My new and improved Tri Bars.

My hubby helped with wrapping it. Stephen is a retired tennis coach and has had many years of practice at getting the tension of this wrap down pat. With his expertise and my creativity I think we got it looking pretty hot.

A girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do.

I couldn't help it. Blame boredom, inner creative flair wanting to escape, wanting to enhance natural beauty - whatever - the black Tri bars just weren't doing it for me. Yes they looked sleek, racie and ready to go. Sure they would have felt like a part of the group, but I have never been one to really conform and I like standing out from the crowd. So I gave it a little something - al la Barbie.

Now I feel like this bike is starting to reflect who I am as well as stand out from the other bikes on the rack. I would love to see if I could get into the minds of the producers of these tapes and see if they could come up with magnificent designs to reflect each individual owner and their bike. How cool would that be. Maybe today is the day I send some emails out to see if they a) have these available already and I just haven't seen them or b) they think it's a cool idea and I could be a part of the process.

I guess your probably wondering why I am bored - what with the training I am doing. Well this week is a recovery week for one, and secondly last night was supposed to be my track session - but the rain and wind god's decided to attack so track was was cancelled. I was really looking forward to it - I know crazy huh. But maybe it was meant to be. It took me a good 5 days to recover from last weeks track. My calf muscles were so tight I could hardly walk and they were in dire need of my recovery socks daily and a good old hit of ibuprofen as well.

So today I hit the pool and what a crappy day awaits me. Thick dark cloud cover and bucket loads of rain. That's the one good thing about swimming - I will be wet anyway. It's just getting from shelter into the pool that I hate and getting back out again.

Will have to post the photo of my Tri bars seperately has it won't let me post a photo in this post.

Wish I had of known sooner.

Tri bars make you faster. Or atleast they make ME faster. I cannot believe how much of a difference it made. If I had of known how much more powerful I felt in this position I would have purchased a set with my bike. I am still no Pro on the bike, but even a couple extra km's an hour works well for me.

I must admit though it took me a bit to get used too, and by a bit I mean maybe all of minute. If I could try and describe the feeling - I guess it's like trying to balance on a tightrope. If you lean either way a little too much you find yourself totally going in that direction. Engaging my core was of absolute importance to maintain a balanced posture on the bike.

There were a couple of downsides to being in this position:

• Sore shoulders
• Stiff neck
• Sore under-carriage
• Dribbly nose......++++

The positives:

• Increased speed
• Reduced pain in my back
• I finally felt Tri worthy
• Love the power in my pedals - could feel the bike surge forward with each downstroke
• Reduced fatigue

I spent most of my 55kms today in that position, apart from the occasional "butt in the air" stretch. That always feels nice to do but not sure if it looks good from behind. Who cares anyway, my poor little toosh needs a break every now and then.

I remember back to when I first started riding my legs and butt would get super sore after 5km, now it's closer to the 50km. Everyone was right when they said it takes time in the saddle.

All in all, today was a good day. Glad I got to practice on the Tri bars before Sunday. Now I can really attempt to push hard on the bike leg. This is going to be fun.

I'm in love.

Yep, you heard it right here. I have found another love - my bike set up. Wow, is all I can say. I woke up so excited this morning because I knew today was D-day, the day I would have "Aaliyah" set up like Xena warrior princess ready for my first sprint battle.

Before I put up some photo's I must own up to another day of rest first. Last night I woke up with a real attack of the butterflies and couldn't sleep for ages. I kept going through the race a hundred times in my mind. This is what was going through my mind:

• What would my set up look like.
• How would I tackle the swim.
• Should I have my shoes on the bike or on the ground.
• What sort of speed should I hold on the bike.
• Do I aim to run the first and third 1.25km slightly faster then the second and fourth.
• Or should I aim to just make it to the end.

I finally fell asleep but woke up this morning excited about my bike but feeling a bit seedy. So I opted to just take it easy today and make the most of my outing to Panther's Cycles.

I wish I would have taken a snap shot of my excited face, I am sure it would have looked like this:

Thank god the guys at the shop are used to it by now and they just go about their merry way.

So here it is: DRUM ROLL PLEASE............................................................................

I noticed too that everyone's TT bars are wrapped. But I had forgotten to ask if the guys could do it at the shop, so I rang hubby and asked if he had any wrap left from the one's he used to wrap the kids tennis racquet handles. He said he did so I set about wrapping it myself after searching for it on YouTube. I know, there is not art or science to it, but if I wrapped it the wrong way it could come undone. And i can't have that happening. What do you think?
I know the wrap says "Wilson" on it, but beggars can't be choosers. Feels nice to the touch, just like the white wrap that is on my drop bars. I think Aaliyah looks the part now.

So tomorrow is my 2hr aerobic ride. Perfect timing, can practice riding using the bars and checking on my cadence too. Have to keep it at 90. Can't wait.

Week 3 totals.

Swim: 8.5km in 4hrs
Bike: 70km + 1hr spin class in 3hrs 43mins
Run: 15.63km in 1hr 36mins

Good news is I have more kilometres under my feet in the run department and I hit a new distance for my bike leg even though I had an off beginning of the week. Things are definately looking up in Barb's training world.

I often wonder if people look at me and wonder why I get so excited about the little things that I accomplish or do, but I just keep going back to what I was like at the end of 2008 - 2009 and how far I have come and cannot help but smile.

I forgot to mention yesterday too that I used a new cream on the Chamois of my cycle shorts.
Chamois Butt'r is really nice. It's easy to apply (not thick at all), has no smell to it and it washes out super easy. I took this 9ml satchet with me on my ride but was not able to re-apply on my journey as there was no-where for me to hide and do it. I knew far too many people out on the road yesterday.

I was sent these satchets by my friend Denise whom I met out on my Kiama ride a couple of weeks ago. Go to the website and check it out.

Also looking forward to tomorrow. I get my Tri bars fitted, my new seat post and my new bike computer. I feel like a kid in a candy store. Stay tuned. Photo's will be in abundance tomorrow.

Oh yeah Baby!!!

What a stark contrast from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. Could it get any better at all. For the time being - I don't think so. I am so proud of me and this post is all about sharing it with YOU.

Yesterday was my first modified brick session. Modified because even though I rode a bike, it was stationary. I attended a hardcore 1 hour spin class that left me dripping with sweat from top to bottom and then followed it with a 4.8km run (meant to be 5km).

This new series at spin is a doozie. From the moment that first song starts to the very last cord of the last song you are working hard, hard, hard. And I LOVE IT. There are times it's so hard I find myself closing my eyes and imagining myself at the 70.3 and feeling this feeling and wondering what exactly I would do. And I always come to the conclusion that I will succeed at pushing through whatever wall/obstacle comes before me. It always feels good to come out the other end knowing that you are strong - not just physically but mentally as well.

So when class ended I swallowed a Gel (disgusting), dumped my bag in the car and took off for my first run off the bike in a training session. It wasn't as bad as I imagined. Even though my legs felt heavy and still tight from Wednesday's track session - within 1 kilometre they felt really nice and loose. I chose to run around the local football field and pretty much just guessed my distance by time. I chose to do 12 laps of the outer perimeter of the field and did it in 27 minutes and thought it felt about right. The only thing that made this run hard was that the sun was fully out and it was HOT. After finishing I drove around the perimeter to see if I guessed right and I was only out by 200m. I am getting better at judging my pace.

So this morning I backed it up with a 70km bike ride. This is a new distance PB for me and I am stoked. The time wasn't crash hot - 2hrs 43mins but I just wanted to make sure I could go the distance. I stopped once as well to take an Ibuprofen and have something to eat with it as my back was hurting a bit. I couldn't have chose a nicer morning to do this. Blue skies and full on sun. Totally the best. The only down side was that I couldn't share this ride with anyone as my program has me riding on a Saturday. Next program though I am back with the girls.

I was totally smiling the whole distance - lucky there were hardly any bugs or I would have looked like this :

Have a great weekend everyone.

Nailed it.

I totally nailed it in the pool today. I can't really explain why I felt so strong in the pool today other than it was just meant to be. I guess all the planets were in total alignment for me today, pushing me forward to a much stronger, relaxed and more graceful stroke. I really felt like for the first time in ages that my swim is 70.3 ready.

My arms were just cutting through the water with minimal effort. I had a total feel for the water that I have not felt before. Could this be the beginning of an awesome 6 months of training. I think so. This is going to be so exciting. Even though I had 1 1/2 days off for rest I still think I am making really good progress and this is only after 3 weeks on my program.

As per my Set B program, it called for a 3.5km. This sort of distance doesn't really bother me anymore. It's almost comforting to know that I can knock these sets out without too much effort now.

• 400m Warm up
• 6 x 50m drills with 15 sec rest
• 4 x 500m - 1st 100m hard (I did them all between 1:15 & 1:17) the following 400m aerobic.
• 8 x 50m (odds hard, evens easy)
• 400m cool down

I had a really nice compliment today from a friend of mine in the pool. He said " I know you could swim Barb, but I never really knew how well until today. I had real trouble trying to keep up with you". What a sweet heart. It's not until I hear stuff like that, that I feel really good about myself. I see him as a good swimmer, so to know that I can swim faster than him makes me feel strong.