Action stations!

Disclaimer: I have over six months of news to fill in, so grab a cup of coffee and a muffin and sit down, because you're not going to finish reading this while you stand in line at the supermarket!

Right, now that you're comfortable...
I'll start with an apology for being so incredibly lax with my blog. As you'll read in this post, a lot of things have happened lately which have resulted in some ups and downs in my loving relationship with the sport of triathlon, and since that is what this blog is all about, I feel like I have neglected it on purpose.
I was feeling bad about the lack of attention I'd given it when I looked at all my friends' blogs and discovered most of them hadn't posted for 6-8 months either, so then felt better :). While doing that (and also halfway through writing this blog) I discovered Madeline Oldfield's latest posts (if you don't follow her, go to http://madeleineoldfield.com/ - one super talented Tasmania triathlete!) and it was eerie to read her first post back as it almost mirrored exactly what I had written so far in this blog (although she is far more concise than me!)

So you're about to read all about my journey over the last six months, where I am now and the reasons behind my return to the blogosphere. Please don't think I'm sharing this for pity's sake because I'm well over that now - I'd rather share it in the vain hope than any athlete who reads this might find it easier to recognise these problems in themselves and avoid making the mistakes that I've had to learn from the hard way.

Let's start by going all the the way back to December 2012.
Jason and I had just settled into our new place and our new jobs in Adelaide, South Australia.
I was training hard for the Canberra Ironman 70.3 in mid-December, in which my aim was to finish as the first overall age grouper, going a couple of places better my result from Yeppoon 70.3 in August.
About two weeks out from race day, I was doing a brick session when I jumped off the bike and found my left leg extremely painful to run on. I persevered (as you do) and finished off that session, but the next morning when I went out for an easy jog, I couldn't even get five minutes down the road. Cue panicked attempts to find a new physio I could get into straight away - which resulted in me seeing a guy who was probably about as ancient as the 1800s building he treated me in.
"It's a knee injury" he pronounced, wiring it up to some crazy looking electrical thing that made my leg spasm like it was having an epileptic fit. "Just rest it for a bit and it should be fine". But it did not improve, so I reluctantly went to an expensive but triathlon-experienced physio at the Sports Medicine hospital.
"It's just a soft tissue injury," he said.
"Rest up, stretch it, but I won't tell you not to go and do the race."
I was in two minds about what to do, but knowing that if I pulled out of Canberra I would lose all the money I'd invested in the entry, flights and accommodation, and I didn't know when I'd ever be able to afford another one - and that it was "just a soft tissue injury" and it wouldn't cause lasting damage to race on it - I committed to racing.
Mentally, I prepared myself better than ever to make up for my lack of physical preparation (I hadn't been able to run and only ride lightly in the 2.5 weeks leading up the race). I knew it was going to hurt but I told myself I would have to be stronger than I'd ever been and just push through it.
Race day arrived and I couldn't even do a jog warm up. Not boding well, but still I crossed my fingers for a miracle to occur by the time I reached the run.
I really enjoyed the flat, smooth swim in the lake with easy sighting. I was in a good position when I got out, and the bike course was not crowded for my first of three laps.

I was a bit miffed they had changed the course just before the race  because of roadworks happening on the planned course- it meant the hill and technical descent had been removed, which was the bit I thought I could get most advantage on due to using a roadie as opposed to a time trial bike.
However I had a fantastic bike leg, felt really strong despite the headwind, and came into T2 among the front age groupers.
I then had to tackle three 7km run laps, all flat. I didn't even feel the pain in my leg for about half the first lap, and although I didn't feel amazing, I was making good progress.
From then on in things started getting progressively worse. By the end of the second lap I was in agony and kept having to stop and walk, which is really unlike me! I wanted to pull out at the end of the lap and if it hadn't been for Bel and some of the other Balmoral guys (my adopted club for the weekend) cheering for me, I totally would have - which shows how bad it was, because I never give up!

The last lap I think had more walking than running and you can see the pain I was in from my face and my running style. I was limping like an idiot, was in tears and in a really bad place - I said to myself 'I know I was going to be strong and push through the pain, but this is not the kind of 'I'm tired and sore' pain, this is something different, something you can't push through'.

Finishing was just sheer relief, I wasn't happy with the time I'd done or the place I'd got, I was just happy to get to the end. I went and sat down and had some food and drink, and it was only about 20min later when I got up to go and see my uncle Jas, aunt Milka and cousins who had come to support me, that I realized I actually couldn't walk.
That made collecting my bike and getting back to the hotel really difficult, and I must say I was extremely grateful for the help of people like Laura Harris who did so much for me!

I tried to go out with them that night but it was ridiculous, I couldn't even walk, so I left early and went hopping back to the hotel, with people in the cars going by stopping to call out to me 'you look like you're in pain - do you want a lift?'
Despite being so tired from the race I could barely sleep through the pain and I must've looked a sight trying to crawl or hop around and pack my bike up the next morning!
Poor Bel had to deal with one cranky, tired bitch the next day when she drove me back to Sydney to catch the plane home.


Back in Adelaide, I did absolutely nothing for a couple of weeks, and no running for another few weeks after that. Just walking around was painful enough. I went to about four different physios, each one had a different diagnosis, then I saw a doctor who told me I had some kind of tendonitis, but he'd like me to get a bone scan "just in case" it was a stress fracture. When I found out a bone scan was over $600, "just in case" was not strong enough reasoning, so I just waited until the walking pain dissipated. Soon after that I started attempting to run again, but I'd only get to two or three runs before the pain returned.
About two months of that and I cracked it, I was so frustrated, so I took a fortnight's pay and went to the hospital where the radiographers took great delight in telling me I had a fracture right into the medulla (middle part of the bone) in my tibia. Although this meant more time off running, it was a relief to finally know what was wrong.

The problem with us triathletes is that we can be kind of "all or nothing" people and what happened to me was when I couldn't run, I got so frustrated and fed up with the sport, I stopped swimming as well (this coincided with the winter closing of my local pool and my lack of friends to swim with). This went on for a couple of months until I finally got my act together. There were more false starts to be had with my running, where I'd get a couple of runs in and then feel the pain returning and give up again. About six months after Canberra, I was finally able to start building up with some consistency, but I still find it difficult to mentally deal with how much my running has deteriorated compared with when I was at my best. I know that with hard work it will return, but remembering the pain of all the sessions I toughed out to get where I was all went to waste, has been hard to reconcile.

Meantime I found an incredibly supportive and cool bunch of guys in the Fuse Multisport squad here in Adelaide who have been kind enough to let me train with them on the odd occasion I can make it in between work and Uni. It's amazing how much motivation training with others gives you! I do miss my squads and bunches in Launceston, but I certainly don't miss having to get up in -3 degrees!

So early in the year when I started Uni I decided that I would give triathlons a rest in 2013 because of the injury, the lack of time to train, and the lack of the financial ability to race.
I started doing some open bike racing, because I missed the adrenaline rush of competing, and the great intense training that it is. I've only been able to get 4 Saturdays off work to race so far but I've loved every single race and surprised myself at my results. I actually finished 3rd (out of 4!) in the elite women's state road race championship, against one girl who is currently competing for the Australian team in Europe, and two other girls who race for domestic professional teams in the National Road Series. Just to stay with them over a 90km course with four big hills in it, was an achievement for me. I would seriously encourage any triathlete who hasn't done this, to enter bike races. Not only does it improve your bike handling out of sight, it is a huge confidence boost and more than anything an amazing training session, because you get some really intense bursts of effort, not like in time trialling where it is constant, measured effort.

But as any triathlete who has tried to give up for a while would know, you just want to be doing it more than ever! It's like trying not to eat chocolate! My motivation has been slowly building back up to the point where I'm excited about going out to train every single day, and it's pointless telling myself triathlon has to take a back seat to my studies and work.
I knew I would do MurrayMan again in November because I won a free entry and accommodation last year, so it would cost me nothing to race and I could possibly win some money which would finance some more races over the summer. But I thought I'd just do it for a bit of fun, going in well undertrained as it coincides with my end of year exams. Slowly it changed into my focus for the season, but still seemed quite a way off.
I hadn't expected to find out with 4 weeks notice that I'd be competing in the Samoa Half Iron on August 10 - an opportunity I've been given through Team Latitude, an awesome group of triathletes who go around promoting regional races. It's been a year since I rode a TT bike (I don't own one, so am now scrambling to get one organized to train on) and 8 months since I ran a race, or swam in a wetsuit, or did a transition. So it's going to be interesting - lucky I believe in being undertrained as opposed to overtrained!

Tomorrow we head back to Tassie for a visit with family and friends - I have a feeling it's going to turn into more of a training camp!

The last thing I will mention - another of the action stations currently occupying my world and my head - is the Witsup scholarship. If you haven't heard of it, go to www.witsup.com right now and have a look at their "scholarship ambassador competition". The website was started by the editor of Australian Triathlete magazine, Stef Hanson (who many of you might have met at the Coles Bay 100 this year) with the idea of supporting women in triathlon. The scholarship gives one lucky woman the opportunity to basically be sponsored for a year - this includes a Giant TT bike, Funkita bathers, Oakleys, a trip to the Fiji Triathlon, series entry to the Elite Energy series, nutrition, shoes, and heaps more (all up worth about $18K). You enter a written application and a 90sec video, and the judges come up with a shortlist (which was announced last week - I made it!) and later this month, announce the winner. In return, the ambassador promotes the sport and encourages women in triathlon, as well as the sponsors of the scholarship.
For me, to win the scholarship would mean the opportunity to race this season (given the trip to Fiji and the Elite Energy series). Otherwise I'm in for a long summer of training for next season or the season after (when I finish Uni and hopefully get a good job!). It would mean the opportunity to experience what is like to be a professional athlete - how to interact with your sponsors, how to promote them, how to give them the best return on their investment. It would be an absolutely invaluable experience for anyone who aspires to go further in the sport, because in reality the only way you can make it is to have those sponsorship contacts (unless Mummy and Daddy are funding your campaign as a professional athlete!).
The increased media exposure that comes with winning the scholarship also provides an amazing opportunity to not just promote the sport, but promote change in the sport. I guess if the judges are looking for someone who wants to stand on a pedestal and scream "triathlon is awesome, everybody come and do triathlon" then they aren't going to pick me. I don't believe you can have a passion for something without having a passion to improve it and make changes for the better of the people who participate in it. Triathlon is still quite a "new" sport and in my opinion it's still kind of finding its feet - it's changed so much since the 80s when hairy-chested men rode steel treadlies in their budgie smugglers. It's still changing, and it needs people in it and around it to push that change in the right direction. Luckily we have a lot of those in triathlon! But it could always do with a few more perspectives along the way and a few protagonists who aren't afraid to sacrifice personal popularity for the "greater good". Anyway, there's another time and place for a rant on sports governance so I will leave that there :)
I just want to thank Stef, Nat and the Witsup team for putting the scholarship out there, because it's a fantastic initiative no matter who wins it. The fact is, at grass-roots level we're often seeing more women than men compete in triathlon (sprint/novice/enticer races). But when you look at the stats for say, argument's sake, wins at Kona; Australian men have won 7 and women only 2. I would say that shows that somewhere along the line, women aren't getting the support to transition from an entry-level or participation-level athlete to an elite athlete. And that's largely because we still find it harder to get that all-important sponsorship dollar. So Witsup connecting athletes and sponsors, and using their ambassador to help other women realize their potential and make this transition, is a huge step forward for women's triathlon in Australia.

Now it's well past time I got off my soapbox and get packed for Tasmania - thankyou so much for your time and thankyou to all the people who have continued to support me, racing or no racing, injured or not. Hopefully it won't be long before I'm out there making you all proud again!
Holly xx

MurrayMan, moving and more!

Right, I think I have procrastinated so long before writing this race report that even the memory of the pain has diminished. Strange how you remember that it hurt, but can't remember what the hurt actually felt like - I guess that's the only reason we keep doing these events isn't it?!
So after starting with that random little observation, I should actually explain what I'm talking about: the MurrayMan Long Course Triathlon in Barmera, South Australia.
Jase and I flew over to Adelaide on Friday, November 2, after doing the usual 6am bunch ride in 6 degrees.

Our first stop in Adelaide was the bike shop to pump up our bike tyres (this was a very fateful visit, but more on that later).
We stayed the night with my cousins Lisa & Travis & aunt Anne in Adelaide and enjoyed some wonderful hospitality (and a home cooked meal!) before driving out to the race course on Saturday (about 2 3/4 hours). Barmera is a very quiet little country town by a big lake. It was hot, but not too hot on Saturday, so we rode one lap of the course (20km), then I had a run and a quick swim in the lake. Despite the air temperature, the lake was cold! I swam without a wetsuit but knew that the next day we would have a wetsuit swim. :)
Then it was off to Berri to enjoy the rest of the day relaxing at our hotel. It was such a nice day that all I wanted to do was go riding, but I forced myself to relax, stay out of the sun, and eat too much food.

On race morning, Jason managed to drive us past the turnoff to Barmera - lucky I was paying attention or we would have been halfway back to Adelaide! Got there with 10 minutes til they closed transition which of course sent me into a total panic, not the way I wanted to start my day.
But I got in and got out just in time, did a quick swim warm up and then started treading water about 50m from the shore with the other "elites". It felt cool and special to be starting out in front of the "age groupers" like a proper pro, but it made me nervous because what if I swam really slowly and looked totally stupid for starting up there?
After what seemed like forever we were off and of course the pace went on straight away and I was spat out the back because I am not a great swimmer at the best of times and am definitely not a sprinter under any circumstance. I went anaerobic trying to get on someone's feet but after a while decided to give up and try to recover a little. I felt awful, because it was windy there was a bit of chop (funny how it seems like chop when you're swimming and ripples when you're sailing) I was swallowing heaps of water. I thougth that I must be miles behind and was having a lot of negative thoughts. The end of the swim truly could not come quick enough!

When I finally reached the beach I saw a couple of other yellow caps ahead of me, but then the commentator called out that I was the second elite female out. How could that be? I didn't understand but it made me a lot happier and gave me a lot more confidence! In and out of T1, as usual looking like a gumby trying to mount my bike, and pretty much straight away knew it was going to be a long day. The road was rough and there was a strong headwind, and it was already well into the mid 20s and getting hotter. I was riding a borrowed bike and this was my third time on it - plus my nutrition strategy had been developed in consultation with Mark Matthews the day before on the phone - I'd never tried it before! How was this going to go down?!

Laps one and two of the undulating course were, I have to say, not particularly pleasant, but passed by quick enough. Julianne (eventual 3rd place getter) steamed past me on her SWorks, Di2 Shiv with a full disc rear wheel on the first 'out' leg. I had no hope of keeping up with her - my only option was to "race my own race". The third lap was where I really struggled in the wind, my legs were just hurting and dead. At times I literally was moving at 23km/h. Felicity (2nd place getter) smashed me up a hill on the third lap, while I was down. That third split was terrible. The last lap was just me remembering to eat and drink and thinking 'it'll be over soon, it'll be over soon, just keep going!'

I got a bit lost coming into T2 but even so managed to make up about a minute on the girls ahead of me, by now I was about 4 minutes down. I was thinking that's a big deficit to make up, but I'll just see how things pan out. I had tried to have a bit of a stretch on the last leg of the bike in the hope that I'd feel better running than I did in Yeppoon.
The legs were heavy but I wasn't as sore in my left hip like I usually am. Still felt like I was running 4.45min/kms but when I looked down at my Garmin (thankfully remembered it at the last minute this time!) I was doing under 4 minute k's! Sh!t better slow down, I'll never keep this up for 20km!

About now was when I started to feel the heat - it would have been in the mid-30s. I got through the first lap OK, had to fight my inner voice to allow myself to walk the aid stations, which I've never really done before. I tipped ice all over myself, drunk as much water as I could, ran through all the residents' hoses, and hung a wet face washer around my neck. I had a gel on this lap, and on the second lap. On the run, it was the second lap that was the struggle. I thought to myself 'well, I'm going to finish third, and that will have to be OK because I just can't go any faster than this'. I also thought 'it's no longer a race, it's just survival now'. In particular there was one long, exposed gravel road where the sun was so bright and harsh and the wind was so strong that I was barely lifting one leg in front of the other. When I had read in the race instructions that there was three aid stations per lap (5km) I decided that was "heaps" and there was "no way" I'd need to wear a fuel belt. I soon wanted to take those thoughts back, because the gaps between the aid stations felt like a long, loooong way.

Matty's nutrition strategy for me was to "rely on Coke for the last half of the race". Good plan, not so good in practice when the aid stations ran out of coke!! So for the last half I was just running on water. Normally two gels for me would be plenty but clearly the heat was taking up a lot more of my energy. Finally, on the third lap, I passed Felicity. She told me she had done an Ironman two weeks ago, so then boy did I feel lazy! Ha! I also thought I was then in 1st and could relax, it wasn't til a few km's later when I passed Julianne I realized that I had only been in second! Now I had a whole lap and a bit that I had to stay in front >:(

I battled on really wishing I had some nutrition because I knew the tank was empty, but I thought I was basically home and hosed, until I got a scare at the last aid station - Felicity caught back up to me! Without thinking I just turned around and bolted, almost instantly thinking 'oh crap, that was dumb, I don't want to turn around and see where she is so now I'm going to have to hold this crazy pace for another 2.5km!'
Man, it was hurting. I honestly have never dug so deep in a race before, and I've never really been raced to the end like that. It was awesome. I just kept telling myself 'I know you have nothing left but just keep going, you're nearly there, the end can't be that far away!'. I have never felt so relieved, and so utterly exhausted, at the end of a race. I always imagined feeling elated and proud when I finally got to grab that ribbon and lift it up, but I just felt like "thank God that's over! I can stop now. I'm never doing that again."

That thought was short-lived, as I found out at the presentation that I'd won free entry and accommodation for next year's race. I'm still coming round to the idea of suffering that again! But with that and the fact we won't have to travel far for the race, if I podium again I might actually make a profit!

We escaped the presentation and headed back to Adelaide where we spent a lovely, restful night with my family, Steve, Anna, Errol & Zelie, in the hills overlooking Adelaide. And Monday morning the mad rush started again, airports, bikes, bags, travel, and finally home where it was time to break the news to family and friends: that bike shop visit had resulted in an amazing job offer for Jason and hence a move to South Australia.
So we had to find a place to live, start packing, saying goodbye to people, fixing things, cleaning, maintaining cars, and all that other stuff that goes along with moving house.
Then, I got offered a place in Hahn Super Dry Team Latitude, which will help with my travel expenses to regional events around Australia;
Then we had to celebrate my 24th birthday;
And I've still been attempting to train for Canberra, but I think I need to relax the expectations I was putting on myself for that race given the interruption of moving states, and the fact that THEY TOOK THE HILL OUT OF IT AND I DON'T HAVE A TIME TRIAL BIKE!! Waaah!!

And I blame all that chaos for the fact it's taken me so long to write this.

I have one more thing to say before I sign off from this massive essay.
THANKYOU! Thankyou so, so much and goodbye (No, see you later) to all the wonderful people I have met and who have supported me along the way:
The 6am bunch and of course the BC guys for not only helping out with my bike but being great fun to work and train with and putting up with having a female triathlete in the bunch (sorry about my bike handling skills!);
Mark Connelley and Craig Boon at EFM for helping out with my strength training;
Jude Hillhouse at In Balance Physio/Pilates for all her help with my core strength;
Harvey Griggs for the massages;
The Launceston Aquatic crew for being great fun to work with and making my job so enjoyable;
My family and friends, just for being you;
Guy Besley and Team Lat for welcoming me onto the team. Can't wait to do an event as part of my new team;
Trent and the Riverside squad. You would never think that swimming laps could be so much fun. There's torture, there's teasing, but there's also tons of love and support and I am going to miss Wendesday and Friday mornings terribly.

That done, bring on the next adventure! We're on the boat tomorrow night, leaving Tasmania, and sailing into the future............

"It doesn't matter where you go in life, it matters who you go with".

Holly x

A new bike and a new challenge

This time in three days I will be sitting on a plane on the way to Adelaide, feeling just a little nervous about a race I spontaneously signed up to a couple of weeks ago.
I was thinking of heading to Adelaide at some point to see family I haven't seen in years, but when my friend/former Launceston girl-now Adelaide resident Hannah Geelan (if you haven't, you should read her blog too) suggested racing the "MurrayMan" triathlon, that 'one day' trip turned into an 'in three weeks time' trip.
"MurrayMan" (murrayman.com.au) is a long course event held on Lake Bonney in Barmera, about a 3 hour drive north-west of Adelaide (near the border of NSW and Victoria). The competitor booklet says it is a wetsuit swim, but looking at the weather forecast - which yesterday said 37 degrees, and today has been revised down to a seemingly manageable 34 degrees - I'm not sure that's a certainty. However as the great Mark Matthews told me from his Kona experience, when it's a non-wetsuit swim, "everyone is in the same boat". I think my weak kick puts me at a definite disadvantage when not wearing the wetsuit though.
It seems like just yesterday I was jetting off to Yeppoon, I think I've been conditioned by the Tassie racing calendar to have to peak for just one race a year! But if I want to lift my game I really need to compete regularly like the pros (and most mainland age groupers) but of course this means spending more money, so feel free to suggest places you think might feel like sponsoring an average Tasmanian triathlete!!
Speaking of money, for the first time ever I have entered a race as an "open/elite" (where I've had the choice to enter that category instead of my age group) which means I will be eligible to win prizemoney! And first place is $1800! If I did win it, we'd pretty much break even on the trip over, which would be a huge bonus. There are eight other girls in the elite category but only one name is familiar and that's Renee Lane, a professional who finished eigth at Ironman New Zealand last year.
Between the competition and the weather I don't think it's going to be an easy race.
Joe Friel says in his book Your Best Triathlon (http://www.amazon.com/Your-Best-Triathlon-Joe-Friel/dp/1934030627)  that "if the race is 4 degrees C hotter than what you are used to, you can expect significant performance decline". I normally train at 6am when it's about 8 degrees or somewhere there... does that mean my performance is going to be seven times worse than usual?!
Friel also recommends that the longer you can acclimatise the better you will go - two weeks he thinks is optimum. I can't afford to agree with him. My theory is, arrive 12 hours beforehand and you will have completed the race before your body even realizes what is happening to it.
Jokes aside, I will change my race and nutrition strategies to take into account the heat, but I've never raced in anything close to that so it is going to be a huge learning experience.
I can take inspiration from some of our local performers just lately, Mattie and Hayden at Kona, Jimmy and Tom at Port Mac 70.3 and Jacob and Dylan on the ITU scene.
Of course Canberra Ironman 70.3 is still the main goal for 2012 so I will not be tapering for MurrayMan, I'm just lucky it fitted in at the end of an easy week.
Training has gone pretty well up til now, I'm pleased with how consistent it has been especially considering that my health has been pretty average these past few weeks. I've trained, competed (and won the LTC duathlon) through a head cold, followed by a chest infection, an achilles strain and a cracked rib. I really am not pushing myself that hard and I don't feel run down at all so if anyone has any idea why I would keep getting sick, please feel free to comment and let me know!

PS for those who are interested the Venge is just great! Feels light and stiff, accelerates amazingly and handles so well. I love it and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to road race or do tris. I rode it in the Tamar Valley Classic 50km TT on Saturday and was really happy with how I went, especially against many people riding TT bikes.
It was a hard decision to leave it at home for the Adelaide trip, but in reality, completely recabling it to put a TT headset on it would be a total pain. So it's back to the old Transition I go! I'm just going to turn all that extra weight into extra momentum :)

Race report to come next week.
Thanks for reading!
Holly :)

Bike issues, Amy Gillett and general goss

Time for a bit of an update - I know it's getting longer and longer between posts but that's because I hadn't done anything exciting enough to be worth posting about. However one must consider a 120km ride/race around the Great Ocean Road with 4200 other riders as something exciting, so hence I'll do a bit of a write-up on my first participation in any kind of Gran Fondo event.
"Team BC" (which includes honorary members Suze Downling & Steve Muir) travelled to Lorne, Victoria, on the 15th of September to compete in the annual Amy Gillet Foundation Gran Fondo.
Dale "Wooly", "Roger Dodger" and Pete squished into the hippy van with the bikes, while it was left to Mum and Dad (Steve and Suze) to put up with the two naughty kids (me and Jason) in the back of the family Falcoon wagon. Dave Bingley of course turned up fashionably late in a considerably more fashionable ride, to the four bedroom house we rented on the Lorne waterfront - right outside where they would lay the timing mats for the start of the great race.
The first job (after bagsing beds of course) was to put the bikes together and then we all traipsed down to the safety briefing, waded through thousands of fashionable and not-so-fashionable lycra-clad people to grab a bit to eat and then back to the house for a warm-up ride along the great ocean road. I was feeling great and even kept up with the boys until the old bearded man came past in the 53-11 and bruised all their egos so it had to be a race home. Lucky Roger waited for me :)
After purchasing a carton of beers and a few other small necessities from the local supermarket (again over-run by those annoying lycra-clad people and conveniently sold out of almost all forms of carbohydrates) Suze murdered a chicken for 6 dinners and Jason and I cooked up some awesome-free tuna pasta. This was followed by copious amounts of ice cream and apple pie, and then I had to lie upside down and unmoving on the couch for hours because I was so full.
In the morning it was strange to find the pace of life far more sociable than a triathlon, with only a third of the amount of gear to worry about, and a lazy 8am start time. I had my standard pre race breakfast of porridge, and then wandered about wondering what to do and waiting for everyone else to get ready.
Needless to say I was very nervous about riding with so many other people, for us triathletes it's not something we do every day! You stay 7m away from me and I'll stay 7m away from you - less chance of accidents that way! But no, I had to be part of one wave of 200 people, with probably 10 waves in front of me and about the same behind.
After a short warm up I headed to the start area to find Suze, who was in my wave. But on the way Jason Richards (another Launcestonian) yelled out to me and I ended up starting with him and his mates, a couple of waves ahead of where I should have been. All the BC boys were up in the second or third wave.
I was so amazed that I didn't crash even though there were a few hairy moments, because the entire first 40km of the race along the Great Ocean Road, it was just wall to wall people. My bike skills are horrendous and I am the antithesis of an aggressive rider, so again and again I allowed myself to get trapped behinds slow moving idiots on the left hand side of the road, while faster people poured by in a continuous stream on the right hand side. It was mighty frustrating and I was totally hating on myself because I knew I could go so much faster. Mainlanders' ability to hill climb is non-existent and each time we reached a 1m slight rise in the road, they would all slow down in a massive concertina effect making it so hard not to crash. Being on a borrowed bike, one belonging to a man, meant that I was struggling to reach the brake levers, and by the end of the 40km my hands were aching from being on/off/on/off the brakes. Finally we turned a corner and began the KOM climb, a 9km steady gradient of about 6.5%. Again frustration at the bottom as I was in the gravel at the side of the road trying to get around people moving at snails pace in huge bunches spread from shoulder to shoulder. I was riding so much faster than everyone around me, so I thought I must be going great guns, but turns out it was only because I'd started so far back and everyone around me was a slow rider! When I got nearer the top people were cheering me because I was going past them so fast. I was sure I had done well. To find out I was not first, not tenth, not even 15th but SEVENTEENTH on KOM was, to say the least, a bit of a dent to the pride :P
After the KOM was a lot of descending which I am not good at at the best of times, and it was frustrating to see many of the people I'd passed, pass me again just because they're bigger and fatter.  But, I felt pretty damn good on the day, and starting around those slow people and continuously passing people gave me a great confidence boost. The course was quite difficult but it was beautiful and conditions were ideal for riding, about 18deg and overcast. I caught up with a few of the guys I knew from Specialized, which was pretty cool, to go in this event on the mainland and hear fellow competitors calling out your name or "Hey Bike Central!"
My lack of descending ability left me without a bunch quite a few times which ultimately impacted on my finish time. I did grab on to one bunch not far before the finish and took a ride off a few strong guys including Mark Bowden from the Hobart Specialized dealer, Bike Ride. When I left them for dead on the final climbs, after 105-odd km, I felt pretty good. The last 5km were tough and I was glad to finish and cruise the last 10km back home to Lorne.
When I got back I went for a 15 minute run off the bike (typical Sunday training session) and then home for shower and beers. Then all we had to do for the next 24 hours was relax with friends which was a real treat.
On the Monday morning, when I would usually get up in the dark and cold at 5am to work at the pool, I slept in til after 8 and then went for an 8km run in the brilliant sunshine along the beautiful Lorne foreshore, had a lazy breakfast on the deck of our house, then helped "mum and dad" and Jason clean the house. It was so stress-less and fun. We then drove up the scenic route back to Melbourne and didn't want the weekend to end, but of course it did :( Back to work and normal life!!
AND, stressing about bikes...
This is a whole other story... I guess I will start at the start, which is back in January... Part of the deal of me being poached from Cycle Torque to Bike Central was that I would be given a Shiv (THE best TT bike on the market, period. If you need proof look at Crowie's Kona results) to ride in triathlons.
Unfortunately one wasn't available in my size at the time, so I was given Specialized's entry level aluminium triathlon bike, the Transition, to ride in the meantime, promised that the Shiv would arrive well and truly before my first Half Ironman, Yeppoon, in August. (That fell through, and not only did I not get it before Yeppoon, after it was put on order to arrive well before Canberra on Dec 16, that fell through too.)
I was lucky enough to be given a Specialized Ruby women's road bike to ride in training and road race events (of which I won my first three!). However this happened to be sold while Jase and I were away for Yeppoon, without a replacement organized, and I came home three weeks before the Gran Fondo to find out I no longer had a road bike!
A million thanks go to Keith Smith who loaned me his S-Works Tarmac, which although not really set up for me, has been a joy to ride and has saved my mental health.
As I came to the realization that that was it for my shop road bike, I cursed myself for having sold my old one, and knew I would have to buy my own. But what I REALLY wanted to buy was a Shiv, because I knew it would take minutes off my bike time and hopefully help me secure my professional racing licence (to automatically qualify you need to finish within 4% of the winners time, and i've been only minutes off the mark in all my recent races). I actually don't make a disposable income (hard to believe when I spend three or four hours a day running, riding or swimming really!!) so the budget would come down to my tax return, which certainly wasn't enough for two bikes, not even for one good one. So what would I do?! Jason and I ummed and ahhed about this for a long, long time, annoying everybody in the Specialized office along the way. The worst thing was, with so many events coming up, we were on a deadline to make a decision, and many of the 2012 range bikes were sold out, and most of the 2013 range as yet unavailable.
Add to that the fact that it would be the first new bike I'd ever bought, and I wanted to get something I actually wanted, not just whatever random bike was available and cheap.
I also knew that it was time I became bike self-sufficient (stopped relying on others) so I would need something that would do both, because I couldn't face knowing that if I bought myself a TT bike, which I need for my (hopefully) profession, I would never be able to train in a bunch or do a road race.
Eventually it took two hours nutting it out with our sales rep before I bit the bullet, rang mum and borrowed $1000 (thank god for mums and dads) even though it'll take me like two years to pay it back, and put a Venge Pro on order. The Venge is an aero road bike so although it is not technically a TT bike, I'll be able to do tri's on it as well as road riding. Plus it comes with sweet wheels which we can put away as race wheels.

In other news training has been going really well. I started a 14 week program for Canberra and am now in week 3. Apart from a few little niggles I'm really happy with my base fitness and can't wait to start getting into some speedwork. I haven't done any running races for a long time so I will do the Clifford Craig run in a couple of weeks to see where I am at- a little behind the eightball I suspect but if I stay injury free I should be able to increase my speed considerably before December.
Only a few weeks to go until we start open water swimming again :) Although lack of practice didn't seem to affect me at Yeppoon, the peace of mind that I have some miles in the bank will be nice. I'm told Canberra is murky and horrible though so I am going to practice by swimming in the Dowlings' dam! :P
Looking forward to some more daylight and warmer weather, which will make the early mornings far more bearable and increase motivation. I'm also finding myself having to take days off here and there because I'm getting very tired, but that might just be the body adjusting to some 4 hour + days. It probably doesn't help that I often squash in three sessions in a row first thing if I have to work late, or cram all my sessions in back to back if I start the day at work. But I love learning new things about training and programming all the time, and seeing how it affects my body.
Not long now until the local tri season is in full force and the major challenge will become trying not to do EVERYTHING and burn myself out!
Happy training and see you all then :)
Cheers,
Holly

Yeppoon 70.3 Race Report

Just winding up a whole week of doing absolutely NO exercise whatsoever with a shift at the pool, and thought it was about time I provided a detailed account of last weekend's race.
Jason and I flew to Rockhampton the Thursday before the race, leaving Launceston at 9am and arriving up north at about 6pm. By the time we had sorted a hire care, picked up dinner and some groceries and driven all the way to our accommodation south of Yeppoon, it was about 10pm.
We had a self-contained cabin in a caravan park full of grey nomads in a place called Kinka Beach, about a 15min drive from Yeppoon and 40 minutes from the Capricorn Resort, the race site.
I would always recommend getting self-contained accommodation when you travel to race, because it is way too hard to be consistent with your pre-race nutrition if you haven't got the ability to cook for yourself. I get easily stressed/anxious before a race and one of the main sources of this is not being able to find what I want to eat, when I want to eat it.
The next day we slept in and then I had a short swim at the beach to get used to wearing my wetsuit again - my first open water swim since March! Water was lovely once you got in and the sun came out when I got out, making it a very pleasant change.
The next thing we had to do was drive the 45minutes back to Rockhampton to pick up our new wheels from the Specialized dealer there, Tucker's. We spent most of the day putting the bike together and checking everything was OK. It was pretty hot in the sun - I was hoping race day would be a bit cooler.
We picked up some lunch there and then drove back to Yeppoon where we bought some groceries and then drove up to the resort to check out the race site. I got the bike out of the back of the car and rode the 25km home in a nice tailwind to check out some of the bike course.
Saturday, the day before race day, I tried to get up a bit earlier and have my typical race day breakfast (porridge with banana) and then do my usual pre-race training session, a mini race. This comprised 15 minutes swim with a few sprints, run up the beach and transition to an easy 30 minute ride with a few accellerations, then transition to a 15 minute run with a few 10 second accellerations to race pace.
This all went well and training was over by about 11am, so we sat in the sun by the pool for long enough for Jason's lily-white chest to get nice and pink :D
We drove back into Yeppoon to find some lunch and catch up with both my grandparents and my good friend Bel Fong from Sydney, who came up to support me and her friend and club-mate Saxon, who is a top bloke (and athlete!)
The four of us drove back up to the resort to register and check out the expo, transition area and beach where we would swim. Then we decided to go for a little swim at the resort while we waited for the briefing to be held. Here Jason and I ran into none other than former Tasmanian ironman legend Susan Lloyd-Webb. After a short catch-up, I decided the pool was too cold and we should go back to town to buy some dinner provisions. We ended up going back to our accommodation and by the time we returned and picked up Bel and Saxon again we were late for the briefing, missing the part about the swim, which made me a little nervous.
We went back to the hotel and Jason made my favourite pre race dinner of tuna pasta, which was delicious. Early to bed and I slept well, not overly nervous about the impending race.
It was a 5am wake up call on race day and I went through my usual pre-race routine. Turns out I should have got up a bit earlier because we did have to pack and check out as we wouldn't be back after the race. We were running behind schedule and of course this stressed me out and I told Jason to drive as fast as he could to the race site. He did as I said and we actually got there in really good time.
Nice thing about Queensland is it's light by 5.30am so it was easy to set up my transition area. I had a really good spot where I wouldn't lose my bike because I knew I had to run right to the barrier then spot the second palm tree, and my bike was racked opposite that.
It seemed a long wait til the final briefing and then we were invited to walk down the beach to the start - a 1.7km walk! It looked awesome with the throng of 800 "seals" all walking down the long beach in wetsuits.
When we finally made it to the start area I jumped in and did a little warm-up. My race plan always says to warm up as long as possible because I haven't got a fast-twitch muscle in my body and I need to be really warm to swim/bike/run my fastest. But after just a couple of minutes I felt fine and didn't want to do any more, so I got out and shivered on the beach (it really wasn't that warm for Qld) until the pros and then the older women waves had started.
I could hardly believe how calm I felt as I lined up with the other "pink caps" (women 18-39) and I got a great place in the middle of the second row. The only thing I was worried about was my goggles fogging up! We waited... and waited... and waited.. and suddenly we were off, running down the beach and through the choppy breakers. The first 100m out to the first buoy was a struggle, I'm not a surf swimmer, and I did get a few big mouthfuls of water and two whacks to the head. But once we turned left round the buoy, I was off. I know it's slow but I prefer to swim on my own rather than risk getting bashed up, so I swam out to the right and soon I caught a big pack of "pink caps". Then I passed them, and caught a few more, and still felt like I could accellerate a bit more, so I did. The swim is one long line parallel to the beach and each couple hundred metres is marked with a different shaped or coloured buoy. Because I had missed the briefing, I didn't know which one meant turn left into the beach. I kept thinking 'it must be the next one, the next one, the next one' so I must have been hurting a bit (which is a good thing as I usually take the swim too easy!) Eventually I had to basically stop and look around cos I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to turn. When I did, I realized I was probably the first or second pink cap there, and there were only a few "white caps" (the older women) around too. This was a big surprise as I am usually a middle of the pack swimmer!
I turned left finally and started kicking a bit harder to warm my legs up. There were big waves into the beach but my lack of surf swimming experience let me down again and I wasn't able to catch any.
Still I got out of the water right up the front and then we had to run up the beach and up a really steep, soft sand sand dune. My heart rate went through the roof and I had to stop and walk, it was awful! And Bel was here cheering for me so it was embarrassing too. Definitely going to practice this (how and where, don't ask me) for next time. The timing mats were at the top of this dune, so my 29 minute swim was somewhat of a surprise considering all this!
Then there was a fair run into transition. The only struggle I had was getting my race number on, then I was off, with Jase cheering me through transition.
I couldn't figure out where all the other girls were. I passed one coming out of transition and a couple of others a bit further up the road. Then I had to do the entire first lap on my own - the pros were way ahead and there were no other age groupers around me.
By the time I got onto my second lap, most other people were out there, and there were huge packs everywhere because the course is 5 x 18km laps.
As if this didn't make it enough of an obstacle course, the road surface is renowned for being rough as guts, and as the laps went by, there were more and more drink bottles, bidon cages, pumps, CO2s and nutrition all over the course that had been shaken off people's bikes. Thanks to Jase and the guys at BC, my bike of course had nothing fall off it, and no punctures, given the nature of the road this is a credit to them and their maintenance.
My subsequent laps were consistent and slightly faster than that first lap, because of the drafting effect (with that many bikes in such a small space, you can't avoid it at all times).
I was really proud of my bike mainly because I forced myself to concentrate through the whole thing, which I usually struggle to do. I was also thinking "where are all the girls?!" I didn't catch any more, and it was the end of the third lap before one caught me. Another one caught me in the middle of the last lap. But ONLY TWO GIRLS PASSED ME IN THE WHOLE 90KM!!! Amazing! It was great having Jase and Bel cheering for me and I got to pass them twice each lap.
As Melissa touched on in her race report from the ITU LD worlds, it feels pretty damn good when you ride a cheap/heavy/not designed for the purpose bike and you are passing $12,000 shivs etc.
The last little bit of the bike into transition was pretty dodgy and slow, for some reason I didn't seem to be very sure what I was doing, and then I decided that even though I've done a proper tri dismount in every race for years and never stuffed it up, that today was going to be the day that I did, and so I stopped dead and did a normal road dismount.
Then I had trouble getting my bike into T2 because one of my shoes kept catching on the ground and wanting to flip the whole thing over. I practically had to carry it back to the rack. Then I put my shoes on, grabbed two gels and ran - forgetting to get my Garmin! I didn't go back and was annoyed at myself, but less so later when I found out it was the 6th fastest T2 out of the 800 competitors.
Off the bike, I felt awful running. My lower back was absolutely killing me and it wouldn't seem to free up. To make matters worse I started to feel like I really needed to go to the toilet. No way was I stopping though!
They say the run course is flat, but it is anything but easy. Out of transition you run across grass and then through the resort pool, round lots of corners and over a bridge. Then you have a few k's on exposed road (would have been really hot if the sun was out) then you go into the bush. I love trail running, but up and down on a soft, deep sandy path after a 90km bike in which you never get out of the saddle or off the bars, was very testing. At times I actually doubted if I could do the the whole 21km. But of course there is no way I'd go that far to give up, so I kept going. Because I didn't have my Garmin, I figured I must have been running really slowly, but still no girls passed me.
On the way out of T2 on my second or third lap, I saw #34, the first girl to have passed me on the bike, stop to stretch, and I passed her. The rest of the girls I passed, I had no idea which lap of the run they were on, but I guessed that they were behind me already. I had no idea how many were in front of me. Lisa Marangon, the winning pro, lapped me as we came into T2 the second time, so essentially she beat me by 7km.
The thought of seeing Jason and Bel at the finish kept me going through the last lap and my back finally recovered, I think I started going a bit faster, that was until some of my blisters burst and I could feel the blood running down my heels. Still it wasn't far to go and I'd be having cocktails in the pool...
4:54 the clock read as I ran under the finish arch and of course the first thing I did was look around for other girls! I saw one, then I found Jase, and I asked him "how did I go?" He said something like "good!" but that wasn't really detailed enough for me.
I took my shoes off and everyone gasped at all the blood and blisters covering my feet. I jumped in the pool and it felt good, but soon became pretty cold. My recovery drink was a pina colada... haha.
We caught up with Suse again and by the time we'd stopped talking I was shivering with the cold so we went back to the car. Jase packed the bike and all my gear while I went and had a shower, and then we had more cocktails and greasy fish and chips with Bel and Saxon.
Unfortunately we had to leave then to make our flight to Cairns, but Bel texted me later to let me know I had won a trophy and my age group by more than 8 minutes. I didn't take my slot to the world championships in Las Vegas, obviously.
Later when I got to see the results I was very happy to find out I'd had the 6th fastest swim, 12th fastest bike and 10th fastest run of all women to finish 8th overall; the third age grouper (the other two were in the 30-34 and 40-44 categories, and beat me by 5 and 1 minute respectively). It was a good day out, nothing went wrong, yet I know I can take probably 10 minutes off my time without too much hassle.
I was treating the race as a "training" race as I hadn't had an ideal lead-up, what with sicknesses and injries, so I was probably a bit more relaxed about it which may have helped me in the end.
Probably the thing I was most happy about though was the confidence the result gave me that my goal to become a professional triathlete is not out of reach. In my first 70.3, I finished 26 minutes behind the winning pro, and Lisa is a seasoned, strong pro and quite a bit older than me. I also beat some of the pro's times in all three legs. Without a point of reference it was often hard to reconcile my lifestyle (not having a proper job, and earning just enough to cover rent and food only) but now I am reassured it is a worthwhile pursuit and I really can make it if I keep plugging away.
I am now tossing up between Phuket and Canberra 70.3 as my next race.
To gain automatic qualification for a pro licence I need to finish within 4% of the winners time (I was 4min outside with my performance at Yeppoon, and just a little bit more at the ITU LD worlds last year). Phuket is known as a hard, hilly and hot course - all things that would go in my favour - and doesn't pay as much as Canberra so won't attract the same quality field, therefore making it easier for me to finish closer to the top women. But of course, the cost of getting to Phuket will be more than that of Canberra and we're on a very tight budget!
Speaking of budget, it's time to mention my sponsors, BC of course and Specialized, who help out with the cost of my bike and gear. EFM Health Club saves me money on a gym membership which is a huge help with my training.
Thanks for your support - I wouldn't be able to do it without you :)

State Duathlon Champion

Ooh yep been a while since my last blog! I suppose I haven't really had anything exciting to report, except for winning E Grade again in the Grindelwald Challenge (a huge surprise).
Training has thankfully been quite a bit more consistent since my injury has healed and I even went back to LAC the week before last. I ran the "Flanagan Flying 10k" at George Town in 41.38, pretty much the same time I ran it last year when I was running well and hadn't had injuries interrupting my training and forcing me to have six weeks off.
Last weekend the State Duathlon Championship and national qualifying race was held at Symmons Plains in its typical weather - blowing a gale, freezing cold and at times pouring with rain! Fun!
Unfortunately with Melissa still away, Natalea injured and Kate making the smart decision to stay in bed, there wasn't a lot of competition and I won by over four minutes. Still it is a nice title to have and shows that I have some form coming into Yeppoon, even if it was only over a tiny fraction of the distance.
I have one more test to sharpen me up which is the 20km State time trial race this Saturday at Richmond. Then there won't be time for much more at all before we are on a plane on Thursday to Rockhampton and driving to Yeppoon.
I must say I am extremely nervous about my transitions and swimming in a wetsuit, neither of which I have practiced since early March. But I'll just use this race as a marker to see how I'm going and make a decision which 70.3 to tackle next, where I'll actually aim to be competitive. At this stage I think December is a good target so it will probably be Canberra or Phuket.
Once I get back from Yeppoon it will be straight on the roadie for a fortnight to try and cram in some training for Amy's Gran Fondo in Victoria, then onto a running block in the hope of doing Triple Tops and various other races late in the year.
Well a rather hurried blog there but at least a brief update - full race run down post Yeppoon.
For now I am off for a cruisey weekend in Woodbridge :)

Breaking the drought

Apologies for being so slack with my blog of late. I have unfortunately lacked motivation to talk about my current lack of motivation! Never again will I plan an event in the middle of winter. I thought it would give me the motivation to keep getting up on the minus 2 degree mornings, in the fog, in the dark etc... but it hasn't, it's only made me feel more and more guilty about missing training.
I've had an old running injury flare up again that mucked up my run training all of May, and came to a head during the City to Casino 11km fun run on May 20 - I literally haven't run since then, missing some of my favourite runs - the Lilydale Lope and Launceston 10, for example. No physio can put a name on the injury which is, to say the least, phenomenally frustrating. I just have to persist with my "glute strengthening" excercises, slowly get back into running and hope for the best.
There was as week spent in Melbourne for a work training course, and all of the long weekend wasted recovering from a cold.
So all in all a lot of wasted time and as you know, type A personality triathletes struggle to handle this without getting down on themselves and wondering if it is worth persisting, or should I just throw in the towel completely!
Of course life circumstances have changed a lot in the past few months which has in turn affected my attitude towards training and triathlon - in fact my whole outlook on life and sport.
I have felt the effects of a lack of passion for the sport lately but I think that's pretty normal, especially after the massive year I had last year, and not being able to run, my favourite discipline. I know a few people that seem to be going through the same thing (*cough* crossfit *cough*). Even having a couple of weeks off wasn't enough of a break mentally, more so than physically.

I haven't abandoned my dreams to become a professional triathlete, I think I've just got some more perspective on leading a balanced life - believe it or not there are other important things in life than triathlon! And what I think this means is that I will be able to race without putting such pressure on myself because winning does not equal happiness. Having a life does. And I want a long career out of tri's - I see people like Natascha Badmann winning Ironmans at 45 years of age, and Lisa Marangon making a living out of it while raising her son, which makes me think maybe I have time to get to that elite level without having to smash myself every day in my 20s. Of course there are people on the complete opposite end of the scale like Madeline Oldfield who is doing exactly what I hope to do at my age but she's in America training full time. And then you've got those recreational athletes kicking round town being able to train heaps more than I can - that's really annoying!

On the bright side, the break has given me a good opportunity to focus on my riding, which although inconsistent, is definitely improving.
I raced my first ever road races, which was extremely intimidating, but to my surprise I found that I liked it - and to my even greater surprise, I discovered I could win money!!
The 90km Bridge to Bicheno was the first race that I did on May 12. Melissa Clark and I started with two blokes as "F Grade" (it wasn't a real grade since we raced for E Grade prizemoney). We got away from them on the first climb and rode 65km on our own before being caught by E and D grade. I managed to stick with D grade up to the top of Cherry Tree Hill but lost them on the descent and rode solo for another few km before I caught one other solo rider and we took a few turns until just before Bicheno, where B Grade caught us and I managed to stick on Jason's wheel and get a free tow into town, where I won E Grade and first female.
I did have a very short-lived go at the crit the next day, which in hindsight was a silly idea, but I mainly did it to push myself out of my comfort zone and do something that scared me, which it certainly did.
The next race I wasn't even planning to do but it was Lilydale Lope day and I was so upset that I couldn't run that I had to do something. So I raced the Fred Keefe 80km St Leonards-Blessington. I started in E grade with just two guys and history repeated itself as I dropped them on the first major climb. I thought I should wait but I couldn't be bothered wasting the lead I had got on the climb so I went up the road by myself and at the 15km mark caught the two guys in F grade. One of them jumped on my wheel and just sat there as I punched into the wind all the way to 50km! Then A grade came past and I managed to jump on them for a few k's which disposed of the annoying wheelsucker. I was left alone again for a while until another BC rider Midday caught me along with two C grade riders and we took a few turns before B Grade caught us. I didn't last with them on the descent but Jason dropped off and towed me to the finish line (NOT that I needed him to, thankyou very much) and I won E grade and the ladies again.
The last race was Grindelwald (Tas Gas Challenge) and I ummed and aahed about doing this race for a long time, knowing how hard the course was, and on the day it turned out really windy.
But again I wanted to challenge myself and I went out there and started with E Grade although I was not "racing for prizemoney" due to the fact I didn't have a full $220 gold racing licence (I had an argument with Colin Burns over the fact I had been led to believe a 3 race licence would cover me for this, and didn't pay to upgrade on principle).
The pace was on from the word go and I was scared I wasn't going to hang on for the first lap! But I settled into a rhythm and the legs felt better than expected. In fact I led the bunch going up over Brady's all three times until D grade caught us. After this we were riding in a really big bunch which scared me a lot as my bike handling skills are, let's say, not the best. There was a fall right in front of me at one point, and a short gravel section, and the corner into Rosevears Drive, all of which scared me, and all of which I conquered! The last hill, Waldhorn Drive up to Grindelwald, was a world of pain but I actually made it and believe it or not I won E Grade again and was second in the ladies division.
Stupid Jason paid for my licence so I was eligible for the prize money and I took home $220, which paid for the licence :P

"Stupid Jason" also bought me a mountain bike. I've had two rides so far, caned both my knees, fallen off half a dozen times, scared myself silly, made myself look stupid, chucked a tantrum - and I absolutely love it. It's so much fun! I'm going to call it cross-training, not wasting time! So maybe it is taking time away from "real training", but it's much more fun and it's something different for the brain while still fitness-based. Also I'm hoping it's going to teach me better bike skills for cycling!

Speaking of cycling... I urge you to check out Hannah Grace Geelan's blog. I used to train with Hannah but now I wouldn't have a hope in hell of keeping up with her! What a fantastic rider and inspirational person.
Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me throughout personal, health-related and training-related dramas. Hang in there and I will be back stronger, faster and more passionate than ever before :)