Anatomy 101..........

Husky Sprint looms. It's a few days away and I am on the windtrainer spinning away. Visualising the race. I've done this race a few times now and can visualise details, even bumps in the road.

Jump off the trainer and hit the treadmill for a 10min easy run done as 2min run/1min walk. Why? Because the nerve is aggravated and so the burn is happening (both knees) right on the bony part on the side of my knee.

After 2 rounds of the 2min/1min it really is cranky and the pain increases. I get off the windtrainer totally deflated. The Gazman is out for a 2hour run. How come he can run! Earlier this week my girlfriend announces all over F.B that she has just run 16kms. Nuts! I head inside and sit with head in hands trying to make sense of it all. The naysayers and my own evil twin (you know the one that would rather have you sit on the lounge all day) starts her taunts in my head. 'What are you doing? just give up'. 

The Gazman arrives home drowned in his own sweat. He says one thing wrong, it doesn't matter, it wasn't him. But I picked up my running shoes and walked down the hall. I see red. Screaming a broken 'I QUIT!' The shoes become black and fluro orange missiles hurling down the hallway landing innocently against a cupboard. I hit the showers. The Gazman finds a drowned rat, curled up letting the water dilute tears of frustration and anguish. 'No, I don't want to talk.' I want to stay here feeling miserable and woe is me-ing for the rest of my life!

A text from Coach, how's the legs? in a word.....FARKED!

He reminds me in his sensible voice, that the nerve will settle by race day. And it did. I am a true believer, and I am sorry I doubted him. When the Oracle speaks.....listen and believe also.

Race day. I travel down South to beautiful Huskisson. 

Huskisson, wet the day we were there

First time travelling on my own to a race, and quite eerie. I register and meet up with my buddies. Bike looking pretty sweet swinging on the rail. I was unusually social and chatted with a few women in my age group. 55 of us gals having a crack today. Huge.

Swim, deep water start, on my belly, hooter, away. Rounded the first buoy without much fuss, aimed for the second. Linked arms with another girl in a red cap while dodging the slower girls from the wave ahead of us. Aiming for the last buoy, I look ahead and don't see any other red caps. Just two beside me. Hey, I'm doing ok. Hit the beach, hit the steep carpeted stairs that are iconic to Husky and enter transition to the calls of 'Go Sammi!' (6th place) T2 over quickly and out on the ride, shoes-on mount and away. Dial in the legs to big gear churn and hit the out section of the 10kms. 

Its a steady grind as it is not steep, but it is a long gradual grade. I play, 'overtake, no you overtake,' with another girl. There aren't that many bikes in front of me, keep it up. Downhill and the legs worked the circles, Up onto the pegs for a few rolling hills before diving back into the bars for the descent. I was overtaken by a couple of girls younger than me. But at the last 3kms, spied a girl my age over take me. I let her go, opting to spin the legs prepping for the run. (7th place). 

Run Sammi, and bang! itb both sides give off loud warning shots that they are not happy. Ok, back off the accelerator and just put one foot in front of the other. Worse case scenario, a 5km walk. Low and behold, the feet kept ticking along. tap, tap, tap, shorten the stride, cadence up, itb's ease, ok, let's go. I ran consistently and without stopping except for a quick drink of water and a splash. The legs kept going and so did I. Blister coming grrrr in a spot I hadn't taped. Mental note of its location for next time. Turnaround cone dead ahead Sammi, keep it up. A quick stock of the body gave a green, all clear signal just as I spied Sonya coming towards me. Ok, there she is approx 2mins behind me. She saw me too. Time to lift. I found energy in the legs, lengthened the stride a fraction and put a little pressure them. They groaned but kept at it. A tightening mid way down the left itb, but nothing scary. Finish line dead ahead Captain. Lifted the pace and with the feet lifting, knees coming through, head up, zipped up suit, and cranky face on, I finished. (11th place) yep, I had watched lots of girls pass me by.

Me behind.

I was very happy with my race, and later spoke with Coach who was equally as happy.

Fast forward to Monday and treatment with Coach. Nothing really to work on as both legs weren't burning and the itbs were relaxed, we chatted instead. 

Ok, this is how I interpret what's going on with my body and these pesky itbs.

Tight illiotibial band is my thing. Much the same as Coach has a pesky achilles heel, Baby Bear has his neck issue, The Onion Man has his tight calves and Slippery has his groin, and Scott has his shin splints. ITBs are my 'thing' accepted. Deal with it.

• My tib/fibs are very curvy, but my feet track true so the podiatrist has given me orthotics to help address the tracking.
• My form has been addressed by Coach and run form analyse and constant mental adjustment from me and cues from Coach when he sees something ensures good run technique.
• Fascia adheres to muscle, so I need to maintain, so I stretch, roll, yoga, self massage and regularly see Coach for physio as he says it gets so tight even self maintenance is not enough.
• Core and frame alignment are crucial and so I do my clams, core work, 1/4 squats, strengthening work to keep strong in the core and keep the frame in line.
• The bursa gets inflamed with too much rubbing of the itb over the bone and so occasionally I need an anti inflammation cream or ice to keep it from getting to angry. I have needed cortisone shots 3 times now before Ironman as the work load was too much to maintain.
• Load on the body, program load and how much training I can manage before the itbs flare up is all important and I need to communicate this to Coach more often. The fine line between working too hard and time to recover is always a constant tweak for Coach as I get fitter.
• Racing and training combination. As we do not take a lot of time for rest post race, this can put a load on the itbs. Rest is important, I need to communicate and rest when it says rest.
• Neural load, when training and racing the load on the nervous system becomes greater and sometimes the load is too much and so the burning comes from the nerve being irritated rather than the itb being tight. Again something to communicate with Coach is the amount of residual fatigue I am carrying over a period of time.
• Scar tissue, over time and constant rubbing and sawing of the itb over the bone has built up some scar tissue, this adheres to the muscle and bone and thickens the itb at the burn site. Maintenance and treatment can ease this. But surgery is really the only way to cut away the scar tissue and by punching holes in the itb the band can stretch again. I am not there yet. Maybe in winter I will consider this again with Coach and see what he says. For now, I am trying cupping and suctioning the fascia off the muscle.

Have I missed anything? So that's my anatomy 101 understanding of what's going on with me. Time to start planning my next race and enjoy my 3rd Happy Thought in a row. Woohoo.

Fighting the Enemy Within................

Pretty apt title and video for this post and my latest thoughts.

Went to see Coach again for treatment yesterday. Treatment consists of me laying on the physio bench aka The Slab! and Coach (who is a world class physio) working his magic. The Slab, affectionately called this, as I am simply the keyboard and Coach's fingers tap, push, prod and hammer my troublesome itb into submission. It's 45 mins to an hour of hard manual labour for Coach, I'd like to think of it is a labour of love, but perhaps it's more a rescue mission in reality. On auto pilot he gets to work, and the conversation freely flows with topics that range from racing, training, adjustments to training, life, the Crew and members and what they are up to, to the big ticket items such as how we managed to slip the latest Big Lebowski quote into a situation or how we slammed some fat fuck out on a run. Good times.

Without ever divulging too much of what goes on in my head, for no other reason than, it just doesn't seem as critical when I get on The Slab, I listen, laugh and consider the conversations and advice he imparts and measure this against my own thoughts and ideas. 9 times outta 10 I come away with renewed vigor, motivation and a released itb. It's a win all round.

My latest thoughts again come full circle back to getting the iliotibial band release surgery and how I never get anywhere in my training. With two Sprint races now under my belt, I was slowly feeling like I was getting somewhere. But dashed when the itb tightened again after running group with the Crew the following Wednesday. A hiccup in the matrix, but still it was enough to dash me against the rocks and start the storm of self doubt and 'why bother!' thoughts charging through my head again. Que video........

Right now, the enemy is within! Within my own head. Can I do this? Am I fooling myself? Just get the damn surgery! Give up! It's like someone has tipped up a cement mixer and as the grey sludge rolls into my brain, it fills every cavity in my head and pushes the positive thoughts into the darkest places of my mind. The grey sludge rolls like lava and conceals rationale thoughts and visions. I can't even see the medals that hang from the wall any longer, the grey is all-enveloping and suffocating like a pillow wrapped about my face. It's dark and has no place in an athlete's mind. But am I an athlete? or just some chump weekend warrior who has an over inflated expectation of herself? I should just give up! But that's the easy way out!

Once on The Slab it's like he pulls the plug and the sickly wave of sludge releases and dissipates. I don't even feel it go. Perhaps my itb is directly linked to my brain!

I strike out on a new week, with renewed commitment. WELCOME TO THE GRIND! This is the battle Roy-ale between body and mind. Now let's pick our shit up and get our hands dirty!!!!!!

Can I get you another beer............

Orange; the place, not the colour. A country town 4,1/2 hrs west of us and hot, dang HOT! 39 degrees and a dry heat like an oven set on nuclear. ok, I'm exaggerating, but in my world where Sammi is very comfortable closer to ya mild 26, Orange is the backside of the sun as far as I am concerned and here we were about to do a triathlon in it. A quick recci in the afternoon to scope out the bike course and a quick dip in the dam where we would swim and then we headed back to the apartment. 

So, I'm bunking in with my buddy Sonya, who I don't really know well enough to spoon with, but you do what you have to and as Deb was sick and needed her own room, more for isolation so we all wouldn't get sick, than for her sake. A quick pasta meal and after a huge hot day we went to bed and I crashed. I woke up the next morning, lay awake for a moment without opening my eyes taking account of how I was feeling. Nope, not sick, no excuse to stay in bed. I rolled over and reached for my phone and after a little motivational speech from Eric Thomas, I was ready to face the day.

We rolled into the parking lot, 6 of us traveled together, 4 girls in one car and Lloyd and Sandra and 5 bikes in their van. The little red Cervelo was tucked in tight and sandwiched between 4 Giants....oh the indignity! I re-payed the little bike by carrying it over to registration. There was glass everywhere in the grass and so she felt like a Princess again as I carried her over my shoulder.

All 6 of us sat in a line in the brown parched grass in the shade cast by a parked van waiting for the race briefing. This was insane! I was dying and I hadn't even done anything yet. We decided to hell with watching the briefing and headed for the dam. 21 degrees, at least it was a wetsuit swim and I pulled on my wettie, asked for a zip up and walked into the relief of the cool, fresh water, murky brown, reedy blarch that was Lake Canobolas.

Lake Canobolas - the run course goes round the lake twice

Beach start, sweet! The Crew had been practicing these on Thursday nights for a while. Confidently, I toed the line next to a young girl in a tri NSW racesuit. Boy I got balls! 

That's me in the pink cap, (long sleeves)

Anyway, the hooter went and we raced into the water. I felt good except for the feet flying in my face that you couldn't see for mud. 

Round the pontoon and set a heading for the first buoy. I can't breathe, geezus I'm panicking, stop breast stroke a second, get going, nope, can't breathe stop again, breast stroke what the hell! Relax Sammi! Damn it. I slow my pace and try to relax my breathing. We round the first buoy and I have lost a fair bit of ground. Then, release as my wetsuit zipper explodes across my back and cold water floods in. My wetsuit hadn't been pulled up high enough and so it was tight across my chest and I couldn't breathe. Once the zipper gave way, the cold water was sweet relief. I refocused and hit the accelerator. 

I came out of the swim and raced up the beach. Into transition where my wetsuit decided to attach itself to my legs and not come off. Give me a break! Finally free, I grab the little ride and run for the mounting line. 

My legs burn as I hit the first rolling hill. And so that was the name of the day. Burn up a roller and fly down the other side. My gearing was proving to be tricky and the heat was driving me insane. I started to panic and look for excuses to pull out. This is nuts. A calm Eric Thomas moment comes over me,everyone else is in the same place as me and suffering alongside me, it is an even playing field, you aint gonna die today. Get stuck in to it.

I climb up to the turn around point, drop my gearing to ease up the hill and stand up to crank up the rise. Suddenly my bike bucks as the gears race across the cluster and skipping 4 gears lands back down in a heavy gear. Holly crap I almost went flying. I dig deep and the legs burn as I finally limp round the cone and hit the downhill. I'm flying. But what was that? My gears aren't syncing. My head is racing with how to overcome the issue while my legs are digging in deep and churning along the downhill section. Once at the turn around I hit the climbs again and the gearing starts jumping about once again. I growl an exasperated release of frustration as a girl overtakes me. She asks if I am ok? Yep, I try cheerfully to answer her, but inside I am screaming and vowing never to let my bike be transported by anyone ever again. I figure the derailleur has been knocked and the gears are screwed.  To top it off, I drop my water bottle and I still have about 7 kms to ride in this unbearable heat. This is not going to stop me!

I roll into transition once more and hit the run leg. My legs feel heavy but they are turning over on their own. I feel ok, but hot. I run through a misting tent and it is sweet relief. I take a second to enjoy the coolness before heading out into the blaring sun again. It is now 11 am and 39 degrees. Bring it on! Up ahead I see a screedy gravel covered track. Oh noooooo. ITB jumps to mind as I test the gravel under foot. Damn it all. A hill, crest and immediately another hill, crest and a downhill in shade. I stop at the bottom and walk for 30 seconds and that then became the story for the first lap. Walk/ run. I was over taken by lots of guys who I had managed to overtake on the bike or keep behind me. But I was so hot I couldn't get going.

Finally, on the second lap, I found my second wind and the legs and body started to come together and now I was running without stopping. I heard Adam behind me call out, 'keep pushing Sammi you are having a fantastic race'. It spurred me on. He eventually overtook me with 1km to go. But I had held him off the whole time. It was a good feeling. Up ahead I saw a young girl in an Aus tri-suit. I willed myself to keep up with her. The final part of the run is along the damn wall. I came up alongside the girl and then found myself speeding up and over taking her. I felt so good at this point I lifted again and before heading for the finish line managed to give a high 5 to a kid. I zipped up the suit, set my eyes on the black line and smiled. Done!

An awesome feeling!

I stopped quickly to talk to Adam and congratulate him, grabbed some cold drink, icecream and fruit and sat in the shade waiting. 

6 minutes passed before the next girl came in out of my friends, Sandra! the rest followed after her. All 6 of us achieved podiums on the day in our respective age groups. Me I got 3rd. But, I had scratched my mark in the ground last race and today, I convincingly had held the line!

Swim		0:13:17
T1		0:01:35
Cycle		0:40:40
T2		0:01:19
Run	1:25:48	0:28:55

Comfort Zone - that place where ZZZZZZZs happen.........

Riding the high of a great race finally, I stepped into this week with renewed energy and commitment. Finally, it feels like the drought has broken and while I know there will always be some hurdle to jump, it sure does help when you are walking a little taller.

Monday was rest, swim/stretch and treatment. I caught up with Coach for treatment and as he worked on autopilot on the legs and lower back, I yammered on about race day and ran him through the race by recounting bee stings, murky water, having to work hard to stay in front of Sandra and birthday cakes. We laughed. We also talked about coming back to team run group training. Ok, now I'm worried, but ok, let's give it a crack.

Tuesday, on the wind trainer. The little ride looked so cute sitting up there on his race wheels all sparkly. The legs ticked over for an easy 30min roll. All good.

Wednesday morning and I am up with the sounds of sparrows farting. I packed all my work gear, shower, and personal gear the night before. Talk about practice in visualizing, walking mentally through the day so I didn't forget anything. I rolled up to running group and the gathering of black red and white. Due to my many costume changes on the weekend and the fact I only do a load of washing twice a week, I had no run top clean so I looked like the odd man out. Lesson learned. I did the warm up and then ran with Megz for the first few rounds. I was chatting so much I forgot I was supposed to be walking every 5 mins. oh, well the knee was ok, let's keep going. In the end Coach told me to stop, not the leg. That was so good in my books. Although I had been in comfortable pace the whole time, I had been pushed outside the 'comfort zone'. That place where my mind starts stressing. But I pulled through ok and walked to cool down before a long stretch. After the run, I went back to Coach's place for an update on my strength training sessions. We looked at what I was doing now and he made a few alterations and so now I have new exercises to focus on and again, some renewed energy towards it. I love 1/4 squats - don't you?

Thursday, due to a sewerage pipe leaking into the harbour where we normally swim, yew..... we moved the swim to North Beach. Well, I have to tell you I reckon most of the Crew opted out due to the swim being moved to the surf.

The postcard version of North Gong Beach. Far from actually what it looked like for our session.

There was a big rip in the middle of the swim which swept us out quickly and we had to dive under the waves. Some big sets had me breathing and working hard to get out behind the breakers, but once we were out the back, we bobbed about waiting for the boys to set the buoys. Once set, we swam, headed for the harbour and used the smaller lighthouse as our sighting point. Hard to do when the waves were choppy and I ended up in the troughs. I stuck with Skip, as she and Katie and I were the only girls that had turned up. Megz was waiting on shore for us. We did turns around the buoys and came in and back out 3 times. One of the returns to shore saw me catch a wave and bodysurf a good 20 metres. Another wave picked me up and spear tackled me into the sand and I found myself rolling under the water, holding my breath. I shouldered the sandy bottom, screwed up into a ball and sideways washed up a good 20 metres down again, just not so classy ;) Ha, I hadn't been dumped in years and I always hated it as a kid. Fix the cozzy, pull the sand out of your pants, salt water stinging our eyes. But in a wetsuit and goggles it wasn't as bad as I expected. All good.  On the last time in, I could feel I was getting tired and I really thought Coach would give the girls an 'all done' signal before heading back out one more time with the boys. Nope, he started calling the set and looked at me. We were going in. Dig deep Sammi. I headed out and punched through the waves. Every breath was part salty water, part air. I grabbed at water and pulled hard through it. Skip and I made it back out to the buoys and by crikey we were going to get the set done. Twice round the buoys. Both of which were now drifting as the weights bounced on the sandy bottom. We finally finished and headed back to shore. I knew the waves were settling as the night drew in. They always do. I learned that from my sailing days. So in my head I was battling the exhaustion with calming reassuring thoughts that the sea wasn't as rough as it had been when we first ventured in. It was a good feeling, standing on shore chatting with the boys and Skip and looking out to sea. Sammi once again outside her Comfort Zone, pushing past where any Sammi had been for a long time.

Friday, Swim with Roberto. A great swim and while my shoulders were tired, pool swimming was a breeze compared to what I had done the day before. Bolstered, alive, reassured, confident, HAPPY!

Saturday, I rode with Roberto and The Onion Man. After a false start with a mechanical issue I rejoined the boys and finished with a 60km ride and sat comfortably the whole way with some Time Trials and hill climbs thrown in too. The hardest part of the day was leaving the house for the second time after we had fixed my bike, when all of me wanted to go back to bed with Gaz. Out of my comfort zone again and doing the job.

And today, a 7km run 1hour with a 4min run/30sec walk throughout. I was comfortable and threw a few hills into the course. Hot, happy and content with the itb once again. Toooooooo goood!

Yes, I actually have a race report...........

Nowra Sprint Triathlon. It aint long, but it was goooooooood.

After Thursday nights shocker in the harbour swim, I feel today I managed to crawl my way back. The lead up to this race had a lot of my pressure on it. All my own doing. Coach's words were go out and have a ball. My words were, get fucking serious or go home. So the morning of the race I had a little inspirational talking to from Eric Thomas - coincidentally the title to this chat is - I dare you not to go home!

Thanks to E.T, I was ready to go. The 45min drive down the coast was filled with nerves. But I tried to still them with some visualization. Mostly about my flying mount onto the bike. Ha, I had set my bike up for a bare foot run to the start, mount and get the feet in the shoes before they spin round and the bike bucks me off. I opted for this start rather than my usual shoes on start to try and protect the itb as much as possible.

Anyway, I'm too far ahead. Bike racked, time to sit and have cake pre race for Megz' birthday. We sing happy birthday to her and before long it's time to take the walk down to the start line. It's a straight swim for 750m as the tide is flooding in. It will be a quick swim. In fact 30secs before the gun I left the shore and started my race. I was high up the bank so that I timed the start perfectly and it was on. I went hard, digging deep into the water, turn over high and we all flew down the river with murky brown/yellow reedy water and an awareness that we may run face first into a 6' bullshark that had been spotted in the area several times through the week. I left the swim hot (as the water was 23degrees) but happy. 10:10 and 13th place in the females overall. Very happy.

Struggling to get the wetsuit off.

Ok, good run into T1 with The Crew and Gazza calling encouragement. Grabbed the bike and headed for the mount line. I promised myself that I would take my time with the mount, get the shoes on properly.....doh! completely ballsed it, the shoes flipped and I wobbled over the road having to leap off the bike and start again. All the practice out the window, it was now fumble and pray I got going. Gaz said later he thought I was gonna lose it. Ha.

Not the prettiest mount that's for sure.

The ride is a flat course with some pot holes and rough surfaces along the way. The wind was lifting and I felt like I was making good gains as I was over taking loads of guys. Woohooo always a good feeling to chick a few fellas ;) And then I got over taken by Caroline grrrr. Got to give it to her, she is strong. I was waiting for Sandra to catch me too. I kept this in my mind and used it to stay focused on not being caught. If I found myself sitting behind someone, I pushed hard to over take. I even got a weary eye passed over me by a T.O. First time ever. She watched me pass and waved me to pick up the speed to do it in the right amount of time. Satisfied she moved on. Finally, the turn around in sight and I thought you beauty a tail wind home as we had been punching into some heavy wind, but the tail wind was short lived and was exchanged for a stiff side action. Suddenly, 3 hits, 1 face, 1 shoulder, 1 knee and now a burning sensation on my right knee caught me off guard. I looked down to find a little bee stinger and sack sticking out of my knee. Random! I scrapped it out and was shattered to think it might swell and stop me from racing. Noooooooo! 

Coming in off the bike, I opted for a shoes on dismount

Back in transition after an uneventful dismount and a quick whip off the helmet, I was on my way again. 39:25 and 14th girl. Ok, run, it wasn't fast, but I was moving. I ran past Megz and Ellyse again and headed out for the bridge. Once out of sight of the crowds, I stopped for a 30sec walk. I needed to calm down and focus. I set off again and fell into step with a guy and tried to focus on cadence and form. I lost the guy when I needed to walk up a short sharp hill on to the bridge, but I had spotted Sandra and the other girls right behind me. OK, Sammi, you are going to have to dig deep as she is closing the gap.

Heading out for the last 1km

As I headed back along the bridge, I dropped my head a little so my hat hid how far I needed to go. I just focused on my feet and form and chipped away. Finally the last long straight out and back. Past Gazza who snapped a few shots. Not sure how my race belt ended up down below my ass. Never noticed. I'm pleased with that, cause I was so focused on going hard rather than fidgeting, which I often find myself doing when I am not focused. 

I'm actually 'ok' with the backside shot. Ha!

I reached the final turn around point, looked up and there was Sandra only meters away from me. Holy Crap! This is going to hurt. I needed to work hard. I dumped a cup of water over myself, one down my pants to cool me down. I stopped listening to the blister that was starting to whinge in my head and I put the foot down, literally. I could see the flags of the finish chute, but they seemed so far away. I looked at the pavement in front of me, put more pressure on the legs and came home, all the while listening for the familiar heavy footfall of Sandra. 

All business in the Hurt Locker

I crossed the finish line and took a moment to get my breathing and stop my head from spinning. There was no sprint finish in me today, but I did hear my name and I had given it a bloody good go. I'm pleased with that. And I came in under 30mins for the run, with 29:09. and final time 1:21:01. 

Sweet relief - I am racing again

Boom 3rd place! Yep, that was a great outcome. 7 in my age group. Happy days. But most important about today was that I finally pushed out of my head all of the negativity that had been plaguing me for so long. I didn't let things get me down or frustrate me. I didn't hear the voice in my head saying - can't. I stayed focused and in the moment the entire time.

A new buddy - Eirene

Most importantly is that I spent time with new and old friends. My old friends that I have known for so long now. We all had such great races. Scooped the medals. Luckily we are all in different age groups lol.

Lloyd, Sandra, Eirene, me, Gail and Deb

And of course my newer family, the AP.10 Crew. What an amazing bunch of people. All having fantastic races.

AP.10 Crew

A final word from Coach.
Podium Girl - Hey there lady, Really proud of you. Not necessarily just the result, but more so the effort and application that you put in and have done over the past months. This effort makes podiums possible. So well done!   

Special thanks to Gazza for being chief cheer squad, bike handler and photographer. x

Makatush................

Definition: To receive a swift, sideways, glancing blow across the side of the head from someone, usually with an open hand. However, a Makatush can come in a range of variations and ferocity as the intent is to remind the receiver that they have fucked up rather than to cause pain or discomfort.

Origin: Source, the Boland family patriarch, a derivative of the word, slap and often the action of a Makatush is used in conjunction with a single word such as Troon, Dickhead or Idiot. To Makatush is ammunition to penetrate armor, or get your point across, more efficiently than standard armor-piercing ammunition. Why reach for the BB gun when you can use the Uzi?

Today at our open water swim session I received a Makatush from Coach. Skip got one too. But the result was a water filled Makatush, the look, and a sideways directed comment about taking too long a rest and perhaps it would have been better to do the 1st groups set first and then go the 2nd groups set after that. The Makatush came as a variation of the better known open handed swat, but packed no less a reminder that I had fucked up, with a swat at the water sending salty water in my direction. Ouch!

What was Coach trying to say? Hmmmm, "You're not working hard enough, Sammi!" Imagine an 'M' that was the set. Swim out to a boat, round it back to shore, run out of the water round a lump of seaweed on the ground, back in to the water before heading out to round another boat, then back to shore for a 30sec rest. Go! That was Coach's groups set The faster group, full of great swimmers and mostly boys and a couple of girls. Megzy's group would do a smaller 'm' shape round some buoys that were closer to shore, the girls group and the occasional male swimmer such as Gazza when he comes.

Problem is Skip and I are somewhere in the middle. We are left hanging off the disappearing feet of the 1st group, sometimes scary when we are out of the harbour in deep water. But too quick for the 2nd group. So when Coach said self seed. I planted myself in the 2nd group and so did Skip. Skip had a legit excuse in my books, she was shattered after huge training sessions getting ready for I.M Melbourne in just a few short weeks. You could see she was exhausted and so it would make sense to drop back. But me, fresh, easier program this week and after all, better to come first right? WRONG!!

What was my brain doing? Well, it was in conserve mode again. Racing on Sunday, don't push to hard. Don't want to get too tired. Just take it easy and cruise through the session so you are right for Sunday. Stay with the girls and just dissolve into the group. No need to go hard. WRONG!!!! Perhaps if it was a critical 'A' race or a longer race that required a taper, this thinking would have been ok and Coach would have given me the signal that taking it easy in this session was ok. But I took it upon myself to ease. I have to stop applying this thinking to my training. Always holding back, always avoiding going hard during a session for fear that I wont back up the next day. That if I go too hard I wont make it home......or it will hurt, or I will fail or come last.

And now for something completely different..........

A fantastic adventure, liloing in the Blue Mountains with Big Gazza, Wishy, Wishtin, Lil and Sal my Gal.

The planets had to align to get this one off the ground and when they did line up, it was amazing. 

We headed for the Bluies in the rain and fog. It wouldn't stop the day, but it wouldn't be as pretty and you need a bit of sun for warmth when you're in water all day. But when we finally arrived at our parking spot the blue sky was peaking through the clouds, and by the time we started to hike, the summer sun was warm and the smiles were wide.

Me, Sal my Gal, Wish, Lil, Big Gazza & Wishtin (crouching)

We took some time finding the trail head as the bush fires that hit the area in October had taken its toll and the terrain looked so different. We eventually got going and followed a ridge down to where we needed to repel into the canyon. The look on my nieces faces as they eyed off the knotted rope and realised they were going to climb down, no harness, priceless! and they did it with confidence and ease.

Me descending into the canyon

Once in the canyon we quickly blew up the lilos and pulled on the wetsuits. A quick mars bar for energy and we were off floating down the creek. They loved it. It was a long hike through so many different types of settings. Long slot canyons, sandy river beds, pebbly bottom, tree covered waterlines that you needed to bushwack through, huge logs and rocks that needed to be launched off from height and finally large boulder scrambling. It was a taster for canyoning and the girls handled it amazingly. 

Lots of laughs and quality time and a hard hike out and we were done. Good times and fantastic memories.

Getting ready to launch off the log

Mexican stand-off