Welcome to the biggest training week for The Fonginator so far; 7.8kms of swimming, 183kms of cycling & 28.5kms of running. Plus three group fitness classes and a yoga class. Phew! This week, I learnt just how much IM training can take over your life. So I apologise in advance to any of my friends & family outside of triathlon who probably won't see me for the next 8 weeks, unless you are planning to join me for some swimming/cycling/running.
BTC Girls Ride
This week was filled with lots of adventures. First up, was the BTC Girls ride which happens every Tuesday morning. If it wasn't for these girls, there is absolutely no way I would be getting up before 5am to train. It's starting to get a lot colder/darker now so this is when the HTFU strategy really kicks in. As painful as the hills around Mosman are, these girls help get my butt on the saddle each week.
LONGEST RUN SO FAR
On Wednesday, my friend Kate Murray (Death Squad) & I braved the rain & did 15km across the bridge & around Mrs Macquarie's Chair. My heels hurt big time anytime I had to run on an incline, so I had to walk a bit of it & I didn't feel very fast at all during the run. But at the moment, I am just trying not to re injure myself so I am happy to even just be running at all.
RIDING HOME IN THE HARDEST GEAR
On Thursday, Dani French (fellow BTC member) & I decided to chance the weather & head out for a ride along the northern beaches. I had to do 45km & I didn't want to do continuous loops of Mosman as we already do that on a Tuesday (and for those of you who don't know, I get bored really easily). Thankfully the weather held off & we ended up doing just over the amount I needed, although some parts of the ride were a bit sketchy at 5.30am; riding along Burnt Bridge Creek in complete darkness was a little eerie. Felt like we were in a scene from the Blair Witch Project. We got to Collaroy & turned around, and 5 mins later, SNAP! Gear shifter - GONE! I was stuck in the small chain ring, in the hardest gear & I couldn't get out of it. After about 15 mins of trying to move the chain over, take the back wheel off, turn the bike upside down & attempt to look like I knew what I was doing, we decided to just ride back & worst case scenario, if the traffic got bad & I couldn't handle the hills, I would try & hail a cab the rest of the way home. Dani & I both had to work that morning so I sent her off to rush back when we turned off the Spit Bridge & I just ticked the legs over til I got home. I am proud to say I only got off once (in Mosman, on the hill leading up to Spofforth St - a killer in granny gear, let alone anything else & I felt like I was going to fall off I was going so slow). I ended up getting grease all over the new (very expensive) rain jacket that I bought from lululemon a few days before, which I was not very happy about. But a huge thank you to Dani for staying with me, even though she had to rush to work. If it wasn't for her, I would've stood on the side of the road crying & waiting to hail a cab! If anyone has any tips on how to get grease out of clothes, please let me know. Otherwise I might try & take it to the dry cleaners.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MASSAGE
I ended up pulling a muscle in my left quad from the ride that morning so I booked in for a massage with Sharna at Mosmant Remedial Massage on Military Rd (http://www.mosmanremedialmassage.com.au). I had never seen her before but her colleague had dropped in some flyers at lululemon this week & she was able to see me at the last minute. I wouldn't have been able to handle the torture of trying to foam roller them myself. I'd much rather pay someone to inflict that kind of pain! Anyway, it was one of the best massages I've had to date. She was one of the very few therapists who knew the exact amount of pressure that I needed. My quads are extremely sensitive (I can barely handle any kind of pushing on my legs, its weird) & I have found other massages to either be too soft (I need them worked on), or too hard (where I end up tensing up the whole time, totally defeating the purpose of the massage). Sharna did some pressure point release which made a huge difference in releasing tension & just so happened to mention that I had the tightest quads she had ever seen. Oops. Better start becoming re-aquainted with the foam roller again!
BACK TO GROUP FITNESS
On Friday, I taught Body Attack - the first time I did high impact for the full 55 mins since surgery. I wanted to puke by the end but god it was awesome! I'm feeling a bit fitter on stage now, as I make the transition from low to high impact but my god, my glutes were in pain the next day!! My burnin' loins!
MCSHITTY WEATHER IN SHITNEY
For those of you who aren't in Sydney, the weather has been absolutely miserable here since...forever. Flash flooding throughout NSW making it nearly impossible to ride safely on the road. I am seriously contemplating moving to Perth next year. The rain is depressing me! But I had my big ride to do & nothing was going to stop me. I headed out to the safety of Centennial Park at 6am, ready to tackle my first triple digit ride. I saw a few Balmoral peeps at the brick session who yelled out to me & that kept me going for a bit (thanks Owain, Mary & Nicole) but by the time it was light, I was over it. I lasted almost 2hrs at a very slow pace until I was rescued by Kelli Fischer (fellow BTC member & also my long ride buddy) who took me out to do the La Perouse route (30km round trip from Centennial Park). Tracy Webber (BTC) joined us for the second Le Perouse lap & thankfully the rain held off til the end of the ride. When we clocked 103km, the heaven's opened & it started bucketing down. I dropped my bike off & then ran 5.5kms off the bike at around 5 min k's so I was pretty happy! I got home & Kelli made the most amazing omelette I've ever tasted. Exactly what I needed.
THE LIFE OF A TIRED TRIATHLETE
My friends, Jess & Jimbo had their daughter Grace's 1st Birthday Party that morning so I arrived at lunchtime to join in the festivities but by the time it got to about 2pm, I started to hit the wall. I didn't realise until this weekend just how much of a toll IM training takes on the body. After a quick catch up with my friend Elaine (who had just finished the 50km Coastal Trek & was visiting from Perth), I went home for a nap then finished off a swim set at St Leonards Fitness First. The reason I chose that pool is that it has a steam room, so I sat in there afterwards & stretched as much as I could. So good!
CAPTAIN CLUMSY FALLS AGAIN
This morning (Sunday), I had an 8km tempo run to do. On my way up the bridge stairs, I bumped into Carl & Sean (from Death Squad & Walker St Fitness First) who were doing a 10km recovery run in preparation for 6 Foot Track race next weekend. Perfect. I ran a lot faster than what I would've done on my own so it was great. I miss running with other people. Its so much more fun! Anyway, we turned around at the Opera House & as we were coming through Circular Quay past the ferry terminal, I tripped on a raised bit of the footpath & went SMACK into the pavement, arms out in front, superman-style. And the first thing to hit the ground was my knee. The result: a massive golf-ball:
Thankfully its rest day tomorrow, so lots of stretching & icing & then another big week planned ahead for training. Sometimes I wonder how I am ever going to finish this race, especially when I am going so slow on the bike during training. But I know I just have to keep digging & keep pushing harder, because it is all going to pay off on Sunday 6th May. Let's hope the weather holds out because I do not want a repeat of what the WTC did for IMNZ - cancel the race! Imagine how upset the first timers would've been? I know these are circumstances beyond our control but the devastation would be awful. Am thinking of my friend Toni Hodge who would've raced the 70.3 instead. C'mon Mother Nature, don't let us down!
Before I go, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped me train this week; company is the one thing that is going to get me through the next 8 weeks & I can't stress enough how important it is to me, both mentally & physically. You guys rock!
Thanks for reading my blog. See you next week! The way the rain is going, we're going to need more of that gold plated HTFU. Perhaps on a platter this time??
Bel
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