ARIZONA

Well....1 week to go. I got here Tuesday night and have been finding my way around and training on the course every day. It is a FAST bike course. Wow. It takes about 1.50 to do a 60km loop and that was with stopping 4 times to make adjustments to my bike and stopping for traffic lights. It is very much within reason to do a sub 5.30 on the bike. As much as it is tempting to hammer it on the bike, The Dutchman has made me promise I will hold back. He showed me an article in a German cycling mag he gets that had plotted bike performance against run performance in Kona this year and how the race is won on the run. I suspect it was part of my problem in Austria. I can't afford to run anything slower than a 3:30 here. The article showed the bike splits of Normann Stadler who came off the bike 12 mins ahead of Craig Alexander (the 2008 champion) and how he lost 30 mins on the run. It is going to be hard to hold back but I have to do it. I get my Zipp wheels on Thursday so really looking forward to seeing how I fly on those!

I have not done a course like this before where you are constantly having to pedal. All the other IM's I have done have had downhills where you can rest a little bit. That will also affect my run time. That and the 30 degree heat! So pleased I have been out here for a few days already and have been spending as much time in the sun as possible trying to get a bit of a base tan and used to training in the heat of the day. I am pleased for those treadmill sessions where I was wearing 4 layers zipped up to my neck sweating it out, no matter how strange I must have looked.

The swim is in the Tempe Town Lake and is great for spectators as they can stand on the bridge and watch it start. We then swim out and back to another bridge. The bike goes out in 3 loops along a highway where they close on side of it which is great. It has been a bit scary riding alone out there even though the shoulder is wide. Had some guys in a massive pickup shouting stuff at me yesterday as they went past. Can really do without that. I also hope they sweep the road because there is a lot of crap on there. Came across a guy yesterday with a flat and have seen a few discarded tubes along the road side. I have been lucky which is great as I wasn't carrying a pump or CO2 cartridges. I figured I could hitchhike back in if necessary. (hope Mum isn't reading this).
The run is along the lake, over a bridge back along the other side back across again and away in the opposite direction to cross once more and loop back around. 3 laps. I have a 1.20 run scheduled today so will do the loop at race pace which is sub 1.10 to see how that feels.

I swam in this community centre pool earlier this week. Pool was stinking hot and the showers freezing and wasn't that nice. Complete stroke of luck yesterday when I turned up there to do my laps and they were not doing lap swimming on Fridays so they sent me to the YMCA. It is the same size pool, heated, outdoors and free!! The locker room is also really nice unlike the other place where I picked up some foot fungus thing I am now desperately trying to get rid of.

Really enjoying driving around now that I have some perception of how big this car I hired is. I got a large car because we need to fit 2 bikes, bike bag, suitcase and we will be doing some decent miles so wanted to be comfortable. This thing is massive but kind of fun to drive now. In fact I wouldn't want anything smaller given the size of some of the cars and pickups they drive here. Not a hatchback in sight!

I hit the Arizona Mills mall yesterday and was disappointed. The Nike outlet was OK but that was about it. Got a great base layer for $20 I saw recently for £50 so was pleased with that. Also got a cool run top, will be running in that today. I got a new race outfit too. I ran in black at Austria and this time I will be in blue and black for the bike and black and white for the run. I prefer to get completely changed in transition. The time it takes is well worth it for me to be comfortable, plus by wearing a cycling top I am more protected from the sun. I rode at midday yesterday and it was hot hot hot out there as there isn't any protection.

I was out riding a few days ago and came across another cyclist who was training for a race in Tucson in a few weeks. I was taking pictures of the bike course (included here) with my blackberry because I have finally learnt how to ride without hands and I don't have to stop. Corinna and Leanne used to joke that I would have a camera strapped to my helmet so I wouldn't have to stop, but this works better for me :) Anyway this dude rode with me for 10 mins and then said I was setting too much of a pace and he wanted to drop back. It was very good for my ego because I had slowed down to talk to him :) I don't get any sense of my cycling improving because of cycling with TFD all the time who slows down to adjust to my pace, but it must be!

This hip flexor 'thing' is settling down ( it isn't an injury!). I get the odd twinge but it is OK. I am stretching every few hours. I have been so busy the last few days, I really don't know how I manage to go to work and train. I have also been getting up at 3:30 so have all day to do all of this stuff. Today I slept in till 6 which was good. Ideally I want to be waking up at 5am so I am used to eating and getting up at that time so it isn't a shock to the system on race day. Thank goodness TFD is OK with that. I pick him up tonight from the airport. I can't wait to see him!! We have been on skype every day. He makes me laugh so much, he really is the BBE. (Best Boyfriend Ever).

We had dinner with Corinna and Antoinette last weekend and they were giving him Ironman support tips as they really are the pros at it. They were also fishing for investment into Iron Dreamz. Made me appreciate again how great they both are and how much crap they put up with when it comes to Ironman. Corinna gave me such a beautiful card. If I had functioning tear ducts I am sure I would have cried it was so touching.

So, I am feeling amazing. I am in a great frame of mind. I know the course. I am going to win. I have so many people behind me. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea but I love the tough love approach. Before I left work on Monday my boss told me to 'just win ok'. Mum said 'we are proud of you no matter where you place, but we know you can win it'. Corinna and Antoinette 'you better not ruin our holiday to Hawaii next year' and finally TFD 'I'm not going all the way to Arizona to watch a loser'. Some of my own personal favourites '2nd place is 1st loser', 'don't look back, someone might be gaining on you' and finally 'pain is temporary, giving up is forever'. Can you tell I have been doing my mental preparation? ;)

Tomorrow we head up to Sedona and then onto the Grand Canyon. It is going to be amazing. We get back to Phoenix next Thursday for registration, pick up the Zipps and start the serious race prep. Right, time to go train.
Cx

The Calm Before The Storm

Well, I had a very interesting week last week. I fell victim to something I thought was just being a bit more tired than normal but turns out is a whole lot nastier... Over Training.

For those of you who have experienced this, I am sure are not keen to let it happen again. To those who have not...well be warned. It can strike, chew you up and spit you out before you even have a chance to work out what is going on.

Last week was my last hard week of training before I start my 3 week taper for Ironman Arizona. Everything over the last few weeks had been going well, excellent volume and intensity of training up around 17 - 20 hours and I was feeling like I was in the best shape of my life. I started out last week after doing a 5 hour ride and then run on Saturday to a 2.5 hour hilly run on Sunday. Felt tired as you would expect. Hit Monday with a 2 hour 15 min brick before work and a track session in the evening. I was feeling pretty shattered and noticed I wasn't as quick as I should be. Monday night was the first of the sleepless nights. Into Tuesday morning with a 2hr 10 session before work and a swim in the evening. The swim wasn't easy and I was a good 10 secs down and slipping on my normal 300m times. Very little sleep again Tuesday night.

Anyway, the week progressed with me continuing to push as hard as I could on all of my sessions, sleepless nights and the worst thing I started to doubt my ability to even get to the start line let alone actually complete the race. If you know me or have been reading this you will know that I am very confident (probably over confident ;) in my ability to perform and complete an Ironman race, after all this is IM number 4 for me.

I had to get the cranks and bottom bracket replaced on Matilda (my bike) and couldn't quite work out what the problem was with her when I picked her up from the bike shop Wednesday night other than the cranks were a different colour. The guy in the shop was saying how great these cranks were and I wouldn't have any problems with them and that he had them too. Anyway, I took her home and put her in her bag ready to go out to Nice for the weekend.

Thursday I ran an OK-ish flat 11km at lunch in 45min which is a little slower than normal but legs were very tired and I had this niggle above my left knee. I of course ignored it. As the afternoon wore on, the pain got worse but I figured it was just because I had been training loads during the week and it was just one of those aches and pains you sometimes get. I swam Thursday night and my arms were aching doing the warmup ... it went seriously down hill from there. I was barely hanging onto the back of the group I normally lead.

I headed out to Nice with TFD (The Flying Dutchman) Friday night and managed to get some sleep but it was more through being absolutly exhausted than anything else. Saturday we got up and I put Matilda together and I hear a shout from TFD wanting to know what the hell had happened to Matilda. Blank look from me which is the look he normally gets when he starts talking bike techie stuff, I tell him that is what they told me I needed in the shop. Turns out they fitted MOUNTAIN BIKE cranks and bracket to my beautiful baby. Not only do I now have less gears, the cranks are for people with much longer legs than me and they sit at an angle. Now all of that may sound minor but after 18 months of training with 1 set up, changing that 3 weeks before a major race is not a good idea. So this added to the already sinking feeling I was already experiencing.

Nothing we could do about Matilda so we headed out for a ride but by now I had managed to work myself into a complete state of self doubt and my legs were killing me. It was like trying to cycle through treacle and having to head straight up the side of a mountain 10 mins into the ride really didn't help. That is the only drawback of cycling in Nice, you have to go up to get out. TFD was trying to chat to me and I was being a complete pain and giving him one word answers and snapping at him. He was really noticing the drop in speed and was being very supportive and trying to push me along a little bit. It got so bad at one stage I almost started crying with sheer frustration that I couldn't get my legs to work without being in pain. Everything from the week was starting to take it's toll. I actually convinced myself that I wasn't good enough to race and that I should pull out rather than go out to Arizona.

I managed to struggle to the top of the 2nd climb and from there is was 40km down or flat to get home. Even flying along going down the mountain wasn't making me happy and thats one of my favourite things in the world! TFD could tell I was in trouble so took us on a short cut to get home. We got in and I went for a run for 30 min but kept it flat on the promenade rather than doing my 12km up and then back down run I normally do. I pulled the pin on any further training for the day and TFD started making noises that I was completely over trained and needed to take it easy.

Sunday we did a short but spectacular 90 min ride to Eze. I was feeling slightly better mentally after a lovely evening in and a fantastic nights sleep. The issue today was the incredible wind. So many times we would come around a corner and almost be blown off our bikes the wind was so strong. I really got the speed wobbles at one point doing around 55km hr went round a corner and got hit by a cross wind that pushed me across the road into the oncoming traffic. That slowed me down.

We got back and I went out for a 2 hour run which I cut back to 90 mins because this leg thing was flaring up again. TFD met me at the beach and I pulled on my wetsuit and stood looking at the MASSIVE swell. As I said to TFD, you can't drown in a wetsuit and off I went. Interesting getting out past the breaking waves not made any easier by the fact they were coming in to the beach on a 45 degree angle. I swam against them for 12 mins or so and had to turn back because there was a pier making them break much earlier. I was being tossed around out there like a rag doll. I would swim 3 strokes and then be slammed from the side which was making me dizzy and feel a little sick.

I turned back and swam with the waves which should have been easier but I was now starting to get flipped over more often just by the sheer size of the swell and because it was really choppy. I swam further out which didn't make me happy because I was now feeling rather ill and it had started to rain. I wasn't far from where I went into the water and stopped and was treading water and noticed a crowd of people looking out into the water. After looking around me I realised they were all looking at me probably asking why some crazy person was out there :)

By this stage I was trying not to throw up I was feeling so sick so decided to go in. I had been fighting out there for 30 mins and couldn't do it any longer. I started to swim in and I could see TFD on the promenade and he started to come down. You so know where this is going. The big waves were coming in sets of 4 then 4 smaller ones so I tried to ride in the last big one of the set but lost my footing trying to get out of the water and got completely slammed from behind by the first in the big set. Now I'm sprawled on the beach trying to get up and bang! Slammed again. Very elegant. TFD had to come and held me get out of the water. If I knew how to speak French, I would have told the spectators 'I meant to do that!'.

So, we got back and I got in touch with Terry (my coach) http://www.triforfitness.co.uk/ and he diagnosed over training and pulled me from doing anything for 2 days. So I'm back on my feet with this lingering pain which I am seeing a physio about on Saturday. Bike is fixed with the correct cranks and a massive apology from the bike shop and life is once again great!

I leave on Tuesday to head out to Arizona and can't wait to just get going out there and see what I can do. I have never been in better shape, I feel strong and I feel even stronger mentally after last week. It gave me a brief insight into what it must be like to suffer from depression, that sinking feeling, closing everything off and not being able to ask for help. Lucky for me I am surrounded by people who recognise the symptoms and pulled me out of it quick smart.

So, bring on Arizona!
Cxx

Arizona is 4 weeks away!!!

Someone drank a little too much champagne....and that would have been OK if I didn't have to get up and do a 5 hour ride the next day. I was NOT feeling the best and it certainly reminded me why I don't drink very much any more. The first hour of the ride was spent trying not to fall off my bike and not throwing up, then 3 hours of a horrible headache and then a combination of nausea and a headache for the final hour before I cried mercy and we headed back in to London where I then lay on the couch trying not to move. Running to get over a hangover is great...cycling not so good.

It was all worth it because Fiona and Andrew's wedding was so much fun! They had such an amazing day and they both looked brilliant. I loved Fiona's dress so much, she just looked so beautiful. After TFD (The Flying Dutchman) telling me that he doesn't dance I had to practically drag him off the floor once he got started. :) Everything was perfect about the day and the weather was incredible! I wore an Amanda Wakely halter neck backless dress in dark blue. It went all the way down to the floor with a big bow at the back. My hair was up in a French roll with some bits hanging down. The obligatory 2kg of hairspray and 17 bobby pins to hold it all together were in there too. TFD was in a tailor made grey suit and was looking very handsome. I tease him and tell him I only have him because he makes such great arm candy ;)

Training is going well. We went out to Ludlow for the Autumn Epic a few weeks back but didn't end up doing the event as the weather was so bad. Checking out forums the next day, people were having problems getting to the start line as the surrounding roads were flooded and a lot of people who actually made it there pulled out in the 1st 10 miles and turned back. We made the decision not to do it after the alarm went off at 6am and it was a complete downpour outside. Being wet for 6 hours is not my idea of fun, and I really can't afford to get sick now. It is far too close to Arizona for me to have any time off. It wasn't all bad, we were staying at Fishmore Hall just out of Ludlow where they have a Michelin starred chef so we went for the 7 course meal on the Saturday night. Very nice. Great place, would definitely recommend it. We headed back in on the Sunday and we watched a movie 'together'. TFD was on the couch with his feet up and I was on my rollers sweating it out doing a training session on my bike. The movie wasn't long enough so a few episodes of South Park bumped up the time in the saddle. Only problem was I kept almost falling off because I was laughing so much. Not ideal focused training and 2 hours was more than enough. It was the longest I have ever done on my rollers.

2 weekends ago we did a sportive down in Surrey from Dunsfold Park. Really great ride, except for the getting lost part so we did a few extra miles which was a shame because we missed out on getting silver by only a few mins. I was pleased, I was 3rd fastest woman which wasn't bad given it was only TFD and I. We would have been much faster in a pack. We got back in and I did a run on the runway as it was at the airfield. The runway was obviously not in use ;)

Last weekend was another wonderful weekend in Nice where we did a snappy 3 hour ride Saturday. I was getting very cranky, my legs were not working as they should have been. All the training is making me tired and they were sore from a heavy weights session Thursday. TFD was 'encouraging' me but I was throwing abuse back, more because I was frustrated with myself for not being able to push harder. We got in and I did my hour run along the promenade, around the marina and out of Nice up the side of a mountain and back down again. TFD met me and handed over goggles, swim cap, bikini and Zoot suit and then into the sea for a 45 min open water swim. The water was 20 degrees so a bit chilly but refreshing. The problem was the jelly fish! I got stung on both feet and under my left arm. The 2 on my feet went away by Saturday night but the one under my arm was over the top of some chaffing from running so hurt a tab bit more. I am taking my wetsuit next time so I can stay out there longer than 45 mins.

Yesterday we did 3 big climbs. The pictures are from the Col de Braus which was the 2nd one we did of the day. 10km of up and up and up, but so much fun around those hairpin turns :) We then headed back down to sea level to Menton and then up to St Agnes and onto Col de la Madone. That's the climb that lance Armstrong used to do his testing on. I believe he used to do it in about 33 minutes. I can manage an hour, so we are clearly neck and neck (if he does it twice!).

The best thing about all the climbing is the descending and the going as fast as you can part. My riding and handling skills have really improved the last few months and I put them to good test when riding in France. We always try and do the big ride on a Sunday when there is less traffic and it pays off because you only see a couple of cars. After descending Col de la Madona it is 45 mins back to Nice and it is sloping down with one up hill. TFD and I generally race each other back in doing an average of 50km/h and sometimes more and really hammer it. The descents are great and I have no idea how fast we are going on those, way too fast to look at my speedo and check that's for sure! You really have to work and I just love going at speed. The cars are very forgiving which is great, they don't try and run you over if you take a wider corner. The only bad driver we encountered yesterday was a guy in a 4x4 with British plates who tried to overtake us on a super narrow rd and besides almost pushing us into the wall almost had a head on with another car.

We are back in Nice in 2 weeks for another few days of heavy training and that marks the end of Arizona training and then the taper starts!! I am feeling great and very strong. The 2 or 3 core and strength sessions are really paying off, and I have never been able to do 50 pushups before in my life which is pretty cool ;) I am really looking forward to Arizona and if I had to do it tomorrow I would be ready. The fact I have another few weeks is a complete bonus and I am really happy I have yet again managed to keep my promise to myself that I do everything I can so I never turn up to a race thinking I could have done more. As I say to TFD he isn't going to Arizona to watch a loser :)

Stay safe and happy training.
Cx

Tuscany, Nice & TFD's Birthday

Lots to catch up on! I was out in Tuscany in the Empoli Hills staying in a lovely villa for Anna and Jeremy's wedding. Such a wonderful long weekend! I headed out to Pisa on Thursday with the Irish Massive (Helen, John, Sam, Kirstin, Ruth) and picked up the cars to start a rather long drive to the villa. The driving instructions we were provided with were vague to say the least! The villa was massive with 2 floor and a converted attic space to house the 10 of us staying there. Thursday we headed out to take over the local co-op, shopping for 10 people is an adventure in itself and we were not too popular with the locals after we had forgotten to weight the fresh produce and held up the line whist we tested our knowledge of the Italian names for fruit and veg.

I got up Friday morning and had this fantastic run through the vineyards. I ran around the ridge line of some of the hills and just kept getting higher and higher. The views were just breathtaking so I kept going further up. I was supposed to be doing a structured session but sometimes the training plan has to go out the window! I ended up doing a loop around so I could look back across the hills having reached one of the highest points in the area and could see our villa which was quite distinctive with turrets along the top of it. I came across quite a lot of pheasant and no matter how many times I saw them they still made me jump when they explode out of the bushes. I was crossing through one vineyard where there were 5 old men picking grapes who just stopped working and just stared at me. I'm not sure they see too many runners. I gave them a big wave and a smiley buongiorno and picked up the pace before they could say anything :)

Friday was the wedding in one of the most beautiful settings. Anna and Jeremy got married in an olive grove and then we headed to the pool for prosecco and canapés and lots of pictures. It was a lovely surprise to see Joanne there with her husband Matthew and baby Gabe. I had no idea she was going to be there! Joanne and I used to work together in product management at AOL.

The party was certainly starting to get underway and we were ushered up to an outside terrace where dinner was. I was on a table with Lena, her husband Jasper and another colleague Ingo. The 5 course meal was to die for! Amazing, especially the wild boar ragu. It was very dramatic sitting out there as there was a lightening storm across the valley which made for a fantastic atmosphere. In perfect style the speeches were not too long, just right, food was incredible and the company absolutely charming.

After dinner we were sent back to the pool where the DJ was warming up. John was causing mischief by going around saying to guests that the party starts when the bride hits the water. Enter stunt bride. John had packed his own stunt dress and managed to talk one of the guys to jumping in with him. There was a collective gasp when he jumped in until everyone realised Anna was safe on dry ground :)

Everyone up on the dance floor and of course all the wedding classics were coming out. About 11.30 the heavens opened and it just poured and poured with rain for the night. We were all inside so it wasn't a problem. The problem was waiting for the 1 and only taxi in the area to ferry people around to the various places. It was nice watching the storm and waiting so wasn't bad at all :)

Unfortunately the bad weather settled in, it was humid so the rain was actually welcomed for my run Saturday morning. I think I might have been sweating white wine on my run but did feel good once it was done. Some of the parents of the Irish Massive were also at the wedding so they came over for dinner on Saturday night so we had 16. Huge BBQ and some great salads along with a drop of Tuscan Chianti.

More bad weather Sunday so I did a little run and then focused on some core exercises improvising with rocks for weights. We drove to Sienna for lunch and had a bit of a wander around. I have been there 5 or 6 times and love it so was more than pleased to be back there. John and I were heading back on a 10.30pm flight which was good and bad. Good that we got to spend the entire day and bad that I didn't get home till 2am! kind of ruined Monday's training because I was so tired.

Was back on track with training for the rest of the week and knew I had to keep it up because I was flying to Nice on the Friday with The Flying Dutchman for his birthday! We had a later flight Friday night that removed the airport stress. Friday night was a lovely cold beer on the terrace when we arrived, all in anticipation for his birthday!

Got up Saturday for breakfast on the terrace and put Matilda (my bike) together. I gave TFD his birthday present which was the new ipod video nano. I had loaded it up with some youtube videos, various cycling podcasts and my music collection which he has not stopped poking fun at. I had to point out that there was a time where Aussie Music of the 90's was cool. Somehow he didn't believe me. :) We headed out on our ride on Saturday which was about 3 hours and I still can't quite believe how breathtaking the views are in that part of the world. It is so totally worth climbing these mountains for an hour just to look out across a stunning coast line. When we got back I went out for a 50min run along the promenade towards Monaco where the road goes up..and up..and up. I spotted some cyclists so made them my target to beat them up the hill. Think I may have over done it because I hadn't eaten on the ride and wasn't fuelled up for a 3 hour ride and then a high intensity run. Totally screwed up my nutrition so was feeling pretty sick by the time I made it back to the beach to meet TFD. I skipped my swim which wasn't good but I wasn't feeling so crash hot. A little nap on the beach fixed that :)

Dinner Saturday night was amazing. We ate at La Reserve which is a Michelin starred restaurant in Nice. We got a table on the terrace looking back over Nice, awesome watching the light go down and the lights of Nice come up. The food was incredible, the service perfect and I think I had the best chocolate torte I have ever eaten. Highly recommend it.

Sunday was supposed to be a 6 hour ride but it was raining! No! That isn't supposed to happen in Nice!! We waited and it cleared so we went out for 3 hours up a climb past Elton John's house. It is such a long climb but it is so worth it to come back down it. I hit 82km hr coming back down. YEEE HAAA! It is like flying and is so exhilarating, especially passing cars. That is the fastest I have ever been on Matilda before. Previously I had managed to get to about 72km/hr but always starting thinking about what would happen if I crashed. I don't think about that now, I just concentrate on trying to catch The Flying Dutchman who certainly does fly when on a bike. I call his bike Razor simply because it just cuts through the air fast as you like. That and the seat is like a razor blade :)

It is always such great training being in Nice, I can really feel the improvement in my legs. I am already feeling fitter and stronger than before heading into Ironman Austria in July and I still have a bit over 7 weeks to get ready for Ironman Arizona. Race prep starts here. I have the competitor list and will start researching who will cause me problems in the race, just as I did for IMUK. No more alcohol from now until after the race and I will start getting strict with my diet again. I have done quite a bit of work and research on nutrition planning for racing so will post up some of my top tips. being the absolute geek that I am, I have also created an excel spreadsheet with formulas that when you enter the food you are going to eat it highlights if you are getting enough carbs/calories/protein/caffeine or anything you want to program it for. Screams Tri nerd I know :)
Thats it for now. Next up: Fiona and Andrew's wedding :)
Cxx

Nice Long Weekend

 
 
 
 

Some photos from a wonderful bank holiday in Nice with The Flying Dutchman (TFD). We arrived Friday night after a little bit of airport stress in that TFD's train was delayed and I was starting to think I would be going to Nice alone. We got to his cool apartment and had a couple of beers on the terrace. So nice to sit outside and be warm. He gave me a fantastic gift of a new cycling computer that does everything from altitude, speed, heart rate, power but also has a ski setting. Very very cool and he just keep securing his position as the best boyfriend ever :)

We did loads of cycling over the weekend, and most of it was up hill. It doesn't matter which way you go, you have to go up which is of course excellent training. Some of the pics show the roads we were riding that just keep going switchback after switchback. I spent 3 months cycling in Italy a few years back and I had forgotten that roads could be like that. It is so worth it for the views when you get to the top and then the fun part...the decent! TFD is awesome on a bike and he drops down the side of mountains faster than gravity. If you have read any previous entries you will know how competitive I am and there was no way I was going to be left behind so I tucked my fear away and just went for it hitting 70km an hour coming down. TFD taught me how to go faster around switch backs on the way down which was also handy. My aim was to always try and keep him in sight but it didn't always work out, if I braked just a tab bit too long on a corner, he was gone and I would have to work so hard to even have a chance of seeing him again before the bottom. All excellent fun. We did part of the Monacco 1/2 Ironman course and that is tough. The race is next week and I am seriously thinking about doing it next year. Having the advantage of being able to train on the course is a huge benefit. We were out for about 6 hours on Saturday and it was about 35 degrees so we came back pretty worn out. Saturday night TFD took me out for a lovely meal on the beach and then onto a cool bar for cocktails. Perfect ending to a perfect day. It was so nice just hanging out with him, I find it really difficult that we have so little time just to do stuff like that.

Sunday was a shorter ride of a couple of hours but really hard. I had my heart rate up at 174 and thought it was going to come out through my chest. I also thought I would cry when I convinced myself I was at the top after about 3km of climbing only to find out I had another 2km to go. Again, worth it for the views at the top and the rush of flying down the side of the mountain. We got back and I did an hour run up hill from the port to turn the legs over. I try and do a run off the bike as much as possible, obviously in a triathlon you want to get out on the run as quickly as possible so it's best to train for that :) We headed to Cap d'Ail for some beach time on Sunday afternoon and i got in a 45 min swim. The good news is it that it I got over my desire to swim the channel. I swam quite a long way out from the beach and it was rough once you got out of the protection of the small bay and I am guessing it is still nothing compared to the channel. Not sure I want to put myself through that. Saying that it was so nice to be in the open water. I also threw on the zoot suit, figured I have it I might as well use it seeing as the last time was Kona last year. We wanted to have an early dinner at Cap d'Ail but nowhere was serving and there was a 2 hour gap between trains which wasn't great as we wanted to get up early to ride before heading back. We went for a drink in a lovely bar I had actually been to 2 years ago when I first found Cap d'Ail. It is just stunning. Right on the water with lovely furniture and the best bit...cold beer :)

We caught the train back and had dinner down near the markets. I had probably the best piece of salmon I have ever had. Lovely. We were not out late, I was almost dead on my feet by the time we got back having done so much training throughout the day.

Monday was another long ride where we headed out and across to Menton and then up the famous col de la Madona. What a climb. It just went on and on and on. I wasn't quite going at the speed Lance Armstrong used to go up it :) I am sure I would have kept up if I wasn't stopping to take photos ;) TFD flew up that. He needed to get in some good training, he is leaving Saturday for a cycling week in the Pyrenees. He got in a pretty long rest whilst waiting for me! We got back to Nice and I took Matilda (my bike) apart, a task I am getting very good at! Flight back was uneventful, shame that TFD and I were on different flights.

Perfect perfect weekend. Lovely spending so much time with TFD, I am going to miss him when he is away next week. So, back into the training this week. I had a great session on the track this morning, I am running 6 min miles at the moment and they feel pretty good, I feel like I can go faster. I just have this small issue of a sore foot that is giving me quite a bit of pain and has been swollen for about a week now. Dr's tomorrow I think.
Enjoy the photos!
Cxx

IronMan UK Race Tips 2008

This might be useful for those of you doing IMUK this year. One of my Aunt's in the US who is also a multiple IM finisher including Kona, has a friend doing IMUK and asked me to send her some tips.

Swim
* The water is cold. It always rains here in the UK in August so the water never really heats up too much so definitely make time to get in and do a warmup. The start line is actually about 200m from the shore so you do get to swim a bit before hand.
* Be careful about what time you get in the water, last year (2007) we were delayed and could have really done without the 20 mins of treading water.
* You swim clockwise around the course, 2 laps
* The water is murky brown so don't expect to see much. You will be lucky to see your hand a foot in front of your face
* They do a practise swim around 9am each morning so do try and get to one of those in the days leading up
* The swim was delayed by more than an hour 3 years ago due to mist on the lake. Make sure you can get some food and water should this happen and you have to wait because you will be in the race funnel on the side of the lake waiting.

Bike
* It starts with a hill. A steep hill. You leave the castle and go maybe 1km and then start climbing. Take it easy, it is one of those hills that when you think it is over, it twists around a bit more. You only do this one at the beginning of the race because the loops start at the top of the hill.
* The climbs are tough, especially on the back section of the 60km loops. They are long and it can be really windy. We had a really strong cross wind last year so when you would get to a gap in a hedge you would have to really hold on.
* There is a long decent on the back stretch, it isn't technical but a lot of people hold off. If you are fine with speed I suggest you cane it. I was overtaking loads of people on that section and it isn't a technical descent, you just need the balls to go for it.
* It can be cold in Britain in Sept, in fact a few people got hypothermia last year. I wore a cycling top, arm warmers and shorts and I was fine but I don't tend to feel the cold too much. You definitely need to plan on having some warmer clothes than a trisuit. Saying that you might get lucky on the day and have beautiful sunshine!
* They sweep the roads the day before the race but they do get covered in crap so there are lots of punctures. A friend got 4 last year which was game over for him. I was lucky, but make sure you have plenty of spares and know how to change them quickly.
* Put a tube, spare C02 canister and a bt of food in your special needs bag. You won't get it back but it is nice knowing you have a backup tube should you go through the ones you are carrying with you. It could have saved my mates race last year.
* The mechanic support on the course is minimal, even one of the pros I know couldn't get help, so game over for her. I don't think they would even help you with punctures.
* They do have mechanics at the expo if you want your bike looked at pre race, but you have to book in. Mail the race office and they will help you.
* There is always support at the top of the hill in point one where the loop starts again as lots of people walk the couple of km's out there to support people. There are a few other hot spots for supporters and you pass through a few towns but there isn't loads of people out there.
* The aid stations are great, shout out what you want going into them and you will get it. Remember to say thank you to these people! They have all got up very early on their Sunday to help you realise your dream. Saying thank you isn't going to cost you any time.

Run
* The run course has changed this year but I believe they still do the same 1st half around the castle grounds and changed the 2nd half which was on a duel carriageway rd.
* 1st half leave transition out towards the campsite and is lumpy, it then goes up gradually to the turnaround and back down around behind the castle, around past transition and around again. You will get a bracelet as you do the first loop so they know to send you out on the 2nd one.
* If it has been raining it will be muddy in parts as some of it is dirt tracks. Avoid the water, last thing you need is wet socks, yuo will get blisters.
* After the 2 loops around the castle you go through the town and over this bridge which is stairs on both sides. Killer on the way home!
* Once through town, last year it was 2 loops of basically 3 hills, there wasn't a flat bit in it. If they are not doing that part again thank your lucky stars!! It is brutal but if you can run hills you will dominate. If your strategy is to run the marathon, do it! If your plan is to run / walk, stick to that. Don't change your race plan on the day.
* It was incredibly windy on the run, especially the 2nd half and it was either a head or tail wind which made some of those hills interesting. At one point I was blown backwards :) Be mentally prepared for that!
* Once the 2 loops are done, back across the killer bridge, through the town and out to the castle to finish. Even the finishing chute is on a hill!!
* The support going back through the town is great so don't forget to soak it up!
* Again, don't forget to be nice to the volunteers. They don't have to be out there and it is a thankless job.

I wish everyone who is doing Ironman UK on 7th September the very best of luck, although finishing Ironman has nothing to do with luck. Ironman is about hard work....and lots of it! Have a great time, it is a phenomenal achievement to even make the start line and something you can be proud of for the rest of your life.
Cxx

London Olympic Race Report Aug 2008

I am writing this the day after the race and I should be happy. All I can feel is anger. I am so annoyed at myself for making silly mistakes that cost me time. I know I can go faster and the reason I didn't was because I haven't been training enough and silly avoidable mistakes I made on the day.

The race was good, but as always there is a lot of room for improvement. I got down to the Excel centre in London around 90 mins pre race start to get myself organised, walk transition and meet up with The Flying Dutchman who had been out training in the morning. My first mistake had already been made on the Saturday when I racked on the far side to bike exit, close to run exit but running in bike shoes is much harder than run shoes so silly mistake. I set everything up and headed over to swim start to find TFD. So easy to spot him in a crowd as he is a head above everyone else :) I stayed with him for 20 mins or so whilst I got into my wetsuit and then got into the pen with the other girls to head to the water. At the start of the race they always make you do this OI OI OI shout out. I was laughing at TFD as I have been teaching him some Australian such as 'OI'. I have no doubt he will use that on my friends at some point and it sounds hilarious in his sexy Dutch accent:)

Anyway, the water was cold and murky. I have been spoiled swimming in Hampstead Lido with its nice clean silver lining. I couldn't see my hand when stretched out in front of me. I got into the front of the pack on the line. I have worked hard on my swim and also on being jostled about so not worried if I get a bit battered. The gun went off and I went off at a fast pace to out swim the 'start sprinters' who keep up a cracking pace for about 50m and then drop back having to breastroke when the adrenalin runs out. I used to be one of them so know what they do :) It was hard to see where I was and just really focused on trying to swim in a straight line. The out bit went really fast and I was there in a bit over 12 mins. I wasn't drafting as I was finding it hard to sight and stay on feet and people were crashing into each other and swimming all over the place. I did get kicked under the chin by someone and bit the inside of my mouth.

The stretch back in seemed harder and I suspect we were going against the current. It was also choppier so I was having problems getting air despite breathing every 2nd stroke. About 2 out of 3 breathes I was getting water over my head and no air. I could feel my heart rate going up but kept pushing on knowing I was over halfway. It was also much calmer in terms of the people who were around me as everyone started to speed up so I jumped on some feet and went with it. I got out of the water feeling pretty good in 27.31 which is a new PB by 3 mins over 1500m. Very pleased with that but I need to learn to wim harder in the 1st half of the race, I am still being to cautious. TFD reckons I was in about 35th position coming out of the water. T1 is always interesting at London Tri because you have to get your wetsuit off and then run up some stairs. The volunteers are great however my guy handed me a bag upside down so I struggled running and trying to get my wetsuit into the bag and then slipped on the stairs and banged my foot. I didn't feel it at the time of course but certainly know about it today :)

So mistake number 2 of the day was running down the wrong isle to get my bike and it cost me 10 seconds. Got onto the bike and went for it....straight into a head wind! I was actually starting to get a bit worried when my heart rate hadn't started to go down at all after 10 mins because I was pushing so hard but didn't want to let up. I was overtaking a lot of people but wasn't feeling great for the first half. I was forcing myself to drink knowing I wouldn't be drinking in the last 20 mins because of the cramp issues I have been having running off the bike this season. I managed to drink about 600ml of energy drink and 2 gels over the course which is probably about right for that distance. I find it really difficult to get my nutrition right for olympic distance racing, I suspect I proably over do it.

TFD has been playing around with my bike position to get me more aero and we decided to be quite aggressive given it was only 40km. I liked it, but have an aching neck today so it is going to be moved slightly for training. I did feel it gave me extra speed and made it easier to push hard but wouldn't like to do a long ride in that position. London tri is pretty much flat except for the tunnels. I don't have a speedo on at the moment but must have been doing 50km plus in there as I was really flying past people in my largest gear. It was hard to know who I was chasing because there was other people out there from previous races, and it was a lot of the stragglers weaving across the road. I was shouting at people to get out the way and everyone was great and did jump out of the way. I had 1 girl overtake me 250m before the tunnel on the 1st lap and I let her go knowing I would fly past her, which I did. No one else went past me on the bike. TFD was on the corner and shouting at me each time I went past. I was busy overtaking 3 people on a corner on my last lap so couldn't look at him but certainly heard him which was great, made me smile.

I came off the bike in 3rd place according to Terry, I think I may have been 4th at that stage in a time of 1:09:54. I got into a bit of a tussle in T2, as I was running back up between the racks these 2 idiots were casually walking with their bikes, having raced earlier that morning and now collecting their stuff from transition. I started shouting at them to move as I was running towards them, 1 of them jumped out of the way and the other one just looked at me and sort of halfway moved to the side. I crashed into the back of him not being able to stop at the pace I was running with my bike and the redhead temper came out to play. He copped a mouth full of abuse until I realised I was wasting valuable energy on him and took me another 10 secs or so to untangle myself from him. Jumped into my running shoes now absolutely fuming and hit the road.

I heard Corinna, Marilyn and Bronwyn up on the bridge as I came down the ramp and around the turn around to head back up for my first lap. I looked for them but couldn't pick them out. I went past the pub and then TFD was in a great place just up from there. Terry was another 50m along and then Daz so that stretch was great and I calmed down a little and let the rage subside. First lap was rubbish and I got this sharp cramp pain in my left shoulder 2km in and had to walk 10m or so swinging my arm, 2 girls I had just gone past came past me so had to spend more energy chasing them back down again. 1 of them it took me 3km to catch her again. I hooked up with a Serpentine girl for the 1st lap on the way back and we kept each other moving, she sped up towards the turnaround as she was on her last lap from a previous race.

My 2nd lap was faster but because there were so many people out there it was impossible to know where I was. I had 2 girls charge past me and there was no way I could have stuck with them at that stage but I kept them in my sights. Turns out they were in my race. I picked it up for the last 2km home but couldn't pull them back in. My position was 6th having lost my 4th place position by a mere 9 seconds, the time I spent looking for my bike in T1. My run split was 42.42 which is rubbish. I can run a 41 on that course and the reason I was so slow was because deep down I know I have been neglecting my run training. I always put so much faith in my ability to run that if I have to skip a session it is always the run. I paid for that yesterday and wont do it again. I finished in 2:24:58 and was truly spent when I crossed the line. I had a few moment of panic looking for somewhere to throw up but managed to keep it together. It really isn't a good look.

The good news is that I will now work harder than ever to prep for Arizona. It stings getting 6th place when I was capable of 4th easily and 3rd with a fight, and I really do enjoy a good battle in a triathlon :) Olympic racing isn't my distance but that doesn't mean I am happy to settle for anything other than a 110% effort on my behalf and I don't feel like I gave that in the preparation and training leading into the race. Lessons learnt with plenty of time to fix them over the next 14 weeks in time for hopefully a win at Arizona.

It was great having TFD, Corinna, Terry, Marilyn, Bronwyn all there. It makes a huge difference having people around you and people to meet you at the end. After I had managed to a) not throw up and b) not fall over I started to feel a bit better about the race and had a brief moment where I was actually happy about my performance. As Terry pointed out I still have an Ironman in my legs from 4 weeks ago. He also pointed out that the holiday is now over. He wasn't kidding, this week is a killer programme of 17 - 18 hours of hard core training. Excellent, bring it on.

Cxx

London Olympic Triathlon

The London Triathlon is almost upon us! Is it wrong that I am feeling almost more nervous and wound up about this race than I was for Ironman Austria? It is a little baby olympic race and a walk in the park compared to Ironman!!

I think the problem lies in the fact that I have The Flying Dutchman coming AND also Terry (my coach). It will be the first time either of them have seen me race so I want to make it a good one. Anyone who has been following this blog or knows me understands how much I hate doing Olympic distance races. My body hates being at the max for 2 hours and 20 mins whilst I drag myself around 1500m swimming, 40km bike and a 10km run. My heart rate through the roof and me asking myself what exactly is it I enjoy about this sport. I would much rather be out there for 10 or 11 hours at a steady pace doing an ironman :) Anyway, I do them because it helps me get faster in transition and makes me ensure I don't neglect my speed work, oh... and it makes me love Ironman even more (if that is possible!).

Ironman Austria was for me and I loved every minute of it (except when I cracked the sads on the run for a few km's) but this one is going to be tough because there are expectations. I expect to finish under 2:20. Last year I managed 2:20:59 and that got me 4th in my age group. I'm in the 30 - 34 age group now and the girls are a bit tougher to beat! I also know that the ironman excluded, my results have been slightly slower this year than last year and that concerns me. This year has to be about IM Arizona and I do focus on that as my main goal but there is always that niggling thought. What if I am not capable of going faster?

My swim has improved but I am not as fit as I have been in the past so I am expecting a slower run. I am hoping that what I save in the swim balances out with the run but I also want a faster bike time. Last year was 1:02:51 and I would love to crack that 1 hour mark, only problem is it will hurt me on the run if I do that, I will see how I go. I can't help getting caught up in the crowds so no doubt I will do something silly like cane it and then wonder where my run legs are. Thankfully it is a flat easy course.
My estimated splits are
28 min swim
3:30 T1
1:02 bike
1:30 T2
43:00 Run
If I can manage that I will come in at 2:18 and that would make me VERY happy. I will have a big wet sweaty hug ready for TFD. I'm sure he will love that! I have to get him in training for what it is going to be like when he comes with me to Ironman Arizona in November. He is so into this whole triathlon thing, it is so cool to finally have a boyfriend who not only understands but encourages me to train!

TFD and I are kind of out of sync at the moment because I have been tapering for London this last week and he is ramping up for his cycling trip through the Pyrenees at the end of the month. Bad timing as this weekend is the first weekend in 2 months we have together in London and he really needs to train tomorrow morning, which I fully support and there is no way he is getting out of doing the sessions.

We went for a drink last night with Aoife and Kate, 2 of the girls I went skiing with earlier this year. Aoife is based here and Kate in Dubai (incidently Kate learnt to ski in Ski Dubai before hitting the Austrian slopes) Lovely evening and then TFD and I went off to Roast for dinner in Borough Market. Fabulous food. Not as good as Chez Kristoff which is officially the best meal I have had in years.

So, I will post how I go at London. I set off at 12:10 on Sunday. Race number 6687. Another speedy number I am sure ;)
Cxx

Ironman Austria Race Report

What an amazing race on a stunning course. It sold out last year in 18 hours, this year, 5 hours and I can totally understand why.

Antoinette and I arrived in Austria Thursday evening having travelled with Nirvana who arranged all our transfers, truck for the bikes and accomodation. We stayed in a place about 15km out of Klagenfurt in an apartment which was very comfortable. I was getting slightly stressed that evening as I hadn't had time to put my bike together and needed to go to bed. For the week before IM I always get up between 4:00 and 4:30 to get used to eating at that time, and don't I eat! For the 2 days pre race I eat 660g of carbs in order to carbo load. Keeping in mind that 2/3 of a cup of cooked rice is 30g of carbs or most meusli bars are around 15-22g carbs it is hard work to eat that much. I physically can't do it so I also use sports drinks such as Lucozade to top up my carbs (33g per 500ml!).

Saturday I got up at 4:15 and put my bike together. I had already done all of my transition bags in London so didn't need to worry about that. We went for breakfast, loaded my bike on the truck and then I jumped on a bus to tour the bike course and onto register. The bus was running late so Antoinette went to the race briefing for me. I wasn't too fussed about missing it, as long as you read the pre race material you don't need to be there. Kat and Geoff came and met us and I went out for a quick 20 min swim. The water was so warm and clear. We then went off for a high carb lunch and then the guys headed into town to leave me to get organised. I went for a run and ran the first and last KM of the run to familiarise myself with it. I then took my bike out for a quick 20 mins just to check it over again and make some final adjustments. Into transition to drop everything off and then the only thing left to do is relax.

I had a prety good nights sleep the night before, we were in bed by8pm and up at 4am. Breakfast and headed up to catch the bus at 5am. There was a girl on the bus who was obviously freaking out so I chatted to her a bit trying to calm her down. I do find it amusing that when ever you get to a sporting event like this that people find it socially acceptable to start telling complete strangers about their bowel movements or lack of in the case of my new friend on the bus. I didn't even know her name by this stage :)

I went into transition, pumped up my tires, got some suncream on, jumped in the wetsuit and headed over to the start really pumped up and ready to go. Gel number 1 of the day went down my throat at 6:50 and the the gun went off dead on 7am for the 2.5 mile (3.8km) swim.

The swim was great fun, it was congested and choppy but I have been doing a lot of work with Terry (my coach) on swimming in a pack, swimming over people and being swum over so it didn't bother me in the slightest being knocked around. The swim went out from the beach, out to a buoy, turn left, out to another buoy, another left and then you swim back to the shore and then up a canal. The atmosphere on the beach was amazing, there was a guy on the mike getting the crowd going, playing music and talking to the athletes. I had a totally different perspective on things this time and was really relaxed and having a little dance. You could tell the people who were doing this for the first time, they were the ones with a look of complete fear on their faces.

It is hard to describe, but there is a real feeling of comraderie at the start of an ironman. Especially a beach start where it is easier to interact with other people than a deep water start. I had this bloke turn to me on the beach and just take my hand without saying a word. He didn't smile, he just looked me in the eyes and squeezed me hand and nodded once. I think it was more about reassurance for himself than for me. I just smiled at him and nodded back, I really wish I had notedhis race number to see how hewent.

The gun going off surprised me a little as I wasn't yet into the water because of all the people, I thought maybe they would wait till people got out to the line. I got on the feet of this woman who was doing the most perfect speed and swimming in an a straight line pretty much from the start. I stopped sighting after a while because she was so dead on course. I am going to assume it was a woman because she had a lovely shade of red polish on her toenails, I resisted the urge to stop her and ask the colour. Unfortunately I lost her at the first turnaround so spent until the next turnaround moving between people trying to find someone else to draft. I got into the last stretch before the canal having not really found someone to draft. I knew I was on for a good swim time when I got to the mouth of the canal at just over 50 minutes and knew I only had to do 800m to the finish.

Swimming up the canal is incredible, there are people on both sides cheering and calling out right next to you! It was a little squashy at the mouth of the canal but I picked up the pace and got into some clear water so didn't draft at all swimming up the canal. I was loving the atmosphere and felt really strong so knew I was going to go under 1:10. I came out of the water in 1:06 and felt great, I sometimes feel a bit dizzy but nothing like that at all.

Into T1 where I had a looooong transition as I was really taking my time to get lots of suncream on. I learnt my lesson well at Hawaii last year about getting burnt and have the scar to prove it. I also choose not to wear a tri suit so got changed into cycling clothes. The transition was huge so there was no way I was going to keep to a 5 min T1, but I wasn't bothered. My bike was right near the pros so I carried my shoes and got out the other side without too much trouble. I had managed to break my Co2 cartridge head so had sent Antoinette on a mad mission to find another one whilst I was in theswim and then hand it to me when I started the bike. The Flying Dutchman had put lovely new tires on my bike so it was unlikely I would puncture but Murphy's Law, if I didn't have anything to fix a flat I would have got one. So Ant passed me a Co2 canister as I went past her 100m from T1 and then out onto the bike course for the 112 miles of fun or 180km!

It was such a beautiful bike course. You head out along the lake on a few ups and downs on these lovely clean smooth roads. There were a lot of people so it was draft central. At one point I was at the back of a group of 24 people going up a hill. I thought the draft busters were very fair, if people looked like they were making an effort not to draft they let it go and just blew a whistle to get people's attention and that generally broke the packs up. I did have 1 guy who would not get off my wheel for ages, I kept looking back at him but he wouldn't budge. I heard the motorbike behind me and still he didn't move and when I looked back again, he was being given a penalty :)

There were a couple of climbs and I wasn't feeling very strong at all. There were a couple of girls who over took me which didn't go down well. I seem to have lost my climbing ability, I obviously forgot to pack it :) The good news is I am much better on the downhill's and flats so was catching the girls and leaving them behind, along with a lot of guys. I never understand why people don't push harder on the downhill's, it is so easy to make up time. I decided to take a kamikaze approach to the hills and put faith in my super grippy new tires (thanks to TFD) and tried not to touch my brakes. I had done a lap of the bike course in a bus on the Saturday so I knew there were only a couple of sharp corners. One I didn't remember and as I was flying down a hill was wondering to myself why they had big crash mats at the bottom of the hill, realisation dawned a split second in time as I realised it was a hairpin turn, I almost scraped the mats as I went round the corner with about an inch to spare :) Rather than slow me down it gave me more confidence so I pushed harder knowing that I had been around the toughest corner. TFD has been tutoring me in not using my brakes on descents. His London bike from his race days is 12 years old and he had never ever changed the brake pads :)

My first bike lap was done in 2:42 and I knew at that point I had been out too hard. It was difficult not to get caught up in the crowds and really cane it. On one of the hills, this guy had set up his DJ decks about 2/3 of the way up. He was ignoring the guys but every time a woman went past he would shout out 'IRON LADY!!'. Totally cracked me up each time. Our names were printed on our race numbers so lots of people would call out 'Supa Carolyn, Supa!' as you went past. I couldn't help but work the crowds, I figure if you are going to be out there you might as well have fun :)

I saw Kat, Geoff and Antoinette on the way down to the first turnaround which got me screaming and hollering like a loon. There were so many people lining the road that they had started to spill onto the road. Lots of signs and balloons and people going crazy. Fantastic atmosphere, makes you feel like you were winning the race rather than just finishing 1 lap of the bike!

Rich caught me on the 2nd lap so we had a chat, I had given myself a talking to and had slowed down slightly. My bike computer wasn't working at all so was working on perceived effort. I was leap frogging between groups using the downhill's to catch the next group. There was still a lot of drafting going on but hey, it wasn't me doing it and really I don't care if other people do it. It is their guilty conscience knowing they are a CHEAT.

It rained really heavily for the lat 30-40 mines of the ride. At one point lightening struck so close to me I actually screamed it scared me so much. The thunderclap after it was deafening. I have never been that close to lightening before, it certainly made me ride a bit faster! It was hard to see but I knew that the last stretch was smooth and straight so I went as hard as I could on the down hill. Coming down that stretch for the 2nd time was a totally different experience. There was absolutely no one out there. Given how crowded and packed it was on the first lap it was almost eerie.

2nd lap was slower in 2:55 but deep down I knew I had over done it. I have never cycled that fast before in training let alone backing it up with a marathon. My total bike time was 5:37 which was 8 mines faster than my plan. I was very determined to go under 11 hours and was feeling great coming off the bike, but wondered how my legs were going to perform. I had got my nutrition bang on target having eaten religiously every 20 mines and consumed 750ml of liquid an hour. My pre race and race nutrition is something I take very seriously and I know exactly how many calories, grams of carbs and mg of sodium I need to consume every hour to maintain consistent output in the race. My friends think I am a tri nerd and I have no idea why :)

T2 was slow but I took my time drying my feet, getting dry socks on and getting Vaseline into the chaffing hot spots. It took a good 7km for me to hit my stride in the marathon (26 miles or 42.2km) on the run but already I was 2 min down on my 1:45 half marathon pace. I started to make it up between 8km and around 15km but the damage had been down and I was losing time. Physically I felt OK but mentally I couldn't pull it together. I pride myself on being very strong mentally and being able to process negative thoughts in a race. In hind sight I hadn't spent enough time mentally preparing because I was so busy in the lead up. I saw Antoinette, Kat and Geoff and stopped for a minute to speak to them at the halfway point. I told them I had a case of the sads and in true tough love style they told me to suck it up and keep running. It worked and I pulled it together enough to keep a consistent pace going. I caught Rich who was walking having just thrown up and walked with him for a little bit. I struggled through the 2nd lap of the part out along the railway line and was freaking myself out knowing that when I hit the 32km mark I had to pick up the pace.

I got back through the crowds to the last turnaround and knew it was now or never and started to push. The rain has stopped and it was heating up but I had been drinking enough and had kept eating every 20 min so knew I could do it. I spotted Stef as I was almost at the last turn around and made him my target. I caught him within about 3km and had to hold it together for another 3km to get home. I couldn't speak to him as I went past, it was taking all of my effort to maintain my pace and form. There were a lot of people fading away at this stage and I kept telling myself to draw strength and push home. I had eaten gel number 20 and what I thought was my last gel at the 37km mark. I almost didn't make it and at the 40km mark all of a sudden my legs were like jelly and I knew I was going to blow or eat another gel. Yummy!! I sucked down half of it and within 2 min was flying again.

I saw Daz who was in the recovery tent which was about a 800m from the finish and he yelled at me to pick it up and get home in under 10:50 so off I went. I flew around the last bit and loved going up the last bit along the lake and into the finishing shoot high five-ing people and waving and smiling. It makes the pain worth it and is just so much fun! I crossed the line in 10:48:40 which is a new personal best for me. I achieved my goal to go under 11 hours and learnt some valuable lessons in plenty of time to fix them before Arizona in November.

Post race massage was excellent, this lovely girl who has seen more of Australia than me spent 45 minutes working on my legs. I think it is why I'm not sore at all :)

I am feeling pretty good today, I lost a little bit of skin off my chest from chaffing but by far the most painful injury is a blister I had from these lovely stiletto sandals I was wearing on the way out to Austria. With all the dirt and grit from the race it has become a little infected. It is so typical of me to have a stiletto related injury rather than a race related one :) I'm back in heels today after cycling into work and will cycle up to Hampstead for tonight's swim session. No rest for the wicked. I had a really good debrief with Terry this morning and we are going to work on mental conditioning to ensure that I am better prepared for Arizona.

So, I now have 2 weeks of easy training and then we hit a strength and conditioning phase and then onto building up my fitness. I realised that I am a lot stronger this year but don't have the fitness I had last year, but I have plenty of time before Arizona to build that up.

What a brilliant day out. Unfortunately my timing chip didn't work so you have to take my word for my splits;
Swim 1:06
T1 9:17
Bike 2:42 1st lap + 2:55 2nd lap total 5:37
T2 7:12
Run 1st half 1:50 + 1:56 2nd half total 3:46
Total time 10:48:40

It placed me 8th in my age group, 42nd woman and 834th overall. Very pleased :) Roll on Arizona!!

Ironman Austria is almost here!

Ironman Austria is almost here!
So Ironman Austria is in a bit over a week. I can't wait!! My race number is 810 which sounds like a speedy number to me! You can track the race at http://www.ironmanlive.com/ If everything goes to plan I will come in just under 10:30. That's a 1.05 swim, 5 min transition 1, 5.45 bike, 3 min T2 and a 3.30 marathon. I think I am either going to get one or the other on the bike and run. If I push for the 5.45, it could slow me down on the run but I don't want to hit the run thinking I could have gone harder on the bike. We will see what happens on the day. The great thing is that the run is completely flat. Whilst I love running the hills and have a real strength doing that, a flat run will enable me to push my run speed up to go for a sub 3.30. I ran a 3.21 on a flat course at the Valencia marathon on very little training (i.e. training on a treadmill in India!) and I am in much better shape now, plus I will be high as a kite on Powerbar caffeinated energy gels!

Austria isn't my main race so anything with 10 hours XX mins will make me happy as that will be a new personal best, beating my 11.04 at Ironman UK last August.

Things with Terry are great. He has been coaching me for 6 weeks now and I am really happy with the sessions and how I am performing. He is working me hard but that fine, I have big targets this year and next so need to put in the hard yards. It is one of the things I enjoy about Ironman is that there is no way you can fake it, you can't show up on the start line without having done the training without serious consequences. I started my visualisation exercises this week where I step through each part of my race thinking about how I am going to feel, what I am going to be focusing on, what I am going to be eating and the negative thought blockers, the things I think about when I start to dip mentally. Those things for me are always thinking about being told I will never run again and how that made me feel, lying in hospital not knowing what waswrong with me, not being able to climb a flight of stairs unassisted. It's those things that make me push harder knowing that I got through those much bigger challenges than this 1 race and that this is a piece of cake in comparison. It's all relative. Of course there is also the sooner you finish the sooner you can have a beer thought too :)

The next week for me is tapering and getting ready to head to Austria, as you can imagine with an Ironman you need so much stuff! Antoinette is flying out with me and Kat and Geoff are meeting us there as they are on the European Tour pre heading back to Australia. It is always such a great thought knowing you have support out there.

The Cast Iron Club was something that I decided to join up to back in March. It was $6 to join with the idea being that you complete the equivalent of 30 Ironman distances in training over the year. The target is 114km's of swimming, 5400km cycling and 1266km's of running.

I track the miles I do each week so it wasn't going to be difficult to log this in every month. It is actually staggering how much time I spend training when the numbers are right there in front of you. Somehow I manage to fit in a full time job, a boyfriend, friends, weekends away, holidays as well as finding time to eat and sleep.

This year, up to today I have spent a total of 223 hours training. That's 55 hours of swimming, 80 hours of riding, 70 hours of running and 17 hours of weights. That's covering 3180km's across the 3 sports, broken down to 101km's swimming, 2209km's of cycling and 870km's of running. Also this year I have spent approximately 8 weeks travelling where I have not had access to my bike, sometimes no swimming pool and occasionally not able to run so training hasn't been at it's optimum which means the weeks I have been in London that the volume of training is much higher than average. I also have Friday's off from training so that is split across 6 days a week.

I'm well ahead of target for the swim and run but need to get those legs pedalling to bring my bike total up. That won't be too hard post Austria where I am not really going away until Ironman Arizona in November except to Nice with The Flying Dutchman where the whole point of us going is to do some quality cycling training. I start going out there once a month starting next month. Great for the legs and the tan!

I have started calling The Flying Dutchman BBE (Best Boyfriend Ever) because he was so sweet and bought me a really thoughtful gift which I LOVE! He got me a pre Ironman Austria gift of a new chain, cassette, tyres and also a pair of wheel bags. It was really thoughtful of him. He said he wanted to make sure my bike was in tip top condition to make sure I have a great race. Unfortunately he isn't going to be in Austria, he has an amazing 10 days cycling in the Pyrenees with 11 others. He has also been training really hard and has been spending a lot of time in Nice recently. We have badly co-ordinated schedules in that the weekends I am away, he is in London. It isn't going to be until August that we will be in the same place at the same time on the weekend and it is a weekend I am racing the London Triathlon. It will be the first time he will see me race and I really don't like Olympic distance. I hate the pain of it!! Pushing that hard for 2 hours 20 is not my idea of fun. The odd Olympic distance race is the only time I ask myself what the hell I am doing out there and am I really having fun :)

I was in Brussels a few weeks ago for Antoinette's birthday which was great fun. Unfortunately I missed a lot of stuff on Saturday (shopping!) as I had to do a run and a swim. It took me an hour to run to the pool and it was lovely to see some different parts of the city, it is really lovely. Brussels isn't exactly the ideal location when I am not drinking alcohol and watching what I eat. I had a blow out the Saturday night and had a gorgeous steak with this amazing cream based mushroom sauce, a small glass of wine and profiteroles in chocolate sauce. I got back off the Eurostar Sunday evening and threw myself around Regents park for an hour on my bike with The Flying Dutchman who certainly lived up to his name. He had already cycled 160km that day and came and did an interval session and was pushing me along! The man is a machine.

The weight loss has not being going well. I am sitting at 60kg and just cannot budge any more weight. My body is used to this level of training and I am eating less. I wanted to be down at 58kg for Austria but it isn't going to happen. I am much more toned but not 2kg of muscle, there is definitely some fat that could go! My body fat was 22% in April and I weighed 62kg. I must be down to around 20% body fat now I think. It is below average for a woman (average is 24-32%), but not for an elite athlete, some of those girls are down around 15% but the trade off is no boobs or curves :)

So, I will try and do another entry pre Austria! Bring it on!!
Cxx

Race Season Has Started!

So 3 races in 4 weeks isn't too bad :) I kicked off the season with the For Goodness Shakes Legs of Steel Olympic distance race out at Dorney Lake. Fabulous facilities out there but of so boring course. I almost fell off my bike with boredom. One guy actually did fall off at one stage but I think it was due to the rain not the boredom :)
The course was 1500m swim in the lake, 40km on the bike which was 8 laps of the lake and then 10km run, or 2 up and back loops.
My cycle computer doesn't work in the rain and it was raining so I took it off my bike. I also left my watch at work so was relying on my ability to count to 8, something I managed to learn as a child in between torturing my younger brothers. Well you would think it would be simple enough. Not so. I got so bored going round and round this stupid lake in the rain I got to lap 8 and wasn't sure if that was it so decided to do another one just to be safe. It wasn't until I got round the corner and saw the women I came out of the water with and was cycling with in transition I realised I was on lap 9 and past the point of return. Round I go again. I got out there and ran a sub 42 10km trying to make up some time so got a 7th place in 2:35. Not bad, would have been a 2:24 or so which I would have been pleased with. I was just making a point that I am not a short course athlete, either that or I am just simple :)
I must say the level of organisation for the race wasn't at it's military precision I usually display.
* Arrived late (got lost cycling there from Slough).
* Spent the time I should have been getting ready talking to a friend I hadn't seen in ages and didn't know was going to be there
* Forgot to get body marked (see point above, she was supposed to body mark me) so when I finally did go to get ready, couldn't get into transition and had to go back to registration
* no race belt, had to go buy one at the last minute
* was putting wetsuit on when they were starting the briefing
* looked like a bag lady with everything in garbage bags in an attempt to keep shoes dry
* Lost timing chip. Very embarrassing when they called out my number in front of everyone for me to collect it (I was still struggling with wetsuit at this point)
* Forgot my watch
* Took my cycle computer off
* Apparently can't count to 8.
* Had this woman who must have been 5'11'' try and over take me at the 5km mark on the run. No way love. See the pictures, I beat her home only just but we fought for the last 5km side by side each one of us surging trying to take the lead. Was actually really fun because we were flying and just eating people up, 1 girl tried to stay with us and we spat her out in roughly 75m, so good!!. I reckon we did a sub 20min 5km on the 2nd half of the run, but who would know with my watch safe on my desk at work!
* I am officially logged as coming 8th but I beat girl above in sprint finish. I think they got us confused at the end because someone chased me down as I was leaving the finishing area asking about the time I finished in.
* Managed to get grit in my eyes on the bike which shredded my right contact lens, so I ran only being able to see out of my left eye. I got 2/3 of it out at the end of the race and had to cycle home with 1/3 of the shredded lens lodged on the back of my eye ball. It didn't come out till Monday morning.

All in all a debacle from start to end. I am pleased I did it, I needed a wake up call on both transition and preparation which carried over well to the 1/2 Ironman distance race I did last week in Weymouth.

The event is called the Wymouth Middle Distance and is a 1900m swim, 90km bike and a 21km run. The water was so so so cold. Maybe around 10 degrees. Too cold. It took me about 10 mins to settle into the swim and stop gasping. Got through the swim OK, would have liked to have been a bit quicker but just couldn't get into the rhythm of it. Out on the bike and was very pleased with my performance, I caught quite a few of the girls and only had 1 go past me. It was reasonable hilly, one of those courses with lots of drags which I hate. I would rather a sharp up and down rather than these slopes that go on and on. It was hot out on the bike and I wasn't eating enough. There seems to be something wrong with me that as soon as the wind picks up I forget to eat. I panicked coming into transition so I ate a gel about 7 - 8 mins out of T2. Big mistake. I paid for that.

Got through T2 and basically got a cramp immediately, hello Mr Gel. I know better than this!!! I had problems with this lat year and found that not eating or drinking for the last 20 mins meant I was fine and could really kick into the run. I had to walk the first 15 mins of the run and was having problems breathing from the pain of the cramp. So frustrating!! This is the part I am supposed to be good at! I knew it would pass and it was only a matter of time and I had to be patient which isn't really a strength of mine. I was getting quite stressed at the number of people going past me, especially the girls I had worked so hard to go past on the bike.

The cramp eventually cleared and I could set into a 8 min mile pace which is a fair bit slower than I would have liked. I had to take it easy because every time I tried to push it started coming back. I started running with this lovely guy, I think his name was Tim. He was wearing all white and was telling me about his Ironman Austria attempt the year before. Things went horribly wrong and he ended up in a coma for 10 days. Fair play to the guy, not only is he out there still doing triathlon, he is doing Ironman Roth in 4 weeks. Amazing. Maybe if we weren't chatting so much we would have been paying more attention to the route signs and wouldn't have got lost! Add a few extra mins there...luckily we only lost around 3 mins.

Anyway, I managed to crank up the pace for the 2nd lap and got home in 5 hours 11 mins. I am very pleased with that given I am not in the shape I would like to be in and it gave me a whole lot of confidence for Ironman Austria that is less than 4 weeks away!

Yesterday I was in Wales doing The Dragon, a 180km sportive through Wales including the Brecon Beacons. There are around 13 climbs and more than 3000m of vertical. I loved it and the atmosphere was very friendly. I had to take my tri bars off so I wasn't always that comfortable on my bike but spent a lot of time on the drops. I also set myself the challenge of not touching the brakes unless I really had to on the descents. I got up to 70km (45miles)an hour going downhill which was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I can't help but think that if I fall it is game over for Austria as well as a few broken bones thrown in for sure.

The Flting Dutchman is incredible going downhill, the man is faster than gravity so he has been giving me some tips, and it works, you really can make up some places and cover some ground and lets face it, it is so fun! He wasn't out there but was in Germany at a friends wedding.

I met this woman called Chloe out riding. She was on a bright pink Trek and a really cute outfit. It was so nice to finally meet another woman who loves the pink girly side of cycling, but can hold her own. We were matched on speed and spent a couple of hours together, at one stage pulling a bunch of about 8 blokes along behind us! We were really flying along and getting lots of encouragement from the blokes as we breezed past them with our triple chain rings! I lost her on the last climb, I really wanted to nail the last 40km so went for it. I did wonder at the time if I would make it home, for the last 10km I was doing at least 40km (25 miles) an hour on the flats and flying up the hills like a woman possessed. The risk was that I hadn't eaten very much during the ride, just 2 bananas, a small cake, 2 gels and some energy drink across the 9 hours since breakfast. I am really struggling to drop down to my race weight so was deliberately not eating in an attempt to burn some fat yesterday. I made it home in 6.52 which was great, I wanted under 7 hours, It was a lovely feeling to get off my bike and know I didn't have to run a marathon!!

I was a bit short on time, the race started late and it took an hour to get to the start line. I had to get a 16:50 train and had to cycle from Pencoed to Bridgend and didn't know the way. Its about 5 miles so set off with a hand drawn map, the not eating strategy totally came up and bit me. I almost fell off my bike when the dizzy spell hit and I could hardly move my legs. Anyone that has ever 'bonked' as it is called will know what I am talking about. You are totally wiped and out of energy. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand so kept rolling. I had a backup powerbar in my pocket and I absolutely devoured this thing. It takes a few mins for it to work but then I was fine, I only just made the train with a minute to spare. Getting on the train was a complete mess. There were more bookings than bikes and people were getting irate. Everyone was a little tired and grumpy. 112 miles of hills does that to you :)

Everything is going great guns with The Flying Dutchman, I am loving have a boyfriend again, and especially one a great as him. We don't get to spend that much time together but we seem to make it work for us. We are both often away on the weekends and have fallen into this pattern of meeting up Sunday nights when we get back. He is great :)

Training is pretty intense at the moment in the last few weeks before Austria. Terry is working me hard but that's what he is paid to do. The sessions are a challenge but I can just about manage them. It is a big workload and most days I get up at 5:30 - 6:00 so I can train before work. I am now looking forward to Austria, but Arizona is the big one.

Anyway, enjoy the evening!
Cxx