Speechless....that's what I am.

Today was a day that will forever stay etched in my mind for as long as I will live. I am sitting here trying to find the words to describe how I feel and simply cannot to give that it the justice it deserves. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would encounter such generosity and I have been totally taken back and still to this moment have a knot in my throat.

You see I started out the day like any other day. Got the family ready for school and work, tried to work through a bit of stretching to get the old back feeling somewhat human, got my gear together and headed down to the pools. I worked through a 2350m session which went as follows:

• 400m Fr/s warm up
• 8 x 100m Fr/s did them between 1:15 and 1:20 with a 30sec rest inbetween
• 300m alternate kick/pull with fins
• 2 x 200m Fr/s with pullbouy
• 300m Br/s glide
• 10 x 25m Fr/s sprints
• 100m cooldown

During my swim I met up with the Pathers Tri Club president as he was testing out a wetsuit and I asked him if he knew of anyone who could loan me one because I wanted to do the first club meet back but the water would be freezing. He said he would ask his wife if she could loan her spare one. How nice is that, it never ceases to amaze me how forthcoming people are in the world of sports.

Anyway after finishing the swim session I went to go to Panther Cycles to pay off my helmet and ask about wetsuits and if they could get one in so I could possibly put one on layby. My poor husband Stephen, never knows what I will do when I walk in there. I try very hard to behave but my passion for my sport is a little too consuming at times. So, anyway's - Dave was willing for me to try his wetsuit and loan it for the Triathlon but Macca also gave me a new one to try on to see if it would fit. I go the low down on how to get it on but after bouncy around the change room and almost falling on my backside numerous times - I am thinking I need a Master's Degree in "wetsuit navigation".

I was all hot and bothered and was ever so vigilant in not putting my nails through the material. Hard work, but once it was on, it fit nice and snuggly everywhere, but I was now knowing how sharks could mistake humans for seals. I was feeling like an elephant seal in the suit, it shows off all the areas we woman would much rather hide. Nevermind, if that's what it is supposed to look like then that was what I was going to put on layby. Taking it all off was just as funny as trying to put it on. This will definately take practice.

So as I walked out I was now about to be made speechless. I was told I could take it home and practice training with my wetsuit whilst continuing to pay it off. My jaw almost instantly hit the floor and I got that knot in my throat. How does one repay that kind of trust and generosity. I wanted to give them all a hug, but not sure if some 36yr old lady going "all emotional" in the bike shop is good for business. So all I could do was say THANKYOU a million times over. You guys rock. Never did I think I would find such a great group of guys whom I not only call friends but I feel like in a way they are my family. You all hold a special place in my heart and for all your kindness I am eternally greatful.

So now, I was not only walking out of the shop with my new awesome helmet, I now had my very first wetsuit. What do you think?

I am now well on my way to being a fully fledged Triathlete. I can now compete in the Club comp at the end of September and not come out feeling like a popsicle. I can now feel like a real part of this wonderful community who has embraced me with open arms. I have been blessed.

Panther Cycles,
you guys rock.

Bite me.

Yesterday was a really nice day. The sun was shining, there was a bit of a cool breeze and I had my mum's company. She wanted to join me on whatever it was I was planning on doing for the day, so off we went for a walk around the block. Mind you, my block is 8km long. Before we took off I kindly asked if this distance was okay and mum was like "of course, so long as we spend time together".

So off we set and it was the most fun I have had in ages. Mum and I get along like a house on fire and we are pretty much always laughing, apart from the occasional mother/daughter spack, but all in all we are best buds. The 1hr 20min walk went by pretty quickly and as usual mum didn't complain not once - not even as we tackled some hills which I thought would flair up the arthritis in her knees. She managed to make it to the top, take a breather and then keep going strong.

I didn't feel the walk at all and was just using yesterday as a relax day. However as we got to the 7km mark I could feel my back and hip start to play silly buggers again. So, no sooner did I get home - I took a shower and did my stretches and felt ok. That was until this morning.

As I rolled out of bed and tried putting pressure on my left leg my back went into spasm. It gripped me for atleast the first 10 or so steps and then settled to a tolerable pinch just above the iliiac crest which is the usual spot. After sitting at the computer and checking my emails and trying to get back up, it did the same thing - spasmed for about 10 steps and then settled again.

This time I walked straight to the kitchen and took my dose of Ibuprofen and did some stretches. It eased enough for me to be able to go for my bike ride however I altered the route and just did a nice flat route instead of my hills. I was a bit disappointed but I figure any riding is better than no riding. So I did 18km only and it was nice easy riding, no breeze to speak of and just glorious sun - which felt nice on my back too.

After getting off, my back stiffened up again so I quickly drove home and jumped in the shower. It is still a bit tender but I have pretty much told my back to "BITE ME". I was not going to let it get in the way today. But physio is booked for Friday and am looking forward to some good old fashioned stretching.

Michael Paynter "Love The Fall" [Official Video]

I absolutely love this song and it's lyrics. Has obviously nothing to do with Tri's, but somehow the words really struck a chord with me (no pun intended).

Yep, I ran.

Yesterday was a great day for 3 reasons.

1. I did my first 2km run
2. I started my new diet from Rick Kattouf
3. I wore my HR monitor.

Okay, so first things first. Today was my welcome back to running day. Need I tell you how excited I was? Okay, you twisted my arm - I will tell. I could hardly contain myself. All I wanted to do was go like a bat out of hell and run like the wind - but you will all be proud, that's not what I did. The pace at which I started is the pace at which I finished, nice and slow with very small strides to match. Nothing about it resembled the stride and form I was teaching myself to keep before I got injured. It was all about just feeling every inch of this run and seeing if my body was ready to start making the progression forward. And I am happy to report that apart from the usual tightness that creeps around your calf muscles nothing hurt and to this very minute still doesn't.

My back, which was really tender in the morning - after the run felt all nice and loose and the sharp stitch that gets me in my lower back had abated. That's not to say it didn't return after I had cooled down but the intensity was far less. Now, some 24hrs post run my back is back to it's usual twingy self but I think I just have to ride it out and continue doing everything I am doing in terms of strength exercises. I was meant to go back today for more injections but can't afford this lot this time around. It'll be right.

So before starting my run I thought I would test out my new HR monitor. My resting HR before jumping out of bed was 59bpm but I had already been awake for some time before I remembered so not sure if it was truly accurate. By the time I hit the end of my 50m driveway my HR was already at 84bpm - I think it was the excitement that was making it do a little jig. Within a minute I of running I was somewhere near the 110bpm mark and remained around the 118-129bpm mark for the majority of the run. That was until I got to the last 200m and it was then my HR quickly shot up to 147bpm on the slow incline up to home. I didn't know what all of that meant until Eoin told me to jump on his blog to figure out my MHR and Recovery ceiling. So that's what I did:

• MHR: 187bpm
• Recovery Ceiling: 154bpm

So the good thing was I am well within my limits. I haven't tested my MHR threshold properly but this was a guesstimate till I gathered the courage to test it running up a hill or some other crazy way. I must admit though even though I was running at a fairly slow pace 6:07min/km I was totally spent lung wise. My lungs were feeling the pinch for much needed oxygen but I guess that's what happens when you have been out of running action for a while - the body forgets how to redistribute the vital air it is sucking in. Nevermind, I know the more I run the better it will get.

I also started my new meal plan through Training Peaks by Rick Kattouf. I really enjoyed the variety of Day 1's meal plan. The only glitch and it's not really a glitch is that I had to substitute certain foods as it is an American Meal plan. No biggey, the meal plans have a detailed description of what is in them, and just so I had an even better idea so when I go food shopping I looked up the ingredients on the internet and tried to find a suitable substitute.

I was really full after each meal and wasn't looking for anything else to top up the stores. I also had to drink a protein shake which I am generally not too keen on. However my husband found me one that I don't mind. Body Shape by Nutralife in a yummy Strawberry flavour.
It has similar constituents as MuscleMilk, maybe a few extra but in differing quantities. I really like the flavour but I have to have it in icey water. I don't like milk at all so this was the only way I could drink it. I think I am on a winner with this one.

Yesterday was a great day, and today is looking set to be another.

Ass whoopin'

I do believe yesterday I wrote down that I thought the swim session was going to be tough. TOUGH? Not quite sure if the word 'tough' clearly defines how I found yesterdays swim. It wasn't the total distance that blew me away, it was how we did those 3000m and the fact that we used the pullbouy alot - leaving my shoulders and arms screaming in lactic acid pain.

Here is what we did yesterday:

• 300m Fr/s warm up
• 200m Rock n' Roll for 50m, Fr/s for 5om.

Then this is where it all started to hurt. We did a ladder set.

• 100m - scull for 25m, Fr/s for 25m
• 200m - 4 x 50m Fr/s stroke count. Decreasing the stroke count on every 50m
• 300m - Easy Fr/s with pullbouy
• 400m - 4 x 100m on 1.40. I did them on 1:16, 1:18, 1:22, 1:19
• 500m - Fr/s with pullbouy. 50m hard, 50m easy
• 400m - 8 x 50m Fr/s on 1 min. Coach wanted them all under 40s
• 300m - Easy Fr/s with pullbouy
• 200m - 8 x 25m open water swim start drills
• 100m - cooldown

I have never ached that much in my shoulders before. I always thought I was strong in my upper body but this highlighted one critical flaw in my stroke - I lose form when I fatigue. I start to bounce through the water losing the front part of my catch and then trying to pull through with about 60% of my pull to go. This makes me dig hard and makes me drop my shoulder. I also start to cross my arm over the halfway point which makes me zig zag slightly in the water - which makes me lose momentum. NOT GOOD.

Oh well, good thing now is I know what I am doing wrong so I just have to fix it. Which means I need to focus more on form in all my sessions. I know I worked hard yesterday cause my shoulders, lats and deltoids are aching this morning. I haven't felt that in a while.

Off I go now to cook up some pancakes for breakfast for Father's Day for Stephen. Happy Father's Day to all you daddies out there.

HR training.

ALDI was selling these HR monitors for a measly $20, and seeing as I have never known what my heart is doing during activity I thought it would be wise to find out. And what a bargain I got.

So on looking at it and assessing the pro's and cons:

• PRO'S
  

• the design and colour are nice. Big hit in my eyes.
• the watch band is not made of very hard plastic and sits nicely on my fine wrist.
• chest strap is about 2cm in width and made of soft rubber.
• has adjustable elastic to be able to get the right fit around your diaphragm.
• comes with a bike clip so you can check what your doing cycling. BIG BONUS.

• CON'S

• The part on the chest strap that holds the battery is hard and slightly uncomfortable.
• I know this works on the principle of moisture to conduct a signal but it's going to make me sweat even more than I already do.
• How does one go about disinfecting it.

I am sure I will find many more things to like and dislike when I get to wearing it properly for the first time.

A friend of mine Eoin from Eoin's journey - jump on over and become a follower of his great blog, will be loaning me his book on HR training. We will be meeting this Thursday with other fellow DailyMiler's Jaydub - another great Aussie blogger who is documenting his training to his first marathon and beyond, Andrew - who also documents about his running and some of my other DailyMile friends as well. I can't wait to meet them all, should prove to be an interesting night.

I wish I had the heart rate monitor yesterday when I did the spin class in the morning. It would have been screaming warning alarms throughout our hill climb I'm sure. Everytime I go now I try to increase the intensity and not miss a single gear change when the instructor ask's of it. I stick hard and fast to all my sprints and hill climbs. If my legs start to burn I simply close my eye's, regroup my thoughts and keep repeating in my head "this will make me stronger, this will make me stronger". And before I know it interval one is over and I have another one to look forward to. I love it.

So swim session is on for this afternoon. Looking forward to more hard sessions in the water - or maybe not. I am thinking it is going to hurt this afternoon. Oh well, suck it up princess .

Chock-a-block day

What a day, what a day, what a day!!! It started off with a fairly decent swim at my local pool. 2.2km later and I got out feeling refreshed and feeling great. Shoulders are still a bit stiff but I am hoping to get another massage. Today's session went as follows:

• 700m Fr/s Warm up nice high elbows
  
• 3 x 200m Fr/s for 50m, Bk/s for 50m increasing speed over 200m
• 12 x 50m kick with fins & board. 50m Fr/s kick, 50m Fly kick
• 3 x 100m one armed Rock n' Roll for 25m, 75m Fr/s

On returning home I checked my emails and I got an email from Rick Kattouf in regards to starting my diet plan. I was ready to get this started so I shipped him an email yesterday and I signed up today seeing as I now had recovered from my Cannondale splurge. I have picked this coming Monday 6th September as my start date so I have time to purchase my groceries over the weekend. Can't wait, looking forward to this 6 week journey.

I also managed another 2km run/walk today but this time with the added benefit of my youngest son Kyle keeping me on my toes. We ran for 2min and walked for a 1min and completed it in about 14mins, 2mins slower than my last attempt but that's what I get for having a good time with my baby.

And I must admit I have been a bit of a slacker in regards to my core stuff. I know, I know - I should know better. So that's why I gave it my all.

• 3 x 20 ab crunches feet raised
• 3 x 30 super-sets dumbbell twist (5kg), bicycle crunch
• 3 x 30 ab alternate heel touch

So with all I this accomplished I now bid you all a goodnight. For all of you starting your day, I wish you all the best in your travels.