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!

 

 

 

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