Enough already.

Okay, I have just about had enough of this "cold bug" that keeps cropping up around my home. Just when it looks like everyone is just about over it BAM someone else come's down with it and starts the whole vicious cycle all over again. We (the family - not I) have had sinusitis, throat infections, swollen lymph glands, sneezing, croup ARGH. And as a result of that my pharmacy bill has risen exponentially on antibiotics, puffers, nebuliser, decongestants, you name it.

I have also increased the Vitamin C intake and disinfected my house to the point of stupidity. My house constantly smells like a Eucalyptus Cough Lolly. Maybe this year was their year to get sick, last year they all went by unscathed and it was I who was sick. It just makes it difficult to follow a strict training regime when you seem to have sick people calling on you and having days off school. Lucky I have the best mum in the world who came and minded my youngest whilst I atleast got my swim session in:

• 3 x 300m - 1st Fr/s, 2nd Pull Bouy, 3rd with fins
• 4 x 200m Fr/s tempo coming in on 3:00 leaving on 3:20
• 10 x 50m Fr/s - odds under 40, evens over 45, leaving on 1:00
• 8 x 50m scull for 25m, Fr/s for 25m
• 200m Fr/s easy concentrating on kick
• 400m Fr/s every 2nd 50m hard
• 200m cooldown.

Felt nice to get out and clear the illness cobwebs before they take hold of me. Nothing a bit of fresh air and chlorine won't fix I say. Although the first two sets really were a bit hard, I was still suffering from a bit of yesterdays lack of oomph. But by the end of the session I had just about all of my energy back.

I was planning to do my 5km run this afternoon but we all of a sudden got hit with a hail storm and lots of thunder and lightening, so that kind of canned that idea. And then when it all stopped it was time to pick up the other 2 from school and the afternoon onslaught began. Will do the 5km run tomorrow morning if the rain holds out and then I will be hitting the indoor trainer for my 2hr ride.

Gotta make the best out of any situation otherwise my training may start to suffer.

Splattered

I woke up this morning to fairly decent skies even though we have been having rain on and off for a few days now. However, as I made my way to the meeting point the sky got darker and darker. Not because it was clouding over but because the fog had decided to hit and it was getting thicker and thicker. You literally could have carved it with a knife. The sun had been masked by a blanket of thick, dense fog and I was not sure if this was okay to ride in.

I knew at some point it would lift but didn't know when - it was almost like heading into a scene of "Sleepy Hollow". No sooner did I arrive so did mel and she kinda looked at me as if to say "What the". I knew exactly what she was feeling. Only her nerves were amplified tenfold as this was her first road ride. I tried hard not to show any nerves even though I was somewhat feeling a bit edgy about riding in such adverse conditions. But as Cloe and Elissa arrived we all just banded together, put our rear bike lights on and headed off into the pea soup.

About 20 mins in, we started to see blue skies and feel the warmth of the sun on our skin. Nothing feels nicer when your hands and feet are almost frozen stiff. It was nice just cruising alot and taking in the beautiful landscape and smells of the morning as the world is still asleep. Wouldn't swap this experience for anything. What i would swap though are the smells as we head closer to the dairy farms. It's kind of a thick pungent odour that just gets stuck in your nostrils, really off putting.

The roads were still wet from the previous nights rain and as we headed into a formed line , you start to feel the inevitable splatter from the rear wheels of the person in front. I wish I had windscreen wipers on my sunnies - they were fleckled with mud all over. So was my face - all of a sudden I had freckles. Our backsides on the otherhand had a distinct brown stripe straight up the back from butt cheek to middle of shoulder blades. Hilarious.

As we headed through one of the towns and started heading up a very small hill I lost concentration and forgot to support my core. As I pressed down with my left leg I got an extreme sharp pain in my lower back which made me feel a bit sick to the stomach, so I pulled over. Lucky I had my trusty little purse with medications in it and took a does of Nurofen straight away and headed off again. Within 20 mins I was okay, but it did make me realise that not for one minute can I become complacent about maintaining my core in a switched on mode. Lesson learnt.

The remainder of the ride went well I think apart from me not having enough "oomph" to get up even the smallest of hills. I would have to make my gears go smaller and smaller till I eventually dropped to the small ring and went through the same process. Don't know what was going on. I do like riding with Cloe, she would pull up beside me and tell me what gear to get in and push me on up the hill. Her words of encouragement really got me through a few hills. We even got into a good drafting line and held a pretty decent pace for a while. It would have made for a cool picture I think, we were all down on our Tri bars.

My friend Mel was an absolute legend today. I couldn't be prouder of her even if I tried. We ended up riding for 3 hours with some pit stops along the way and conquered 70km. My back I am pleased to say is okay. Slightly tight but nothing too major - nothing another dose of Nurofen won't fix I should think.

Challenges make us stronger.
They push us to try harder.
They allow us to be brave.
They offer us courage.
They engender hope in us.
And sometimes we go farther
than we ever dreamed possible...
just by believing that we can.

-Ashley Rice.

So freakin' cool

Do you ever have days where you wake up and don't expect anything great to happen and then all of a sudden you get to the end of the day and feel totally surprised by what has just happened? Well today was that day!!!

It started off like any other Saturday, the usual housework and catching up on a tonne of washing - I am sure my clothes breed like rabbits. It never seems empty - drives me batty. So anyway, will stop commenting on my laundry drama's - this blog isn't called Trying a Laundromat.

So this afternoon I headed off to the pool for the TopNotch swim sessions, and what lay ahead I can only class as awesome. I was feeling like "this can't be happening". How can I finish this set and still feel good. Yes I was a bit tired (cardio wise) but I still felt strong in my body and that had me totally stoked.

We started off with the usual warm-up and then we did some drills focusing once again on form, so there was alot of sculls and rock n' roll type drills. Love doing this makes you really focus on how you catch the water and drag it from the moment your hand hits the water till it leaves just at your hip.

We then had a 100m time trial. Jodie was then going to use this as a gauge on our main set times. As I started off I really just tried to focus on nice long strokes and a really hard kick. I was hoping that my time would be as good as the effort I put into it and I was really surprised - 1:12.
I just did a 100m Fr/s 8 secs slower than what I used to do as a teen. Not bad I reckon. If I keep working at it then I should hopefully get it under the 1:10 in the not too distant future. Woohoo.

After that TT my main set was 12 x 100m leaving on 1:45 - catch was Jodie wanted me coming in nothing slower than 1:25. This kind of had me a bit scared as I was not sure if I could hold out for 1200m at that pace, but I once again proved myself wrong. I did my first 100 on 1:18 and realised this was not going to be a pace I could maintain so I slowed it down a bit and really focused on nice, long, slow, powerful strokes. Then remaining 11 I managed to hold between 1:20 and 1:23 - nice and steady times, and although after each 100 I felt slightly breathless, I was pretty much raring to go come the 1:45.

This is just too cool. I always thought that even though I was an okay swimmer, I never really thought I could improve much more. But this is proving to me otherwise. I am feeling like I have so much more to give and the more I train I really think my swim times will continue to get better and better. I am terribly excited.

It's all happening.

I couldn't help it. Before I knew it out came the credit card and I found myself signing up for another Triathlon. Another Sprint Tri on the 27th November. The only difference with this one is that the swim distance is the correct length versus what I did on Sunday. This one is 750m, so may just have to play the swim leg slightly more conservative. But I still have another 3 weeks of training so maybe I won't have to at all. Also this will be a good stepping stone for the club race which is held on the 17th December.

The only down side is that I wont really be able to compare the swim times to see if I have improved from the previous one, but I am hoping to see some improvements in my bike and run. After all, this training is working wonders, so even a small improvement in each leg is a great improvement overall.

So I headed back to the pools yesterday for my second month of the 70.3 training. I really liked this session. A good mix of sprints and distance stuff was to be enjoyed in 3700m. Here it is:

• 500m Warm up - 300m of this was drills
• 10 x 50m Fr/s on 1min stroke counting
• 200m easy Fr/s
• 6 x 250m Fr/s - 3 with paddles, 3 without with 20 sec break between sets
• 200m easy Fr/s
• 5 x 100m Fr/s sprint first 25m on 1:40
• 200m easy cooldown

I felt great but the pool was slightly gross. There was hair and bandaids and some leaf litter, so it was bit of a game of dodge em's. All in all came out of the water feeling good, not spent at all.

Today I did my regular spin class - 45mins of hard, fast and furious paced action. Dripping from head to toe is how I finished. The great thing was that I got to spend my 45 mins with my close friend Mel, Amanda from misszippy1 who stars on this Spinervals DVD and whom I had the pleasure of meeting her and her family when she made a trip downunder. It was so cool and surreal.

No sooner did we finish the DVD it was off the bike for 5km aerobic run to flush out the legs. I felt really good, my legs were just ticking over nicely and I was actually able to hold a conversation. This is a huge change from previous runs before starting this program. My cardiovascular system must be getting accustomed to the demands I am placing on it.

So you all recall that I have been asked to become the Media and Public Relations Director for Panther's Tri Club, well today I had my 3rd article go in the paper. Here it is:
How cool is that. Hopefully I get another article in The Press next week.

Right on track.

Running has always been my enemy. Even as a kid when we used to have to run as a warm up for swimming I would complain and complain and complain. It just never felt natural - that pounding would always make everything hurt, even on young bones. But since I found this awesome world of Triathlons and have embarked on a new training regime with TopNotch, I seemed to found a love and thirst for wanting to better my running - in every aspect. To conquer all those past demons which held me so firm in their grip. And last night I did it. I think I may have finally found my running alter ego.

Last night's track session was fantastic. It really could not have gone any better and I was super impressed with how I am progressing. It's not by any stretch the accomplishments of an elite athlete but to me they show me that even at the tender age of 36, I still have alot more left in the tank.

This is what we did;

• 800m warm up
• 4 x 200m run throughs

Then onto the main set:

• 2 sets of 8 x 200m on 1 minute with 30 sec recovery. I did them all on about 55 sec

Then this is where I got totally excited and scared. Chris said we now had a 1km timed effort. Effort? What did he mean by effort? His effort or my effort? I soon found out he wanted it at a pace faster than my 200m pace. As I started walking over to the starting line I could feel those usual thought' s start to surface. All the self doubt and panic. But within and instant a very stern voice crept in my head and said "FOR @*#T SAKE, YOU JUST DID A SPRINT TRI, THIS IS A PIECE OF CAKE".

So off I went. I really had no clue about my pace only that the speed I was running at felt good, so I kinda thought I was not going to get a good time. With the last 100m Chris yelled "Barb, go for it, whatever you have left". So I did, I sprinted. My time effort for the 1km was:

4:50

I could not believe it. I have never done that pace and still felt strong afterwards. Now I know I shouldn't get too excited - it's not like I could maintain that pace for too long - JUST YET. But I know it won't be too long before I can maintain this for a 2km stretch, then 3, 4. The skies the limit. This is cool.

Back into the swing.

With my first Sprint Tri completed and still happy with my results, there was no time to rest. Actually I got one day's rest, but not for me. My son and daughter were both at home with head colds so I got stuck indoors being Nurse Mummy. Poor things were sounding like Mr Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street. So they are now on antibiotics for throat infections as well - fingers crossed my immune system fights off the dreaded bug. Can't have that interfering with my plans.

So with both still at home yesterday requiring TLC and my thoughts flying around the fact that I needed to get a 2hr bike ride in I decided to get on the trainer - Killing 2 birds with one stone. I was half tempted to sit on that trainer for 2 hrs, but that droning humming sound of the wheels spinning for two hours would have done mine as well as the kids heads in. So instead I peddled my little heart out for 1hr15mins. During that time I did 6 x 5mins Zone 3 efforts with a 5 min recovery inbetween as well as a warm up and cool down phase.

The time I spent on the trainer was probably the most uncomfortable I have been in a while. Not for any other reason than the bike I have on there was my Giant with a male specific saddle. Talk about being sore. I don't know how you guys tolerate such a hard seat. I was jumping from right butt cheek to left butt cheek the whole time - I even resorted to sitting on a cushion. Couldn't stand it.

No sooner did I finish off I jumped and out the door for a 10min run. Nothing fast or furious - just something to get the legs accustomed to that odd sensation of running on bike legs. Couldn't wander to far away from home for obvious reasons but my training for yesterday was done and I felt good, apart from the sore undercarriage.

I am really liking how my body is adjusting to the training. Everything is feeling nice and strong and recovering really well. Fingers crossed it continues this way.

TriShave Womens Triathlon.

I did it. I can't believe it! Actually I can, but I am still flying on Cloud 9. What an awesome experience. One I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. From the beginning right till the very end it was all an experience that words cannot really give due credit to. Even though I was as nervous as hell to say the least I think I did really well.

So let's start from the beginning. All I can say is that "sheesh, I better learn to get my nerves under control". The drive in this morning was fine, I felt nervous but not too bad. It wasn't until my race got closer that I could really feel my stomach start to almost ache. You know that empty hungry feeling, that makes your stomach feel bruised.

I got to the Regatta Centre early to watch all my friends race in the previous 2 races. And I am so proud of them. I was glad I got there early, if I had of stayed at home I would have totally freaked out. So getting there early gave me some time to distract myself. I got to chatting with everyone and totally enjoying the vibe of all these women whom were either first timers or repeat Tri enthusiasts.

I also got to catch up with other members from the club who were doing the Sprint Tri with me. They were never short of a positive word to give to me and made me feel confident in my abilities even if for a little bit. I am eternally greatful.

The time came for me to start my race and I was tossing up whether to wear a wetsuit or not. I chose not to after my last club race and how claustrophobic it made me feel. I didn't want to have that feeling on my first Sprint Tri. So even though the water was cool (21.9 degrees celsius) I was happy with my decision.

I started the swim leg close to the centre bouys. There is a nice fluorescent under cable which unites all the bouys in one straight line - I hardly had to sight at all until I only had about 150m to go. My stroke was nice and even and I used a combination of bilateral breathing and breathing every 4. I was having real trouble shaking this one girl off my feet, every so often I would feel her tap my toes, and when she did I would give a couple hard kicks to let her know I was onto her. I ended up overtaking a few of the previous age group who had started the swim a few minutes before.
After circling the finally bouy it was game on and I upped my kick rate to try once and for all to shake that girl off but she stuck on like glue. And ended up passing me in the run through transition. Not happy Jan... 500m swim time including transition 9:27.

Made it into T1 without too much problem. Had all my stuff ready and in good order so it all went really well. Once again though wish I had a drink at this point but really wanted to get going on the bike. And even though I had the bottle on my bike I keep not wanting to lean down to get it out of the cage. So I think my next investment is a drink bottle that sits between my Tri bars, so all I have to do is tilt my head forward and suck on the straw.

Out on the bike, I had a total ball. I kept my legs ticking over at a cadence of 90 the whole time and averaged about 30km/hr. There was hardly any breeze at all and the storm which had been promised was nowhere to be seen. The sun was out in full force. Just the best ride. I got passed by my club mates who are absolute guns on the bike and I just find their prowess out on the next two legs just totally inspirational and hope to one day be like them. A few more people passed me but I just maintained my own race and kept the legs ticking over the way Jodie & Eliza said to do.
I averaged between 9-10 minutes per 5km loop and felt really good. I had family and friends at every vantage point screaming out words of encouragement and making me feel like I was super woman. It was what I needed to hear to keep pushing forward. I even manged to smile and lift my hand off my bars to give a wave.
Coming into T2 I got all brave and took my feet out of my shoes and rode the last little bit airing my feet and resting my legs a bit for what lay ahead. I was not looking forward to the 5km run.
20km Bike Leg + transition - 41:47
So it was now onto the run leg. The bit I had been dreading the whole race. I had been dreading it because I had only run 5km x2 the week before, and even though I knew I could do it on it's own, it's a totally different ball game on heavy bike legs. Oh well, it was time to either put up or shut up.

All I can say is it was hot, hot, HOT. The sun was out and it was humid as hell. I could actually feel the humidity rising up off of the pavement. First port of call was a quick drink of water at the aid station and then the rest went down on my head to cool it off. I then ran straight through the over head shower which was spraying out a fine mist of beautifully fresh water.

The run leg lined the edge of the water for a 1.25km stretch up and back x2. It is a real mind game coming back on yourself for 2 turnarounds. But I tried to play it cautious and not run too hard and get caught up in the run frenzy - afterall my aim was to not walk any stretch of this 5km run. So I maintained a constant turnover of the legs and just kept a forward momentum - no stopping allowed.
As I started on my third 1.25km my best friend told me that the girl who hung on my toes in the swim was just in front of me. It was then I knew I would get my own back. So I focused on her back and made sure that the distance between me and her got shorter and shorter , and I got her. WooHoo. That put on smile on my face.

Even though I was being passed by much better runners I was happy that I was coming to the end of my run and I still had a little kick at the end to be able to overtake a further 2.
5km Run Leg - 27:23. Who would have thought. The last time I ran 5km it was on fresh legs and I did it in 30 mins. This was too cool. This training stuff really does pay off.

9th in my age group
24th overall
Total time : 1:18:38

Even though this day was great for so many reasons, it would not have been the same if my family and friends were not there to share in it. They were constantly shouting words of encouragement to me every step of the way. Even my club friends who were doing the race with me gave me strength to get through it all. One of the club girls even took my timing chip off my ankle so I didn't have to bend down. I will never forget that. Thankyou.

I can't believe I did it. Now onto many more.