Tryin' something new

Since the kiddies have been on school holidays it has been a bit of a juggle trying to do the required training on the appropriate days. However, I took heed from all of your comments and am trying very hard to not stress and just make do with what I have available - and if that means mixing my days up to get it done then so be it. This creature of habit is learning a new trait - flexibility of the mind.

So with the kids home and it being the windiest day I have seen in a while, as well as the fact that I slept in I decided to change my swim/run day to my Tuesday bike/run day. Now, I know that sounds crazy, but I did a windtrainer/run session with TopNotch in the evening. Absolutely awesome. I learnt so much - like when I get tired I start to bounce around on the saddle. This is turn makes my upper body wobble around and waste more energy then I need to. This took more focus then I thought. I had to squeeze my butt cheeks and hold my core so tight I almost forgot to breathe. Eliza would just keep saying "your bouncing Barb". One good thing is I don't toe point when I ride.

We ended up doing some one-legged drills which I had never done before. I think I held the momentum quite well as there were no clunking sounds when I would turn the peddle over. Guess that means I was using both my quads and hammies effectively. Hoping this will be part of my next month's training plan.

During the session we did a pyramid workout which consisted of 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2 mins at race pace holding a cadence of around 90 with a 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 min recovery inbetween. Not bad, I think I did well. I know I am definately finding a 90 cadence much easier than I used to and I am recovering alot faster inbetween too. In 1hr 7mins I did 31.6km, not bad. Didn't feel like it.

After we did the last cool down it was then time to get off the bike, put on my runners and go for a leisurely jaunt around the oval 3 times and then up the hill and back. My legs felt heavy and wobbly but within 600m I felt okay. Either my legs are getting used to that funny sensation or I am getting better at ignoring it. Either way, it was done at a nice leisurely pace, one I would have been able to speak through.

Since starting in this wonderful world of Triathlons I have been keeping track of my kilometres through DailyMile and last week saw me accomplish the most kilometres in one week to date.

196km in one week.

Never in my wildest dreams a year ago would I have ever thought that I would accomplish so many kilometres in a week - and I know this will only grow as my training becomes for focused in the New Year. This is terribly exciting.

My swimming is coming along nicely too. Today I did a 3.6km session without too much fuss.

• 500m easy Fr/s
• 500m Fr/s with pullbouy
• 4 x 50m Fr/s building speed, 10 secs rest
• 16 x 50m Fr/s 2 x 50 on 1.20
• 2 x 50 on 1.15
• 2 x 50 on 1.10
• 2 x 50 on 1.05
• 2 x 50 on 1.00
• 2 x 50 on 55
• 2 x 50 on 50
• 2 x 50 on 45
• 6 x 200m 3 with pullbouy 3 without on 3:30
• 400m cooldown

Feeling stronger, more controlled and focused - just how I like it.

Panther Cycles Family Race Day/Enduro Race

What a night. Probably the best night I have had in a while. Not just because I got to race but because I got to spend it with the best club in the world - PTC. Yeah, I know I'm biased, but what can I say - never in my life have I had that much support out on a race field. I am used to the whole solitary, water in the ears, can't hear a thing kind of environment. So to be part of a community where all I can hear is "Go Barb, doing good" spurs me on to no end.

What made it even more fun is that I got to dress up my helmet.

I even had a pair of Jingle Bells just under my bike saddle, kind of cute and happy sounding initially, but by the end - those jingle sounds were driving me a bit batty.

The Panther Cycles Family Race Day is a yearly event. The aim of the day was to get the whole club together all at the one time - enjoying the atmosphere, spending time together, having a race and then a great feed afterwards. The race I had signed up for was the Enduro Race. Basically, it was a 250m swim, 10km cycle, 2km run TWICE OVER.

Hard as!!!!!

My heart rate had not one minute to drop to within normal realms. But really, I didn't care. What I liked was that because I knew this was a fun event there was no pressure on me (by me) to try to go all like a crazy person. In the first swim, I always position myself out in the front, but this meant I was up with all the guys - fast guys and their arms and legs. Kind of felt like a huge washing machine. Couldn't really see a thing so I followed the bubbles. I even scored a kick in the forehead which didn't hurt too bad but it left me a bit bewildered.

Not sure of my swim exit position but I do know there were a tonne of people in front of me, so by the time I got to T1 there alot of bikes already off their racks. Out on bike number one I felt okay apart from taking one corner slightly wide which saw me come face to face with the grass for a couple of seconds (what a dill). I couldn't even hide from that as one of the guys rode past and said "took that one a bit wide" - yep, sure did. Don't know what happened other than I was already tired or my manouvering skills are up S*#t creek.

As I continued cycling the normal thing happened - I kept getting passed by the guys and girls. It's amazing all I can hear is the deep swooshing sounds of their tyres as they so elegantly ride past - making it all seem so effortless - whilst I peddle like a maniac. But for all of those that passed me they all had praise to give to me. What more could a girl want.

Back into T2 and it was on with the sneakers and out for the 2km run. I was feeling okay actually. I was enjoying watching everyone as they ran past me or towards me (depending how far ahead they were). Love being in amongst the atmosphere. The camaraderie is just more than I have ever anticipated. No-one was short of encouraging words even whilst they were all hurting and pushing themselves, they all looked my way and either smiled, gave me a much needed tap on the shoulder or told me how good I was doing.

As I ran back into transition I was contemplating whether to put my swim cap on again - I decided not to - too much energy so I grabbed the goggles and headed back out. Cal (one of the officials) said "give us your best dive". With what little energy I had left I mustered up a "horsie"

This time in the water I didn't feel like a speed boat - more like a barge. My arms felt so heavy and I just couldn't get my breath, so when I finally exited the water it was a welcome relief - I know shock horror. I have never said that before. The next bike leg I think went a bit better than the first. I got to enjoy some great company for a brief period along the way - Compression Man and Shane kept me laughing.

Compression Man Rocks.

I even got to run arm in arm with this handsome chap. How lucky am I. He truly was a sight for sore eyes - those long golden locks flowing in the breeze. I was a happy girl - all the pain in my legs forgotten. Underneath all this gear is a really nice person to boot - Jason.

I didn't finish with any great times - lord knows I am no wonder triathlete - but F.U.N I had in abundance. My finishing time was 1:08:28 - I am happy. After all was said and done and I got to enjoy some great food and mingle with everyone. Unfortunately hubby got stuck at work and couldn't see me race but he made it just after I finished. We didn't end up leaving the Regatta Centre till close to 9pm as we ended up chatting (another passion of mine).

Yesterday I did my usual Saturday swim session with TopNotch. It was a really good session - we focused alot on drills - you can never get enough drills I think. Constant repetition makes for better and faster swimming.

Then this morning it was our usual bunch ride. There were 8 of us today - Me, Cloe, Elissa, Kylie, Drew, Josh, Matt and Sarah. What a great ride. Was not expecting the fella's - but it sure made for another fun ride. I got helped up one small mole hill by Drew - thankyou. I am even contemplating attempting Yarramundi. Maybe early next year. Yes I know next year is only 12 days away. Give me a couple more attempts at Cobbitty and then I will try it. But like I have said - you all will be waiting forever for me to climb those hills and you will have eaten lunch and afternoon tea AND had a nanna nap before I get to the top.

113km under the belt

I have to give a massive shout out to both Sarah and Elissa. To Sarah because she did her longest ride to date and did stupendously. Well done. And to Elissa because she did her first century ride plus some. What a great morning. My second Century Ride in a week. Too Good.

Upon returning home there was no rest for the wicked - Grocery Shopping was next on the list BLAH. But I did get spoilt by my daughter after it was all said and done - she prepared a wonderful Radox bath to soothe my weary muscles. Love you Tails. What a great weekend.

LUCKY.

This was yesterday's insane weather here at home. Aren't we supposed to be in Summer? Atleast that's what I thought until I saw these dark grey even sickly green clouds come over the horizon. Haven't seen anything like this ever - it was almost like seeing a scene out of "The Day After Tomorrow". Just glad I was scheduled a rest day or I would have been out there in that doing a run.

Can you imagine getting hit in the head with one of these!

The wind was so strong and fierce and coming in horizontally that these babies were hitting my windows, making holes in the courtyard roof and denting my car so bad that it now looks like it has cellulite - poor little Jeep. So after it was all said and done the clean up around the home began and taking loads of photos for insurance purposes was a definate must.

The poor dogs didn't know what happened - they had scurried into the cubby house and not a peep was heard from them until it was all over. When they finally did emerge, they tip toed through the backyard smelling all the hail and looking up at the sky. Don't blame them really, there was still lightening and thunder to be heard and seen in the distance.

There were reports of flash flooding everywhere, roofs collapsing, power outages, and lots of debris all through town. Fingers crossed we don't get a repeat of this weather today as we have our club race. It's known as the Panthers Cycle Family Race Day - all for fun and we get to dress up too. Will post photo's on next post. Lets just say my helmet is very cute.

My main concern though is if I can run. My legs are totally trashed from Wednesday's track session. Why is it my calf muscles always feel as though they have been ripped to bits after track? I guess after 14 x 200's done on a constant 48-49secs would do it. I know, they don't sound fast but that's holding a fairly decent pace for me - so I am super happy with my efforts. And I think I am recovering alot faster inbetween sets too. Good thing too Eliza said to me only on the 10th 200 that I was starting to look a bit tired and sit in my stride versus being nice and upright. A couple of months ago I would have been tired on the 2nd one. So things are definately looking up.

I have also been very busy putting together a Playlist for the club race. Fingers crossed everyone likes it. It's quite an eclectic mix of favourites as well as requests from our clubbies. I think I am now well rounded in the Top 100's list from the 70's right through to today's stuff.

Is it any wonder.

All I can say is "can't believe I was actually able to do what I was doing" considering my carbohydrate intake was well below par. And it's no wonder I was feeling so down mentally but most of all physically for a while. My nutritionist Rebecca said my carbohydrate intake based on 7gms per kg of bodyweight should be 469gms. After filling out my food diary for a couple of days it was estimated that I was only getting around the 160-180gms - RIDICULOUS.

I wasn't doing it on purpose - I am just not a big bread eater, or pasta eater, or potato eater. And really not having a big knowledge of foods I was just not going for things that were going to be fuelling me for my next workout. And so instead of going into each workout with my muscle glycogen stores all topped up I was trying to squeeze out most of my workouts on depleted muscles. No wonder everything hurt and I was starting to hit the proverbial wall earlier on in nearly all of my workouts.

So now I am armed with a Meal Plan and a list of Carbohydrate Foods for Fuelling and Recovery that I can eat whilst I am on my longer training sessions. It states that endurance athletes should be trying to consume between 30-60g of Carbs every hour after the first 60mins of exercise. So now that I have my list it is time to start getting creative with the different types of foods I can eat whilst on the bike and order myself the High 5 Energy Gels (these are the only ones I like). Two of these gels would give me 46g of carbs without that disgusting aftertaste that most seem to give me. I also really only like the Orange Flavour, but Summer Fruits are too bad either.

I also need to weigh myself a few times pre/post long activities. The goal is to lose less than 2% of my total bodyweight in fluid. Anything over that is not acceptable. And of course I forgot to do this this morning when I headed out for my bike ride at 0600hrs. Brain wasn't in gear at that time of the morning but I did do a 2hr bike ride before hubby left for work and managed to ride 48km. I also ate an Uncle Toby's Muesli Bar which gave me 20.2g of carbs and had 500mls of Staminade which gave me 30.4g - a good total for the hour of 50.6g. For breakfast before I left I also had 3 Weetbix, a cup of coffee and a glass of water. So I think I was pretty set for the first hour.

Needless to say I also need to hydrate well which I have been doing religiously now. My hubby ended up hiring one of those Water Cooler Stations and it is perfectly positioned next to my computer considering I spend alot of time writing - remember this is my passion. So, no sooner is my glass empty I just turn around and refill it. Rebecca has also said that hydration is really important not only for the obvious reasons but also because I am increasing the intake of fibrous foods this could upset the gut - so fluids will keep things happening - literally.

~Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.~

~Bernice Johnson Reagon~

Century Ride.

I did it, I did it, I did it. After all my whinging and whineing about how tired I have been and how I needed heaps of rest, I finally squeezed out my first CENTURY RIDE.

Was this my plan upon waking up this morning? No. The aim was just to go out for a 3 hour ride and just spend quality time in the saddle. After speaking to my coach she made it very clear that Aerobic means Aerobic. She doesn't want me giving 100% on every training session - and I know she has never expected it - the pressure I feel to perform is all in my own little head. It was good to hear her reinforce those words yet again. This gives me the permission to just go SLOW.

So I headed off at 5:45hrs to meet the girls at the Truckstop at 6:15. The air was unusually crisp at that time of the morning which made it a bit tough on the lungs initially, however as we headed off with the destination of Richmond-Windsor in mind it didn't take long for the lungs to feel better. Group riding is so much better than doing it on your own. Conversations along the way make for great distractions and moral boosting.

Most of the roads were sealed beautifully - that was until we hit just past Castlereagh/Agnes Banks and then it was as though the council decided "can't be bothered maintaining them". Pot holes, uneven surfaces, no bike path - no room for error. The majority of the outback roads were shared space with vehicles - so lucky it was a Sunday morning, it wasn't too bad. Would hate to see it weekdays - SCARY.

A section of our ride was a bit of an adventure - not quite sure if anyone knew precisely where we were going - so it made for a fun ride. We rode past alot of Turf farms and market gardeners doing their thing and a group of joggers getting in their long run before the heat of the day set in. The usual "Hey, how ya goin'?" is said as we rode past them with a prompt response of "Fine" as the sound of their footsteps disappears into the distance behind us.

Photo taking and navigation on a bumpy road requires a degree.

We finally made it back to civilisation and stopped at the local servo - one to refuel and secondly to stretch. At this point we were at the halfway mark and I had already clocked 55km. I mentioned to the girls (as I did a little jig) that I think today was going to be the day I did my first 100km ever - much to the amusement of some random guy who was walking into the service station. I was so excited - I could taste the victory of my first major biking accomplishment. This was HUGE.

The ride home saw myself and Bernie get chased by some dog who thought we looked too good to eat. I have never, ever pedalled so hard and fast in my life - and boy - can dogs run like the wind. I was even contemplating should he catch up with me in unclipping and giving him a swift kick - but I didn't need to thank goodness (don't like animal cruelty) but he was scary.

Coming through the main town Cloe, Renee and Kylie headed off home and Bernie decided to stick with me back to home - thanks Bernie. As we got back to the local shops I had only 2.5km left to reach my first ever 100km ride. So I said BYE and made the last little stretch home - I even rode around the estate for about a minute just to make sure I didn't get home and be just shy of the 100km mark. When I finally pulled up the driveway - this is what I saw on my bike computer:

100km in 3hrs 49mins

Am I excited? You bet ya. Looks like I needed those days off to pull this one off.

Forward.

Baby steps forward, that's what I have been taking since my last blogpost. No activity has been the flavour of the week, and might I say - although I was quite down in dulldrums, I have since tried to focus on the pleasures to be had by not trying to squeeze in a workout whilst tired. I am refuelling the mind with comforting words from many sources (friend and literature alike) and the body with fresh fruit and vegies and a bucket load of the good stuff H2O.

I have taken walks through my garden, and although at first my steps felt dull and lifeless due to fatigue.

The beauty to be had brightened my perspective immensely.

I mean look at the little guy. Working tirelessly - fleeting from one flower to another with one goal in mind. Talk about devotion and dedication to a cause. Lesson to be learnt from this little individual.

I also got to focus on writing some Chrissy cards on these beautiful little cards sent to me from Kirsten at paperbyforgetmenot. How cute are they!!! Kirsten is so gifted and talented - make sure you check out all her wares. Thankyou, your a gem.

During this downtime I also got to focus on my nutrition and have been eating really well. But I still think I need help - so I have enlisted the help of a Sports Nutritionist. I really need someone to hold my hand and guide for me a couple of weeks atleast so I understand exactly what, when, how and why of what I should be eating to get the most out of everyday.

Look forward to meeting up with Rebecca on Monday. Should be an eye opener. From now until then I have to fill out a food diary so she can see my daily intake and exercise regime. I wonder what she will say.

Barb's mind is back on track.

Not much week.

So far this week I have only done 47kms. Tuesday as you recall I was hot, bothered and tired but I mustered up enough strength to get it done. Yesterday I was meant to do my swim and track work - but just couldn't. Apart from kids piano lessons and Kyle going to an end of year pool party I just didn't have enough "get up and go" for my at home 40min run that I was supposed to do.

I am also mentally in a slump today. Which is why I am having another day off. If there is one thing I am getting good at and that is listening to my body. But at the same time I am feeling very upset that I am missing out on all my training. I would have dearly loved to have gone to track last night but even if I didn't have any other prior engagements the quality of my session would have been poor. I am frustrated. Can you tell?

I am over being tired and complaining about it.

Will this get better? I sure hope so. This taking 2 steps forward and 3 steps back does my head in. It never happened with my swimming - but then again I was younger and the distances were alot different and I was only focused on one discipline.

So thought I would just vent for a bit and get it off my chest - has it made me feel better - not really. Would a catnap help - probably. Can I get a catnap - NO, children have now finished school for the year. This is another thing I am starting to fret about. How am I meant to get all my training in without it interfering with family and life. How am I meant to split myself in two pieces let alone 2 thousand pieces and still leave a little something for me at the end so I can recover. I don't know how to do this and it is making me feel anxious as well.

How do you all manage it once the kids are home for the holidays?