New Blog

Rightio chicky babes and super dudes....

I'M MOVING

This blog page name is too long, too hard, and now old as it is 2009 not 2008.

Sooooooo, I'm moving to this one. Come visit - I'm going to try and be a more regular blogger, so please check in on me from time to time. I'm leaving this one live as it has all my race reports etc, plus alot of old writings and musings that I can't bear to get rid of.

Catch you in the new place!

tap tap tap.... hello, is anyone still out there?

It's been ANOTHER month between postings....

There is so much going on it's hard to pop my head up and take a breath, but the light is at the end of the tunnel.... for a short while anyway.

What have we been up to?

The Saint FINALLY got a new bike for himself. After working for a bike importer for the last 18 months, and getting bikes for every Tom Dick and Harry, it was his turn. A lovely red and white carbon jobby, which he is now hooning around on with a big grin on his face.

The boys have been busy training for the Weetbix Kids Tryathlon. They entered as a team with their friend and had a ball doing it yesterday. Next year individual entries look to be on the cards, so that will be even better. Blake did the 100m swim and moaned about being kicked in the head! Welcome to the world of triathlon son! Liam did the bike and had a great time passing heaps of kids pushing their bikes up the hill - he has a great bike courtesy of The Saint of course! I bought them both an Orca tshirt at a sale and they were over the moon! Two more triathletes in the family could get very expensive, but it is great they are keen. There were 2200 kids at the triathlon yesterday - it makes you feel good to see them all out there giving it a go.

Team "FULL NOISE" before the start!
Blake after his swim, running to tag his brother.
Liam (in the front) coming in from his ride.
Off to the finish line.
With their well earned medals.

We went to Ironman New Zealand and had a truly inspirational day watching my friends, and all the other athletes, reach their goals and dreams. I thought it might make me want to have another go next year, but I am thankful to say that it didn't. I need to get better at my cycling.... oh and running.... before I tackle it again. The new bike has gone a long way towards helping me hit one of those goals - I'm still loving it, and am looking forward to a summer of races on it next year!

I did my first ever Ocean Swim event on the weekend - I know I do triathlons, but they have always been in a nice calm bay or a lake, not a surf beach. Well, I have to say it was the hardest swim I have ever done. It was 2.8kms, a 2 loop course of 1400m each, and I was ready to get out at the end of the first one. It didn't look too bad from the shore, but when you were in there the swell was actually quite big. You try to sight and get an eyeful of water, so you have to try again. My lower back was killing me by the time I finished, and it took me 1hr 6mins, instead of the 52mins estimation I had put down - plus I was passed by loads of people in the supposedly slower wave behind me!! YUK YUK! Anyway, I was pleased I did it, it was a good experience, and it gave me some food for thought and new tricks for this weekends event....

MOOLOOLABA is this Sunday. We are jetting over to Australia for a very quick 4 day trip and doing an olympic triathlon on Sunday as part of the triathlon festival. We get to watch the "real" athletes in the afternoon which will be awesome - they are so fast and athletic looking it will be great to watch. Hopefully some of the Olympians will be there - we follow the ITU races on Sky TV, so it will be great to see some of our triathlon stars and heroes in the flesh!

Will be back next week with photos (hopefully), and a full on race report - I PROMISE

It's been a while huh!

Time is running away from me, and I can't do anything about it.

The family went camping at the beach in the last 2 weeks of January, which was great. I missed last years trip due to Ironman training commitments, so it was good to have a relaxing holiday. Since then I have hardly stopped to catch my breathe.

I took a group of my friends to Taupo for a long weekend to do Ironman training on the course - Ironman New Zealand is next weekend - I simply cannot believe it is 12 months since I did it. Still remember it like it was yesterday.

Then I ran a Novice Womens Triathlon workshop weekend. That was a lot of fun and I hope the ladies all got some good hints to take away with them.

I am doing swim coaching 3 sessions a week; taking a novice training session each week on behalf of the Triathlon Club; have a number of half ironman and ironman clients starting up for next season; am trying to keep up my own training for Mooloolaba; and working; and kids; oh and I still have a husband believe it or not!!!

So, this blog is totally being neglected, as is my reading of everybody else's. I am about 6 weeks behind in your news, and really have no hope of catching up. I will try and get back to it one day, but for now blogging is a little down the heap of commitments. Keep checking in on me though - I may get around to sorting my life out and posting again!!!!

Take care - safe and happy training......

Tauranga Half Ironman race report

The day started early - 4.15am I was up for toast with honey and a banana, plus mixing all the usual potions and gunk that goes with these longer events. I hadn't slept well at all, and for some reason was feeling very nervous. The expectation of setting a PB was pretty high with my new bike, and it just got me all tensed up.

A reasonably heavy rain was falling as we drove to the race site, but it eased off by the time we arrived there. The bikes were sopping as they had been racked all night, but other than that the rain disappeared for the rest of the day thank goodness! The forecast was for a mainly cloudy day with light winds - PERFECT

The swim start was done in waves for the first time this year. Elite/pro first, followed 2mins later by age group men, followed another 2mins later by age group women. It was a full tide right at the start of the race, but it was pulling in one direction more than the other. Didn't notice it too much once we were swimming, so just got stuck into it.

Starting without the men was great - there was none of that agressive behaviour in the swim start that normally goes hand in hand with them!!!!! BUT, we did start catching up with the slow ones by the end of the first 1200m loop. It was like hitting a wall that you just couldn't get around. Boy there were lots of slow men, they were EVERYWHERE! Very frustrating, but part of it I guess, so I just put my head down and tried to surge through them. The turns at the bouys were messy and hard work, and the second 800m loop had a few jellyfish lurking around which added some tension, but otherwise I was quite surprised to see a swim time of 36:51 - about what I would normally do, but it felt slower! Off to a good start anyway.

After a 3min transition (abit long, but ok really) I was off on the real test - MY NEW BIKE IRIS! I had decided to use a HR monitor for the ride and just make sure that I wasn't going too hard. May as well have not bothered, because I mostly ignored it. I was having sooooo much fun passing people for a change that about 30mins into the ride I decided I was going to see what I could do for the full 90kms, and bugger it if I destroyed myself for the run - It was going too well not to just go for it.

The race is one long loop of 55kms, and then 2 short loops of 17.5kms. The wind was light and really only picked up a slight cross wind on the 2 smaller loops, but I didn't notice it too much. It favoured one way more than the other, so it was at least nice about it!

I have NEVER loved riding my bike in a race so much as I did yesterday. It felt smooth, easy and fast. I enjoyed every minute of it. My main race goal had been not to walk in the run; well I switched it to riding the 90kms at an average that was above 30kms/hr. And I did it with an extra km/hr to boot. I ended the 90kms in a time of 2:53:06 - well and truly smashed my 3hour goal out of the park, and was soooooo pumped about it! Let me just say, that never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I could ever ride ANY race at 30kms/hr, let alone a half ironman!!! It is super unbelievable, and I am still stunned at what I did yesterday. It blows me away that changing my bike made such a difference. Now I can see why people spend so much money on their machines - it makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable. Best damn thing I have ever done for myself! I do of course have my wonderful Husband to thank for it - if he didn't work where he did I would never have got it - I LOVE IT AND HIS JOB!!!!!!

Anyway, after a 2:49 transition that included me trying to calm myself after such a buzzed out ride, and then having to struggle into my straight jacket bra top, I was off on what I KNEW was going to be a very tough run after that bike ride. It had got so humid, and every now and then the sun would come out and just burn!

The first lap went ok really. I wasn't wearing a watch as I didn't want the extra pressure of time. I just needed to finish it in the best way I could. I was still hoping for a "non-walk" run, but I was struggling with this right through the 1st lap. I walked long enough at the aid stations to drink, and then carried on running. The Mount base track, which I had run piles of times in the last few weeks, felt like a mountain range. It was damn hard!

At the start of the 2nd lap I saw the time clock and knew that I COULD beat 6 hours if I could get through the rest of the run without needing to stop. Unfortunately I also knew in the back of my mind that this was highly unlikely. The road was black tarmac and you could feel the heat of it under your feet. I was absolutely dripping wet with sweat, I got chaffed badly under my arm, and I was struggling to stand tall. My neck just ached, my shoulders were stiff from riding aero for 90kms, and I just wanted to stop for a nap. I had made a pact with myself that I wasn't going to drink any cola until the last 6kms, and I stuck to it. I have got into a bad habit of drinking it all the way through the run, but this time I stuck to gels, water and electrolyte until that point. The cola was damn nice when I did start though!!!!

I stopped for some vaseline as my underarm was killing me, and I did stop for some unscheduled quick walk breaks in the last 6kms. I just had to. When I was about to start the Mount base track for the last time, Paul told me I had 30mins to beat 6 hours. I knew I wasn't going to do it, but I still wanted to get as close to 6 hours as possible. I was feeling abit light headed so I walked the first hill and then tried my very best to run the rest. It probably looked nothing like running, but it wasn't walking either, so I'm counting it. I walked the last big hill and then ran all the way home as fast as I possibly could. The kids joined me for the last 700metres which was great. The crowd really got into them and they ran quite fast too, so I had to keep up with them.

My final time was 6hrs 3mins and 44seconds - 18mins off my personal best time!!!!!!!!! Pretty much ALL of that time was from the bike - I was soooo happy to be finished, sooooo stoked with my overall time, and sooooooooooo amazed at my bike split!!!! And I did all of that only 4 weeks after my last half ironman race. It was the best feeling EVER (apart from finishing Ironman of course). I also did end up running more of the run than I ever have before - my run time is not my best for a half ironman run, but it feels like a better achievement! So, I still figure it was a success.

I stole the pics from Sub6 - as usual he was on hand with the camera - not that I really knew that - he's abit of a stalker!!!! lol. Check his blog for more if you like.


I'm in the blue swim cap trying to run around the slow boys!!!



I am on a training break for the next 3 weeks (2 weeks camping - yeehaa), and then it's back into training for the Mooloolaba Triathlon at the end of March. I can't wait! Iris is going to help me do a PB at that race too, I can just feel it!!!!!!!!

I had so much support out there from family and friends, both participating and watching the race. It was an awesome day; the best day; it was the day I finally smashed that bike monkey off my back!!!!!!

As for not doing it again next year???????......
hmmmmm we'll have to see. That Sub6 goal is mighty tempting!!!

Oh I am soooooo addicted to this sport......

PR BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too tired to write - it's been a long day.

I just had to stop by and let you know that I had the best race EVER.

Fastest bike ride EVER!!!

Fastest Half Ironman EVER!!!

Will fill you in tomorrow!

(MEAN AYE)

Racing tomorrow!

It's on like Donkey Kong (love that saying).

I have had such a great few weeks of training since the Rotorua Half Ironman 4 weeks ago, that I am pretty excited about the prospect of going FAST tomorrow. Although, the last few days have seen me feeling very niggly and abit tense, so am praying for a great sleep tonight and a fresh start to the morning tomorrow.

Iris is AWESOME (as I have already informed you in previous posts), and everytime I ride I fall more in love with her! I have high hopes for her tomorrow, so I hope she doesn't disappoint.

The weather is supposedly going to be cloudy with the odd outbreak of sun! PERFECT! The sun has been beating down on us with a vengance the last few weeks, and I am not good in the heat, so if it can remain covered up for the run leg, I would be mighty happy.

I have a best time to beat at this race/distance of 6hrs 21mins. I THINK I could go under 6hrs if I can run well, but my real goal is to RUN the entire 21.1kms. I have done 4 Half Ironman races now, and I have walked during all of them. I can do a 21.1km run on its own, but not after the 90km bike. So, my goals are to get my nutrition right on the bike so I have the best chance of getting through the run in the fastest time possible - RUNNING. I also screwed up my run nutrition at the last event, so my other goal is to keep that in check. The tide is high 20mins after we start the swim, so there should be no tidal issues at all. Just jellyfish to contend with - YUK! But, I will ignore them... I will ignore them... I will ignore them... I will not get stressed out by a blob!!!!

Once again I have PMS before this race too (you men have got it soooo easy you know), and trying not to gorge on chocolate has been a struggle this week - especially when my Mum is in town and brings chockie treats for the kids. JUST MEAN. However, after the race I will indulge! I have a bottle of bubbles in the fridge also, as I think it is only fair that I get my New Years celebration at some point.... fair enough????

Wish me luck!!!!! You know I will be back with pics and a long winded race report, so check back on Sunday if you dare.

2009 Goals

Everybody else is doing it, sooooooo

It's been kind of hard to pinpoint EXACTLY what I want to do. I wanted to do Ironman NZ again in March 2010, which would mean most of 2009 would be devoted to Ironman training again. BUT, this doesn't rock my socks so much anymore. I don't know if I'm ready to tackle all that training again just yet. Definitely 2011.....

Although, now that I have a new flash bike, it is tempting!!!!

But.... probably not....

Then I decided that I was going to give up even the Half Ironman distance for 2009, as I have really struggled to get myself motivated for alot of the training I have done in the lead up to this one in 4 days time. But, now that I have a new flash bike, I'm kind of tempted to do it again next season. And, the last few weeks of training have been going so well, I HATE the thought of losing all that fitness - but, gains come from rest too, and I think I need one!

So, my thoughts on all of this are:

1. That after 4 years of training for Half Ironman/Ironman races, I just need a break from "training for triathlons", not a break from "training". Just a change of focus for a time, shall we say.

2. I am committed to doing the Mooloolaba olympic distance triathlon at the end of March, and I can't wait. After Half Ironman training this will be fine for me to handle and I'm sure I can stay motivated until then (especially zipping around on that new bike).

3. I am going to head back to spin classes at the gym, and weight/core strength training. I have missed these sessions over the last few months, and am looking forward to getting stronger.

4. I am NOT going to head out into the winter mornings to run and ride in the cold.(although winter is a wee way away for us yet). I am going to go to my air conditioned gym and enjoy spin classes, weight training and treadmill running instead.

5. I will start structured "triathlon training" in September which should give me plenty of time to be ready for a Half Ironman in December, should I decide to do it that is (although I know I will, so who am I kidding???).

6. I don't know what races, if any, that I'm going to do over this time. I do enjoy racing/events, so I am sure I will find some, but given that I have done a lot of the same races over the last few years I think it's time to try something different. Will ponder on this and just go with the flow and see what happens. I did enjoy the trail running series I did last year, so I might give this another go I think.

7. LOSE WEIGHT (that's on my list every damn year!). I have actually managed to keep off the 20+kgs I lost a few years back. That is a minor miracle in itself, but I still need to lose more. It would make climbing hills on a bike (or in running shoes for that matter) alot easier! I want to wear nicer clothes and womens tri gear!!! If I cut out the long training I think it will make it easier. My body doesn't like the fuel you have to give it too much (sweet electrolytes), so if I can exercise without the use of those things, then it will fall right off me! That's my theory anyway..

I really do feel that I am just exhausted from always being on a schedule, and to be honest, it has been un-fun at times recently. I need to find the fun again, and just go with the flow, get out with the kids, and enjoy life a little more - I take this training stuff too seriously, and I think my non-triathlon friends have decided I'm boring.

I want to get my coaching up and running, and finding time to dedicate to this has been hard! I start Polytech part time in February too, so giving up my long training sessions was going to have to happen sooner or later!

So, even though our triathlon season is only just beginning, mine is half over on Saturday when I (hopefully) finish my second Half Ironman race in 4 weeks. I will then have 1 week at work before we go camping for 2 weeks. This I am looking forward to as I missed out on our annual camping trip last year due to it being right in the last few weeks of Ironman training. Sun, surf, relaxing, a few beers, and sausages on the BBQ - what more could you ask for!?

In 2008 my only goal was to finish Ironman - I did that in March and then kind of floated through the rest of the year. I'm looking forward to 2009 - it will be different for me training wise; I am hoping to be full steam ahead with my coaching and training sessions; I am starting study in a field that I am so excited about; and I am determined to spend more time with my family and friends. It is going to be a good year - not sure why I feel like that, but I do.