When I haven’t been organised enough and there are no bags of ice in the freezer or just because it is the easier option, our backyard pool has become a regular part of my recovery. It can be freezing so I feel can do the trick in helping those sore and tired muscles.

Except the other day after a long run session I found myself with a slight dilemma! The pool was empty! No water!  Apparently it was time for a new paint job so I was going to have psych myself up for those ice baths until the job was done!

Only 2 weeks to go and I leave Oz for 6 months! These next 14 days are going to be crazy! Number one on the agenda is catching up with family and friends as much as I can before I leave (and off course a little half ironman this weekend in Busselton!)

Last weeks mission was dinner with my brothers, their wives and my niece and nephew Ella and Nate. You can speak to Ella all night long if you like. It is almost similar to having an adult conversation. The amount of information they take in at such a young age is amazing. Like a sponge. Something we as adults I am sure tend to forget. It is great to learn something new every day!!

With more races just around the corner some wetsuit swimming was in order. Thankfully Nat was all for meeting me at North Cott for some in’s and out’s and swimming with the fish over the reef. I was even able to convince Blake and Robbie to meet us down there as long as it included breakfast at the Blue Duck afterwards. They enjoyed a stroll along the beach while we swum. It was pretty tough on such a beautiful day!

There has been plenty of training going on as well.I have just been able to combine the catching up with friends and training quite successfully over the last week.

Yesterday was my final ATTA Time trial. The Super Hilly 40km in Gidgie. I was all fired up and ready to go! Arrived nice and early. Had a good warm up. At 8.42am I was off! 2km later I was stopped and walking my bike back to the start line. Unfortunately my head stem had come loose over the rough roads and I didn’t have a allen key with me. Back to the start and Logan was able to fix it. 20 mins later I re-started but it was just not to be. Although I felt my head was in the game, the legs did not want to cooperate. It hurt right from the start. It has been a big couple of weeks as I prepare for Ironman Lanzarote and the accumulated fatigue was taking it’s toll. I pushed with what I had, but to be passed within the first 5 mins by the guy who was 1 minute behind me was not a good sign! Although I do think he went on to post the fasted time of the day and break the record! I was just glad to get through it!

Congratulations to Bec Halliday who smashed it, riding to a new PB and course record! When your hot your hot and she just new right from the start it was going to be a great ride! All that extra hill training is definitely paying off!

The best way to recover from the TT? Straight out to lunch with Barry, Julie, Kendal and Wes! I was to be spoilt again with a Sunday cooked lunch, great company and plenty of laughs. A great reminder of the important things in life!

There was one dodgy thing though about lunch! I know Barry and Julie were the hosts but I still had to question his glass of Red Wine compared to everyone else sitting at the table?  It must have something to do with him being a Dockers supporter?

Busso this weekend!! Bring it on!!

I love racing at home and really don’t get to do it often enough. Although the rain and wind seem to be joining us on Saturday, it is going to be a fantastic day for everyone involved! It is the biggest Half Ironman in Australia!!

See you down South!!

The weeks are flying by so quickly but the list is getting longer and longer of things I need to do before I leave OZ! I don’t think they are all going to happen!

The end of last week Scott Neyedli came by to get a power session in on the Computrainer. He is back into training again after an awesome second place finish recently at Ironman Australia. He has less time left in the country than I do, so there is nothing for me to worry about, yet!

I also had another great opportunity to speak to the future of our sport in Western Australia. These guys don’t realise how lucky they are! Besides the fact I didn’t even know what triathlon was when I was there age, there was no such thing as development squads and junior elite programs. Triathlon camps on during the school holidays and coaching from some of the best in WA. I went in and had a chat to them about training, nutrition, going pro and living the life of a full time triathlete. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did!

I finally got to attend my first home game of AFL this season and thankfully for the Eagles it was a victory! There first this year! I only have one more game to watch live and that is the derby and as much as I am a huge Eagles fan the way the Dockers are playing so far, I am not quite sure of our chances!

In between all of this there has been plenty of training going on as I count down 5 weeks until Ironman Lanzarote! Lucky we are not heading to Europe this week because we wouldn’t be going any where!

My running volume has increased and I am loving it! Especially since summer seems to have briefly returned to Perth again! Saturday was a great open water session with Nat down at the beach, lots of ins and outs followed by breakfast at the Blue Duck with Robbie. While Sunday for the first time I took part in the 160km State Time Trial Champs. Wow, that was a tough day out. But typical endurance athlete, I felt better for the second half of the ride rather than the first. ATTA ran another awesome event and a big thanks to all the volunteers who had a long morning waiting for us to finish our ride!

Another big run day today and I am stuffed (thanks Jeff for that one!) looking forward to some R and R over the next few days and having lunch with Bec tomorrow so I can catch up on all the gossip.

They say that every now and then you need to do something that scares you, or something out of your comfort zone. Obviously as Triathlete’s this is something that happens quite often, it is one of the ways we get better.

Sunday was one of those days for me and it was called a Sprint Triathlon! 750/20/5, ridiculous! I train longer than that every day! But boy, did I suck at it!! I was excited about the race at a great location, in Hillary’s Beach, it was a gorgeous day and Tri Events have been running an awesome series here in Perth. But honestly I just could not find that extra gear. Getting out of the water I was passed by many just in the run up the beach as I was thinking to myself “what is the hurry!!”. Mum and dad were laughing as they watched my extremely slow transitions and nearly offered me a chair and a change tent like in Ironman! Onto the bike and I felt comfortable, but for 2okm you shouldn’t really feel like that! I tried to push harder but it wasn’t happening. Before I knew it, it was time to run and not having done any speed training, this was going to be it! I was glad to feel so much better than I had a couple of weeks ago during an Olympic distance race and comfortable with my run. Although that “speed” gear was missing, it was still so much fun and hopefully I can do more of these to sharpen up my skills in so many areas.

Thanks to Ray Lampard who has been taking all the action photo’s you have seen on my blog. Just a hobbie for him but he does such an awesome job!

The main event sponsor is Pure Blonde, so I walked away with a 6 pack of Low Carb beer, and thanks to TWA’s new incentives for open category’s some cash!!

Matt, Brendan and Nat had also entered a team and they smashed it with Matt recording the fasted run time of the day. A 16.38km for the 5km. I am not sure if I will be able to run with him anymore! Way to quick for me!! They received plenty of Pure Blonde Beer to celebrate. But I told Nat he wasn’t allowed to open his until the Eagles won a game! At this rate, it could be a while!!!

It was also mum’s birthday on Sunday, so from the race it was a mad dash to Tranby House in Maylands where we enjoyed lunch with the relatives and celebrated in style.

Since then it was one day of recovery before a huge couple of weeks for me and I can’t wait. Today was the beginning and it is funny how you look at the session you have in front of you, wonder how the hell you are going to get through it, get started, love the challenge of what you are about to do, think about what you are going to do and in particular eat, once it is all over. And when you are done, just can’t wipe the smile of your face for getting through. Today was one of those days. A session where you gain a lot of confidence in where you are heading and how things are going. Don’t get me wrong, I am knackered!! I can hardly keep my eyes open now and it is only 5pm in the afternoon. But today was good! I am now a little bit scared about tomorrow! After enjoying a relaxing Epsom Salt bath, the SKINS are on, and now I am going to relax!

Finally, the new website is up!! Thanks so much to Kel at Swish Design for putting it all together for me! It looks great and I am excited about keeping it all up to date and informing everyone of my adventures as the countdown begins! I can’t believe I leave OZ in only 4 weeks . It seems like I haven’t even been home that long.

I guess time flies when you are having fun!!

Never a dull moment..!!

I always joke with my mother that there is never a dull moment! How people can say that life is boring or there is nothing exciting happening is beyond me!

In our family there is no such thing and the easter long weekend was full of everything!

Easter eggs, red wine, family and friends, cups of ice??, hospitals, Berry Farm, pool.. the list goes on and on!

A common feature on the table over the course of the weekend, easter eggs and red wine!

What a great combination!
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Last weekend it was back to Busso to be part of Brian Kempson’s Boot Camp!

Who knew what I was in for?

But now, I must admit, it was a lot of fun. I had another opportunity to meet some awesome, motivated and inspirational athletes, most on their way to compete in the Busso Half Ironman, others new to the sport just wanting to improve their swimming, cycling and running.

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