Learning From Others

Its been a happy week for me. Kale ( my eldest son) has returned home from a 2 month surfing trip throughout Asia and Thailand. He had an amazing holiday but I think is happy to be home. It's funny how over time the dynamics of a relationship can change dramatically. I seem to learn so much more from both my boys than the other way around. Our informal discussions can sometimes get quite insightful and its so heartening to see the two of them grow into such interesting, wonderful people.

This week Kale gave me one of the books he read while he was away called "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktore. Frankl. Viktore is a holocaust survivor and his book, although only small , holds a wealth of understanding on the way we as human's manage to survive under duress, stress and inhumane situations.

I am still reading the book but would like to mention something that stuck with me in the first two pages of the preface ( written by Harold S Kushner) , who I am not quite sure but think he was a friend and clergyman of Viktore. In it he talks about a scene from a play called Incident at Vicky ( by Arthur Miller).

In the scene an upper-middle-class professional man appears before the Nazi authority that has occupied his home town . He is asked to show his credentials. He produces his university degrees, his letters of reference and so on. The Nazi asks him, "Is that everything you have". He nods yes. The Nazi repeats himself, "Is this everything you have". Again he nods yes. The Nazi then throws it all in the bin and tells him, " Good, now you have nothing."

I thought of this in context of Ironman training. It is so easy ( and I have to say I have seen it first hand) to let Ironman training take over your life , where it defines who you are, so if something happened , say an injury , you wouldn't know who you were or what to do with yourself. It is hard sometimes but so very very important to maintain a balance. Keeping up with friends , reading , hobbies and most importantly making time for family...

This is certainly not to put a bad edge to Ironman training. I think there are so many positives that come from experiencing such an amazing and personally insightful journey, that I would hate to think what my life would be like without having firstly the ability , as well as the opportunity to engage in such an incredible challenge.

SEEK
Allow yourself to grow by exposing your vulnerability and insecurity.

Don't live strictly inside your comfort zone- don't always play it safe...

So I think the lesson here is about balance, but not being afraid to have a go , to fail. Making sure that the important people in our lives are not neglected but to also embrace life's lessons and challenges that it throws at you . It's always interesting to see how we handle them!!!!

So as I said this has been a happy week for me. I am feeling alot better ( although still have a lingering cough) than last week. I am feeling great and not too tired either.

So lets have a quick look at the week.

Monday ... double day run. Ran 15k in the morning and 15k in the evening

Tuesday... Recovery ride of 40k on the windtrainer then off for a great interval session in the evening. We did 1200m warm up on the track then headed outside and thru Perry Lakes to the bottom of Reebold Hill. We then had 6 x 1min all out runs , as far as we could run in that minute with a jog down recovery . Then ran back to the track finishing with a 2 km threshold run. All up about 10k and even though in those 1 min runs you feel like you might throw up !!! I really enjoyed it.

Swim Wednesday morning, and then 1hr 28 session on the windtrainer... OMG they do not get any easier.

Thursday mornings Mystery Session was a 50K ride with 4 time chasers up Resolute Hill. Fiona and I headed out at 4.30 having both been woken up earlier from sirens heading down to the Marina. We didn't know it at the time but apparently a fire had sunk about 3 rather large expensive boats and damaged a couple of others.

Friday swim

Saturday was another brick session meeting down at Deep water Point. Today was 90k ( with 3 x 15min efforts) and then a 15km run off the bike. We have been extremely spoilt with the weather and this morning was , apart from some wind , no different. Felt good on the ride today which showed in my average getting up just that little bit more each week. Sadly one of the guys in our group had his car broken into while he was on his run leg, and was later to hear another lady from our club who was parked slightly further up the road was broken into as well. So sad that some people out there think they have a right to other peoples property .

The afternoon was spent happily watching the Geelong Cats give Collingwood a good beating!! Yes sireee . I mean I would have been happier if the Eagles had got in but hey , next best thing!!

Saturday morning blue skies in Perth ... best place on earth!!

Saturday night sunset

Sunday was to be our first ocean swim . It's the first time I've put my wetsuit on since the half. I love the ocean when I'm close to the shore but I do get a little nervous when I'm swimming out a bit further. But this morning I actually quite enjoyed it . The water wasn't too rough and visibility although not great wasn't too bad either.

This is the sky before we started our swim. It really looked like it was going to bucket down but within about 15 mins the sky was clear and blue. Hard to imagine but true. Ended up being a beautiful morning.


Brad had told us there was to be a surprise at the end of the session. Mmmmmm sand dune hill repeats..... push ups or holding the bridge excessive amounts of time. Maybe he was feeling sorry for us and was going to shout us a coffee ( you can only dream!!)... Oh and I know you'll be reading this Brad ... good suggestion don't you think ..Ha Ha !!!


Anyway , back to the surprise!!! No hill repeats , push ups or holding the bridge, no, not even a coffee. Instead we were greeted by the one and only Shelley Taylor-Smith. Shelley broke the world 4 mile record in 1983, has won the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim 5 times,broke the world record in 1998 for the 48km distance and is 3 time winner of the Australian Marathon Swimming Championships and much much more. How awesome it was to chat to her after our swim, ask her questions and listen to all the advice she had to impart. Coach Brad has also lined up to have her coach our next 3 open water swims..... Awesome!!!

So that is the end of week 9..... officially half way!!!


The afternoon was spent catching up with some special friends ( although I did get the time wrong and didn't end up seeing ALL of my special friends.. I can't believe I stuffed that one up!!) . Then it was time for a girlie afternoon with my two gorgeous nieces Kirra and Jess. Off to the movies to see THE SMURFS... Just listening to their laughter throughout the movie was so precious ( oh that's in between the numerous trips to the toilet!!!)


So I look back at my week and hope that I have managed to find that balance!! It can be a juggling act sometimes but hey when you get it right it sure makes you feel pretty good!!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by..

A Messy Week!!!

My week goes to show that you never know what's around the corner and how your day is going to pan out!!! This morning as per usual I head off to swim squad . Not more than about a kilometre and a half down the road some horrible thumping noise is coming from under the van. Mmmm that does not sound good at all. Head home swap cars and head off to training . Although a little late i still manage to get 2.5k in. Back home and Will has a look at the van.. Not something he can see so I have to wait till I can ring the mechanics and phone all my customers to tell them I won't be there. Unfortunately I can't get the mechanic to look at it till tomorrow. So my plans for the day change. I head out before lunch for my run (18k). I wasn't too happy with how I felt and had to stop a couple of times. By mid afternoon my little itch in my throat had turned into a burning sensation...Damn looks like I might have got some of Will's man flu!!! I was determined to nip it in the bud quickly so headed down to the chemist for some antiseptic gargle. The next morning my throat was even worse, and with a full on head cold so I had to message my friend Fiona at 4am to tell her I wasn't riding. I hate leaving people in the lurch like that but there was no way I would have been able to ride. So as soon as the chemist opened I headed down for some cold and flu tablets. Took a couple of them and then started ringing my customers again as by this time the mechanic had been and had a look at the van. It's the Dif!!!!! Big job..So more phone calls as I had to organise to get the van towed. It was about now that I started getting some really horrible stomach cramps. Getting bad to the point where I couldn't talk on the phone. It then dawned on me. I checked the cold and flu tablets and realised they had codeine in them. How stupid of me not to check. I have a severe reaction to the darn drug. My son had just walked in the door and took one look at me and freaked out a bit. So here we are, Jordan trying to get me in the car, the RAC tow truck just arriving to get the van and I'm just throwing the address at him on where it has to go.
I wanted Jordan to take me to the chemist thinking they might be able to give me something but she took one look at me and took me into the doctors next door. For the next hour and a half they tried to stop the spasms and vomiting which were just getting worse . I had a couple of different injections and oxygen but nothing helped. In the end an ambulance was called and I was taken to Joondalup Hospital. The paramedics ( who by the way I make coffee for ,treated me like a VIP) gave me some very strong painkillers thru an IV and things finally started to settle down..... PHEW. So no ride this morning and no run training this evening.... the things a girl will do to get out of training hey :)

Luckily these attacks don't leave me with too much residual pain apart from the feeling like I've been mugged and kicked in the stomach a few times and feeling rather washed out.

So now its Wednesday and apart from still having the head cold ( no codeine for me) , I am feeling pretty good. I chose not to over do it and didn't swim this morning but jumped on the windtrainer to do the 50k I missed yesterday.
No windtrainer session tonight , instead it was off to meet the squad and get our next 4 weeks of our program..... "Be afraid... be very afraid!!!!" Everyone seems to be travelling pretty well with no injuries.
Thursday's "Mystery " Session was a toughy but a goodie. Apart from coughing up a lung (my left I think) somewhere between the Dome coffee shop and the end of Iluka loop, I managed it all. We started off in two groups (guys and gals), and it was all out rolling over for about 30kms ( the ride with warm up and cool down totalled 45kms). I didn't last long , finding it really hard to breath with this cold ( see I wasn't lying about the lung). Our group then broke into two. After a few laps with Lisa I then hooked back on again with Jenny and June. It was so , so hard but I felt like I had really put all my effort into the session so was pleased with that. In the afternoon it was another 30kms on the bike, small gear aiming to keep to 100-120rpms.
Friday swim of 2.6kms
Saturday was our multi brick session. Todays session went for almost 3hrs. Short , sharp , and intense. 15mins on the bike, 10mins running multiplied by 7!!!! We set ourselves up on Challenger Parade with a stunning backdrop of the gorgeous Floreat Beach. The weather again was extremely kind to us. You could tell at the end of the session that everyone was spent and had worked really hard. It took us a little while to get our butts up off the grass but with the talk and smell of coffee and breakfast in the air it didn't take us long to head off for our after workout treat.

My husbands relatives are here from Italy for only 2 weeks so we have been trying to show them around Perth. My sister in law has been a fabulous tourist guide and we have tried to get along to as many things as we can. Tonight we went down to Fremantle to Little Creatures Brewery for dinner. What a busy place, loud and noisy, I loved it!!! The food was nice but oh the evening was soooo cold. Will have to come back in Summer and sit outside overlooking the water.
So today is Sunday and it is to be my only rest day for at least the next 5 weeks . With some busy weeks on the horizon I was happy to have a sleep in ( 7.30 pathetic I know). However there is always so much to do so today was a good day to get my shopping and washing done then off for dinner with the relies.

So as far as hours and kilometres are concerned this week is pretty low due to not feeling well, however , the hours I have done I feel have been quality hours so feel confident in the fact that no junk miles were logged this weeks.
Cheers everyone and hope that there are only GOOD things around the corner for you!!

Total 10hrs 52 mins
Swim 5.1k ....2 hrs
Bike178kms... 5hrs 57mins
Run 32k...2hrs 55 mins

Family and Friends

Hi everyone and welcome to Week 7 ... ta daaa!!!!

Every week we receive an email from our coach . Words of encouragement, inspiration, details of the program etc are written down for our tired Ironman brains to try and absorb. I like to read and re read these letters over a few times as I like to try and take every piece of information and advice in and I don't want to miss anything ( ok .... so it takes me a few reads to take it all in !!! ).

This weeks letter talked about reaffirming our position with our best and closest allies in this journey.... our partners . He urged us not to put this off , that we can only continue into the next part of this journey with the positive support of our partners, husbands, wives, friends and family members. So,so true.

I have to say I am extremely lucky to have by my side an amazing man who not only supports me emotionally but is crazy enough to do just about ALL the training with me and he's not even doing an Ironman!!!! Even though its such an individual race , I would hate to have to go thru all this on my own. My husband, my training partners... it just wouldn't be the same . So here's to family and friends. The little text messages, phone calls to see how I'm going take only a minute but stay with me for along time. Thanks for thinking of me!!!!

So onto this week..

Well no swim this Monday morning as today was another double day run. 11kms in the morning and 14kms in the afternoon. Pulled up well!

Tues morn and it was hill repeats again. This morning we decided to try Ewen st in Scarborough instead of Reebold as Wills light died on him right at the beginning of the ride and we felt a little more comfortable where the streets would be lit. So it was in our biggest gear possible without falling off that we hit Ewen St then it was back to Hocking parade for another 4 short hill repeats out of the saddle full on sprints . All up Fiona, Lisa, Will and I did 59kms!!. Well done a good session!

In the evening it was back to the track for intervals. When we get there we have no access to toilets or change rooms as Perth Glory and United Emirates (Olympic Team!!) were having a friendly game. So training went on as per usual apart from having to dodge the occasional soccer ball and spectator walking across the track. All up 10.5 kms with the main set being 6 x 800m at "I" pace.

Wednesday was swim in the morning an ergo session in the evening. One our squad members ... "June" turned 50 yesterday. Happy Birthday June so I thought it was apt to put up some decorations in our garage to celebrate such a wonderful milestone for a special lady.

Thurs mornings mystery session was a run this week . I am so used to the mystery session being a ride that I was actually a little disappointed not to be on the bike but it was a beautiful morning although a little rushed for me. I didn't manage to get the full set in unfortunately . 3km warm up with the next 8kms as 1k on threshold pace 1k off. I managed 9k before I had to rush back home for work.

Friday morning and the weather had turned very nasty. We have been spoilt for the past few weeks so I suppose we should be grateful. With a swim in the morning the weather wasn't too much of an issue and the afternoons session was a recovery ride on the windtrainer in the small chainring for an hour. So all indoor stuff !!

Today is Saturday and it couldn't be more different weather wise than yesterday. Just so so lucky. Light north westerly winds with a chance of rain later in the day. We didn't see a drop!! So it was off to Death Valley for 128kms with a 5km run off the bike. I had done Death Valley a few years ago and vowed never, ever to do it again. So here I was a couple of years later back in the valley!!! I have come along way in the past few years and while I am still pretty slow going up those hills , I know I will always make it to the top.... eventually!!! Its actually the down hills that freaked me out the most the first time I did it. Today was still a little scary , but I'm much more confident on my new bike ( love my Ceepo Mamba) although you gotta watch those big honky nuts scattered all over the road ..

I was also happy with the way I pulled up after the ride/run. In the past I would have come home shattered , on the couch, not achieving a hell of a lot for the rest of the day. But I had a busy afternoon catching up on jobs around the house, took a trip out to see Mum and Dad who have just got back from another of their jaunts around Australia and even managed to watch up to the 3rd quarter of the Eagles v/s Carlton game. .. Ok so I didn't manage to stay awake for that all important 4th quarter where the EAGLES WON!!! woo hoo. But I think I did pretty well all things considered.

So that brings me to Sunday. The last day of week 7 . The weather here has turned nasty again. The wind is howling and rain is coming down. But I no complain!! No running for me, nor riding just a nice 3km swim up at the indoor pool and I am done.

So don't forget to thank those close to you , who support you in whatever you do. We need those people. THANKS GUYS!!!!

This weeks totals..... 17hrs and 6mins

Swim...8kms 3hrs

Bike...261kms 9hrs 40mins

Run...50kms 4hrs 26

Feeling a Little Better

Hi one and all.... Well to all my readers over the other side of Australia .... you would just be soooo sooo jealous of the weather we have had this week. Awesome, awesome , awesome!!!!!

Monday morning it was a another 3k swim, without my fins I might add with a 10k run in the evening.

Tuesday morning was a 60k ride with 4 repeats up Reebold Hill in the Biggest Possible Gear (BPG) so that you feel like you are going to fall off!!!! Those guys flying past me must have thought I was an idiot. I'm sure I heard one of them mumble something under their breath about "silly woman" mumble mumble mumble .......... Initially I wasn't too keen about doing Reebold on my own so early in the morning. Some of the squad were meeting in Floreat at 5am so I gathered together a little plan of my own which came to fruition beautifully , if i must say so myself.. I left home just before 4.30am met the guys in Floreat . I did say guys didn't I. Ha ... I ended up being the token female and got dropped not too far into their warm up , but that was cool as I knew i would meet them on the hill repeats and that was really where I was keen on the company (there are no lights up there and its in the bush) . I then left them and headed home as by then I only had 12 k left to get home and they still had another 30 to do .

As always Tuesday evening is intervals. I was looking forward to being able to just do my own set as Brad was going to be off night shift and would be there to run the session... however ... sometimes you know "the best laid plans".. Poor Brad had got a call out to a 3 car pile up (sirens blaring in the background) and I was to take the session. Luckily there were no new people there tonight so everyone just got stuck into it straight away . With the usual warm up, main set of 400,800,1km..times 2 then a cool down, i ended up with just under 11k's and a third of the way into the set Brad turned up so all good.

Wednesday.. 2.7km swim, 30min core session and the dreaded ergo session in the evening . With Brad on night shift ( we now call him the Minister of Pain!!) , Dougy ( the apprentice ) called the session. Length tonight 1hr 24mins. Paul had borrowed a wind trainer that sounded like it was a plane going to take off !!! Andy rocked up with his water bottle in a BWS wine carrier ( we now call him the Minister of wind and sound.... use your imagination!!) and this week Ross had a windtrainer on loan which was good as the last few weeks we thought he was going to catch on fire it caused that much smoke!!

Thursday morning is the MYSTERY SESSION!!! woooooooo wooooo . 40k this morning. 5km warm up then 30 k using only the 2 hardest gears on your bike, then 5 k recovery. I'm organised and up at 4 as I am meeting Lisa and Fiona at 4.30, check the bike ... rear puncture. No drama , plenty of time.... so I thought. I could not get my rear wheel back on . Well I mean I did but what a nightmare!!!! So this session gave the quads a really good work so instead of a rest in the afternoon it was instead a 21km run!!!!

It had been a pretty busy day of running around for the business. The truck needed to go to the auto electricians. At least now the people behind me will know which way I actually intend to turn. So by the time we picked the van up and made our way thru the afternoon peak hour traffic I finally got to start my 21k run. ... well at least I got to see the sun set and the moon come up! What more could you ask for .

Friday swim in the morning then off to the physio in the afternoon. The headaches are finally subsiding but I am still getting this horrible crunching in my neck!!! It's getting better and the physio seems to think just one more visit and some exercises that I've been doing and it should see itself right.

Saturday and we were meeting on the south side of the Narrows Bridge. 100kms on the bike will a 10k run around the river. As I mentioned at the start the weather here has been nothing short of stunning. A bit fresh before the sun comes up and there was a light easterly blowing but certainly nothing like some of the winds we can and probably will get here!

Sunday was a day of rest. So for me that's a sleep in till 7. Pottered around the house doing all my little jobs , dashed up to the Dome in Mullaloo for a coffee with my friends who were finishing their run . ( they are training for the Melbourne Marathon in October). A few more jobs at home then it was off to The Rose and Crown in Guildford to sit in the beer garden for a few hours. What a great afternoon!!!! Caught up with our friends Meredith and Marc and John and Cath. Lots to talk about so the afternoon just flew by. I think it got to about 26 degrees. It was great to see what everyone had been up to and to not have to think about Ironman and training. Cath (who's a nurse) had just come back from 2 weeks in Tanzania working with a plastic surgeons medical team. They solely saw burns victims. Because the people there cook on open fires and use kerosene to start their fires there are a lot of accidents, adults and children! She saw alot of horrific injuries but she loved the challenge of helping these people and is keen to go again given the opportunity.

I suppose as humans we seem to thrive on the chance to challenge ourselves no matter in what area.

" Adventure isn't hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain.

Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life-

facing new challenges,

seizing new opportunities,

testing our resources against the unknown and, in the process, discovering our own unique potential"

John Amatt (1945)

English Mountaineer

The girls!!! Meredith, Me and Cath

Everyone

The boys! John, Marc and Will

So that is my week. Its been super busy with work and training but its been a much better week with these headaches slowly subsiding. So all in all I'd say a pretty darn good one!!!


Hope yours was a good one too.

Totals this week.. 16hrs 34 mins

Swim... 8.5k..... 3hours
Bike ... 240k..... 8hrs 27
Run ....52k....... 4hrs 37
Core... 30mins

Spring is in the Air!!!!

What a wonderful start to the week weather wise, however not a great one for me personally.My neck has been out so i've been suffering with some horrible headaches. I am certainly keeping the nurofen and panadol companies in business, but i am determined not to miss a session due to this !!! I was planning on not putting any of this in as I really don't want to be seen as complaining but after some thought I realised that if this is to be a true record not just in stats, I needed to stay true to myself and be honest.
So seeing as I'm a little late in getting the blog up  I'll try and keep it short and sweet.

Monday was a double day run 11kms in the morning then 10kms in the afternoon. I pulled up sore in the right calf so in the evening I then went to my friend Julz's studio for my first Pilates session which I really enjoyed and it was nice to stretch out that calf!!

Tues morning Fiona Will and I headed off for 50km ride with 6 short out of the saddle hill repeats.  You wake up pretty quick in the morning doing these. I just couldn't do the last one out of the saddle with my calf but managed the first 5. I don't think Fiona had done hill repeats on a bike before but you wouldn't know she did really well !!! In the evening it was off to the track for intervals. Brad was night shift so I was the "go to" person for the night. I obviously don't have the same drawing power that my brother has as numbers were a little light on tonight.

Wednesday 2.5 k's in the pool, 45 minute core session then a 1hr 22 session on the windtrainer.

Thursday morning Lisa Fiona and I hit the road again at 4 30am for a 40km Challenge Ride . Lisa was riding really well and I was struggling to keep up with her. So my challenge for the morning was to not let her get too far in front of me.... Unbeknown to me Lisa had set her self the challenge of not sitting on my wheel. So there we were literally chasing each other for 40kms ... good ride!!!
Friday morning was a no go for swimming , my neck and headaches had been bad all night so instead I went off to see the wonderful Jazz for a remedial massage to see if she could help relieve some tension in my neck and calf. Some temporary relief but still not great . She has recommended I see a physio or chiro which I will have to organise for next week.
Saturday morning and it was back to Deep Water Point where we started our brick session of 80k ride 8k run. I had to pop nurofen at the start and panadol at the turn around point but i made it thru. My calf was feeling much better after Jazz's massage yesterday but unfortunately the headaches were still lingering on !!! In the afternoon i went to the pool but left getting there a bit late and only managed 2.3k . My brother from Geraldton was on his way down with my niece Lil for a concert and we were hoping to meet for a quick bite to eat which we managed to do. Sadly it was only for an hour but better than nothing as I don't see those guys as much as I would like to . Will and our son Jordan were off to see the footy.... Go the Eagles!!!! Grand Final here we come... Yeah

Sunday and its Fathers Day!!! A sleep in, another short core session , salad and dessert making then off to the inlaws for dinner. 

Can't wait to see this tree in full bloom!!!

So all up it was a total of 14hrs and 37 mins this week

Swim..4.8kms    1hr 50mins

Bike..211kms     7hrs 14mins

Run...37kms       3hrs 18mins

Core                   2hrs 15mins