Life in Austin

Natural Springs Garden

2009-09-29T20:19:00.004-05:00

Gordon and I recently signed up for the Natural Springs Garden CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share. We are in for the fall season. Each Thursday, for 12 weeks, we will receive one bushel of freshly picked produce. Apparently that is supposed to be enough for two adults with a healthy appetite for vegetables. We will see!

So I find myself eager to revive my blog, having lost inspiration since the training days leading up to IM Lake Placid, to document the produce we get each week and the interesting dishes we create from this bountiful harvest. Who knows, maybe I will re-discover my joy of blogging somewhere in one of those bushels...

My IMLP Race Report

2008-07-26T17:45:00.004-05:00

Please hit play to get the full effect of this race report... actually, if you can take your computer into the shower that would work too...

Leading up to the race I was a mixture of excitement and nerves, as expected. Last year in Arizona I pushed the negative thoughts of "I had an injury for the past few weeks, how will I fare come race day?" to the back of my mind. This year I pushed the thoughts of "I had some good training, but I really lost focus in the past 6 weeks, can I do this?" to the back of my mind. I think we're all battling some kind of confidence issue prior to race day - whether it's injury, not training enough, or maybe having trained too much and just feeling burned out. But I managed to stub out the negative thoughts, take in the beauty of my surroundings, become inspired by all the support and words of encouragement, and just focus on my number one goal for the day - to enjoy myself. Leading up to the race this seemed a done deal, how could I not enjoy myself on such a beautiful course?

Before I left Austin I met with my coaches Chrissie and Maurice. Maurice had told me to expect different challenges the second time around. That whatever difficulties I faced the first time would unlikely happen the second time. That I would be faced with an entirely new set of challenges. That two Ironman's are never the same. This proved very, very true. So here my story begins... IMLP 2008.

The Early Morning Hours

I woke up before my alarm, of course, feeling absolutely refreshed and ready for the day ahead. I made some breakfast, coffee, got dressed and we all piled into the car to head into Lake Placid. I am so happy that we stayed away from the hustle and bustle (read: triathlete crazy zone) of Lake Placid. We had a little oasis of peace and calm in our chalet in Wilmington. Unfortunately it meant that Gordon, Kate and Andy wouldn't have a base camp to come back to during the day (the road leading to Wilmington was on the bike course) but they were fully prepared to battle out the next 16 or so hours, as was I.

We arrived in Lake Placid about 4:50am. Transition wasn't even open yet, but the bodymarkers were already setup so I let them ink me with the numbers 2096 and 32. Good numbers. As soon as transitioned open at 5am I headed in, got my tyres pumped up straight away (yay, no line! and so awesome to have someone else pump them up for me), filled my aero bottle with water, put my nutrition on my bike, reset my bike computer, made sure I was in an easy gear, checked my tyres again, then I was ready to leave. Well, kind of. I always have separation anxiety from my bike before such a big race! So it took me a few pats of the bike, squeeze of the tyres, and some gentle reassuring words before I headed out of transition and down to the lake.

As Calm as Mirror Lake

I met up with the others as soon as I left transition and we walked down to Mirror Lake. It was only about 5:30am and still very quiet down by the waterfront. Most other people hadn't arrived yet or were still in transition. I was experiencing a sense of calm that was familiar from Arizona last year. I wasn't nervous, I wasn't antsy, I wasn't excited, I was just calm. I hung out with Kate and Andy for the next hour or so, had some more food and water, and just sat down and chilled. Gordon had already set himself up in prime position for taking photos. Then it was time to put on the wetsuit, give Kate a last hug, and head into the pre-swim holding pen. I found Gordon and had a few words to him, a hug, a smile and a kiss. Then I got into the water and swam out to the start line. I bobbed around for a while smiling at the people around me, floating on my back and taking it all in, watching the helicopter overhead. I still felt calm. Bang! The gun goes off, I start my watch and I'm off swimming.

An Ironman swim is the least enjoyable part of the day for me, and I love swimming! I tried to stay wide on the swim course, but inevitably wound up near the cable line, which was pretty rough'n'tumble. The usual things happened - punch in the head, people grabbing my legs, getting dunked, I also managed to give my fair share back to some of the big blokes who tried to swim over me. Take that. Yes, I still need to work on keeping my focus. Anyway... the water temperature wasn't cold and it wasn't warm, it was just right. After I'd fought my way through the more crowded part of the swim start, I noticed that it was raining and thought that was pretty cool. Swimming in the rain, I always love that. Fairly soon I was approaching the end of the first loop, I pulled myself out, ran back to the swim start and dove into the water for lap two. As I swam the second loop it started to thin out a bit more and I noticed it was still raining but at that stage didn't think anything further, just focused on being smooth and slippery in the water. Then it was the end of lap two and I was out of the water for good, yee-haw!

Down on the ground, wetsuit stripped off by one of the awesome volunteers, then back up with wetsuit in hand, feeling awesome and running downhill into transition. This is one of my favourite parts of a race, I love how strong and excited (and relieved!) I feel after getting out of the water. I looked around for Gordon, Kate and Andy but hadn't yet seen them (found out later Gordon was right in front of me!). Then as I was halfway down to transition I heard Kate and then saw her! That was a huge rush and made me feel so good. We almost high-fived but not quite. But it certainly gave me a high as I finished the run into transition.

I picked up my bag and went into the change tent. A quite well-timed power outage plunged us into darkness, which made it a little interesting trying to undress and get changed in the dark! Before too long I was out of the change tent, socks and shoes in hand. Given all the rain I didn't want to run through the mud with my shoes on and get mud in my cleats. I've had problems with that in the past and taking forever to clip in, so I figured this would be a good approach (and it was). Unfortunately no-one had my bike ready for me, but I knew where it was so I ran right over and grabbed it and made my way out to the bike course. Socks and shoes on, mount the bike, clip in to the pedals and I'm on my way. The first part of the bike is a tight turn on a downhill so we had to be pretty cautious with the wet roads. But I was careful and escaped without incident. I was feeling so pumped and happy and was smiling at everyone. I was on the bike!

Warming up

The first 6-7 miles of the bike are full of rollers that aren't too challenging but you definitely want to keep the effort easy or you'll pay for it later. I took the time to get some fluid and take a gel, settle myself into the rhythm of being on the bike, and feel how my bike was responding to the wet roads. I felt good. Then we came upon the long downhill into Keane. This would be a great section to really scream down in good weather! But with the rain I could only manage around 34mph comfortably. I wasn't wearing sunglasses so the rain was lashing at my face and eyes, and I was squinting just to try and keep sight of the road in front of me. I started feeling a little cold on this section, but as soon as we passed through Jay and took the left turn into Wilmington I started to get warm again, because... this is where the hills started! I really enjoyed the hills on the way to Wilmington, nothing was too steep and I felt fresh and strong. I found myself easily cycling past others on the uphills (only to get passed again on the downhills, oh well).

Mama Bear, Baby Bear, Papa Bear

Once in Wilmington there is a 12mi out and back section. This corner was rocking! Full of cheering spectators in their ponchos. The rain certainly was not dampening their spirits! I was smiling at everyone and thanking them all for being out there. This out and back section was my favourite - you get to see all of the other competitors ahead and behind you, sharing smiles and jokes about the weather. I went past a woman who had scratched out her name on her bib and instead put the words "Vegemite", a fellow Aussie yay! So we had a chat for a few minutes before we went our own separate ways. Once the out and back section was finished I knew it was onto the last, toughest part of the loop. The climb back into Lake Placid. I have to admit, these hills were pretty tough. None of them were very steep, but they weren't spaced out very well and so this section was very tough. My favourite bit on this section back into town was the "Papa Bear" hill - I felt like I was in the Tour de France! Tonnes of spectators lined the hill, including a devil (!) chasing us with his fork, and the energy and enthusiasm and support was so contagious. I powered up that last hill, turned the corner and started cruising into Lake Placid. Everyone was cheering wildly and I saw Gordon, Kate and Andy cheering even more wildly for me! Big grins at them - unfortunately Gordon was only able to catch my butt pedalling away from them on the first loop. Guess I was flying past them too quickly ;)

Why am I here?

The second bike loop was tough. Tougher than the 25mph winds in Arizona last year. Tougher than any of the 100F bike rides I've done this summer. Physically I still felt pretty good, but mentally I had checked myself out. I got quite cold on the downhill into Keane, and that damn rain felt like hail against my skin. I had a bit of a cry. Then I had another cry. Then I stopped at the rest stop in Jay to re-fuel and visit the bathroom - the bright point of this rest stop were the two kids that helped me out. I think they were about 12yrs old. They filled my aero bottle while I was in the bathroom and held my bike for me the entire time. They were so sweet. I gave them a big thankyou and took off towards Wilmington. The out and back section was still the best part of the loop and I kept my spirits up for the spectators, although not quite as enthusiastically as on the first loop.

Finally I was on the last 14mi of the course, heading back into Lake Placid. I had completely lost my motivation. Mentally I was broken. The consistent downpouring of rain had dampened my spirit and this is when the conversations with myself really started. "Why am I out here?". "I've done an Ironman before, so why do I need to do this again, today, in this weather?". "How can I finish the bike, get changed, and head straight back out into this rain for a marathon?". I had even sketched out what I would write in this blog post. That it just wasn't my day. That everyone would understand. I convinced myself to just tough out the rest of the bike, finish strong, and then I could be done. Finished. So I rode the rest of the bike course, went up that last hill, finished strong, and cycled into town. I saw Gordon, Kate and Andy again cheering absolutely wildly for me, and I couldn't summon up the strength to smile back at them. Instead, I gave them a sad little smile, "I'm sorry I've let you down. I'm going to quit now.". I didn't say those words but it was written all over my face. As Gordon describes in his race report, and as you can clearly see in the photo he took of me, you could tell that I was done.

I'm not done

I handed my bike off to the volunteer, grabbed my bike to run bag and went into the change tent. I sat down and one of the volunteers came over to assist me. "I just need a moment", I said. She pulled all of my gear out and I slowly started drying off, getting changed, preparing myself for the run. For some reason I just couldn't utter the words "I'm done". I thought, why not go out there and start the run and see what happens? So I finished getting dressed and ran out of the change tent, onto the run course. I started running. Everyone was cheering. It felt good to be off the bike and running. It was still pouring with rain. I looked out for my support crew but didn't see them. I wasn't surprised, they were pretty far away on the bike course and the run went in the opposite direction. Doesn't matter, I'll see them later.

I ran out of town, feeling strong and the crowds were phenomenal, calling out my name, encouraging me, pushing me forward. I ran about 3-4 miles before I started the run/walk two-step. My stomach was bothering me and I just couldn't summon up the will to run continuously. I was tired and I knew if I run/walked that I'd finish in a decent time. I was either running a solid pace of 9min/mi and easily passing people, or walking 14min/mi (I'm a pretty fast walker, I wasn't just lollygagging while I was walking!). I alternated between gels, chicken broth, cola, pretzels, water. Finally I made it to "Inspiration Station" and eagerly looked for the message from Gordon and Kate on the LCD - "What would Timmy say?". It made me laugh. It's a long story behind that message. Actually, not really such a long story. Tim is Kate's husband. His favourite saying for the past year was inspired by an infamous Australian (ps. only click on the link if you are not offended by profanity. He swears a lot. Don't open it if you're at work. You've been warned). It made me laugh, and I kept pushing on back into town.

Unexpected encouragement!

I was about 10 miles into the run when I saw Gordon. I slowed down to have a hug and a chat. I was expecting some soft, gentle, encouraging words "c'mon Amanda, keep going petal, you can do this", but instead he started yelling at me! "C'MON AMANDA, KEEP RUNNING, YOU CAN DO THIS, C'MON!" and he ran with me part of the way. Exactly what I needed, mind you :) He had also convinced a whole tent full of people to cheer for me too. That felt good. I did end up walking the ginormous big hill leading back into town. That thing was a monster! I ran the little out and back section and before I knew it I was on my way to the second loop. I was making decent time, nothing super speedy, but okay. I felt like a superstar running down that enormous hill, passing people and feeling strong. I got a lot of great comments on how strong I looked. I even managed to get a kiss out of Gordon this time.

I can do this

Then I was out of town past the showgrounds where the crowd thinned out and I resorted to my walk/run thing again. No worries. Need to keep my energy up for the finish! I passed the "Inspiration Station" again, got another chuckle out of "What would Timmy say?" and headed back into town. Only 3ish miles to go now. I can do this! When I came back into town and that huge uphill Gordon and Kate were there - they cheered me on and ran with me for about 20m or so. That was awesome! I really enjoyed that. Then they yelled out "see you at the finish!" and I was on my own for the last section into town. I still couldn't convince myself to run the entire way in, I don't know why, I just couldn't. But by the time I hit the last mile I knew I had it in the bag and I started running and running and running. I ran into the finish area, saw Gordon, Andy and Kate, ran even harder, through the puddles, towards that finish line and finally heard the words "Amanda McGregor, you are an Ironman!". That makes two for two!!!

Proud, tired, happy

I was so happy to be done. I was so proud of myself for continuing to push through on a challenging day. I almost gave up because I thought it didn't matter if I didn't finish, because I had already done an Ironman. When Maurice had said different things will happen in your second race, he was right on. I had bad weather at Arizona (wind) and bad weather at Lake Placid (rain), but I never thought of quitting during Arizona. The hunger for becoming an Ironman was too great. I seriously questioned myself during Lake Placid because I thought I didn't have that same hunger to finish. But apparently I did. Because I finished. And, I actually enjoyed parts of it too :)

I was awesome.

2008-07-21T11:49:00.003-05:00

Torrential downpour the entire day almost broke my spirit by the end of the bike. But I collected myself in T2, changed into dry clothes, thought about everyone cheering me on, and just couldn't utter the words "I'm done, I can't continue". So I put on my running shoes and headed back out into the rain for my marathon and that Ironman finish line.

It took my second Ironman to hear the words, but this time I heard them. "Amanda McGregor, you are an Ironman!".

That makes two for two. It was a completely different experience the second time. Different thoughts going through my head and I had to dig deeper to motivate myself to keep going, but I did and I finished and I had many moments out there that I truly enjoyed.

Thanks Gordon, Kate and Andy. I know it was a long, rainy day for you too, but seeing you out on the course kept my spirits high and drove me on to that finish line. Thank you.

T -16 hours

2008-07-19T14:51:00.003-05:00

I am loving my time in Lake Placid. It is a beautiful area of the country and I feel very privileged to be doing my second Ironman here. I like that it's so different from Arizona and although true inspiration can only come from within, I'm sure I will find some of it lurking out there on the course - in the small towns that we pass through on the bike that will be full of cheering spectators, the long climbing uphills that are almost always followed by a refreshing downhill, the lushness of the landscape, my family waiting for me as I come back into town on each bike and run loop, cheering wildly, and my family and friends cheering me on from afar. I can't wait! Yet I am also wildly nervous.

You'll be able to follow me on www.ironmanlive.com - they'll have the race coverage up for IMUSA and you'll be able to "track an athlete". Just search for me under my name or you can use my bib number - 2096. The page should update when I finish the swim, each loop of the bike (there are two) and probably halfway point on the run, then the finish. You should also be able to get a live video feed of me crossing the finish line!

Gordon is also going to update his twitter feed, linked at the top of the page. Now it's time for some final relaxation, a call to Mum and Dad this evening and an early night. Thanks to everyone for all of your support and friendship. I'll be thinking of you while I'm out there tomorrow.

Becoming an Ironman

2008-07-16T13:38:00.002-05:00

The water laps your toes and envelops your skin. Close your eyes. The masses become silent and your heartbeat thunders. You have planned for today, talked about today, trained for today, imagined today, dreamed today, and yet you still don't know what to expect.

Manage your day. Stick to your plan. Be flexible. Just finish. Float when your mind and body detach and watch your body move without you - pushed by the crowd, the volunteers, who lust for your finish as if it were their own.

But it hurts. And you don't know for sure why you're doing this and what it will mean when you do. And then you see it. A banner, a clock, a frenzy of applause. And you know you made it happen through whatever means and power source you draw strength from.

Becoming an Ironman, Kara Douglass Thom

IM Lake Placid - Good luck Amanda!

2008-07-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

Here is a sampling of some of the good luck wishes that my awesome training group - T3 - have been sending my way. Not to mention the emails and phone calls. THANKS guys you are the absolute best!

Just wanted to wish Amanda good luck in Lake Placid this weekend! Hope you have a great race, and know that we will be cheering for you all day long :)

Have a great race Amanda! I know you will de awesome. We will be cheering for you and sending you a lot of positive energy.

Have an AWESOME race Amanda & make sure Gordon takes lots of great pics!

Good Luck and have fun!

Good Luck! You have looked simply awesome everytime I have seen you!! Hope you have a great race and a wonderful day!

Have a great race!!! Just keep that great attitude you always have and have fun :) we'll be cheering you from here!!

Good Luck!!! Have a great race and enjoy the day..

Kick A**!

Enjoy the day. And afterwards you can join Gordon on working on your buoyancy. (Thought that was a great line from Gordon awhile back.)

Have a fantastic time!

you are going to rock :)

w00T! You're going to have a great race!

Amanda,

T3 only needed to send one person to Ironman Lake Placid...

A sniper always says... "One shot, One Kill"

You are gonna kill it girl!!

Am I ready?

2008-07-14T21:24:00.004-05:00

Lately people have been asking me "are you ready?". I hate that question. I'm sure the people asking it are not wanting to cause me to question my training - but of course it makes me think twice. Am I really ready? Have I done enough long rides (yes), have I done enough long runs (think so), have I done enough swimming (for the most part)? Do I have a good nutrition plan (pretty sure I do)? Have I developed more mental toughness during the training? ABSOLUTELY! That is the part that I have really been working on this time. If I compare training hours between IMAZ 2007 and IMLP 2008 I'm almost exactly the same. But I know I feel stronger mentally. I've done most of my long rides on my own - sometimes starting with friends, but always finishing on my own, often in 90 degree weather. I've forced myself to keep training - losing focus sometimes - but always coming back and getting those key workouts done.

It's weird because I don't have a benchmark for my progress this year, having trained on my own. When I trained for IMAZ 2007 I always had others in the group to check progress against, but this time I haven't. I also didn't really think about the IMAZ course much last year - knowing it was flat made it easy and I only worried about the distance, not the course. But IMLP is a totally different ballgame. Sure, I know I can do the distance, but those hills? I do like biking on hills, but how am I going to pull up after 112mi? The run is hilly too, and my running got off to a slow start this year with a slight injury going into the training. But my running is finishing stronger than it did last year when I had shin splints leading up to the race and could barely run.

I find it interesting how I switch between being SO excited about this race one minute, then a few hours later being absolutely terrified that it's going to be ridiculously hard? But then perversely looking forward to the hard times during the race because I want to overcome the challenges this time - overcome them and put a smile on my face and enjoy the day?

I'm not posting this to have everyone message me and tell me I'm going to be awesome. I know I'm going to be awesome. Finishing the training and getting to the start line makes me awesome. Finishing the race is just dotting the i of the ironman.

Weather is looking good!

2008-07-11T10:08:00.002-05:00

Sun
Jul 20

Sunny

77°
53°

Just finished another long swim in Barton Springs - I love that place. Wetsuit feels good!

Bib numbers are up!

2008-07-09T14:56:00.003-05:00

Hi from bib number 2096!

My number in Arizona was 2114. Does this mean I have to aim for 18min faster than last year? ...

calming the butterflies

2008-07-09T12:04:00.002-05:00

Just dropped my bike and bag off at Jack and Adam's.

I think I'm having separation anxiety already.

Now it is all becoming real!

Bike and bag ready to go...

2008-07-08T21:44:00.003-05:00

I have so many lists on the go right now:

1. Packing list for TriBike transport. They're taking my bike and one bag up to the race - they actually drive it in their big 'ol truck, saving me the hassle of having to take it apart and fly with my big bike box. The bag is full of a bunch of stuff - electrolytes, running shoes, spare tubes, CO2 to inflate my tires if I flat during the bike, bike tools to change a tire, bottles filled with suspicious white powdery substance that I probably shouldn't be flying with (it's only CarboPro - my nutrition - nothing to worry about, no performance edge for me there!), spare goggles, etc... as many things as I could pack. Some things I still need up until the race - like my bike shoes and bike helmet. Luckily I have a road bike so that I can keep riding while my race-ready, fast-looking tri bike is on its way to Lake Placid!

2. Packing list for race day. Swim stuff, T1 bag (swim to bike transition), bike special needs bag (for halfway during the bike - they put it out for you on the course and you generally pack it with things you may have run out of - like spare tubes, or if you dropped a bottle of nutrition - or something you might be really craving, like sour cream and onion pringles for me, or maybe a vegemite sandwich ;), T2 bag (bike to run transition), run special needs bag, and don't forget the post-race bag!

3. Packing list for all the things I'll need for the race minus the items already packed in my bag that shipped with TriBike.

4. General packing list for the weekend. Also keeping in mind that it is going to be cooler up there - like 25 degrees F cooler, yay!

5. Location list for where to find my marbles, in case they get lost in the coming days.

Time for bed I think...

I love watching this video

2008-07-08T18:47:00.004-05:00

I came across this YouTube video several weeks ago, a recording of someone's race at IMLP last year. Every time I watch it I get excited and nervous all at once!

Awesome 40/10 final pre-race brick!

2008-07-07T19:31:00.002-05:00

Saturday I did my final pre-race brick, a 40mi ride followed by a 10mi run in the Circle C neighbourhood. Gordon was my awesome support crew and created a mobile water stop for me along the run route. He even beeped the horn and shouted encouragement... thanks Gordon! It meant a lot to have you out there supporting me.

The weather was humid and cloudy and not too hot. The ride was awesome and I actually had a really good run - not awesome - but really good. Although my legs took about 20min to get into the running groove, they did loosen up and I managed to feel good. Circle C isn't a really hilly neighbourhood but there are definitely some gradual inclines that can make it a little tough.

A great final big workout for me, and huge confidence boost leading into LP. Only 13 days to go!

Update on attack of the Ponzu

2008-07-03T14:45:00.005-05:00

Last week Gordon and I decided to go to Uchi for dinner. It is one of our favourite sushi restaurants in town. Expensive, but the food is delicious. We enjoyed a cocktail out on the patio in the lovely evening weather and caught up on our day, then about an hour later sauntered into the restaurant, ordered some green tea and some food. We had a delicious seaweed and cucumber salad, then some oak smoked escolar. It was really good.

Then the waiter brought out our two pieces of shrimp tempura with ponzu sauce in a ramikin. Here is where it all went south, literally! Instead of asking the couple with the baby who had stopped at the adjacent table to chat and who were oblivious to the fact that they were in the way, decided to do a shimmy around them, and of course as the plate made its way down to the table, the ramikin decided to slide off and douse me with ponzu sauce! All over my brand new blouse, eeek, but thankfully not all over my white jeans (I never wear white jeans because I'm normally too messy!).

Anyway, the waiter was obviously sorry and apologized several times, the manager also came out and made sure I knew that they would take care of the dry-cleaning cost. I also made sure to check that if for some reason the dry-cleaning didn't fix it, that they would reimburse me for my brand new blouse. I was a little surprised that they didn't offer a round of drinks or some kind of discount on the bill which I would be expecting in this type of situation.

I took the blouse to the dry-cleaners but they were unfortunately unable to remove the stains. So I sent off an email to the manager today requesting compensation for the blouse and the dry-cleaning. She replied back within 3 hours and said that the check has already been filled out and is ready for me to pick up. I was very impressed with the speed of response and the overall outcome of the situation.

I would go back. Maybe not order the tempura next time though!

Life is very very bizarre

2008-07-02T12:23:00.002-05:00

When Gordon and I did Ironman Arizona last year, Gordon's brother Andy just happened to have a business trip to the US at the same time - very last minute trip - and so he ended up coming to Arizona and cheering us on in his very British style, heh. It was awesome to have him there.

Anyway, so today we found out that Andy is going to be in Houston July 16th and then needs to be in Boston July 21st... so he's coming to Lake Placid to watch me do another Ironman. Crazy! It's going to be cool having Gordon, Kate and Andy all there cheering me on. Gordon can do a hybrid British/Texas cheering thing, and Kate can channel our Mum with her cheering style! I can't wait.

WTF is FTF?

2008-06-30T19:48:00.002-05:00

So hopefully you've noticed the YouTube link on the sidebar of my blog. Perhaps you've even watched a few seconds. While I'm not going to be wowing Hollywood any time soon, and it wasn't rehearsed at all and there are moments when I cringe, I think it's pretty cool to have a video up on YouTube and I'm pretty excited to show off the product I have been working on these past six months. It was taken at my company's annual customer event in Orlando - no expense spared, private concert at Hard Rock Cafe with Barenaked Ladies, staying at the Ritz Carlton for four nights, open bar, catered surprisingly delicious food, awesome geeky badge that Gordon is now programming, and just a really fun event.

However, do I really sound like that?

IM back

2008-06-29T13:30:00.009-05:00

Gordon sent me this cartoon strip on Friday. I thought it would be a fitting way to re-start this blog. Especially considering that I will be participating in "Australian Rules football in a washing machine" in slightly less than 3 weeks! It's a good thing my Dad is an Australian Rules football coach and that I grew up around football, learning how to use my elbows, etc. Good skills to have come July 20th in Lake Placid.

The training has been quite different this time around. To start with, I don't know of anyone else in Austin who is doing this race. Very different from the 30+ people that I went to Arizona with last year! So the training has been very solitary this time - I've had people to train with but never anyone doing my exact long ride and long run combination over the weekend, and no-one else to gauge my progress against. But I feel strong and ready and excited to do this race. Training through the heat, while very very tough, has only made me stronger, and I can't wait for cooler temperatures on race day! The very best part is that Gordon and Kate will both be in Lake Placid cheering me on! I can't wait.

ACL 2007

2007-09-17T15:36:00.003-05:00

Gordon & Amanda

Amanda, Kate & Tim

Last year we introduced our friends Shelley and Damien to ACL festival. This year it was Kate and Tim's turn! They drove over from Houston Friday night and we had a delicious sushi dinner at Uchi to celebrate their upcoming one year wedding anniversary (Oct. 6th). It was a fun evening.

Saturday we went to ACL festival. Probably got there a little bit too early (2pm) as it was very, very hot and we spent the next few hours trying to stay cool! I had my first shaved ice, which really hit the spot and cooled me down for a little while. We drifted between various stages in the afternoon, sat down and listened to Stephen Marley, which was quite relaxing and groovy. It was just hot hot hot!

Of course, the true reason for being there in the afternoon (other than people watching, hanging out, or catching your favourite band) is that you really appreciate the beautiful weather once the sun starts setting. It makes it worth being out there in the blistering sun, so as to enjoy the gentle cool breeze and beautiful sky as it rolls into evening.

We wandered on over to the AMD stage to see Arctic Monkey's but I must say I am not a huge fan of that stage. It is weirdly set up on a hill, and there are even more people with chairs hogging all the space and even putting chairs in a circle, ridiculous! So we decided to go over to the AT&T stage and catch the tail end of Damien Rice and then watch The Muse. I wasn't very familiar with the music of The Muse prior to their show (knew only one of their songs) but they really put on a great show. We stayed right through to the end and rocked out to the awesome music.

Of course, the real highlight of the day was just hanging out with Gordon, Kate and Tim, and enjoying the sights of the festival.

Things I am really bad at ...

2007-09-10T12:37:00.000-05:00

Updating my blog and, apparently, relay exchanges.

I am a huge fan of the "skinny" lens that the photographer obviously used, I don't think I've ever looked so malnourished! You can also witness my terrible relay hand-off to Gordon, which was actually marginally better than my hand-off last year (thank goodness they didn't capture that one on film!).

Weekly training summary: Wk7 of Longhorn

2007-08-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

This week was week 7 of the training schedule for the upcoming Longhorn half-ironman. The race will be held on Sunday October 7th. It's a 1.2mi swim, 56mi bike ride, 13.1mi run.

So what happened to the first six weeks of the training schedule? Well, a few bits of training here and there but nothing very structured and so I find myself a little bit behind the training plan. But no worries. I'm not trying to win Longhorn, just want to use it as a way to keep training and keep my fitness level high so that I can cruise into Ironman training in Dec/Jan with a much higher base fitness than when I started Ironman training last November.

This week was my first real week of training since Arizona - I actually hit 8.5hrs! For the past couple of months I had been hovering around 4-5hrs per week and just trying to aim for consistency. This week I stepped it up and started working out according to the training schedule. Although, I did skip the 1hr ride + 7mi run this morning, in favour of a 3.3km swim, as I am feeling a slight hint of soreness in my right arch. If you recall, this is what I first started feeling during Arizona training prior to developing a bad case of shin splints. So, with the benefit of hindsight, I stayed off my feet and swum this morning and I plan to visit Performance Wellness this week (if they can fit me in!) and get working on some strengthening exercises.

Highlights of the week:
- Wed. night track workout in 100F heat!
- Tough spin class plus post-spin yoga on Thursday night.
- Awesome hilly ride on Saturday (Fitzhugh).

Hours this week:
Swim - 2h
Bike - 4.5h
Run - 1h
Core - 1h

Truly back into the swing of things ...

2007-08-05T20:51:00.000-05:00

Gordon and I raced "Jack's Generic Triathlon" today. It was our first race since the Ironman back in April. Since April we haven't been working out that much - in fact, the first couple of months were very lazy and this past month we have started picking things up again but on a much smaller scale than Arizona training. We're both pretty excited to be back into training and today at Jack's we were reminded how much fun (pain/sweat/hard-work) it is to do a race. The adrenaline, pushing yourself hard physically and mentally, and of course the camaraderie and socializing with our T3 training posse.

Jack's Generic has also become our annual "head to head". Last year I won bragging rights, and despite the fact that I think nearly everyone in our training group wanted Gordon to win, I managed to pull off another win again this year!

Both of us were a couple of minutes slower than last year, but given the lack of recent training we were both pretty stoked to have done so well. I didn't come away with any hardware this year (last year I won my age group) - I ended up 4th in my age group this year, even with the same time as last year it would have only been good enough for 3rd ... it was definitely a tougher showing this year.

It was a fun race and a fun day and I'm even more motivated to get back into full training. We both have a half ironman in early October, so time to get some long runs and long bike rides under our belt!

By the way, I think summer is officially here!

Fast forward to 20th July 2008 ...

2007-07-23T12:24:00.000-05:00

Getting back into the swing of things ...

2007-06-24T15:43:00.001-05:00

Since the Ironman I have been pretty lazy on the workout front. Not including this past week, I can count on two hands the number of workouts I have done. I just haven't felt the motivation to get up and run, swim and bike on a consistent basis. I have much preferred going out and drinking wine, sleeping in until 10am on the weekends, and just generally relaxing and being lazy. I've also been spending a lot more energy on my job and have done a bit of travelling as well. This is all well and good, but I don't like the extra 5lbs on the scale, feeling lazy and unfit, and I miss that post-workout feeling!

Last week I decided it was time to put a stop to the laziness and sign up for a couple of races. For me, I need the motivation of a race to get some consistency into my training. I'm a goal driven person. Also, as a good friend recently reminded me, I can no longer use the Ironman as an excuse for not working out ... it was over 2 months ago!

I signed up for Jack's Generic and the Longhorn Half Ironman. Jack's has become our annual "head to head" race. Last year I beat Gordon by about 1:45s. I intend to beat him again this year! I am also very excited about doing the Longhorn Half Ironman in October. It will be Austin's first half ironman distance race and it is going to be awesome. We had originally talked about doing the half ironman in Cancun, but we've decided to spend our money on a trip to Hawaii instead (and we're going to time it so that we can volunteer at the Ironman World Championships = AWESOME!).

So I am back on the training bandwagon, but I'm being careful to ramp it up slowly and not overdo it with 10hrs of working out in the first week! So this week I did 4 workouts - 2 swims and 2 runs. They were hard enough. The running is pretty brutal, I feel like a big fat slowly lazy runner, and in the pool I am working much harder than I used to, to keep the same pace. But I knew that it would be tough starting up again. Sure, I've lost some fitness, but it will only take a few weeks before I get it back and the important thing is that I am excited and motivated, for the first time in a couple of months, to get out there and start training!!!

Weekly workouts:

Tuesday (19-June): Swim 2.6km (1.25hr)

Thursday (21-June): Run 4.7mi (.75hr)

Saturday (23-June): Run 7mi (1.15hr)

Sunday (24-June): Swim 3km (1.25hr)

Total time: 4.25hr

Next week my goal is to add a core workout and at least one bike workout.

31 is not agreeing with me so far

2007-06-14T20:39:00.000-05:00

So I turned 31 on Monday. It wasn't too bad of an experience, really. Had a great weekend in Houston with Gordon, Kate and Tim, then went out for dinner with Austin friends on Sunday night - went to Mars, it was fantastic. I wasn't able to take Monday off from work, but it was a good day. A co-worker brought in a cake for me, and Gordon cooked a delicious dinner. Then we capped off the night by watching a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy, Season I. It was a b'day present from Kate and Tim. I am hooked already!

I flew out to Boston Tuesday morning. The plan was to meet with a bunch of New England customers Wed/Thu, fly to Toronto Thursday night to meet up with my boss, for another customer meeting Friday morning. Then back to Austin.

The Boston trip went really great. Jam-packed with meetings, but they went really well and it was a successful trip all around.

Fast forward to the American check-in counter for my Thursday night flight to Toronto. "Passport please"... blank look from me, then an "oh, shit" as it hit me that I had forgotten to pack my passport.

Can you really believe that I forgot to bring my passport with me? I'm Australian, for gods sake, I travel internationally all the time, how the heck could I forgot my passport???!!!

Well, I did. Apparently turning 31 is not agreeing with me so far.

My Week in Frisco

2007-05-25T02:07:00.001-05:00

This week, my wonderful job took me to Frisco, Texas (Northwest Dallas) for an internal training conference for our FAE's. I think it's pretty funny that I've barely travelled around Texas in the last 7 years, but in the last few weeks I have hit both Houston and Frisco. Bizarre! I seem to be on a tour of all the Texas cities. I guess San Antonio is next...

It has been a fun, tiring, stressful, fun week. It has been my first week presenting as a product marketer and that has posed some interesting challenges. I am no longer "one of the engineers" but instead I am in the evil "marketing group". Not that they were all horrible to me, but I definitely felt the difference between presenting as a marketer and presenting as an applications engineer.

I enjoyed meeting everyone and going out for all of the events each night. The co-ordinators organised some really cool things! Baseball on Tuesday night, then tonight we went to a cinema for the FAE awards presentation (Matrix-themed) and then to Martini Park for cocktails and dancing. There was a live band. We danced up a storm. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of really cool people.

So now I'm sitting in my hotel room at 2am, pretty tired, a little drunk, but feeling good. I am heading back to Austin tomorrow, to my gorgeous husband and Memorial Day long weekend, yee-haw! Kate and Tim are driving over from Houston, it will be a blast!

PS I tried a cucumber martini tonight. It was really good - melon vodka and cucumber essence, with a slice of cucumber on the side. Interesting taste, it was yummy!

Doing my bit for the environment

2007-05-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

Finally I have a comeback for all those people who ask me when Gordon and I are going to have kids!

Children 'bad for planet'

This is awesome

2007-05-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

Gordon was playing around this morning.

My Ironman Arizona Race Report – Smelling the Roses

2007-04-19T21:12:00.000-05:00

The days leading up to the race were very relaxed. We were originally going to fly in Friday afternoon but ended up changing flights and arriving Wednesday evening instead. I think that made the world of difference in helping me stay calm and focused and it also meant that we were able to get in a couple of practice swims and become familiar with the race site. I really enjoyed those morning practice swims in Tempe Town Lake, not because the water was so lovely (!), but because it allowed me to loosen up my muscles, get comfortable in the lake, and just enjoy hanging around with friends and relaxing. It was a great start to each day.

Inevitably the time leading up to the race passed all too quickly and before I knew it, the wake-up call, the alarm clock and my Blackberry were all singing in unison. It was 3:30am on race day. I’d actually been awake for the past 30 minutes, and every hour on the hour prior to that, but I felt really refreshed, excited and ready to go. After a quick breakfast and sunscreen application, we made our way to the car and drove to the race site. We got there pretty early, around 4:45am, and it was still fairly quiet. Transition didn’t open until 5am. We had plenty of time to setup the last remaining items: nutrition and water on bikes, pump up tires, put nutrition in special needs bags. Once that was finished, I left transition with some other T3’ers and hung out until the start of the race, chatting to each other, laughing, putting on wetsuits, more sunscreen, and wishing each other luck.

I then realized that I hadn't seen Gordon for over half an hour. We hadn’t even shared good luck wishes and kisses yet! I figured he must have needed some time on his own to collect his thoughts and prepare for the race, he tends to like being left alone before the start of races. I was hoping that I would see him on the way to the docks, or even in the water. So I made my way to the docks with Liz and Jim, who I have done most of my training with over the past 6 months. To the sounds of “Right Here, Right Now” we jumped into the water, which was surprisingly not too cold. Then we swam slow and easy over to the start line. The air was pumped full of energy. Everyone was happy and excited and nervous. The crowd was already cheering. The water quickly filled up with over 2000 bobbing swim caps. I still hadn’t seen Gordon so I yelled out a “Good luck Gordon, I love you!” in the hope that he might hear me (no he didn’t, as I found out later, but it was worth a shot!).

Then all of a sudden we were off! It felt like a washing machine in there, but I was very careful to watch for people around me. I didn’t want to get a broken nose or black eye! So I carefully swam around and through the masses. Surprisingly the mass start didn’t seem too bad and I started to settle into a rhythm. It seemed as though I fairly quickly reached the bridge, which I thought was the turnaround point, but the turnaround point was probably another 400m beyond the bridge and it felt like I was never going to get there! Finally, we got to turn around. This is when it started getting tough because all of a sudden I had a couple of men trying to swim at me. Not around me. But at me. I had to be careful about which side I breathed to, in fear of getting an elbow in the face!

I managed to finally find some space on my own again, and everything was okay for a while. I didn’t feel tired at all in the water. I guess all the swimming these past 6 months really paid off! Then finally I was at the final buoy, again more fights with big, aggressive men who were trying to swim at me, I think I may have shoved one of them and swore at another… but then I was being pulled up out of the water by the volunteers and the swim was done! 1:09:20, an awesome swim time for me and about 5 minutes ahead of my goal!

I picked up by “swim to bike” bag and ran to the women’s change tent. I quickly got changed into my bike gear – I decided to completely change from swim briefs into bike shorts for the ride. Some people do the whole thing in tri-shorts but I wanted to be comfortable. It was also quite funny how I had no sense of modesty and completely stripped down without a care in the world! I ran out of the tent, had sunscreen applied by a volunteer, had my bike handed to me and then I was over the mount line and on my bike pedaling out of transition to the sounds of the crowd cheering. It was an exciting feeling. It didn’t take long before the crowd thinned out and I was able to settle down and start focusing on the long ride ahead of me.

The good thing about a 3 loop course is that I had a lot of opportunities to look out for all of my training buddies and cheer them on when I saw them! I got passed by a couple of my T3 buddies, who are faster cyclists than me, but I enjoyed the small satisfaction of having beaten them out of the water. But still, it pays off to be faster on the bike than on the swim! Anyway, I quickly settled into a groove, pedaling steadily but not too hard, taking in my nutrition every 15 minutes, enjoying the scenery and looking out for my friends. By the turnaround of the first loop I still hadn’t seen Gordon, so I figured that I must have beat him out of the water (yay!). However, I was expecting him to pass at any moment. All thoughts of that disappeared, however, once I hit the turnaround. For some reason I had not noticed the wind that was gently pushing me out to the turnaround point… and all of a sudden I found myself pedaling into a strong headwind. So my thoughts switched more to survival mode – okay, need to conserve energy, keep the cadence high, don’t push too high a gear, stay as aero as possible, keep the legs fresh, keep drinking, eating… it was exhausting pedaling into that headwind, that’s for sure. I came to the end of the first lap and it was great to feel the energy of the crowd again and to finally stop pedaling into the wind!

I enjoyed the first half of the second loop immensely. I was probably averaging 25mph out to the turnaround. I felt fast and smooth. Then before too long I was back in the headwind again, which was even stronger than on the first loop. At this point my friend Marla caught me and we started our game of leapfrog. It was fun being out there with her. We spent the next loop and a half passing each other – I would pass her for a while, then she would pass me. It was definitely a highlight of the day to be out there on the bike course with her. I was also stoked that she hadn’t pulled away from me yet! I was so happy to get to the end of the second loop and start out on my third, and final, loop of the bike course. Again, it was fast heading out to the turnaround point, then again almost at a standstill coming back. I didn’t even stop for my special needs bag, as I hadn’t got any flats and the idea of Pringles wasn’t as appetizing as I thought it would be. This last part of the ride was tough. The wind had really picked up by now (up to 25mph with 35mph gusts) and I was just slogging it out, trying to get done. I remembered the pre-race advice from my friend Mike, who told me to make sure and look up and smell the roses from time to time. I did try that. I looked up to see the roses and muttered to myself that there weren’t any bloody roses at all. Sorry Mike, I tried!

Loop 1 – 17.32mph
Loop 2 – 18.79mph
Loop 3 – 14.79mph

Eeek, that third loop was sloooow!

After a long 6:35:12 I was finally off the bike, yeah! But what was this? My lower back was killing me. So I walked through transition, picked up my "bike to run bag and headed over to the change tent. I wasn’t as spritely as my previous run through transition! I saw Dr. Chris Seller’s by the tent, he had been treating me back in Austin for my shin splints over the past month, and he told me to get on the table and proceeded to do some active release therapy on my lower back to loosen it up. After a few minutes I felt so much better, got changed in the tent and was good to go!

It was only now that I finally allowed myself to think about running a marathon. All during the bike the thought would come in to my head “shit, I still have a marathon to run!!!” but I would keep squashing it and focusing on the task at hand – cycling. But now, with just the marathon ahead of me, I finally started to think about it. The bad news was that I realized that I could walk the marathon and still make it by the cut-off time of 17hrs. Not the most positive way to start the marathon!

I started running and didn’t feel too bad. Tired, yes, but nothing hurt. I caught up to one of my T3 buddies who was on the start of his second loop. He was walking. I think I saw that and sub-consciously registered that if one of the fastest people in my group is walking then it’s okay if I walk a bit too. Thus started the battle of the run/walk for the next 25 miles. When I was running I was holding a pretty decent pace, but I would suddenly find myself walking for no reason. I’d see a hill and decide to walk it, or a rest stop and decide to walk through it. Right from mile one I threw my nutrition plan out the window, thought “what the hell”, and started drinking the cola, the chicken broth, and eating cut oranges. Those oranges were the tastiest food I’d had all day… delicious! But I was still sick of being out there and just wanted to be done. I tried to walk as fast as I could when I was walking, but I really should have been running. I know I had enough strength and stamina to run that whole marathon, but mentally I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I saw Gordon on each run loop. I think he knew I was hurting because every time he saw me he would yell out some encouraging words. I remember saying something like “I hate this, I just want to be done”. Mentally I had checked out. He looked good. Tired but strong and determined. I tried to make encouraging comments to people around me, saying quite a few “good onya mate, looking strong there”. One of the more exciting parts of the run was at the end of my first loop when the women’s leaders ran by me. That was pretty cool. Except for the fact that I still had two loops to go. Somehow I made it through and finally I was out on my final loop. It was getting dark then, still reasonably warm and windy. I kept plugging away, running, walking, head down, cap pulled down, trying to wave at people when they called my name, thanking the volunteers at the aid stations. Around mile 24 I realized that if I kept running I would beat 13 hours. But then I talked myself out of it and thought, who really cares, isn’t 13:15 good enough? That means I can keep walking! Then I realized that I just had to finish this thing. So I tried my best to keep running and sprinted from mile 25.5 all the way through to the finish line. I came around that corner, saw the finish line, sprinted towards it, shared a few high fives with some kids in the crowd, then ran through that finish line. It was so good to be done!!!

Finish time was 12:58:27. My goal was 13hrs. I beat it!

Crossing that finish line felt so good, just to be done. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel emotional at all. Of course I was proud of myself, definitely, but mainly just tired and happy to be done. Oh, and completely adamant that I would never do another Ironman.

As I reflected on the race the following morning, I thought about the drive and determination required to train for and finish an Ironman. The sense of accomplishment at finishing such an event. The sheer ability to keep going when you don't think you can go anymore. It gave me goosebumps to think about what I had just done. It made me want to do another Ironman.

A huge thankyou

2007-04-17T23:46:00.000-05:00

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that wished us luck for the Ironman, and especially to those of you who tracked us on race day and sent us notes of congratulations. It looks like a few of you were able to watch us cross the finish line via the live video feed, which is really, really cool!

Thanks for understanding what a big deal this was to us. It felt so good to have all of you cheering us on, and was definitely a huge motivation for both of us while we were out on the course, toughing it out.

We love you all!!!

2007-04-16T21:12:00.001-05:00

I am an Ironman!

2007-04-16T20:40:00.000-05:00

Gordon too!

We did it!

Race report to come...

T-11 hours

2007-04-14T21:56:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting in my hotel room watching a movie, Gordon is lying by my side listening to music and relaxing. I'm feeling contemplative and pretty calm. I was feeling much more nervous earlier this afternoon and yes I have welled up a few times already. But a phone call to Mum, Dad and Kate got rid of the tears and calmed me down immensely.

Having a blog is great, and having my blackberry is good too! I just re-read my "Journey to the start line ..." blog to remind me, again, why I am doing this and how hard I have worked to get here. It was exactly what I needed to read.

I just stepped outside. The weather is cooling down, twilight is upon us, and in roughly 24 hours I hope to finish my first Ironman!
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Feeling a little nervous now!

2007-04-14T10:52:00.001-05:00

That's a lot of bags!

2007-04-13T17:27:00.001-05:00

Feeling calm

2007-04-13T17:26:00.001-05:00

We are having such a great time out here in Arizona. Each morning we have been getting up and doing a short practice swim in Tempe Town Lake, then enjoying a leisurely breakfast. It's very relaxing out here, even with the notion that we are doing an Ironman in less than 48 hours! I think I'm just about sick of eating though, it feels like our days are revolving around where to eat next!

It was warm and very windy yesterday with some rain in the evening. Today the weather has been perfect. Hopefully this nice weather will stay through the weekend!

We're just about to jump on our bikes for a short ride then its off to the pre-race dinner and meeting. Tomorrow the goal will be to relax as much as possible, pack our bags (all 5 of them!), drop our bikes off and get an early night...
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Having a leisurely breakfast in T3 blue

2007-04-13T12:37:00.001-05:00

2007-04-11T16:08:00.001-05:00

Beer at ABIA

2007-04-11T15:58:00.001-05:00

Gordon and I are sitting in the Highland Lakes Bar at the airport. There is live music and the place is packed! They could do with a better beer selection, but I suppose the Ziegenbock will have to do... Arizona here we come!
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

My journey to the start line of Ironman Arizona 2007

2007-04-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

2.4 mile swim
112 mile bike
26.2 mile run

That's 140.6 miles. In one day.

When I say I'm training for an Ironman, these are the types of comments I typically get:

- "Is that the one in Hawaii?" to which I reply "no, that's the world championship of triathlon, you have to be really good to race Hawaii", or
- "I did a sprint triathlon once" to which I reply "uh, the Ironman is a little bit further than that, but good for you doing a sprint!", or
- "Yeah, I could do that, I just can't swim" to which I frankly, have no reply and am simply dumbstruck, or my personal favourite,
- "Is that the Danskin?"

But of all the things I've heard, no one has ever asked why. Why do an Ironman?

I did my first triathlon on Sunday June 9th, 2002. It was the Danskin sprint triathlon - 800m swim, 12mi bike, 5km run. When I crossed the finish line (subtract 1hr17min from the picture, my wave started later!) I said to Gordon that it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I meant it. I also knew that I wanted to do another triathlon, but not an ironman. The idea did not even enter my head at that point.

But over the years, as I finished 5K's, 10K's, half marathons, a marathon, sprint triathlons, olympic triathlons, and then half-ironmans, I found myself finally starting to think about what it would be like to do an ironman. Could I really do one? Surely if I trained properly I could do one, couldn't I? So that's where I found myself back in May 2006. The registration for Ironman Arizon 2007 had just opened up. It seemed doable. The timing was perfect. So I signed up! Oh, and I signed Gordon up too because there was no way I was going to do this on my own.

So I guess my reason for doing an ironman is simple: because I can. Because I want to see exactly what I'm capable of, to discover my physical and mental limits. Because I love the training, the people, and that feeling when I cross the finish line. There is no other feeling like it.

Our training program started on 1st November 2006. Right as the weather started cooling down. I'll be honest. It was tough at times. For those of you who have been following my blog since then you know that I've had some tough rides, some mental battles, and a brief flirtation with injury. But through it all I've persevered. I've ridden in the rain, the wind, the cold. I've ridden my trainer for hours on end when the weather was too nasty outside. I've done long runs on very tired legs. In the cold, the rain, the wind, the early morning hours, the late afternoon hours. I've swum when the pool deck was covered with ice, when the sane people were still sleeping in their nice warm beds. But oh what a feeling to be gliding through that warm water while the rest of the world was sleeping! I've toughed out the long rides that took up the entire day, and celebrated with the post-ride brunches and meals at times of the day that simply do not make sense. I've had a great time chatting to training buddies during the long rides and long runs. I've biked and run on my own. I've seen myself getting stronger week by week. I've developed new mental toughness that I never had before. I've had some of the best times I've ever had in Austin, these past 6 months.

So now I find myself 7 days from the race. It seems like just last month we were into our first week of training. I am excited. I am really excited! I'm not nervous. Not yet, anyway. There are moments when I catch myself thinking about race day and my heart beats with excitement and I can't wait to be out there enjoying it. Seeing Gordon and all of my other friends out there on the course, cheering each other on. Soaking up the energy. Pushing my body to the limit. Overcoming the mental battles that I am bound to face. I want to know what my limits are and push beyond them to that finish line. I've done the training. I'm ready. Now I just need to go and do it.

The race starts at 7am Phoenix time. The cut-off time is midnight, meaning I have 17 hours to complete the race. I'm hoping to finish closer to 13 hours, but I really just want to finish. The Ironman Arizona website has an athlete tracker, so that you can track Gordon and I on race day:

www.ironmanlive.com

In "The Latest" box on the right hand side they will have a link to the Ironman Arizona race coverage (the link won't be up until 24 hours prior to race start). My race number is 2114, Gordon's is 694. Or, you can just type in McGregor.

Below I have given some estimated times for when I hope to finish each segment, and how that translates to Adelaide, Helensburgh and Austin timezones.

Swim: 8:15am Phoenix / 10:15am Austin / 12:15am (Mon) Adelaide / 4:15pm Helensburgh
Bike: 3:00pm Phoenix / 5:00pm Austin / 7:30am (Mon) Adelaide / 11:00pm Helensburgh
Finish line: 8:00pm Phoenix / 10:00pm Austin / 12:30pm (Mon) Adelaide / 4:00am (Mon) Helensburgh

They will also have a live video feed of the finish line, so if you log on around the "finish times" shown above you may just see us finish!

For Gordon's take on the whole thing, click here to visit his blog.

adding to the taper madness...

2007-04-05T09:49:00.000-05:00

Not only am I starting to feel full of beans and full of excitement about my upcoming Ironman, but I have received two exciting pieces of news in the past 24 hours that have completely rocked my world, in a great way!

- My sister and her husband were successful in their visa interview yesterday in Melbourne. They will be in Houston the first week of May. They are really, actually, truly coming to live in the US, in less than a month!!!

- Gordon's brother emailed him this morning to say he will be in Houston next week for work and wants to come out to Arizona to watch us do the Ironman. So he is flying to Arizona on the Sunday, will get in around noon and will then come and watch us race then hang out with us until Tuesday. So we will have family there watching us after all!!! The added bonus is that we haven't seen him for 3 years, so it will be super awesome to see him again.

As if the excitement of doing the race wasn't enough... I am just about ready to burst with all this recent news!

Now this is looking better!

2007-04-04T09:31:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Apr 15

High: 77 °F RealFeel®: 76 °F

Abundant sunshine and turning colder

Current forecast for IMAZ

2007-04-03T16:29:00.000-05:00

Tempe, Arizona
Sunday, Apr 15 (a.k.a. "Ironman Arizona Race Day")

High: 91 °F RealFeel®: 93 °F

Abundant sunshine and warm

IMAZ Week 22: Bringing back the mental game

2007-04-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

22 weeks down. 2 weeks to go!!!!!!!!!!

I am doing an Ironman in less than two weeks. Where did the time go?! It feels like just yesterday I was gearing up for my first cold weather ride and showing up to the group rides/swims/runs all shy and not knowing anyone. Now it's hot weather rides and runs, and everyone is teasing each other like we've known each other for years! We've become our own little triathlon family. I feel sad already that it will all be over in two weeks and we will all be moving on to different things. But first we get to do an Ironman and hang out in Arizona together and have so much fun it's going to be ridiculous.

Anyway, so week 22 was another taper week. Not much to report. We're all slacking off, taking it easy, eating too much, drinking too much and getting fat. Or that could just be me :) I finally had my first good run in about 3 weeks - this happened at 6pm Saturday evening. Kind of a weird time to be running, but good for getting used to the heat. I stuck with the run/walk routine and I actually felt pretty good! Now I just need to get myself mentally back on track. For the past few weeks I've been referring to myself as "injured" and every time someone asks me how my training is going I talk about my "injury". It sounds a little obsessive and far too self-indulgent, and quite frankly I am sick of talking about it, hearing myself talk about it, and seeing the look of boredom on peoples faces as I talk about it...

Last week I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, and I did with the exception of a couple of minor relapses. But from now on, not only am I not feeling sorry for myself but I am officially no longer injured. I am 100% healthy and fit and ready to do this Ironman. Nothing is going to stop me!

Now I just need to work on my song.

a "green thumb" Saturday

2007-03-31T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today has been a very unusual Saturday. Last night the weather forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms this morning so we decided that we would sleep in and just ride our trainer once we woke up.

We woke up around 8:30am... to beautiful blue skies! But we were too late to join the rest of the group and decided to get some things done first (like taxes) before going for a ride.

Anyway, after doing taxes we ended up going to Lowe's to buy garden stuff. After receiving another homeowners association violation because our grass was too long, we decided we'd better get the garden in shape. Of course, recent rain and warm temperatures has caused everything to grow like wildfire, so it's a little crappy that they didn't give people time to get their garden in shape. But that's Circle C for you *sigh*.

So we ended up spending about 3 hours in the garden - weeding, mulching, cutting, edging, sweeping. Quite satisfying work, but tiring and hot! We finished up around 5pm. Decided that instead of riding we would head into town and do our long run, to get used to the heat and get it out of the way. So we started our long run at 6pm Saturday evening! I had a good 7 mile run, Gordon did the full 13 miles on the schedule. I hung out at Austin Java with a couple of friends while Gordon was finishing his run. It was a lovely evening and good to be outside enjoying it. Now I'm feeling pretty tired, enjoying my cup of tea and half a brownie (already finished!), and I'm about to go and read for a while before catching some zzzzz's...

playlists

2007-03-30T08:22:00.000-05:00

Next Thursday is going to be our last indoor bike trainer workout before the Ironman, so I'm putting together the playlist to end all playlists. Everyone is sending me their favourite motivational song and I'm going to compile them into a playlist. It's going to be fantastic!

Anyway, so it got me thinking about my own song. I'm not sure what it is yet. Nothing immediately springs to mind - I have a bunch of songs that I love and get me fired up or get me into "that place". But I haven't got my Arizona song yet so I need to work on that.

It did get me thinking about the playlists I used to pull together for my Dad when he was coaching football. He always wanted to have some songs to get the boys fired up before a big game, like a semi-final or grand final. Of course, this was over 15 years ago (streuth, was it really 15 years ago!) so it was all on tape. I would get out the double cassette recorder and record from one tape to another. Ah, the good old days! Anyway, I was remembering some of these songs and browsing YouTube, and I found one of the all time classic football songs - "Up There Cazaly". It's a great song and the video is terrific. If you want to see what Australian football is really like, check it.

Dad - this post is for you!!!

The weather obsession has begun...

2007-03-27T21:17:00.000-05:00

Tonight I went for a run. I'm still building my running back up, but now I also need to consider acclimating to the heat. It's not that hot here in Austin right now - today it hit 80F I think. In Tempe they've already had some 90+ degree days, and the long range forecast shows most days around 90F for the foreseeable future. So it's pretty likely that it's going to be HOT in Tempe for the Ironman. But at least we're lucky here in Austin that we'll have a couple of weeks of warm weather to get us used to it, so it won't be a complete shock to the system. It's the dry heat that will be the big shock. You would think that, having grown up in the driest state in the driest continent on earth, that I would be used to the dry heat. But I never did anything crazy like training for a 5km race let alone an Ironman while I lived in Adelaide...

On the flip side, today's weather in Tempe looked kinda nice, partly cloudy and 65F... except for the 31mph winds with gusts up to 38mph... crikey! The inaugural Ironman Arizona (in 2005) had 20mph winds with gusts up to 30mph. Then it was hot (mid-90's) in 2006. I wonder what 2007 will have in store for us?

IMAZ Week 21: It's taper time!

2007-03-25T22:08:00.000-05:00

21 weeks down, 3 weeks to go. Taper has officially started!

The last couple of weeks of training have been hard. I developed an injury. I had to get treatment, eliminate the running, try and stay positive, and feel sore every day. But so what? It's just an injury. The pain I have been feeling is nothing compared to what millions of other people face on a daily basis. I'm training for an Ironman. I'm one hell of a lucky person to be able to find the time and be physically able to train for something like this. In short, I've had a pretty selfish couple of weeks and I have now decided to suck it up and stop my complaining. So, officially my taper has started, and my whining has ended!!!

This week was good. I'm starting to see improvement in my shin. I was told to start running again, and I did, three times in fact. Two 30 minute runs (8min running, 1min walking) to start stressing and strengthening the tissue again, and one 41:30 minute run on Saturday during our brick.

I swam in Barton Springs twice this week - one 3.2km swim, one 2km swim. I'm starting to feel more comfortable in my wetsuit again and the speed is starting to come back as I get more used to the wetsuit and how that changes my stroke. I love Barton Springs. Especially Friday afternoon after work, what a great way to end the week!

Saturday we did a practice triathlon. Swam 1.8km, then biked 40mi, followed by a 4.5mi run. (The rest of the group did a 13.5mi run after the bike, not everyone did the swim though). I was just stoked to be able to run for 4.5mi! I could still feel pain while I was running, but it's different now. I can feel it starting to get stronger and healthier again. It was fun finishing the brick early and cheering the rest of the group on, seeing them finish strongly.

It was a great training week. I'm doing an Ironman in 3 weeks. Life is good!!!

Mon - OFF (PT)
Tue - Elliptical Trainer (0.25h) + Run (0.5h) + Core/Stretch (0.25h)
Wed - Barton Springs Swim (1.25h), PT
Thu - Run (0.5h), T3 Trainer Ride (1.25h)
Fri - Barton Springs Swim (0.75h)
Sat - T3 Swim (0.75hh), Bike (42mi), Run (4.5mi)
Sun - Recovery Ride (1.25h)

Weekly Totals:

Cycling: 4.75h / 85mi (Goal: 5.5h)
Running: 2h / 12.5mi (Goal:3h)
Swimming: 2.75h / 7000m (Goal: 2.5h)

A strange but great morning

2007-03-21T10:35:00.001-05:00

This morning has been good so far, although a little different from my usual workday routine!

Got up and swam at Barton Springs this morning - swam 3200m (8 laps) - got smoked by my super fast husband. Somehow I swim slower with a wetsuit. Kinda frustrating, but I'm hoping if I keep working on it in the next few weeks I'll adjust to the wetsuit and get my nice, decently fast, stroke back. But it was fantastic to see Gordon gliding past me (even if I was madly jealous!).

Was going to swim 4000m, but had to get out and take a conference call. Sat on the grass at Barton Springs while on a customer call. A beautiful, pleasantly cool and overcast morning, outside with nature, on a call. It was terrific.

Now I'm sitting at Austin Java. Just had a couple of breakfast tacos, about to get another cup of coffee. It's still nice outside. I'm using their free wireless access and working. It's very relaxing. I should do this more often!

IMAZ Week 20: A rollercoaster ride

2007-03-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

20 weeks down, 4 weeks to go. Officially, 1 week until taper starts. Unfortunately, my enforced taper has already started.

This week has been full of emotions - frustration, anger, sadness, apathy, you name it, I've experienced it this week. Not only did I start the week with physical injuries and complete lack of self-confidence about my upcoming Ironman, but my Dad called Monday afternoon and told me that my Grandpa, who had been battling lung cancer for the past 6 months, had passed away just a couple of hours ago. It was a shock, but not unexpected. He had been getting progressively worse for the past few weeks. I felt sad but I didn't cry. I don't know why I didn't cry. I just didn't. At least not immediately. The tears came over the next few days, at unexpected times, like while sitting at my desk at work, after swim practice, while on the phone with my parents. After a lot of thinking and talking back and forth with Gordon and Mum and Dad, we decided that I shouldn't travel back to Adelaide for the funeral. My little sister was going to be there. My older sister was going to be there. I just couldn't be there. My Grandpa was a good, kind, funny man and he had a long, healthy life up until the past six months. He was going to turn 78 this year. "A good innings", as we would say in Australia.

Coupled with the rollercoaster emotional ride that I was on this week, was the rollercoaster physical ride. I went to physical therapy three times and each time it hurt. Some days I saw small signs of progress, other days I felt worse. "All part of the healing process" I was told, which I understood. It's just tough when you start to feel better, and then the next day you feel like you've been set back a day or two. This happened on Saturday. I had a great swim in the morning (physically and emotionally this time) and things were starting to look up. Then we went out shopping for a few hours. Well, turns out that the few hours of walking around caused my left shin to flare up again. So Saturday night I was sitting at home with pain in my left leg again, as well as the continued pain in my right leg. I couldn't believe that I was hurting so much again, all after walking for just a few hours!

Sunday morning we woke up to do our 100mi long ride, we drove out to East Austin and were actually there 15 minutes before everyone else. It was pretty windy, I was feeling sore and very negative about the upcoming ride. I wasn't looking forward to getting dropped by everyone and riding on my own, and facing a headwind for half of the ride, plus, what if my shins got even worse while I was out there? So Gordon suggested that we just go home and ride the trainer for a few hours. So we did, and I ended up having a really good 3hr trainer ride, with a nice long stretch afterwards. My shins are feeling good again, the best they've felt all week! Don't get me wrong, they're still sore and I still won't be running in the next few days, but I'm feeling some positive signs of improvement right now. I hope this lasts... I see Dr. Seller's again tomorrow.

I want to say a big thanks to my coaches, Maurice and Chrissie, who have been so supportive, calling and emailing to check up on me and making sure I'm doing okay. You two are fantastic! I also want to say a big, extra special thankyou to Gordon. He has put up with a lot this week - repeated complaints of soreness and self-doubt, and emotional instability. He hasn't complained once. I am so lucky to have him in my corner.

This past week has been the low point. Things will get better!

Mon - OFF (PT)
Tue - Elliptical Trainer + Core/Stretch (1h)
Wed - T3 Swim (1.25h), PT
Thu - T3 Trainer Ride (1.25h)
Fri - Barton Springs Swim (1h), PT
Sat - T3 Swim (1.25h)
Sun - Long Ride on Trainer (60mi/3h)

Weekly Totals:

Cycling: 4.25h / 85mi (Goal: 8h)
Running: 1h / 5.5mi (Goal:5h) *Elliptical
Swimming: 3.5h / 9400m (Goal: 2.5h)

Recovering, slowly

2007-03-15T11:10:00.000-05:00

Monday I went and saw Dr. Seller's and found out that my left shin soreness was due to a tight left calf. Today the pain is practically gone in my left shin. The left shin soreness seems to have been a short-lived thing. As long as I keep up with the calf stretching I'll be okay on my left side.

The right shin soreness, which has been sore for a week or two now, is being caused by a tight right hip joint, which has been causing me to over-pronate, flatten my arch, and ultimately cause the medial shin splints on my right leg. I was relieved to understand the cause of the problem and we talked about treatment - Active Release Therapy to elongate the muscles, electro-therapy and ultrasound to break up the scar tissue, and eventually strengthening exercises. I felt better that I understood the problem and had a plan of attack to fix it. But it wasn't going to be an overnight miracle cure.

After the Monday session my right shin felt better, I was finally able to walk around without too much pain, but I started to feel some weakness in my right hip. Apparently this is all to be expected. But it still feels weird and a bit unsettling. At the Wednesday session he commented that things weren't as bad as Monday, but I still have a fair amount of soreness in the tendon. He did some more ART, some hip adjustments (to re-align the hip joint and thus improve the mobility), and we finished with electro-therapy and ultrasound. I swam Wednesday night and was careful when pushing off the wall (normally I have an awesome push off the wall). I also substituted the fin set for some pulling instead.

Today my right shin is a bit more sore than Wednesday morning. This is more than likely due to the treatment yesterday afternoon, and maybe even the gentle push off the wall caused it to flare up a bit. I'm going to go to the trainer ride tonight and take it easy. I'm not planning on running any time soon. I'm going to wait until all of the soft tissue soreness is gone. I'm hoping this will only take another week to week and a half, but realistically I just want to be better for IMAZ. If I can't do much running between now and then, I guess I just have to accept that fact and focus on getting recovered for IMAZ. According to my coaches I have 98% of the fitness I need right now, so long as I maintain it (which I can, with elliptical, swimming and cycling) I'll be in good shape physically. What I notice I've already lost is the confidence I had about this race. Initially I was aiming for a 13hr finish, but now it's completely up in the air and I'm just hoping to finish.

Of course, I'm writing this while I'm not in the most positive, uplifting place, so I reserve the right to change my mind once I'm feeling better...

Unfair

2007-03-11T20:23:00.001-05:00

Amanda
Originally uploaded by Gordon McGregor.

It seems really unfair to have to ice both shins!

Icing the hell out of it

2007-03-11T20:22:00.001-05:00

Amanda
Originally uploaded by Gordon McGregor.

Being pouty on the couch. I don't take very well to being injured!

IMAZ Week 19: Icing the hell out of it

2007-03-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

19 weeks down, 5 weeks to go. 2 weeks until taper starts!

Normally this would excite me, but today it worries me. This week has been a tough week for training. I felt good earlier in the week, my massage on Tuesday wasn't nearly as painful, and I ran sub-6min pace on the track Wednesday morning (5:55 pace to be exact!). It was one of those cool, crisp mornings on the track and I felt great. But, after my muscles got a chance to stiffen up, my right shin was really bothering me. Enough that it hurt to walk. So I iced as much as I could for the next couple of days (2-3 times per day). I decided to skip the Thursday morning swim workout to let my shin rest, but I still went to the group trainer ride Thursday night. By Friday morning it was feeling better, but I must have slept funny because I woke up with a crick in my right neck! So instead of swimming Friday morning at Deep Eddy I took it easy so that I wouldn't make my neck worse. Thought about swimming after work Friday, but my neck was still sore and after a long week at work I didn't really feel like swimming on my Friday evening! So Gordon and I went to Maudie's for a margarita and some Mexican food.

Saturday we did the Spokes 'n Spurs ride and it was great. Beautiful weather, great course and great people. I definitely pushed the ride a little harder than I normally do and the hills were definitely wearing me out by the end. I ended up averaging 17.3mph which is pretty good for me for 90 miles especially considering that they were hilly 90 miles!

My goal for the long run Sunday was to take the pace a bit easier. My last few long runs I have been pushing the pace pretty hard and given my right shin issues I wanted to keep the pace easier so that I could actually get through the 18 miles. I felt fantastic for the first 11 miles, chatting to Gordon, Liz and Jim. The pace was easy, I didn't feel fatigued and my right shin wasn't getting any worse. I could feel a bit of soreness but it didn't get worse so I thought that was a good sign. From about mile 9 onwards I started feeling sore in my left shin but I was still able to run through it. But by the time I got to mile 13.5 it was hurting so much that I just had to stop and walk. Walking was really hurting too. I let the rest of the group run off and finish their 18 miles while I shortened the loop and walked for 2.5 more miles to make a total of 15 miles. It was a horrible walk. I was walking on the busiest part of the trail with all the recreational joggers, who ran past me, all shapes and sizes, and all I could do was walk. I couldn't look at anybody. I just stuck my head down and kept walking and hurting, thinking if this happens in the Ironman it's going to be a hell of a long walk to the finish line. My worst run ever. Oh, and I don't think it helped that I mixed up my shoes this morning - newer shoe (<100mi) on my left foot, old shoe on my right foot (300ish miles). Not good!

So after breakfast we came home and I have been icing the hell out of my left and right shins, and resting up on the couch. I hurt every time I get up and walk. This is NOT how I want to be feeling 5 weeks out from my Ironman! But, I guess the fact is that I am 5 weeks out from IMAZ so I have time to get this thing under control as long as I don't do anything stupid. So, my aim for next week is to not do anything stupid, like 5:55 pace on the track!

Mon - OFF
Tue - T3 Swim (1.25h)
Wed - T3 Track Workout (1h)
Thu - T3 Trainer Ride (1.25h)
Fri - OFF
Sat - Long Ride (88mi/5.25h)
Sun - Long Run (15mi/3h)

Weekly Totals:

Cycling: 6.5h / 113mi (Goal: 6.5h)
Running: 4h / 21mi (Goal:5h)
Swimming: 1.25h / 3400m (Goal: 2.5h)

Spokes 'n Spurs

2007-03-10T18:02:00.000-06:00

Today for our long ride we drove out to Spirit Reins Ranch in Liberty Hill, to do the "Spokes 'n Spurs" ride. The ride started at 8:30am, but we wanted to get an early start to get in some extra mileage (they only had 14mi, 28mi, 44mi and 63mi routes and we were scheduled to do 90mi today). So we were up early, made the trek up to Liberty Hill, and got started around 7:25am. The plan was to do two 44mi loops.

This was a fantastic ride. Great course, cheerful and happy volunteers, great fajita spread afterwards and live music under a shaded tent. The weather was gorgeous, a little warm by the end, but great preparation for Arizona (today's temperature in Tempe was 89F!). The hills weren't too bad, although I was definitely feeling it on the second 44mi loop. T3 had a great showing out there today - lots of blue jerseys and friends to see out on the course. I highly recommend this ride for next year.

Footy

2007-03-05T19:10:00.001-06:00

Footy
Originally uploaded by Gordon McGregor.

Gordon got an autographed Aussie Rules footy from my Mum and Dad for his birthday. Only problem is he's not allowed to kick it! (Lucky we have another footy to kick around when the need arises). I took this photo of Gordon - not bad huh? Admittedly, the man knows how to pose for the camera...

IMAZ Week 18: Needing a break

2007-03-04T11:22:00.000-06:00

18 weeks down, 6 weeks to go. 3 weeks until taper starts!

This week work has really picked up again and I am busier than ever. Thankfully I'm not travelling at the moment, but still, the longer hours at work and more mental investment does make it tough to keep the focus on Ironman training. I think this week I also suffered from "I am sick of all this training consuming all of my spare time", and I just generally felt tired and lazy. It also didn't help that the massage on Tuesday made me feel pretty sore for the next few days.

This week was also recovery week. Sorry, "reduced hours" week. Not actually recovery according to our coaches. But I think my body desperately needed recovery week this week and not just reduced hours! So I took some recovery and reduced the hours and now I'm feeling mentally refreshed and re-charged, ready to go into the last hard 3 weeks of training before taper starts. I am still dealing with some aches and pains in my calf and foot but I'm hoping that if I stay consistent with massage, stretching and icing then hopefully that will keep this thing under control until I truly get a chance to recover post-IMAZ.

I only did 6.5 hours this week, which is half what I usually do. The goal was 11 hours. I had 4 whole days off this week. I feel a little guilty. But a little guilt is good and that will fuel the next 3 weeks. I think it has also been sensible to rest my calf and foot a little bit too. Having said that, I ran 8:45's for my long run this week after swimming earlier in the morning, no wonder I woke up feeling lazy on Sunday and wanting to skip the 60mi bike ride!

Mon - OFF
Tue - OFF (took Gordon to Zoot for an early birthday dinner!)
Wed - T3 Swim (1.25h)
Thu - Easy Run (0.75h), T3 Trainer Ride (1.25h)
Fri - OFF (worked until 10pm)
Sat - T3 Swim (1.25h), Long Run (13.5mi/2h)
Sun - OFF (was supposed to be 60mi bike, also Gordon's birthday!)

Weekly Totals:

Cycling: 1.25h / 25mi (Goal: 5.5h)
Running: 2.75h / 18.5mi (Goal:3h)
Swimming: 2.5h / 4.35mi (Goal: 2.5h)

So the cycling suffered this week. But missing one 60mi bike ride is not going to make a difference to my training. I think after all the years I've been training I've started to realise what's important and what can be skipped. Not that I make a habit of skipping workouts, but I know that the mental and physical benefit of truly having a recovery week can be more beneficial than doing a 60mi bike ride.

PS
Yes, I'm making excuses. Which means that I do feel a bit guilty about missing the 60mi bike ride. Gordon and I talked it over for a good 30 minutes, wavering backwards and forwards between "let's just go and do an hour or two" and "let's just relax and enjoy doing nothing". Clearly the doing nothing idea won today :)

PPS
Can you categorize playing the Wii as part of triathlon training?

Going to the vet

2007-02-27T17:22:00.000-06:00

I think I now understand why our family cat, Bobby, always shook uncontrollably when we took him to the vet.

Today I had another deep tissue massage. My massage therapist, Lisa, is incredible and truly deserves a strong margarita after our session today! In fact, two, I think. I needed 3 or 4... except that I had to go back to work. Next time I need to schedule this massage on a Friday afternoon before happy hour!

I seriously can not remember ever feeling so much pain before. Maybe when I dis-located my knee about 18 years ago, but that's so long ago I can't remember how much it hurt. If giving birth hurts this much then that is something I will not be signing up for in a hurry!

I really thought that Lisa was scraping searing hot, sharp knives through my muscles. I was sweating and gasping and gripping the sides of the massage table. A few words of profanity were uttered, under my breath of course. I swear I have two or three new wrinkles in my forehead from all the time my face was scrunched up in agony! By the time she'd finished working on my hamstrings and right calf and foot I was literally shaking from head to toe and utterly exhausted. I can only imagine how she must have felt trying to hold me down and work out all of this scar tissue in my muscles! Anyway, it was the whole body shaking that made me think of my cat Bobby and how he would always do this when we took him to the vet. That analogy made us both laugh.

It was oh so painful but oh so needed. Apparently this Ironman training thing is not good for keeping soft, supple muscles. Instead they become hard, rigid and full of scar tissue, unless you are an absolute angel and stretch twice a day and get weekly massages. (No angel on this blog).

I'm going back on Friday.

Saturday afternoon with Gordon

2007-02-26T17:14:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning Gordon and I ran 17 miles in warmer than usual weather. We were both pretty wiped out after the run. But instead of lazing around at home Saturday afternoon (like we I really wanted to do) instead I got dressed up in my new party dress and we went to Laguna Gloria to take some photos.

I volunteered to run across the grass, spin around and smile for the camera. It was so much fun! The weather was gorgeous, I surprisingly didn't hurt too much (I think the running/spinning actually helped!), and it was just fun to spend time with Gordon. He also took some close-up shots which I'll post when they're ready. I love the Nike Frees touch :) and my feet felt so good!

Afterwards we strolled through the adjacent Mayfied Park and looked at the peacocks and just chatted and hung out. It was the most lovely afternoon, fantastic company, and just so peaceful wandering around the gardens.

IMAZ Week 17: I feel good

2007-02-26T10:31:00.000-06:00

17 weeks down, 7 weeks to go. 5 weeks until taper starts!

The week started out a little sore. My right foot (arch and metatarsals) were feeling pretty tender. In fact, it was sore just walking around on Monday, which of course caused me to stress out and fear that I would never be able to run again! So I took it easy on the running this week and made sure to ice my foot regularly and focus a bit more on swimming. This week I actually got three swim workouts in, which I was stoked about. I swam with T3 twice and also went to Deep Eddy and swam with my wetsuit (and felt awesome).

The long run Saturday morning was tough. It was a good 20 degrees (F) warmer than it was for our long run last weekend and that made a huge difference. I also ran the first 10 miles a little too fast, but sometimes it's good to push myself! So the last 7 miles were a bit of a slog-fest. I felt de-hydrated, my legs were heavy and sore, and I resorted to a few 30s walk breaks in the last couple of miles. It was a tough run. The good news was that my arch and metatarsals weren't bothering me - I could notice a bit of tightness there during the run but it never hurt and it didn't get any worse during the run. I was just pleased that I gutted it out and finished the run, because I really wanted to stop after 10 miles this week! Post-run breakfast tacos and smoothie were delicious and helped to revive me!

Sunday I was really not wanting to ride. Another 6am wake-up call to get ready and drive out to East Austin to start our ride at 8am. Another 100+ miles (106 miles to be exact!). Another full day taken up by training. More windy weather (thankfully only 12mph winds this time and not 20mph winds like last week!). The first two hours on the bike were tough - 12mph winds from the NNW, and we rode for almost the entire time right into the headwind, and I had a desperate need to go to the loo for the entire second hour, with no trees/bushes in sight! Then we stopped at a petrol station which completely revived me. After the quick break we finally started riding to the SSE and the wind was finally at our back, yeah! This is when I really started to enjoy myself. I held a solid pace and felt incredible for the remaining 4 hours of the ride. In fact, I could have easily added on another 20-30 miles. I felt so good on my bike. I was so happy to be out there riding and enjoying the scenery. I couldn't believe that earlier in the day I didn't even want to ride! The weather was gorgeous, the wind finally died down about 4 hours into the ride, and I got to strip down and wear just bike shorts and jersey instead of arm-warmers, leg-warmers, ear-warmers, and toe-warmers! I averaged 17.1mph for the ride which I am really excited about, given that I felt so good. It makes me think that my goal of 17.5mph at Arizona is pretty realistic, if the weather conditions are favourable! The only minor hiccup was a flat tyre, but this was a good opportunity to practice changing the tube in my race wheels, which I was nervous about, but it actually went really smoothly and only took me 9 minutes.

Post-ride a group of us went to Kerbey Lane Cafe for some food. It was so much fun just hanging out, stuffing our faces, chatting, laughing, relaxing. What a great finish to the week. A fantastic ride and fun with friends.

Mon - OFF
Tue - Elliptical Trainer (0.75h) + T3 Swim (1.25h)
Wed - T3 Swim (1h)
Thu - T3 Trainer Ride (1.25h)
Fri - Deep Eddy Swim (0.75h)
Sat - Long Run (17mi/2.75h)
Sun - Long Bike (106mi/6.25h)

Weekly Totals:

Cycling: 7.5h / 131mi (Goal: 8h)
Running: 3.5h / 21.7mi (Goal:5h)
Swimming: 3h / 4.8mi (Goal: 2.5h)

PS
Gordon also had an excellent training weekend. He helped to keep me going for the last 7mi of our long run on Saturday (he finished ahead of me and a lot stronger than me this week!). Sunday he had an awesome bike ride - averaged 17.5mph. He sped away at the start and I only saw him briefly at the petrol station and then not until the end. He had a superb ride!

Monday night and cooking

2007-02-19T18:55:00.000-06:00

Another Monday night at home on my own. Another bottle of red wine opened. Web surfing for Gordon's birthday present. More pottering around the house. Oh, and tonight I actually cooked!

Those of you who know me know that I rarely cook. Gordon is the master chef in our house. I make breakfast and pack our lunches every day, but when it comes to dinner I will cook maybe once every 2-3 weeks from my standard repertoire of baked salmon, grilled pork tenderloin, grilled chicken salad, soup (carrot or butternut squash), and chicken curry with store-bought curry sauce. Sometimes I'll pull together a tapas plate, other times I'll go crazy and cook things like a vegetarian Moroccan stew which was delicious but a bit overly complicated. When I try a new recipe I tend to go for the ones that have a lot of ingredients and require many different steps. The more ingredients and instructions there are, the safer I feel. I know a lot about ingredients, cooking methods, etc. but when it comes to pulling it all together I just don't have the confidence. Mainly that is due to a lack of experience.

Gordon has this incredible confidence in the kitchen. He doesn't need to create fancy meals with 3hr reductions, in fact the best meals he cooks use simple ingredients that are well combined and cooked to perfection. Simple is better. Admittedly we've both suffered through un-cooked fish and filet mignon in the past (sorry Gordon, you know it's true!) but he continues to learn from these experiences. Now he knows that cooking times for meat and fish, as stated in recipes, is not exact. It depends on if it has warmed up to room temperature before cooking, the thickness of the cut, the heat of your oven or grill pan. He has learned to adapt to different cooking conditions and use recipes as a rule of thumb and not an absolute. That's the difference between someone who can cook and someone who isn't quite there yet - Gordon doesn't need a recipe, I need a recipe (at least I think I do).

Gordon also genuinely loves to cook, and for someone like me who is a little bit intimidated by cooking, it's easy to let him take over and cook most nights. But I'd really like to become more proficient in the kitchen. So tonight I threw together a simple pasta with what we had in the fridge - pancetta, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. It was simple and I didn't follow a recipe. The end result was good. Not outstanding, but good, if a little bland, and a little bit too much pasta. But I'll learn, if I keep trying. That's the important part.

To help with the learning process, each week Gordon is going to pick a simple recipe for me to make. Not only will it force me to go beyond my comfort level, but hopefully it will also inspire us both to try some different dishes. With all this Ironman training food has become a bit boring - more of a necessity than something to be enjoyed. Time to turn that around!

PS I don't plan to learn how to bake. Gordon grew up working in his parent's bakery. Enough said.

IMAZ Week 16: Race prep.

2007-02-18T17:22:00.000-06:00

16 weeks down, 8 weeks to go. 6 weeks until taper starts!

As previously posted, this week was a bitterly cold week in Austin. Getting up and running outside in the cold weather took a little bit of determination, but I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed my Thursday night pre-trainer ride run around Town Lake, and how fast and easy it felt! The only regret I have this week is that I didn't get up and swim at Barton Springs on Friday morning - from the few other T3'ers that swam there it sounded like they had a blast, a chilly but fabulous swim. I knew that would happen, and I'm a bit annoyed that I missed out but my bed sure was nice and warm and cozy on Friday morning and that was also fabulous! I was hoping to do a make up swim on Saturday afternoon, post-ride, but they had to close Barton Springs for maintenance late Friday and it won't re-open until early March.

Saturday I woke up to glorious sunshine and the promise of temp's in the 50's. Now that's the kind of weather I want! Unfortunately, the "gotcha" was that this weather brought 15mph winds from the North with up to 25mph gusts. It was fantastic riding South down to Hays - I felt so fast and easily averaged 18.7mph without any effort. The ride out there took 2hrs 5min (for 39mi). The ride back was a tough slog in the wind, and at times I (and others) nearly got blown off the road. It didn't help that I had my race wheels on, which typically are harder to handle in windy weather, but it was great practice to teach me how to handle my bike in windy weather! By the time we got back to the car, the average had dropped to 16.5mph for a total of 78 miles (2hrs 37min for 39mi). The best part was that although cycling in the wind was a bit tiring, I felt great for the entire ride this week and finished feeling strong. I think I've really got my nutrition down and I'm good at pacing myself on the bike, and the last month of long rides has really improved my cycling.

My tag line for the week "Race prep." has everything to do with the bike. Two years ago at Ironman Arizona they had 20mph winds and gusts up to 30mph, so the weather on Saturday was a perfect training ride to be able to confidently handle this type of weather on race day. I hope the weather isn't so windy for this years IMAZ, but if it is then I'm prepared!

The week finished with one of my best long runs ever. This morning we ran with a few others from T3 and did 20 miles around Town Lake. I pushed pretty hard today and managed to keep pace with Chrissie and Maurice (who are faster than me!). It felt great up until about mile 16, then it started to hurt but I pushed through and kept running. It was a glorious morning for a run. Perfect weather. After finishing the run we all went up to the AT&T Austin Marathon finish line (Gordon and I did an all-out sprint to try and catch our friend Mike cross the finish line, but unfortunately we missed him) then we went and got some coffee, a bagel, had a chat, then walked two miles along Town Lake back to the car. It was so NICE to walk Town Lake! The sun was out and felt warm and it was just gorgeous out there. It also felt good to do a recovery walk, and I'm counting it towards my hours this week!

Seeing all the marathon finishers started to get me thinking about my own race in 8 weeks time. The finish line announcer at the marathon is the same person who will be doing the Ironman Arizona finish line in 8 weeks time... "Amanda McGregor, you are an Ironman". I can't wait to hear those words!

Okay, now I need to check my excitement otherwise it is going to be a really, really long 8 weeks and Gordon has already told me I need to calm down :)

This week's training was a bit different - I had 3 off days (should have only been 2 except that I missed a swim), but doubled up workouts more than usual. I think it worked out well but it's a little freaky to see 3 off days. I will aim for less this week.

Mon - OFF
Tue - Run (0.75h) + Swim (1.25h)
Wed - OFF (Valentine's Day)
Thu - Run (0.75h) + Trainer (1.5h)
Fri - OFF
Sat - Long Bike (78mi/4.75h)
Sun - Long Run (20mi/3.5h)

Weekly Totals:

Cyling: 6.25h / 108mi (Goal: 6.5h)
Running: 5h / 32mi (Goal: 5h)
Swimming: 1.25h / 2mi (Goal: 2.5h)

Barton Springs?

2007-02-16T12:16:00.000-06:00

I completely piked out this morning and didn't swim in Barton Springs. It really was too cold, and dark! If I didn't have a 9am meeting I would have maybe gone around 7-7:30, but the idea of swimming at 6:15 on my own, in the dark and cold, was why I didn't go. Also, I'm just soft.

So now I'm going to have to make time Saturday afternoon to go swimming at BS, after my 75mi bike ride. At least the weather looks better - high of 67F and plenty of sunshine, so if I get there around 4pm all will be good.

On a positive note, I churned out an easy 41min 5mi run before our tough as guts T3 trainer ride last night. Total workout time was close to 2:15. I seem to be doubling up my workouts more this week, instead of spreading them out, one per day, with a double on Thursday. It gives me more "off" days which I love! So tomorrow is a 75mi ride + 1.25h swim, followed by a 20mi run on Sunday. The weather looks great this weekend - sunny and relatively warm!

Also, while I have been bitching about the weather, I think I have definitely built up more of a tolerance to the cold. I see people coming in to work with humongous jackets, scarves, gloves... and they have only walked 50m from the car to the building! Crazy.

This cold weather really sucks

2007-02-15T09:46:00.000-06:00

I can't recall if it ever got this cold last winter. If it did, I probably didn't notice because I wasn't really working out much at all. In fact, cold weather is actually quite nice, if you can stay inside and keep warm instead of running, cycling and swimming outdoors in the freezing bloody weather!!!

Tuesday night I ran outside before going to swim practice. I only ran for 45min, but half of that time was uphill into a freezing cold headwind. Silly me didn't bring gloves or a hat, I guess I didn't expect it to be so cold. Even after maxing out the heater in the car, I still didn't fully warm-up by the time I got to swim practice. Now, normally I warm up pretty quickly once I jump into the heated pool and start swimming, but Tuesday night I never really warmed up like usual. Also, because it was so cold and windy my arms would feel cold when I brought them out of the water, which unfortunately happens a lot while doing freestyle. I should have switched to breastroke! Btw, I sucked at swimming on Tuesday night. It was a struggle to even hold 1:43's per 100m (we did 16 of them), when I was easily holding 1:35's last week. I guess doing two century bike rides two weeks in a row has taken its toll this week...

Anyway, tonight I'm going to run Town Lake before the T3 group trainer ride. It doesn't look like it's going to get much warmer than 37F (2.7C) today, but I just can't bring myself to run on a treadmill and at least I'll be indoors on my trainer post-run.

Oh, and the best part? I picked tomorrow morning as my first Barton Springs open water swim. It's going to be 27F (-3.3C) at 6am tomorrow morning! I can't go any other time tomorrow and the weekend is chockers with a 75mi ride Saturday followed by a 20mi run Sunday. So I've decided that I am just going to suck it up and drag my ass to Barton Springs in the morning, regardless of the weather. At least the 68F Barton Springs water should feel relatively balmy!

Bring on spring, not summer, spring!

[end of rant]

Monday evenings

2007-02-12T20:48:00.000-06:00

The past couple of weeks I've made Monday my "off" day from working out, to give myself some R&R after the heavy training weekends we've had recently (100mi rides, 23mi runs, etc.). If I feel like it, I'll go to a yoga class. I did this a few weeks ago and it was great. But tonight I wasn't feeling like yoga, so I stopped and picked up a bottle of red wine on the way home from work. Now I'm just chilling out, drinking a glass of wine, pottering about the house catching up on things, surfing the web, emailing friends and family, chatting on the phone. Gordon's at a portrait photography class tonight at AMOA and it sounds terrible but I am enjoying the time on my own, relaxing at home, not really doing much but feeling very happy and mellow. Next up on the agenda: a hot chocolate and relaxing on the couch to read a magazine that came in the mail today...

IMAZ Week 15: Staying focused

2007-02-11T18:51:00.000-06:00

15 weeks down, 9 weeks to go. We're in single digit weeks now!!!

This past week it was a bit more challenging to stay focused on the training. Work was more hectic than usual and as a result I found myself feeling a little bit more tired and pressed for time. This is absolutely fine - I'm really enjoying my job and of course it comes first before triathlon training. However, the result was that the Friday morning Barton Springs swim got nixed and replaced with a bit of a lie in. Added to that, on Thursday morning our alarm stuffed up and we woke up at 6:50am... too late to get to swim practice (which finished at 7am!). Quite frankly, I probably could have swum somewhere else but I just didn't have the time last week. However, I did manage to stay focused on achieving my bike hours and most of my run hours.

I also finished my second 100 mile bike ride, this time with hills (we started with the Dam Loop) which made it tougher. It was also a lot colder out there today, I don't think I every really warmed up. However, I did feel really good and full of energy at the end of the ride, so I think the conservative pace and focus on nutrition definitely helped today. This was also my first ride with my race wheels... they are brilliant! Although my average speed was lower than last week, I definitely noticed the difference in effort level with the race wheels. It felt easier to move the bike forward, as it felt like there was less wheel resistance. I don't think they helped much on the hills, in fact they added some weight which made it a tad harder on the hills, but on the flats they were great. Probably part of the reason I felt so good at the end of the ride. Thanks for the wheels Gordon!

Mon - OFF
Tue - Trainer (1.5h)
Wed - Run (0.75h/5mi)
Thu - Trainer (1.25h)
Fri - OFF
Sat - Long Run (8mi/1.25h)
Sun - Long Bike (101mi/6.25h)

Weekly Totals:
Cyling: 9h / 156mi (Goal: 9h)
Running: 2h / 13.4mi (Goal: 2.5h)
Swimming: 0h / 0mi (Goal: 2h)

PS We finally got the roof rack put back on my car... it is SO much more convenient!

Spinervals

2007-02-07T12:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days we've had in a while. Low 70's sunny, spring-like weather. I really, REally, REALLY wanted to get outside and ride my bike, but I was stuck in meetings all day and although I managed to leave while it was still daylight (which made me want to ride outside even more) I knew that by the time I got home and got out on my bike it was going to be too dark to ride safely.

So, I jumped on the trainer for an hour and a half. I really didn't want to, especially because I was annoyed that I couldn't get outside on my bike, so I decided that I need to do a Spinerval DVD to get me through the workout. I chose the 80min "Time Trialapalooza". It was actually really good. It consisted of 20min rep, 15min rep, 10min rep, and 5min rep (with warm-up, cool-down and rest in between rep's). Each rep we changed into a higher gear, dropped the cadence slightly, and aimed to raise the heart rate another 5bpm's.

It was a surprisingly good workout and, even more surprisingly, the time flew past!

Even though I didn't get to ride outside, I at least got to open some windows :)

IMAZ Week 14: My first 100mi bike ride!

2007-02-05T14:43:00.000-06:00

14 weeks down, 10 weeks to go.

This past week was another milestone week. I finished my first 100 mile bike ride! Luckily the arctic blast fizzled out and we got to ride the Rosedale route on Sunday - weather was in the 50's and 60's with a sunny sky and not too much wind. Basically, perfect ride conditions! Not only did I ride 100 miles, but I felt great and averaged a solid 18mph. While I'm targeting more like 17-17.5mph for the actual race, I'm excited to be able to average 18mph in a training ride, and that's without my race wheels! I also did a great job on my nutrition because I never had any stomach issues and I only just started feeling tired on the last 10-15 miles. I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to turn around and do a marathon after riding 112 miles (plus the 2.4mi swim beforehand), but I'm getting closer.

During the past week I ran a little less and took some time to go to a yoga class and get a massage. I had a great massage at Performance Wellness - it was a deep tissue massage and had me crying out in pain a couple of times, but it was fantastic and I really appreciated the feedback that Lisa gave me during the massage, trouble spots, stretches I can do to help keep my muscles in good shape, etc. In fact, it was so good that I have joined their "Rub Club"!

Gordon and I also made sure to get our long run done on Friday so that we could go out for dinner Friday night and have some drinks, sleep in Saturday and have the day off from working out. It was fantastic!

Mon - Yoga (1h)
Tue - Swim (1.25h/3300m)
Wed - Run (0.75h/5mi) + Trainer (0.75h)
Thu - Swim (1.25h/3350m), Trainer (1.25h)
Fri - Long Run (13mi/2h)
Sat - OFF!!!
Sun - Long Bike (100mi/5.5h)

Weekly Totals:
Cyling: 7.6h / 140mi (Goal: 8h)
Running: 2.75h / 18mi (Goal: 4h)
Swimming: 2.5h / 4.16mi (Goal: 2.5h)

100 miles!

2007-02-04T18:54:00.000-06:00

Today I finished my first 100 mile bike ride.

I averaged 18mph (29km/h).

The sun was shining, it wasn't cold, it was a little windy, but it was an AWESOME ride!

I'm feeling pretty tired now, but happy tired. Gordon just cooked a delicious dinner and now we're having a glass of red wine and are about to watch more of the "Dr. Who" series.

Oh, and last night Mum and Dad told me they are about to book their flights to Austin for Christmas, yee-haw! Life is good!!!

SXSW

2007-02-02T14:04:00.000-06:00

Okay, so the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival doesn't start until March 14th, but while reading the Melbourne newspaper "The Age" on-line this morning I came across an article about Aussie bands showcasing at South by Southwest in little old Austin, Texas! Now, I always get excited when I see articles about Austin in Australian newspapers (doesn't happen very often) or articles about Adelaide in US publications, like in one of National Geographic Traveller's recent issues!

Anyway, the article in The Age mentioned Powderfinger floundering at the SXSW back in 2002. They played an outdoor gig in a carpark across from Stubb's, along with John Butler Trio. I was there!!! It was invite only, but after a lot of convincing (done by Gordon, I'm terrible at that sort of thing) they finally let us in to watch. It was so cool to see one of my favourite bands (PF) right up close. Unfortunately most people there were more interested in the free beer and food at the back of the tent. Which is probably why the article refers to them "floundering" when they really are an awesome band, probably just didn't market themselves very well on the trip.

Apparently the Aussie BBQ in Austin has become a regular feature of SXSW, this year it's on Friday March 17th and it looks like the Living End might be playing!!! But it says invite only... I definitely need to figure out how to get myself an invitation!!! I'm thinking I need to pimp out my husband's photography services, maybe he has some way of getting a photo press badge??? I just wrote an email to the AMC (Aussie Music Collective) to find out how to get an invitation - if they need photographers, if they need help setting up on the day, etc. I hope this works out!

Smooth and slippery

2007-02-01T08:43:00.000-06:00

I just got back from 5:45am swim practice. It wasn't quite as chilly this morning, and the fog was spooky.

The swim workout this morning was excellent - 400m warm-up, lots of 100's (15 of them), 600m of swim/drills and 800m of pulling. I was easily holding 1:39 per 100. Being in the draft definitely helped but I was surprised how easy the 1:39's felt. It seemed like everything fell into place today! I felt strong and smooth and slippery in the water.

Don't you just love a good swim workout?

Ironman Arizona Week 13: Checking the ego

2007-01-29T13:26:00.000-06:00

13 weeks down, 11 weeks to go.

This past week was another good, solid training week. I made it out to the track on Wednesday night, for the first time in several weeks. It was good to do some fast running, although my quads and hip flexors paid for the next couple of days! I also managed to make it to swim practice twice, just need to start adding an open water swim at Barton Springs (that's the plan this week). I felt really strong on my Thursday night swim and did a solid 400m in 6:42 (1:40 pace) at the end of a 3000m practice and felt fantastic. Finally got to ride outside again after spending the past couple of weeks indoor on my trainer. We rode 73mi on the Rosedale route which is a quiet, scenic, flat, windy route and is perfect training ground for Arizona. I think we're headed back out there this weekend for a 90mi ride. Fingers crossed we'll have another nice day and that the arctic blast they're predicting fizzles out!

The training week ended with a 22mi run on Sunday which involved getting up at 4am, running a 9mi warm-up to the start line of the 3M race, and then running the 3M! I couldn't have done it without the rest of the T3'ers out there and our wonderful coaches. Thanks guys! I felt really good for most of the 22mi, apart from miles 18-19 when I started having some stomach problems. I really thought I was going to be walking the remainder of the course until a quick stop at the port-a-loo made me feel like a new woman! I felt fantastic those last 3.1 miles and just got faster and faster right up until I crossed the finish line (my last mile was a 7:55). I finished in 1:56:46 and PR'd by about 40s. Not bad considering I actually ran 22mi that day! It was mentally a little tough to be running with people who were "only" running the half marathon. I had to check my ego and keep running at my own pace... which in itself is good Ironman training because I know that come IMAZ I am going to be passed, a lot, on the bike but my plan is to stay with my pace and catch a lot of those people back on the run :)

Goal hours: 15.5

Actual hours: 14.1

Bike: 6.25hrs / 113 miles (Goal 6.5hrs)

Run: 5.1hrs / 32.5 miles (Goal 6hrs)

Swim: 2.5hrs / 6100m (Goal 2.5hrs)

Core: 0.25hrs (Goal 0.5hrs)

Burns Supper

2007-01-29T12:46:00.000-06:00

Friday night Gordon and I were invited to a traditional Burns Supper. Robert Burns is Scotland's most famous poet, and he is nationally celebrated every January 25th. I've never been to a Burns Supper before and Gordon's boss and his wife (both Scottish) graciously hosted a group of us, some Scottish and some not. They went to a lot of effort and it was really fun. They even hired a bagpiper to play during the evening, although I'm not sure if their neighbours were too happy about that!

Highlights:
- Gordon in a kilt, in true Scottish style :)
- The welcoming of the haggis, while the bagpiper played and we all slowly clapped
- The delicious dinner (even the haggis was good, in moderation!)
- The very theatrical poetry recital performed by Gordon's boss
- The take home boxes of tablet*

* which were devoured within about 30 minutes after we got home from our bike ride the next day.

Mmmmm....

2007-01-26T09:58:00.000-06:00

I could so go a meat pie right now, washed down with a Farmers Union iced coffee, then a lamington (but only if it's my Mum's). But I'm stuck with my bag of cashews and raisins and a cappuccino...

This is also the best hangover cure. For those of you suffering from pub run last night, get yourselves to the Aussie bakery Boomerangs on Guadalupe and get yourself a pie!

Being Australian

If you plan on spending Australia Day driving around in a ute while eating a meat pie and listening to Land Down Under, you qualify as the quintessential Aussie, according to a poll of Australians. And if you're heading for a barbeque at Bert and Patty Newton's better still.

Despite decades of multiculturalism, the Top Taste Lamingtons Aussie Poll has revealed stereotypical Aussie lifestyle is alive and well. The meat pie is our favorite Australian fare (56 percent), followed by the lamington.

Ian Thorpe, Kylie Minogue and television couple Kath and Kell are the celebrity icons that Australians are most happy to embrace.

When it comes to language our favorite Aussie word is "Gday", followed by "crikey", (thanks Steve Irwin) while Australian's happy-go-lucky attitude emerged in our favorite phrases "He'll/she'll be right mate (51 percent of votes) and "Don't get your knickers in a knot" (26 per cent).

The nationwide survey of 400 Australians aged 18 to 50 on all things Australian voted swimmer Ian Thorpe as the celebrity who made us most proud to Australian, followed closely by "singing budgie" Kylie Minogue. Interestingly veterans Bert and Patty Newton were our favorite couple closely beating Kath and Kell from TV comedy Kath and Kim.

It wasn't the Socceroo's World Cup performance in 2006 that was named the nation's greatest sporting moment. It was winning the America's Cup in 1983.

And forget the stubbie holder, the ute is considered the greatest Aussie invention, given the top vote by Australian blokes. The sheilas opted for the Hills Hoist, which came a close second.

In true larrikin spirit, the myth that Australians most want people overseas to believe is that we keep koalas and kangaroos as pets (41 percent) and that drop bears are a growing threat. (27percent).

Fair dinkum

2007-01-25T12:57:00.000-06:00

26th January is Australia Day. It's not quite the 26th where I am, but home in Australia it is already the 26th, so happy Australia Day, Australia! I miss you!

(But not the coloured zinc cream!)

Ironman Arizona Week 12: We're halfway now...

2007-01-22T10:13:00.000-06:00

12 weeks down, 12 weeks to go. The halfway point!

This past week was tough. Cold weather, ice and snow kept us indoors for a few days. Practices were cancelled, which meant no swimming or outdoor running. So instead I put in some time on the trainer. Finally got to run Friday evening with Gordon, in the cold and drizzly weather. At one point we were sprinting, chasing each other down the street, it must have looked strange!

Saturday the weather was still dreich (Scottish word for miserable, cold, wet weather) so we did a 3hr indoor trainer ride, then went out for a late lunch of delicious pasta and great coffee. Sunday we woke up to sunshine, finally! We went down to Town Lake and ran a double Dam loop to get in our 20 mile run. I had been feeling slightly under the weather for the past few days so I wasn't really looking forward to the run, but I ended up having a good run and finishing strong. I'm sure the lovely weather helped!

Goal hours: 12.5

Actual hours: 10.1

Bike: 6hrs / 120 miles

Run: 4.1hrs / 25.5 miles

Swim: 0hrs

This coming week is another big training week, culminating in a 75mi ride on Saturday followed by a 22mi run on Sunday. We get to run a 9-10mi warm-up before running the 3M half marathon on Sunday (to get in our 22mi) which is going to be interesting. That means we'll be starting around 5:15am Sunday morning... eeek!

Foxy

2007-01-17T21:15:00.000-06:00

After worrying that we'd drunk all the wine in the house over the past couple of days while we've been stuck at home due to the winter storm... tonight we found a bottle of Vixen in the fridge, woo hoo! I can't believe we forgot it was there, it was that well hidden!

Vixen is the most delicious and unusual wine you'll ever have. It is a sparkling shiraz. Red wine with bubbles!

It is made by the winery Fox Creek, which is located in the McLaren Vale, South Australia, about a 45 minute drive from my parent's house. We went there last February when we were in Australia and stocked up big, luckily they're all under lock and key in my Dad's cellar otherwise I'm sure the entire stash would have been drunk by now...

Vixen goes down so easily that it feels like you've only had about three sips and the entire bottle is gone. I wish I had two, no wait, I wish I had six bottles!

"A powerful style of wine, it oozes opulent blackberry, licorice and chocolate flavours and has a lingering semi-dry finish."

For those of you in Austin, you can buy it at Central Market, Whole Foods, Grapevine Market... it's not that difficult to find, just difficult to keep in the house!

Ticket to Bulgaria... booked!

2007-01-17T10:23:00.000-06:00

I leave tomorrow.

I just want the beer, honestly!

Meanwhile...

2007-01-16T15:25:00.000-06:00

Yesterday in Melbourne it hit a high of 105F, and more hot weather predicted for today. I know where I'd rather be... hot weather of course. Hang on, did I just say that? Me, who normally complains about the hot weather?

Mind you, Melbourne is having a terrible time of it at the moment - they're already on water restrictions and now they might be on electricity restrictions too?!

Hope you manage to stay cool, Kate and Tim!

My 100th post brings news of snow!

2007-01-16T13:48:00.000-06:00

It's not often that you see snow in Austin - the last time was February 14th 2004, the day before our first marathon! So I put on my new green hat that Mum and Dad got me for Christmas, wrapped myself up in one of Gordon's fleeces, put my sturdy, non-slip Caterpillar boots on, and went outside for a photo. Brrrrr... it is chilly out there!

Now I suppose I should get back to work. Unfortunately I have a laptop, so even though we're all stuck at home, I can still work... but it's nice and relaxing, anyway, and Gordon is home and working too. Time for another pot of coffee!

Happy Birthday Kate!

2007-01-15T13:56:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Kate,
Happy birthday to you!

I hope you had a great 26th birthday, sis!

Ironman Arizona Week 11: A week to recharge

2007-01-15T13:42:00.000-06:00

11 weeks down, 13 weeks to go.

The thing about doing really hard training weeks is that they're often followed by a recovery week. We had been building the hours and distance for the past few weeks, culminating in the 90mi/20mi double last weekend. The reward? A week of reduced hours and a chance to recover and do some non-triathlon related activities.

So I got a massage, went out for dinner with the girls from the book club, caught up with the T3 crew at Friday night happy hour, went out for dinner with our friends Arun and JoEllen, slept in Sunday morning, and went to a yoga class. Not to mention watching Sex and the City Season 6 part 2 on DVD, all 8 episodes in a row (I love that show). It was a restorative week, both mentally and physically.

Goal hours: 9.5

Actual hours: 9.1

Bike: 3.9hrs / 75 miles

Run: 3hrs / 17.6 miles

Swim: 1.25hrs / 2800m

I'm ready and raring to go again, except for the winter storm that is forcing us all indoors for the next couple of days! Good time to get on my trainer I suppose...

It is really raining here in Austin!

2007-01-13T13:12:00.000-06:00

But it's a good thing, because we desperately need the rain.

Today we met at the T3 gym in the back of the old Bicycle Sport Shop (the location of our weekly Thursday night trainer ride) and rode on our trainers for 2.5hrs. We watched the triathlon movie "What it Takes". It was a good documentary. I especially liked the coverage on the Australian triathlete Luke Bell who I hadn't heard much about until this movie. He's young but seems very grounded, a good Aussie trait. I hope he does well in his career.

After the ride we went out for breakfast to Galaxy Cafe on West Lynn and 10th... the food was delicious! Really, really tasty and fantastic service. I highly recommend this place.

Now I'm at home, warm and dry, drinking a cup of tea and about to sit down and read for a while... or maybe watch a DVD. A long leisurely afternoon ahead of me, then dinner with friends tonight at the Clay Pit... it is perfect curry eating weather!

... and a not so good workout

2007-01-12T12:30:00.000-06:00

Ah, the ebb and flow of workouts. Last night's good workout was tempered with a not so stellar workout this morning. Gordon and I got up early (5:30am) which was probably part of the problem - I've been sleeping in until 7am every other day this week! The schedule called for a 10-12mi long run and we wanted to get it done today instead of waiting until Sunday - Gordon is heading down to San Antonio all day Sunday and we have beer and curry plans for Saturday evening. So the plan was a Friday Longhorn Dam loop, with a bit extra if we felt that 10 miles simply wasn't enough.

We both ran side by side, listening to our iPods, enjoying each other's company but talking very little. The morning air was thick and heavy. We ran at a nice, easy pace and I was feeling fine until just after we'd run over the Longhorn Dam. Gordon wanted to kick it up a notch, but I was struggling just to hold an easy pace. My legs felt heavy, my stomach was a bit unsettled, and then my music ran out with three miles to go. But I kept running, trailing behind Gordon, he looked back every now and again to check on me, which was really very sweet but extremely irritating at the time... I don't like being the one that needs checking up on! By the time we'd finished we both decided that 10 miles was enough today. Plus, I'd ran for almost as long as a 12 mile run would normally take me anyway.

But I'll take the good with the not so good, if it means that I'm still out there doing it!

A good workout

2007-01-11T21:18:00.000-06:00

Tonight I had a really good workout. First I ran for 30 minutes on the Town Lake trail and I felt great, like I've finally almost recovered from the 20mi run on Sunday. I love running the trail just after work on a weekday, especially Thursday night, when there aren't too many running groups out there and it's mostly just recreational joggers. I get to pass people and feel like I'm some super fast runner. It's great!

Then I met up with the T3 gang and we did a 1:20 indoor trainer ride. The music theme for tonight was techno. Not the best compilation, but there were a few good songs in there. It brought back a few memories of going to Heaven (the nightclub) when I was 17! During cooldown the music changed up a little and we got to hear some "Eye of the Tiger". That made me think of the music tapes that Dad and I used to put together to help motivate his Aussie Rules football team before a big game... which made me think, maybe I should get my Dad to suggest some motivational songs for my iPod? I could do with some blast from the past songs to inspire me during some of these long workouts!

Sennheiser MX 75 Sport stereo headphones

2007-01-10T21:13:00.000-06:00

Photography by Gordon McGregor

I need some decent headphones for running. My first run with my new iPod Nano was frankly quite disappointing. It wasn't the playlist, although that could definitely benefit from a little post-run editing, but the unsuitable earbuds which kept ejecting themselves from my ears every few minutes. I realised that there must be some more appropriate earbuds out there.

After the run I sat down and thought about what I really wanted out of a pair of sport headphones. As a part-time triathlete currently training for an Ironman, I frequently run for two to three hours at a time and so I need something that is primarily going to stay in place during these long runs while also feeling comfortable. I don't shy away from running in the rain so I also need something that can withstand a light drizzle to a torrential downpour. Sound quality is also important, to keep me motivated during the last part of the run when it gets difficult, and I don't like to compromise on style.

After deciding on features, my next step was Google to find out what types of sport headphones exist on the market. After I'd selected a couple of options I searched for product reviews to get a general understanding of the consumer opinion. These opinions can provide some useful information if taken with a grain of salt. Then I hit the manufacturer's website. I'm partial to a well-designed, contemporary website.

Based on my research I decided that the Sennheiser MX 75 Sport stereo headphones were a good match. The MX 75 Sport headphones have a "Twist-to-Fit" design that promotes a comfortable fit that will stay in place during sporting activities, sweat and water-resistant construction that is also machine washable, and powerful neodymium magnets that provide crystal clear, crisp sound. As far as style goes I could live without the lime green, but I love that they twist into my ears rather than requiring a behind the head extender to keep them in place. So I headed to my local Target store and purchased a pair for myself, and also a pair for my husband to go with his new iPod Shuffle. The retail price was $49.95 although I have seen more competitive prices advertised on other websites.

My first opportunity to try them out came three days ago. I ran without music for the first 1.5 hours then decided that I needed some music to motivate me through the final 1.5 hours so I twisted in the earbuds, arranged the wire behind my neck, started my Nano and off I went. The sound quality was great, the music was clear with good volume. The earbuds never once came out and never needed to be re-adjusted. In fact, I barely noticed the earbuds other than the fact they were pumping music into my ears! The length of the wires was adequate although I wished I had clipped them more neatly to my armband, so that they didn't fly around so much. During the run it rained on and off, quite heavy at times, and the earbuds continued to stay put and provide great music quality. After running for 3 hours my body felt tired but my ears felt good. Now that's a good run.

Only 4 more hours to go...

2007-01-10T13:08:00.000-06:00

Until I get my much, much needed massage at the new(ish) "milk + honey" spa in the 2nd St. District.

60 minute massage plus an extra 15 minute foot massage.

I simply cannot wait!

Ooooh, I feel all relaxed just thinking about it...

Ironman Arizona Week 10: I can do this thing, really!

2007-01-07T17:10:00.000-06:00

10 weeks down, 14 weeks to go.

This past week not only gave me another dose of Ironman reality check, but also gave me a dose of "I can do this thing!" reality check. It was also the highest volume training since I started the Ironman training, and my highest volume training week ever... and I survived, with a smile on my face and enthusiasm that I can do this Ironman! It feels great to finish the week on such a high.

After not swimming last week I got back into the pool twice this week - two 5:45am swim sessions, check! I didn't run quite as much this week, but did an extra bike workout and also took a rest day on Friday as I felt like I was coming down with a cold and I felt extremely tired and lacking energy after the Thursday night T3 trainer workout. It was a good decision.

Going into the weekend I was pretty nervous - we were to do a 95mi bike ride Saturday followed by the 20mi ARA running race on Sunday. It was a very important training weekend and, understandably, I was a little worried about being able to do it all. But I think the fact that I took it so seriously was a good thing - I made sure to eat properly and get plenty of rest leading up to the weekend.

Saturday morning we started the ride in fairly gloomy conditions - it was cold and overcast. But the meterologist had said it wouldn't rain until around 3pm when we should be finishing our ride. The lying bastard! It started raining about 1hr into the ride. Not really hard rain, mostly drizzle and a few larger drops every now and again. But it made for very slick conditions on the roads. I was glad to be wearing my bright yellow cycling vest which at least made me feel a little bit more safe out there on the roads - that the cars could actually see me. We did a pretty tough bike ride, started at Lost Creek then made our way to Fitzhugh and took it all the way to Johnson City. Plenty of hills!!! I was cursing our coaches wisdom of making us do 90 miles of hills the day before a 20mi long run! I did have another one of those "what the hell am I doing" moments during hours two and three on the bike. It was raining at that point and a few of us had just fallen off the main group (I was nervous descending on those slippery roads so I took it easy). I started questioning, again, why I am even doing all this training. I shed a few crocodile tears. Then Gordon said we should work together to catch the main part of the group, so I told myself to get a grip and we spent the next 30 minutes working together and caught some people up ahead, which felt good! After the turnaround point I started feeling much better. There were some tough hills coming back including one monster of a hill that we got to go down on the way out to the turnaround point, but had to climb back up on the way home. But it really wasn't too bad. I was feeling good. Finally we finished, around 3pm, most of the day was gone! As soon as we finished it started raining heavily, so it was good to get in the car, go home and get warm, eat and relax.

Sunday we woke up to a gloriously sunny, not too cold, morning. I was feeling a little bit tired and my legs felt a bit heavy, but I was feeling surprisingly good and quite upbeat about running the 20 miles. We made our way down to the outlet malls (where the race started), ran into some of our friends and had a quick chat, then we were off! Gordon and I started running together but we both wanted to run our own pace so I took off a little bit, although Gordon was never too far behind! The course had some good hills but nothing too terrible, and the weather was just gorgeous and I felt good! I was deliberately keeping a really easy pace to conserve my energy and just get through the run - I was treating it more like a supported long run than a race. By holding back and conserving my energy, I kept a consistent pace the whole race, never felt like walking and even managed to kick it up a notch for the last mile. It felt good to pass so many people who had gone out too hard early on and couldn't hold the pace for the rest of the race. I ran into a few friends and colleagues from work - I was quite surprised to see my boss (well, my boss's boss) out there on the course. We had a chat for a while. Saw a few people that I used to run with and chatted with them too. My old marathon coach, Steve, gave me some great motivation at mile 19 - "Now, I know YOU know how to suffer, bring this thing home!!!". I much prefer to have that type of motivation rather than just the standard "Good job, you're nearly there!". Just like for some strange reason I like to listen to hip-hop when I'm doing a hard trainer workout, the nastier the lyrics the better!

I PR'ed the 20mi distance by over 17 minutes, nearly 1 minute per mile faster than when I ran the RunTex 30K in January 2004 when I was training for my first marathon. In fact, it's the first time I've ran this distance since my marathon in 2004. Plus, I did it after cycling 90 miles the day before. Way to go me!

I almost made my hours this week. I didn't do any core workout (need to get back on that) and I was a little short on running, mostly because I under-estimated how long the 20 mile race would take me - I thought I'd come in closer to 3.5 hours!

Goal hours: 16.5

Actual hours: 14.2

Bike: 7.9hrs / 130 miles

Run: 3.9hrs / 24.5 miles

Swim: 2.5hrs / 5600m

I find it really interesting the range of emotions that I go through with this training, from feeling like giving up and questioning why I am even doing this training to being on a complete high and feeling so strong and sure that I can do this Ironman. Not only am I training my body, but my mind as well. Every week seems to bring about a new mental challenge of some sort, but it's this type of training that will really make the difference on the day of the Ironman.

How was your Saturday?

2007-01-06T16:11:00.000-06:00

I spent most of mine on a bike, 5.5 hours to be exact, in the rain, going up and down hills for 90 miles.

It's 4:30pm, we just got home an hour ago. Now I'm eating pizza and watching the BBC series "Dr. Who".

Cricket

2007-01-05T11:09:00.000-06:00

For those of you who read this blog, you may be thinking "WTF is cricket?".

Cricket is a game of skill, patience and afternoon tea breaks. It is an awesome game and Australia kicks ass.

Every two years, Australia plays England in a series of matches called "The Ashes". It is cricket's oldest and most intense rivalries and the location alternates between Australia and England. It started in 1882. The name came about after England's home series defeat in 1882 led to a mock newspaper obituary, and when England won in Australia next time round, a bail-burning ceremony in Melbourne resulted in the ashes being placed inside an urn, and being presented to the winning captain.

Speeding forward, from 1989 to 2005 Australia were unbeaten. In 2005 England managed to make a comeback and won the series. This surprised everybody, not least the Australians who had probably become a little complacent. After all, it's hard to keep improving and retaining your edge when you are the world dominators of the sport.

The 2006/2007 Ashes series, played in Australia, has just concluded. Australia won 5-0, meaning that we gave those whingeing Poms a royal spanking.

I don't really follow cricket much these days, but I remember fantastic days spent at Adelaide Oval with Dad, Kate, my Uncle Bert and cousin Sharyn, watching the cricket. Warm, sunny skies, mexican waves, the whistles of the drunken yobbos sitting on the beer hill under the scoreboard as all the cute women walked past them, and swarming onto the grounds at the end of a match to shake the hands of a cricketer. Once I even managed to shake the hand of Viv Richards from the West Indies, one of the greatest batsman to ever play the game.

Ah, those were the days.

Tree House Fridge

2007-01-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

While reading my daily technology update I came across the "Tree House Refrigerator".

Apparently when you go to take an apple out of the fridge it feels like you're picking it from a tree. There's also what looks like a birdhouse for storing your eggs. I admire the creative thinking, but really?

Full article here.

Ironman Arizona Week 9: Going long...

2007-01-02T12:22:00.000-06:00

9 weeks down, 15 weeks to go.

This past week we did our first really long workouts - 17mi long run and 85mi bike ride. As indicated in a previous post, it was also the week that gave me a dose of Ironman reality check. Up until last week, the workouts have been tough but nothing too much tougher than what I've endured during half ironman training (although I have consistently done a lot more running this time). But last week switched us into Ironman training gear, with the longest run and bike ride that I've done in a while. I've only ever done one bike ride over 70 miles (Shiner ride back in May) and the last time I ran 17 miles was back in December 2004! The only thing I didn't do last week was swim, which isn't such a big deal considering that I'm most comfortable in the swim. I got back in the pool this morning.

The long run was pretty tough. We did this on Friday after our bike trainer workout Thursday night. Fortunately the legs didn't feel too tired. The first 15.5 miles felt pretty decent, but the last 2.5 miles (we over achieved) was tough. I had to really stay focused to keep going and I have to admit that I took a couple of 30s walk breaks during the last mile, but I picked up the pace for the last 0.25mi so I think that makes up for it :) It had been raining off and on for the whole run and once I stopped it started bucketing down. Now I have a couple of long rainy runs under my belt, which is always a good thing to have.

The long ride on Saturday was surprisingly not too bad, for the first 75 miles. We biked a reasonably hilly course so that made it a bit tougher and my legs were already tired from running the day before. I paid more attention to my calorie intake and took in about 1700 calories for 5 hours on the bike (5:45 total ride time), not quite enough but getting close. I ran out of water for the last hour and so didn't eat anything which is probably a big part of the reason I got so tired in the last 45 minutes. I also wanted to pick up the cadence during the last 45 minutes but pedaling faster was hurting my butt on the saddle so it was a frustrating trade-off. But I didn't get a flat today, woo hoo! Others did, and we stopped and waited which made it really hard to get started again, but I figure if I stop and wait for someone then they'll return the favour some day if I need it!

Goal hours: 14.5

Actual hours: 12.9

Bike: 6.15hrs / 108 miles

Run: 6.75hrs/ 42.45 miles

Swim: 0hrs

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T11:56:00.000-06:00

We definitely rung in the New Year in style.

It all started with last minute (4pm) phone calls to several Austin restaurants trying to find somewhere to dine at a reasonable hour. After Uchi and Zoot both only had 10pm reservations available, we jumped at the chance to get a 5pm reservation at Wink... but that of course meant jumping in the shower and getting ready in 20 minutes, which I managed to do and still look half decent!

So we started the evening at Wink with their seven course "2007 Celebration" tasting menu, which consisted of seared tuna, gnocchi with black truffles, seared lamb, lobster, duck, venison, cheese platter, then we ordered their trio dessert of lemon meringue pot, creme brulee and warm chocolate pudding... it was all so delicious and surprisingly I didn't feel too stuffed at the end. This restaurant is so classy, we even had chilled cutlery for the seared lamb and extra warm cutlery for the duck. It was fantastic. We talked about our plans for 2007, laughed, reminisced about 2006... it was a wonderful dinner.

Afterwards we parked near Jack and Adam's and walked over to see Blue Lapis Light do their show on the side of the Radisson. It was good, although not as good as Requiem (the show we saw back in October) but it was free and it was fun standing in the middle of the city and seeing them dance and abseil down the side of the Radisson! Afterwards we caught a pedicab over to Jack and Adam's and hung out at their New Years Eve party for an hour or so. We saw quite a few of our friends there and it was pretty relaxed and fun. We left around 10:30pm, planning on going to another friend's party but we were feeling so tired by then that we came home and chilled out and just barely managed to make it to midnight, before falling fast asleep around 12:15pm.

It was a great way to spend New Years Eve. Hello 2007!

A good read

2006-12-31T11:28:00.000-06:00

December was a productive month on the book reading front... I managed to finish three very different books, and thoroughly enjoyed each one of them.

"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami
This book is my selection for our next book club read and it has been sitting on my nightstand for a good 6 months so I decided it was time to read it. It was one of the more imaginative books I've read. It essentially focuses on two characters, Kafka and Nakata. Kafka is a 15yr old boy who runs away from home, and Nakata is an elderly man who lives a simple life on welfare. Ultimately their story is connected, but it's an odd, imaginative journey before the connection is made. I liked that the book kept you guessing and in many ways the book seemed like a very bizarre dream. I'm sure it prompted some strange dreams of my own!

"Sophies' World" by Jostein Gaarder
Gordon recommended this book to me. He read it about 15 years ago. I even found an old Glasgow train ticket lying within the pages. The book centres around the main character, Sophie, who one day starts receiving philosophy teachings in the mail from an aging philosopher. The book takes you through a history of Western Philosophy and I found it very interesting and educational. I also found the character of Sophie to be very mature for a 15 year old, the things she said and the questions she asked seemed a bit beyond what a regular 15 year old would think. There's also a fantastic twist that comes into play around three quarters of the way into the book. It's this twist that turns it into an Alice in Wonderland type fantasty land. I laughed out loud at some of the antics in the book. It was creative but factual and I found it thought provoking and entertaining.

"Almost French" by Sarah Turnbull
My sister Kate recommended this to me and it appeared under the tree on Christmas Day (courtesy of Kate and Tim)! It was a relatively quick, fun, humorous read that at times I could really relate to, even if the author was describing adapting to life in France when I am living in Texas! Although the cultures are wildly different (French vs. American) I could definitely relate to the trials and tribulations of adapting to a new culture. What I connected to most of all was her descriptions of what she missed about living in Australia, her homesickness after returning from a holiday to Australia, and the need to retain her Australian-ness while also having to make some changes in order to adapt to the way of life in her new country. I have to admit to feeling more than a little homesick at the end of the book. While for her, France has ties because her husband is French, I don't have any such ties to the USA (Gordon is Scottish) which sometimes makes me wonder... why are we still here?

Holy shit, I'm doing an Ironman

2006-12-30T15:34:00.000-06:00

2.4mi swim. 112mi bike. 26.2mi run.

It hit me this weekend. After a 17mi long run yesterday and an 85mi bike ride today, suddenly the Ironman has become a much bigger deal. I always knew it would be hard, but now that we're starting to do the really long, hard workouts, it is suddenly seeming a whole lot harder.

If only it were metric!

Ironman Arizona Week 8: More Mental Prep

2006-12-26T10:16:00.000-06:00

8 weeks down, 16 weeks to go.

That means we are a third of the way into the training program. Yikes!

Week 8 was the first week of the base 2 build phase. The goal of this next 4wk phase is to keep building base endurance and build up to a 95mi long ride and 20mi long run.

Week 8 started out a little tough. I was still feeling tired from the brick workout we had done the day before (reassuringly, so were several other people in our group) and at our quality run workout Monday evening Maurice made us do an hour of hill repeats. Grrrr... that was tough. The weather was also quite warm, for December, so that made it a little more difficult. That night I didn't sleep so well, my legs felt very restless and I tossed and turned most of the night. So I took a much needed rest day on Tuesday.

I had a good swim Wednesday night and a great run + ride combination on Thursday. Friday was another day off...

Saturday we rode 65 miles. It started out sunny and ended up raining for the last hour on the bike. I was glad to be done! I've really been struggling on my bike rides lately. Today was no exception. I felt great for the first hour then started dragging for the second hour. I don't think it was a calorie issue today because I made sure to take in over 1000 calories during the ride (probably still need to take in another 300-400). I did realise that I had a slow leaking flat and I'm sure that didn't help. Thanks to Gordon for changing the tyre for me. It's nice to be taken care of sometimes! I'm definitely learning a lot on these rides. The group we're riding with is much stronger than the group I was riding with earlier this year and last year. They also work together more while they're riding. I can feel that I'm getting stronger on these rides but I still have a long way to go. It's strange to feel that my running is stronger than my cycling at the moment!

Sunday we were supposed to run but due to bad weather we put it off until Monday. But we still did a decent long run on Monday.

Goal hours: 11.5

Actual hours: 8

Bike: 5hrs / 88 miles

Run: 1.67hrs / 9.5 miles

Swim: 1.25hrs / 3000 yards

A Christmas Run

2006-12-26T09:59:00.000-06:00

Gordon and I were supposed to do our 15 mile long run on Christmas Eve, but when we woke up Sunday morning it was raining and very cold. Running for 2.5hrs in cold, rainy weather would not have been fun! So, we decided that we would attempt to do it Christmas Day instead. Christmas Day when we woke up it was still raining and windy, but we decided that we just had to get up and start running anyway. We decided we'd try and do at least 1hr. All part of the mental training required for the Ironman. So we started the run, it was windy, cold and raining! There was barely a soul out there on the roads, apart from the odd car every now and again (I do wonder what those people must have thought seeing us running in the cold and rain on Christmas morning!). But after about an hour the weather started to get better and we decided to keep running... we ended up running for a little over 2 hours, not bad for Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve or Day?

2006-12-24T12:49:00.000-06:00

Living in the USA I am eternally confused.

For example, right now it's 5:30am on Christmas Day in Australia, but here in the USA it's 1pm Christmas Eve. Because it's not at all related to when you were born, Christmas Day always falls on the 25th day of December of the timezone you are currently in, no matter what. So even though it's Christmas Day in Australia, I am celebrating Christmas Eve.

However, your birthday is relative to the timezone in which you are born, or is it? Come late afternoon on June 10th in the USA, is it really my birthday because in Australia it will already be June 11th? But then what happens to all the hours that you lose then gain while you are travelling? Do they ever even out or do you rack up a deficit, or surplus, somewhere? Does this affect when your birthday really is? Could my birthday really fall on June 12th by now? Don't get me started on leap years...

Anyway, back to Christmas. I wonder if my Dad will let me open a present tonight, even if it's just Christmas Eve for us?

I can't wait to call them and wish them a Merry Christmas. Although I used to wake my parents up at 3am to open presents, I don't think they will appreciate a 5:30am phone call today!

So I have to wait for a few more hours, then use the wonderful modern technology of Skype to see them.

I wonder how bad Kate and Tim's hangover will be after their big day out for Christmas Eve?

Where's Wally?

2006-12-22T11:54:00.000-06:00

If I do say so myself, Gordon and I really outdid ourselves with our Christmas card this year.

Something my Mum wrote made me laugh:
"Your christmas card was like "where's wally" you and Gordon were everywhere!"

We had a lot of fun taking the picture, even if we did get a few strange looks!

Awesome idea Gordon... the only problem is, how can we top it next year?

Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies

2006-12-19T12:45:00.000-06:00

We had a White Elephant exchange at the T3 party on Sunday night. I managed to pick up a gear organizer for my car. Gordon managed to pick up a British-style Christmas pudding... which to my delight no-one wanted to steal!

(With a White Elephant exchange everyone brings a gift and picks out a number to indicate the order in which they can pick a gift. When it's your turn you can either (a) choose an unopened present and open it, or (b) steal a present from someone who has gone before you.)

It was funny. People kept walking by and offering their sympathy about Gordon's present, but I actually love Christmas pudding! Pour some warm vanilla custard on top and it is just so yummy.

This morning I got nostalgic for mince pies and Gordon has promised to make me a dozen mince pies tonight when he gets home!

Christmas pudding and mince pies... it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

IM Arizona Week 7: Hardest workout yet

2006-12-18T11:56:00.000-06:00

7 weeks down, 17 weeks to go.

Week 7 was our first rest week in the training program. I definitely needed it! However, it turned out that I enjoyed the rest week more from a mental perspective than a physical perspective. Mentally it was great to free up some evenings, have some cocktails, go out for dinner, relax, sleep in, but physically some of the easy workouts were tough! I had a shit of a run on Friday - it was only 40 minutes long but I hated every minute of it, even though I was running with my new iPod Nano! Oh well, not every run can feel good, unfortunately.

Saturday we did a relatively short 2 hour ride around the South MoPac area, trying to maintain Ironman bike pace, which for me is around 18mph. I held the pace and felt pretty good.

Sunday we had our first test - a 20mi/10mi brick (see previous post). I'm very happy with the progress I'm making towards my April goal.

I made my hours this week!

Goal hours: 8.5
Actual hours: 8.5

Bike: 3.25hrs / 59 miles
Run: 4hrs / 24.5 miles
Swim: 1.25hrs / 3300 yards