go with a course I knew as I had only ever go over 100k twice.

I got up at 4, was at the pool (where I take off from) at 4.15, left by 4.21. With my trusty ipod that I got for Christmas, 4 gu shots and two full water bottles I was ready to go. I also had $20 emergency dollars and my phone of course.

Now I understand riding with an ipod increases the danger, but it makes time go by so much quicker. Also I only have one ear piece in, in the ear away from traffic and have it quite enough so that I can always hear on coming traffic.

I'm glad I started early, it meant I could finish at a reasonable time and not waste the whole day. The first half of the course was fairly uneventful, 58km at the turn around point average of 31.1kph. At this pace I was looking at getting back into Brisbane at around 8:30 or a little later allowing for a drop off due to fatigue.

The coast was quite and I would love to have been able to continue along the waterline but I needed to head back. I messaged dean to inform him of my progress. I think its important if you are doing a solo long ride with no support crew to at least be in contact with someone with progress reports. If anything goes wrong they may be your only chance of help.

I felt fairly good as I clipped in after a short stop at McDonalds to fill my water bottles up again. I had a gel shot to keep the energy levels up, my second for the morning. I was surprised with how I felt. Although it was only 60km since I left I didn’t expect to have fresh legs.

Somewhere around 65km in I feel into a rhythm, a very fast rhythm. I become acutely aware of my pace hovering around 42kph along flats and realised I was really gunning it in comparison to the way day. Interestingly enough there was no tail wind, I was just pushing a lot harder.

It seemed to be a lot easier. 60km to go, what’s the worst that could happen? I die another 3hours to go instead of 2. I started to pass countless groups riding along the road losing sight of them in minutes. at the 90km mark I did a quick calculation. 2.46.17, only 2mins slower than my PB 90km race time. Set pretty much on a large portion of this course! I was ecstatic and continued to drive.

Right until the end I never let up. My legs had started to burn around the 100km mark, but I figured I only had around 30-45mins to go, if I could put up with the burn it would be interesting to see if my legs would hold out.

In the end they did. I ended the ride 119.48kms in 3hours and 37mins. Average speed of 33.0kph. My pb 90KM pace is 32.9kph! I had just held it for 30kms longer and I really wasn’t pushing from the start.

To top if off after doing a breakdown my last 90km was 2.39 - 5min pb and my last 60 (from the turn around) i held 36kph! Such an amazing ride, over the moon with my progress. The whole ride I kept it in big chain ring with quite ease, my legs are getting a lot stronger and powerful!

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Tuesday - 75km ride, 4km swim

Today was a fairly easy day due to my knee. In the morning I did a 4km swim session, just 4x1000 descend 1 - 4. Generally I do them on around 13.20 (1.20pace) and hold around 1.15, not really going to need to go much faster than that in an Ironman to lead out of the water!

Went to the physio to get my knee checked out. Nothing major which is good I thought it may be a medial ligament or something but turns out it was just cause through tightness in my gluts. We did some mobility tests and my right side was about 80% worse than the left. This is causing me to turn my foot out when I run which is putting extra strain on my knee.

It really hammered the importance of triggering and stretching. Basically Ed (My physio from Qld Sports Medicine Center have been seeing him for years) suggested doing the amount of work I am doing, it is just impossible for me to maintain loose muscles etc. He suggested a monthly massage (No not the nice kinds, sports trigger massage ouch) or a visit to him. This way we can catch things out before they become an issue.

The 75km ride was fairly tough, by the end my legs were just exhausted. Its always a good session when I jump off the bike and cant walk properly. So far the week is turning out very positively!

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A good start to the week! Monday Morning

So as you would have read in my last blog my running is out, which is a little disappointing but its better than me damaging my knee further. Monday morning I was up at 4 to ride before swimming training.

It was just a lazy 25km at 30kph then a 4km set in the pool. Felt good to start the week off, was ready for a long solid week.

The afternoon was GREAT! I had planned on doing a 1hour ride then some technique specific work on the wind trainer for another hour but the road ride was just awesome. Turned out there was a massive headwind, just constantly hammering into me.

I approached it with the attitude I was told by a cyclist I was talking to. "There are people who can handle wind, and people who cant, really its just mental," so basically wind? What wind. I still maintained an alright speed considering 27kph. After around an hour and 10mins I turned around.

There was a lot of cross winds the way back so it wasnt as fun (in terms of great speed due to tail wind) as I thought it would be, but the cross wind was more benefical. I made sure to be on my aero bars as much as possible, but some parts I just had to stand up. Wow did it takes its toll on my arms. Just grinding the gears through the wind, using everything I could to get me through it at an alright speed, my triceps by the end were destroyed.

In the end it was only around 50kms, 1 hour 10 down, 42mins back haha! Great start to the week! Getting knee checked out tomorrow so hopefully get the ok to get back into running soon!

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75km Ride

It has been a while since my last post, I apologise for that, unfortunately work has run me into the ground so my training was anything but ordinary. I see no point in blogging the mediocre you don't want to read about that!

So finally I have been able to get back into my training, its been like nearly two weeks since I have done anything decent! I started the week with a 15km run, which went horribly. The pace was fine, my legs fine however my knee caused me great trouble. I didn't know if its the shoes or what, but I cant seem to run more than a km atm without it playing up.

Unfortunately this injury pretty much put me out of running for the entire week. I have physio next Tuesday to try and clear it up. I tried running yesterday go 270m before it fired up again! Fingers crossed I'm keen to start some serious training!

Swimming this week has been good as usual. Nothing really exciting to report, mainly just 5km sets roll through them at a comfortable pace just to keep the feel for the water. Every now and then I like to challenge myself. Yesterday the squad were doing 15x400IM repeats. I did 2 and beat them all yay! Not suggesting this trend would have continued but the times we rent too bad so that was a little ego booster, I haven't lost it all!

My first real long ride for quite a while started out with my dad and my twin brother who had returned from Malaysia. To give you some background on him he hasn't ridden for about 6months or something! Was a swimmer, now retired going on to do medicine.

So you can imagine the pace we held for the first section. We really hadn't done much when dad and he decided to turn home and that was when I really got stuck into it. The course I chose was one I hadn't done for quite a while, and never this far. Turns out, to my excitement, rolling hills the whole way.

Seeing I haven't really done serious riding training for a while they left a bit of a burn. All in all was a 3hour ride, only 25kph, the start really slowed me down, but without it even wouldn't have gone over 30kph, rolling hills got to love them!

Also learnt an important lesson I have always known but ignored. Sunscreen. Use it. I am sporting a nice arm and lower leg tan now, with insane white upper arms and thighs its great! My next blog I will show you where my training "home" is. Monday I start my full preparation, I cant wait. If I cant run I will replace it with riding, will be doing my full 30hours+ of training throughout the week so lots to write about!

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year guys! This year will see me attack many new challenges and hopefully come out of it a stronger athlete. Hope your all excited about the coming year, stay tuned for my updated plan watch this space!

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