The Transformation Begins

Hi All :).....

So as we all know life goes on. There's not alot that we either do or not do that stops it. Sickness, age, holidays ,work.... all of the above and more ... it still ticks along quickly and quietly. So while my life at the moment is pretty well consumed with work and training there are other things that need to be done... house renovations. Mmmmmm .. not the right time you say... I say .. when is??? We have been putting off starting these reno's for months and they just can't wait any longer. Will has been doing most of the hard work getting the backyard clear and ready for the pergola to go up hopefully next week. As with alot of those things its the prep work that takes all the time and once that's all done the rest is a little easier. I , on the other hand , have been busy with the inside. I have just ordered all the interior doors and handles , and this week I have people coming over to give me quotes on the window shutters and interior painting. The hardest part is getting the tradies to actually come over when they say they are coming!!!

Anyway, stay tuned to this spot 'cause things are afoot at the Vagnoni Household!!!

Another big week of training which I'll try and touch over quickly.

Monday was a 30k run which wasn't so much fun !! Reason.... let me take you back to last night. Will and I headed down to the Marina thinking we would get some wok in a box or something like that. I only eat gluten free pasta and rice noodles as I have a little trouble digesting the "real " stuff. Any how off we went and walking around the Marina and we saw Little Ceasars Pizza, without any thought on my part , we went in and ordered two of the most amazing pizzas. Now I haven't had a pizza in years and I was having a wonderful time devouring way too many slices!! Now lets fast forward to Monday's run. It was literally a run between the toilets!!! I had such an upset stomach!!! I learnt a very serious lesson .... not to break my own rules and stick to the foods I know won't turn my sessions into a quest to visit all the loo's along the northern beaches!!!

Tuesday and we had a 60k bike with 8 hill repeats. I woke to it bucketing down with rain. In fact it was apparently a 25year old record for the month of October that was broken that morning. Anyway I jumped on the windtrainer and did my best to simulate the hill repeats.

In the evening it was off to the track for a threshold set.

Wednesday morning 2.6k swim and Wednesday night we had our team meeting at Ross's house. Ross is the youngest member of our squad at 24 and he certainly excelled with a magnificant prawn and pasta dish (gluten free for me). It was here that we recieved our next part of the program.

Thursday and Fiona came over to join me at 4.30 in the morning for a multi brick session. 10mins on the bike, 10mins running x 5. I'm actually starting to quite like these sessions. Thursday night we met with friends for dinner. It was a great catch up and nice not to have to head off early.

Friday was a public holiday here in Perth so I had a little sleep in ( ya gotta grab them where and when you can), then headed off to the pool for a 4k set.

Saturday was windy !! I think we have had enough practice in the wind !!! The session was a 160k ride with a 10k run off the bike. About 55k into the ride , poor Lisa who came off her bike last week decided she didn't have enough bruises and scratches and came off again!!! This was a much worse fall than last week . Lucky no broken bones but she came off hard and is very battered and bruised. Will , being the gentleman that he is, offered to get her home safely and they headed off home. One of the most amazing things about training with a group of people like I have been for the past 13 weeks is that you really get to know each other pretty well. You get to share the ups and downs and really see the true person inside. I have got to know Lisa and every week she amazes me with her tenacity , persistance and strength , and I know that while this may have knocked her about.. it hasn't knocked her down and out!!! The same can be said for the other members of our squad... we are more than a squad we are a team , and although we may race this Ironman individually our efforts will be celebrated together.

Saturday night we headed out to the Hoffmans for an amazing dinner..( great food Robyn) and great company. It was a small group of people who had in some way been involved in the Melbourne Marathon.. either running the Marathon or coming along to some of the training runs for companionship.

Last but not least Sunday... an hour session with Shelley Taylor Smith that was great but I don't think my heart rate came down for the whole session, then a short 20min swim and then onto the bike for 40k joined by ..... you guessed it... more wind!!

So all up 19hrs and 43mins this week

Swim... 9.1kms...4hrs 5mins

Bike...285kms...9hrs 9mins

Run...60kms...5hrs 29mins

Core...1hr

So this weeks quote is for everyone out there that is kind enough to come along and read my blog , buts its especially for Lisa and Travis. Travis did last years Ironman and is coming over from Melbourne to do the same this year. Unfortunately for him he came a cropper on the tram tracks over there and didn't come out so good on the other side. Hope your back up and running soon Travis..

If you're trying to achieve,

there will be roadblocks.

I've had them;

everybody has had them.

But obstacles don't have to stop you.

If you run into a wall,

don't turn around and give up.

Find out how to climb it, go through it,

or work around it..

Michael Jordan

Recovery Week you Say????

After yesterday's ride I really feel I have been scarred for life.... you may laugh , but truly , I still keep pinching myself that yesterday really happened and that I actually got thru it. So I was happy when I woke up this morning and only had a swim to do. It was a good session in the pool this morning with a 1k time trial thrown in for good measure. With nothing else on the program this afternoon it was a good opportunity to get a Pilate's session in with my good friend Julz. We did alot of work on the Boshu Ball ( not sure if that's how you spell it) but literally its half a ball that can be used both sides .... both sides used... bo... shu!!!. It really tests your balance and core . I loved it and found it a challenging session and ended up buying a ball from Julz so I could keep working on the exercises at home.

Tuesday morning and the weather was not looking good at all. I had a 60k bike to do with 40kms in the Hardest Gear Possible. So off I headed on my own today as Will's back was still pretty sore .. about 2kms down the road and it started to pour, really heavy. It looked like it wasn't going to stop and it didn't!! I turned around and threw the bike on the windtrainer and finished my session indoors. I don't like being on the wet roads by myself at 4am in the morning. You still work pretty darn hard on that windtrainer. The rain continued for most of the morning and early afternoon but lucky for us cleared up for our track session in the evening.

Wednesday swim ,2.5kms followed by our Ergo session in the evening. Here's a picture of Paul after he decided to pass out on his bike creating a domino effect , knocking Doug off his bike who then nearly knocked Andy off his. It happened so fast and was a little scary. Lucky nobody was hurt too seriously !!

So its now Thurs morning , up at 4am ready to meet Fiona at 4.30 for a 12k run. I got downstairs to see our garage door open.... Uh oh!!!! Walked in... and my new bike ( well 4months old is pretty new) ...GONE!!! I was so upset. Will then walked in, seeing me upset I pointed to the hooks on the wall where my bike used to sit... it was then that he noticed they had also taken my race wheels ,ZIPP 808's!!! Unbelievable. I had brought those wheels off my brother second hand and had saved a couple of months for them. Feeling pretty low there wasn't much I could do at that time of the morning so I headed off on my run with Will and Fiona. The afternoon was pretty full on with phone calls to the insurance company ( thank goodness all covered under contents insurance) and a visit to the local police station to put in a report. I had hardly been in the station 5mins , starting to go thru the details with the lady behind the counter, when the police cadet next to her overheard me mention the race wheels and is like ... oh yeah they've been handed in!!!!! I couldn't believe it. That was the last thing I expected to hear. Sadly my bike is still missing. I am a very lucky girl though as it could have been my TT bike that I will actually be racing on and I do have my old road bike that I can still use till I organise a replacement. After most of the afternoon running around I still had a 21km run to do.... when was that going to happen ...truly!!!! The police had mentioned that often they dump the bikes in bushland and leave it there for a few days till things die down and then they go back to retrieve the bike. So we decided to try and incorporate that in our run. There are a couple of good places not far from our house but we spent ages searching the bush areas with little luck. By this stage it was getting late, I was tired and still a little stressed so only managed 15k getting home to a rather late dinner.

Friday morning a 2.5km swim . I had thought about doing the 6kms that I hadn't done yesterday after work but the forensic police rang and said they would be coming over in the afternoon but could not give me an exact time. So I wasn't going anywhere. The guy didn't end up getting to our place till nearly 5. By this time I had had a chat to Coach Brad and he was happy for me to not try and make up any lost sessions so I gave the run a miss.

Saturday and I woke at 3 to hear the blinds banging !!! Please oh please not another day of strong winds... the memories are still burnt into this precious girls brain from last weekend... I didn't want to go... Noooooooooo!!! But , there I was at 4.30 getting ready to head into the city and meet the rest of the team... it's kinda like automatic pilot but with a guilt button built in for good measure!!! Luckily enough the wind had died down by the time we started our ride but more things were about to happen.

About 5kms into the ride we go under the Canning Bridge ( now to be renamed "Lisa's Bend") and around to Deep Water Point. As we were going round the bend I hear crash, bang!! Turn around and poor Lisa is down. Luckily for her no broken bones but some pretty nasty concrete burns, a big bump on her head and a horrible scrape to her elbow that could take awhile to heal. We decided to make our way a little further down the road to the toilets at Mt Henry Bridge to clean her up, just about to head off and she has a flat tyre!!! With that sorted out we headed off. About another 25kms down the road her chain fell off due to her derailleur being bent in the fall!! I tell you what, this is one strong lady. She was in a lot of pain and discomfort with her knee and her elbow, especially down on the tri bars, but she never gave up . She completed 140kms on the bike today... hats off to you Lisa!! Unfortunately her knee was too sore for the 10k run off the bike but I think under the circumstances she did amazingly well.

Usually after our Saturday session we go for coffee and breakfast but now that the sessions are getting longer it was more like an early lunch.

After getting home and doing a few jobs around the house I headed off for a 90min hot stone massage. I have never had one of these but I would definitely recommend it. It was great ! Firm massage while at the same time very relaxing. She assured me I didn't snore at all but I think she was just being nice!! Ooops

Sundays session didn't start till 8am so it was a great opportunity to not have to go to bed so early as well as having a sleep in . A few of us were a little nervous about the swim due to another swimmer over near Rottnest being taken by a White Pointer yesterday. And it was only a couple of weeks ago another swimmer was taken at Cottesloe Beach. We were meeting Shelley Taylor-Smith for an hours session. It was really good. There were plenty of Surf Club boats and skis out on the water which certainly helped calm the nerves. She gave us some great tips on swimming in the types of situations that we would come across in Triathlons. On top of that we were practicing literally pushing people out of the way in the swims, drafting, exiting the water etc etc. Her session also included runs along the beach, sprinting in the water, out again push ups , sit ups ... our heart rates certainly got up there. After that a few of us got back in and did just over a 1km cool down.

So that's my recovery week ... all 17hrs and 39mins worth.

Run 45kms...4hrs 1min

Bike 250kms...7hrs 38mins

Swim 9kms...4hrs 30mins

Core..............1hr 30mins

Week 12 over with only 6 more to go... 2/3rds of the way there...Can't believe it!!!

The next 4 weeks will really test the spirit and will . I know I'm gonna have to dig deep . Let's hope there's a little more locked away.

Hope you all stay well and safe and we'll see you next week!!

Gotta love those Double Days

Well the first 3 days of this week are double days!!! Monday a 2.9k swim in the morning followed by a 4.1k swim late afternoon. My shoulder up until now has been holding up pretty well but sadly didn't like swimming twice in the one day!!! Luckily I won't be swimming now until Friday so can rest it a bit.
The forecast had been for a stormy day and it certainly looked like it was going to comply. While swimming I don't think I've ever seen the sky come over so dark!! But , certainly in the northern suburbs, nothing eventuated.

Tuesday morning was a 14km run with 6 repeats up Hepburn Ave. Lisa, Fiona, Will and I were on the road at 4.30 and as Hep Ave is almost a kilometre long we only did a couple of kms warm up , hit the hill repeats and home for our 14kms. Fiona and Will were running strongly, with Lisa and I bringing up the rear!!! The killer moths were out in full force. I couldn't believe how many there were, with one hitting me in the eye that hard I thought it was something else like a small rock!! But no, just a dangerous moth!!! In the evening it was off to intervals for another session. Main set this week was 5 x 1kms on "I" pace. With our warm ups and cool downs I managed 11.5kms.

This week we finally got our team running shirts . Unfortunately its not a great photo as the discuss nets at the track have cast a shadow but trust me , they look and feel great!!!


Wednesday was our double day ride... Will and I got up to head out at 4am and the southerlies were out and about. Today was a challenge ride. The challenge is up to the individual. I was doing loops so set myself the challenge that every time I turned into the wind that I would push it as hard as I could!!!
In the evening our usual ergo session, this week was for 100mins.

After the 3 days of double sessions I was feeling pretty tired and was not feeling like getting up at 4 again so slept in till 6. Waking up to daylight is not something I am used to at the moment so it was pretty nice. After a really busy day at work I did my recovery ride on the windtrainer ( 1hour). I felt really good and managed to keep my cadence right up there.

Friday morning swim and then hit the hairdressers in the afternoon. I mean its really important for my hair to look good under my helmet and cap!!!!!
I was having a girlie evening with some friends tonight which was lovely. Its just so nice to sit and chill with some yummy food and great conversation with some long time friends.

I was feeling a little anxious about the session tomorrow ..34km run. I know we have done some double days totalling 30kms but really haven't done a single run over 21k's. A few of us were meeting at LeapFrogs Cafe and had decided to do the 3 lakes run... Lake Joondalup , Woodvale and Goolelal Lakes.
Well the run went well. A little slower than I had hoped for but really happy in the end. The morning was just beautiful. 5.30 am and there were few people on the path for the first hour. Will and I even saw the most brilliant blue wren and Marty and Paul had a rather large snake across their path.

Ok ... this part of the blog is going to have its own heading.... it deserves it!!!!
It's called.... "AND THEN THERE WERE 2"

Today the session was 150k bike with minimum of 50kms in the hills.
Will and I woke to an easterly wind howling at 35kms an hour!!! Great , that's the way we were heading with it forecast to change to a NE later. The temperature was forecast for 35 degrees. We had planned to leave early, 5am, due to it being hot. Jenny,June,Lisa,Sarah, Will and myself to meet in the city. When we got there Lisa wasn't there which is unusual as she is usually never late! We texted her to find out the poor thing had a gastro bug and had been up all night! So 5 now became 4.

We headed south , onto Roe Hwy into the wind and then onto Welshpool Rd. I think it was about 35k into the ride and Sarah wasn't feeling well. She was feeling dizzy on the bike and decided to return to the car. The poor thing even fell off her bike about 2k from her car and she doesn't know how or why. I hope she is ok and its something that will pass.

And then we were 4!!

Half way up Welshpool Rd Will was struggling with his back that had been giving him some grief for a couple of days. He made the decision as well to head home...

And then we were 3!!
So it was Jenny , June and I that continued up into Kalamunda and then onto Mundaring Weir Rd. We were doing an out and back today so with a quick stop to refill our water bottles ( I went thru 6 today!) we headed home. It was finally time to have a bit of a tail wind which was great but we were getting tired, our bums were killing us and our legs were fatigued from the hills and the 34k run we had done yesterday. But we had to get back to the car and there was only one way to do that... peddle those little legs and just keep going....up and down, round and round. We hit the freeway bike path turned left and headed south... yay a tail wind. 4 or 5kms along here and June had turned around as she had ridden from home and didn't have as much as us to do.

And then there were 2!!!

Then it was just the 2 of us to do the last 23k back into a direct head wind. I nearly lost it with 10k to go, I had an unusually painful right foot and for just a few minutes thought I wasn't going to make it, lucky for me I had Jenny to pull me thru !!! I think if I was on my own I may have considered calling a taxi.!

It's always at these times you gotta dig deep and find something to keep you going. Hopefully, if and when, this happens to me during the race, I will have something there to get me thru.

In the confrontation

between the stream and the rock,

the stream always wins-

not thru strength

but by perserverance

H. Jackson Brown

American singer-songwriter 1948

How happy was I to finish. When I got home and plugged the Garmin in it said the max temperature while on the bike was 39degrees and I believe it.
Tried to busy myself when I got home because I knew if I sat down that that would be it for the rest of the day. But by about 4.30 I was totally shattered and had to have a little nanna nap.

So a big week all round.
Total hours 19hrs 34mins
Swim 9.5kms...3hrs 30mins
Bike 296kms...10hrs 36mins
Run 59.5kms 5hrs 28mins

Ironman Hawaii

Well this week finishes in what is considered in the triathlon community as the pinnacle of our sport... The World Championships in Kona Hawaii. A few guys I swim with were heading over there, Alistair, Michelle and Rod, and I was excited and nervous for them all. I am sure it will be an amazing experience for all of them and I can't wait to hear their stories on their return.
It was great to see the Aussie Pros do so well again. Crowie , you're amazing and what a run by Jacobs coming in 2nd. Chrissie Wellington is one of my idols , but would have loved Melinda Carfrae to beat her. She came in 2nd and certainly gave Chrissie a run for her money!!!

Well with another solid week of training under my belt, no illnesses coughs or colds and no injuries... I have nothing to complain about!
Monday morning I managed to get a good 3kms in at the pool and in the afternoon a 21km run.

Tuesday is generally a ride in the morning but for the first time in 10 weeks the program was blank...yay a sleep in till 6. Gotta love it! In the evening we had another solid interval session at the track. With Brad away for the next 3 weeks in Tasmania for a family holiday I was responsible for letting everyone in on the session. 12oom warm up, Stretch, followed by 800m build and then straight into the main set. This week we were running at our threshold pace. 5mins on 1min active recovery, 10min on 2min, 15min on 3min rec, 10min on 2, 5 then 1. All up 45 mins at threshold pace. I managed 12.5 kms with some of the faster guys and girls getting up to 14 to 15kms. As I said a solid session.

Wednesday 2.7k in the pool and the beloved windtrainer session in the evening that went for 74mins.

Thurs morning we had another multi brick . Lisa had left her bike and trainer here from the night before and Fiona got here early to set up. So with Lisa, Fiona, Will and myself , at 4.30 am in the morning we got to it!!! 20mins on the bike with a 10min run off the bike ..3 times. One and a half hours of your heart feeling like it wants to jump out of your chest!! It's meant to be hard. I did find it a little difficult getting my heart rate up at the beginning but that soon changed and it stayed up there for the rest of the session.

I got to swimming early on Friday morning as I wanted to get in a good 800 to 1k in before squad started.I'm glad I did as the set was unusually short with lots of breaststroke and back stroke ( which I am hopeless at)... so all up a 3.2k set.

Saturday morning was looking beautiful. We can actually see what we're doing now instead of trying to get organised in the dark and it was my first ride without arm warmers with the minimum around 15 degrees. We headed south again for 110km ride, with 3 x 20min efforts . We managed to get 2 of the efforts in before we were homeward bound. I was really happy with my ride today managing to hold an average of 33.3 which I think is my best ever!!! Woo hoo!! Then it was off the bike for a 10km run up to the beautiful Matilda Bay and back... managing to hold my T Pace for the duration... so one happy girl.
Saturday night we were off to an engagement party for a lovely young lady Emma and her fiance Dean . We have known Em since before she was born. Will and I met her Mum and Dad at maternity classes 23 years ago and have remained close friends ever since. We had a lovely night so I was disappointed that we had to leave early. But Emma totally understood as her fiance Dean is an extremely good cyclist , just coming back from Belgium where he was 7th overall at a Time Trial race there.
By the time we got home and in bed it was 11 so it was straight to bed to get up again at 4.45 for another 110k on the bike!!
We had decided to do the freeway south again and today could not have been any more different to yesterday. Today's ride was not going to be pleasant. About 5kms into the ride it started to sprinkle , then rain, heavier and heavier..... then it started to feel like hail it was hurting us that much. It was hard to see and there were massive puddles ( more like lakes!!) along the path. It was so cold we couldn't feel our legs and fingers and all the food in my bento box turned to mush!! But we rallied on, even managing to keep our sense of humour !

As Sir Winston Churchill said.....

Never give in

Never give in

Never ,never, never

Never give in....

There is a rogue magpie along that path who comes at you with a lot of aggression. Will was about a 100m in front of us and we could see this magpie swoop at him about 4 times.... so the 3 of us (June, Lisa and myself) moved in close together and when we got to the Magpie we just screamed at it (girlie screams!!) .....it didn't even leave the wall!!!. Hopefully we have frightened him off foreverrrrr!! ( please don't report us to the RSPCA.... I can assure you , no animal was harmed in the story!)
So we made it back , 110kms done. We were soaked thru, black from all the dirt, covered in sand. I even had a stick in my mouth!!!! and we still managed 31.2 k average which we were pretty chuffed with.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that I might be able to squeeze a Nanna nap in somewhere this arvo but am not liking my chances...Never mind!
Hope your week has been a good one. Stay happy and thanks for popping by!!!

Totals for the week
Swim... 8.9kms...3hrs 30mins
Bike...287kms...9hrs 5mins
Run...49.5kms...4hrs 23mins
Core...30mins

Total 17hrs and 28mins