Wiggle Thunder 10km

Last weekend was the Wiggle Thunder 10km event. The race was on the Saturday and weaved in and out of the bike course to be used for the night time trial and Wiggle Enduro 6 the following day. It has been years since running a cross country race and I loved it! Not one for usually getting out into the mud (with the exception of Tough Guy!) I surprised myself and really enjoyed being back out in the paddocks.

I caught the 6:24 train out of Euston with the Focus Izalco Chrono equipped with a bag of food that I munched through for the 2 hour journey. I am an expert when it comes to cycling from train stations to events, but it proved to be a bit more of a challenge riding the Focus as it isn't really a bike to be ridden with a back pack along an A road :) It was only a 20 min ride so I got to the race site with plenty of time to spare.

Registration was easy and I went next door to say Hi to Jason, Rob and Ben from Wiggle who were manning the Focus tent with the collection of demo mountain bikes as well as taking part in the night time trial scheduled for Saturday night. After a quick warm up in the pouring rain, I headed out to the start chute for the final countdown. Lucky for us the rain stopped just before the race started which I thought was a nice touch from the organisers ;)

The race started and we went out across the timing maps straight into the fields. It took a while for me to get into my stride as I was wearing my cross country runners which feel a lot different to my normal running shoes. I was having a bit of a laugh with some of the guys I was running with as it was all a bit fox and hound. There was a 'runner with dog' category in the race and the 7 or so dogs at the back of the pack were all excited and making a lot of noise when everyone started running. I think it was why I went through the first km in 3.50 and realised I had better slow it down if I wanted to finish :)

The course was lovely and had a great mix of wooded sections and some open undulating sections, made all the more challenging by the uneven ground. I wasn't sure what place I was in, but was content to stick to my 4.30min km's which was tough but wasn't killing me. The field spread out within the first 3km and I found that I ran most of the run on my own as I was too slow to stay with the front pack and just a touch faster than the guys behind me. I had seen the lead lady go past me as we crossed the start line and I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined it as there was no sign of her at all.

I thought that the race was well thought out with the little things that can sometimes make or break a race. Every KM was clearly marked, there was a water station just after the 5km mark and the course wound back towards the start line so there was some support halfway through the race which was great because it was also going up hill! Best part is you get a great medal for finishing! I was very pleased to cross the finish line in 2nd place in 44:50. Given it is only April, I am really happy with the way my running is coming along. I am doing a weekly track session in Hampstead every Thursday which is certainly paying off along with 2 other runs throughout the week.

There was a lovely ceremony at the end where the top 3 men and women and the winner of the runner and dog category were presented with medals with some Wiggle vouchers on the way.

I wore my 2XU calf guards and also my 2XU compression tights for the run and I cannot recommend them highly enough. I really notice the difference if I don't wear them in that I get sore calves whilst running and it takes me longer to recover. If you don't have them, get them! I used to spend 15 mins in a cold bath after hard training sessions and I now find that wearing compression tights gives me the same results and it is a lot more pleasant than the cold water torture!

As you can see from the pictures I was in my Wiggle Jersey for the race. I use my commute between Marylebone and Hammersmith on my Kiron as extra speed training and as I have a few Wiggle jerseys I often wear those. I have had a few people chat to me when stopped at lights which is really cool, so if you do see me out and about do say hi!

Happy training!Cx

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

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

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

New Coach!

After a very successful year with Rich it was time to move on and take things to the next level in terms of my training programme. Terence Collins has agreed to coach me which is fabulous news.

Terry has a wealth of training and racing experience as well as MSc Sport Sciences, BTF Level 3 Coach, YMCA Fit Personal Trainer Level 3, ASA Level 2 so I think I will be in good hands. We spoke on the phone about 2 weeks ago for about 45 mins running through my targets for this year with everything building towards ironman Austria and Ironman Arizona, problems that I am currently having with my training, upcoming races and what he thought he could do for me. We then met up last week for a coffee, mind you I am lucky he didn't walkout on me. I was standing behind him in the queue at Nero's reading emails on my blackberry and had read a particularly bad one just as he turned to look at me and I gave him the filthiest look. Not directed at him at all, he just caught me at a bad moment! Anyway, we had a great chat and ran through my strengths and weaknesses and how to address them. I immediately felt at ease with him, he is very open which I like and already feel like I can trust him. The most important thing to me in a coach is someone I can talk to and I have a relationship with. It was part of the reason why Rich and I worked so well together as I knew I could call or email him at any time if I was having issues.

It was hard telling Rich I was leaving him, almost felt like a break-up! He took it pretty well and by his own admission his heart isn't in the sport any more. He is talking about cutting it back next year and focusing on some other things. I definitely need someone coaching me who is passionate about triathlon, so it was the right choice, no matter how hard it was. I will still see him every week for my 'Thumbs or Doom' session (sports massage!).

So Terry has sent me a brilliant schedule for week 1, its almost 17 hours so he is certainly cracking the whip. This morning I was on the track, it has been YEARS since doing any track work, in fact it would have been at school when I was running 5km cross country. I went down to Barn Elms to the track there which is out of the way and not busy at all. There were 2 other girls out and some geese :) It is going to be a challenge given my hectic work and travel schedule, but got to put in the hard yards. This week I am in Paris, Dublin next week. I do enjoy Paris but it is a tiring few days.

Things are going well with The Flying Dutchman (TFD), and doesn't he fly. We went out cycling in the beautiful sunshine on Saturday in Richmond Park, he was doing intervals and I was trying to save my legs for my 1/2 marathon the following day. He is like lightening when he gets going. He came along to the IronHead Racing drinks on Friday night so he got to meet some of my tri buddies. I remembered what I missed most about not drinking and it is the lovely cold beer standing outside a pub on a warm Friday night. A diet coke doesn't quite cut it. No one is more surprised than me that I am still totally into TFD, I think it is because he is as busy as me so he doesn't demand or dominate my time which is guaranteed to annoy me. I love the time we spend together, he totally cracks me up. What is even more funny is Corinna trying to rip off his accent. It is Sean Connery but she insists it is from the Grolsch ad. Very amusing.

On the 'no drinking' there is of course the champagne exception which my friends have cottoned onto pretty quickly. I had the TWAG's over for dinner last night, that being the Triathlon Wives and Girlfriends :) Leanne kindly bought over a bottle of champagne which simply had to be had! I do try and be good and limit myself to 1 glass though. I just keep telling myself how sweet it will taste when I cross that finish line at Ironman Austria! Leanne as always had us in stitches over her cycling and triathlon stories. One of my particular favourites is her 1st bike which had a stand and a bell, which she put to good use in the transition area and out on the course much to the humiliation of her husband Dan. I love the story of in one of her first races she managed to overtake someone and to show them courtesy she rang her bell as she went passed them and gave them a little wave. Very funny.

Sunday was the Ranelagh 1/2 marathon, I didn't hit my target of 1:35, I managed a 1:37:34 which got me a 16th place overall and a 9th in age category, that being 'senior women', that is not good for the ego!! Next race is 25 May for the For Goodness Shakes Legs of Steel Tri. Just easing into the season with an Olympic distance, not holding out much hope as to how I will do but ideally I will be home in around 2:20.

Take care!
Carolyn x

The clock is ticking

The clock is ticking
Well...we are 10 weeks out form Ironman Austria. Am I fit enough to not only finish a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and then run a 42km marathon? I can definitely do it, if I can do it in the time I want...well thats a whole other kettle of fish. Time to get serious.
My aim is to finish in under 10.5 hours, hopefully in 1 piece with a smile on my face. My goal is to bag myself a top 3 place but given my current state of fitness that is not achievable. I have started looking around for some alternate ways to step up my training and this week it has involved being caught in the rain 4 days in a row! There are some great developments and I am talking to some different coaches about what I should focus on outside of my regular tri and swim coaches. If you have read any of my entries here you will know how competitive I am and how important it is that I achieve my goals.
Next week is D-Day. That dreaded day each year that I cut booze and give my diet a complete shake down. 10 weeks out from a race I cut any processed foods where possible, alcohol, start weighing my food and focusing on the nutrients, vitamins and balance of carbs V protein that I need to optimise training all in preparation for the upcoming race. Sound boring? It is which is why 10 weeks is enough.
I also start to lose weight. I am sitting at 61kg at the moment having lost a kg over the last 2 weeks so I have another 3-4 to go which will fall off once I invoke diet hell. The only upside is that I do start to eat 4 meals a day following the smaller more frequent approach to eating. I have spoken to a couple of coaches and Dr's who believe that whilst my body fat % is below average for the female population I can safely drop it from the current 22% down to 16-18% which will make racing easier. I just don't want to look like a rake. I am very lucky in that I am toned but am very curvy in that classic hourglass shape.

So there is something VERY exciting going on in my life at the moment...a wonderful man....FINALLY!!! We shall call him The Flying Dutchman here. We got in touch with each other at the beginning of Feb but due to my crazy travelling schedule for the first 3 months of this year we didn't get to meet until the beginning of April. By that stage I was beginning to think he was just going to be a cycling buddy, the emails had gone on for more than 6 weeks! Lucky for me there was more to it. I am constantly amazed that I have met someone who not only do I find immensely attractive with his gorgeous blue eyes and towering height but can also make me laugh, engage with and have a decent conversation but can also ride a bike!! Not only just ride one, but ride well and takes his cycling training seriously. He used to be a pro cyclist :) That part is so important to me date 3 was a cycling date to put him through his paces and see what he was made of :)
I am not sure there are that many women who can say not only were they in lycra but so was the guy on the 3rd date. Maybe in some fetish circles that is the norm!
So, just a little quick update. Training not going so well but personal life is wonderful...pretty much the complete opposite of last year! Maybe I should make that my goal is to strike the balance between the 2. Isn't that a novel idea :)
Take care!
Carolyn x

Australia Mate!

Australia Mate!
So, I wrote the following whilst out in Australia a few weeks ago. I was out there for 2 weeks visiting family and friends.
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So at the moment I am sitting on the train heading up the central coast from Sydney to visit my Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Peter who live in Gosford. I’ve been in Australia for almost 2 weeks and in 6 years this is the first time I have thought I could live back here. I certainly couldn’t live in Parkes or Peak Hill, don’t think there is much call for what I do so it would have to be Sydney or Melbourne. Plus I would want to be close to the race scene.

Peak Hill made the national news on Easter Sunday after a brawl broke out on the main street. Well, the only street really. There are only 400 people in the town and surrounding area and the brawl involved 80 people!! Over 20% of the population. I have stopped calling it Peak Hill and now will only refer to it as Freak Hill. There was a charity Aboriginal football match organised with the neighbouring town of Narromine which is about 70kms away and after a belly full of booze it has erupted with several people being injured, including a police officer and 5 people arrested. Lovely town. My parents are trying to sell their motel, any takers?

I am amazed at how much I have forgotten. I am travelling on the train line that I used to do every day for about a year and I am seeing stations I would never have thought of in a million years. Australia really is a beautiful country and I love that people really do respect their surroundings. Looking out form the train there is hardly any rubbish at all along the tracks and the view is amazing out across the coast.

It was so wonderful catching up with friends. I had lunch yesterday with Kaylene, one of my oldest and dearest friends who is now a Mum. A far cry from the 2 grotty teenagers who used to go horse riding together! Ruby is just the cutest little baby and Kay is a wonderful Mum. She hasn’t changed a bit J

I got to see Paul again as he and Nick came and spent Easter Saturday with us and stayed the night. 6 years between catch-up’s is far too long. We email loads but spending time with someone reminds you why you hold them dear. Paul is now also a Dad to Zach who is 7 months old. It was lovely chatting to Paul about the lunches we used to do once or twice a week when we both worked in North Sydney. I do wonder what would have happened if we were both single at the same time. Paul had a fiancée for most of the time I knew him in Sydney. Predictably she didn’t like me or the friendship I have with Paul. He is now with a wonderful woman he met in WA and they have gorgeous Zach together.


This break has been wonderful to get my head straight and back into the mental place I need to be in to go back to the UK and put in the hard yards to ensure I get my podium place in Austria and my win in Arizona. I was training before I left, but now I have that killer edge back. I realised how close Austria is and I want to be in tiptop shape for it. To help me along I have joined the Cast Iron Club, which is an online club where you log your training miles. Between 1 January and 31 December you need to complete the equivalent of 30 ironmans. The reward? A drink bottle, t-shirt and the right to brag about it!! J Well worth it for the $6 entry!!

The flight out was so long and really made me realise how far away I am from my family. Especially missing out on seeing Bellah my 22-month-old niece grow up. I also got to meet Sue, my brother Tim’s fiancée for the first time and they have been together for a few years now. Not good. I have booked a ticket to go back at Christmas and spend NY there and then head to Melbourne for Ellie and Jamie’s wedding. Should be a good trip. Ruth will be back in Aus (currently in Dubai) plus all my London friends are going back for the wedding.

The best part is that my family are so behind me achieving my qualification to Kona again for 2009 that they are all going to be there! It means so much that they want to be there, I will have to put on a good performance for them!! Even little Bellah has been given permission by Andrew’s ex wife that she can go too. Things like that really make me want to get out there and train harder, and the days where training isn’t so great, it is nice to know that I have people behind me who will love me no matter what I do.

I had a really frank discussion with my Dad where we were talking about me turning pro and he made me realise that realistically it isn’t a possibility. I might have a little bit of talent, but not enough that I could win every race I enter, and how would I feel when what I do becomes a job? Will I love it as much? It’s on the backburner for the moment. I am having some sports testing done when I get back to the UK so we will see what results I get.

I got an email from a friend saying that he did a triathlon on Easter Monday at Hampton Court and it was snowing!! It is such a far cry from my peeling legs from where I got burnt swimming the other day!! The weather has been brilliant, it rained for 1 day but the countryside is so dry it really needed it. I am going to miss my nocturnal runs with all the stars but I am looking forward to getting back on my bike. By the time I get back I will have only ridden twice in 5 weeks. Not good enough! At least when day light savings kicks in I can get out after work and start getting my speed up.

Andrew kindly gave my legs a rub down a couple of days ago, I was struggling with my right leg and I suspect it was because of the road. It is slightly sloped out which meant the right leg was stretching slightly further. That’s quite a lot of stretching when you consider I run for 1.5 hours at a time. Paul as telling me a funny story about when he used to fly a judge out to this tiny little place in the middle of Western Australia where this guy had his license suspended for drink driving. The judge told him he was no longer allowed to drive on the road. The guy took the judge for his literal meaning so he replaced the 2 left side wheels on his car with 4x4 wheels so the car was on an angle if on the flat, but perfectly straight when he was driving along the side of the road where it slopes away. When he was inevitably busted he pointed out he wasn’t driving on the road because he was banned from doing that. No one said he couldn’t drive on the side. Needless to say the judge was more specific with the next sentence J

Have fun!Cxxx

Reach for the Stars

Reach for the Stars
I'm in Australia in central west NSW in a place called Peak Hill which is where my parents live. They own and run the Country Roads Motor Inn as well as the farm where I grew up, which is a 30 min drive away. I really did forget how awful the flight to Australia is. So long and Antoinette and I managed to get on the same flights but couldn't sit next to each other for the 2nd (and longest) leg which was a bit of a bummer. We kpt meeting in the back for a drink and to exchange movie tips.
My Mum, 2 brothers and my niece picked me up at the airport and then we headed back to Tim's house so I could have a shower and then into the car for the 5.5 hour drive to get to Peak Hill. Nothing happens in this town. I went swimming in the local pool and I was the only person in there for the majority of the 2 hour session. I have also started running at night because I am not going to get stabbed or mugged, in fact in a 90 min run I will only see anywhere between 1 - 4 cars. I love running at night, I used to do it when I lived in Sydney but I don't feel safe doing it in London. There is something special abut being able to run out here without liht pollution and the stars are so bright. There will be a full moon tomorrow so the moon casts a shadow and provides enough light that I won't step on a snake :)
I went to a sheep sale with my Dad on Wednesday in Narromine, it has been years since I had last been. So what happens is that all the different lots of sheep are penned up with a sign saying what breed they are, how many of them, if they are in lamb or not, approx age and where they are from. The auctioners and their 3-4 sidekicks get in there with them and get them all moving around. One of the sidekicks does an intro basically saying the info above and adding his own flavour. Then the auctioner takes over and the bidding begins. Some of the things they say are so funny. On of the intros the guy was calling attention to the large frame and solid back legs on one pen of ewe's and said 'put them on some good pasture and they will grow as big as elephants'. The funniest part is that no one takes any notice of them, they just want to get their sheep for the cheapest possible price. My Dad was bidding on a couple of different lots, so one of the helpers latch on to anyone bidding and start whispering things like 'show your strength' when you get a bid against you to try and up the prices. Obviously these guys are on commission and they want to showthey sell the best to get more clients. There are generally 3-4 different agents selling so they are in competition with each other. Its really interesting to watch, it is really difficult to work out who is bidding it is so subtle with a slight nod or a finger being lifted being the sign. This isall happening with the auctioner screaming out and the helpers throwing in bits and pieces.
We bought 296 ewes, majority of them already pregnant. Once the bidding is done the 'ambulance chasers' arrive. These are the guys who cart your stock from the sale yards to the farm for a price per KM. They start out by talking about how the cost of fuel is going up to soften the blow of the cost of transporting them. You really are kind of held to ransom because you have to get your sheep home and they know it. A fun day, I'll post the pictures at some point. I stuck out like a sore thunb with my white t-shirt, versace sunglasses, Tommy jeans and ballet pumps. They certainly didn't come home the same colour. Everything was covered in red dust.
I went of to Orange which is a 90 min drive away to see a friend Paul who is a pilot and doing some work in the area. I hadn't seen him in 6 years and it was amazing seeing him. He hasn't changed a bit :) I also met Nick who is the navigator and got to hear about Nick's son Dominic who is dominating the under 21's cross country scene having just won a race in London and heading to the world champs in a week in Scotland. The boy has done some impressive times such as a 8.09 3000m. Fast!! I can only dream!!
The weekend should be great, Tim is bringing his fiancee Sue for the weekend, Andrew is also coming home and we will have Bellah for a few days, so lots more peek a boo games :) Paul and Nick are als coming for lunch along with my aunt and uncle and cousin so a full house.
Bed time for me. Have fun and have a great Easter
Cx

Italy, India, France, Spain, Austria, Australia

Italy, India, France, Spain, Austria, Australia
It's been a while. Since I last wrote, I have been in all of those countries for anywhere from 2 - 14 days. Well that isn't entirely true, I'm heading to Australia for 2 weeks on Friday. I had my first weekend in London last weekend in over 2 months! It was nice to spend time in my new house and not feel like I was just using it to sleep there!
Lots has been happening so I have broken it into small digestible chunks :)

India. Wow. What a place. I have never experienced traffic like it. Just a small example for you...driving along a motorway heading back into Bangalore after a relaxing Sunday afternoon lounging by a pool, having a massage, nice lunch and we are going back to our hotel in town ready to go back to work the next day. There are 2 lanes each side of the road and a pretty wide grass medium strip in the middle and we are cruising along at around 80km hour enjoying the drive. We go round a sweeping curve in the road and there is a 4x4 coming straight at us. This guy is driving on the wrong side of the motorway!! The worst part, he was madly grinning away to himself probably thinking how clever he was to find a road that everyone was only going 1 way on. Our driver calmly pulls into the left lane to let him past, all of us in the car are totally freaked out by this! Obviously other people have seen him so within minutes we see more people driving towards us so we decide to get off and back into the traffic chocked, much slower suburban roads. We are going down the off ramp almost get taken out by a lorry coming UP the OFF ramp. It is terrifying how those people drive. I left my fingernails embedded in the door of the car. Anyone who has been to India will totally appreciate the 'unique' way that Indians drive.
Other than the crazy driving, India was good. The people are really exceptionally lovely, especially the ones we were working with who made us feel so welcome. I eat maybe 2 curries a year so by day 2 (12 to go!) I was over eating curry. I swear I was starting to turn yellow around the edges by the time I left and it is certainly going to be a while till I have another one! The guys I was travelling with from work were brilliant fun and we ended up getting our own table in the one decent place to eat near the hotel. I can handle really hot food, but was ordering medium spicy each time we went in there and it still had a solid bite on it. I forgot to ask for medium onenight and it came out 'hot'. More like lava. I took a mouthful and my vision actually blurred it was so hot. It was the equivalent of putting a hot coal in your mouth. I immediately broke out in a cold sweat and have never experienced anything like it. I didn't forget again to only order medium :)
After India I went to France for a couple of days for work which was nice bonding time to spend with my new manager and settle into my new role here at AOL. Sad t leave my old team but I am only sitting a few metres away from them :) As with most work trips, you work so hard you only see the hotel, office and the closest restaurant to the hotel. We also got to see a bit more of the airport than I would have cared to when our flight was continuously delayed coming home!
Following France it was Spain to compete in the Valencia marathon. So all of my training had been on a treadmill, and please don't try this at home, I had only done 2 long runs this year. My quads reminded me of that fact when I got to the 28km mark and had to watch the 3.15 pace group disappear into the distance while I tried to ease the agony in my legs. I managed to pull myself together and got home in 3.21, a new personal best. I am pleased with the result given I was on the Jade Goody training plan of very little training and lots of curries.
I would really recommend Valencia to anyone who is thinking of doing a marathon, especially a flat fast one. It is cheap and easy to get there and the race is really well run. They have pace groups and the goody bags are excellent. You end up getting 2 bottles of wine between the pre race pack and the finishers pack. They also have free massage at the end which was exactly what I needed.
So Spain and then Austria for a full filled week of skiing. I was being called Bambi on Ice for the first day as the quads reminded me that they needed a little bit more recovery time before having to support me showing off on a ski slope. At the bottom of every run I was shaking and quivering like a new born foal. My non fitness friends were loving it, especially Antoinette who was pleased to finally be better than me at a sport. For the record (and this will test if she has been reading my blog) Antoinette, you are an excellent skier and one of the more graceful people on the slopes.
We were lucky that we didn't have any skiing related injuries, only drinking ones. 1 girl slipped in the shower and had a huge bruise on her shin, another got drunk and managed to head butt the end of the bed and ended up with quite an impressive black eye. Her work colleagues were either to scared to ask or think she has a penchant for purple eye shadow :)
Fantastic group out in Austria and we stayed in Hotel Hannes in Niederau where we were really well looked after. The food was excellent and plenty of it which was exactly what you wanted after a day on the slopes.
This Friday I am off to Australia for a couple of weeks to see my family and meet my niece Bellah. Can't wait! I am planning on being with Mum and Dad in Peak Hill most of the time and a friend who is a pilot is going to fly up and see me. No doubt that will be the talk of the very small town. I head back to Sydney and then up to the Central Coast, North of Sydney, to visit my Aunty Cheryl and a friend who has just had a baby. Back to Sydney to stay with Antoinette's parents and then head back. Should be a fun trip, Antoinette and I are on the same flights out and back. I am looking forward to doing some quality training and swimming in a 50m pool! My coach has set me a really swim heavy programme for this month to take advantage of that.
That's it! I'm trying to finalise my 2008 race schedule and so far it is looking like I have around 20 races so it is going to be a busy one. This is the year I really want to get some good results across all 3 triathlon disciplines but really want to make solid improvements to my swim and bike. The run comes naturally, so not too concerned about that.
Hope everyone is well and as always, thanks for checking out my blog!
Carolyn x

Rome & my 30th Birthday

Rome & my 30th Birthday
What a fabulous birthday. I really do have the most wonderful friends in the world. Rome as always was an amazing place and as this was visit number 5 I didn’t feel any pressure to do anything, just be there and enjoy it.

Corinna and I flew out Thursday, which was my actual birthday, and we were in Rome in time for dinner. We went to this great little restaurant near Ponte Cavour on a recommendation from a friend. We were in there for about 4 hours. Amazing food and wine and the waiters were very entertaining. One of them drew caricatures of us both. Corinna got me an amazing birthday present, sex in the city box set and this gorgeous ‘C’ necklace from Tiffany’s. I love it so much and I’m wearing it right now!

After dinner we went and met Kat & Geoff in a wine bar as they had just arrived and then onto another bar to meet Claire, Antoinette and Ellie who were on a later flight. Few drinks in the local Irish pub and then back to the hotel. I was sharing a room with Corinna and Antoinette and it was like being on school camp. We were up giggling for hours. I was on a huge sugar and caffeine rush after eating dessert plus about 6 cookies they bought us with dinner.

Friday we slept late and I went out to get my Illy coffee hit. Love the coffee in Italy, they know how to do it properly! Everyone met in Piazza Navona and headed over to Pizzeria Buffeta, which is my favourite pizza restaurant in Rome for lunch. We then wandered around for a bit having a look into the shops; I really wanted a pair of low heel brown boots.

Friday night was excellent. We headed over to Travistere, I have only been there once before with Mum and Dad last April and loved the atmosphere. Next time I go to Rome I am going to stay over there. Drinks in a bar first and my wonderful, wonderful friends gave me my birthday presents. First up was Ellie who gave me a Oliver Bonas necklace and matching earrings along with a Cross pencil (I requested this to replace the one I left on the Eurostar!!). So very generous.

Antoinette gave me the most amazing Tiffany earrings and they match my Tiffany necklace form Corinna perfectly :) I love them. Claire showed me a photo of these killer black stilletto knee high boots that are waiting for me back in London. I went out with her a few weeks ago and couldn't work out why she wouldn't show me what shoes she had bought. Didn't click that they were for me! She also got me a picture of one of my favourite men in the world (after Normann Stadler and the Hoff) Mr Moretti!!! It triggered us all doing our best Mr Moretti lookalike, I'll get the gallery of pictures up here shortly. Wasn't so hard to impersonate him towards the end of the night.

Kat & Geoff gave me a lovely card and have something back in London for me. I love it when birthdays just go on and on!

For dinner we went to this local Trattoria called….Capo de Fero which roughly translates to IRON HEAD!!! That is of course the name of my triathlon club. Photo’s will be appearing soon on the website J. The food was fabulous and we rounded the meal off with the waiter bringing us a bottle of lemoncello and a some other disgusting herb liquer that I couldn’t get past the smell of but everyone else seemed to love. Just meant more lemoncello for me! There was a guy sitting near us and he ended up joining us. Very entertaining, and after leaving the restaurant around 1am he took us into the back streets of Travestere for a chocolate liquer shot. It’s exactly as it sounds, a chocolate shot cup, filled with rum, topped with cream and chilli sprinkles. You put the whole thing in your mouth in one go. It’s like swallowing a firebomb.

We then walked back across the river and into Campo di Fiori for a final nightcap, but that didn’t last too long as everything was closing up. Claire and I were wandering around arm in arm and had this guy come up to me and ask did I have a boyfriend, I said I was engaged (standard answer in Italy) and turns to Claire, same questions and she said she was engaged to me. Guy says. ‘Lesbians?’ we say yes. He shakes his head and cuts to the chase with ‘can you give me a cigarette?’. Cracks me up he was perfectly happy to try and chat us up for a fag.

The taxi ride back was excellent, our driver fancied him self as a bit of a rally driver and going through Piazza Venezia was something in itself. I swear at one stage we were on 2 wheels and wiped out a couple of scooters.

Saturday included a long sleep in and then over to Piazza Popolo for a spot of lunch in the sun and some shopping. Success! I am now the proud owner of this gorgeous dark brown boots. Can’t wait to wear them!! Dinner was in a trattoria near the Pantheon and again the food was excellent. One of my favourite things about the weekend is that I allow myself to have an espresso after evening meals. Because it keeps me up, I don’t do it during the week, and to do it in Rome is always just so enjoyable after some fantastic food. Walked back to the hotel and into bed ready for my 4am wakeup to get to the airport and catch my flight to Bangalore.

Stay tuned for the entry that will be Bangalore…

Cx

Welcome to 2008!

Hello,
What a month December was! So hectic with parties, last minute Christmas shopping, packing for Dubai and sorting out replacement contents to my stolen handbag. Dubai was a welcome break and it was so great seeing Ruth.
I was really pleased that I managed to train whilst out there most days and came back slightly heavier due to the excess of Christmas but much fitter thanks to having a gym in Ruth's apartment building. I ran most days for an hour and did weights on top of that. It paid off, I did my first swim session in a few weeks last night and noticed my catch is much stronger on my swim stroke.
Dubai is an amazing place, I loved it, but mainly because Ruth was there. Not sure I would go back if she wasn't there. She put so much time and effort into putting an itinerary together to make sure I got to see all the sights. I absolutely loved the desert safari we did one afternoon / evening where you go out 4x4 driving across the sand dunes. I could appreciate how skilled the drivers are after my years growing up on a farm and having a paddy basher*.
Ruth asked me to play 'touch' football with her, but failed to mention that she trains with men! I got beaten up out there and am still sporting a bruise on my leg after one particularly painful collision with a 6'2" man. I literally bounced off his chest and was seeing stars. I did however manage to score a try, I have the mile reps to thank for being able to take off down the field like I had just stolen something! I have no idea how Ruth plays full contact rugby. Worst part, it ruined my manicure, think I will stick to triathlon which is nail friendly :)
I treated us to a day spa where we were scrubbed, wrapped, cleansed, moisturised and massaged to within an inch of our lives before heading out to relax by the pool and then out to barasti bar for a few drinks in the beach side bar. It is times like those I do wonder if I would ever move back to Australia to lead that kind of life.
Christmas Day and NYE were fantastic with us going to fabulous places including the Yalumba brunch where they serve unlimited Bollinger. It felt soooooo wrong having skulling competitions using Bollinger. NYE we were at the Aviation club, amazing food and they set up a stage and dance floor over the pond separating the Aviation club and the Irish Village where everyone could get out an mingle. Excellent nights.
I got backmid last week but was actually excited about coming home and starting the year. I have some exciting things going on at work and feel really motivated to train hard. I also have a new flat to move into at the end of the month and not to mention a 30th birthday bash! January is going to be as hectic at December it seems.
So, the 2008 sporting goals:
* Run a sub 3:15 marathon in Valencia on 17 Feb
* Run the London marathon in April as an elite (pending qualification at Valencia)
* Win the 135km Dragon cycling race in Wales in June
* Podium place for my age group at Ironman Austria in July and complete the race in sub 10:30 (35min improvement to my PB)
* Win my age group at Ironman Arizona in November, complete the race in sub 10:15 and qualify for the 2009 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.
Goal for 2009 will be to train like a demon and get a top 5 placing in the world champs!
It isn't going to be an easy year but I am really up for the challenge. I also have to be smarter with the way I train as I won't have as much time to dedicate as there are a few other personal goals I want to achieve this year such as buying a flat.
My TV show went out just before Christmas on Channel 4 and it was great! Lots of me talking about how difficult Ironman is and how tough the race was. Kind of raised all the emotions again I was feeling after the race. Watching it I am not surprised I had nightmares for the 2 weeks following the race! The DVD is available through TriUK http://triuk.com//index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=578&category_id=28&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26
Happy New Year to everyone and enjoy the pictures!
!

 

Carolyn x
* Paddy basher is not some sort of Irish torture but is an old car to bash around the paddock in. One of the great joys of growing up on a farm :)

Yay! It's Friday!

Yay! It's Friday!
It has been a few week and I figured I should get in an additional entry before the end of November! I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner...which means it is 3 weeks till I go to Dubai! Ruthie and I are going to be spending Christmas and New Year together and tearing the town apart! I haven't seen her in over a year and despite many (expensive) phone calls to Dubai it just isn't the same.
Training over the last month has been pretty easy, Rich has been going easy on me and I have actually skipped a couple of sessions which isn't like me at all. I am really taking advantage of being to go out and have a life again. I did mix them up last weekend by having a rather large Saturday night at Fiona and Andrew's engagement party, and then dragged myself out of bed to do 100km Sunday morning on my bike. Punishment and the best way to sweat out a hangover! Was a fantastic ride out to Box Hill in Surrey and back in with 6 of the guys from my club. John had also been out the night before so knew what I was going through! I have to admit I did get home and had to collapse on the sofa for 3 hours.
I have started to put on a bit of weight but there is no way I can maintain my race weight (59kg) when I am not training 20 hours a week and eating and drinking alcohol again. I am up to 61kg but feel great. I have an easy week scheduled for next week and then we start to get started on the decent running in preparation for my next race which is the Valencia marathon on 17th Feb. Rich, Bob and Sam are all doing it too so my goal is to beat all of them!!!!
I am still having problems with my hip flexors so Rich is treating me for that, I only feel the pain when I cycle and it is certainly getting better. I am only out on my bike once a week for a long ride so plenty of time to recover. I have another 2 weeks of swim4tri and that is finished for the year. I love swimming with those guys but it is a Thursday night which is of course the best night to go out during the week! It starts at 8:15 and you don't get out till 10pm so it really is the entire evening. I am sore today, I was really working last night, our main set was 4 laps, rest, 4 laps, rest, 8 laps drills and we repeated that sequence 4 times with the aim of getting faster as the session went on. You time each of the 4 laps so my times were 2:38, 2:35, 2:25, 2:28, 2:28, 2:25, 2:18, 2:20. The 4 laps are across 132 metres.
I met this cute guy on the weekend who I went for a drink with when I got back from Hamburg on Wednesday evening. I was a little taken back when he admitted to having google-stalked me. Now, we all do it, but is it crossing the line and admitting to someone you have google-stalked them? If you do it, you do watch everything you say as to not let them know you know more than they have told you :) I expect people to google-stalk and I am perhaps an easy target with a blog, website, open tagged picture and video galleries but to be told was slightly uncomfortable.
I'm out cycling early tomorrow morning with Rich and then off to Henley to spend the weekend with Leanne. Have a safe and happy weekend.
Carolyn x
PS: I have a counter on the left on the bottom right and with the release of new functionality to the Blogs product I got reset to 0!! I was upto 1000!! Not. Happy. Jan. See video below if you don't know what that phrase means :)