Run for a reason 2012

Well, at least I managed to get out of bed this year!
The team has managed to raise over $750 for DiabetesWA, so I couldn't really be lazy!



This morning was crisp and bright. Glorious running weather!

The run itself went quite well. Dave had pledged an extra $5 for every minute I managed under 1:30, so that way my aim.
All went surprisingly well, actually, since I hadn't run for over a month. The tunnel was hot and sweaty as usual... I struggled from 9-11km. the race went from being on the freeways to being on the bike path, and with 20,000 people this year (OK, so not all doing the 14km, but a lot more than there have been) it was really crowded with the area decrease, and hard to over take. Not that I was in much of an issue to over take much...

They sorted the finish out as well... as soon as you got to the WACA you went down the shoot. None of the circles around and not knowing where the end is.

And I crossed the finish line in 1:24:07. Which I was pretty happy with. I'm not a fast runner, and thats only a couple of minutes slower than last time, when I was top of my game. Doesn't seem to matter how much I train, I can't seem to get much beyond 11km/h. I think more sprint training is in order.

And todays me-made item is my hair bow :) WE all got a length of fabric with cupcakes on as our "team colours". I was just going to tie it around my head, but my hair kept getting tangled, so since I was bored anyway, I made it into a proper head band. It stayed put all the way through!

The thing that annoys me most, with this and every big public race, are the walkers in the first kilometer. I know mostly its because they don't actually know what theyre doing and how detrimental it can be to those around, but surely thats what the volunteers are there to try and do... make sure people start in the right category. not much you can do about the people who put themselves in the wrong group from the very start (apart from having to pre-qualify?!), but the people wearing walking numbers are especially annoying! If you couldn't tell, its a pet peeve of mine...

2012 Bridges Run

This morning was the Bridges Fun Run, organised by the WAMC. Its a nice 10k race around the two bridges which bookend Perth, and is threatened by the proposed redevelopment of the foreshore by the city, which will probably make the race too hard to organise, even if a suitable course can be negotiated. Last year was supposed to be the last, but (luckily?) redevelopment hasn't started yet, so we got a bonus one!

I wasn't sure I was going too enter. Its the third time I've done it, and I'm pretty sure my time has increased every year. I'm pretty sure its supposed to go the other way! But never mind, its a nice run and a great atmosphere, with about 3000 people running.

The day dawned grey and overcast. Autumn is finally here! High teens, a little wind and very little direct sun. Perfect. I dragged myself out of bed, did the usual hunt around for my good running shorts and bag thing (pre-planning? me?!) hopped on the bike and cycled down to pick up my number and start.

There is also a 5k run, timed to start so the front of the field finishes in front of all the 10k-er preparing to go. Those guys were awesome! 15 minutes for 5km. Wow! 

Then we were off.

My knee was twinging for the first couple of ks, but by the time we were at the Narrows bridge it had calmed down. Probably psychological.

I gulped down too much water at the 3k station, and ended up with a really bad stitch from about 4-5km. D'oh! 

After about 6km I was still making decent time (for me!) and feeling good. The 8km mark was on the second bridge- the Causeway. I was starting to stiffen up, so I decided to take it easy til 9km, then give all I had left for the last km. There wasn't much left, but I made it across the line with a gun time of just over an hour (1:00:10 ish) and a stopwatch time of 58:43. 

I was happy with that.

I stayed around to watch the presentations, something I never normally do. But what else did I have to do? And I figured it would give my legs some time to calm down before the cycle home. I got home just as it stated raining. Perfect! I love the smell of first rain.

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)

City To Surf 2010

OK, so my blogging dropped off with my lack of marathon...

My knee issues meant I didn't put in enough training to do the full marathon, so a few weeks before the big day I dropped down to the half, and was slightly concerned about even doing that!

The day dawned warm and sunny, not ideal conditions really, especially since the half only started at 9.

For once, I was glad that I wasn't one of the good runners, because the first major mess up of the day was the lead cyclist taking the wrong route, meaning that the lead runners ran up to 3km extra. Not good! It took them days to declare the results of the female race because noone quite knew who had run what and how the finishing order related to anything. Not good when you're trying to up the profile of the race and offering big prize money!

I told my knee that it had to behave, then listened to it. After about 11km it started twinging, so I stopped and stretched and gave it a bit of a rest for a while. I didn't race, there was no zooming in on people and keeping up/overtaking. All I wanted to do was finish without rooting my knee.

So I was pleasantly surprised to finish faster than last time, despite training really hard and specifically last time. I had a piece of paper with a the Hal Higden training plan and actually stuck to it. This year I just realised I was already running far, hurt my knee and hadn't run more than 8km for 2 months. Goes to show what overall conditioning does!

The organisers attempt to separate the longer distance runners from the rabble running/jogging/walking/3-legged-racing the 12km route, so where the route is the same they partition the road with a fence. There still managed to be lots of people managing to cross over and getting in the way. It wouldn't be so bad if they were going at a decent pace. The best bit is where it splits off. I told 3 people they were in the marathon lane. The look on their face when they realised they were being split off and potentially "running a marathon" was priceless.

The other major problem was the lack of fluids. There were meant to be drink stations every 2km, with water and poweraid, and Gu packets at a few of the stops on the marathon lane. A lot of the stops just couldn't keep up, especially on the joint sections. 40,000 people is a lot for a Perth event, and a lot of the volunteers looked like they were forced to be there (think community service components of school/TAFE courses) and hence weren't really even trying to keep up.

Being at the back of the pack I saw only empty Gu packets, and not even many of those. Only 3 of the stations had Poweraide, and at one point I got so frustrated queuing up for water that I just ran on, even though I could feel the need for a drink. 

Because of the heat and lack of water, there were lots of ambulances and people in a bad way at the side of the roads. Not a nice sight, and even worse for the people themselves. As far as I know they were all OK in the end.

Overall, I had a great day. I finished pretty well, had a really good massage (the Boy's work had a tent in the finish area, with 2 masseurs for 40 people, so we got decent massages rather than the usual 2 minute corporate rub-down I'm used to) and had nice easy run chatting with people and enjoying the view!

And here's me freaking about my mini marathon efforts...

My friend Al just finished his first Ultra.

In Iceland.

Around the volcano thats been causing all the chaos.

55km in 6h:33.

Youch!

And third in his age group.

Across terrain like this.

If you're as impressed as I am, go sponsor him here:

http://www.justgiving.com/alan-wood

25 down, 17 to go.

So, this morning I set out to run at least 10km, preferably 15, but not to push my dodgy knee too far too soon after 2 months of minimal running.

I didn't take any of the energy gels I bought in an effort to sort out a running nutrition plan, because I wasn't running far enough to need it.

Then at about 12km (I use the MapMyRun iPhone app on runs like these where its all free form and unplanned) I decided I was feeling pretty good, just a little fatigued but not muscle soar. So I decided to carry on and try and get to 21k. After a stop at the shop to get one of those breakfast replacement things to power me up a bit. I only drank half though, from fear of stitches and because it didn't taste too hot!

After 19km I decided to carry on even further.
After 23km I got a call from the Boy to make sure I was still alive :)
After 25km I got home.

Then post run brunch of chicken omelet with wholegrain toast, coffee and electrolyte drink.

So fingers crossed I will survive this!

I just love the feeling of getting to an intersection and knowing that I could turn left and head home, but choosing to go right. Over and over and over again. :)

New shoes, New Challenge

Ok, I've hinted at it before, but I just signed up for the 

Chevron City-to-Surf Marathon.

Yes, all 42km of it, complete with hills from the half way mark.

I was doing well with training before I went off on my jollies, and I've had these chest issues in the last 2 weeks, but its nearly time to get serious. There are 2 month to go (well, actually probably more like 6 weeks), but I think I'll be OK. 

The plan is to do hill and distance training, and running at least 30km in one go (preferably 32) before the big day. Hopefully I'll be in and around camp, not way out bush, so I'll be able to get some treadmill work in. If not, I'll just have to find a way.

And I have no running time aim. The cut off is 6:30, and I put 5:30 as my estimate...

And the new shoes?

After accidentally leaving my good trainers in the back of a taxi in Cairns, I started running in my older but still OK pair again, but just couldn't go back after the luxuary of really good trainers. So today I replaced them with some gel Kayano 16s. So pretty, and oh so comfy. And $100 off in the sales!

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.

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!

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!

First Drive of the 2010 field season

The moment I've been waiting for since about a week after starting in the Perth office. Today Brad and I went for a drive to check the roads and estimate how much work they'll need before we can start properly.

It too us about 6 hours all up, and that distance would normally take us about 2... But can't be too careful when the next corner or hill brings serious bumps!

In general they weren't too bad- just the odd bad washout where we'd constructed heavy duty tracks across gullies, so what can you expect. And build ups of debris in the river crossings that will need to be moved.

The worrying part is the lack of water! Last year there was more water around for months after the wet ended. Even though the cyclone went right over the top of us, and there was obviously some torrential flows down the rivers to have changed the layout and moved so much material, so much there hasn't been much continuous rain. No afternoon thunderstorms every other day... The Davis River (below) should at least have some water left in it!

Hopefully we'll get more soon, or there will be more dead camels and cows than usual, and  the drillers will complain!

Went for a 7km treadmill run last night (til I got bored),  then today was stiff from so much driving on top of the run, so just 30 minutes slow swim. 

Laugavegaur Ultra Marathon

Introducing...
http://alsicelandultra.blogspot.com/

Blatenent advertising, but for a good cause, and something I think will be of interest.

My good friend from back home, and the other half of Vikis wedding, has taken it upon himself to run the Laugavegaur Ultra Marathon, in Iceland:

The distance from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmörk is approximately 55km. The course is multi-terrain; sand, gravel, grass, snow, ice, rivers and streams... and is well-marked with wooden markers to prevent you from getting lost. Hikers normally cover this distance in four days.

The record for the course is FOUR HOURS AND TWENTY MINUTES! 

I believe Als aim is to finish, But thats one hell of an aim!

I kind of blame myself. Al used to be a long distance cycling freak, then Viki and I entered the Liverpool HM back in 2006, and Al entered on whim, about 2 weeks before the race, ran it with litttle running fitness and beat me by a million miles. Or about an hour, I seem to remember...


It seems to have sparked something even more masochistic in Al though, because while Viki and I carried on jogging our little hearts out, Al started doing stupid things like running the Snowdon Marathon...


And now its 2010, and he's training hard to run the race and raise money for Mencap, a UK charity helping people with learning disabilities get the most out of life. After chatting with Viki recently, I found out quite how much training he was doing, and today convinced him to record his efforts for all to see. The aim is to raise awareness and keep his training motivation high.


So even if you don't support him financially (though justgiving- http://www.justgiving.com/alan-wood - is international, hint hint!) if this is of any interest to you, take a wander over to his blog and keep him in check and give him some of your wonderful support! 

Dexa Scan

So, I had my DEXA scan on Monday.

After driving around the hospital trying to find the right place for about 15 minutes, we eventually checked the website again and narrowed down our search (the joys of iphones/mobile internet) and found the place.

I went in and it was all very easy. Fill out the basic form and hop through to the machine room. She asked a couple more questions then spent maybe 5 minutes making sure I was in the right zone for teh machine to scan, and marking specific points on my body to calibrate it (i.e. top of centre of head, centre of body between hip bone and lowest rib).

Then I just lay still for 5 minutes while it did its magic.

While I was getting changed again (no metal in the machine) it did all the calculations, so by the time I came out again I had a pretty report, which I will post when I think on to scan it in!

Description Women Men

Essential fat 10–12% 2-4%

Athletes 14–20% 6–13%

Fitness 21–24% 14–17%

Acceptable 25–31% 18–26%

Overweight 32-41% 27-37%

Obese 42%+ 38%+

Basically, it said I was 26% fat, so theres room there for movement! My scales said I was 28%, so apart from them being inaccurate, maybe its true that they mainly measure the bottom half (my hips and bum carry most of my fat).

They also calculate the proportion of fat to lean mass according to overall density (I think thats the right description, though see wikipedia) using the SIRI and Brozek calculations.
According to the SIRI calculation, I'm under-fat (by 1% point!).
I laughed so loud.

My total lean mass was 50kg, and my bone density was good too.
So overall, not to bad a composition... but room for improvement.

It cost $60, so not tooo bad on the wallet either. I'll probably go again see how things change after all the running I intend to do, and continuing with my new found liking of weight training... Maybe September/October time.

I'm back up at Woodie today. Fun times.
There are crickets everywhere! I hate them. They get tangled in your hair, and a massive one jumped into my face... I'm talking handspan sized. Horrid things.
Went to the gym last night, it was good to have a broad array of weights again. I did interval/circuit training, so ran 1km @11kph, then did 10 minutes of weights (arms and abs), then 2km@12kph, 10 minutes same weights, another 2km@12kph, then a bit more core work and stretches. It felt good but was very sweaty!

Back in Perth I clocked up a fair few kms (for me, in recent times) including a 10km long run, planned via the water fountains. But the middle one of the three was broken! Gutted! It looked like the lawnmower machine guy had driven into it. It was at a very interesting angle. I still made it round the full route in a not too bad for recently 67 minutes. My best 10km time is 55 minutes, so still a way to go! Though that was in Liverpool on a cool race day, so can't really be compared to a training run on a hot Perth morning... but thats just an excuse!

I've been trying to get more hills into my routes too. May favourite shorter run is now a 6km loop from my house, with a couple of long hills plus one shorter one that I try and do 5 sprints up. Running as hard as I can so I kind of feel sick by the end, then slow jog the remaining km home and stretch out my cramped up calves!

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?!

Next Weeks Plan

11km run this morning. Wow it was HOT! I planned my route via the water fountains but still struggled even then! Going to attempt to do the same route every Sunday for the next few weeks and see if it gets any easier!

I start in the Perth office for a couple of months tomorrow, to avoid the heat at site and work in  conjunction with the other, more specialised people. No more 12 hour days, no more 47 degree days, no treadmills and an excuse to buy new clothes :) but no six days off either.

So... that means more consistent schedule and more time to do other stuff. So the plan for this week is:

Monday: Cycle to work. Swim in the evening.
Tuesday: Cycle to work, run in the evening.
Wedneday: Bellydance class in the evening.
Thursday: Pump in the morning, then cycle to work.
Friday: Swim in the morning.

And play with the Wii in the evening instead of lying on the sofa watching Lifestyle channel and Facebook!

Off to the Lake now for lunch. :)