No rest for the Snotty....

Thursday morning I had an 'uh oh' moment as I lay curled up in bed slowly waking up to greet the day. Big Gazza is a kind of spring in to your day, wake up chatting and ready to play kind of guy. Where I am more your ease on in, kind of rub the eyes don't talk to me til I'm fully awake with a coffee in my hand kind of girl. Yep, we are a match made in heaven. So as he was chatting about the day and what I would like for dinner??? Hell Champ we haven't even made it to breakfast yet, but yeah turkey steaks sound fine grrrrrr. I was doing my best impersonation of a dead ant....with a sore throat. ohhhh nooooo swallow......yep still sore back there. Crap!

So, Thursday afternoon and we are standing in the water, wetties on and ready to hit out into huge surf (in the harbour) geeeez. Well, to coin one of the sayings from the Crew, Get your balls out! and that was what it was going to take to make it through this set today. Coach's orders, 4 times round the boats non stop. I figure that was maybe about 1500m. We had a solid hit out into waves and punched through peaks, taking air swings and then rolling down into troughs as we sighted for buoys and avoided swinging boats at anchor. We kept a watchful eye out for the surf boat crews who stay to our right, but you can never assume they can see you so always a good safety tip to know where they are. I worked hard through the 4 reps and came in with the rest of the Crew feeling like I had given it a good shot. Again the mind had floated off a bit. I need to work on not drifting off. Need to stay in the moment and keep the intensity on. I find I can slip into an easy rhythm that I can do all day but not good on race day. We finished the set with some shorter intense reps out and around a boat that was just off shore and then a couple of easy ones to finish and it was home time. I was shattered. I drove home barely able to keep my eyes open.



Wollongong Harbour on a calm sea


Friday morning was a groundhog moment. Yeah turkey steaks sound great and that sore throat is still there but now I have a sticky sweat happening and I have a massage booked for 7am. Bugger. I lay on the table with a tissue catching the run off. Gross but true. I got home, showered, popped more cold and flu drugs and went to work. A loooooong day! Got home and went to bed. Thankfully it was rest day.

So this morning, being Saturday, is long ride day. I woke up, no Big Gazza. He was in the gym with Roberto pounding out a 3 hr wind trainer set. The rain was pelting down and the wind was up. Too miserable for riding on the roads, so it was on. He had left me to sleep thinking I was too sick to train. I rubbed my eyes, swilled a coffee, pulled on the nix and pinned the hair in a messy ponytail, put my dressing gown back on and made my way out to my bike. The boys were surprised to see me and even more surprised as I climbed aboard the Little Cervelo, dressing gown still on and started peddling. I warmed up enough to lose the dressing gown and 3hrs of snotty, hot, sticky wind trainer and 91kms later and I was done.

I could not have bared the thought of seeing the boys do the session without me and the guilt of not having got it done, even though I was legitimately sick. I kept thinking of some advice I had heard...if you're sick above the neck train on. If you're sick below the neck, rest. So in the end it was done. And with the rain still pelting down I have no guilt about sitting on the lounge resting for the day. Get it done Sammi! Got it done Coach!

The Gathering

Finally snotty is packed and feeling like crapolla crawled into the passenger seat and promptly went back to sleep. Woke up, yawned, read a little, then slept some more. Got woken up by Gazza saying we had arrived at what feels now like our second home. Port Macquarie.



On the otherside of that hill the fear has stilled.

We headed for our accommodation. Smack bang in the middle of the action. Great at the time, walking to transition, restaurants etc not so good at 4am when the volunteers were setting up road barriers and the race director was warming up the P.A. I woke up, opened one eye and guaged how I was feeling. No excuses, I'm well enough to play.

Bike check done I headed for the rendezvous point and there is Coach with the Crew. All chatting excitedly, doing last minute checks and admiring the latest matching earrings and nail decorations in team racing stripes. Yep, we are a deadly serious team! not. I love the relaxed air and camaraderie of the Crew. There are no over inflated egos here. And if there were I think their balloon would be popped pretty quickly. A few last wise words from the big guy (not racing this time due to illness) and we headed for the start. A short walk and then we found ourselves standing on the edge of the water ready to enter. Very little time for a warm up swim today. We are funnelled in and I lose sight of the girls.

Gun time and it's time to rock 'n roll. Hit out hard, found a set of feet to jump on to and rode the wave. Tried to jump across to the next set of feet when I could. Came out of the water feeling good. Could I have gone harder. Yep, but the run is always the unknown and so somewhere I always hold back. 4th in my age group. Let's hit the bike.

Out on the road ready to mount. And here he is larger than life screaming my name. No megaphone required. Roaring for the crowd to hear my name. I mounted and Coach's energy propelled me into the 1st lap with gusto.

Not far down the road and Kel passed me. I started to go with her and caught myself. 'Ride your own race' I thought and put my head down so that I could let her go. Over the hills and out on to the straights, I dug in hard. Our T.T sessions over the last weeks really paid off as it felt familiar and the legs remembered what to do and got to work.

And there it was! Matthew Flinders Drive hill. My nemesis. My dread, my pain, my fear, looming ahead of me as I rounded the corner. So many times I have dismounted and pushed my bike up this hill. I kept reminding myself that this was a chance to give it a go so that by Ironman I would not have the fear in my head. Visualising before the race for me came down to, 'will I make it up the hill or not?' Will I fall off in front of the crowds that always line the hill encouraging those who take on the hill and roaring approval as they crest it and for others, like me who opt for the safer and less humiliating push version, the crowd matches equally with words of encouragement and enthusiasm.

But for me, fear comes from several dark places.... Fear of failure, fear of being singled out in a crowd, fear of letting my team and Coach down, fear of embarrassing myself. Combine all those fears to one spill on a hill and you have the sum of all my fears. It must be put to rest! I hit the bottom of the hill and didn't focus on a run up, but rather, moving smoothly into the 'granny gear' and finding the 'dig deep' button. I started to work, a pinch, a moment of doubt, a reassuring 'you can do it' from the crowd. 'Ease your grip on the bars' from a single knowing deep voice from the crowd and obeying the voice I focused on legs rather than my hands.

I spun up the hill. Twice! Yep the second lap was a ground hog moment.

Out on the run and ok, here we go! This time I spotted Roberto just ahead of me. Part of me wanted to keep him in my sights and I wanted to run with my training buddy (the easier option). But again the little voice in my head said whoa! I knew I couldn't match Kel's speed and the same applied here. I had to run my own race and besides, my itb was giving off warning shots. Damn it! there it was again. ok, now I'm worried. 2kms in and it is telling me it's not happy through a painful nagging. Pop a panadol and focus on the form.

And round the next corner is Coach on his bike. GO SAMMI! watch the form, run tall, don't get caught up in the mental games, dig deep! GO SAMMI!!!!!!! Yep Coach, I got it. BUT, in a moment of lost focus I made a fatal rookie mistake. Yep, I poured water over myself and wet shoes plus orthodics = blister. A blister as big as a 50c piece on the arch of my left foot. Nice! Now it's 12kms to run. I stop and grab some Vaseline and try to run without limping. It's smarting bad. I pass Coach and I think he saw the look. 'Keep tall Sammi' he yells and I focus on form and watching the dolphins in the cool river we are running alongside to distract me from the pain at each step.

ok, ouch! Time to pick a box. I start visualising. ok, the box is small enough to hold a blister in. Tight, red, small, now put the pain in it and put a lid on it. Clamp it down tight. Pick something to clamp it down with. ok, found it. That big guy up in front of me running smoothly. He looks like he could be heavy enough to keep the lid down until the end. I watch his legs striding and I fall into a hypnotic rhythm behind him and we run to the finish line.

I lose sight of the big guy and the lid flies off. But it's ok, the race is done and ice cream heals everything including blisters......for now anyway.

High 5s from Coach. Catch up with the Crew and all are home safe and sound and still smiling. What an amazing day. Sadly though Gazza and Baby Bear had to pull out. But The Onion Man and Roberto are home and happy.

Shower, lunch and climb aboard, it's a 5 hour ride home. Gazza at the wheel, medal swinging from the rear view mirror and I am one very happy Sammi.

Top 10~! P.R in all 3 disciplines. Goal achieved.  

  

Snotty isn't even packed yet............

Got the call last night. Ocean swim.

My first thought was 'you beauty, I need to get some salt water flowing through the pipes.' Gross but true. Nothing like a dose of salt water to clear our the Eustachian tubes. Rolled up beach side and the Crew were there minus Coach and Megzy. Both sick as Mangy Dogs... It's been a huge year for Coach. Looks like they will pull out of the fun at Port Mac this weekend. Maybe a good thing to bench them both and hopefully they have some quiet, relaxing time together.

In the meantime we hit the water and there were some big rollers heading out. 3 circuits round the boats and we were done and feeling pretty relaxed and confident about the weekend ahead. Bring it on!

This week also held some reassurances as far as diet is concerned. I headed to Sydney and navigated my way through the throng and found a highly recommended dietitian, Rebecca Hay. She was tucked in a little concrete room with no windows and a splash of colour with framed jerseys signed by sporting identities and tucked way in the back was a picture of Rebecca with her Forster Ironman medal swinging from her neck.

We set about dissecting my diet hour by hour. On the while she was happy with the balance of carbs, fat and protein. Could use some extra carbs in the arvo on days that I train heavy. But otherwise all good. Race nutrition however, she felt I was a bit light on when it came to carbs in. An extra Dextro bar an hour. Wholly green Batman! That's a lot to add to my day. Getting it down (and for that matter keeping it down) might prove tricky. We agreed as it was race week that I wouldn't change anything at this late hour. But to give it some thought. We also talked about hydration and fluid intake...hmmmm always a tricky one as I think I live my life slightly de-hydrated. So I have a fluid chart to complete over the next couple of weeks. Will be interesting to see the results.

So now I'm off to pack. It's 9pm Friday night. We leave at 6am tomorrow morning and I have a snotty nose.

Crew Talk with Coach

Tuesday afternoon found me racing out the door from work and heading to the harbour for the first open water swim of the season. We are usually in the water on the first weekend in October but it has been freezing in the water. So with the weather warming up slowly, when I got the call from Coach to meet the gang and don the wetsuits I was keen to get it done.

I pulled on the wettie and dived in. It was, shall we say, refreshing! I immediately felt comfortable and found that all the swim training over the winter had paid off. M biggest indicator was being able to match another girl in the water that had previously been able to beat me. Also, later that night I got a text message from Coach saying that my swim had improved HEAPS! woohooo

For the next two days I was in Sydney for work sitting in an air conditioned room with a bunch of strangers. Combined with an ear that filled with water and wouldn't drain... it was inevitable but yep I woke on Thursday morning with a dry sore throat and a snotty nose. By the end of the day I had the body shakes and by the time I got home I was given my dinner and put to bed by Gazza.

Saturday morning saw me up at 4.30am!!!! and eating down codrals in a hope that I would make it through the days training session. Coach had called a team meeting to start at 5.45am and I arrived a little late and a lot of fluster. I knocked on the door and entered the house. The crew were all gathered already perched on arms of chairs and floor. I settled in between two of the girls and waited for the Oracle to speak. As Coach had been in New Zealand the past couple of weeks I (and the crew) were keen for him to share some of the insights he had gained while working as the physio for the elite ultra triathletes. He had rubbed shoulders with the best Coaches in the sport. Bob Mcgee to name just one.

Coach spoke about digging deep. How even the best athletes have to dig deep and have dark moments in their race. But he also said that even the athletes who aren't as gifted perhaps genetically can still work hard and dig deeper in order to win (or in my case finish ;) It's about hearing the negative thoughts, recognising that things can and do go wrong out there, but not owning the negativity, just acknowledge it and let it pass.

I felt I could relate to what he was saying. There have certainly been times in my life where I have felt so terribly trampled and beaten and just wanted to lay down and let the blackness engulf me. But from somewhere, somewhere from within comes the belief in myself that I can 'bloody well walk out of here!' and I do!

So we mounted up and headed out. It was going to be a shorter session than the last few weeks. Just one TT. So with the wind behind us we headed North and upwards. I did a PR on Bald Hill. Even feeling like crap I managed a PR. Very happy. We reached the beginning of the TT session and regrouped. When we started the session one of the girls jumped to the front and maintained a lead with me in second, Elyse third and Megzy in 4th. The elastic between Katrina and I stretched and closed, but never really snapped. As we reached the turn around point I realised that the boys had not been anywhere along the road. But anyway, I turned and opened up. Downhill and wind assisted it was going to be a fast return. And it was! As I went over the bridge with the flattened cat (Peeweww!) I spotted Coach. The boys must have ridden further and come up behind us. I was head down and cranking 47kms per hour. Sweet!

By the time I finished I had left 3 and 4 way behind and had pulled up behind 1. I was very happy with the legs. But, the snotty nose and sore throat were giving me such a hard time. I was feeling a bit wobbly. For the rest of the ride I sat in the group quietly wishing I was home. Digging deep just to make it home.

8 sleeps to Port...... 8 sleeps to get better and get ready.

Later Coach sent this.......

You are better than you believe you are.

You can achieve more than you think you can.

Believe --> Achieve