Training camp complete...with my perception of a long ride completely skewed

This year I was back for my fifth year at the annual training camp at Ocean Shores. With a significant cycling focus, a lot of pain has been dealt to Queensland athletes over the years along the roads of the northern NSW hinterland. Along with the pain comes a lot of laughs and good memories. People have come and gone, but the hills are still as steep and the banter will always continue. As you may have seen in my previous post, I was rooming with 3 ‘cool house’ guys, where I most definitely copped the brunt of their banter :) 

We eased into the camp with a ride which was actually my longest cycle for the year. After tearing my calf in September I was really cautious with my running and cycling after taking some time off, so the increase in volume on the bike was a bit of a shock to the system. Making sure I got on top of the tightness in my legs, I felt as though I improved throughout the camp and finished quite strongly. During the course of the two weeks we were lucky enough to have Sara Carrigan come in a couple of times and help us out with a hill rep set and then join Emma and I on a 3 hour ride. Sara is obviously incredibly talented and knowledgeable but also extremely personable which makes you really want to listen and learn. 

Today we had a mammoth ride from Ocean Shores through to Murwillumbah, up the back side of Tomewin to pass through into Queensland. Taking a ‘back way’ through some more hills, we finally turned on to the coast road for about 30km into a headwind/crosswind back home. The wind was blocked by about 4 sets of boys in front of me, but with my legs slowly fading away and mentally drained from being on the road for so long, I was happy to get off the saddle. With some baking done yesterday by Wilson and myself, the choc-chilly cookies and rock cakes was the flavour of the day and definitely got me through. Completing my longest ever ride without any problems was a good way to finish my 2 weeks at camp. Back into training on the Gold Coast tomorrow, although of course there is time to spend with family and friends during this festive season.

Good luck to those at camp backing up today with 5hours on the bike tomorrow ;) ouch.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Rainy Rides and the Cool House

Rooming with Mitch Kealey, Jack Hickey and 'Words with Wilson' himself, we have quickly established ourselves as the 'cool house'- believe that or not ;) 

The weather has been less then desirable throughout some hilly rides and ice cold swims, although I am very happy to report that we have all survived week one of camp!

More to come from South Golden Beach…

Moreton Escape

Since my break it’s safe to say I’ve been consistently immersed in water, although for 5 days I exchanged the black line and chlorine for some sand and saltwater and loved every minute of it. Josh and I boarded the Mi-Cat with his packed Pajero for a long awaited camping trip to Moreton Island. Ideal weather, campsite, car and company, I was set to have an enjoyable camping experience. Driving across the sandy and at times sketchy tracks, we were headed to the north east side of the island where we sought after a remote camping ground with our own little stretch of beach, far from the tourist rich Tangalooma resort. After forgetting my sleeping bag and challenging Josh on our tent layout, we set up a really awesome camp....complete with a stove top and pantry. 

This island is literally a land of sand covered in some low lying vegetation with an undulating landscape. It is so diverse and if you know where to go and have the right gear, you’ll love it like I did. I’ll let some of my pictures do the talking but I'm so glad I took this last opportunity for a getaway. Next stop for me is the annual QAS training camp at South Golden Beach- plenty of riding up plenty of hills!

 

 Josh caught the fish...

 ...I cooked

 Yabbie pumping

 Gearing up to go fishing off the rocks

 Turtle about to lay some eggs

 

My sand turtle

 

Campfire

 

Our campsite

 

Sand boarding at "The Desert"

 

Snorkeling at the Wrecks

 

Blue Lagoon 

 Baby fish

Hamilton Island 2011

I think that a picture can say a thousand words, and sometimes that doesn’t even seem enough.  I have just returned from the beautiful Hamilton Island. It was my second year back to compete in the Triathlon around the Island and the Ocean Swim at Whitehaven beach. I had an amazing time and I cannot speak more highly of the staff and residents of the Island, they are so generous and such lovely people. 

 Jimmys panorama picture 

The hills are unforgiving on the 3 lap bike and 1 lap run course around the Island so I was happy to come home with my second win at this race. The atmosphere is so relaxed which makes for an enjoyable experience, even if you’re not in your best form or physical state at this time of the year. Although I didn’t push hard on the run, I'm pleased my calf felt normal up those hills! Josh has an awesome clip of the bike course which he recorded on race day, so check it out on his blog here. 

 Nearly at the top of the final hill....

Beach Finish

Anna and I - one of the local girls who raced in a team

The next day took us to Whitehaven Beach for the 2km Ocean Swim which is now part of the Great Australian Swim Series. With the sparkling water lapping against the picturesque stretch of sand you would be a fool to pass up a swim here. It was only the beginning of a pretty special day when we were treated to a luxury boat ride back to Hamilton with some of the Managers of the Island....These people know how to travel in style. 

Getting transported to the shore of Whitehaven beach

 Swim start/finish

 Cruising home :)

Before our flight home Josh and I were able to sneak in a jet boat ride. After some serious screaming and smiling, I was soaked from head to toe but it was the best way to finish an amazing weekend away. Until next time Hamo!

I must add this picture for those that watched my video in the previous post... I was caught out ;)

Hamilton Island post-race fun.

More to come!

Globe gloom and good times

Between the swimming ,biking and running there is some R&R required and Tallebudgera was where it was at on Friday afternoon. Following the rejuvenating beach swim, I was immersed into the Metal world when I accompanied Josh to a concert at the Globe. The next day a trip to Brisbane city was in order where I rediscovered my love for Top Sushi and was spoilt to some amazing Zimmerman bikinis. 

Sunday morning’s humidity also brought an early morning run in Nerang forest with my new training partner, miss Daniela Ryf. Off we scooted (literally) to watch Taylor Cecil take out an awesome win at the Robina Triathlon.

My calf injury is no longer and it’s all smooth sailing for me, happy days. Remember to slip, slop, slap guys and gals on the Gold Coast, fine and 30 all week... yeahyeah ;)

 

AIS

I'm happy to say that I am now part of the Australian Institute of Sport. I was inducted into the program on Tuesday evening at the new triathlon base at Pizzey Park, Gold Coast. With the rich history of amazing athletes before me and the ones which I was surrounded by, I am now proud to be included in the group. The newly renovated AIS headquarters has been the base for sprint canoe/kayak for some time, now the triathlon program has moved from Canberra to join them. The bonus for me is that the centre is a couple of km’s from home so I’ve been loving the short cruiser bike ride to the gym. It’s also been good doing my gym program alongside the kayak and swimmers. It’s a fun environment and it’s always interesting to listen to some of their experiences and hear some of the things they do in training. 

Its hot, dry and windy on the Gold Coast but I'm not complaining, nothing beats a post-run beach swim! Also sending all my luck to my friends who are in the midst of end of sem exams at uni, so stressful but they're smart ;)

Noosa Mania

Noosa Triathlon festival, an iconic event every year for many triathletes. The amount of age group athletes that compete is unbelievable, not to mention the family and friends who come along for the fun. When I was in second place (in 2010) in my last desperate attempts to run down Caroline Steffan I was blown away by the amount of support by the crowd lining the streets! This year, I was one of those loud supporters in the stands.  I still competed in the swim leg for a team from the Gold Coast and I also had a jog in the legends triathlon! No, I don't consider myself a legend; clearly they had a couple of spare spots to fill! Surrounded by athletes including Chris McCormack, Ken Wallace,Troy Bayliss, Emma Snowsill, Ky Hurst, Steve Moneghetti, Bronte Barratt, Melissa Gorman and Susie O’Neill...I was clearly out of my depth, although I'm aspiring to become an athlete of their calibre one day.

Rocket Science Sports have been supporting myself and Josh for 2011 and we took a visit to their stand at the expo. They are a relatively new company to expand into Australia but they have some really cool stuff so look out for their 2012 gear!

Back on the Gold Coast and content with my $45 win today in the Melbourne cup ;) I also made some chocolately cookies which my brothers have already started inhaling.

Something new....

Welcome to my blog, a new endeavour to log my successes and misadventures through my journey as a triathlete, friend, daughter, sister, girlfriend, student, cook (?). To be honest, I am nervous in starting up this blog, but read as you please and I guess it will be a working progress for a while. I will keep this first post relatively modest and just give you a brief pictorial of some of 2011 so far. 

as it happened.... 

 Davenport ITU sprint Oceania Cup 18 Jan. 

Wellington OTU Triathlon Oceania Champs. 3rd Elite, 1st U23, March 12

Mooloolaba 5km Bolt. Love fun runs! March 25^th

 

 

Mooloolaba ITU Oceania Cup March 26^th

  

Ishigaki ITU World Cup- this picture was taken pre-puncture! Fixed the flat eventually with 20km left to ride, my race was done but I didnt want to DNF...Ran into 25th 

Edmonton ITU World Cup. First WC win!

London, where I made my debut in the World Championship Series (WCS), placing 9^th. I'm second wheel

Lausanne Elite Sprint distance World Champs and WCS race. 5th

I'm back at home now with my family and friends. I was always planning to return to Australia after Lausanne before I travelled to Beijing for the World Championships. All my races and preparation this year were centred towards my goal to try and win the U23 World Champs- this was obviously not to be. During a run session I tore my soleus and it was deemed too risky for me to try and race in Beijing. Its healing so well; the timing just couldn’t be any worse! I’ve never really been injured before so I'm learning from this experience. Heading to Noosa today for the Triathlon Festival- this only means fun! I'd also like to thank Jaimi Chisholm for designing the layout of my blog, shes an amazing photographer and artist and a beautiful friend....thanks Chiz!