I can't believe I have clocked up 2 weeks of my IM program all ready. Another week of swim focus for me. Funny I am actually starting to like it!!! The body is feeling better in the water. A total of 13.7km of swimming for the week. I doubt I will be saying the same thing about the bike focus.
I enjoyed a nice 2 hour ride out to Sandgate on Australia Day (Wednesday) with some of theBTS girls Bess, Kristen and Sarah J. It was great to stop for coffee on the way home at Nundah.
Thursday morning was the squad run with Robson. Hill efforts up a side street off Dornoch Terrace, followed by the usual coffee at Garage.
Saturday morning was the squad swim, followed by a 1hr 30min ride out to Sandgate. I nearly got blown off my bike a couple of times. The cyclones up north were making things very windy along the water.
After my Saturday morning session, I needed coffee before packing the car for the trip out to Hell of the West triathlon at Goodiwindi. We had a convoy happening with a group of us travelling out from BTS. My husband tried to convince a car full of women that there would be no toilet stops for 5hrs! Good luck Brett think you were out voted on that one. We stopped off for more coffee and snacks in Toowoomba before arriving in Gundy about 4 in the afternoon.
I had previously done the swim in a team at Gundy the year before, but because of the flood in the river the organisers moved the swim to the lake in the botanical gardens. It was a 3 lap course, with a run out over the timing mat after each lap. I loved the swim, I really started to settle in after the first lap. I did a 42min swim which I was happy enough with and felt good.
I then had an hour run on my program so I trotted up the road on the footpath that ran beside the bike course. I laughed when one of the TO's stopped me and asked me to take off my IPOD as they weren't allowed in the race. By this stage the Elite Men hadn't even finished the bike so I would have been having an awesome race if was on the run all ready!! It was great to cheer on everyone on the bike. My team the BTS Sweaty Betty's managed to place 10th in the women's teams. Hats off to Merinda for a great bike and Tara for soldiering through a 20km run with a back injury ( crazy but tough!!) Gundy certainly never fails to deliver a great event, the organisers are so friendly and its great to support such a wonderful community event with all the funds raised going back into the local community.
A busy but enjoyable weekend.
Me and my support team my hubby Brett
Belinda and Brett
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Brisbane Floods- 20 weeks to Cairns
2011 has not be a great start for a lot of people living in Queensland and now wider parts of Australia being impacting by severe flooding. Thankfully we avoided the floods impacting Brisbane but it is difficult to go about ones life without being effected.
I felt fairly guilty about the fact that we had gotten off so lightly and so many had suffered so much. It almost felt wrong to even be thinking about my triathlon training. However life goes on our communities, businesses etc need people to spend money to bring things back to life.
I spent the day last Sunday volunteering with the cleanup at Graceville. I seemed to fill endless skips of debris that people had cleared from their flood effected houses. The kindness and community spirit struck me though. We were all working towards a common goal of getting things back into order. I was spoilt all day with the generous cooking and drinks that people were providing.
Monday the 17th of January marked the start of 20 week training plan for Challenge Cairns. The best way to describe the week was a lot of swimming. 6 sessions for the week ( a total of 13.5km!!) I feel excited and little bit daunted to be finally starting my official IM training program.
I braved the roads for a 2 hour ride on my own on Wednesday ( it seems the motorists hate cyclists more than ever at the moment judging by the number of people on their horns). With many of the bikeways out of action with the flooding its hard to find a safe ride to do during the week.
I finished the week today with a lovely run along the river with by tri buddy Shelly who is doing a 20km run at hell of the west next weekend. We clocked up 13.5km in about 1hr20mins so a nice easy pace.
Next week will look much the same for me training wise except we are heading at Goondoowindi next weekend for the Hell of the West. I am doing the 2km swim in a team ( mind you I now also have to run 3km back to transition as they have changed to swim to lagoon in the middle of town due to flooding in the river.
I felt fairly guilty about the fact that we had gotten off so lightly and so many had suffered so much. It almost felt wrong to even be thinking about my triathlon training. However life goes on our communities, businesses etc need people to spend money to bring things back to life.
I spent the day last Sunday volunteering with the cleanup at Graceville. I seemed to fill endless skips of debris that people had cleared from their flood effected houses. The kindness and community spirit struck me though. We were all working towards a common goal of getting things back into order. I was spoilt all day with the generous cooking and drinks that people were providing.
Monday the 17th of January marked the start of 20 week training plan for Challenge Cairns. The best way to describe the week was a lot of swimming. 6 sessions for the week ( a total of 13.5km!!) I feel excited and little bit daunted to be finally starting my official IM training program.
I braved the roads for a 2 hour ride on my own on Wednesday ( it seems the motorists hate cyclists more than ever at the moment judging by the number of people on their horns). With many of the bikeways out of action with the flooding its hard to find a safe ride to do during the week.
I finished the week today with a lovely run along the river with by tri buddy Shelly who is doing a 20km run at hell of the west next weekend. We clocked up 13.5km in about 1hr20mins so a nice easy pace.
Next week will look much the same for me training wise except we are heading at Goondoowindi next weekend for the Hell of the West. I am doing the 2km swim in a team ( mind you I now also have to run 3km back to transition as they have changed to swim to lagoon in the middle of town due to flooding in the river.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy new year- Bring on 2011!!
Happy new year!! It is hard to believe it is the 3rd of January 2011 already. I have spent the last few weeks with family on holidays, dividing my time between Maleny and the Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.
Christmas Day was held with Mum and Dad up at Maleny. My sister Megan is training for the Half IM at Port Macquarie so we went and did 10km of speed work on Christmas Day. As we were sitting in the car park of Cairncross Park watching the rain pelting down outside it was tempting to turnaround and go back home and start the preparations for Christmas lunch. But not deterred my sister and I encouraged each other. Whilst I don't have any set program I wanted to support her to keep to her program as she lives out in Emerald and doesn't have the benefit of squad or heaps of training buddies like I do. The run was actually really nice. We ran along with a view of the Glasshouse Mountains- pretty awesome!!
Santa heard the call of a newbie in training for an Ironman. I was lucky to receive a Garmin 305 and Triathlon Training Diary. I love my new watch(the battery lasts for 20hrs- I am hoping my IM wont take me that long...)
I started my training diary on the 1st of Jan. Nothing to see there a pretty lazy day after a few wines and lovely dinner at the Boatshed Restaurant at Cotton Tree (Maroochydore). I did however manage a ride to Yandina on the 2nd, followed by swim in the pool and on the beach.
The reality of my IM commitment started to sink in yesterday when I received an email on the distribution list for BTS IM athletes from my coach Mark outlining some training ideas over the coming weeks. I had to think twice hang on is this right, I shouldn't be on this list??? I am sure there will be many times over the next few months that the little voice of self doubt whispers in my ear, however I keep on remembering why I am setting myself this challenge. I am determined to enjoy this journey. My husband doesn't call me a "stubborn little mule" for nothing!!
Christmas Day was held with Mum and Dad up at Maleny. My sister Megan is training for the Half IM at Port Macquarie so we went and did 10km of speed work on Christmas Day. As we were sitting in the car park of Cairncross Park watching the rain pelting down outside it was tempting to turnaround and go back home and start the preparations for Christmas lunch. But not deterred my sister and I encouraged each other. Whilst I don't have any set program I wanted to support her to keep to her program as she lives out in Emerald and doesn't have the benefit of squad or heaps of training buddies like I do. The run was actually really nice. We ran along with a view of the Glasshouse Mountains- pretty awesome!!
Santa heard the call of a newbie in training for an Ironman. I was lucky to receive a Garmin 305 and Triathlon Training Diary. I love my new watch(the battery lasts for 20hrs- I am hoping my IM wont take me that long...)
I started my training diary on the 1st of Jan. Nothing to see there a pretty lazy day after a few wines and lovely dinner at the Boatshed Restaurant at Cotton Tree (Maroochydore). I did however manage a ride to Yandina on the 2nd, followed by swim in the pool and on the beach.
The reality of my IM commitment started to sink in yesterday when I received an email on the distribution list for BTS IM athletes from my coach Mark outlining some training ideas over the coming weeks. I had to think twice hang on is this right, I shouldn't be on this list??? I am sure there will be many times over the next few months that the little voice of self doubt whispers in my ear, however I keep on remembering why I am setting myself this challenge. I am determined to enjoy this journey. My husband doesn't call me a "stubborn little mule" for nothing!!
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