nearly there

the time has nearly come to board that big bird in the sky, smile sweetly to the airline staff (to get my bike on board) and go to the north island for the race. Its been a long time coming this bloody race...after cancelling my half ironman last year due to old lady lower back pain i have worked hard to get it right and to be ready to race!!

After reading endless blogs, the amount people race in the US of A is unbelievable. So much. We over here seem to pick one race for the season (as our summer is about as long as my attention span) and then fill it up with other little races. I am talking about people doing 3 ironmans and 5 halfs over a season. Holy moly....

anyhoo im ready to go race and after an endless beauty of sunshiny days here in the south it seems that Tauranga is being hit by some shittingly awful rain....im not getting into the obsession of constantly checking the weather (well maybe once or twice an hour) but it will be what it will be.

We are supposed to be rewarded after the hours and hours we all put into this lovely sport by THE RACE and race i will. But i'll also be smiling from ear to ear to know i CAN race, i CAN swim bike run and I WILL be doing this for a long time (or until the old lady back screams for me to stop).

Give it hell ladies and gentleman i know i will :)

I am so sick of these......

But love getting presents like these :)

southland summer tri (sprint distance)

My friend and I travelled to Gore (2 hr drive) to participate in the sprint (me) and duathlon for her. Quite a small field but as there were points available for the nationals there were some big guns. There were many distances including a 1/3 ironman, sprint, 10k, duathlon.
It was stinking hot on the drive down so we knew it would be hot day _suncream at the ready!
I was feeling good and rested so wanted to see how i was feeling with 4 weeks to the half ironman.

Swim
750m in a pond, and i mean pond. There was mud and grasses touching your hands as you swam. As 750 is not my distance i got left behind by the fast swimmers and thus had no feet to hang onto! No time recorded (and the gun went off before i could set my watch!)

short run up to transition and onto the bike

bike
20k of two laps with quite a large hill (with false top) and then a speedy down hill and slight headwind- felt great, tried to stay in big ring and aero as much as i could but the legs felt good and heart wasn't pounding (apart from getting on after the swim)

run
one lap along the road into a farmers field, starting with a big hill. I tried to keep the cadence high and keep moving the whole way. The sun was high and hot now so everyone was panting. I felt awesome on the run and managed a 25 minute run. (which is what i get for a run only 5k race so i was pleased!)

I beat my sprint time (ok on a different course) by 8 mins ending with a 1.23 pb for me and a smiley face at the end.

I loved it and managed to get some speed in the legs on the run and feel good. I could have probably gone harder on the run but am still slightly scared of blowing up!
A great day out! :)

spread the scary!

I have a new concept- not to anyone else just to me...spread the scary! This season i am doing everything that scares me- rgroup rides, long swims, ocean swims, runs etc etc.

The first was a scary womens road bike race- freezing, fast and i survived

2) scary road group tuesday nights- fast and scary and with lots of blokes- i went i hurt i survived

3) entered 3.8k swim for challenge wanaka team- im swimming lots lets see if i survive January 21st

4) Tauranga half ironman- can do the distance but can i do it in the ocean with sea water lapping my face and a course i dont know? Scary yes? will i survive- yes!!

5) entering as many races as possible that scare the hell out me......TBC

Do as many things scary as you can this season- go on i dare you!! Spread the scary! :))

forever

I wanted to write this down so i can come back to it and look at it when times are hard...I have of late started to doubt myself when it comes to racing, training etc. Getting down in the dumps about all the training im doing and then the results from the races not being what i wanted.

I had a revalation the other night that it all comes down to forever. I get to do this stuff...forever (hoping all my limbs stay in one place). Everyday i get to get up and run, bike, swim as much as i want and only ever get stronger, fitter, happier, faster FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

This kind of made sense to me that the most imprtant thing in all of this is being happy. Enjoying getting outside and being healthy. This may be the horror of horrors for some but unless you discover the joy in all of this you will never be happy in your sport/ exercise / whatever makes your heart race.

It can be about times, pb's some of the time but the fact of it is I get to do this for a very long time!

I may be getting sentimental in my old age!

race two

race two was well race two. I wanted to leave this post at that but wont. A 44k (actually 46k) womens only bike race. The night before there was snow on the ground and a cold day ahead but we hardened up and got out there.
I set off at a decent pace which i hoped to keep up all the way to the turnaround, i knew there would be a headwind on the way back so thought i may aswell keep it up now as im rubbish in windy weather. My first novice mistake was to get on the front of the bunch, 3rd group, and then work until the next woman came up and took her turn......which never happened. I stayed there moving for someone to come upfront and even grunted and saying 'hello anyone wanna take a turn' but it never happened.
Thus on the turn around i blew up. And the women blew on by. I couldnt stay up there and with the wind my speedo dropped and dropped.

Feeling pretty deflated i cheered my friend up to get her 1st place age group and sulked home. Feeling and wondering why i was training at all.

Looking back at the day gave me some good tips- i had a big week this week and tired legs are not true legs to race on, i blew up with my novice brain in a bike race (some good mistakes learn for next time), tomorrow is a new day on the bike.

I think i need to stop looking at what others are doing and their results and just listen to my body. Its the thin line between wanting PB's and aiming so high you end up always feeling deflated with results.

Lessons learnt!!

A great weekend of sport though and well done to all who got out there- pb's and not! :))

Race 2

and this one will be a chilly one! 13 degrees sunny and cold forecast for saturday's womens only bike race in wanaka. Im slightly scared as it may be a fast-fest but im still on my do all the races you can and dont be scared by them......so here's to Race 22k's of slight uphill and then turn around and do 22k's of slight downhill.

I am fearless!!

race1

Race one is over and although it was a short duathlon 3k/20k/3k it was a good indication of where im at at the moment.
Freezing day which didnt really heat up, but it wasnt too windy out on the bike (although a nice tailwind on the way back).

Run started off fine and as usual my heart rate was through the roof. I dont train with HR as ive never been able to control it. My resting is normal 59 but can shoot up to 150/ 160 walking upstairs.....! So i usually work on RPE for most work outs.

I kept just behind some fast ladies and then onto the bike. It was an out and back with a bit of a headwind and always a slight uphill with some big climbs on the first 10k. I felt awful but just concentrated on keeping my legs spinning and not pushing too hard and trying to bring my breathing down.

I honestly thought id got lost as i saw noone on the lap...until near the turnaround when i finally saw the leaders. The turnaround was great as a tailwind greeted us and we could push home on the, now, slight downhill :)

The final 3k run was fine and i pushed the last 500 metres to the finishline.

Still lots of work to do on the bike though!!
results:14.25/48.57/15.38

(running with eyes closed is probably why i always get lost :)

Race number 1

its the first race of the season on saturday. A nice 3k run/ 20k bike/ 3k run duathlon in sunny (we hope) cromwell and a nice $10 to boot!! (thats how race should be!)

A group of us women are going over to eat cakes and buy plants   race as hard as we can for the first race in hopefully many this season.

Cant wait!! :)

If anyone fancies it, start is 10am on Butchers Drive, Cromwell.
Cake will be from random cafes around the area

back to back

After a hard long weekend of training i was scared to learn about my back to back run intervals on the programme. Is my coach mad, trying to kill me or just plain mean.
But no, his idea is to run up a mountain on smashed legs, then go up another mountain to really get to the top, thus having the legs to thrash a race because you've done it all in training.
Try it!

Monday:
natural pace 40 mins
10 situps run fast 6 mins
10 push ups run fast 6 mins
10 sit ups
10 push ups
run fast 40 secs, 20 secs very slow x10
warm down easy 10 mins


tue:
warm up 25 mins steady
on grad/ steep hill approx 200 mts run up from bottom to the 200 mts hard out, very easy down x10

natural pace 15 mins

do hill set again x10
easy 15 mins

enjoy :-S

3 !

Today my niece is 3! :) A great age. Just thinking about how lucky she is to have the world infront of her and all the things she has yet to discover- Nirvana's 'Nevermind', her first ride on a bike without stabilisers, swimming far out in the ocean and running up her first mountain.

Happy birthday Mae you are very loved :) xxx

sunshine

woooo hoooo we made it my friends! The winter is over, and apart from a few frosty mornings and some rain the sunshine has appeared and the bike is outta the garage! :) I am like a kid in a candy store again....until i pulled my neck out and went from loadsa training to none :(

Anyway back out this weekend and a short sharp swim, bike, run is on the cards to see how the legs have held up and have some friends along for the ride.

see you out there !

holiday time

Its been a good month for training...get some decent run mileage in and even making myself sit on a windtrainer is making for feeling fit and healthy!

I have recently left meat out of my diet and have discovered that the sore tummy has gone away!!! No sign for 3 weeks now yipeeee. We shall see what happens in the coming months.

Off back to the UK on thursday for 4 weeks and am slightly worried about the lack of cycling that is going to be happening. Cycling is my weakest discipline and when i finally feel like im getting some fitness in it will disappear with the lack of bikes and gyms that are around my parents place. Any hints/ tips for biking while away would be much appreciated!! (ie sitting on my mums with a basket will probably be the nearest thing to it ha ha)

I hope everyone's keeping warm over the winter months, i know how hard it is to keep motivated and not to be shovelling large quantities of cake down my neck at any given moment so keep at it!! The summer will be here before we know it (and the races eeek!)

Also i got these bad boys in for interval training/ running on the road. Now im not the first one to buy pink but im getting used to them and they're really comfy. The light weight is a joy when dragging my ass around  the track  running as fast as Paula Radcliffe and the colour keeps pink hating maniacs at bay. (which of course we dont have here in Queenstown, only posh people allowed in) ;)

Happy training!! ;)

body

I read a quote the other day that really stuck with me. I read so many blogs sometimes it makes my eyes water. I then try not to read any for a while (its good for my mental health) but then i always get drawn back in. Training for any sport has its ups and its downs and body image is one of them. Being surrounded by blogs (particularly professional ones), we are inundated with images of petite ladies with muscles abundant that it enough to make you put down your chelsea bun (not quite) and run for the lettuce.
Fuelling up for this sport is one of the most important disciplines and as we all love to eat, Im not stopping anytime soon.
I have been around dieting since i was little but i read this and it really stuck with me, my body is amazing, my legs are amazing they may not be the best to look at but they keep me going when my head is staying stop and when my lungs are on the floor my quads shout "just a little bit more".
This is for you legs ;)

"when a person stops focusing on how the body looks and starts truly appreciating what it can do, the potential is endless. Theres no magic pill, no secret diet, no miracle, just you and what you're capable of doing.
And that, is more than enough"
(thanks to Susan Lacke)

5k pb

another pb for me at same hilly course 25.16

Winter Blues

Its the same every year. I get all motivated before winter about what im going to do; set up windtrainer, get all stuff organised for swimming and the gym, get gym timetable blah blah and then the snow comes......I have a real fear of driving in the snow as a few years ago a friend and i came off the ski road and rolled down it (in the car). Since then ive had a fear of rolling and wont drive anywhere if theres a sprinkling  lot of snow on the ground. I get really annoyed when i cant get out on the bike for long rides (i havent got a mtn bike) and basically turn into a real whinging pom.
I emailed my coach and he basically (and intelligently) informed me that the rest of the country is in the same state, suck it up and just do what I can.
Wise words Coach.

So thats what i'll be doing, trying my best and getting out of it what i can. If any of you have any sessions that make the windtrainer more interesting bring em!! Or even better, come round for a session in the garage- this is the view!!

swim time trials

Coach has me doing a time trial every now and again. Ive done two in feb, one in march and one in june:

warm up then:
800m timed
200m timed
100m timed.

Results:
Feb 11th         Feb 21st             March                 June
15.10              14.56                  15.50 (!?)           14.50 (woo!)
3.48                 3.42                     3.45                    3.47
1.52                 1.51                    1.51                     1.50

Feedback was:
On my calculation your current 1500 mts swim time in a wet suit race allowing for, currents , buoy turns , getting a draft or not, swim course can be either short / long or spot on 1500 mts I would be predicting a time of 28 minutes 15 secs.


For a 2 km Half Ironman sea swim in a wet suit my predicted time 36 mins 45 secs .


This Time Trial set is a non stop lactate - threshold test set and not as easy as it looks especially when you havent had a rest day or tapered for it.

 My belief is to do a TT set like this " under duress " first time up, then do a taper for it next time.

Keep up the good work and next time we will see times drop by a good 45 secs for 1500 and 60 secs for 2 km

sweeeet!

brick

I kinda like the brick session- im not sure why. Maybe because i can get two workouts done in one instead of "right what million things do i need to take out with me in the morning". Because its dark early and cold (and slightly icy) im doing this one from the garage and on the windtrainer. Theres a nice short sharp hill at the end of each run so makes for a nice little session.
Coachie has got me doing (incase you fancied it):
10min warm up on the bike
15m (bike) with hills (not steep but a nice gear)
off the bike onto the run 7m (with hills) Theres not too many places to run (except on the road) near my place so ive found if i run to the next street and along theres a nice hill at the end
Back to the bike for 90 sec rest and repeat x5.
10 min cool down on the bike.

Looks easy enough but apparently not so we'll see tonight!
Enjoy

tum

Ive been having issues with my tummy for about a year- gurgling, 'popping' and more stuff i'll save you from.
Ive tried a food diary, looked at how my tummy reacts after certain food and no joy really. I first thought it was white cooked onions but then i'd have some in something (and i would only find out later) and nothing.
Then i had lunch at the weekend and i had to rush to the nearest loo...lunch consisted off:
tomato and leek soup
cheese toastie (with white onions but i took them out)
banana smoothie.

so this week im trying the no dairy lots of fibre attack as a work colleage mentioned it sounded like IBS (please no!) or dairy intollerance (again noooo i love cheese, cheese on pizza, milk smoothie's). Food diary too and a visit to the dr's.
we shall see.....

any hints/ tips would be helpful!!!

5k pb

5k pb for me 25.40 on a hilly course.

may stats

Pilates 4 hours (one on one)
Swim: 13k (come down some as im backing off a little)
Bike: 8 hours (mostly from classes and trainer)
Run: 10.20

April Stat

Pilates: 4 hours (loving it)
Swim: 12.8k
Bike: 6 hours
Run: 8 hours 20

Its getting better ;)

Have entered Tauranga Half ironman which is great as it gives me focus and a goal when all i want to do is eat cake....
now i can eat cake and train yipeee!

fitting it in

I looked at my training plan for the week that always get on a sunday night. Sometimes i get twisted into a mess when i look at my diary and try and fit it all in- can i do a long bike the night after a long run, can i fit in the cinema on a wed, what morning will i need a sleep in....nightmare.
This week looks like this (and its only may!)
Monday swim am, run pm
Tuesday swim am, bike and run pm
Wed pm run
Thur swim am, pm bike
fri swim, pm run
sat swim and then windtrainer and core
sun run

erm day off?

So it ended up looking like this
mon rest day (i physically couldnt do anything with work commitments)
tue swim am, gym bike and run pm (before all important haircut)
wed rpm class am, pilates pm
thur swim am, run intervals pm
fri Rpm am, swim pm
sat cycle to work (and work all day) and then cycle home
sun long run

Any tips/ ideas about important sessions i should be doing over others? How do you lot cope with busy schedules?!!

p.s yes i think my coach is mad

Pilates (Pirates)

Ive been having one on one Pilates (or Pirates as my partner likes to call it) for about a month now. I'd recommend it to anyone who is having pelvic, lower back pain. My whole way of walking, sleeping, sitting, running, biking, swimming posture has changed and for the better! No more back pain AT ALL and im able to stand up for long periods of time comfortably.
The exercises are moving further into core strength than the physio poses i was doing and get my glutes firing finally (my right one wasnt at all thus the back pain and the 'catching').
Love it!

march totals

Just looked at my diary for the month of march:

swim: 27.3k
bike: 6 hrs !!!
run: 4 hrs !!!

might need to start running and biking then ha ha

To gym or not to gym......

Im thinking of joining the gym for the winter- to do some classes (i got addicted to RPM a few years ago) and also to spice up the training in the cold winter months. I thnk some weights would do me wonders but my coach doesn't agree. He feels that a windtrainer, keeping up the swimming and running are enough........

I know how bored i get in these months particularly as i live in a ski town and i dont realy ski much!! So to keep me interested in fitness im looking for new ways to keep at it!

Question
1) what do you do in the cold months to 'keep at it'
2) any opinions of joining the gym?

happy training ;)

big swim!

Tonight will be my biggest swim yet - all 3.5k's of it. Small to some of you it may be but i look on it as a mental test as i know there will be a oint when i see 10x 150 fast i will want to get out of the pool!

So here it is for any of you that want it:

400 warm up (free styly and backstroke only)

(all these on 20 sec rest)
100 kick
4x25 sprint
100 kick
10x 150 fast (tumble turn at the black T not the wall)
5 x 200 (same as above but will pull)

300 cool down

3.5k

see you in the pool!

running! For the love...

well its been a while since i blogged..i got bored (i tend to do that) and then couldnt think of anything to write but then here i am....
Started running again a couple of weeks ago and to be honest i was bored (oh look there it is again) i couldnt get into the groove, couldnt find the love UNTIL...birthday on wednesday and the sun was a shining. I had the day off and i thought which track do i love? sawpit gully it was then. A gorgeous track in Arrowtown which starts (depending which way you start it- i go left first) with a tough big uphill which weaves its way up up up and then flattens out a bit with another up up and then brings you out at the bottom of another hill (you can then go up that or continue downwards).
From there you go twisty turny over rivers, twisty turny down down down to a long straight flat which is great for whizzing home and getting some speed up.
And I LOVED IT! Took me the hour (which is usual) had me some new tunes on the ol' ipod and a great big grin on the face!
If you're ever in Arrowtown do it, it'll make you smile ;)

learning

I was never into sports (apart from primary school) until i met my partner about 10 years ago...since then ive learnt to swim bike run (ski, swim with sharks but thats another story).

Having issues with my back until recently always got sorted when id been to the physio for a bit, rested it a bit and then got going again. Until now. It wasn't getting better and so I went to see the professionals and have had to learn how to swim bike run all over again, properly, slowly...

Im am the worst person at doing this. All my school reports were 'Jane needs to slow down' 'Jane needs to be patient' and so this has been the hardest thing in the world for me to do. slow down, start again and learn the whys and what fors. After a extremely frustrating week of no exercise i had the lovely words- yes you can exercise but slowly jane. And i will, i promise. Starting tonight. Here's to going back to school ;)

wind

No im not talking the bottom type im talking the big stuff in the sky that moves stuff about....or keeps you still in my case.
Wanaka half bike was the windiest, gustiest true test ive ever done for myself on a bike ride but im glad i finished and 10 minutes quicker than last year!

I nearly pulled off the course as at one stage i was doing 13k's an hour into a massive headwind but i had a good chat with my self and carried on.

A big congrats to all who were in it and those who did the full 180k's, very brave! Next up maybe a little mountain biking!

hot

After hearing about all the flooding in OZ :( im appreciating the amazing weather we've had here since the start of spring. We've had alot of heavy rain which has been good for the humidity but never have i had it so good throughout these seasons in 5 years of being here (5 years!).

Race i saturday and im excited for once! Have done my training, am awaiting how i should 'attack' the 90k's in the heat (im better if i understand the mechanics of what my body and bike should be doing), have my stuff nearly ready and we can go!

Here's to whatever you're doing this weekend, lets hope you get out of breath at least once! ;)

http://www.challenge-wanaka.com/

the most scenic beautifully amazing race to do in NZ (and the world)

hurtbox, hurtlocker, the box,cave

whichever one you like to call it, im in it and going to be in it for the next week. Describing the pain of training, sport, exercise this lovely little world has us all in it once in our lives. And mine is at the moment.
With a race coming up in the next two weeks this week has my lovely coach giving me more biking than ive ever had to do in one week. ever. full stop.

Im hurting in places i didnt know hurt and also very tired(and its only tuesday).

 I love my bike dont get me wrong, but its these times when you have to dig deep and uncover the parts of yourself you didn't know, mentally and physically.

Underneath though i like it, it makes me feel alive, healthy, fit and discovering parts of me at 30+ i didnt know i had.

a nice way to start the new year. Try it and find something you didnt know you had....