Her Coach Training Camp - Port Macquarie

Triathlon - 25% physical, 75% mental

Last weekend, I drove up to Port Macquarie for a 3 day triathlon training camp with my coach, Melinda Cockshutt, the inspiring woman behind Her Coach – a Facebook group that provides a forum for people to ask questions about training, racing and a means of support for one another to achieve goals.

As most of you know, I met Mel at a TriNSW Camp a few years ago and I was instantly drawn to her genuine enthusiasm for the sport and complete humbleness in her achievements. She, along with Energylink Coach Christina Thomas were instrumental in improving my running technique.

Mel started participating in triathlons in her late 20s (after the birth of her first son) as a way to 'lose weight post baby'. She has three children now and has participated in six Ironman triathlons (including 2 Hawaii World Championships). She recently won her Age Group at the World Championships in Auckland in both the Olympic Distance Triathlon (1.5km Swim, 40km cycle and 10km run) and Aquathlon (Swim/Run).To add further insult, she also competes in Surf Ironman races like the Coolongatta Gold. Yep, she is a machine and spending time with her always reminds me why I love this sport so much.

Coach Mel on her way to winning her Age Group at the World Championships in Auckland, NZ

I managed to convince 5 of my friends to come to the camp with me for 3 days of swimming, biking and running. Each session involved invaluable technique drills. We also had nutrition talks and at every training session, Mel was there to provide feedback to us individually, including video footage. This was a great chance for each of us to have a look at where we could improve in each leg.

Part of the reason for attending this camp was to help give me some motivation and a bit of confidence for the race I had signed up for; Husky Long Course. This iconic festival is always a great weekend. I've done the sprint race two years in a row and it was time to step up. A lot of my friends from BTC had entered so I thought it would be a great opportunity to have people to train with. It had been on my bucket list for a while and I felt ready to tackle the 2km swim, 83km ride and a 20km run when I initially signed up.

But the last few weeks, I felt grossly underprepared for a number of reasons; niggles that I was conscious of not making worse and generally feeling like I hadn't done enough training. A few weeks leading into the camp, I started having doubts about my ability to complete the race as best as I could. The weird thing was that I didn't have a time goal in mind, or a goal of where I wanted to finish in my age group. I just wanted to do it well and push my body as far I could. But for some reason, this cloud of doubt appeared above my head and I couldn't seem to get rid of it. I knew deep down it was probably all in my head but I needed something to help snap me out of it. Having not had a great race in Nowra a few weeks before, then making the podium for the first time at the BTC race, I went into the weekend with mixed emotions, but an open mind, ready to be inspired and learn as much as I could.

My first ever BTC podium finish (3rd place female)

As most of you were aware, we had horrendous weather conditions over Australia Day weekend; gale forced winds, torrential rain, sideways rain and generally the kind of weather that most people wouldn't dare to go outside in. People driving past us in cars looked at us like we were mental. But we still trained through it and if it wasn't for the camp, I probably would have wussed out and stayed in bed all weekend. It was very character building and I must say, I felt so hardcore for toughing it out.

Flynn's Beach - before and after!

On Saturday we did an 88km ride in what felt like spring, summer, autumn and winter all rolled into one. This included riding up Matthew Flinders Drive (which I voluntarily did twice – never thought I would do that again after Ironman). We did a short run off the bike which was ended quickly by the first downpour of rain and went inside to dry off before the next session; a nutrition talk followed by an open water swim in the Hastings River. Sunday consisted of a morning tempo run, a pool session with technique and drills in the outdoor pool and a brick session on the wind trainer (practicing fast transitions). The day ended with a great stretch at Her Coach HQ (aka Mel's house) to a Yoga for Triathletes DVD.

L to R - Amy, Me, Penny, Mel L, Mia, Libby Julie (back row); 

Chris, Coach Mel and Katrinka (front row)

On Monday, we all had to do a long run. It was so wet that all kids had their boogie boards out and were sliding down the grass hills through the water and mud! I was told to do a 1.5 hour run at 5 min k's, aerobic pace (for the non-runners, that's 50 mins for a 10km or 1h40m for a 20km). I've never been great at pacing; I always go out too fast and end up dying in the ass. One of the girls on the camp, Mia who qualified for Hawaii in her first Ironman was to be my pace runner. I was shitting myself. This woman is the epitomy of machine. Aside from Mel, she is probably the most mentally strong age group athlete I know (the other day, she had to do 14 x 1km efforts)! She was doing 4:45 min k's so I just had to keep her in my sights. Thankfully she had already run 10km before meeting me so I thought I could at least try and keep up with her! Turns out we had a stellar run together. The best run I've had in ages. It was pouring with rain but the weird thing was, I wasn't even thinking about how wet my clothes and feet were. To be honest, I was just trying to keep up with her. My legs felt so good the whole time (a feeling I have never had before). I wasn't out of breath and Mia and I just paced off each other. After about an 1 hour, I took a caffeine gel (tried a new one from SiS – it was brilliant) and somehow found my second wind. Before I knew it, I was at the end of my 1.5 hours and I had run a 15 min PB; covering 18km. I couldn't actually believe it. And the best thing was, I felt confident about racing Husky. Having the other girls out there running on the course kept me focused and although I was looking like a drowned rat, I was on a high for the rest of the day. All the negative thoughts I previously had about my training were shoved to the side and I realised it really was just in my head; I was ready to do this. 

Drowned rat self portrait!

I want to say a huge thank you to all of the girls who attended the camp, especially my BTC girls who pushed limits they never  thought possible, got out of their comfort zones with so much enthusiasm and trained so hard. They made me laugh the whole weekend and gave me the push I needed. To Mel L, Tracey Rhona, Staff and Mia for the company, to Todd for lending us his wife for the weekend and lastt, but certainly not least, to Coach Mel for always having faith in me. It makes a massive difference when someone you admire and respect so much believes in you - has honest and genuine faith in your ability - especially during your sad moments in training. The funniest thing was that when I did my first camp with Mel in Port, I was so slow, I got dropped by everyone and I had the biggest sookie-la-la. I was a snail. The comparison between my fitness level now to back then is massive, and I finally feel like the consistency and experience is paying off. What a lightbulb moment.

Five key lessons I learnt:

1. Train with people – it helps motivate you, keeps you accountable to turn up to training sessions and makes it more enjoyable
2. Learn to train on your own too – this doesn't have to be all the time but at the end of the day, you are going to be out there on your own come race day. Perhaps even imagine you have someone chasing you or you are chasing someone down.
3. Get your technique sorted – we go through weeks and weeks just swimming, biking, running and just going through the motions. Tweaking one or two things can make a massive difference, especially when it comes to swimming.
4. Learn to run by feel – I never thought I could motivate myself to run without a Garmin but when my strap broke, I started running by “feel” which I never though I could do. This has made a massive difference in my speed and now I never run in a race with a watch. You get too caught up in trying to get a certain time. I find I run faster when I am not aways looking at a watch.
5. It's all in your head – you can find 100 excuses not to train, to blame other issues for being slow and put yourself down. Having negative thoughts is normal sometimes but at the end of the day, it really is all in your head. Nobody else believes these thoughts but you. Take time to look back on what you have done and appreciate that you are doing better than you think.

I can't wait to finally finish off my Level 1 Triathlon Coaching course to get certified and start helping other people achieve their goals, just like Mel has done for me.

Two weeks to go until Husky Long Course. Hope to see you there. I am absolutely pumped!

Recovery week, Sydney ITU wrap up & counting down to Ironman

Thank god for recovery week! I still couldn't find my training mojo last week & luckily for me, it was time to taper before the Sydney ITU race on Sunday. My program consisted of two swims, two cycles & one run; an easy week. The highlight would definitely have been the spa/sauna after a 1.5km swim in the freezing outdoor pool at North Sydney on a very cold winter's night.

For those of you that aren't aware, the Sydney ITU race is an Olympic distance triathlon, consisting of a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle & 10km run. Last year, the race was opened up to age groupers for the first time & proved to be one of the most popular races on the calendar. Its not everyday you get to race in the heart of the city & for most of us triathletes, we have to travel quite far if we want to race. It was yet another amazing way to explore the best city in the world.

My friends LJ & Sarah came down from Newcastle for the race & we spent most of Saturday watching the pro women & men race. Man, these guys are fast! Olympic qualification was on the line so there were some very determined athletes out there. Watching their transitions was amazing. I love this sport so much because you always learn something new. I bumped into heaps of people that I don't usually get to catch up with, unless its at a race, so that was really fun & it was great to be amongst the triathlon buzz again. A guy I had never met before even came up to me at the Opera House & asked if I was "The Fonginator." Too funny!

We went to have a look at the expo & managed to catch up with Olympic gold medallist triathlete, Emma Snowsill who was getting interviewed after the pro women's race. That woman is a machine. Here she is showing a bit of Fonginator love:

Sunday turned out to be an amazing day. Sydney turned on the sunshine & I was absolutely pumped to race. We headed down to the water at 6.30am to watch the other waves go off. I wasn't swimming until 7.40am so by the time it came round to my wave, I was itching to get in the water. The guy at the start line reminded us not to swallow water in the first 100m. It took me a few seconds to realise what he was talking about. Haha!

As I stood on the pontoon, waiting for the wave before me to go, I looked around & saw spectators lining the wall around Mrs Macquaries Chair. It was absolutely amazing. I had ear plugs in my ears so I couldn't hear much but I faintly heard someone yelling so I turned around, and out of the corner of my eye were The Strumanator & Bel B. It totally picked me up so I started waving & getting all excited! When I got in the water, I remembered an episode of IMTalk (www.imtalk.me) that I had listened to a few months before about how to save time in racing & Coach John Newsom was saying you should try & be horizontal in the water before the gun goes off, that way you just start swimming, rather than trying to go from being vertical to then being horizontal. So I did & it made a huge difference trying to get away from people. There were about 85 or so girls in my wave & we were all chatting amongst each other when someone said, 'are they going to give us a 30 second warning?' And literally, 2 secs later, the horn went off!

I felt really good in the swim. I kept a rhythm the whole time & I usually never feel great in the swim; I just can't seem to push myself & I just don't enjoy it. But looking up at the Opera House at every breath made a big difference. It was pretty spectacular. That and not seeing any sharks. At the last buoy coming in, I felt a huge gush of water come over the top of me & it was the men in the wave after us, speeding past. I got whacked in the head a couple of times, and swore under water, but just kept swimming. I got to the stairs & everyone was rushing to try & get out (idiots). It was so narrow & could only fit about two people at a time. As I stood to run up, the top of my foot kicked the stair & I took a massive chunk of skin off my foot. I made the long run into transition (the longest transition of my life; my rack was right at the back too) & looked down to see blood all over my foot. I put my helmet, sunnies & race number on & got out of there as fast as I could.

I hadn't practiced my transitions since the Husky Sprint race in February so I was very nervous about trying to hop on my bike with the shoes clipped in. It took me a couple of goes to try & get momentum & one lady was telling me to hurry up. I politely agreed & asked if she could make me a cup of tea while I was there. Then, off I went, trying to fasten my shoe without taking any more skin off my foot.

The ride was tough. But it was amazing riding over the Harbour Bridge. My heart rate was pumping for the whole ride. I made the most of the descents by getting into my aero's in the big chain & just kept pedalling. By the third & final lap, my legs were stuffed & I was in granny gear going up the hills. Although in saying that, I was flying past a lot of men with ridiculously expensive bikes & sperm helmets. They were all so slow around the turning points. Made me feel pretty good!
There weren't many spectators as we rode down towards the North Sydney turn off, so I think I will be emailing USM events this week & request there be music or entertainment on the bridge next year!

When I got into transition, there was a volunteer who was yelling & screaming, cheering so loud, jumping up & down & so excited. I told her she should win volunteer of the day. Now, it was time for the run. I racked my bike, looked down & my foot was utterly gross. The top of my cleats were stained with blood & I wasn't planning to wear socks on the run so I spent a bit of time trying to make sure the flap of skin that was hanging off my foot stayed on (you can thank me for that visual later). I don't think I would've been able to tolerate exposed skin rubbing against my shoe for 10kms. Thankfully, that was the least of my problems. The stitch I had in the last half of the bike did not want to leave & I ended up running the whole 10kms with a blinding pain in my right side.

I was so happy to be on the run though as I felt so slow on the bike & couldn't wait to get off. There were SO many people on the run course cheering. The atmosphere was truly electric. I didn't appreciate it at the time as I was too busy trying to get rid of my stupid stitch, but it was really quite amazing. There were loads of people cheering for Balmoral who I didn't even know. I felt like a bit of a rockstar.

I have to mention Joe, Mary, Tamara & Saxon and everyone from BTC who did a great job at yelling at me every time I saw them; as well Tarnia Luck from Balance & UTS, Karen Tallis from The Hills, The Boycenators who surprised me in the grandstands and Laura Sidall & the Bondi Fit crew who were going crazy at the finish line. Nothing compares to the feeling you get when people yell out your name during a race. Its pretty special.

My run felt really slow & I just couldn't pick up enough speed so at the end of the race, I was disappointed when I found out I had gone 4 mins slower overall than the year before. Bloody triathletes, such high achievers & never seem to be happy with their results! But when I took into account the course changes, and the fact that I was training for an Ironman (not an Olympic distance race), it wasn't so bad. Ended up with a 30 min swim, 1.51 T1, 81 min cycle, 1.50 T2, 48 min run, for a total time of 2h43m. I thought for sure I ran over 50 mins but somehow, I managed to pull off 48. Absolutely shocked but very, very happy!

I crashed & burned early last night after the race. Last season, I think I competed in a race every 2nd or 3rd week so my body was used to the pounding. This year, I've only done about 3 races so it took a lot out of me. Training & racing are completely different! I think I have one more week of building up a bit more, then another easy week, before a nice little taper. The 6th May is creeping closer & closer & I think if I can get through this Ironman, I can pretty much do anything!

Congratulations to everyone who competed this weekend, to everyone I caught up with & very special mention to my coach Mel who came second in her age group in a stunning time of 2h23m. Amazing.

3 weeks til the big day! Holy s!#%@

The start of my Ironman Journey!

So I have decided to follow through with one of my new years resolutions - to update my blog on a weekly basis!

At 119 days to go (or 17 weeks), I began my official Ironman Training Program this week. When people ask about my training, the sheer magnitude of it all doesn't really hit me until I utter the words: "It's a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, followed by a 42km run." It's pretty crazy if you think about it & I never thought I would be at this stage so soon. Some say 'Why?' I say, 'Why not?!'

As most of you know, I rolled my ankle falling down my apartment stairs whilst trying to take out the garbage at the beginning of August, 2011. To cut a long story short, I had to undergo an arthroscopy under general anaesthetic in December, 2011 to remove all the scar tissue. Thus beginning a long road to recovery.

It has now been approximately 5 weeks since the surgery & my ankle is feeling so much better. I still can't run yet but I have been swimming, cycling, and teaching all of my classes as low impact as possible. I have an appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday but my physio (Mike Lee from Performance Care in Crows Nest) said it is healing really well. So under his guidance, I will start power walking this week, mixing in some intermittent skipping, to see if my ankle is up for the impact. If all goes well, and I continue stretching, massaging & looking after my ankle, I will be able to start jogging by the end of January, just in time for the Australia Day triathlon camp that my coach (Melinda Cockshutt from the 'Her Coach' group on Facebook) is holding in Port Macquarie. I couldn't be happier! Obviously there is still a long way to go but I am confident it will all be ok when it comes to race day. Unfortunately I have had to pull out of a couple of races (Kurnell Sprint on 15th January & Husky Long Course on 19th February) but I am still planning on doing Husky Sprint (18th February) & Sydney ITU Olympic Distance in April, for the build up to Ironman in May.

This week was all about consistency. I did a 12hour training week, which included 5.5kms of swimming, 5.5 hrs of cycling (2 out of the three sessions involved doing sets on a turbo trainer as there aren't any decent stretches of flat road where I live; I am surrounded by hills, which aren't good for my ankle yet), a Power Yoga class (at Power Living in Neutral Bay) & I taught Body Attack (at Fitness First, St Leonards); for a total of 13 hours of training.

One of my other new years resolutions is to do yoga on a weekly basis, which is something I have never done. I figure having just had ankle surgery, it would help with my flexibility & core training; an area that I have very much neglected! This is very new territory for me, as I have always played sports or exercises involving high impact, high heart rates, profuse sweating & being completely out of breath! I recently landed a role as an Educator at lululemon athletica & we are encouraged to get out into the community & try new classes. This is such an amazing opportunity & I am looking forward to getting out of my comfort zone & trying something new that may just complement my Ironman training. If only there were more hours in the day!

I have had some much needed guidance about my eating from a very good friend & Naturopath, Catherine Pritchard (from Radiance Health Care Centre in Sydney). I have been eating very well so far & only allowing one day of indulgence a week, in the lead up to Ironman.  I am noticing a huge difference in my body already by limiting all the crap. I have cut out all fried foods (I usually eat chips at least once a week & like to splurge on my Mum's spring rolls every now & again!), no lollies/processed sugar (with the exception of gels & lollies on bike rides equal to or more than 3hrs), minimal gluten/dairy, and eating more fruit & vegetables (the latter I neglect more than I should). I also try to limit the amount of times I eat out; at the moment its 1-2 times per week (once during the week & once on the weekend). This has made grocery shopping a little more expensive but I usually make my meals for the week on a Sunday night, so I can just grab & go on my way to work/training.

Breakfasts are typically 2 poaches eggs with a big handful of spinach & some salsa; plus a banana straight after an early morning training session (within 15 mins for optimal recovery).

If I have more than one training session in a day, lunch usually consists of a starchy carb & protein (eg pesto chicken & brocolli with spelt pasta or brown rice; or smoked salmon & avocado on Ryvita; or tofu & veg with noodles & gluten-free soy sauce).

Snacks are mostly nuts (almonds & cashews) and fruit (apples, grapes, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries) or veg (carrots/celery with hummous). I also take fish oil, magnesium, vitamin c and recently, tissue regenex tablets (for my ankle) on a daily basis, which I think have made a huge difference in my recovery.

Dinner is usually a protein with veg (eg chicken or beef or prawn & veg stiry fry; sometimes a salad if I haven't had one for lunch). Again, I modify this depending on how much training I am doing. At the moment, in the early stages of training, I am limiting my starchy carbs to once a day but this will increase as my training builds in intensity.

Unfortunately, you can't always choose what you eat when you aren't at home. For example, I was out for sushi on Tuesday night. There wasn't any brown rice so I had white instead. I hadn't had starchy carbs that day & was hungry for it! I also had Unagi (eel) & fresh sashimi with tamari sauce (gluten-free).

My indulgence was on Saturday & I tried to limit it as much as possible, but I think I went a bit overboard (considering how well I had eaten all week). It involved french toast, bacon, maple syrup & english muffins for breakfast (brunch at a friends house after a killer bike session in Centennial Park), and out for dinner again at another friends house. There was cheese fondue with white bread (I don't usually eat dairy or a lot of gluten as it doesn't agree with my gut. But I have to admit, it was irresistable). I also had a couple of scoops of ice cream & two small meringues for dessert. Oops! Oh well, you only live once, right?!

This week's training highlight would have to be riding in Centennial Park on Saturday morning (cue song, "All By Myself..."). The BTC crew were out in full force, cheering me on as they whizzed past! It was awesome! But the best part was when a random stranger cycled up next to me & stayed with me during my 10 minute efforts. He was a complete stranger but we striked up a conversation in between sets & he made me cycle faster than I would on my own. Its amazing how one person can make such an impact.

I am feeling focused, determined, and ready to get to the start line of Ironman Australia in the best form I possibly can. I am so lucky have so many supportive friends (particularly from Balmoral Triathlon Club) who train with me & keep me motivated. Watch this space. The Fonginator is about to kick some ass.

Please feel free to post any questions, comments or feedback below.

Thanks for reading. See you next week!


    Wind trainer session in the garage



    Early morning cycle at Centennial Park



    Cheese fondue with The Team