Walk this way...

Another week. Another walk!

On Wednesday, I enjoyed a lovely 75 min walk in/around Glenbrook with Fliss at 6am. A very cool morning; 3/4 pants + a t-shirt + a long sleeve top was not quite enough clothing.

We started at the gate & walked down the hill to the causeway to find it closed. There had been constant rain on Tuesday in the mountains apparently and the causeway had about 20 cms of water over the top of it.

So we turned around & walked back up the hill, then down the trail to Jellybean pool, back up the road & then a loop through Glenbrook via a steep bush stair climb.

It was a lovely way to start the morning. I woke feeling exhausted & probably wouldn't have trained but for the fact I had arranged to meet Fliss.
Then today (Sunday) was a long day which, in my current exhausted state, I can only begin to summarise in point form!

• woke at 4.30am & was out the door by 5am for the drive to Bronte to meet Lulu and Sammy for our long walk;
• arrived at Bronte by 6am & started walking from Coogee at 6.30am to walk part of the Coastrek course in reverse starting from Coogee (finish) and back along the course to Sth Head, around to Rushcutters Bay and then up to Edgecliffe & back to home (my second home in Bronte) finishing with 31.8k in 5hr 45mins walking time;
• had a quick bite to eat at Cafe K and then drove home like a crazy woman, had a 20min turnaround and then headed down to watch the PTC race (and another 3+ hours on my feet).

Phew!

Not-so-quick sand

Another week. Another week without much to report.

Monday morning's swim was the usual 1.2km. I've been doing the same swim over the last few weeks as I develop some form of swim fitness. This set includes 9 x 25m fast which are gradually getting faster each week so it's been a great way to gauge my fitness improvements. Time to change it up next week :)

Tuesday saw me meet a friend at 8am at the gates to the Glenbrook National Park for a walk & some stair repeats. 1hr 40min and 7.1km later (including 3 x fast stair repeats), we headed for a local cafe for the obligatory post-walk coffee. Beautiful way to start a day!

And then today was another l-o-n-g walk this time from Bilgola (just south of Avalon) all the way down to Queenscliff on the Coastrek course with my team mates Lulu, Sammy & Zoe.  A hot hilly & sandy route to say the least! It can best be described as -

up-up-up-up a headland,

down-down-down-down a headland,
sand-sand-sand-sand-sand across a beach.

And repeat.

Multiple times :0

Throw in lots of concrete paths & it was hard on legs more used to spending time on trails. In total it was 23.6km in 4hr 53mins. I have *lots* of work to do in the next 12 weeks & 5 days!

Thunder rolls...

Another Sunday, another update.

Not much to report this week - I've been flat this week. Not sure why. Just very tired.

Monday saw the usual 1.2km swim. I can see (feel?) my speed during the 25m efforts starting to return.

Then today I met Sonia for a walk in the Glenbrook National Park, exploring a part of the park neither of us had been to (which is almost hard to believe given how much time we have both spent in there over the years). It was well worth it - a walk down along the Jack Evans Track to Erskine Creek...

A perfect place for a swim on a hot today. Unfortunately today wasn't it - a storm rolled in (quickly) whilst we were down in the gorge which sent us climbing back up out of the gorge in the pouring rain.

A shorter walk than I had planned but after the rain, a cool breeze picked up & we were both getting cold. Just nice to get back in the bush again. 12.4km. 2:57

Rolling in the deep...

This has been my theme song for the week. I have heard it (and not just by Adele) so many times...

Anyhoo, a bit easy on the training this week after a death in the family last Sunday afternoon & the need to travel to Queensland for a funeral on Wednesday.

The usual 1.2km swim on Monday morning & the first time since I got back in the pool that I feel like I'm starting to find my form (if not my fitness).

Then today it was another long walk as Coastrek is now on 14 weeks away. This time it was 2hr 45min which started in the Knapsack gully (between Emu Plains and Glenbrook) at the foot of the Blue Mountains. R joined me for the first 55mins as we walked up the 'hard' stairs. Interestingly I realised today that it was the same set of stairs that I fell down all those years ago & trashed my ankle. In fact I was looking for the 'hard' stairs at the time, It's nice to know that my navigation was good & that I was on the right track :)

R & I did a loop through the bush, arriving back at the car in 55mins. R then drove home whilst I walked on a hot morning. Thankfully there was a cool breeze which kept the temperature down - a little bit! 15.3km

A bit more training this week as we start to build for Coastrek!

Cranking it up...

Slowly but surely cranking up the training as Coastrek approaches - only 15 weeks to go. Yikes!

Monday was a 1.2km swim. Relatively easy with a few moderate efforts. The swim fitness is slowly coming back so I have two speeds now, not just 1 :)

Tuesday was a big day though not because of any training I did (which was none). I met up with Keith Bateman (aka CR's Fossil) for a coffee & chat in Centennial Park. I interviewed him on SpartaPT and love his approach, and success, in changing running technique.

Then that evening  I kicked off a 4 week core, flexibility & strength for triathletes program at a physio facility in Bronte as part of my plans for world domination :) Seriously the program is being conducted under the "Physio on Bronte" with myself as the trainer with the assistance of one of the physios named Mike. Exciting & slightly nerve wracking experience but it seemed to go well.

Friday I headed back to the gym for a strength session. I realised while I was there that it has been around 15 years since I first fell in love with strength training. I still *love* being in a gym :)

Saturday, my beloved dragged me out for a 90mins bike ride. Only my 3rd ride on the open road since I was hit by the car back in June :0 I'm glad he did; it was relatively pleasant outside and a nice ride away from the high traffic areas so I can get my confidence back. 32.9km

And then today, it was time to get back into the walking. The Panthers Tri Club had a race which R and Mini Mango were doing. So I left early and walked down to the Regatta Centre where the race was being held (approx. 7.8km), watched the race & then walked half the way home. So in total it was 13km walk in 2hrs 5mins but about 3.5 hours in total of time spent on my feet.

An even bigger week of training ahead I hope!

Mojo returns...

Yet another strange & crazy week!

Not a great deal of training but I have found my long lost mojo!

Another hard bike session on Monday (50min/18.2km) and lots of taper ahead of Team Sparta's assault on the Nepean Triathlon yesterday.

Fliss (swim), Sonia (run) & I teamed up & entered several months ago. It turned out that none of us had done any training so we joking said we had entered the 'social' category - there for a fun time, not a fast one!.

And a fun day it was.

Last week I (slightly) regretted entering the race due to my lack of training. But this week excitement crept in. And now I am soooo glad I had. I had a really fun day with the girls & my mojo returned (somewhere between the bike leg & the refreshing dip in the lake with the girls to cool down afterwards!)

My bike leg really surprised me. I had estimated that my split would be around 1:15. Ultimately I came in (according to the bike computer) at 1:06:50 which included a negative split on the second lap.

Anyone who had read this blog for more than a week would know that I had done very little training; no more than 1 x windtrainer session each week for (only) the last 4 weeks. Given that I actually went about a minute faster than when I did the bike leg in a team 2 years ago - and had trained consistently - for that event. I'm not sure what that says more about - the type of windtrainer sessions I am doing this time around or the new bike ;)

Now that my mojo is back, and I have a couple of kilos to lose, I'm looking forward to getting back into the training again this week.

Rest & revive

Feeling very relaxed & revived after a much needed weekend away from work after escaping to the Southern Highlands this weekend with R to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary :) I really needed to get away from the biz as I have been feeling very stressed about it in recent weeks.

An easyish week of training with a bike session on Tuesday, a strength session at the gym on Wednesday and a 40mins walk in Bowral this morning. I believe that there was another training session in there somewhere but I honestly can't remember what it was :)

This coming week brings a couple of training sessions before doing the (30km) bike leg in the Nepean Triathlon which should be interesting given the handful of bike sessions I have done since I was hit. In fact, I have only been out on the road once since then so I'm not expecting great bike handling skills :0

Stepping up a gear. Finally!

4 sessions in one week - that's probably the first time I've done that in 6 months. Yeah me!

Monday: off to the pool about 9am for an easy swim with a coule of fast 25min laps. Only 900m in total but a nice way to ease into it.

Tuesday: 40mins bike session first thing in the morning which included 5 x 1min low cadence all out efforts. Yikes. 14.3kms

Wednesday: after some solid writing time in my favourite 'coffice', I headed to the gym to practice what I preach (ie, do a strength & core session). A hard, but short session, today. I haven't done a lot in recent weeks so just 1 set of the usual exercises today. Happy days :)

Saturday: an early morning bike session on the windtrainer before leaving for the drive to Canberra. 50mins including 6 x 2mins hard efforts. A very solid effort & a nice way to start the weekend, especially one that included *lots* of food! 19.4km

Sunday a 'rest' day if you can call getting up early to play chaffeur for R & Mini Mango who were riding in events as part of the Fitz's Challenge cycling event (not to mention then driving back to Sydney as they slept!).

Enjoyed a lovely lunch catching up with Ewen, CJ & Ruth (*waves*). It has been about 18 months since we last caught up so it was long overdue

A good week. Looking forward to an even bigger one next week!

Fading...

My memory that is.

I actually have no recollection of what training I did earlier this week.

Of course, the fact that I didn't do any may also be to blame ;)

I can however remember the last 48 hours! Last night, we headed up to Katoomba for dinner with friends & then went onto Mt Victoria to attend the Reel Rock Film Tour which was fabulous! The night showed 6 short films about dudes (and one a-m-a-z-i-n-g 9 year old girl!) having crazy adventures in the mountains. It certainly reminded me of my desire (or perhaps need is a more accurate word) to get back into the mountains - the sooner, the better.

After about 5 hours sleep, I got up today in time to travel to Bronte to meet Sammy & Lulu so that we (3/4 of Team Sparta) could kick off our training for our next big adventure. It was 19 weeks on Friday until Coastrek & given that most of us have done little since the Trek for Timor 50km 4 weeks ago, it was nice to ease into it. As Coastrek includes quite a bit of soft sand walking, we headed to Coogee for about 50mins of soft sand walking (3.7km) up & down the beach followed by 10-15mins of walking the surrounding hills. Finished our session by standing for about 5-10mins knee-dip in the rather cold ocean. Perfect way to start, and end, our first training session.

Time to slowly but surely ramp it up again. 100km is calling :)

Easy does it...

Very easy it seems.

Only a swim on Monday (750m if my memory serves me correctly) & an hour on the windtrainer (20.6km) in the garage on an overcast Saturday morning to report this week.

It's 4 weeks until the Nepean Triathlon where I am doing the bike leg in Team Sparta's assault on it so it's time to start the reverse taper ;)

Recovering to the max...

Ewen, my blog took it upon itself to update the template. Alas, I have had the 'old' header for so many years that I don't actually have a copy of it so I can't upload it to the new template. Nor can I be stuffed to create a new one at the moment. So this fugly format shall remain til one day I feel like procrastinating... ;)

Well, I allowed myself 2 weeks to recover from the 50km. And I must have recovered it because I have almost forgotten about it. Last night someone asked me how my training had been going. And I had completely forgotten the fact that I walking 50+kms 2 weeks ago. Clearly it's time to get back into it :)

This week has been very 'relaxed' (ie. lazy). I've been strict on my eating as I am trying to lose a couple of kilos. But have only done a couple of *very* easy recovery sessions.

I would like to do another baby triathlon in January & my training for Coastrek kicks off in earnest in December. So it's time to get back into it & build some more base for a while... :)

Edit: cr*p. I think, in the update, I've lost my table of training totals over the last 3 years....Ho hum...

Bouncing back...

I have recovered suprisingly well from the 50km event. The bottom of my feet were tender on Sunday but that was about it. A few tight spots in my hips & calfs but no DOMs and no injuries - yippee! The only real issue has been the usual post-big event fatigue.

Sunday: rest

Monday: recovery & regeneration session; 15mins easy spin on the bike followed by 45mins of SMR & stretching (4.1km)

 

Tuesday: rest + 1.5hr massage (!)

 

Wednesday: easy 23mins walk/stroll around the hood (grand total of 2.1)km). Calves are a bit tight but otherwise the body feels good. Only problem with endurance events though - uber hungry!

 

Thursday: rest. Had planned an easy ride but after a solid 8 hours sleep feeling tired & run down

Friday: rest.

Saturday: after a leisurely morning reading the papers, I got on the bike in the garage (as the weather was less than ideal) for a 30min ride including 10 x 30sec of pickups (at >30k/h). 11km

Sunday: rest

Another easy week to make sure I'm fully recovered before getting into some solid training again.

My totals for September:
Bike:  26.4km
Hike:  147.4km

Team Sparta rocks the Trek for Timor 2011

BHAG #2 for 2011 = tick!

Trek for Timor is a 50kms teams event based in the gorgeous Kangaroo Valley which raises funds to provide solar power units to families in remote villages in Timor.

I teamed up with my good friend Lulu & new good friend Sammy for this event which would be Lulu's first marathon & all of our longest events to date.

Our weekend started on Friday night when we - Lulu, Sammy & I together with our uber amazing crew members Rommel, Mr K, Mike & Zoe - arrived at our gorgeous accommodation in the late afternoon. The house sat on a hill and, when the mist cleared, had beautiful views to the surrounding escarpments.

Friday night was a frenzy of eating, checkpoint bag sorting, issuing instructions to crew & did I mention eating?

I surprisingly slept surprisingly solidly on Friday night; something I don't normally do the night before an event. Mind you, I woke an hour before my alarm on Saturday morning & was unable to go back to sleep as the butterflies in my stomach had taken flight ;)

After breakfast, we are piled in the car for the drive to the start. The event was very well organised yet very relaxed. There was no "official" start time; it was a matter of register your team with the organisers & then start whenever you wanted. I *really* liked the laid back nature. There was none of the countdown, last minute clock-watching to the start like most events.

Pre-race discussion about race tactics

A final photo op before the start

After waving goodbye to Mr K & Rommel, we set off & within about 100m were walking up a *steep* hill. In fact the first 3kms of the course were, by far, the hardest part of the whole course. Despite the cool & misty conditions, we warmed up very quickly!


It was, from the start, 14kms to checkpoint #1. I had not done this section in training so it was a big surprise. A diverse section; it had everything from a steep climb & sections of single track through a lush rainforest thick with ferns to a short rock scramble up onto the wall of the damn as well as firetrails. We had anticipated that this section would take us about 3:15 so I'm not sure who was more surprised - us or our crew - when we arrived at CP#1 in 2:55, some 20mins ahead of schedule.


We had been looking forward to getting a coffee at this CP as it was very cool out there - perhaps only 10 degrees - so we were distraught when informed that we were too early & the cafe hadn't opened yet :0 Fortunately, as if by magic, we were suddenly informed that the cafe had opened & we would have our coffee after all. It was wonderful also to see our additional crew members Ellie & Ben who had driven down that morning to be with us :)

After refueling etc we set off to CP#2 which was approx. 13km away. This section was largely flat. It started with a short section of single track scrambling alone the lookout path which was interesting. I think most of us were more concerned about not spilling our coffee than anything else. Priorities right? ;) After that, the trail opened up to firetrails the rest of the way.

The organisers of the event must have been aware that this section had the potential to be boring; an email sent by the organisers prior to the event advised that this section was known as the "corridor of surprises". They certainly went to a lot of trouble to prevent boredom on this section -

There were 11 of these 'quiz sites' about 600m apart, along with a medal presentation ceremony site -

The organisers certainly went to an amazing level of effort to keep participants engaged & enjoying the event.

We soon arrived at CP#2 & there was another rush to the sole portaloo; shall I just say none of us were lacking in hydration ;)

A quick turn around time & we were off to CP#3 (the final checkpoint), 12kms away. This was perhaps the most diverse, and rather challenging, parts of the course. 8kms downhill with zero reprieve for the legs before a river crossing at the bottom & then a steep 1km climb out the other side followed by another undulating 3kms (uphill) climb to the checkpoint. I really enjoyed this section; it took us about 2hr 40mins but it passed by very quickly.

We arrived at CP#3 to wonderful news that made our day. We were told at the start that the event had been shortened to about 46kms due to the NSWNP not allowing us to pass through a part of the course due to a burn off which had been conducted in the last few days. All 3 of us were disappointed by this news. So when we heard the news that the original course had been reinstated and we would be going the full 50kms, we were uber exciting (in a weird, twisted kind of way!).

So we set out from CP#3 basically skipping down the track. That enthusiasm was 'challenged' somewhere around the 47kms mark when we discovered the organiser's km markings (which were only used for the last 10km) didn't quite match the readings off the Garmin. One of the markings in fact was about 800m long! It made the last 5km mentally challenging as our legs started to fatigue but somehow we still managed to celebrate (with a happy dance) key distance markers - at 42.2km to celebrate Lulu's first marathon, at 44.5km to mark Sammy's longest distance & at 45km to mark mind. Soon afterwards, we discovered the now infamous "3-4km vortex"; this is where you were somewhere between 3-4kms from the end but which seemed to go on for about 3-4km! But we were rewarded by a couple of very special encounters with wombats who were on, or just beside, the trail.

As we turned up the final hill, we could see our amazing crew - Rommel, Mr K, Ellie, Ben, Mike & Zoe - waiting for us. Cheering for us. Happy for us. I was very touched by their support, excitement, happiness & patience with us. Thanks guys :)

Lulu's final reading on her Garmin listed the distance as 51.3km. And based on her watch, I'm very excited to know that we passed the 50km mark about 10hr 55mins - woohoo!

I had estimated our finishing time as 11hrs 10mins. And somehow despite the additional 1.3km we managed to finish in, yep you guessed it, 11hr 10min 36sec!

From there it was quickly home for a (warm) shower as it was now quite cold and a recovery drink or two -

and a wonderful meal, a drink or two & lots of laughs with a great group of friends!

It's now Sunday night. The DOMs are starting to set in & I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep after a restless one last night. A few days of recovery & then it's back into the training for Team Sparta's next trick.... ;)

MTD:
Bike: 22.3km
Hike: 145.2km (!)

Taper time!

Another crazy 2 weeks around here - is there ever any other kind?

Wednesday 7/9: another Wild Women on Top session, this time at St Ives. 3 hours w/ about an 11kg pack. 11.4km endurance walk

Thursday 8/9: massage

Sunday 11/9: for a change, I got to sleep-in & left home at 11am to drive to Bronte to meet my Team Sparta teammates Lulu & Sam for our long walk, this time (my first) in the Eastern Suburbs. Enjoyed a beautiful 4 hour walk along the coast from La Perouse to Bronte. Lots of stairs but far less than last week :0 20.4km 

Monday 12/9: this was the start of a big week for me. I was due to lead (for the first time) not one but two Wild Women on Top sessions. So I headed over to Mosman today to do a recee for both sessions & enjoyed a lovely 90mins playing on the trails & going up/down/up/down sets of stairs in & around Mosman. 6.7km in total

Tuesday 13/9: my first session leading a Wild Women on Top; this one was 2hrs based at Clifton Gardens. It ended up being about 6.2km & included a walk to Bradleys Head & returning, some strength & core work, bush bashing & soft sand walking. Got home at 10.50am & slept soundly :)

Friday 16/9: my second Wild Women on Top session had me leaving home about 6.30am for the drive to Chinamens Beach near Balmoral. Arrived early & did a quick recee of the park to locate a certain set of stairs before I drove to Balmoral & enjoyed a coffee before heading back to Chinamens Beach for the start of the session. This session was 3 hours of soft sand walking, stair repeats, strength + core & endurance walking. 8.8km in total.  I was rather anxious about leading the Wild Women sessions so I felt rather relieved when they were both over.

Saturday 17/9: another sleep-in before a road trip. This time it was to Kangaroo Valley where I met Lulu & Mr K to do a quick recee of part of the final part of the course. About 1hr 46min & 9.1km in total.

As we were leaving I saw, for the first time in the bush, a snake! A red belly black snake was slithering its way across the road. Thankfully I was safely esconded in my car at the times. The prospect of coming across a snake scares the crap out of me. But geez watching that snake I couldn't help but think they are magnificent creatures.

So Team Sparta is ready. Only a bit of tapering, organising of gear & 6 sleeps to go :)

MTD:

Bike: 22.3km

Hike: 95.2km

Fun times

What a way to start the week; Monday brought 3 hours in the bush near West Pymble in another Wild Women session including a creek crossing & bush stair repeats. Pack weighed about 12-14kgs. Approx. 8km

The rest of the week was rather lazy until Saturday when I got on the windtrainer for 60mins whilst listening to podcasts; 45mins easy, 10mins moderate & then 5mins cool down. 22.3km in total. Nice easy session to turn the legs over; they haven't done much of that lately :0

Sunday was a l-o-n-g day. Mini Mango's 16th birthday dinner was on Saturday night which left me with only about 5 hours sleep before I had to be up as Team Mango had a big challenge ahead - walking 35km along the Great North Walk!

I met Lulu & Sammy at Ku-ring-gai train station just before 7am to get the buses (as there was trackwork this weekend) down to Brooklyn where we were lucky enough to find not only a cafe that was open but a wonderful, friendly barista who made *great* coffee.

From then on our day largely consisted of up, drink, down, up eat, laugh, down, stumble, joke about goats, up, down, become navigationally challenged, up, down, laugh, trip & laugh. The photos probably describe the day better than I can -








We *finally* made it back to our cars just before 6pm (10 hours after we left Brooklyn) and finally home by 7.30pm thanks to the feral traffic. 32.6km approx. Fun yet uber long day. Taper time!

Totals for August:
Bike: 45kms
Hike: 99.7km

MTD:
Bike: 22.3kms
Hike: 32.6km

Recovering!

Welcome back 'Bro! I hadn't thought about it that way but yes I guess I'm back in the land of ultras. It's been far too long :)

Recovery week - yippee!

Monday & Tuesday: rest. Felt exhausted on Monday. More tired than normal after a long walk. I think it was all the *thinking* involved in navigation, foot placement through the mud sections & then the river crossing. Well, that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it! 10 hours sleep on Monday night helped.

Wednesday: back to the pool again for another 750m swim. Keeping the sessions easy so the shoulder (which suffered some bursitis after I was hit by the car can adjusted to the training again). It feels a touch hypermobile at the moment; it seems to be moving around a bit in the socket so it's time to get back to the strength work again.

Thursday: out of bed & straight onto the bike for the first time in weeks (months?) without a fair amount of procrastination, FB & twitter checking & morning television viewing first.

Another bike session, this week 10mins warm up with 9 x 1mins hard efforts at low cadence with 10mins cool down. A hard, hard session. Getting off the bike safely with jelly legs is an exercise in concentration. 38mins. 13.4km

Friday: took myself off to my second home (Glenbrook National Park) with some stair repeats this morning. I haven't done this session in a few weeks & was quickly reminded off that fact. I park at the gates, walk down the causeway & then do repeats up the bush stairs of the campfire creek fire before crossing the causeway & walking back up the 'hill'. About 3km in total

Friday night (and early Saturday morning for that matter) were spent crewing for the Wild Women team at Trailwalker. Crewing is always a great experience. But I had forgotten how hard all-nighters are. I was awake around 6am Friday morning & was still going at 6am Saturday morning. Had about 90mins of rest (but not sleep) until I was able to crawl into a bed around 12pm Saturday for 2 hours sleep. We stayed on Saturday night at the Urban Hotel in St Leonards, using our free nights accommodation that R received as part of his 'goodie' bag at Ironman earlier this year.

Around 4pm on Saturday in an effort to stay awake, I dragged myself to the hotel gym - which, fortunately, wasn't that difficult as it was about 40 paces from our hotel room - for a (very) easy session consisting largely of mobilisers but also a few strength exercises. A few niggles have been creeping in during my last few training sessions so I need to keep on top of it. Only 4 weeks to go!

10.5hrs sleep & I was feeling somewhat human again.

Sunday: rest. Had planned a bike ride but it didn't happen.

MTD:

Bike: 45kms

Hike: 91.7kms (!)

The trails, they are a changin'

Another big week!

Tue & Wed: rest

Thursday: it suddenly occurred to me last night that it was less than 12 weeks until the Nepean Tri. Given I've hardly ridden in the last 6 months, it's time to get my butt into gear (& onto the bike). So this morning I dragged my butt off the couch for a short bike session consisting of 10min w/u, then 6 x 1min in my smallest gear @ low cadence followed by 10min c/d. 11.1km. 32min.

Massage later in the day

Friday brought a long drive to a wet, cold & windy Tamarama for another Wild Women on Top session, this time a 2hr session consisting of a walk from Tamarama to Coogee & return with lots of sand walking, stair repeats, squats, push-ups, walking lunges on soft sand & other strength exercises along the way. About 5km in total.

Saturday was a rest in which R & I drove down to Kangaroo Valley where we met Lulu & Mr K as Lulu & I had planned to walk part of the Trekking for Timor course.

Lulu & I started about 7:10am from the Fitzroy Falls visitors centre to walk 25km (effectively checkpoint #1 to checkpoint #3). Despite rain (which sounded like it fell) all night, Sunday dawned overcast & misty.

The course had everything from wide fire trail, single track which had turned into a mud bath and lakes, the beautiful (and slippery) descent down Meryla Pass & then a creek crossing. Actually normally I suspect it is a creek crossing. But recent rain had the river running above knee level as it turns out. Fortunately it was only 4kms in wet feet to the location of checkpoint #3 where Mr K & R picked us up. Lovely way to spend a weekend, only 5 weeks out from the event! 24.5km in total over 5:35 in total (4:45 walking time)

Recovery week ahead. The old body needs it!

MTD:

Bike: 31.6km

Hike: 88.7km

Blisters, driftwood & flooding: just another weekend!

Last Monday morning I woke with fatigued & stiff legs & a sore butt after Team Sparta's little adventure on the Six Foot Track the day before. Recovery was critical last week ahead of my next adventure - hiking & camping on the Coastal Track in the Royal National Park hiking between Otford & Bundeena - this weekend just past.

Mon 8/8: After doing a bit of work in the morning, I took myself off for a swim about 9.30am. Almost empty pool = bliss. This was my first swim since my crash 2 months ago & probably only my 3rd swim since Husky in March :0 so to say it was a struggle would be accurate. Oh well, need to give a shoulder a chance to get used to the stress of swimming again before I do anything crazy distance wise. 750m

30mins of SMR once I got home.

Tues 9/8: I joined a Wild Women on Top group at Balmoral for 3hrs of rock scrambling, beach walking, stair climbing, strength work, chatting & laughter. Distance was only 7.1km but the difficulty was increased (significantly) by the 14.5kg pack I was carrying. Few better ways to start the day than looking out thru Sydney heads while rock scrambling. I *love* rock scrambling - it really puts me at the edge of, and occasionally beyond, my comfort zone. Unfortunately I only really have an opportunity to do when I am with WWoT.

Legs were surprisingly ok after Sunday's session on the Six Foot Track though some general fatigue was still evident.

30mins of SMR once home.

Wed 10/8: bad nights sleep. Bit worried about a blister on my foot which developed due to Sunday's bad sock choice & which was aggravated a bit yesterday.

Easy recovery & regeneration session around lunchtime - 15mins of cardio (5min bike/10mins easy strength exercises) followed by 30mins SMR. Nice!

Sat-Sun 13-14/8: Spent a wonderful weekend with a great group of Wild Women (on Top) walking (and camping) on the Coastal Track from Bundeena to Otford in the Royal National Park.

Too many things to comment other than it was a tough walk thanks to a bad nights sleep on Saturday night, a heavy pack (about 20kgs by Saturday afternoon when I had to take on some additional gear from someone else who wasn't well) carried over 31kms in total.

Oh, and I took on 2 pieces of driftwood & lost - one took my feet out causing me to do a face plant on a beach, directly onto the 2nd piece which grazed my forehead.

Oh, and then there was the torrential rain on Saturday night which turned our campsite into a lake (literally) which had Sunday challenging; wet gear = even heavier packs & wet shoes = uncomfortable feet.

Will put some photos on FB in the next few days.

Mon 15/8: oh so tired when I got home last night. 9.5 hours sleep & I still wasn't feeling too energised on Monday morning. Easy recovery & regeneration session (including 30mins of SMR) around lunchtime to get the body moving. Legs still very fatigued.

A relatively easy week ahead before another big walk this weekend!

MTD:
Bike: 20.5km
Hike: 59.2km

Returning to my happy place..

A rather quiet week. My hips & TA were quite sore after Sunday's session which was actually exciting (as it means they were probably working properly for the first time in my life) - yippee!

Mon 1/8: easy recovery & regeneration session at 7am consisting of 13mins of movement/exercises & about 40mins of SMR using the foam roller & tennis ball. A few tight spots in hips after yesterday's long walk.

Thu 4/8: much needed massage. Nice!

Sat 6/8: back on the bike today. Drove down to the Regatta Centre & rode (with R & Mini Mango) 3 laps of the Regatta Centre plus 1 lap of the industrial area to show Mini Mango the Nepean Tri bike course. Nice to be back on the bike, getting used to the new setup & over the mental aspects of being hit by the car. Still scared witless of cars (even when driving) & riding like a nana but I'm back :) 20.5km/52:43

Sun 7/8: a return to my happy place -

3/4 of Team Sparta that is taking on the 50km "Trekking for Timor" team event in Kangaroo Valley next month (yikes!) met in a cafe in Katoomba for a pre-walk coffee before setting out to walk part of the Six Foot Track as training.

The city slickers from the Eastern Suburbs (Lulu & Sammy) had not been on "the track" before so it was nice to introduce them to one of my favourite parts of the mountains. We walked about 10.5km out (just beyond Pinnacle Hill) before heading back to Nellies Glen on what was, for the most part, a beautiful day.

Unfortunately the rain started to fall (quite heavily) as we started our climb back up Nellies Glen & shortly afterwards Sammy started suffering from low blood sugar levels & headspins. Not the best place to suffer from this, particularly once the thunder & eventually hail started. But we managed to get back to the car safely. It was a good lesson for both Sammy (in terms of how to look after herself) & myself (in terms of how to look after people in similiar situations in future).

Lunch in Katoomba afterwards left us feeling (almost) human again. 21km in 4:37 in total

MTD:
Bike: 20.5km
Hike: 21km

On fire!

Pepster, of course I remember you! Lovely to hear from you.

Mon 25/7: arrived at Balmoral by 7pm for my next session in my Wild Women on Top (WWoT) internship. This one consisted of 2hr walk (carrying an 11+kg pack) from Balmoral to Middle Head, then some reps up & down (with & without pack) a bush trail, then a running game, 30mins of core, strength & stretching (which included 100 mountain climbers & 100 squats!!) before walking back to Balmoral.

A great fun session; sooo nice to be back in the bush, through mud & puddles. Being back in the bush makes me feel vibrant & energised (despite the fact that I had probably had less than 10 hours of sleep in the last two nights thanks to the TdF & caring for my nan over the weekend). Approx. 7kms.

Tues 26/7: recovery & regeneration session for my poor sore body (10mins of movement followed by using my foam roller & tennis ball to do some SMR)

Wed 27/7: 3hr walk from home down to the river, around the river & return. A reasonably flat walk which was good as my legs still had a healthy dose of fatigued & DOMs after Monday nights session. I hit the wall after about 1:45 which, I now realise, was because I hadn't left home until almost 2hrs after breakfast & then had only had 1 gel up to that point. Very tired afterwards but content that it's done. 18.1km

Sun 30/7: I had arranged with Sonia & Fliss to meet them at the Rangers Hut at the Glenbrook National Park for a 4 hour walk at the decadent hour of 9am. An out & back walk to the Nepean Lookout ultimately took 4hrs 47mins of walking time (26.72km in total). So glad the girls came with me. I would have really struggled to get it down without them!

July total: 78.2kms

I'm still here!

So since my last post:

Mon 4/7: 30mins walk w/ a 6kg pack at 6am around the streets near home; the first time I've carried a pack since (link) Aconcagua I think way back in March 2008. Yikes! 2.7kmb

Tues 4/7: after work, an easy 20min recovery & regen session consisting of 15mins of SMR on my tight bits followed by 10mins of 3d movement largely with the VIPR. Felt sooooo much better afterwards!

Wed 6/7: a change of plans saw a hastily arranged visit to go up, down & around Parramatta Park at 7am for a 45min walk w/ my 6kg pack on a beautiful clear & only slightly windy morning. 4.3km

Mon 11/7: 2hr walk around the Glenbrook National Park from the gate down to Euroka & return with a couple of stair repeats thrown in for good measure. 10.4km
‘
Wed 20/7: this week I started a 12 week coaching internship with Wild Women on Top, a group that focuses on adventure fitness for women who I have trained with on & off over the years. And what a way to kick it off – with a 2hr walk around the Bay with an 11kg pack in the pouring rain! Approx. 9km

Somewhere in all of that -

• my contract role as a lawyer expired on Thursday 14th so I am now working on a full time basis building Sparta, my personal training business;
• R had surgery on Friday 15th & spent 2 nights in hospital recovering from having 5 plates, 61 staples, 20 external stitches, gawd knows how many internal stitches & screws inserted into his face;
• watched more stages of the TdF than I have in any year I have watched it (and what a year to do so); and
• spent 2 nights 'nan-sitting' my 86 year old grandmother with advanced Parkinsons. Far from relaxing but it was nice to spend some time with her & be able to do something for her.

Hopefully things can start to settle in the next few weeks with a return to some routine!

MTD:
Walk/hiking: 26.4km

Well, I didn't see that coming....

What a fortnight.

I think all 2 of you still reading my blog would know about R's crash last weekend. Suffice to say, it's not been a great week. I have been able to do a bit of training but not a great deal. So I am officially calling June a write-off & will continue my story from 1 July -

Fri 1 July: 30 mins walk including a couple of hill repeats near home (3.6km)

Sat 2 July: 75mins walk from home down to the Nepean River where I met R (who had driven down) and had a coffee with the guys he normally rides with on a Saturday morning & who were with him, & looked after him, last weekend. Beautiful way to start the weekend & probably the first time I have relaxed (momentarily) since last Saturday morning (8.5km)

Sun 3 July: rest

MTD:

Walk 12.1km

Moving forward (slowly)

Another week with little to report.

A couple of easy walks this week as well as (often painful) visits to allied health professionals continue. The bursitis in my shoulder is improving (slowly). My hip is making slower progress; it has been grumpy during my walks & has been held together with physio-applied strapping tape for the last week. I've taken the tape off today and and doing all my basic exercises to re-engage my core muscles which probably have shut down as a result of the impact.

Heading out for a walk tomorrow (Monday) morning with hopefully more exercise permitted after my physio visit on Wednesday...

Rolling, rolling....

Not much to report this week other than visits to allied health professionals & walking.

I had a visit to the doctor on Monday so he could sign off on my application to have my medical expenses paid under the driver's CTP insurance & then a visit to my physio on Tuesday.

I have impact bursitis & an impingement in my left shoulder caused by the impact w/ the ground. My left hip (my left SIJ in particular) is a bit funky at the moment but I'm very lucky that my bike took the force of the impact. So under physio instructions, I've only done a couple of easy walks (20mins on Thursday, 30mins on Saturday & 45mins today) this week.

This coming week brings a massage tomorrow (Tuesday) and an osteo visit together with a return trip to the physio on Wednesday which, hopefully, will bring instructions to increase the exercise a bit more.

There is a first time for everything...

What a week.

Monday & Tuesday were quiet. Wednesday saw a 1km swim in the evening. Thursday morning bought a walk/shuffle. Friday saw a rest day with lunch & a shopping expedition (something I haven't done in a *very* long time). And on Saturday I was hit by a car whilst riding my bike.

I am a very lucky girl. It was a soft impact; I was travelling no more than about 20km an hour & the driver was rolling through/had just started to accelerate out of a cross street. Thankfully a fraction of a second in my favour meant that he caught me on the chain stay (near the rear wheel) rather than directly side-on. My foot was also at the front of the pedal stroke otherwise it would have had an encounter with a ute's bumper bar.

I have a tiny bit of skin off one shin & no bruises. Did I mention I was lucky? All that crap food I've been eating lately meant I must have bounced on the road rather than skidded ;)

The paramedics were called. Clearly I was ok because I tried to talk one of the cops into given me his bike now that mine was busted. A tow truck arrived as well. And although my bike is a write-off, getting it towed was probably overkill ;)

Today I'm feeling a bit stiff & sore but nothing a few physio / massages / osteo visits won't fix.

Life is good :)

False start...

I am having far too many of "one of those weeks" at the moment. Today, Sunday, it's 2.20pm & I haven't moved from my office since 8am. So much biz stuff to do at the moment. I don't regret it but sometimes I would love to have one day off. Ironman day was probably the only day I've had off in recent months...

Anyhoo on with the news. And, not surprisingly, there isn't much to report.

I managed to do not 1 but 2 sessions on Tuesday - a 50mins easy ride on the trainer in the garage at 6am to get my legs moving and finished the day with a short strength & core session at home followed by 10min on the windtrainer. The windtrainer afterwards is a bit an experiment in learning/training motor patterns... 18km

And that's it. Hopefully I have more to report next week (*fingers crossed*)

Proof I'm back :)

I'm back. No really I am :)

I'm now working as a lawyer on a part time basis (Tuesday - Thursday) meaning that I have Mondays & Fridays to work from home on my business. You'd think that would make it easier to get my training done. Somehow it doesn't!

Mon: easy 750m swim at the pool. My first swim since I raced in Huski in mid-March (!) & my first pool swim since...wait for it....mid-February (*she blushes*). My goggles were MIA for a while (not surprising given how long it had been since I last used them) but I tracked them down eventually

Tue: early morning physio appointment in the city meant no opportunity to exercise this morning. The appointment was part check up / part check out a bit of a niggle that has developed in recent weeks in my left SI joint. Nothing looks too problematic; I suspect my rather sedentary lifestyle of late is largely to blame.

I had planned a trip to my new gym (Fit N Fast) after work but forgot my shoes (again) and so I improvised with a strength & core session in the loungeroom instead. If there is one thing that hasn't been lacking in recent weeks is core work - thank you clients :)

Wed: up early on a chilly western suburbs morning for my (not so usual lately) 30mins walk/shuffle around the streets. At one point during the shuffling component, I counted my stride rate as I've been doing a bit of reading about optimal stride rates lately. It wasn't pretty :0

After work, I headed for the pool for another relatively easy swim, this time 1km. Nothing too drastic; largely an easy swim with a couple of 100s with PB/paddles to wake my shoulders up.

Thu: up early again in the cool pre-dawn air for an 45mins spin on the windtrainer in the garage. An easy session again designed to remind my body of what it used to do quite a lot of - ride :) 13.7km

That evening saw the latest group personal training session for SPARTA. Not much exercise for me except for some core work to join in with & encourage the fun :)

Fri: busy, busy day in Sparta-land. First stop was Bronte to chat with someone about Sparta's Eastern Suburb's expansion plan. Then I headed for Double Bay to drop in & say hi to two friends who have set up a fab studio over there.

From there, it was off to North Sydney for a swim in the gorgeous North Sydney Olympic Pool for an easy 800m swim. It has been many, many moons since I swam there regularly (about 10 years worth of moons). *Lurved* it, especially when I was sitting drinking my coffee drying off in the beautiful warm sunshine.

From there, it was off to Mosman for lunch then Crows Nest for a visit to Northside Runners. R had won a gift voucher for a pair of shoes (any shoes) when he went to a tri camp last year which he kindly gave to me. I have no doubt I will be smoking up the roads & trails now in my new 'go fast' shoes.

From there, I drove to Neutral Bay to kill an hour or two before heading to Five Dock to train Owly. Finally got home at 8pm & slept like a log. Not much got done in the way of work so I like to think of it as 'inspiration day' :)

Sat: after a sleep-in, I watched the few riders compete in the TT in the Tour of California which SBS is broadcasting this week before I set out for the slow speed equivalent of a TT. Easy easy 60mins ride keeping my heart rate in 2nd gear as much as possible (as opposed to 3rd gear which I spend alot of time in). A beautiful, still Auturn morning perfect for riding. 22.68km

Sun: "rest" day which consisted of spending 4 hours first thing in the morning resuing manikins (ie, doing my CPR refresher course) and then the afternoon at the laptop working on my biz.

So a big week for me (at least in comparison to recent weeks/months). This is the first time I've swum 3 x times in one week since I was training for Yeppoon last July. I confess that I am enjoying being back in a pool, especially on my own. I know squads are fab for your development as a swimmer but I've never really enjoyed swim squads - or perhaps I haven't found the right one...

I'm back baby !

MTD
Swim: 2.55km
Bike: 36.38km

I'm back :)

From Forster that is. After a great weekend away in beautiful (and somewhat windy) Forster at the tri Club Championships.


R & I spent the weekend there with Gnome & TigerAngel catching up with old friends & meeting some new ones. R had a good race despite only doing IM 2 weeks ago.

As for my own exercise, there isn't much to report. Work + business is taking up most of my time & energy. But I've just realised that it's been over 3 months since I did any consistent training. Opps.

So after walking with Gnome & TA both mornings in Forster (about 1:52/11.3kms in total) it is time to get my butt back into gear. Stay tuned :)

Busy times in the Jeniverse

Wow. Except when I've been in the mountains far from electricity, I've never gone so long without updating my blog!

I'm not sure whether that is a reflection of how little, or how much, is going on in my life at the moment - but I suspect the latter.

Over the last month, I have launched a Thursday night group personal training session in Penrith which was a bit stressful to start with but has been very fun. In other news, I have also had another article published on the Triathlon Week website in the States. You can read my article here if you are interested.

As of last weekend, I have also switching to part time work in my 'day job' (ie. law) for the first time in my life. I made the decision to do this when I accepted my (then) new job in December so that I could have more time to develop and work on my clients. So I'm feeling rather anxious at the moment.

As for exercise, it has been rather haphazard of late. I don't have a program at the moment and only 2 goals on the horizon; the earliest of which is not until September. So all exercise has been for the purpose of remaining sane (rather than racing) which I have actually quite enjoyed. I haven't swum, eg, in about 2 months now. And I haven't missed it at all :)

So that's about all that is going on the Jeniverse at the moment. I will endeavour to keep this blog updated even if there isn't much interesting going on!

Off to Port Macquarie on Thusday as R is racing in Ironman Australia next weekend. Looking forward to getting away, catching up with some family & friends & maybe having a day off (which I haven't done in a long time!)

There was movement at the station...

Finally some training. Not much but enough to make me happy - of course after 2.5 weeks without any training something, anything is better! On Monday after work, I headed to the gym (yippee!) for my physio-ordered exercises & a short strength session (yippee!). It's official - I'm a gym junkie. I lurve my weight sessions!

I had planned to run on Tuesday morning but it became a rest day when I ended up with morning taxi duties so that R could get his long run done. He owes me one ;-)

I finally headed out on Wednesday morning for that long awaited walk/shuffle (aka run). Huski, 2.5 weeks ago was the last time I ran. Apart from the occasional attempt to cough up a lung when my breathing was a tad laboured, I was surprised at how good I felt during the run. 25mins in total. And, most importantly, my hip was fine on Thursday morning :-))

Speaking of which, on Thursday morning I met Sue at Parramatta Park for what is becoming our regular walk & catch-up. I think we have both missed our weekend long rides so it's nice to be able to catch up on an (almost) weekly basis while she recuperates from her crash. 2 laps of the park (6.05km) in 65mins whilst the rain held off was a lovely start to the day & a nice way to start to get my walking legs in order....;-)

Friday included a visit to the city to see the physio but otherwise another rest day. Saturday morning saw me learn a secret handshake as part of my introduction to the kettlebell society :-) I stayed with Mr & Mrs K on Friday night in Bronte so I could join them, and Miss E, for their usual kettlebell session on Saturday morning. I've only used KBs previously as a substitute for a dumbbell on occasion. I was also looking forward to learning from Mike, the physio who takes the session, as his philosophy and approach to training is very similar to mine.

In all, it was a fun, and fascinating, hour. Not much of a workout for me as I was restricted to learning the basic skills - fair enough; I would do the same with my clients. But I have to say that I am probably a better trainer for the experience. I'm looking forward to doing more sessions down there in the future.

And today (Sunday) I finally dusted my bike off and went for a ride. Given that it has been 3 weeks since my last ride, I settled for a short 81mins ride along the Castlereagh Road including 3 x 5mins to retain, or gain, some semblance of speed in my legs. I tried to cough up my lungs once or twice but otherwise it felt great to be riding again. On the way home from my ride, I dropped in briefly to the Regatta Centre where the Club was holding a race. As it turned out I was just in time to see Mini Mango finish. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for long as I had a family commitment to get to. 81mins. 31.69k/h

Looking forward to even more training this week - which would be good when you compare it to my totals for March :-0
Swim - 0.3km
Bike - 79.07km
Walk - 4.5kms!

Probably my lowest totals since I got back from my travels in March 2009!

MTD
Bike - 31.69km
Walk - 6.06km

Zero, zip, nada

Another of those weeks. Unfortunately I have been unable to shake my cold so other than an easy recovery & regen session on Wednesday, I've done zero, zip, nada this week. Wednesday's session was done purely for the purpose of getting some blood packed full of nutrients & oxygen flowing in, and some of the crap toxins being sick & a lack of movement produces, out of my body. Easy 10mins on the bike @ <65% MHR then stretching & foam rolling. Hopefully this week can see a return to training. Though there isn't any rush; my next race isn't for 6 months!

C'est la vie...

Short & sweet update today as I have very little to report this week.

I came home from Huski on Monday fired up (more fired up than I have been in recent months I must say) to get stuck into some speed work over the next 3 weeks ahead of my final race of the season.

Unfortunately the universe had other plans for me.

My 86 year old grandmother fell last Sunday & broke her wrist so I spent most of Monday to Wednesday at the hospital with her. She suffers from Parkinsons disease and dementia (which is a common side affect for Parkinsons sufferers apparently) so she was very vague, scared & uncertain. A difficult start to the week physically (due to a lack of sleep) and emotionally (needless to say).

Then Wednesday night I started to develop a sore throat which has since developed into a bad cold.

So my exercise for the week consisted of a grand total of 60mins walking with TigerAngel around Parramatta Park on Thursday morning & a few physio-order pilates exercises when I had some spare time.

My cold is quite bad today - between you & me, I think R is enjoying my husky voice at the moment - so I imagine it will be mid-week before I feel human enough to train again.

C'est la vie.

A race, my kingdom for a race...

An interesting week. I have been a flat the last week or two - really since I had the viral infection - but I have finally felt back to 'normal' again this week. I have also decided to get (really) disciplined again with my nutrition after I let it slide for a bit after Christmas & have lost 1.1kg in 2 weeks which is a good weight loss for me, especially given that I only wanted to lose 4kgs. 2.9kg to go :-)

Mon: After a late change of plan on Sunday night, for something different I headed off to my happy place on a Monday morning (aka the gym) for a solid strength session. Lots of push-ups & squats left me feeling like I had certainly had a solid workout - not to mention wondering how on earth I was going to make it through swim squad that night :-0

Turns out I didn't have to worry about swim squad as I got home late from work & had some SPARTA business to attend to :-D

Tue & Wed: rest - except for a massage on Tuesday night & a visit to the physio on Wednesday morning which involved some painful massage & some glute torturing pilates.

Thu: my first pre-work bike session in some time (*she blushes*). A late meeting in the city meant that I was lucky enough to sleep-in until 5.30am before doing this session. Spent 45mins on the windtrainer in the garage doing a rather eclectic session which included 2 x 6 mins efforts at race pace with a 4min recovery as well as some short, fast sprints to see if I could find some fast twitch fibres before my race on Saturday. 16.37km

Fri: rest. A day off work, a bit of a sleep-in, a visit to an osteopath for the first time which was absolutely fascinating and a road trip to Huskisson for a weekend of racing :-)

Sat: Mini Mango & I raced the enticer on a beautiful calm & still morning at Huskisson. The race didn't start until the decadent hour of 10am which meant we were able to enjoy a sleep-in. A very popular race; there were 265 women alone, 104 of which were in my age group & lots of newbies (which became very evident on the ride).

The swim was, quite simply, feral. I have never been kicked so many times in any other race. The course was, also, I think a bit long adding to the 'experience'. Touched ground (finally) and then run up the sand & stairs to transition. Mini Mango passed me just after I ran over the timing mat - phew - my record of beating her in the swim remained intact :-)

In T1, I took my time as I was trying to get my HR down & then set out on the bike. To say I was pleased to get off the bike would be an understatement. It was almost dangerous there; people with NFI basically. Overtaking on the inside, overtaking without checking for people behind them, blocking (ie moving to the right to overtake and then sitting there and not actually overtaking), people riding down the middle of the road etc etc.

T2 had another long run so again I took my time to change my shoes in an effort to get my HR down & then set out on the run. For the first time since this my 1,000,000th return to running, I managed to run the whole run leg - a grand total of 2kms - without stopping! Bugger all compared to what others around me are doing but a small victory for me. It's a shame the run was short (I think) - there was no way I was running 6min/kms!

After withdrawing from both the HIM/70.3 race at Port Macquarie as well as the ITU Olympic distance race in Sydney next month, it was nice to finally race.

I do feel better about the race after looking at the results: 44:34 for 300m swim (supposedly) / 8k bike / 2km run (supposedly). I was 29th out of 104 women in my age group & in the top 30% of all 265 women who did the race. Enjoyed a celebratory HUGE ice cream later in the afternoon to celebrate :-)

Sun: rest if you call cheering on a hot day for almost 7 hours, rest. Still it was a good warm up for a certain long day coming up in Port Mac in 7 weeks time.

MTD:
Swim: 300m (!)
Bike: 79.07km

Another week, another 7 crazy days...

Mon: rest day. My passport & I spent the day in the Shire attending a seminar by Thomas Meyer who is the guru in the field of fascia. Learnt alot that I can use when training my clients

Tue: up early for a 25min walk/shuffle. Thankfully it felt much easier than last week's aborted session. Sometime during the run I made the decision to switch from the sprint race at Husky next weekend to the enticer event. I would love to do a sprint race; I have actually never done one in all my years in triathlon. But I'm not ready for it yet & I'm not prepared to delay my recovery for one race this late in the season.

Wed: rest. Saw my physio in the morning to talk about the progress I have made since he put me in the preggie belt 18 months ago. The plan is to shake up my rehab a little bit in the hope that I can make the next step forward. I had planned a gym visit in the afternoon but forgot to pack my shoes :-(

Thu: up early for a visit to my happy place - aka the gym - for a strength session. I had planned to go to the open water swim held by PTC at the Regatta Centre & go to the gym tonight. But on checking my diary I realised that I had an appointment in the evening precluding my gym visit. So, faced with the choice between a swim & a gym visit, I made the natural decision - off to the gym I went :-))

Fri: rest

Sat: rest day - if you consider 3 hours sleep, getting up at 12.30am, driving for an hour, volunteering at WWoT's Coastrek event at the finish line in Coogee from 2am to midday & then driving home, rest :-) Seriously had a wonderful day catching up with some lovely people I only see once a year & being inspired to do something I have always wanted to do.... :-))

Sun: a 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon followed by 9 hours sleep last night left me feeling human again. So I headed out for an easy 2hr ride to Windsor & Richmond with R before coming home via the Coffee Club for a mid-ride coffee & (shared) banana bread. So many PTC members are out training at the moment - it's great to see! 54.7km in 2:25

Off to beautiful Huskisson on Friday for the weekend's racing. Looking forward to getting out of Sydney for a few days

MTD:
Bike: 54.7km

Softly, softly

For once, a rather short post as I have little to report this week.

On Monday, I was up at 6am (a sleep-in for me) after a decent nights sleep for a 25min walk/shuffle. Despite the solid nights sleep, I woke feeling tired & my walk/shuffle only confirmed it. I ended up walking much more than I normally do. Swollen glands in my neck (which I discovered the day before) led to a doctor's visit later on Monday morning which confirmed that I was coming down with some sort of viral infection. Not surprisingly given how smashed I felt after the (short) walk from the train station to my desk at work.

So I took 2 days off work & did no training until I headed to the gym on Saturday afternoon for a strength session. I am really missing:

(a) the gym and

(b) my muscles

at the moment so it was nice to get back to my happy place after basically a week of inactivity. Thankfully it was a recovery week anyway so I haven't missed much in the way of heavy training.

Sunday morning saw me get out of bed almost immediately after my alarm went off in an effort to avoid talking myself out of going for my long ride. As I only had a 2 hour ride on the cards, I decided an easy 2 hour ride out to Richmond & back was the way to go. The first 30mins of this ride was, by far, the longest 30mins of the week; it seemed to drag on. But eventually I found my mojo & enjoyed a quiet ride while the clouds did their best to rain on me. There was a light drizzle of rain for much of the ride - which was a nice change from the heat of late - with the rain only getting a little heavier within about 20mins from home. Finished with 48.01km in total

Back into training this week (I hope). This week is going to be particularly exhausting. I have far too much on my plate at the moment & permanently feel like I'm either trying to catch up (which never happens) or just keep my head above water. I guess there is only one thing to do in the circumstances; as Nemo would say "just keep swimming, just keep swimming".

MTD:
Swim: 3.85km
Bike: 172.1km

Busy bee...

To say the last 2 weeks have been crazy is probably an understatement. I normally update my blog on Sunday nights & then look at my training program and plan out the rest of the week so I can get my training sessions done (at least most of them) around my normal commitments. Not only did I not update my blog on Sunday last week (obviously), I confess that I didn't even OPEN my training program for the week until, um, Wednesday night. My hip has also been playing up. Again. C'est la vie.

Mon 7th: no run in the morning as I was training a client :-)

In the evening, I tried to come up with every possible reason not to go to swim squad. But even leaving work at 6.30pm & visiting 2 potential venues of a group PT session I am planning to launch soon still left me with plenty of time to get to squad. Bugger. So I went. And I did it. And I was reasonably happy with how I swam, particularly given that I have only swim twice in the last month. Approx. 2.1km

Wed 9th: 60mins of core-torturing pilates in the morning followed by my 20min walk/shuffle in the evening. Probably not the best of idea; my glutes were probably a bit fatigued. My hip confirmed the next morning that it wasn't :-(

Thu 10th: 1.5km open water swim at the Regatta Centre watching the sky change from pink to blue. Great way to start the day!

Sat 12th: dragged myself out of bed about 7.30am for a ride. I was feeling decidedly unenergetic this morning but eventually got moving. An overcast morning with clouds that hinted of rain actually lifted my spirits; I wasn't looking forward to another hot ride.

As it was, the clouds didn't just hint of rain. About 30sec after getting on bike, it started to rain. Ick. Thankfully it didn't last for too long. 71min ride -including 3 x 6mins efforts with 4min easy recovery. The first two efforts didn't feel too hard. I worked out why when I turned around and headed for home. A headwind made the last effort much more painful & even the 'easy' cool down ride home was a struggle. 27.7km.

Thu 17th: dragged myself out of bed at 5.15am for a windtrainer session in the garage. 45mins in total including 3 x 6mins efforts (the last 40sec of which were standing) with 4min easy recovery. This session felt particularly tough. I almost talked myself out of doing the 3rd rep but persevered. 16.4km

Fri 18th: another Club race, another enticer (250m swim / 10km bike / 2.5km run)

I wasn't in a good head space mentally during this race nor did it really improve afterwards. I won't go into the details. Suffice to say while I know I have been training for other purposes for the last 6 months, I am feeling very frustrated with my training at the moment. And my hip isn't too happy either. No results out yet as at the time of writing

Edit: results are out. Slow swim, slow bike but my run was 38sec faster than my split at the Nepean enticer in November (mind you over a different course). 1st in my AG out of 2

Sat 19th: lots of walking in/around the city thank to getting to/from the (amazing) terracotta warrior exhibition in the NSW Art Gallery. I had planned to go to the gym afterwards but had car trouble :-(

Sun 20th: thankfully I had organised to meet TA for a long ride otherwise I would probably have stayed in bed & gone to the gym later in the day instead.

TA wanted an "undulating" ride and, as domestique, it was my responsibility to deliver. And deliver I did :-D TA came out to Penrith & we rode the Northern Rd to Harrington Park via a loop of Greendale for good measure. Very hot & humid weather conditions this morning. I have rarely, if ever, been more happy to get off the bike than I was today.

Finished up with an enjoyable (and leisurely) breakfast at the Coffee Club where we were joined by R. A great way to start a day. Thanks TA! 70.8km in 3hrs

Another busy week ahead. Hopefully I can start to get some routine into my life & business..

MTD:
Swim: 3.85km
Bike: 124.9km