HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow, didn't the last part of 2008 fly by! A lot has happened for me in the past few months. In December I put my teaching career on hold and am now working part time as the Administration Officer for Triathlon Tasmania and as a Project Manager with t3 Events. Both positions have proved exciting and interesting so far. I am hoping with this move I will have more time for specific training sessions and traveling to events. I am now planning to race at the Geelong 70.3 in early February and then the Australian Long Course Championships 2 weeks later. So needless to say training has been pretty solid and i am about to commence another big block. The 2009 MyState Financial Triathlon Series (Tasmania) is also about to kick off so I'll be spinning around the track down at Seven Mile Beach next weekend. Stay tunned...

Wayne Goldsmith

This weekend the Ulverstone Swim Team conducted a "Swim Camp". Queensland's Wayne Goldsmith lead the camp. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend all the sessions due to other commitments but I did go to the 2 morning swims. It was a very valuable experience. Whilst the sets were not super hard there was enough swimming for a good workout as well as many noteworthy tips. It reminded me about the necessity of "relaxed" training, when I'm relaxed everything seems to flow rather than having to push and push, usually without success. There was also the reminder about mental alertness, training hard so competitions are easy, staying focussed when things get tough and challenging one's self for the love of rising to the occasion. I strive on all of these things and 3 weeks back into training it was a perfect reminder of why I am doing this (for the love of it)  and what I need to do to achieve my goals.

Another busy week

Another busy week saw an increase in training. I managed a 3 hour ride and a 60 minute run along with a few smaller sessions too. We were pretty consistent in the pool, swimming between 3.5 km and 4 km each session. It is amazing after a few Ironman races that 4 km now feels like an easy session! The sun has started to shine and the warmer weather has to mean summer is on the way!! On Sunday I spent some time at the Brooks - run happy- stand at the Burnie 10 and it was great to see so many people out and about getting active and enjoying life - well done to all those who completed the 10 km. Unfortunately I picked up a cold over the weekend so I'm getting back on top of things before increasing the training to another level.

All in a week

The dreaded 1st week back is complete! Back to 5am wake ups for swimming and training again after work. This week was also my husband's 30th Birthday and Dad's 61st so it was pretty busy! The training highlight for the week was swimming 13.43 for 1km in my 3rd swim. I guess i haven't lost too much.... I also started my new role as Triathlon Tasmania's Administration Officer so it really is a busy time. I'm looking forward to increasing my training volume over the next week or two... and I'm starting to plan some races - stay tuned.

Back in training

I have just finished my first day back in training after a very enjoyable 5 week break. The day started at 5am with a 3.5km swim session. It was then off to work for a full day of teaching. After work I ran 10km and went to the gym. Home by 8pm and I'm now not far out of bed! 

Enjoying a break

I've been home for 3 weeks and enjoying some down time. It was great to be able to sleep in for the school holidays and relax. I'm back into the swing of things at work this past week and it was good to be able to do it without being tired from training. I have also enjoyed working out at the gym and catching up with friends. With 1 more week off and I'm going to be ready to get back into it, although I'm not looking forward to those early mornings!!!

race reports continued

3. The Roth Challenge was next. Hearing so many great stories about Roth this was a race I really wanted to do. It was a star studded field and had a great atmosphere. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great and was bucketing down from the moment I got up.  The swim was 1 loop in a canal about 12km from the town centre. I was 10th out in 53 minutes along side former World Champion, Leanda Cave. The bike was wet and cold. It was 2 loops with an extra section back into Roth and T2. I felt good early on the bike but lost about 10 minutes with a flat at the 35km mark. A couple of kms later it didn't feel quite right so I stopped at the bike mechanic stand and they put a new front wheel in pretty quickly. I got back into a good rhythm and continued. The spectators over the bike course were awesome. The famous "Solar" climb was lined with cheering fans despite the rain and the other climbs had commentary and music too. I had a tough time over the last 60km feeling the effects of the awful weather and by the time I got to T2 I was out of the top 10. However once onto the run I felt totally different. The run was along a trail that followed the canal with a few sections through towns with more commentary and music blaring. I managed to pass a few girls who had passed me on the bike and I was holding a good pace. I finished strongly, trying to catch fellow Aussie Charlotte Paul who I had in sight but couldn't quite catch. I crossed the line in 12th place stopping the clock at 9.41.36, my Ironman PB. My marathon split of 3.16.33 was also a PB. So even in a day with a couple of mishaps I was stoked with my race. The race finish at midnight was amazing. The fireworks were the best I have ever seen. I'm looking forward to racing in Roth again one day.

4. The final race for the trip was Ironman Canada. Although I recovered well from Roth, I didn't have an ideal lead into IMC. 3 weeks out I hit my head pretty hard and had multiple layers of stitches. A forced rest enabled the cut to heal well and I had the stitches out a week later. However that wasn't the end of my troubles. The race started well. Penticton is a beautiful place and the swim was 1 lap in the lake. I had a great swim exiting the water with the leading group. The bike course was also 1 lap with basically - a pretty quick section to start, followed by a big climb, rollers, an out and back section, another tough climb, and a fast finish into T2. Although I couldn't go with the girls early I still felt like I was riding ok. On the out and back section I could see that the lead girls were riding well, but the rest didn't seem to be too far ahead. But around the 140km mark my back started playing up. Over the next 40km I could hardly ride on my aerobars and therefore lost speed. I started the run and didn't feel too bad on the flat but as soon as I went up a rise my back was hurting. By the 20km mark I was in too much pain to continue and had to stop. Needless to say I was pretty devastated. It turned out I had a couple of discs out of place, most likely a result of the impact from my head injury. Looking forward, I can't wait to have a go at IMC again one day, It was a great course and a beautiful place.