I love my bike

Whilst my official 20 week program doesn't start until 17th Jan I have decided that the more time on the bike the better.  We are going to be very good friends over the coming months. ( I was telling my coach Mark that I love my bike the other day- he said we will see if that changes after few months on the IM program!!)

I have had the bike for about 3 months now. If I was honest the main reason for the upgrade was the love of the hot pink and white frame. ( A girl can never have too much pink in her life!! The guys at NRG http://www.nrgcycles.com.au/ sorted me out with an upgrade ( Thanks Gav, Rob and Erin).  I think my bike was one of the last left in Australia in this colour scheme.   My husband also set about adding extra pink bling with pink bar tape and pink tyres. Whilst my bike does look very pretty I have soon learnt that it rolls a lot faster than my old bike. I am fairly clueless when it comes to bikes however when my husband was talking about stealing the dura-ace race light wheels off it I figured the wheels must be good!!

My NZ IM squad buddies Alicia, Sarah and Brad were off to Caloundra for 120km ride today via Mt Mee. Lucky them!!  Jac, Faye and I joined in for about 40kms then headed home for coffee (about 80km round trip). I am sure the full ride will be one I will have to do in the coming months.  The legs were hurting as we hit the first of rolling hills outside of Petrie. Thankfully it started to get easier after about 20kms.

Our conversation turned to the Cairns course at one point which is apparently undulating. I guess every IM course has its own challenges so I am trying not to worry about it.  My husband always says to me there is no point worrying about something that is 6 months away.  I think that approach is good to keep in mind. If you break the challenge down into bite sized pieces instead of focusing on the whole thing then it seems far less daunting.

It was hard to keep my resolve to do the ride this morning as I had 3 xmas parties yesterday to attend.  Everyone at the Red Dog Tri Squad Christmas party last night was telling me I was crazing riding today (I figured you should never take advice from someone who has had 10 beers....)  Once I make a commitment to do something though I see it through. Whilst tempting to stay out later and sleep in this morning I am glad I made the effort. (I guess that's another training session in the bag for me)

Raby Bay

I raced at the sprint distance race at raby bay today.  This race was my first triathlon race 2 years ago so I always use it as a bit of yard stick in terms of my triathlon journey.  I am surprised at how far my times have come down. Today I finished in time of 1hr 21min compared to my time of 1:40min 2 years ago.

I love going to races as it is great chance to catch up with all the crew from BTS, have chat and cheer each other on. Sadly we were beaten by Red Dog at the Club Champs ( my husband Brett will be happy as he trains with them!!)

The only downer from today is that I managed to drop my Garmin off the bike. It wasn't safe to stop as it was on a blind corner. I am hoping someone might have handed it in to USM at some stage. Whilst not a deliberate attempt to get a new toy, I was thinking of upgrading from the 405 to the 310 to use at Ironman (maybe I will have to go and see Robson at Active Stride http://www.activestride.com.au/ sooner than I think!!!

As soon as finished today I also made a call to my husband Brett who was racing the Half Ironman down in Canberra. Due to the lake closure it was a duathlon with the swim being replaced by a 4km run which suits him fine.  He finished in 4hrs20 a great time ( I am very proud of him as he has worked really hard). He placed 30th in age group which is great result in a very competitive age group.

I am going to take it easy now until my ironman program starts on the17th Jan ( 20 weeks out from Cairns).  I am not very good at taking a break because I really enjoy my training but I will try and rest up over christmas to ensure I am mentally ready.

The first steps to 5th June 2011

Once you have set a goal you need to map out how are you going to get there. Part of that process also is writing down the goal and acknowledging it. I have spent the last few days sharing with family and friends my decsion to enter Challange Cairns.  Most responses to date have been positive. Although my Mum did say don't hurt yourself!! My sister Megan is getting married the weekend after Cairns and Mum is worried as I am the only bridemaid.  My very thoughtful husband kindly offered to wheel me up the aisle if I am still unable to walk!!

I want to start by taking a step back and by thinking about the journey to registering for my first Ironman triathlon.

I started my dabble into the sport of triathlon just over 2 years ago, after I had spent many a weekend watching my husband Brett compete in triathlons.  I was always terrified at the thought of joining a squad, but lacked the confidence to train and race on my own.   My husband encouraged me to signed up with Brisbane Triathlon Squad (http://www.brisbanetrisquad.com.au/) to complete a 8 week beginners course followed by a graduation race being a sprint distance 750m/20km/5km race at Raby Bay. Needless to say I didn't exactly set a cracking pace for my first race but managed to finish!! In any case I have persevered and finished my 2nd Olympic distance triathlon at Noosa earlier this year. My improvements have been good and I managed to take 20 minutes off my time from  Noosa in 2009. 

I have also managed to meet a great bunch of people with a similar addiction for competing in triathlons.  A number of them are also doing there first Ironman races in 2011.

After watching my husband complete his first Ironman earlier this year at Port Macquarie I was inspired to give a longer distance a go so my sister Megan and I signed up for the Port Macquarie Half Ironman to be held on 1 May 2011.

Not being content with a Half Ironman, I have gone one step further and now registered for the full Ironman distance. Whilst much of the decision to enter the Ironman distance race in June 2011 has been part of my own personal journey I need to mention that source of my inspiration has been father's diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease earlier this year.

My dad Dallas has lead an active life spending the better part of 70 years on a farm. Earlier this year he started to have trouble walking and his speech began to deteriorate.  Parkinson's is an extremely frustrating disease with medication not always assisting in minimising the symptoms.  Dad unfortunately has a type a Parkinson's that is not responding to medication. A cure has not been found for the disease and the medical profession are also not certain of its causes.  During my ironman journey my father will be a constant thought in my mind and I will also be fundraising for Parkinson's Queensland  http://parkinsons-qld.org.au/ who have provided much needed support and information to my family to help us assist Dad with his disease.