Time-out…

Hi team,

It’s been a few weeks which is part of the inspiration for writing this blog.

I’m out, for now. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved keeping a journal (of sorts) but it’s been a little awkward because I’m not that comfy sharing EVERYTHING with you.

A few super nice people have said they’ve gotten a kick out of reading my random posts but inwardly I cringe with embarrassment as, if I actually wrote with readers in mind, I wouldn’t dream of sharing most of the info I’ve plastered on here.

There’s the conundrum, filter my thoughts for the sake of my pride or blurt everything out and potentially sound like a massive weirdo (regardless of what all the nice people have said).

So, for now, I’m bowing out and will stick to just inundating you all with pics of my nephew on Facebook!

I won’t say sign off because chances are I’ll be back but in the meantime, I HUGE thank you for the lovely comments, ‘likes’, and taking a couple of minutes out of your day to tune in.

Happy sharing!
xo

500km of running I’ll NEVER forget

I knew I should have read the email properly.

Friday night saw me jumping in my car from work to travel about 130km south-west to Warwick where my Tri Alliance Queensland teammates were resting up in a motel after Day 1 of the Endeavour Foundation‘s 500km Team Endurance Relay.

I also knew what I’d agreed to be a part of would be a challenge. It’s racking up 500km of running over three days with at least 17 of your teammates so of course it’s no vacation but what I didn’t expect was to be running at time trial pace (sub 4min/km) for every leg.

Let me backtrack to that lesson about learning to read emails thoroughly. A few months ago, I received a quick note from coach Mark Turner who, at the end, had slipped in this line, “Also what do you think about running in the 500km relay for us? You would love it.”

Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha…I’m such a sucker.

Fast forward to 4.45am Saturday morning and I’m lining up opposite the Bunnings in Warwick with about 30 other nutbags for the opening leg of Day 2.

It was to be the first of five efforts I chalked up across the weekend and the start of 36 hours of sweat, dirt, clock-watching, dancing, lollies, coffee, laughs, dancing, cheering, flies, google mapping, high-fives, peeing in cane fields, sunscreen applications, Sizzler, storms, mooning, marriage proposal stories, hills, 36degree temperatures, dirty looks at Turner, BBQ breakfasts, criteriums, bum slapping, vomiting, tight hamstrings, stricken birds, police escorts, dead crows, Powerade, Coke Zero, and Arnold’s classy bus driving skills.

Approximately 350 athletes, from 16 Brisbane and Gold Coast teams, ran from Brisbane on Friday morning, via Toowoomba, to finish in Fernvale on Sunday afternoon with more than $67,000 in the kitty for the Endeavour Foundation.

As pictures apparently tell a thousand words I’ll share just a few of the snaps captured by my Tri Alliance buddy and running teammate Dave Beaton…

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The 500km Team Endurance Relay was a rookie attempt for Tri Alliance Queensland and a rarity for a group of triathletes not to have to pack the bikes and swimmers. I love to write but in this case I’m not sure words do justice when describing the quality of the people on my team. Think of the best people in your lives and each of my teammates would share similar traits.

A team is only as strong as its leader and Mark Turner is simply the best. I’ve played sport alongside some very talented athletes and high-achieving characters but would rate Mark’s efforts across the weekend, with and without the running shoes, up there with the greatest.

So enough of the mushy stuff and I’ll leave you with this lesson…read your emails properly.

Jokes!

Here’s my tip – the toughest challenges offer up the greatest satisfaction.

Happy sharing!
xo

Melbs, work, parties & couches

Hi team,

It’s been another while. A whole – Melbourne wedding adventure, new work role, stack of early morning alarms, friends’ engagement party, shopping spree, new couch payment – period since we last chatted.

I’ll start backwards and introduce you to my amazing (half-pice plus 5% RACQ member discounted) three-seater Freedom couch.

She’s going to go where my white desk is at the mo…

A few coral cushions and I’ll have the editor of Belle on the phone…soz, just too busy to feature in your next edition.

Couch aside I jetted into Melbourne to see Barb, my friend of 20 years (eek), walk down the aisle to marry her lover Steve.

The highlight of our weekend in the Yarra Valley, apart from the big day, included a cozy ‘family feast’…

The main meal? A catch of the day reeled in by the guys who dropped by a local trout farm.

What’s fish without free chocolate? Exactly! Making a trip to the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery a must-do excursion.

Hanging out with old friends (and their gorgeous bubs)…

In a beautiful location…

More recovery drinks…

A super smooth local brewery/restaurant/cafe…

And a quick airport shop….

Combined to make one magic weekend!

Which brings us up to last week (I know, it’s been THAT long) and my first day in my new role at work. WHICH. I. LOVE.

No self-respecting journalist would write a sentence ‘WHICH. I. LOVE’ but a) I’d never describe myself as a self-respecting journo (way too stuffy) and b) using capital and fullstops in all the wrong places is like giving my new gig a giant grammatical hug.

I filled you guys in on the crazy start times and brill workmates; same deal but different role and it ROCKS (caps again…justified in this situation).

So, I survived the first week and onto a weekend (yep, the one just gone) which was filled with friends, parties, breakfasts, and sleep.

Highlight? Hard to pick but it was so, so lovely to catch up with some of my netball friends at Nat and Aus’ engagement party. In the words of Whitney, I will always love you!

We’ve arrived at Monday, now, and me sitting at my table (not for long Belle lovers) in my swimmers writing to you and realising I’ve missed a shopping-spree mention which is probably a good thing as I went a little crazy on the clothes and the bank balance is sad (but my wardrobe is rocking).

I’m off to the pool and a session in about 10 minutes. So, yep, my own training, as well as working with my lovable PT clients, is still going full-steam ahead. But I’ll leave them for another post.

Happy sharing!
xo

Ps. How hot are the new colour Havaianas?!

5 reasons to cycle to the coast

“Hey, Mands. What are you up to?”

“Hi Mike, just about to have breakkie at Mermaid.”

“What are you doing on the GC?”

“Cycled down from Bris with a group of friends.”

“You WHAT!”

That’s pretty much the phone conversation between myself and my bro on Monday, and the reaction I get from non-cyclists when I mention riding from Brisbane to the Goldie.

It’s not really that far but to persuade the doubters…here are 5 reasons it’s worth it:

1) This one’s for you Susie…

2) You can eat the biggest breakfast ever and it won’t touch your sides!

3) A cool dip on a 30+ degree day

4) Views like this…

5) And spending time with great friends including this loveable trio!

Need any more persuading? BSKT Cafe is worth the trip alone!

Happy sharing!
xo

Ever stuck your finger up a jellyfish’s bum?

Jellyfish.

If you’re not referring to the restaurant, I don’t want to know about them.

On Sunday morning at Redcliffe, myself and hundreds of other triathlon entrants were forced to face (literally) the slimy, fat, silent but thankfully not deadly (at least this type) sea creatures.

Let me take you back a couple of days to when I received this Facebook notification:

I’m thinking you should be able to get the gist of the rest of Kristie’s sentence.

It was in response to this post:

I’m also thinking the 38 people who ‘liked’ that status had wetsuits.

So, panic stations my friends which went something like this…

Phillippa’s breast implant line made me a giggle until Sunday morning arrived and I saw the blobby guys up close and personal as myself, Kristie and some 20 other innocent victims treaded water at the start line of the Moreton Bay Triathlon.

At first I thought I was accidentally kicking other swimmers. Wrong. Unless other swimmers have tentacles.

Have you ever stuck your finger up a jellyfish’s bum? It’s pretty gooey place although it could’ve been an eye…

I was one of the lucky ones wearing a wetsuit and protected from stings. Kristie wasn’t so covered and copped some stinger love.

Marine life aside she did AMAZING and I couldn’t have been prouder to see her cross the finish line after conquering a 1.5km stinger-infested swim, 40km cycle and 10km run with pretty much ZERO training in the can.

I was a massive grumpy bum pre-race. You know the type. They’re really annoying, whinge about how much they don’t want to do it and drive you mental until race start. That’s me.

I REALLY didn’t want to do it but, under coach’s orders, knew it’d be a good hit-out in the scheme of bigger things. I stopped being a wuss, the coach was right (don’t repeat that to him please) and overall (minus the jellies) it was a brilliant day topped off by a surprise drop-in from a group of super supportive squad mates!

So, my friends, the moral of the story is…

Oh, wait, how’d that sneak in here?!

Here we go…

Happy sharing!
xo

10-5 Rainy Day Workout

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring (who comes up with these things?).

Anyways, sunny Brisbane isn’t looking so hot today with a bucket or two of rain expected to continue to fall at least until midday tomorrow.

That’s not great news for me or my business as pretty much all my clients train with me outdoors. So, what to do when it’s wet and there’s limited uncover space? Check out the session above!

My 10-5 Rainy Day Workout takes about 45 minutes, requires the tiniest of covered area and little equipment.

Questions?

Well, you work through the list completing ten reps of each exercise before moving on to the next. When you reach the final exercise you’ve earned yourself a short drink break before starting from the top again (but this time only performing nine reps of each exercise).

Don’t stop to give yourself a pat on the back until you tick off five reps of each exercise and that, my friends, is a solid wet weather hit-out for you!

Feel free to mix up the exercises while less break time between each means a tougher workout.

Happy sharing!
xo

Footbike for Australia!

I’ve got Cruiser envy.

My friends Claire and Andrew hit the streets on theirs – a nice little lime number and a black bandit – to drop into local cafes, do a food shop or to soak up some sunshine over weekends.

I was told one would set me back a few hundred dollars but as I weighed up adding another set of wheels to my small collection one of these guys caught my eye.

It’s a FOOTBIKE.

AND if you become really fast on it, this baby could be your ticket to representing your country.

Pinched this one from http://footbike.com.au/

Yep, there’s a national Footbike team filled with the best footbikers in Australia.

Click here for more pics!

And YOU could be pulling on the green and gold for the Footbike World Championships 2016 which will be held in our own backyard. That’s right, the Australian kickbike community’s pumped up to be the first non-European country to host the event.

The World Championships include three individual events; a 400 metre sprint, 12-15km middle distance race, 42km marathon plus RELAYS (minus the batons). I love relays!

So kids, if you’re not content on simply cruising (or footbiking) around the streets then you can go for gold on a Footbike.

Happy sharing!
xo

PS. If I was aiming for national honours I’d pick myself up one of these bad boys…

Because somehow, I don’t think these would cut it…

Warning – Wardrobe Malfunction

On Monday night I had a slightly unusual wardrobe malfunction.

No pics to prove it, which is probably a good thing.

With temps passing 30 degrees this week, you’ll be pleased to know the wetsuit is well and truly packed away (unless it’s a little chilly tomorrow morning) HOWEVER it looks like I’ve forgotten how to wear my swimmers.

I was stripping off my shorts to dive into the pool earlier this week when I noticed something strange going on with my drawstring (is that what you still call it? Google says it is). So, um, I look down to see I had my bottoms on inside-out which is ok except the lining’s on show and it turns out a drawstring can cause some serious drag in the water.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve been busted for accidentally wearing my clothes in silly ways. My debut performance played out on the first day of a new job when, after hours of itching my collarbone, I realised I was wearing my top back-to-front and the tag should probably be behind me. I also collected a speeding ticket that morning. It wasn’t my best day.

I struggle on the pyjama front with my shorts always ending up back to front, it’s common knowledge my triathlon pants aren’t the best fit (but in my defence they’re ridiculously comfy), and I’ve been known to forget a sock or two off the packing list over the years (who hasn’t?).

Back to my swimming issue…my friend Alana has the solution! Dolphin Reversibles!

Pretty and practical!

Happy sharing!
xo

The GUILTS

Arghhhhhh I always get the guilts.

At the mo, I’m sitting in front of my computer talking to you rather than stripping down to my togs poolside for tonight’s swim session. I’m not feeling 100% so I’ve swapped core (which I’ll do tonight) for swimming tomorrow night instead. Nothing much lost there but a stack of guilt to be gained.

Not making a session, not working hard enough, taking the easy option. I get the guilts so bad I’ll often go the other way and throw in an extra session or clock up some bonus miles.

Train smarter not harder.

Easy to remember, not so easy to always stick with but a recent Facebook post by triathlon champ Pete Jacobs was a handy reminder!

training diary; Monday – rest. Tuesday – rest. Wednesday – rest, with 1.5hr easy computrainer ride. Thursday – 5.5hr ride + small gym session (light weights). Friday – 2hr 20 run. 4km swim. Now about to easy ride then massage.
So the point of this is to show you that you don’t need to train when you don’t feel like it. Your body needs time to recover somedays. Those three rest days might have just been the break my body needed to avoid an injury or illness that I’ll never know about now. Everything is on track for Kona. Feeling great. The next 220 Triathlon Australia issue has an article I wrote that explains more about how I’m approaching Ironman World Championship along this same point. Good luck everyone in training. Stay confident. Don’t worry if others are doing more than you!

Wise words from the champ and a reminder for those of you who, like me, get the guilts!

Click here to find out more about Pete…I’m off to work on my core 😉

Happy sharing!
xo

For easier sessions…