An Interesting Start To The Season

So I could probably come up with a long list of excuses, and reasons why I felt terrible, and all the coulda shoulda woulda's but let's be honest... I CHOKED.

Forster - Two days of racing. Pro Tour Saturday, Olympic Distance on the Sunday - there was plenty of nerves, a week of sickness, and freezing early morning starts.

I made plenty of rookie errors, and learnt to dig deep, and feeling under done and still being able to push is worth the pain. I have become a much stronger athlete, compared to the noisy kid who rocked up to the Centennial Park Flag Poles a year ago, who was more interested in getting coffee after training than doing any work to warrant the latte sipping. Going in to both races the way I felt a year ago, I would have pulled out, and cried and said oh well. But a mentally tough off season, an amazing support network of my family, and probably the greatest training partner along with my biggest rival made sure quitting is NOT an option.

I walked away with a 5th in the Pro Tour, and a 4th in the Olympic, 2 terrible swims, 2 ok rides, 2 not so bad runs, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I have to congratulate Matilda on an awesome two days of racing, the hard work is paying off, and giving some great athletes a real run for their money. I felt like a proud Mum on the weekend :)

But, I am back, summer is here and I am excited that the only way for me to go is up - because surely one can not be that much of a muppet for an entire season...

Fending For One's Self

So, the parentals have taken a leave of absence and headed west, to Perth for Dad's work. This has been a revolutionary experience for a number of reasons:

1. I am more lazy, than I first thought - I would be quite happy to go without food, rather than walk the 20m to the garage to get bread to make lunch. Whilst I may justify my actions (or lack thereof) with the quest to be a skinny triathlete, the sub text of that is that I am lazy.

2. With parents away, and a large bed, with panoramic views of the beach, along with foxtel - a took up residency in their room. Televisions in bedrooms are a bad idea, I am more than happy to watch the same episode of Entourage or How I met Your Mother (which I have seen many times before) twice in the same night only two hours apart. I am either easily entertained, or have a memory like a gold fish.

3. Although I can cook, and would be more than happy to do so, my brother Johnny and I have survived 10 days without cooking a dinner, and have not been eating take away. AND the prospects for the remaining few days look like they will follow suit. This points out that our family feels incredibly sorry for us, and more than likely think we can't cook for ourselves, and if we did we would give ourselves food poisoning (rightly so given previous episodes)

4. I find my own company bland, and overrated. Coming home after training to a quiet house with Johnny already in bed or at work, has left me talking to myself - so I have since gone mad, and realise if my constant talking annoys me, I feel sorry for all my friends who put up with me.

5. I pretty much have the world's greatest family. My parents are like my best friends, my little brother acts like my big brother looking after me, and my dog; Barney is like my little brother (who is very cute)

6. Despite my age of 23 whereby I should be deemed completely independent from my parents - generally speaking I am a tired and needy athlete who is quite happy to admit - she would probably be lost without them :D

Greetings From The Underground

In the last month I have left my full time job, been away for a bit of R&R, started a new job and have upped my training incredibly.

So I am hardly surprised that I have hit a low point. I like to refer to it as a hole that I have tripped and fallen in, and I am jsut slowly climbing my way out. So how did it happen?

1. 4 full weeks, of back to back sessins - clocking some awesome kms in swim, bike & run.Probably forgot to breathe and take things slower in my off times.
2.I didn't listen to my body, when instead of going ice skating, and dinners, and shopping and goodness knows what else - I should have been resting, and recovering.
3. Monday morning's open water session at Clovelly made me feel like I was going backwards, and spent the rest of the day dwelling on how bad I felt in that session.
4. I slept for a good 14 hours, missing riding, and then had to miss running on Tuesday. As I dwelled on the the number of missed sessions, I began to panic, and no matter what I was getting up in the morning to run and swim.
5. I began a 40min hill set only to be stopped by the Coach after 20mins, as he tried to save myself from myself.
6. Straight after this I tried again in the surf, and with a rogue 6ft set rolling through, and getting absolutely pummelled I actually thought I was going to drown!

I knew unless I did something to get back into a happy space - I could get really sick, or end up in a really negative place. And NOTHING is productive when there is lots of negativity.

So I went home, had a great coffee with my Dad, and slept the best 2 hours sleep I have had in a LONG time. I then went to work, and thought happy thoughts about the session to come that night.

I jumped in the pool and found my happy place in the water. I felt relaxed, and like I was floating - I was waiting to feel rubbish, and it never really came. I couldn't help but laugh that my weakest leg is now very much becoming my happy happy place. Running which is my strongest leg, doesn't feel peaceful like it used to.

This morning, I slept in and had a coffee on the beach at Bondi, and realised that if this is a dark hole, then I don't really have much to complain about. I know this may sound like I am just complaining, and many athletes have been through much much worse. But this was the first of big downs I have been through as an athlete.

As I have been told you need to be in the valleys in order to get to the mountain tops. AND I am hoping that I am now starting to freshen up and 'come good' as they say. This is all part of the journey and the bad times make the good times that much sweeter.

So the head noise has settled, and now looking forward to getting back into things. First step is track tonight, and if things don't go so well, it may just have to be another session at 80%...

And have things to look forward to and focus on. These are...
The City 2 Surf - ALWAYS a great day, and have a goal time to focus on... The rest will have done me the world of good.
Girl Time on Saturday - My Mumma and I are going to be girlie in the afternoon, no cap or goggles, or runners, or bikes - just lazy lunch, and getting our nails done.
Summer - Can not wait for the warm weather, and the sun to shine, and sneaky post training swims at Bondi make the days just that little much brighter...
AND
My Little Bro is home from a 3 week camping trip today, can not wait to go and catch up with him, and hear all his crazy stories...

The moral, as much as the last week as been mentally draining, not every challenge as an athelte is physical. The mental games that I will continue to play with myself will make me stronger, and i am determined to get through them to be the very best athlete that I can be.

Bondi Barefoot

Well, this race was in fact ages ago. But I had a win, and this race was on my home beach, and in front of all my club mates at North Bondi Surf Club - so I need to blog about it, perhaps the way an emo kid would blog about their pain.

Yes I am going to do it1 No I'm not going to do it... But given that after a week of terrible weather in Sydney, the prospect of facing 3 hours on the bike, in the pouring rain, wine and arctic weather conditions - a good excuse would be to race.

Given that I was under orders I was still to ride - I jumped on the wind trainer for 2 hours, woke the family up and managed to watch a movie, and consume breakfast on the bike.

As I made my way down to the beach, the quads were burning, the pre race coffee wasn't going down well - and with people telling me how well I am going to do after my race at The Aussies. I was filled with fear...

My old coach Scotty Thomson was calling the race and was on the microphone, and after giving me a pep talk on and off the microphone, I knew all I could do was run and see how I felt.

A mass start and hundreds in front of me, including about 15 girls - I had to back myself, knowing that I would run a good race if I negative split - or atleast be able to keep the coach happy.

After the first kilometre - I found a guy's footsteps to follow that was comfortable, and there were no girls around me. at the 2km turning mark, I was well under record time - My first thought was that I was going to blow up, but thought I felt good, and would lift and see how I went.

To my surprise, as the race went on I felt faster, and crossed the line as the fast female and top 10 overall and even better - the course record by a good 35seconds over 4km.

Of all the races to win, The Bondi Barefoot has the most sentimental value - I am now in our club's history books, and I was the first club member to win the race.

This race was at the end of May and very late on the blogging, but I have photos. All shortcomings in cyber world can be blamed on the delayed receipt of photos... Here are photos

For What It Is Worth...

99% of the time, you think you do what you do, because that is just what you do. But it is nice to think that what you do has to some part in something much bigger than your own selfish reasons.

At my time at Adshel, I was bossy and would often tell people to do this run, that run and I thought I was just being pushy. But it turns out walking into the office tired, and hanging out my washing over filing cabinets for the next training session can acutally be some form of inspiration.

Leanne, used to sit opposite me and before I left she told me, "Siobhan, Kerryn McCann inspired me to buy my first pair of running shoes in 20 years. But you inspire me to run everyday."

This made me feel a little overwhelmed. BUT it made me realise that being able to inspire someone like that means a hell of a lot more than any medal. To know that you helped someone find a love for putting their running shoes on and achieving something is awesome!

So whilst I inspired someone, Leanne has in fact inspired me! If someone can have every excuse under the sun to not train (I'm not fit, I don't have running shoes... you name it) What excuse do I have?

So whilst Leanne thanked me for helping her, I now have to thank Leanne for reminding my why I love my sport, and that ordinary people doing extraordinary things in life is the best source of inspiration.

The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon

There was the phantom knee pain, the onset of a cold, lost gels, chance of rain, ummm... I think that will do with the excuses. But to say I didn't want to race was an understatement.

Alas, a beautiful Sydney morning came, along with 10,000 other nutters I did the Half Marathon and actually had a great time.

Despite my incredibly short attention span, I finished and took great pleasure in passing 300 people, who blew up... did it in 83 minutes, but unfortunately spent far longer than one would have liked looking for post-race coffee.

Along with the coffee came post race delirium, 2 runners, and an unforgettable supporter loitered in Darlinghurst - Hunger does odd things

The Smallest of Life's Pleasures

One must take great pleasure in the smaller things in life... My biggest small pleasure is my daily trip to my closest Campos. Whilst some are better than others - 'nectar of the gods' in any form generally does the trick.

BRW Corporate Triathlon

What a day...
Sid and I raced the race twice, and had lots of fun in the process. We both clocked some pretty quick times, which meant we were amongst the fastest male and female competitors. IN FACT a few people were well and truly chicked (not mentioning names) Let's hope he brings his A game to Club Champs next week, otherwise it could be an expensive Saturday night buying us drinks all night.

It was a great race, great location and even better company :)

Mooloolaba Triathlon

Australian Surf Life Saving Championships 2010 – Never To Be Forgotten

Thousands of Lifesavers from around Australia train all year to compete in the ferocity of the ocean at ‘The Aussies’ – the greatest spectacle of watermen and women in the country. The first year back Kurrawa after 3 years in Western Australia, stepping off the plane felt like coming home.

Before I mention anything about my one and only event, I cannot continue without mentioning the tragic passing of Saxon Bird in the semi final of the under 19 Ironman. Mother Nature was each competitor’s biggest competition over the first few days of racing. And Saxon’s life was lost in battling the ferocious conditions. My deepest of sympathy goes out to all of Saxon’s friends, family and club mates at Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club.

On the first day of open competition – the first event the 2km beach run. Up until this point, I hadn’t done much to prepare for what in essence has now become a sprint. If the training fitted into triathlon training, then great, but not much thought was given to this race. Except for the fact my inner demons of last year’s Aussies made me determined to be one of the top 3 beach runners in the country.
The morning of the race, I knew I needed to see it like a training run, if I didn’t I would freak out and would again let nerves get the better of me, and would have regrets for another year. An early start meant no pre race coffee, and a quick jog to the race start. The event, now its’ 6th year has attracted a lot more runners, and I knew this year if I wanted a medal – I had my work cut out for me.

The open females were second off the rank after the men. 4 x 500m meant down on the soft and back on the hard. RACE TACTIC = settle on the soft sand, I hadn’t done enough work on the sand to have a really solid pace on the soft. I knew then I would have no choice but pick up the pace on the hard sand to emulate the track work which I had been doing. As the gun went off I knew that Alison O’Toole having won the past 5 was not settling for any other colour than gold. I jumped straight on her feet, and a few other girls went with us. I heard their breathing, and looked at their form and new they weren’t going to last long, so I used them to pace until they were too slow. Alison is an amazing runner, and took off with me having to spend the next 1500m trying to catch her. Each 500m I pulled away from more and more girls, and attempted to edge closer to Alison. In the end, her skill, and experience led her to a 6th straight victory, and I finished a convincing 2nd. BUT it felt like gold. I never wanted to ‘narrowly miss’ a medal again. I didn’t. I had a convincing lead on 3rd, and took the silver medal. I am now 2nd in the country, and it took 5 years to do it. Although, I thought after The Aussies 2010, I was hanging up the clubby cap – I can smell the gold medal, and I don’t think I will stop until I get it.



RIP Saxon Bird

Surf Life Saving NSW State Championships

So the mysterious knee pain turned up 3 days out, I got a cold - and yet funnily enough felt great on the start line. Psychological much?

After an early start to drive to Swansea Belmont - and an awful coffee, the usual nerves that I used to get that RUINED every race were no where to be seen. Rather was filled with excitement, as to what I may be able to pull out of the bag.

Surf carnivals being surf carnivals, the 8am start time changed, and it was an earlier start. This meant no long swim warm up, but a very short run warm up. On the start line, I felt completely relaxed, and as the gun went off - I stuck to my race plan knowing that if it didn't work, it didn't work.

I jumped straight on the feet of the girl who went out first. The pace wasn't too quick, and given the fact the sand was so soft, I needed someone's foot steps to find the hard sand. At the 1km we were substantially had of the rest of the field. As we turned the final flag for the last 500 I decided that I was going to pick up the pace and see what happened. I lifted, and looked around and she was not close by, I maintained my pace - as I ran into the arena following coach's orders, "only do what you have to do" I slowed down, and jogged to take out my first State Title.

It was a great feeling, and now am so excited to go to The Aussies - 17 days, and COUNTING

Husky Long Course/ NSW Pro Tour

What a jammed pack weekend the weekend was... I was half expecting a relaxing time in a sea side town. NOT

Saturday was awesome watching the team in the Sprint race. Tils and Laura showed again how fabulous they were coming 1st and 2nd overall in the females - they both looked awesome! Go Girls...

Saturday afternoon - I left my comfortable state of denial and raced the NSW Pro Tour... My first race in the mix with some great female athletes left me BEYOND nervous! With the eliminator format - I needed to make the final 8 to make the final. I did and it took a lot to do that. I learnt how to hurt on the bike (and believe me I was hurting) I had a great time racing this crit style format, and walking away from the 2 races I learnt more than I thought imaginable. The best part of the race was the crew from Bondi Fit cheering the ENTIRE race. I am so lucky to have such amazing friends.

Sunday saw most of us take part in the Australian Long Course Championships. There were plenty of stories with Paul breaking Rita's wetsuit, with Top Midget bolting home to get her wetsuit (and she thought she wouldn't get to run??) It was a great day of racing, and even better that Spot's Chicks won the female teams - I got the glory run leg, but the other 2 set me up to have a very comfortable 20km run.

Looking forward to the next weekend of racing - next stop Swansea Belmont...

Surf Life Sydney Branch Championships

Sometimes there is nothing better than doing something you love - just for the hell of it.

This weekend I decided to race the Sydney Branch Championships 2km Sand Run. Despite my inner demons from last year's Australian Championships - I was really excited to throw the bike, goggles and best of all the joggers to dig my toes into the sand.

The weather was a little overcast and light rain, which meant we were able to run without melting. but most of all - the torrential rain the night made the sand incredibly firm. This always makes for some quick running across the 2 lap course.

I rode from home to Cronulla which is about 35km, and despite it being cruisy I was not sure how the legs were going to hold up. As the gun went and we all headed up, the quads felt great, and was happy to settle into a comfortable pace with a few of the girls. After about 300m I knew the pace was a little slow so I decided to run with a group of boys and use their foot steps to make it a little easier. I continued to edge away from the girls, and slowly started to pick off the boys.

It felt like a quick 2km (not sure how accurate the course was) and I was third including the men and first in the women. It felt good racing on the sand , and forgot how much fun racing that race is. But the best bit of the day, has to be hanging in the North Bondi SLSC tent listening to the the banter of the boys go back and forth.

Can't wait for State and the Nationals

As per Anna's Request

Anna has requested a special mention on here...
Anna sits in an office near me, and is my regular coffee buddy. Last Friday I helped her out by sticking labels on her friend's wedding invitations. And despite common belief that I would have preferred to be in Centennial park doing flat laps, it was too hot and therefore completely happy to help out... :D

Canberra - Australian Olympic Distance Championships

I promised one Miss Laura Siddall that she would get a mention here...

Laura and I left the scorching heat of Sydney for the scorching heat of Canberra to race the Olympic Distance and Sprint Distance races.

A great morning for racing - and after the extremely hot conditions, it was unexpectedly cold on the start line, and there were a fair few jumpers, and goosebumps visible.

After Laura recently completing Busso Ironman in December she has done a quick turn around to become a sprint triathlete. She did an awesome job in winning her age group and coming 2nd overall in the females in the sprint distance.

It was a great day, and i think the new bike had a lot to do with me getting a 13min PB. Having only done 2 Olympic Distance races now, I can't wait to do Mooloolaba in March.

New Bike

After much dilberation I finally decided on a new bike, and it is better than ever could have been expected. The Argon Gallium Pro with a SRAM Red group set, is so great to ride. From what I previously had, it is like the Rolls Royce of bikes. Thanks to the team at Bike Bug who helped me with my millions of questions, and setting me up on my new best friend. Now looking forward to getting out on the road with it.

Jindabyne Bike Camp

It has been a busy couple of weeks with lots of training... so much so it Christmas seems so long ago. On the 2nd of January me along with a number of Bondi Fitters joined East Cycling club and headed to 5 days for climbing the Snowy Mountains. I didn't know what to expect, but I never expected it to be as tough as it was. But it was more rewarding than I ever could have expected. Who would have thought climbing hills, and doing 120km on the bike every day in 30+ degrees could be enjoyable. But it was great, and to finish off the camp with a 40km Time Trial upto Charlotte's Pass into an incredible head wind was amazing.