Gearing up for 10km of fun

Tomorrow I am doing my longest event on two feet (aka the waewae express or Shanks’ Pony) – the 10km.  I am quite excited about it, and although there is a lot going on in the background at present I think it will be a good opportunity to burn off some steam and adrenaline.

I have tried to stay off my feet today but I am in Rotorua, and it is the last time I will be here for a while, so after race registration I headed out for a look around.  I will save the major sightseeting for Sunday and Monday, but today I had a look around the lakefront and a nice bowl of spaghetti for dinner at Solace in Tutanekai Street.  I am going to try for an early night, but I am not counting on it as I hardly ever sleep well the night before an event. 

So, I’ll update you tomorrow after the event.

the coast is clear.

I have the all clear to swim again, hooray!  It is another week until I start swim coaching again so the timing was good.  This block of coaching runs until the day that I fly to Melbourne.  Seeing as I do not want to be drying towels and togs an hour before I have to leave for the airport, I have chosen to end my term a week early (and start two weeks late due to the neck sprain and the Rotorua 10k).  Therefore, instead of 11 weeks of coaching, I am doing 8 weeks for $76 – what a bargain.  This term it is all about working on my fitness, with technique monitoring to make sure I do not pick up any nasty habits in the off-season.

It has rained all day in Auckland and most of last night.  It got quite Noah’s Ark around 2pm and shows no sign of letting up.  Thank goodness for umbrellas, but having to hike around in the rain to a work meeting today was not fun.  I did not want to get my Asics wet so had to wear sandals. We desperately need the rain, but it would be nice if it could rain only between 10pm and 5am each day!  The weather forecast for Saturday looks a bit grim for the10k, and it looks like I will be running with an umbrella…maybe I should dress up as Mary Poppins for the fun run?

Escape to the 80's

On a note of escapism, I had a million things to do on Saturday.  I did about half of them, and then went to the movies for the first time in ages to see ‘Boy’; a wonderful New Zealand film set in a tiny east coast village back in the 80's (loved the Michael Jackson Haka at the end).  I sat carefully with my neck supported and managed to forget my pain for the better part of two hours…fantastic. 

I wanted to get to the gym but had a doctor’s appointment right smack in the middle of the morning and my gym closes at 1pm on weekends, which is a pain in the butt.  I intended to go yesterday but slept in until 11.30am and did not have enough time to eat, let my breakfast settle and then hit the gym.  Probably just as well, as I slept in a funny position and my neck gave me hell as a result.

I found a new Asics race belt on Saturday evening.  This one has a bottle holder and two zippered pockets either side of the bottle – one will be used for gummy gels, and the other for whatever else I need that is small and easy to carry!  I was happy when I found it was on sale, but even better, it was just $15.  Bargain! 

Yesterday I hit Shoe Clinic and got a pair of 2XU compression calf guards and yet another pair of my beloved Drymax socks.  I am ready for the 10km now.  The first thing that blows up during a race is my left ankle ligaments, and then my calves start to complain.  With calf guards on during the race and compression socks and tights afterwards, I should be fine and besides, there is no bike section in the 10km.

Off to physio again tonight, I am hoping she will give me the all clear to start swimming again. 

Sale...of the century

I scored a compression top, a new Aussie-made training swimsuit (“togs” to us Kiwis) and a new run singlet today, all at less than half price.  I *heart* sales, and I am the bargain shopper from hell so I always end up finding something great.  I have been coveting a new compression top for ages, as my first one is miles too big in the shoulders and arms now.  It does not compress anything anymore!  I put it through the drier but that made very little difference.  Therefore, it was high time for a new one. 

It must be time for some more good news, surely.  My bike only required $145 thrown at it after the crash last weekend.  I get it back tomorrow, and I think I will whack it straight on the wind trainer and go for a virtual ride around the Mornington Peninsula.  I cannot ride on the road at present because the shock from bumps and volcanic chip roads will go straight up my arms and into my traps, which are still like lumps of lead around my neck.

I had an interesting conversation today with a person who swears that compression tops make no difference to him.  He claims to have like 15 of them and apparently only trains in them.  I use mine for recovery, not for training – I would not have survived seven triathlons in four months without my compression tights and socks, but this person scoffed at that and told me I was wasting my money (really? I only bought one top, one pair of tights and a pair of socks…not 15 tops!).  I wear my compression tights to bed after a hard workout or a tri, and they really do make a difference.  I have less stiffness the next day, and definitely less muscle fatigue. 

Alas, the poor fool I was talking to only does weight training and no cardio – but he also takes more “supplements” than the average drug cheat too.  I have lost count of the number of individual items of overpriced and scientifically unproven junk he shoves down his throat every day – mass gainers, anabolic this, metabolic that, catabolic this, creatine that, super boosting this, post workout metabolising that, etc.  He is trying to bulk up big time and his body type is scrawny, so short of taking lots of artificial hormones and steroids, realistically it is just not going to happen for him. 

Anyway, back to me.  I have now entered the 10km at the Rotorua marathon next weekend.  I get to Rotorua (or Rotovegas as we Kiwis like to call it) about lunchtime next Friday, just in time for food.  I will dump my bags at my accommodation, eat lunch, register for the race, go check out the sports expo and have a nice walk around town before hitting the supermarket for supplies, soaking at the hot pools, having dinner and chilling out.  My home base for the weekend has a gym and a movie theatre, so that is very cool. 

Saturday is race day so after a good breakfast I will go for a nice 10km tour of Rotorua at a cracking pace and while taking photos.  Then I will eat, drink, stretch and take more photos.  After that, I will have a soak at the hot pools, have lunch, and have a nap.  After that, it will be getting close to dinnertime so I will go find something to eat, attend prizegiving, and have a nice relaxing evening, maybe with a trip to the movies involved.

Sunday morning is the post-marathon breakfast at the events centre.  I have pre-paid for it, so that is one less meal to worry about.  I do not want a repeat of Taupo, where I could not find many options that were under $30 or 3,000kj per meal.  I want to go see some thermal stuff so I will walk over to Kuirau Park and check it out.

Monday, I want to go to hells gate and maybe Whakarewarewa.  Then it is hometime around 4pm.

This time I will be organised – I will take Powerbars, protein, electrolytes, gels and a bag or two of those nice GU chomps.   I will take my race belt, my drymax socks, my run cap, my fuel belt and my bodyglide just in case.  I will take extra bandaids and blister plasters.  I will take antiflamme and my mini heat pack.  I will take bathers for the hot pools, my heart rate monitor chest strap, and my travel pillow.  I will take proper run gear, layers and warm stuff.  I will take my merino skullcap. 

I will take non-perishable food with me (cereal, some bread, protein powder, and buy fresh stuff there (like milk, yogurt and fruit).  It may mean taking a bigger suitcase on the trip, but if it means less mucking about then I am all for it.  I do not need to be walking for miles around town and for hours on end the day before a 10km race. 

What are my plans for the actual 10km race?  Well, I cannot run that nonstop yet, so I will walk about 6-7km and run the rest in intervals once I am past the halfway mark.  I need to pace myself so I do not blow up my legs.  On the 10km I will take GU chomps, caffeine gels in a gel bottle (half right before the start and the rest just before halfway), water, replace and a banana.  I will have a choccie milk and a banana waiting for me at the finish, somehow!

I have not done 10km for about six weeks (except on a bike), but it is all good.  I am certainly not lacking in fitness and with no bike leg involved it should be straightforward – I will not be going into the run half exhausted from a swim and bike immediately beforehand. 

Must away, I have things to do, and all that jazz.

the neck sprain

Well, it is now technically day five of my neck sprain. Actually, its day four of pain and spasm, as I could not feel much on Sunday – I had too much adrenaline kicking around I think. I had another session of pain and suffering at physio tonight and yet more fun with the suction cup tens machine thingy. Warsha put it on warp speed, about mach 5 I think, and I felt good afterwards. She also cracked some of my back, but the rest just would not cooperate. My traps are like concrete (I call them lead).

The good news from physio is that I can do weights again, hooray! I can go hit the gym on Saturday morning and do light weights – lat pulldown, seated row, chest press, shoulder press, bicep curls…but all on about half the weight that I would normally do. The idea is to mobilise my muscles and do as many reps as I can but without the extra stress of heavy weights. I will try anything once.

My bike went off to the bike shop today for a service and check up after the crash. It may be an expensive one…especially once I have bought a new helmet and new bottle cages. I hope that the bike will not need major surgery, but after the noises the chain made during post-crash testing, I need to cross my fingers for a favourable result. It needs an end of season service regardless; I am just hoping it does not need major work because of that stupid crash. It is only about 10 weeks until I leave for Melbourne and I am watching the expenditure very closely!

I also had the pleasure of going to the lawyer today to sign a new will, and having to order a new pair of glasses to replace the ones I lost in Wellington last November. Nice boring personal admin tasks make a change from packing race bags, mixing electrolytes and ticking race checklists.

More later, neck is over typing for today.

Ouch!

Ouch!   This fantastic word sums up my level of pain and discomfort beautifully.  I have been tortured by the doc at the local A&E clinic and then spent an hour being thrashed by my sports physio, Warsha.  I have been told to expect quite major bruising (my teres are screaming already) and that I'm not allowed to swim for at least a week.  Running can recommence once my hip and lower back stop aching, and I can stationary bike when the spasms subside.

So, the running tally of what Mr 510 owes me by the end of this week will be:

A&E bill - free (lucky we have a good subsidised A&E down the road)

New Helmet - $75

Physio appointments $45 (plus next week $30 and maybe the week after as well $30)

Bike service - $70 (plus fixing anything that's broken which I suspect will involve a new chain = $$$+++)

Four minutes of my life and added onto my race time because of his stupidity - priceless

That guy is, as my father so eloquently put it, a dumb bum.   

Can't type much right now so using a speech to text converter programme for this entry (and spell check).  Thank heck I'm a geek and can find such wonderful tools.  Of course, I shouldn't have to.  I should be walking around with a bit of post-race stupidity instead of more injuries than you can shake a plaster cast at - but that's life when some dumb bum takes you out in a race.  What did he think I was, his bloody direct competition or something?  What a tool.

Time for food, catch you all later.

Tri number seven - a smashing good time

Tri number seven will go down in history as the day that competitor 510 decided to be a total galah and take me out on the bike turnaround.  He deserves nothing less than disqualification (or at the very least a time penalty) for deliberately trying to overtake around a cone, on the inside, when there was clearly no room to do so, and at speed, despite being warned by the marshalls to slow down.  Bastard.

Here's what happened.  I had a fantastic swim (2:07), despite there being so many peope in my event that they had to split the boys off and get them to swim first (suited me fine).  I also had a quick and pretty great T1.  I got on my bike with the help of some nice patch of kerb and headed towards turn one.  I got to within cooee of turn one, having changed into a perfect gear and slowed down to make the hairpin turn.  I looked back to make sure nobody was coming up behind me, and heard the marshalls yelling at a bunch of guys to slow down.  Typical.  My front wheel rounded the turn cone, and then out the corner of my eye a bike came flying at me from my right. 

Some flaming mongrel decided to try and overtake me on the inside of the cone when I had right of way around the turn and there was clearly no room for him to do so.  His front wheel hit my right foot on the pedal, then he shoved me out of the way and kept going, riding straight over my bike.  I hit the ground on my left hand side, the back of my head smashing the concrete and my hip smashing the ground.  Lucky I had put my gloves on, as my left palm scraped the ground too.  That flaming mongrel then just kept on going, not so much as even a backwards glance to make sure I was okay.  I had fortunately unclipped when I hit the ground (automatic de-cleat), but not before my left pedal stuck itself in my left shin when the bike fell on me. 

I was scraped up by a marshall and was bloody furious.  I had to leave the course and go to the rescue van, then re-enter the course at the point of exit.  This little extra bit of fluffing around cost me four minutes.  I got back on my bike after many curse words directed at Mr 510 and pedalled on.  My hip and hand hurt like hell, and I still had 7.5km to ride.  I rode on, passing the flaming mongrel on my way to turn 2 and hurled abuse at him in my head.  I was dreaming of broken bottles, banana skins and z-nails appearing in front of him but my mental powers were not cooperating and I had to save my energy for the rest of the bike and run.  At the very least, the smash caused the adrenalin to kick in and I was averaging 27kph out of anger. 

I got back to tranistion and was back out again in under a minute.  I got off my own bike by myself with no help, despite the pain, and after changing my shoes and removing my cracked helmet, I took off on the run.  I ran over half of it, out of anger.  I was so angry with that flaming mongrel that I wanted to find him and push him off his bike, then remembered I am a nice person and don't do violence.  Instead, I just imagined violence in my head. 

I finished the run in immense pain, but I think I've done the event in about 54 minutes.  I could have achieved my goal of sub-50 if it wasn't for that flaming mongrel.  I made a report to the race officials but expect that the prick will get off scot free. 

But, there's always karma - and it's coming to get you, you flaming mongrel, one day, when you least expect it. 

More later, have to go to A&E and get checked out.

Pride (in the name of tri)

It's suddenly dawned on me today that tomorrow I am doing my seventh (yes, SEVENTH) triathlon.  I am bloody proud of myself.  And did I mention that I've done these first seven triathlons in just four months?  NO?  Oops!

Crikey!  I remember going to collect my race pack at registration back at what should have been my first tri in 2004.  Sadly, a couple of weeks beforehand I had dislocated my left kneecap for about the 20th time and had to go pick up my race pack, then go home and open it without the thrill of doing the tri the next day.  That sucked.

The next year, in 2005, I was all set to give it another go, but got told not to by a bitch of an "orthopaedic surgeon".  Incidentally, this surgeon also told me surgery was not an option for me and would only make my left knee worse and I'd never do any sport again regardless of having surgery or not.

So, Mrs Know it All "orthopaedic surgeon", take your stupid opinion and shove it where the sun don't shine, because I'm doing my SEVENTH triathlon tomorrow morning.  HA!!!!!  Oh yeah, and another surgeon did the op and my left knee has been just like a bought one since 2006, you silly woman!!!

So, tomorrow I'm doing lucky number seven.  Three, seven and nine are my lucky numbers - seven being the best.  Tomorrow's date adds up to seven.  Tomorrow's tri is number seven, and my race number is 333 - which has threes in it and adds up to nine.  Whoop-ass! 

I'm feeling good.  I have a protein shake and a choccie milk to consume before bed.  I have to get up at 4am and eat, then jump in the pre-packed car to pick up Packy.  Then it's off to Mission Bay, to setup transition, take photos, hang around, then go kick my own butt! 

Rock on.

Medal number three - and Drymax socks

I finally have medal number three in my hot little hand.  Sad thing is, I don't really care about it.  Yes, it was hard earned.  Yes, it was given to all finishers.  Yes, I finished and I deserved it.  I spent $14 getting it engraved, but it's sure as heck not my favourite medal.

However, I'm still miss cranky pants about the swim leg and I've made my thoughts known in the official post-event survey.  I bet they are ignored and nothing happens as a result.  But, at least I got to vent my frustrations at the piss poor planning - and that's what counts.

On a positive note, Sunday was my first race with Drymax socks.  They are the shizzle!  Normally when I change from my bike shoes to my run shoes my socks are dripping wet.  Not anymore, Drymax socks are amazing.  I hauled off my bike shoes and the socks were almost bone dry.  After finishing, I took off my shoes and again, the socks were dry.

Hells bells, I thought, I wonder what they'll be like when they come out of the washing machine?  So, it was off home to wash the socks and guess what?  They came out of the machine about 80% dry and were dry on the line in half an hour with a mild breeze.  Dude!

Sure, they cost $30 a pair but they are so worth it.  NO "under my big toe" blisters on the bike.  I have never had running shoe blisters but definitely won't in future, and I must go buy more of these socks.  I thought my Thorlos were good, but these creatures are much better.

Go get some today.  You'll be glad you did.

A good hiding

Today my muscles got a good hiding. I had a new sports masseuse today as Kirsten is in Japan for a few weeks. Marcus is awesome - I can actually move my arms and shoulders again, and my calves and Achilles don't want to kill me. Great work. I'm being mobilised again after my event on Sunday by the good people from Bodyneed, and again on Thursday next week for an end of season session with the massage company who come into work each week.

I know I'm going to bruise after today, it was bloody painful. But, I needed it, and as Kirsten frequently says, I have to harden the hell up. I did it to myself, so there's no sympathy! LOL!

I'm looking forward to Sunday. I want to beat my time from the first time I did this course. I would actually like to blow it to hell, but as long as I am under that time I'll be stoked. It WILL happen. I think I can seriously kick some butt on the bike leg now, given that it's flat tomorrow and I now have cleats and shoes (equals more power and speed). I'd like to average at least 25kph (would mean about a 16min bike including mount/dismount time) but we'll see - hopefully the wind we had this week dies down and everything goes my way.

I'm thinking about:

Swim: 2 mins 30 or less (did the last one in 2:17 so all good)

T1: 3 mins max

BIke: 15-20 mins

T2: 2 mins max

Run: 20 mins or less

Total: 47 mins. 50 mins is my goal, anything less is a total bonus.

Off to go visualise the course and the race itself :-)

Sunday’s epic FAIL

I am not going to do a post-race analysis of Sunday’s epic FAIL as there is just no point. I cannot learn anything from the event that will be of use in future, as I will not be doing any more events organised by those people – I am moving to Melbourne!

So now, it is all about focusing on my last tri for the 2009/2010 season. I have five more sleeps until tri number seven. I need to eat and drink properly, get lots of sleep, do some “lite” training, and try to get rid of this dark mood.

In a better mood? Maybe not.

I have absolutely NO race photos from Sunday. Not a single one. Why? Because apparently the photographers were too busy with Xterra and the Real Womens Duathlon, and to quote a staff member from the organisation responsible, who was really quite curt on the phone...“we can’t order them to turn up”. While these are logical reasons, I do not think it is good enough given the amount of money paid in entry fees. The organisers knew months in advance what the dates were for the series.

Just how hard is it to find another photography company? It is not very difficult at all, if you are organised (I know a bride who had to find a photographer in the height of spring bride season with two hours notice – and she did it, successfully). I know at least four photographers in Auckland (two that I went to high school with, and they are amazingly talented), and they are amazing. They take better photos than the pros do.

Gees, if I had known there would not be official race photos, I would have made sure someone came along to take some (not that I had a whole lot of time to organise someone anyway). Thanks to piss poor planning, we have no downloadable finisher’s certificates, no pretty pictures…in fact, other than a time hidden away on a website and yet another medal and towel, we have no proof that we even did the event. Oh yeah…except for the cuts on my feet.

Bring on the post-race survey, I will not be kind – I will be brutally honest.

what a crock - thank heck triathlon number six is over with

Warning: this blog is not pretty. I'm having a vent below, you have been warned.

Today's triathlon (number six this season, and actually my sixth one ever) was a total crock. Excuse my gutter Italian from here on in, but it was. I was so close to pulling out before the swim start that it wasn't even funny. I wanted to just pack up my 'merda' and go home. I'm no quitter - but this nearly changed today. 

Why? The "swim" was an absolute bloody joke. We were meant to start at 8am. At 8.15am we were still trudging out through mud and slippery rocks and shells to get to water we could actually swim in. Low tide was definitely low tide, and it was a good 300m hike out to somewhere that my knuckles wouldn't scrape the bottom when I swam. We couldn't hear the wave starts, by the time we got to actually swim some ladies were just about had it, and we still had 14.3km to go. What a crock.

It got worse. Not only did we have to trudge out, we then had to swim around a buoy 300m away (that part was fine), and then trudge back in about 200m. What a pezzo di merda! Then, when we actually managed to get back on dry land, we had to run across a stone chip road in bare feet. I cut the sole of my right foot on a submerged large sharp rock on the way in from the swim, and was pretty darn angry about it. So much for assuring our safety.

Let's just say that there was very nearly a mutiny in the knee deep water when we all realised how far out we had to go, and what we had to walk on and through to get there. It was crap. There were some really angry ladies out there, myself included. Makes me glad I'm moving to Melbourne in under three months and never have to put up with that kind of stunt EVER AGAIN. The words "piss poor planning" don't even begin to cover it.

I took my time in T1, as I was in no mood to push myself after the farcical debacle that was the "swim". I had to patch up my foot as best I could as there was no St John or first aiders in sight (great planning again, NOT!), and then got into the bike. I rode the bike course last week, so for me there were no surprises. I don't think that can be said for many of the other ladies who were pushing their bikes up most of the hills. It was a nasty bike course for a first timer, a nasty bike course for a semi-fit person and a nasty course for any woman in the "Athena" competitor category (i.e. over 70kg). 

I did pretty well in the bike, considering. I got through the bike by drinking at the top of each hill, chewing on Gu Chomps in blueberry and pomegranate flavour (yum, just like wine gums but better), and singing "it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll" (AC/DC) through clenched teeth as I ascended each undulating roll in the road. I just had to grind it out. My legs really didn't need the extra 550m worth of walking to and from the swim, let alone the cut foot. Thankfully my pedals and cleats don't really allow me to get off and walk up hills, so I had to push on.

I still have a mild panic attack every time I can't clip out of my pedals instantly, but I'm getting there. The only time I had to clip out was at the end and that went okay. I hate having to mount my bike without a kerb or something to lean on. Someone always has to hold my bloody bike for me. It's a hangover from that truck incident back in January. But I have to get over it.

And then there was the run. Yet more poor planning and a last minute run course change meant we had to run about 1.8km of it down the beach. Yes, on loose dry sand. Crock number three. And because the tide was so far out, it was on a downhill lean. My ankle ligaments started to complain so I went to ground that was as flat as possible. 

My time was abominable as the proverbial snowman:

Swim + T1 

00:19:32 

Bike + T2 

00:37:30 

Run 

00:39:10 

Total 

01:36:12 

But, it was the longest course to date (by the alleged/advertised distance and then the actual distance), I had a cut in my foot, and no supporters waiting at the finish line. I only kept going because the suffering I endured for that 1hr 36mins was nothing in comparison with what the people of Chile went through on 27 February. I am proud to say I earned every single cent of the $125 I have fund-raised for the Red Cross for the Chilean Earthquake relief fund, from today's triathlon. It was 14.3km of bloody hard work but I kept going and I finished.

I'm going to finish this post tomorrow, when I'm in a slightly better mood. 

Ciao.

Race plan for tri number 6

My sixth-ever triathlon is on Sunday and I am relaxed about it.  I have driven the bike course twice, got it on video, tried out the run course, tried out the swim course and checked out the course maps again today.  I know the area pretty well now, and I rode the bike course last week so no surprises there for me.  I think I am prepped and ready to roll.

I do have one question though – why the late change to the run course, and are we really running on sand for two half laps…what the hell?  That will totally slow me down!

Registration is tomorrow afternoon and swim coaching is off for two weeks due to the school holidays, so I have time to keep sorting, chucking, packing boxes, get my hair done (finally, only got three months of re-growth!), go visit my favourite scrapbook store and whatever else my heart desires, e.g. perhaps a pedicure and a latte.   

My plan for tri number six is as follows:

Setup:

Gear up and fill up car the night before

Put on timing chip before bed

Get up at 5am and eat breaky

Leave home at 5.45am

Get there very early i.e. 6.20am for a good bike rack position I can actually find. 

Pan of water for feet for transition with 1L bottle of tap water.

Ventolin, symbicort, gel in bento box on bike, with spare band-aids, and antihistamine.

Swim:

Approx 7 minutes in the water, preferably starting in the water and not a beach start.  I hope I get a good wave number. Have caffeine gel before swims start and slug of water. Swim the whole thing

nonstop and without a kick in the face. 

T1:     

No more than 3-4 minutes in T1, less being better obviously.  Pity about having to cross the main road to get to T1.  Wash feet (bucket), dry feet, socks on, bike shoes on, race number belt on, helmet on, sunnies on, gloves on, run to mount line, get on bike and ride.  Have a plain gel on outward leg.

Bike:  

11km of roly-poly hills, so probably around the 33-36 min mark including mount and dismount.  Not go too hard on way out, race down hills and flats, spin in high cadence up hills.

T2:     

Should only be 2 mins.  Rack bike, off with the bike shoes, off with the helmet, on with the running shoes, grab cap and water bottle.  Bike gloves off, cap on, run top on and turn race belt around on

the run.

Run:

Run the first minute, and then walk for two.  Cross the main road a few times. Repeat until 3km is done.  About 30 mins.

Total event time:

I am thinking about 1 hr 18-1hr 20, allowing for worst-case scenario bike ride of about 36 mins.  I have NO idea what I did it in last week, which does not help with my planning.  However, the longest bike time last year was about 55 mins and the average around what I want to do it in, so I should be fine with my 33-36 mins.  The longest times last year were around 1hr 39 so that gives me a 19-21 minute window before coming in last. 

I will be virtually flying down the flats and the last couple of hills.  The bike is where I make up the time I lose in the swim and in transition, and where I give myself a bit of a lead on the run which I end up losing when people who can run go past me. 

  

This is my plan, now it is time to make it happen.

I think I'm gonna move to Australia...

I am delighted to be able to announce that on July 3rd this year , I am finally crossing the ditch and realising a dream I have had for eight long years.  I am FINALLY moving to Australia! 

I could not tell you that lovely piece of news last week, as I had not yet resigned from work and made all this public knowledge...so sorry about that.  Now that it is out in the open, I can finally recount my excitement over the next four months or so as I embark on a triathlon of another kind – packing, flying and settling in.  Of course, there will still be lots of training updates and triathlon stuff in this blog.  To forget that would be criminal.

I spent a lot of time in Aussie as a kid, mostly in Sydney on school holidays, and have more happy memories there than I do in New Zealand.  Aussie feels more like home, and I am going there to make some more happy memories…finally.   I have just 12 weeks left in NZ, and that is pretty exciting – yet scary at the same time.  So much to do, so much to see and so little time, I think it is about 85 sleeps away now.  I have one more weekend away, in Rotorua, so I need to make the most of it.

It is starting to dawn on me that I have to find new everything.  A new supermarket, a new bike store, new triathlons to do, a new place to make my workday latte, a new department store or three, a new post office, a new bank branch, a new doctor, a new chemist, a new physio, a new sports masseuse, a new pool, a new gym, a new hairdresser, a new fruit shop – the list is never-ending and it’s all about new, new, new.  It is a wonder I have not gone crackers with all this newness. 

The list of things to do between now and then has morphed into an entire project plan.  Everyday I think of something else (or many things) to add to it, just in case I forget something.  I have always been a paranoid list maker and have to check everything like three times (it is an OCD thing that I have).  Everything I do is checked; double-checked and checked a third and final time because it is then “third time lucky” as they say.  Three is just one of my lucky numbers; the other is seven, so the third day of the seventh month is a good day for me to move.

I will finally be joining a triathlon club when I arrive, as well as Triathlon Australia so I can get a race licence, which you need to participate in triathlons.  I have a club picked out and it is close to where I want to live.  Well, that “where I want to live” is actually my second choice as the first choice is too expensive for me at present, and I want to live by the ocean again.  I also have a gym picked out and I’d love to work there as well but only time will tell if my NZ qualifications will transfer straight across to an Aussie one or if I have more work to do.

Last weekend, I was spring-cleaning, chucking, and packing like mad.  I bought six boxes, two rolls of tape and a bag of bubble wrap a few days before Easter.  I have packed and sealed two boxes, 80% packed a third box and have designs on finishing that box and box numbers four and five this weekend.  Unfortunately, box number seven will be coming home with me this weekend as I have a rather large Mexican Sombrero (from Tijuana), a tent, a wind trainer, a meditation seat and a few sleeping bags to pack and my current boxes are too small.  Fingers crossed there is no box numbers 9-12, but I can stretch to eight if necessary.

My biggest dilemma right now is how to ship my bike.  Do I take a chance and take it on the plane and hope like hell I get everything into my checked baggage allowance of 30kg  (thanks Emirates, you guys rock!), or do I ship it airfreight with the rest of my stuff?  If I am over the baggage allowance on the plane, it is $20 per kilo.  The volumetric of my bike box will be at least 37kg so best it goes on the plane and the summer clothes go in a box airfreight.

This requires thought - catch you all later, my brain is over it and it's time to sleep

Hamthrax

I'm glad I've had the current version of the Influenza shot - but if what I've felt like for the past week since the shot is what a mild dose of dead H1N1 feels like then hell, a full dose really must be like death warmed up in a microwave.

It's day six since the stab of Hamthrax, and I am now sporting a lovely bruise over and around the injection site, which is still tender.  Joy...I've also been having breathing issues for the past week, so whatever dead crap they put in the vaccine sure didn't agree with me.  Glad it wasn't live crap in the vaccine, but may as well have been for all the good my workout felt last night at the gym.  I had trouble breathing on the bike (only level 7 hills at 85RPM, nothing new there) and on the run (meh, nothing new there either), and while doing my core stuff!  Like, WTF?  Since when does core get me out of breath?  Since NEVER!  

I'm banking on being better by Saturday (race rego) so I can go blow the doors off the house of pain better known as tri number 6.  I'm really starting to get quite laid back about tris now - which reminds me...need to print a race checklist for Sunday - and only just realised that today is four sleeps from race day.  I've got evening lane swim tonight, so will go do what's in my training plan (only 500m tonight plus 125m each for warm up and cool down) then have a nice hot spa and a stretch before coming home to have my protein shake and some carbs.

Tomorrow I have to enter triathlon number 7 and the 10km at the Rotorua Marathon, and I need a new pair or two of Thorlos as one is not enough.  Semi-expensive week, but all worth the money.  Once that's done, it's off for another bike/run brick and more core work.  Will have some pre-exercise asthma meds tonight and tomorrow (and on the bike on Sunday) just in case that's fired up from the Hamthrax.  I know the documentation said I'd probably feel like crap for a couple of days but this is just going on too long and is starting to annoy me.

Nothing much else to add right now, so I'll leave you with this thought from my friend Eliza:

There comes a point in your life when you realise who matters, who never did, who won't anymore... and who always will. So, don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

putting the fun back in Funeral

Today we said goodbye to Knowlesy. It was without a doubt the best funeral I've ever been to (and sadly I've been to more funerals than I've had birthdays). Today put the "Fun" in funeral - we laughed, we cried, we laughed, we laughed some more.


To put it in better words, here's today's Facebook status update:
Annaliese is pleased Knowlesy had a great send-off. It's not goodbye, it's see ya later mate. See you on the other side dude, and if I'm about to do something dumb can you please send a sign in advance? Cheers!

A few things I've learnt in the past few days

• life is bloody short, make the most of every second
• do it now, don't wait until later/tomorrow/next week or month or year
• enjoy your friends and family while you can, for tomorrow they may be gone

If there's something you have been putting off doing, waiting for the right moment, well - sorry mate, there is no right moment. Just go do it while you still can.