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 :)

My show is on Channel 4 tomorrow!!

My show is on Channel 4 tomorrow!!
My show goes out tomorrow on channel 4, I haven't seen anything yet so it is all a little scary. Hope I don't come across as arrogant or over confident. Nothing I can do about it now ;) It is also on at the very sociable time of 5:45am!!! Means I can watch it and then do some training so not all will be lost. If you miss it, email me at ironcaro@aol.com and I will send you a copy of the DVD. Maraka has kindly offered to set her DVD recorder for me.

I got all motivated to write in my blog watching a show on 'Girl with a One Track Mind' a sex blog about a woman's sexual exploitations in London. http://girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com/ Interesting how the media went after these women to unmask them. I guess for me blogging was never about remaining anonymous, I guess I am to some people who read this, but it started as a place for my friends to keep up with what was going on in my life. I found some printed copies of the emails I used to send home to everyone when I first came to England almost 6 years ago. I will post some of them in here. Ruth and I really did get ourselves into some funny situations.

I heard back form the US insurance company and they are rejecting my claim from going to hospital in Kona because they don't cover dehydration. Despite drinking a litre an hour, it is my fault. Not so sure what to do. I will go back to my health and also travel insurance companies and see what they suggest. Might be a tough one to work out and I certainly don't want to pick up the $2k bill!

I am getting back into my training. I ran this morning and it was the first training session since the world champs in October where I have felt that fired up and really wanted to go nail my session. Almost like the batteries are truly recharged. It was exactly what I needed, to get my teeth back into it and my head around that I didn't have my best race in Hawaii. I still spend a lot of time thinking about where it went wrong and have come to the point where I can be subjective and accept that it was a great achievement to get there in the first place. It is always hard to accept as an achievement what I had previously considered a failure. My respect and perspective on triathlon has changed, I hope it serves me well in the future.

My triathlon club, IronHead Racing http://www.ironheadracing.co.uk/ is moving ahead in leaps and bounds. I am really excited about the future of the club and honoured Dan and Rich have asked me to help them take the club forward. Next step is to become members of the British Triathlon Association and Cycling Time Trial group and bring some new members in. I am very much up for the challenge!

I have been dating someone. I have no idea if he reads this so I will keep it brief :) I have been emailing him from my personal email account which has the link to my blog in the auto signature so I am guessing he knows it exists. The great news is, he is into triathlon, running marathons and has some great connections. VIP tickets to see the Kaiser Chiefs Friday night. Yippee!!

I am off to Dubai next week to see Ruthie. Can't wait!!! It is going to be so great, and warm weather will be such a treat. Of course there will be luxury of training in a 50m pool. What a treat! One of the guys at work pointed out I am the only person he knows who would be excited about a 50m pool :)

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas.

Love Carolyn x

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 :)

Back on board

Back on board
I got on my rollers tonight for the first time in months. The great thing is, I can get through 2 episodes in sex in the city and do my workout! I was so shocked I didn't fall off, those things are tough!
Spent the weekend in Padstow for Ellie's birthday. Someone in ticket bookings was having a laugh when they booked 13 people into a quiet carriage on a 4 hour train journey on a Friday night. We did manage to drink the bar dry of wine.
Ellie booked us into Rick Steins seafood restaurant for lunch on Saturday which was gorgeous and.....Jamie proposed in the most romantic way...he gave Ellie a Tiffany's key ring with 'will you marry me' engraved on the back. Imagine 15 people all screaming at once. It was great, the entire restaurant was cheering and clapping.
This isn't the place to talk about what some people got up to but apparently some of my friends secretly favour themselves as pole dancers and some others as cross eyed lesbians. Extreamly entertaining evening.
Sunday was hanging out in the pub curing the hangover with a bloody mary or 2 till the flight back. The B&B Corinna and I stayed in was gorgeous. Such a beautiful place that has recently been done up by the owners Mary & Mike.
Really loving being back training and as always I am amazed at how quickly you can lose fitness. I am running twice a week and cycling once or twice and then lots of flexibility and stretching. I started pilates which I am still not sure of. I have that every Thu lunch so will keep going and see what happens. I sorted out Austria today, Antoinette is coming with me so we have an apartment for the 4 nights we are there. Also booked our ski trip to Austria in Feb. Have to make sure I get in lots of weight work before then and strengthen everything up. I can't afford an injury at the end of Feb.
And finally, this is the message I received from a man on a dating website...Hello Beautiful, how r u today, it would be great to chat, see if we get on. look forward to ur reply. Chou bello.xxx
Carolyn x

Here we go again...

Here we go again...
I met with Rich, my coach, on Wednesday night to go through a rough plan in order to qualify for Hawaii next year. Bad news is I am going to have to pull 2 stellar performances out of the bag which means 2 peaks. 1 in Austria in July and another in Florida in November. At least I have the experience now and they are far enough apart we can plan for it.

There is certainly something odd about a coach and athlete meeting up to talk strategy for an Ironman season...and drinking 4 pints in the process :) Rich has been off the booze for about 5 years and me for about 6 months (that is the Aussie equivalent of 5 years). I don't this is going to make it into the training plan for next year!

We have agreed I will start light training again next week, I am still not back on my feet after Hawaii so need a bit more rest. Winter is going to be focused on building strength and endurance and a marathon in Feb with a 3:15 aim. I need to be doing those sorts of times in IM, so if I can do it in a straight marathon in the pre season it puts me in a good position to achieve a 3:20ish in Austria.

I started swimming last night with the swim for tri guys which I love. It is the ideal swim session for me because I get the social aspect but am also put against people of the same ability. I am pleased to say that I was moved up to a faster lane last night so something went right in all the km's I have swum this year!

I am planning on getting back out on the bike with the Ironhead guys on the 17th November. I cycled over to Netball this week and there is still some deep pain in my hip flexors. Just takes time to heal. Netball is going great, we play the final next week and we are miles ahead in points so we have already won the comp regardless of next weeks result. We have had a really fantastic season with some really strong players. We have been lucky that w have been able to draft in people like Stephanie and Jen who were both state players back in Aus when we needed to have someone to fill in.

I have also come out of denial about my upcoming 30th in Jan 08 and have booked myself a flight to Rome to spend it there with a few close friends. I couldn't think of a better place to be, great food, wine and wonderful sights. I have been to Rome 4 times now so I don't feel any pressure to do lots of sightseeing. just relax and take it all in. There will of course be a big party in London too!

Having dinner with Fiona tonight, her and Andrew got engaged last week which is just wonderful. They make such a fantastic couple. I have started calling her sparkles due to all the diamonds dripping off her. Andrew bought her a diamond watch for her bday and then a gorgeous engagement ring a few days later. Lucky girl ;)

The channel 4 Sherborne show is on at 8:25 on Sunday so might get to see some shots of me. Not sure what they are planning in terms of a lead in to the Kona show which is next and is the one about me. Have to wait and see! Have a great weekend!
C x

Pictures tell a thousand words...

Pictures tell a thousand words...