Amazing Stories

Well its taper time and life has slowed just a little. I have been watching some of the people's stories unfold on the Ironman Facebook page with a lot of interest.
How wonderful that this sport is there, not just for the professionals. That everyday people with more than everyday stories can attempt such a wonderful/ challenging event such as an Ironman. There's a lady who's spent the past few years battling cancer. A gentleman who lost his wife to breast cancer less than 12 months ago and races in her honour, who will have a crowd of friends dressed in pink tshirts coming to Busselton to support him in his quest to finish. There are Grandmothers and Grandfathers. People coming from Canada, USA, Sardinia, Japan and many of the European countries. All with the same thing/goal in mind.
It's interesting how there are some things in this world that UNITE people. Music is one of those things and it appears among others that Ironman is also a conduit for people to come together from all walks of life. Out on the run people are supporting each other along the way. Crowds are cheering you on. Truly a beautiful thing....Away from wars and borders where colour, religion and burkhas hold no interest.... just the respect and honour that this race deserves.


As I mentioned I am in taper.. Monday I had a lovely swim. It was nice after the weekend rest to not swim with heavy legs!! In the afternoon I had a 20k run. My last longish run... Fantastic.


Tuesday morning I met up with Nat for a 30km recovery spin and then onto the track in the afternoon for a much lighter set than over the past few weeks..... 2kms at threshold,1km at interval pace then 5 x 400. With the 1st, 2nd and 4th lap at threshold and laps 3 and 5 at interval pace ( which is slightly faster).


Wednesday was back in the pool and then windtrainer session in the afternoon. The intensity in these sessions is still high but they have shortened considerably. This particular session only went for 70mins.


This morning I had 50kms to do on the bike. I got up at 4am was on the road by 4.15 and met up with Nat around 4.30. It was a full moon this morning with a steady but not tough southerly. Both Nat and I were both surprised at how fast the past few months have gone and we really are finding it amazing that in 10days we will be attempting probably one of the toughest things we will ever do in life. I enjoyed my ride this morning and felt relatively good. My calves and hamstrings feel tight but I am off for a massage tomorrow afternoon so that should help.
It's Friday morning and I've woken up with a sore throat again. Not happy about that at all. I skipped swimming this morning making today my rest day instead of Sunday.
This afternoon I grabbed 10mins of TV while having a quick bite to eat. There was a lady on there "Amy" who while in hospital having her 2nd baby had picked up a flesh eating bug. She ended up losing both her arms and both legs. The hospital staff said that they were waiting for her to hit the "Why Me"... but it never happened . She just wanted to get home to her children and look after them.... When interviewing her she didn't complain and was happy but made a statement saying there were just some things she would never be able to do... Never. Wow that resonated with me. We are all so very lucky to have one very important thing in our lives and that's choice. It made me think about the Ironman next weekend . I can do this Ironman..... because I want to...........
because I choose to.......
because I can.................
How blessed are we!!!!
I will think of Amy while I race. I know she will never know who I am or what I do but I have decided to carry her will and tenacity with me next weekend.....

The afternoon I headed up to my sister-in-laws for the best massage!! Thanks Ileana.
All greased up from my massage I headed down to Sorrento Surf Club to watch the Max Grieves run. The club holds this run every year in memory of one of their founding members who passed away from cancer. It was a great turn out. There's a 10km and 5km run and a 5km walk. At a guess I am thinking they got about 50-60 people down there and just as many if not more watching. My assistant coach (ha ha) Sue, won the females...you go girl!! It was a great night and hopefully the club will have a good donation to hand on to the Cancer Foundation.
Saturday morning I woke at 3 to chairs and umbrellas being blown around everywhere. I decided there and then that I wasn't going to ride this morning. When I spoke to the others they said it was horrible and that they didn't end up doing the 90kms due to such strong and dangerous winds. Will and I had a sleep in and then jumped on the windtrainer and did our 90kms. Later on in the day we headed off to Han's for dinner then went to watch the movie "The American " with George Clooney. Sad to say very disappointing . I love George but not in this movie . We found it slow moving and quite boring. We kept thinking there was going to be some big major twist at the end but it never came. Oh well ... still a lovely night out.

Sunday and today is supposed to be my rest day. But not having swam on Friday I just wanted to do a nice easy couple of k's. I had brought some new goggles and wanted to give them a run as well. Met Sue (Ass. Coach :) ) at Craigie and had a lovely swim. The weather was warm and the water was refreshing.

So a nice week of taper . All up did 12hrs 45 of training
Run...36.5kms ... 3hrs 10mins'
Bike...155kms....6hrs 55min
Swim.7.6kms.....2hrs 40mins

So as a tribute to Amy, I leave you with this quote from John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)

I do not think there is any other quality

so essential to success of any kind

as the quality of perseverance.

It overcomes almost everything, even nature....

4 More Days To Go!!!

4 more days to go till taper..... Will I make it in one piece. ... That is certainly the question!!!

Everyone else from the Busselton weekend seemed to be feeling great but unfortunately not me. I woke up with a sore throat again this morning and my legs feel like lead. Don't get me wrong here.. I don't want to appear as if I am complaining, I'm not. I'm just telling it like it is so when I read back on this in 6 months , 12 months time , i will remember how I was feeling at this particular time in my programme.

So like I said, sore throat, lead legs....yeah , yeah, yeah.... you got it I know!! So I did my swim session this morning with probably 80% of it using fins. Then in the afternoon into a howling southerly I did my 20k run.... nice and easy but that wind made it tough.

My Tuesday ride was down to do 100kms. I knew that apart from either getting up at 2am or taking a day off work(neither of which were going to happen) I was going to struggle to get that done before 6am. I had decided that I was going to get up and on the road by 3am and just ride for 3hrs and get done what ever I got done distance wise. Well when I woke just before 3 my throat felt like I was swallowing razor blades... no riding for me this morning. As seems to be the case for me and sore throats as the day went on it felt better, not gone but better. So in the afternoon I jumped on the windtrainer for an hour before heading off to run training. Feeling very sluggish as I ran around I opted to still do the session but at a slightly lesser pace than Brad would normally have me do it at.

At first I thought maybe I was coming down with something but I think I am just tired and hoping that with an early night tonight ( and lots of gargling with Betadine) things will start looking up. I think everyone training for Ironman would be feeling something around this time so I am sure its all normal.

Wednesday morning... still woke up with a sore throat but nowhere near like yesterday. Did a 2.6k session in the pool... no fins today.
This afternoon as I sit on my windtrainer all I can think about is the weekend and my 2 rest days. I worked as hard as I could with that as my focus, my reward you might say. Unfortunately the sore throat and tiredness is not going away!!!
This morning there were horrible winds which I have to say is not my reason for not getting out there on the bike! No ... it's a bit like Ground Hog Day I'm afraid. Woke at 3 with probably my throat feeling the worst it has, so went back to bed. I was extremely restless. A combination I think of not feeling 100% and annoyed at this weeks lack of training. So about 4am I jumped onto the windtrainer with the idea of just riding for an hour ... just see how I felt. I ended up doing 60kms ... not quite my 90k as was on the programme but better than nothing.
I had an appointment with my doctor this afternoon so sorted out my asthma medication so hoping given 48hrs I will have that back on track. I also dropped my TT bike off for its final "Check Up" before the race.
By the late afternoon I was again feeling slightly better. I was meeting Tarnia for a 14km run. We left our run till about 6.30 as it was a 37 degree day. What a magnificent sunset. Totally spoilt running along with a spectacular pink sky as our running partner!! Felt pretty good tonight and thoroughly enjoyed the run.
Friday .. I found swimming this morning quite hard. Whenever we start off with 100's at a fast pace I just seem to struggle. And that my friends is it for the week!!! No training this afternoon or tomorrow OR Sunday. I had a dentist appointment to go to then had booked myself in for a facial which was wonderful.
So this weeks load has been alot lighter than it should have been... a kind of self imposed taper you might say. Let's hope with some rest I will be feeling better come Monday when I start my "official" taper..


Totals for the week'
Bike 136kms...4hrs 30mins
Run 44kms.....4hrs 7mins
Swim 7.7kms 3 hrs
total of 11hrs and 37mins ( this is actually my lightest week since I started)

So while this week has seen a few hiccups my end goal is still the same.... Get to that finish line!!!!

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination..

Jimmy Dean

Busselton Training Weekend

Had a bit of a late night last night so didn't make swim training this morning. Had a wonderful family meal at the in laws. Pretty well everyone was there . So just imagine .... 3 long tables put together with 25 to 30 people, talking , laughing, eating...more talking more eating.. and it's not even Christmas when EVERYONE will be there.


So as I said didn't make training but heard thru the swim grapevine that 2 of the girls in the squad (twin sisters) were involved in an accident on the weekend where a lady pulled out in front of them. One has broken her collar bone again for the second time in about 10weeks and the other got off with some bruising, scratches etc. Having broken my collar bone in January I felt pretty sick. Katie was now out of the Ironman and heard she was devastated as you would be. You really train and dedicate so much time that to have it taken away from you this close would be disheartening. I know she will be back into training soon ... good luck!!


Monday afternoon I had another 33km run. This was to be my second run of this distance in 5 days. I have to say I was a little nervous and it took me awhile to get my act together and get out the door, but as always once you get started..... My heal was still giving me some pain so had set out thinking that even if I get 20k done I would be happy. So off out the door and I was feeling surprisingly good. Good enough to do the whole 33k in 12mins less than I did it last Thursday. Needless to say I was stoked!!!! Please , please, please let me run like that on race day!!


Tuesday morning was a 30km recovery ride... thank goodness. Even though I pulled up pretty well after my long run yesterday , the legs were feeling a bit heavy.


At intervals today I thought I might have been let off easy. It's funny how we sometimes think we just haven't anything left in the petrol tank, but somewhere deep down there's a "reserve" tank. Well that was me. My legs were tired and when Brad gave me my session, the first thing that rang thru my head was " no, can't do it".... But just as quickly I changed . I at least have to give this a go!!! So after our usual 1200m then 8 x 100m warm up I got started. 2km nice and easy , 20mins holding 4min 52, 5min easy,15min holding 4.52 then a cool down. And yes I did it!!!


Wednesday swim then my windtrainer session in the afternoon. I had so much to squeeze in this afternoon. Work is always busiest on a Wednesday, then I had to get stock, some food shopping then my session. Then it was off to Mum and Dad's for my Mum's Birthday.....Happy Birthday Mum. Dad cooked a beautiful lamb roast. I don't think there was one thing left on my plate , it was sooooo yummy! It was kind of a mixed birthday as my brother Brad's is the following day. My sisters and I put in and brought her a gorgeous top . Mum and Dad are off on a cruise soon so it will be nice for her to have some new clothes to wear. Unfortunately it didn't fit but Mum changed it the next day for an even more gorgeous top... so it all worked out in the end.


Thursday.... today would have to go down as probably one of my worst days of training. I had 50k to do with 10 short hill repeats. Well I got 2 done.... yes only 2!!! As soon as I got up out of the saddle I could feel pain in my left groin area. Ok lets do another one see how that goes.... nope no good. So I opted to drop the hill repeats and just get the distance done. I could see the weather coming in from over the ocean. Waiting waiting waiting and then it finally hit.. Pushing into a very strong southerly and soaking wet I thought I was going to have to pull over, however after about 15 mins the rain and wind completely disappeared and it was just beautiful (apart from the slippery roads). A group that I could see ahead of me went around the Whitfords Rd round a bout and down went one of the girls... Lucky she wasn't too badly hurt just a little shaken. Needless to say I took the corners ever so slowly after that!!


I had a 20k run to complete when I got home from work and unfortunately my heal did give me quite a bit of grief and I only managed 15k...Came home and iced it. I don't need to run now till Sunday so hopefully given some rest it will come good.


Well this weekend I am heading down to Busselton with Anna, Sarah,Paul and Brad our coach from "The 6th Discipline".


I still had a swim session to do but because I had taken the day off work there was no need to rush. Brad and I then went to breakfast with some of the other guys from swim squad. After that it was home , pack the bike and gear in the car and head south.
I just love Busselton. We had perfect weather. I am a little nervous about tomorrow's ride ,but also looking forward to getting out on the course.


Everyone eventually got down to the house so we headed out for a yummy dinner at one of the local restaurants. Driving up the main street are all the signs to signify that the Ironman is coming. It was really exciting!!

Paul,Anna,Sarah,Me and Brad (a little blurry!!!!)

Sarah, Myself and Anna under one of the Ironman signs that run up and down the main street...

Saturday morning finally arrived. We all had checked out the course the night before but still left and rode together for about 25-30k before everyone just went at their own pace. On my second lap of the course, as I was going over one of the few rough patches of the course, I lost my drinkbottle. By the time I stopped and went back to get it I had been dropped. Not only that I had lost all my drink and only had half a bidon left for about another 80-90k's. This was no drama as the house we were renting for the weekend , while not directly on the bike course, was so close . So after completing lap 2 I dropped back to the house , refilled my bottles and headed back out there with as little delay as I could. I was feeling pretty good and eventually caught up with the girls. All up managed my 180k in just under 6hrs so was very happy with that.

Anna and Sarah ready to rock and roll

In the afternoon we started talking about the race. Brad covered pretty well everything and gave us alot to think about.

About 3.30 we headed down for a quick swim, probably only about 25mins. The water was lovely and I have to say after such a big ride quite refreshing. Unfortunately I had trouble with my asthma again so am a little concerned about that.




Before dinner we sat down again but this time to talk about our mental preparation for the race. This is definitely an important part of the race. I could see how it would be so easy to just let your race fall apart if you let your mind take over in a negative way. Brad gave us some strategies to use leading up to and on race day .

After a great BBQ dinner it was hit the sack. I think we were all pretty exhausted. It had been a long, physical day, but I think everyone was pretty happy with the way it had all panned out. Anyway we needed some sleep, tomorrow was another early start!!!!

Not alot of sleep for me last night...sore throat and blocked nose. I knew once I started riding I would start to feel alot better. The plan for today was a one lap ride of the course (60kms) then a 17km run off the bike. Again it was a stunning morning, especially when you get to ride thru the Tuart Forrest...just stunning. Being a Sunday there was alot less traffic on the roads as well. I got off the bike and was feeling pretty good. Running the first 8km at around 4.45's then everything just went downhill from there. My left heal again!!!!! Did the 17k in 1hr 27min in the end.

But check out below what I rewarded myself with for Breakfast........ Pancakes!!!!!

After breaky we had our final talk on Nutrition, pre and race day. This is all based on how many carbs to consume @hour @kilo of body weight. It's can seem at first a little daunting. But I will sit myself down sometime this week and just go thru it on my own based on the info Brad gave us.

From my point of view the weekend was invaluable and a huge success. The information we received will really help us in our endevour to cross that finish line on what will be one tough day... Also getting a chance to ride and run the course , I think, breaks down any mental doubts I previously had.

So ... i have had a BIG week. I am very , very tired , but feel very satisfied especially coming off my big ride on Saturday !! 4 more days of training then I get a rest and start to taper.

Total for this week

21hrs and 1min (every little bit counts you know!!)

Run 76kms 6hrs 41min

Bike 348kms 11hrs 45mins

Swim 6.7kms 2hrs 35mins

Well Margaret I think this quote pretty well sums up my weekend and the past 15 weeks. Tired but very satisfied !!!!

Look at a day when you are surpemely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it!

Margaret Thatcher

Who would have thought!!!!!

Who would have thought .... 13 weeks have passed and truly they have flown by!!! I have had a pretty decent week this week. Feeling reasonably good apart from a few little niggles.


Monday... first swim of the week 2.6kms. This afternoon I had a 20km run. One of the girls I swim with started her Ironman training program today for Ironman New Zealand!!!! I met up with Tarnia down at Marmion and she joined me for 13kms of my 20k run. I know I've said it before but having someone to train with really does make a huge difference. That first 13k of the run flew by and the rest just seemed to drag out.


Tuesday.. Up at 3.30 to do my 50k ride with 9 short hill repeats that really do get the heart pumpin!! 4kms into the ride...BANG!! a flat tyre. I'm pretty confident now in changing tyres so called Nat who was going to meet me in the usual place . She got to me just as I had finished fixing the tyre and in no time we were back into it.
Off to run training in the evening. Brad got a few new people tonight which was great. So while they were going thru their warm up and time trial I had my session to start. 1.2km warm up, 8 x 100m knees up, run thru 's , skipping etc. Then 4 x 10mins holding 4 min 50sec, 2min active recovery between each set then a final 2km cool down.. All up a 12km set.


Wednesday a good 3km swim set and in the afternoon a very tough hot, windtraining session that lasted 1hr 55mins. The temperature had hit about 36 degrees today so sitting in that garage, Sarah and I earned every drop of water we drank.

This morning was a 30km recovery ride in the small chain ring.... nice and cruisy.
Ok so now to Thursday afternoon, my 33k run. Come on Helen just get started... you can do this you've done a marathon before... just get your arse out the front door. !!!!! Yep that's me just talking to myself for a good 10mins at my front door. All set to go with the fuel belt, ipod loaded but sometimes just taking that first step.. How many times in life do we find ourselves trying to talk ourselves into just "taking the first step". And usually once you do things just propel you forward and off you go!!! Ha ha.. and that was me on Thurs. Off I went. Yes it's a long way but I did it and was so very happy to finish that's for sure. It took me 3hrs 11mins not counting the toilet stops (there were 3 :) ).


Lucky for me Friday was just a swim. I had actually considered not going down while laying in bed the night before and decided that no I would go and if I felt like my legs just weren't working for me I would put my fins on. Well low and behold it was a fins session. So glad I made myself get out of bed and go.


Over the past couple of weeks I have been chatting to a few people on the IronMan Western Australia face book page. A guy from Sardinia, a lady from Queensland and another lady who is from Canada but living here in Perth for awhile. She has entered as a team with her son doing the swim and herself doing the other 2 legs. So on Friday afternoon we caught up for a coffee. It was lovely to meet her and listen to how she is finding living and working in Perth. It was also great to swap some training ideas with each other. We'll certainly be cheering each other on over the next few weeks.
Friday night we dropped over to our friends, Mary and Stan, who have just been on a huge holiday over in America. The whole crew rocked along and it was just great to see them all again.


Saturday morning we met under the Narrows Bridge again to head south for 110km ride. It was absolutely perfect riding conditions and we were travelling along nicely. On our way back Sarah, Anna and I stopped for a toilet break so Will continued ahead. 5mins later we come up on Will changing his tyre. A flat I thought! Well he did have a flat but it was how the flat happened. As he was travelling thru the tunnel there were 3 guys standing with their bikes to the side. One of the guys was looking the other way , didn't see Will coming and stepped straight out into his path. Will hit him travelling about 36kms , on his tri-bars and the just careered into the bush, hitting trees and rocks. He was so lucky to not have broken anything. He's quite stiff and sore as a result but it could have been alot worse...Lucky, lucky!!!!

After the ride it was a 12k run along the gorgeous Swan River. I've done that run a couple of times now and I really enjoy it. I like going and running in different places. We are very lucky here in Perth to be blessed with some of the best paths for running/walking/cycling around.



Sunday morning was a bit of a sleep in as I didn't need to be at the beach for our Ocean Swim till just before 8am. A 35min swim in quite choppy water and then back on the bike for another 110km ride. This time we headed north to past Two Rocks. It was a tough ride on the way back heading into a southerly. It tested me both mentally and physically today as I was tired from my ride and run yesterday. But you kinda got to get home... so we just kept pedalling. I crashed on the couch for about an hour when I got home but then had to get moving as life goes on. Got the van ready for work tomorrow and then made some salads for dinner at Will's mum and Dad's which is always a great night.

So for this week I completed a total of 23hrs and 21mins of training. It's certainly getting up there..
Swim...9.7kms 3hrs 35mins
Bike...357kms 12hrs 40mins
Run...77kms 7hrs 6mins

You have powers you never dreamed of.

You can do things you never thought you could do.There are no limitations in what you can do,except the limitations of your own mind.

Darwin P Kingsley

I just loved this quote when I read it as it really speaks to me about where I am right here and now . Every week I have surprised myself with what my mind and body has been capable of achieving. How often do we hear ourselves and people we know say " oh I could never do that". Well we can....we are only limited by our own minds. Certainly something to think about don't you think!!!!!!