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It’s turned a little bit chilly in Brisbane.     The mercury hit a paltry 7 degrees on my way to training this morning and I was very grateful for the 2XU cycling jacket (pictured above) that I scored at their recent Outlet clearance sale.   Rugged up in my thermal top (also a 2XU bargain), compression tights, bike pants, headband, long socks and singlet, I could still feel the cold whipping through me as I started my warm up.  I had pedalled no more than one hundred metres when an insistent voice in my head told me to turn around and go back home, but I decided to ignore it for another few kilometres and was able to get myself going.    Once into the actual workout itself, I was trying hard to focus on keeping my breath even and pace fluid, but right from the outset, it was just bloody hard.    I had a bit of a job on my hands selling this particular “Merv special” to myself, but I kept focused on the fact that it will help me acclimate to fatigue, especially when I get to race again.

When I got home, I uncharacteristically did not feel like heading to the gym to teach my regular RPM  and pilates classes, but once I saw all of my smiley regular participants, my spirits were lifted.   Today I had two very special participants in class – S who is partially deaf and slightly intellectually challenged and K, who is vision impaired and uses an Assistance Dog.    S has become a regular fixture in both my RPM and pilates classes every Monday and is a beautiful soul – as well as providing the benefits of exercise for him, it makes my day to be able to help out.    I was incredibly honoured to teach K’s first class, and although vision impaired, K took to pilates really well as the focus is more kinaesthetic, rather than visual.   Plus we got to take off puppy’s harness (which signals that she’s not “working”) and I got some special Labrador cuddles.

After the classes, I felt rather privileged to be involved – and felt the wonderful sense that I’m here on Earth fulfilling my purpose.

Unfortunately, that le-crap training session was more than mentally challenging – no sooner had I left, than I was down and out for the count all afternoon with a migraine.   I think my body was trying to tell me something and I missed the signal!   Oh well, a good sleep and a few pain killers later and I’m feeling more like my old self.

Does a bad training session preclude illness or injury for you (I’m also nursing a calf strain, but hoping to sort that one out in the morning with physio and massage)?

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It’s amazing how having an event looming in the distance can motivate you to set some training and fitness goals.   Now that I’ve done two Olympic distance triathlons, I’m starting to develop a plan for Noosa – and nutting out a time I’d like to achieve (and how I’m going to get there).

That said, I’ve never been one for numbers, except as a rough guide to the direction I’m travelling in.   Even in a triathlon, there are variables like tides, current, wind, terrain, temperature which affect the outcome of the race, so in terms of time, I’ve picked out ranges for swim, bike and run  - based on what times I’ve done previously – both at Noosa and in my last triathlons.   I’m really rather excited to see if I can nail them.

Many athletes are fastidious about recording their times, heart rates, speeds etc – and I’m trying to get into the habit of this so I can actually chart my improvements, but a lot of the time, I’m asking myself whether what I’m doing is getting harder or easier and adjust from there.   If I’m feeling good, I know I’m usually doing well and if I’m struggling, then I assess what else I’ve been doing, or whether perhaps a breakthrough workout is around the corner.   I’ve had enough experience with my own running to know when I’m running well and what pace I can target over a certain distance.     My goal is to run bang on 5 minute ks or slightly under for the 10km running leg of the Noosa tri.   I am going to participate in the Wynnum Twilight Run again this year, which is a few weeks before the triathlon so this will give me some idea of where I’m at.

With the cycling side of things, I’m being guided by Coach Merv.   Rather than worrying about my performance and where I “think” I should be (yup, I have a tendency to overthink sometimes), my focus is doing exactly what Merv asks  of me.  Giving over control of my training to someone else felt a bit strange but now I’ve come to really enjoy being coached – not only am I learning, but those rides are a luxury “me” time. Over the next few months,   I will be participating in some road races and criteriums and having my first crack at an individual time trial.   The ITT has always appealed to me as some of our time trial training sessions have been my most memorable – in that I don’t think I have ever pushed myself that hard.

With the swimming, I’m roping a good mate into Lane One with me down the track and trying out some of the swimming coaching times.  I’ve even started to get to know the pool staff, who wink at me and say, “you’re UQ Alumni, aren’t you?”  They obviously can see I loved going to UQ :)

All these small things make me forget about the cold pool water and help me to get in and just do it.

To sum up, it’s really  nice to have a bit of direction, but not be so nitpicky about it that it loses its fun factor.

I’ve also been teaching quite a few classes and looking forward to launching Shockwave next month with John.   We’re still trying to work out whether we are going to give each other rowing gladiator style names but it is going to be fun and yes, it’s going to be INTENSE :)

On the more relaxing side of things, I’ve been enjoying a few dog walks in the afternoons.   Usually over winter, I go straight after lunch and Lucy and I kick around a football or I play “fetch” with her.  Or, I simply sit, enjoy the fresh air and let her run around and sniff everything.    I love how every walk I give her is the best in the world to her and I love it when she’s ready for dinner and will do all of her party tricks like  shaking hands, dropping and rolling over so that meal time will come even faster!  Plus we give her a new nickname every week.  I’ve just started calling her “Corn Chip Ears” – have a look at the pic I took an hour or so ago and guess why!

What’s on your training agenda for the next few months – are you a recorder or do you go with the flow like me?

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Making the most of recovery – an “Ergoflex Mattress Review”

May 13, 2013

  Lately I’ve penned several posts about how I like to train hard and improve my performance.   However, the key to good athletic performance is proper recovery.   Adequate sleep is part of the equation – as it allows us to rebuild and repair muscle tissue and reduce inflammation.     A sure sign [...]

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Fit to be a parent?

May 11, 2013

I’m always blown away by the fact that I am the mother of two girls.   Whilst I realize that there are challenges in raising either gender, sometimes I feel the weight of responsibility in raising my girls in our current generational environment.   For example, there was no such thing as the Internet or [...]

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The Tri High

May 7, 2013

  It’s very nice to be back after “Screen Free” week and able to blog again.    I apologise for not replying to anyone’s comments in the last post or two, but I’m pleased to say that I’m back on deck with blogging. This week, I’ve been on what I’ve dubbed a “tri high” – [...]

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A “Screen Free” week

April 28, 2013

This coming week I am celebrating “Screen Free Week”, which is an initiative borne in the USA, where children, schools, families and communities are encouraged to turn off the TV (or in my case, the computer screen) and turn on life.   We have been all challenged in the LL-180 program to do so and [...]

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The cave, and an ANZAC Day race

April 25, 2013

Last week on Facebook, I was lamenting to my friends about how busy life had been and that I was needing to take some time out to spend in what I has affectionately become my “introverted cave”.   To be truthful, whether you’re an introvert or not, I think everyone needs their own cave, their [...]

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DTS Ipswich Open Race Report

April 21, 2013

  Here I am on the podium at the Ipswich Open with my grand winner’s prize cheque for winning the “D” division of the Women’s Kermesse (a fancy name for a road race that is done in circuit form, with the circuits being a little bit longer than a criterium distance).   The second place [...]

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Triathlons, rowers, sore muscles!

April 17, 2013

  I’ve been a busy little beaver this past week.  Firstly, there has been the Gold Coast Triathlon, which involved the “Sprint” distance of 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run.   So proud that I didn’t blow up in the run leg this time and actually enjoyed it.   The pic is of me [...]

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Just show up!

April 11, 2013

We’re coming into winter here and the days are shorter and it’s actually becoming a little chillier in the mornings by sub tropical Queensland standards so getting out of bed at 4am to go to cycling training is starting to challenge me. Here are a few short tips on how to stay committed. 1) Get [...]

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