21

My 21st birthday was on Saturday although I started celebrations prematurely the previous weekend with 7 of my girlfriends at Meccabah in Broadbeach. We had the most amazing banquet of Moroccan food and I was so fortunate that they were all able to celebrate with me. They are not athletes themselves but are always so supportive and understanding, organising catch ups around my big training days and races. I ended the night after I won $95 dollars on the roulette at the casino (on number 21), ready to spend an 1hour and 40minutes in the hills of Nerang forest with Emma, Liz and Daniela the next morning. That run was the start of a very big training week. I did a few new things and surprised myself when I was able to consistently back up from solid sessions, definitely not easy but I am satisfied. I’m going to be expecting more of these tough weeks - minus the dumbfounded look I have given Craig a few times recently :) New challenges always await and I’m happy to keep learning. 

The rain pelted down on the morning of my birthday so Emma and I were relegated to the AIS gym with ergo and treadmill the flavor of the morning. A cafe stop and swim later I was able to relax and was totally spoilt. 21 is pretty special and although my plans to Mount Tamborine with Josh were ruined by the rain, I had a great day.

University begins this week, time to get organised! 

 Mother

some lovely friends

21

Thanks Josh

Home-made cards are the best!

Thanks for reading.

Geelong

I am not stupid, I have realistic expectations. I do not expect to break away in the swim behind Teresa Adam and Emma Moffatt but I certainly do expect to be in the main pack. Despite some rough and tumble and arm locking with a couple of other particularly aggressive 'not to be named' athletes, I am not making any excuses for my underwhelming position coming out of the swim....just some extreme frustration and disappointment from within myself. To be completely honest I came to the start line quietly confident in my progressing pool swimming and some new found skills I’m continually learning from my coach Craig Walton, king of swim/bike in his day...which wasn’t that long ago! Due to positive reinforcements in training across all three disciplines, I came home from Geelong particularly disappointed, feeling that my race was not an indicator of how I have been training. I started the year in Geelong last year with a sub-par result and my year got better each race, so let’s hope that happens again. I’ve got my first race of the season out of the way and I already know some things I will do different leading into Devonport- which I will get more rest heading into anyway. Because it’s an Olympic year, I guess everyone gets a little bit more intense (even crazy perhaps ;). People will be continually making judgments about ALL athletes, I am lucky that my Mum, Dad, Craig, Josh, friends and family all believe in me so I’m very grateful and I don’t have to worry about others. I am ready to have a successful and enjoyable season.

Congratulations to Emma Moffatt and Liz Blachford, Gold Coast counterparts, who placed 1st and 3rd respectively, great to see them both on the podium. Despite some of the terrible Geelong weather, flight cancellations, tedious travelling and a not so great race, it was made a whole lot better travelling and rooming with Moffy, one of the best athletes in the sport but always fun for a laugh.

Thank you for reading.

Race Time

At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to gain the support of Milani Cycles, an Italian based bike company. The company origins go back to 1927 when cyclist Natale Milani started creating his first frames. The family history continued in 2005 when Natale's son, Celeste, decided to build the business up and create a modern company. All the frames are handmade in Italy, with a passion behind the business that you don't always see with the massive manufacturers.

Considering the promptness of Celeste Milani, it’s hard to believe he lives thousands of kms away, working away in his Italian factory. When my rear Ambrosio wheel was damaged in transit, Celeste had another shipped to me in under a week, no stress! The bike is now ready to go for my first race of 2012, with my last ITU race being in Lausanne for the WCS....it’s been a while! Emma Moffat and I have been training together under the guidance of Craig Walton and we will all head down to Geelong tomorrow to begin our season. Its finally race time and I’m excited.

Wish me luck; with people like Moffy on the line, you know it’s going to be a very fast race.

Ciao

Weather Woman

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the triathletes are trying to train! There’s no time like the present to re kindle your love for the ergo or treadmill for triathletes living on the south east coast. The start of this week began with some wild and torrential rain which decided to stick around for a while. The grass was green and the land was relieved from the harsh Queensland sun, but that wasn’t good enough apparently. Things went on as usual, although there were a few cycle and run sessions to be done indoors instead. Sitting on the ergo with the IPod blaring I was easily consumed in my own thoughts (of pain) during my efforts, momentarily oblivious to the fact  that a couple of kilometers down the road there were major road closures, school cancellations and flooded houses and buildings. Ergo is not so bad.....

Australia Day we experienced some reprieve and were able to have a good track session in the morning, under a slightly lighter shade of grey and 90% humidity :) I was also lucky we could fit in our bike session this morning, although Liz Blatchford and I copped the blustery wind which kick started the rain on our way home. I love the blue, but haven’t seen it in a while...Its coming back soon apparently!

Here are a few pictures I’ve taken myself and also some that I’ve found from the Gold Coast Weather site for anyone’s interest. Refer to the captions.

The typically calm river alongside Bond Uni pool, not so calm.

Can you see anything? Neither could I really. Riding up Springbrook

My old high school, not looking too good :(

Lawrence Dr, Nerang

The back of the Robina Hospital, a few kms from home

Forecast tomorrow is a muddy long run through the hills in Nerang forest :) Ill be back to report amongst blue skies.



If you dont like needles, dont enlarge the picture below ;)

As athletes, we obviously hurt ourselves on a daily basis during training, but one type of pain which I dont particularly enjoy includes dry needling...but it helps me so I wont complain too much ;)

I was told by my physio that she placed the needles about 4cm deep and if you have noticed the size of calves, you would probably think that is even more impressive :)
 Ouch!

New Year

2005 (I still wonder how long I raced with a massive pump and spare kit attached to my over sized bike:)

 

2006

 2007

 2008

 

2009

 2010

 2011

A few nostalgic pictures as we pass into 2012, I'm not sure what this year will bring but I have a feeling it will be an exciting one. I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year celebrations. There will be more to come as I update throughout the summer from this amazing country :)

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!