Excitement plus...

I promised I had exciting news and here I am, about to deliver in spades. 

First of all I would like to announce my first ever, official sponsor: The Dive Shack and Snorkel Safari Adelaide http://www.thediveshack.com.au/ http://adelaidediving.com.au/home 

Owner-manager Paul Zuromski has offered me a sponsorship with the triathlon gear brand Orca which will include their amazing RS1 Predator wetsuit and RS1 Killa swim skin (my first swim skin ever – no more embarrassment at those warm water swims!) 

Orca does a lot of tri gear outside of just swimwear so I can't wait to get around some of their products. Also super happy to be representing a brand that was started by a passionate triathlete basically out of his garage, now it's one of the biggest tri brands in the market, kind the way I hope my career is going to go! ;) 

This weekend is Murrayman, where I have a completely all-expenses-paid trip, thanks to the Adelaide Tri Club, which was my prize for winning the event last year.  

 

The other exciting news is I was offered free entry, accommodation and most of my travel costs paid to the Albany Half Triathlon http://www.albanyhalf.com.au/ in January. The first time I’ve been paid to go anywhere as a pro, not as part of Team Latitude, and I look forward to building a continuing relationship with these guys and participating in this race that looks like a super course in a top location. Speaking of Team Lat, we have another race in WA in March, the Karri Valley triathlon, to look forward to, and I hope to meet some more of my teammates there. 

 

 

 

I have added another important member to my support team. Very excited and honoured to say that Phil Stoneman of M5 Management has agreed to mentor me and I know that his extensive knowledge of the triathlon industry, its athletes, races and sponsors will benefit my long term career. 

 

Two weekends ago I had a fantastic race at the first Bike Society Tri Series race at Moana Beach. Out of the water in front of Jules and Hannah (there's a first time for everything!), first out of T1, extended my lead on the bike and also posted the quickest run despite having done no running for a fortnight due to a nagging pain in my right leg. I was even happier with this than my race at Port. Had forgotten how fun it was to race sprint distance! Came away with the $300 which offset having the day off work. Also beautiful course and well run event. Was looking forward to the next one on 15 Dec then two more in new year with a series winner bonus of $500. 

 

Proud to represent Bike Society at Moana. My boss Craig gave me a body geometry fit the Friday prior to the race at 6.30am - talk about dedication! Absolutely amazing how much better the bike felt though, world of difference to Port - no wonder I had a suboptimal ride there. 

 

However, the nagging pain in my right leg that had been with me since two weeks before Port Mac, suddenly took a turn for the worst a week or so ago, despite the fact that I had not run - except for the two races - since a week before Port. Although my best body looker-afterers persisted in massaging and convincing me it was a soft tissue injury that just needed rest, I got pretty suspicious when it continued to get worse even without running. And then it started to feel very familiar - that annoying pain with each walking step that I put up with for six months between December '12 and mid 2013. 

 

But unlike that time, where I spent months going from professional to professional, wasting hundreds of dollars on various (WRONG) diagnoses, I booked straight into a sports doctor and despite his resistance demanded he give me a referral to a bone scan. Three days later I had the result I expected - another tibial stress fracture, this time in the right leg. 

 

I had only been back into running for about three months consistently since I recovered from the one in my left leg, and most of my sessions were 20-30 minute runs. So if anyone is going to tell me overuse is to blame here, we can compare Garmins and see if you still think so!

 

For the second time in a row, I'm coming in to summer with the tempting promise of good weather and the only time of the year I don't have to go to Uni every day (in other words, time to smash some training out and be in good form for the myriad races planned in the new year) but without being able to so much as frolic on the beach. 

 

I promise I have been trying to see the positives in this. And yes if this was the first time, I would have been like "sure, my swimming will get better, it will be fine". If I'd made mistakes, smashed myself, not been getting regular massages, allowed human error to be the cause, it would be easier to reconcile the consequences of my stupidity.  If it was winter and a valid excuse to ditch the 6am dark, cold rides, I'd definitely embrace the enforced break! If I wasn't finally gaining some of my run fitness/form back and ready to fire out some races and earn some money... I guess the timing of this is the most depressing thing about it. I've been hanging out for summer for what seems like an eternity. And hanging out to run more - as I said I've been super conservative and thus have not had a chance to explore Adelaide's best running locations. 

 

And of course like any normal athlete you do worry about being out of the sport for 12 months of 15, and how far ahead of you your competitors are getting in this time. But I know that I am still "young" and will overcome this. And unfortunately there simply isn't anything that can be done about it, except for try to keep the voices out of my head that tell me that if Clydesdales can do enough running to get through an Ironman and my 53kg frame can’t manage a few hundred k's, my body is not cut out for this shit! 

But, I fight this because I don't know anything else. There is nothing else I want to do this bad or love this much. I can't picture my life without triathlon. 

 

Those of you who are triathletes understand that it is not just a hobby that you do, it is part of you, part of your identity. it's not like being told you can't have chocolate for six months - that'd be awful, but you'd deal with it. It's more like someone telling you they're going to amputate your leg. You just can't live without it, can't imagine how your life will proceed to be as normal without that crucial part of you. 

 

Well life won't be the same, I know that much already. There is no way I'm going back to full time Uni and part time work without having had the chance to really get into my sport for a few months as I had planned. I don't know what to do or how to do it, because I can't live without the income from both of them, but something has got to give. If I make it through these next six months without completely losing the will to keep giving it everything I've got even though I can't race, I think I will have earned (not to mention NEED) some time where triathlon does NOT get pushed into the background every time an assignment is due or we need some money or the dishes pile up on the sink. 

 

I've been lucky enough to spend some time with two Sydney-based pros, Lisa Marangon and Bec Hoschke this weekend (as I've still come to Barmera to use my loudest cheering voice to support all the Murrayman competitors and help the fantastic event organisers, ATC, in any way I can) and all I can say is, anyone who meets them is a very lucky person. Talk about two of the most genuine, positive and totally inspiring people you've ever met. I'll be damned if I do not take away some important lessons from them and hope their attitudes rub off on me in some way. Bec has just had the courage to quit her full time job of 16 years to concentrate on doing what makes her happy and this is my entire "r'aison d'etre"… I have always thought though, that I had to work my arse off to get to that place where I could drop everything except my passion. But the truth is if I don’t start to simplify my life now, I may eventually reach that hallowed place but I won't ever be happy in the meantime. I don't want to sacrifice my degree but if I'm not doing it any justice (hard to write notes when you're riding a bike or in a pool) then I might be better off without the stress. Obviously I'd rather study and not work but unfortunately we need a roof over our heads too. Sacrifices are essential to achieve our dreams! 

 

So next steps... I'm booked in for a bone density scan next week. if it turns out I have worse bone density than other girls my age I might be able to be prescribed some osteoporosis drugs which should help it heal up quicker and fingers crossed prevent another one. Since my blood tests were normal, there's not a whole lot I can change for the better. I'll start smashing calcium and vit D tablets, it probably won't help but it can't hurt! I'll also see a podiatrist to hopefully see if there's any biomechanical issues to blame. I'm not sure what we'll do if the answer is yes because I'll never have $700 to fork out on orthotics, (nor do I believe in them anyway) but at least I'll have part of answer to that burning question.. WHY? 

 

Mentally I will rely on my friends big time, try to remain positive and hold it together on the down days when everything seems dark. I'll be drawing inspiration from some of the triathletes I know that have overcome serious and lengthy issues, like Mitch Robins when he severed his plantar fascia, Jo Carrell's four stress fractures, and Julie Dibens' last couple of years in which she has only managed to race once. 

 

I can't run or ride for the time being, which puts paid to my grand plans of credit card tours around the adelaide hills and working on my sock tan for the summer holidays. If only they offered my uni course over summer I'd be totally set! I guess I'll just have to turn myself into the ultimate housewife and look after Jason for a change. I refuse to work full time and spend my days dealing with people who are out on the road riding and enjoying the sun. (really it's because I'm too lazy to spend 9hrs a day standing up on a broken leg. I did it last summer and I'd say it contributed to the six months healing time. Other athletes have told me their stressies healed in six weeks). 

 

Thanks for your continued support, through bad times and good, and I look forward to one day posting a blog that says I'm fully healthy with no injuries and ready to go out and smash some races. 

H x 

Port Macquarie Ironman 70.3

There were lots of ups and downs leading into Port Mac 70.3, downs being the week where an old ITB injury flared up and I couldn’t run, coinciding with let’s call it “transition” between bikes – did a lot of swimming that week! Ups included almost running a 5km PB off a two hour bike about three weeks into my new training program.

The nerves kicked in about a week before the race and I had a few sleepless nights, but luckily everything settled before the race.

With some help from my fellow SA pros Matty White and Brad Wauer plus an old friend Ben Woods from Port, I had a relaxing and stressfree couple of days leading into the race.

Race morning came and the best thing about being pro (other than getting lots of space around my bike) was not having to wait ages for a wave start. We were off straight away with clear water which made for easy sighting. I was really pleased with my swim, unusually managed to sit on some feet for about 1200m, just battling last bit against the current. The course was 200m long so it was actually a good time for me too.

But the good times ended there, a whole bunch of things went wrong for me on the bike not to mention the fact that I just didn’t know what I was getting myself in for – the course was a whole lot harder than I had expected and I was overgeared and underprepared.

At the turnaround though I saw that I was getting closer to the girl in front of me and that was encouraging, I thought if I kept up the pace I would catch her by the end of the bike. But I never saw her again and thought I had just dropped my bundle until I found out at the end of the race she had pulled out.

The hard bike killed my legs for the run which was disappointing to me after I’d been running well in training. I just felt sluggish and slow the whole day so I need to go back to the drawing board and reassess my taper week, hopefully sort it out for Murrayman in a couple of weeks time where I’ll be meeting Lisa Marangon again! Maybe I’ll get a bit closer to her – cos the course is shorter!

I had no idea I had come in third until after the finish because I didn’t know the two other girls had pulled out, it was an amazing feeling to be up on the podium and I will be back there one day!! It goes to show that you should never DNF no matter what because you just don’t know what is going to happen. It’s not over til the fat lady sings!

There are a whole lot of exciting happenings on the cards for me in triathlon right now so I will pop up another post in the very near future – just wanted to get this one out of the way so I can focus on catching up on my uni studies and God forbid get a little bit ahead before the whole crazy sideshow starts again for Murrayman. End of year exams are a week after Murrayman so the pressure is driving me a bit batty!

Quick thankyous to: Anna and John for keeping my body going after all the punishment I inflict on it, Bike Society for helping out with my bikes and giving me days off to go and race! Everyone who sent me messages of good luck/congratulations, Tim, Matty, Brad and his family, Ben and of course my rock, Jase, who puts up with way too much crap! Big love

H x

Samoa Half Iron

Imagine you’re riding down an unfamiliar road with no lights in pitch black dark. It’s raining and blowing a gale.  Suddenly you’re being chased by a pack of viciously barking, rabid dogs.

Sound like your typical race morning? Well the inaugural Samoa Half Iron wasn’t your typical race.

Got away from the dogs – just – but it was just one of many challenges faced during the adventure that was Samoa.

The adventure that started exactly four weeks before race day, when Team Latitude boss Guy Besley contacted me with the opportunity race my first pro race there. It was daunting to have three weeks to train for this important milestone, especially as it was my first race in nearly 9 months, as I spent most of the year dealing with a stress fracture in my tibia.

But opportunities like that don’t come around very often – hell, EVER – so I signed up. Of my three weeks preparation I spent one week in Tassie, one week with a cold and one week trying to get my bike set up as a TT bike – a very successful preparation! Before I knew it it was time to taper and travel, it was 9pm on a Wednesday night and instead of packing my books for uni tomorrow I was sitting on a plane to an island that I’d barely even heard of.

It was here that I first met my teammate Tim Berkel who would have the tough job of putting up with me for the next four days. We were about to find out just how well we could cope in the face of Murphy’s law: “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong”.

It all started right from the very first morning. I couldn’t get my tubular tyres pumped up, which put paid to us riding the 45km from our hotel to the race area. We didn’t know how or get anywhere and had no way of contacting anybody.

Eventually we got a lift to the Samoan capital, Apia, getting to see some of the island’s beautiful coastline in the process.

It wasn’t til we got to the race host hotel in that I noticed the large puncture in my bike’s right-hand seat-stay. A crack that the mechanic, Brendon, said would not hold up over the Samoan roads, which had been wiped out by a cyclone last year, and were still very rough and pothole-y.

In 10 seconds flat my dreams were dashed and I was facing a four-day holiday to watch some other people do a race. Not my idea of fun. I moped around for the rest of the day, but by the evening Brendon had come up with a plan to “fix” my bike. He wouldn’t guarantee it would be safe and I’d have to nurse it around the course, but it was the only hope I had of racing. “Fixing” consisted of gluing a bunch of nails over the break, taping it up and covering it in cable ties.

When I went to pick the bike up the evening before the race, I was faced with yet another drama as both of my tubulars tyres somehow became useless, and although we could find two spares, we couldn’t find any glue! So I ended up riding with the wheels out of Brendon’s bike –complete with commuter tyres, which turned out to be my saviour as I didn’t fall victim to multiple flats like most of the other competitors, including Cam Brown.

Anyhow back to race morning – after we got away from the dogs! We headed into transition which was also pitch black. I was surprisingly calm given it was my first pro race. You couldn’t really help it with the pace of life on the island, everything was just so laid back. Not like in Australia where there’d be hyped up AGers everywhere, lights and music, and commentators counting down until you had to get out of transition. Here there were no cut-off times, no pre-race briefing, and we just left our bags under the transition racks!

It was still dark when we started the swim and as I expected I was dropped at the start and faced a very long and lonely 2km. At least the sun started to come up on the second lap it was very beautiful, which almost made up for the fact that I dislike swimming at the best of times, but the water was 29 degrees and a non-wetsuit swim which was a bit of a shock coming from Adelaide winter.

I got out a bit demoralized knowing I was a long way behind, and dreading finding out about these notorious roads (some random old lady came up to us at the hotel the night before and said “Do you have to ride up there? We went in the car today and it was awful – I feel sorry for you!”). The first 14km was on relatively smooth roads in the city and that bit went well. Then I started to get out of the city and found myself on a road where it was business as normal with busses, cars and people everywhere but no sign of other competitors, police or marshalls. I was convinced I had taken a wrong turn and had to stop and turn around, but encountered a policeman just before I did who eventually assured me I was heading the right way.

 

Out of town there was a very strong headwind and riding on the roads with my super-stiff, nailed-up bike was like riding over corrugated iron. Luckily the villagers had gone to all sorts of trouble to decorate themselves and their towns in honour of the competitors, and provided some welcome distraction and cheering. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and waving and giving thumbs-up to all the kids, who screamed in response. Then it was time for a tough 4km climb which I absolutely crept up, before descending like a nanna thanks to the potholes that I was sure were going to end the life of my bike and possibly myself.

Some of the local women decided to get some creek water to throw over us – my new chain has not recovered! I did quite enjoy some of the local boys trying out their English on me though – “Go baby! I love you!” cracked me up several times.

It was definitely a drag heading back into town, most of the villagers had either got bored and drifted off or gotten extremely excited and tried to run onto the road and touch us, so it was an obstacle course of people, dogs, chooks and the odd wild pig.

I did want to quit several times but I thought of all the effort that had been put into fixing my bike, and I’ve never had a DNF and didn’t want to start now. After what seemed like an eternity I got back to town to start my half marathon in 31 degrees and humidity.

I found out in transition that Tim had had two flats and was out of the race, which was disappointing, and I decided I’d  better get at least one finish for Team Latitude. The run was four out-and-back laps of a very flat, exposed and windy course. The volunteers did a great job with ice and water and none of my competitors were anywhere near me so I just had to get to the end – no sprint finishes like Murrayman!

Ironically at the finish line I found out that I did beat one girl, and thus placed fourth, earning myself about $400 – so all in all not a bad day’s work!

We enjoyed some Samoan culture at the presentation dinner that night but were disappointed to miss out on seeing the island’s major tourist attraction “The Trench” on Sunday due to a torrential downpour.

It was off to the airport at 3am Monday morning (Samoa time) and back to real life - I was at work at the gym by 5pm that evening, Adelaide time! No rest for the wicked! I have been struggling to catch up on the uni work that I missed since, sorting out bike issues but more importantly with the fire back in my belly for racing, making a lot of big plans for the coming season – I finally committed to spending an exorbitant amount of money on my Triathlon Australia pro licence, and will spend even more in the new year for the honour of being able to compete in WTC-sanctioned events as a pro. I’ve made a commitment to myself to be proactive about finding some sponsors. Who knows, I might even bite the bullet and get myself a coach after umming and ahhing about it for years! I’m just worried they’ll look at my uni and work schedule and laugh like ‘you are kidding aren’t you – there isn’t actually time to schedule a training session in there!’

Anyhow back to Samoa: the verdict. If you’re looking for a race that is also a cultural experience; If you get sick of the rules, regulations and “sameness” of domestic events run like clockwork; if you want to get back to the real heart of our sport, the raw passion for swim, bike and run, minus the corporate greed that plagues our sport… then save the date for Samoa Half Iron 2014 in your diary right now.

Despite all the bad luck I had, I had an amazing time and a fantastic learning experience. And one thing is for sure – I will NEVER forget my first pro race! What a crazy, impossible, funny, wild place and race. I am so, so grateful and forever indebted to Guy and Team Lat for trusting me enough to send me; to Tim, for helping me keep my sanity while everything around me was falling apart; to everyone at home, particularly Laura, Nic, Anna, Steve & Anna, Coullsie & Craig from Bike Society, Hannah, John Berryman from the Smart Centre, the Fuse Multisport racing team and of course my parents and long-suffering partner Jason for their belief, support and help; to Brendon and Paul for sorting out my bike; to Scottie T, for being awesome and friendly; and most of all to Seti, Emily, Terry and everyone else involved in putting on Samoa Half Iron - you believed in me enough to pay my flights and accommodation even though I was a complete unknown with no results to my name.

And, guess what? You pulled off that race. And if you continue to put the same heart, enthusiasm, passion and skill into it, it will grow into a bigger and better event that will put little Samoa on the triathlon map. Maybe the Prime Minister will even understand what it is in a few years ;)

Thankyou all.

Holly x

 

I'll pop some more of the beautiful pics up when I have more downloads!