Sydney ToughMudder 2012

For our anniversary we took a trip to the NSW Central Coast. More on that later, but the main objective of the trip was to take part in TOUGHMUDDER... a 20km long obstacle course- mud, berlin walls, river crossings, electric shocks- just about everything they could throw at us!

SInce it was for our anniversary- 1 year married and 7 years together- we(I) decided we should do it in appropriate fancy dress :D But obviously the course was going to be tough, so we needed something that wouldn't get in the way too much. Both outfits are made out of cheapo technical fabric refashioned from K-Mart sport clothes. 1 vest, 1 black tshirt and 2 white tshirts = $15. 

Didn't we look great?! Ok, so my dress looks a little like a nighty, but I quite like the draping I managed to do on the back to make a bit of a bustle instead of a train.

The dress was the vest chopped off short, attached to one of the tshirts chopped of below the sleeves. Plus some lace and flowers from the stash (the flowers were prototypes for the actual wedding!)

The suit was the black t-shirt cut open along the front, with the front panel of the other white shirt carefully sewn in along the seams of the black shirt, so it effectively had two front panels. I sewed down the "lapels" so they wouldn't just flop around too much- one side has an actual buttonhole and the other side has a fabric buttonhole, also a prototype from the big day, and sewed the front closing button on through all the layers to make them stay. 

The bow tie is made from the left over fabric scraps and sewn on firmly.

I think he looks quite dapper, all things considered!

Just before the start!

And just after.

Part way through, climbing down to swim a river.

Notice the not-so-white dress!

Then the photos stop... it gets hard to tell who is who when you are this covered in mud!

Most of it wasn't too bad. The spirit of mate-ship was great, so for things like the berlin walls (especially the one that was 4m high) where they way no way in hell most people would be able to get over, there were people to give you a leg over. Or basically throw you over! Some of it was just shear determination, like carrying a log on your shoulder through thigh deep swamp for a kilometer. Easy to start with, horribly hard half way through!

The worst for me was the electric eel. I always knew it was going to be the hardest for me, because I am a strong believer that people and electricity shouldn't mix, but I wanted to try it. It was awful. I was almost in tears just trying to make myself start! Army crawling through the mud in wet clothes under charged wires and regularly getting painful zaps. Halfway through I got a really strong one on my head and freaked, I just wanted to get out of there. But the only real way was to carry on, so I did. While getting zapped some more. I got out the far end and just lay there in a puddle, hyperventilating. Then the Boy picked me up and I burst into tears. After I recovered, I was good to carry on but there was no way I was doing the second electric one!

I loved all the water ones, swimming or wading or jumping off a high platform. They were fun, and cool (it got up to the high 20s), and washed some of the mud off! The monkey bars were hard as they went up hill, not just flat. I was hopeless! And the hills they threw in to wear you out were just plain cruel.

The hardest was the Mud Mile- a series of trenches filled with increasingly viscous mud. They started of OK, but by the end they were so thick that it was really hard to move. Even pulling your self over the top was hard, never mind if you sank in it at all. and by that time (probably about 16-18km in) we were getting pretty tired! My skirt acted as a sail, slowing me down even more. I'll admit we gave up on that one after about 5 of 7 main trenches, in the hope of actually making it to the end of the course. 

We made it through to the end though, slowly but surely!

We had lots of people congratulating us on our anniversary, and saying what a great way it was to celebrate. I have to say I agree!

There were a few casualties- our outfits were binned, and our shoes were donated to charity (though I'm not sure who would want them!)

The Boy kept his bow tie. I think he quite liked it. Win!

I managed to fall on the 5m halfpipe, and land on my cheek/temple. I think I was so shocked at almost making it over the top that when my hand slipped out of the hand of the guy who was going to try and help me over and I totally forgot to protect myself. 

It gave me an awesome black eye to be proud of, but sadly the swelling trapped some of the nasty mud/water in my ear and I developed *the worst* ear infection within 12 hours. I woke up in the middle of the night in agony, and made the Boy drive us around Sydney in a camper van at 7am on a monday trying to find somewhere to buy drugs to make the pain go away... 

I got an emergency appointment with my GP when we were back in Perth that afternoon  because blood stained gunk had started pouring out of my ear hole... too much information, you say?!? Yup, but it was really disturbing, on top of the pain. 

My heart was saying 

"head injury plus fluid in ears = serious"

I knew in my head that it was just a bad infection, but always good to get these things checked! 

(I did get it checked straight away, and they couldn't feel any abnormalities and just gave me a cold pack to help with the swelling, but they had lots of people to cover...)

I flew out to Italy not long after, and got some funny looks. Its hard to explain what I did in English, never mind in a language that I can only just order a coffee in!

So... Would I do it again?

Yes, probably. Now the pain has gone away. If only to see how on earth Perth can produce that much mud, considering we only have sand!

Would I recommend it to others?

I think so. To the right others anyway. I can imagine certain friends wanting to do it, but then complaining the whole way around. Thats not how it works! And we saw a few people who were potentially quite seriously hurt, and heard of more later (but also heard they were OK in the end).  

But if you read what I just wrote and still like the sound of it, then do it! And get a bigger group than 1 or 2 together, because it definitely looked more fun in a team! And wear something like skins that cover your knees. They don't have to be expensive- mine and the Boys were from K-mart, under the rest of the clothes- but I can't imagine the chaffing from all that mud in a non-synthetic, loose pair of shorts, and both of our knees are scratched to hell.   

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike!

This morning I went out (fabric) shopping on my bike. The shop is 6km away, and its a nice easy ride down the cycle path along the railway line. On these kind of rides, I admit I use a lone, quiet earphone and listen to podcasts as I toddle. Just loud enough so I can hear it, but am still aware of everything around me.

I'd just loaded up my bike with my haul, when a podcast started - Life Matters was having phone-in on the state of cycling in Australia. It made me think how fully I have taken up the car-free lifestyle in the last 6 months

My bike... she has no name, but gets well used! 

Note chain guard and storage front and back

I don't go fast, I have a bike with a chain guard, basket and rear rack. I have eight gears, which is more than enough. My bike is heavy, but sturdy. You will never see me dressed in those horrible Lycra suits! 
I am not one of those cyclists with all the mod cons. The bike I chose because I liked the look of it and the handle bars meant that my not-quite-healed-right broken elbow doesn't ache after >10km. I can fit a good amount of shopping on it, though I do need to invest in some panniers for summer so I can ditch the sweaty back-pack.

We live in the inner suburbs, and most everything is done on the bike or on foot, including my commute (26km per day) and shopping (usually a 6km round trip). We live near the station, so we do use public transport sometimes, which leaves the car as a conscious decision if we know we'll be buying bulky things (haven't quite managed the Asian skills of bike balancing!) or if its somewhere out of the ordinary.
The bike is now the norm!
I do still hate the roads but we're well served with paths in my particular part of Perth so I can mostly avoid them. I just try to act confident, keep my lines steady and be very aware of my surroundings when I'm on the roads.

Sadly, the lovely bike path goes to within 500m of the fabric shop/major road,

then just stops!

Seriously?!?

I have some "special" bike clothes, mostly to make myself more visible for morning commutes in the dark, but usually I wear what I'm wearing anyway. 

One of the things I bought at the bike shop was some fluro-pink ripstop nylon that kind of made my eyes hurt when it was laid out to cut, which I plan to use to make a high vis bib and some arm and leg cuffs to make myself a bit more visible without needing a whole other bulky outfit. The joys of working in the mining industry means I can salvage high vis stripes off my old work gear to add some night visibility too.

My commute is faster on the bike (35-40 minutes each way depending on wind direction) than rush hour traffic (at least 45 minutes) or any public transport (50 minutes), so "not having time" is a really rubbish excise as far as I'm concerned!
I can use the shower facilities at the uni gym for free, though its a bit of  a detour. My heart rate is generally around 135 bpm, so its pretty gentle, but I still burn around 600 calories a day. and it gives me a good hour of light exercise at least 5 days a week. 


 What I love the most is being re-overtaken by the "I'm a real cyclist"s who have all the gear but are still going slower than me, realise they've just been overtaken by a two-wheeled horse so burn off out of embarrassment! SO much fun :D


And above all, I enjoy it! I never really liked cycling as an "exercise"; I would much rather run. But as a means of transport its great. Even in the rain! 

Carlsberg must do commutes...

Because I think mine must be perfect!

What better way to start/end the working day than by watching the dolphins playing in the river.

I see them maybe 2 times a week, and always try and stop and watch.

Life is too short not to watch the dolphins :)

It looks like they've got babies! The littlies were getting a bit over excited when I first stopped, but then the boat came over and scared them a bit and they started behaving themselves again.

But in this last video you can see one of the little ones getting a bit out of control and somersaulting out of the water at about 13 seconds in.

Too cute!

Outdoor Weekend! - Camping and biking the trails

This weekend was the last one my husband is home for before I start my phd and start working real life hours not FIFO. So we made the most of it:

We drove down south:

Set up camp

And took some fun photos.

Stairway to heaven? 

We spent a good hour throwing different sized rocks in the river and recording the result!

On the sunday there was a free mountain biking taster session, including free bike hire and sausage sizzle after! How good a deal is that?! We did the 17km route; It was good fun, if a little scary at first- I'm not the most confident bike rider, despite riding semi regularly. My never-quite-healed-right broken arm means I find it hard to get a stable grip on the handle bars. 

I took one impressive tumble- we were on a slight downhill windy sandy section. I just avoided one tree, and over compensated to avoid another. My front tyre dug into the sand, the bike slipped down underneath me, and I somehow managed to leap clean off the bike. The Boy heard me screech, and turned round to see me running down the path, bike in a sandy heap. Yet I was totally fine :D

I already have a bike that would be suitable for this kind of riding, so he's thinking of getting a cheapo mountain bike and we'll finally get a rack for the car, so we can hit the trails more often. 

Perth has a trail which is in the process of winding all the way to Albany - 1000km! - with camp stops  and cabins a gentle days cycle apart. We think its something we could definitely get into!

Have you tried something new recently? How did it go?

Pink Triathlon 2010 - A whole year of blogging!

So, I started this blog with a post about the Pink Tri, and I'm happy I did as I now have something to go back and compare to!

So last years course was 300m swim, 10km cycle and 3km run.
I finished in 1:02:44, with some dodgy timing that didn't separately record transition breaks, so it all merged together. But overall that put me 302nd  overall and 29th in my category (I jumped up a notch this year!).

So then this year came, and I knew I wanted to do it again, but what with everything else that has been happening I didn't get much training in...

The day started OK, we got The Boys bike into the car, got there with time to spare (though they'd already set the kids off before they'd closed registration, so they were trying to get us all out of transition before there was time to set up) but I realised as I was waiting for the race briefing that I'd left my goggles in transition. NIGHTMARE! So I sent they Boy off to get them, and he got back just in time for kick off despite having to haggle for entry to transition :)
Then came my turn to jump in the pool and I instantly got mild cramp in my right calf, so swam the first 75m with only my arms, trying to stretch my leg out without stopping! It came right again eventually. The swim is my weakest point, so I was happy to complete it in much less time than last year- 7 minutes! (and 8 seconds)

Then on through the longest transition in the world! The pool they used this year was well away from the racks, so there was a long waddle through crowds and over gravel and sand and some attempts at matting. At least by the time I made it to transition I was quite dry :) 5 minutes was pretty bad time-wasting though!

Onto The Boys bike, which was awesome. Compared to my hybrid, his road bike felt like it was powering itself. I wooshed up and down the 9km at ridiculous speed, only to loose balance and nearly drop the bike on the way back into transition! It was all good though; the bike was fine and so only I was left with scratches and bruises down my shin...

On to the run and... I got a stitch. My best leg, and I got a stitch. I was pretty gutted to be honest, but at the same time I wasn't really doing it as a race-race, more a fun-race so it wasn't too bad. 3 laps around the new athletics stadium and it was all over, in a massively improved 53:26!
Even when you add in the extra 1km on the bike, thats only another3 minutes, so 6 minutes chopped off in real-ish terms. Not bad over such a short course.

179th overall (down from 302nd, with similar)

34/89 in my category (29/58 last year)

Run For A Reason - Race Report

Sunday was the inaugural 14km HBF Run for a Reason.


It dawned dark and stormy, after a very wet day on saturday. I wasn't optimistic! Actually, I was out the door before dawn, but I already wasn't optimistic. I hate running in the rain!


Start was pretty chaotic, but after thye first few hundred meters the field spread out and we were good to go.


The route started and finished at the WACA, and ran mainly on freeways and through the Graham Farmer Tunnel under the city. That was a major selling point for me, especially the tunnel. Now I've cycled and run through it! Its so hot and stuffy in there though, even though it was cold and windy outside.


Out of the tunnel marked the halfway point.


10km in and I was about equalling my 10k PR according to my watch, though I've heard that the markers were a bit out. The last 5km were hard... the wind was crazy strong, and there was a bit of occasional drizzle.


On the home straight, past the 14km mark, full on finish sprint... and still no finish line... and still no finish line... and still no finish line... finally we were in the WACA and the finish line materialised. Apparently the final distance was 14.484km:


Just to let you know, given the nature of the HBF Run for a Reason course (along freeways and through the Northbridge Tunnel), we were unable to get an exact measurement until event day as the method used for measuring courses isn't permitted on the freeway during its normal use. For those of you who are looking for an exact measurement, it's 14.484km


Now, I MapMyRun-ed it once I knew exactly how it went, and I got 14.5km. So surely they could have given us a heads up without needing to wait for the route to be measured officially on the day...
500m isn't too much to worry about as part of a 14km race if you know its there, but it is when you're using all your remaining "go" to get a strong finish, and at 13km you can see yourself finishing in under 1:20, its a bit annoying when the end  is so much further away than you think.

Good points:
I ran a decent race despite running 21km as my "long run" on tuesday.
The entertainment on the way round. I love races that do that.
I cycled there and back too. I'm now one of *those* people.


Bad points:
I didn't run quite as fast as I would have liked.
The start was crazy
The end was silly.

1 day, 8 hours, 6 dances, sore feet!

Yesterday I went to DANCEmania:

The idea behind DANCEmania was to have one day where women could have a go at as many different styles of dance as possible.  Mad Camel Belly Dance has been able to organise the 11th of April 2010 to run DANCEmania with 6 styles of dance spread over 8 hours. With one ticket getting you entry into Belly dance, Bollywood, Samba, Cabaret, Burlesque and Lap dancing you will get to have a go at all 6 styles. 

The day is intended to be fun and laughter for women of all ages and skill levels so don't worry if you have never lapdanced before; there is a first time for everything!

I dragged a friend along and we had a great day!

It started with Cabaret, learning a dance (complete with feather boas) to "Hey Big Spender", then moving swiftly on to Samba. I'd never danced the Samba before, but I loved it! We learnt the basic foot move then worked it into a basic dance (the teacher showed us what you could do with it and we were all very glad to stick to the basics!) then did a funky party carnival style jump around. Great cardio!

After lunch came Bollywood. It was more bollywood fusion (so not to far removed from bellydance) which was a shame, because I'd have loved to have done some propper, snappy, more angular indian dance. 

Then came the most fun one: Lap dancing :D Around an empty chair. I loved it. Once you forget of the sleazy side, its actually a lot of fun. Free your inhibitions and try it some time! Simple moves if you know a bit of dancing, and much slower so there is time to put your own thing in too.

Hmm, what was next? Burlesque. Now, this one wasn't all I'd expected, but I think its more because of the teacher who made it very regimented and repetitive and not much fun. Cabaret was much more fun, even though they're a very similar style.

And very tired, at 5pm, we started on BellyDance. Now, the day was organised by a belly dance troupe, so most of us had some previous experience and so this way more of a fun shake down at the end of the day. The best bit? dancing to Tarkans "Simarik", a turkish song we used to love at high school.

The Boy picked us up and ferried us home for a carb-fest of baked potatoes to replenish some of that expended energy. Tired and a bit stiff, and with very sore feet (dancing in heels?! if you'd seen me tottering around in Melbourne a few weeks ago you'd never believe it!) but happy.

Interval Training!

Yesterday I went to the WAMC interval session for the first time.

I wasn't sure if I'd actually go or not, so I went for a 6km run in the morning anyway, just in case I backed out. By 5 I was feeling up to going, actually looking forward to it. Though still slightly scared at the level people would be at.

So I rocked up and met the coach; he said not to worry, go at my own pace but make sure I could feel the difference in my intervals.  So we did:

Warm up: High knees 3x100m, Bum kicks 3x 100, with a gentle jog back again between each.

Then

800m fast
400m slow
600m fast
200m slow
400m fast
200m slow
200m fast

5 minutes break and do it all over again!
Worked out about another 6km. So 12 for the day.
I definitely wasn't leading the pack but I also wasn't last by a long way either, so thats good :)

Quick dash home for tea and shower then back out the door to circus meet.
It was fun, but I felt quite shaky while spinning.

They do different things each week, and I'll definitely be back.
Hopefully it will help pick my pace up.

Endless monstrosities.

OMG.

Just did a training session with a different trainer on site at work.

I hurt and am sooo shaky!

Lots of interval running and boxing and some weights too.

There will be pain in the morning I think.

Shows the importance of mixing it up.
I've not done a huge amount of cross training recently, down to a mix of laziness and Bridges training.


And on that note: Photos from the Bridges Run:

I'm floating!

And also this monstrosity! This was when I was firing through the last km to try and get a 55:XX.
I'm putting it up small, but I think it will enlarge if you mist click on it. On the positive, my legs look good. :)

So I wont be buying any of those!

The other monstrosity if that they didn't record mat times.

They were all gun times. 

Which is s**t. Thanks to CoolRunner djc42 for summing it up nicely:
They also need to get onto the net times for events of this size ; people in C & D will really be penalised and (a) it's not fair and (B) it encourages people to jump their category...
There was no mat at the start - so all times will be gun times. The mat 100m before the finish is for the benefit of the announcer so they know who's about to finish. I think i feel stronger about this than I thought - not having net time is not good enough. People expect it now, given that every 'big' race has them - it leaves a sour taste ....


I thought I heard them reel off my name as part of a huge list as we streamed through the finish but I just assumed I'd heard wrong. What do I care if they quickly get my first name out. I'd rather have had a better idea of my time.
Official time 57:11. I'm sticking with my 56:15.

I think I will drag the boy along to the free group training for the R4R. When he's better!

And also have decided to go to WAMC interval training on tuesday nights. It starts at 5:30, so that gives me an hours worth of interval training then a quick dash down to the airport to pick the boy up at 7.

Sorted!

Battle Collossal IX - Muay Thai for the uninitiated

So on saturday night I went to watch one of my good friends in her first Muay Thai fight. I was scared, I will admit it. Not for s second did I doubt Sophies abilities, but its still not a pleasant idea- paying to watch a friend get beaten up...
I'd never been to a fight of any description, and avoid watching things like UFC. They make me cringe.
So I wasnt too sure how I'd deal with this!

We got there at 5:45. Doors were emant to open at 6 and Sophie was first on, a warm up match for a massive tournament with a prize fund of 2,000,000 Baht ($70,000 ish) and a spot representing Australia in some HUGE Thai tournament. It was close to 7 by the time they actually opened the doors. Some mess up with the food and drink delivery. But I would have rather been inside and thirsty than outside and freezing! Winter is definately on the way to Perth. Then a nervous wait for the fighting to get underway.

Once it did, I was hooked. Muay Thai may be fighting, and it is violent by nature, but it definately isnt as viscious as I was expecting.

In the first round Sophie seemed slightly dazed, and her opponent had the upper hand. But once Soph was over the shock of being in the ring for the first time, she came into her own. The other girls kicks just didnt seem to make contact, Sophies did. At one point I'm sure I saw the other girl with tears in her eyes, and her face was puffy and swollen, whereas Sophie looked normal, if tired.

In my understanding, Muay Thai is won by scoring the most points. You get points for a clean contact, more if its above the waist, more for your opponent falling over etc etc. And its scored by a number of judges (3?) at different points around the ring. If the majority of the judges think you scored the most points, you win.

Just like Sophie did!

Proud of you Sophie :)

We stayed on after Sophies fight to watch some of teh main Tournament, to get a better idea of what is involved in Muay Thai. Mainly, we stayed to support one of Sophies friend defending his Welterweight title in the break from the main tournamant (it was a draw! after 5 rounds and lots of blood...) and to wtach the heavyweights...

All the guys in the main tournament weighed 67kilos. Thats the same as me, which is very strange to imagine. The heavyweights weighed 100-110kg. No upper limit and no need to have equal weight fighters. So the guy challenging the Perth heavyweight was a good 5 inches shorter and 10kg lighter. It was never going to end well, but good on him for trying! KO in the first round. And the first time I felt uncomfortable watching the fighting, mainly because it was so unevenly matched.

It was a good thing it was over so soon, because while I wanted to see how the big boys fought, it was 11 o'clock already and I needed my sleep before the 10km race the next morning!

All in all a fun night, though I can't say I'll be going again apart from to support Sophie. But its always good to try new things, especially when they seem out of your comfort zone!

Bridges 10km - Race Report.

After a late night (boxing start was delayed, so didn't get home til 11:30! but more on that here) it was an early start.
Blue skies and sunshine, and less humidity than we've had over the last week. They said it was 15 degrees on the radio as I drove to the start (no public transport that early in Perth on sundays) but felt warmer in full sun!
  
The start was well organised. Many racers had had there numbers sent out to them, so all they had to do was show up, people like me who were late applicants collected their numbers with ease. There was a 5km race starting from the other side of the river, planned so the first across the line would arrive with lots of support from the 10km people, so I hung around the finish line and cheered the first 3 guys and a girl across the line. My guess is they were done in less than 20 minutes. 

Then it was time to line up to get going.
I'd put myself into group D, 55 minutes and over. I was hoping for 55, so turns out this was a big mistake! You'd think I'd have learnt by now that since everyone else puts themselves in too high a group, maybe I should too!
I spent the first 3 kms dodging and weaving. That was all the way across the first bridge until it opened up on the South Perth foreshore and there was more room for people to find their own space. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE! If you're walking at 2km, there is no way you can run 10km in less than 55 minutes so why did you start in with the group C and make me dodge around you?
I was doing well. I was definitely not going to let myself take more than an hour, so I was watching my splits for 6 minute kms and doing pretty good. Would have been better with a clean start, but could have been much worse.

By 7km i was getting hot and my shoulders started to ache which was very annoying. Must have slept a bit funny? So took out 30 seconds to stretch them out properly and relieve the tension building up across them.
8km and we were up onto the Narrows bridge and heading for home.
At this point I saw that I might just about make 55minutes, but it would be close. I put in everything I still had and over took a gazillion people on the home km, but it wasn't quite enough and my watch time was 0:56:15. Grrr! We'll see if the mat time is any better. I wasnt quite sure where the "start"was... so maybe I started my watch too early?! But probably not 15 seconds early... and definitely not 1 minute 15 seconds...
I felt good though. Sweat was pouring off me, but my legs felt Ok. Not "lets do this all over again now" OK, but Ok. My HR averaged at 180, so I was giving it all I had. I'm happy about that. No slacking off like in last years C2S! I'm definitely going to aim for the C2S HM again this year. With a build up in distance over the next 6 months and more speedwork, I hope I can smash the 2:15 barrier of my previous two HMs.


So, things to remember next time:

1. Don't go to a boxing match the night before and get home late.
2. Start in the group you want to be in, not the one you used to be in. 
3. Start further forwards!
4. Figure out the splits for the time you want to finish in, not the one you don't want to be over.  
5. Stretch shoulders more!

Hopefully should be some decent photos to put up soon. I remember seeing a few photographers right in front of me as I powered past, especially on the last km. Fingers crossed. 

First race of the season tomorrow!

My season anyway. WAMC don't really stop, but around now it gets busier.

The Bridges Run is once around the foreshore, 10km. Or a short 5km from one of the jetties on the other side. 

I'm doing the 10, and hoping for a time under 55 minutes. Fingers crossed. I've been running at my old race pace in training runs, so hopefully all the enforced treadmill running has picked up my pace potential.

As for the rest of the weekend, its pretty packed too! Off to Deep Aqua this morning, might stay on for Body Combat but will see. Deep aqua is usually enough in itself, and don't want to over work before tomorrow!

Tonight a big group of us are going to watch a friend fight. She's been doing Muay Thai for a few years now, and its her first public fight, so we're going for moral support. I'm really intrigued. I've never been to anything similar before, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to watch because I'm not sure how well I'll deal with watching one of my best friends get beaten up! She loves it, so I will be there to support.

Tomorrow is the race, then an attempt to see a friend who is moving over to Germany. Shes having a barbeque on the foreshore, so hopefully I will have time to get home, get changed, get back and see her, then we're due to meet a friend that we havn't seen for a long while. He just got a job for a junior exploration company up in my neck of the woods, so thats going to be interesting. The joys of confidentiality!

So sleepy!

I am sooo tired!

I had a really fun break, but it involved lots of late nights (well, 4 in a row). And now I'm back up on site I'm struggling to turn off early enough to get enough sleep in. My alarm goes off at 4 every morning and I slowly wake up, get dressed and stumble out at 4:30, grab breakfast and lunch from the dining room/dry mess and carry on up to work for 5.

Which is normally OK, but I havn't been getting to sleep til after 10 so I just end up really tired all day.

Productivity is low.

Interest is low.

Care factor is low.

Mojo is gone!

I have a program on my phone that moniters my sleep pattern, and while I don't believe it 100%, its pretty interesting reading. My average sleep for the last few days has been less than 6 hours, and I spent most of that tossing and turning.

Last night I managed 1km on the treadie before giving up due to a stich. Which is pretty feeble. ANd I know that I'm only just finding my stride after 1km, and after than all problems work themselves out. But I just had no interest and no strength to carry on.

Plan tonight is to go for a swim after work, have tea that doesnt involve chips (its fush and chups friday!) and get to bed by 7:30. Even if I'm just lying in bed reading, I'm more likely to fall asleep than if I'm sat at the computer or watching TV.

I need to be doing more training if I'm going to get the HM done in August, and I want to be fresh for Melbourne, and I'm generally fed up of feeling weak and weary. So I will focus on my sleep for a few days and hope things improve!

Run for a Reason

So, my running has taken a back seat so far this year, what with all the cycling and focus on building strength not just cardio.
I also had unrealistic aims- running a marathon this year?! Who am I trying to kid? Once I'm back out bush all training will go out the window, and train I must to actually finish a marathon without dying.

So. New plan:

Early May: 7km Mothers Day Classic (if this isn't when I'm in Cairns)

End of May: 14km Run for a Reason. I don't know if this is a new event in Perth, but I've never noticed it before. Its the last break before we go home for the wedding, so should help keep me in check until then.

End August: C2S HM. I figure, if I have a good base worked up I'll be able to add another few km to it for the HM. It will be a challenge but it should be achievable. SMART ;)

October (?): Rottnest 10k. I've wanted to do one of the races on Rotto for years. So if no marathon then the 10k it will be.

These are all on my breaks, and I will enter them all soon, so I can't back out.

I would love to do another Tri, especially after reading Mels race report. Ive seen a few around that I could probably phyically aim for, but theyre all open water, and while I'm getting much better with my fear of the unknown I don't think I'm over it enough. My first Tri was in open water, but it was short and sheltered. I think my actual biggest fear is having another panic attack and having to be dragged out of the water, more than any real fear of being eaten alive. I'm doing good at being in the water at my own pace and on my own terms, not on the blow of a whistle... Maybe it can be on the list of things to have done by the time I hit 30...

On a totally unrelated note, I just got back from
Bran Nue Dae.
I really liked it, as I'm assuming did all the rest of the people in the cinema! Its been a long time since I heard so much laugh-out-loud-laughter at a film. 

Part of me wonders if its to cover their embarrassment...

Or am I just cynical?!

Perth Pink Triathalon

Generally a very good day! Massive turnout- over 1000 pinkies apparently.
Lots of women of all different ages and fitness levels. It was quite a site to behold!
So...

Swim
8:30 for the 300m, including some transition. Think my HRM said under 8 minutes for the actual water time which I was happy. Put me 297th overall, 38th in my group.

Cycle

36:08 for the 10km. Slower than I'd have liked, but I went pretty hard but I guess I'd not trained too hard for this bit as I cycle fairly regularly but rarely swim. Obviously it needs work! To my credit, there were a few bits where I reached terminal velocity and didnt have the gears left to go faster... New bike needed?! Put me 337th overall and 31st in my age group.

Run
18:05 for the 3kms. Just as the sun came out and it suddenly got hotter! Pleased with my run time (same pace over 3km as the C2S... hmmm), though it was always going to be my strength.

Put me 192nd overall and 22nd in my group.

Apparently I came out of transition about 5 minutes behind a friend of mine who used to do real triathlons before she went overseas for a year, and finished about 30 seconds behind her, so got to be happy with that. She gained the 5 minutes in the cycle, and shes mainly a cyclist, so yey!

Afterwards went for Brunch with a group of girls I didn't know (my friends friends friends...) which was actually quite good fun. Never really done "Brunch with teh girls" but I might have to start.