Tre-x Off Road Triathlon
March 9th 2008
http://www.tre-x.com.au/
http://www.photoevents.net.au/gallerytre_x.htm
Someone decided to make triathlon fun.

(1st Female), 2hrs 18 minutes.

Imagine you’re about to do a triathlon. You’ve got your goggles, your bike and your running shoes, you’re setting them all up in a transition zone, but something’s different, you’re in the forest.

So what’s different? You rack your bike (you need one of those ones with bobbly tyres), you bring a towel (because the ground is leaf litter) and you might choose to bring an older pair of running shoes if it’s been raining.

The off road element makes the whole race heaps more fun. Suddenly the bike isn’t just about saving something for the run, it’s about going as fast as you can where you can, enjoying the hills, chatting to other riders and getting better with each lap as the course gets more familiar.

Even the run, which I always see as the assessment element of a triathlon, was made more of an adventure and an experience. In this race we ran around the lake, and whilst there was one hill that made the legs shudder a bit, there were sections of the run you just couldn’t help but enjoy.

The bush setting, the mountain biking, the festival type mode, all make this a wonderful way to spend a morning, push yourself or train.

AYUP 12 hour Dusk to Dawn Mountain Bike Race
March 2nd 2008
Two Wheels Promotions
(2nd Female Solo)
http://www.twowheelpromotions.com.au/home/index.php

I blame the adventure racers!

Triathlon, mountain biking…adventuring racing. I’ve never done an adventure race or a 24 hour but that hasn’t stopped what “they” do, influencing what I do.

I thought Ironman was kind of it, as hard as it gets and as long and overwhelming as the challenge becomes. I trained so hard for my first Ironman just to survive it and now I discover that it is just one of many adventures that someone has conjured up, and someone else has decided to follow. What they do destroyed all the nice neat boundaries I had around what I thought was possible. I guess this is how I ended up sitting on my bicycle at 7pm getting ready to ride all through the night.

I don’t really know what happened to the night. I can say I went, around and around and around that track because someone counted me doing so twenty times. If you asked me I’d probably guess half that number. I don’t know if it is fatigue or darkness that hides the memories.

In comparison to a day 12 hour, I’d say it is cooler and a bit more of an adventure. It makes you search deep for things to keep your mind and body active, carefully timing a cup of coffee or a bit more coke. It’s a bit more social that a day race in some ways. Everyone’s looking for distractions and whilst the course gets kind of bare in those early morning hours, anyone you do come across is grateful for a chat. You get to sleep in which is a nice novelty before a race.

The real challenges of night racing, as I could see it, were faced by the support. I just don’t think I could stay awake all night if I wasn’t peddling, and I just don’t think I could drag myself out of bed every half hour to organise a drink bottle. Jeff and Al were my support and they didn’t get an easy customer. I’d done better than last time in that I didn’t forget to bring all the food I’d prepared but I hadn’t got it organised. Despite this they managed to concoct some superb beverages (my favourite was water, coke and blueberry juice), hand me easter eggs (no one can complain about that), and deliver my tuna and coriander sandwiches at just the right moments.

The course was great. After doing one lap I thought to myself that there really wasn’t one part of the loop I didn’t like, and there were many parts I liked a lot. The start, finish area comes just after a fun down hill at Kooralbyn so we always enter in good spirits.

I’d been riding harder since about 4am when I found out Alex was not so far ahead of me. I put what I could into those next few laps, trying to concentrate on nutrition to ensure I kept going. The sun crept up and more people came out on the track again. I expected to feel refreshed by the light but I started to worry more on my descents and felt the tiredness. With two laps to go, I was just trying to keep going. I gave a few pretty despondent looks at my support crew who were offering me extravagant platters of lollies, sandwiches, juice, coke, fruit and easter eggs! The easter eggs seemed to be the preferred option at that time of the day. On the second last lap, I slowed right down and tried to hit survival mode. I stayed there for a little while and decided it just feels too uncoordinated on a mountain bike. I’m much better off peddling at a decent rate to keep steady on the climbs. So I enjoyed waking up the last bit of determination I had to use in those last two laps. And I enjoyed meeting Alex at the finish, I’d heard a lot about her.

Goondiwindi Hell of the West 2008
(2nd female) 4hrs 29 minutes

“A proper triathlon, not one of these fancy city races, a tough, hot, flat race, The Hell of the West.” That’s how Mike Mason described it three years ago, when it first appeared on the horizon of my imagination as a possibility. It’s nice to come back each year, a little more comfortable with the prospect.

The Goondiwindi Triathlon Club puts on a fantastic race. So well organised, so welcoming and away from the rain!! We were treated like special guests by the whole town. It’s a hot, tough race, but there is plenty of water, ice, coke and encouragement out there on the run, and if you need more to keep you going, you can start dreaming of anything you want, and it will probably be there in the recovery tent. They really do a good job.

There was a moment on the run when I thought, “why do I do this to myself” and just as I was about to start looking for answers, I had to laugh. I’m quite sure I thought exactly the same thing last time I did this run. Well, now I’ve got an idea, it’s a hard flat race, there’s no hiding from effort and persistence to get through. It’s a perfect build up for Port Macquarie, a perfect tester to assess what’s going well in training and what might be lacking.

Busselton Ironman 2007
(9hrs 34 minutes, 6th Female)

“Welcome back Prue.” That was my welcome to Ironman Western Australia. I wondered how the lady behind registration desk knew I was coming for a second time and then realised the smile was familiar. Anne registered me last year and we were both back for more. “You look much more relaxed this year” she said.

I moved to the Sunshine Coast this year and started training in the “garden of Eden” as Henry from swimming describes it, “you’ve arrived,” he said, “from now on good things will happen.”
The coast is a fantastic place to live: we have the beaches out the front and the Hinterland, out the back. The active people here are prevalent. They’re positive, they’re fun, they’re welcoming and they’re making the most of living in such a place. Triathlon was my ticket into this community.

And that’s what brought me to the registration desk smiling. I arrived there with friends, friends I never would have known if it wasn’t for this event and this lifestyle. I learnt a lot from these people over the last few months.

They’re good at living. They have families, some have children, some have grandchildren, some have just stopped being children, some ride mountain bikes, some don’t have bikes. Some are fast, some are a little more relaxed.

My event contained the highs and lows that each race seems to provide. Learnings and lessons. I tried to smile as I rode out of town for the third time on my weary legs. I really wasn’t sure they were going to bring me back again. I grabbed a banana at an aid station and that seemed to help, so at the next I went for another but I missed. As the banana slid away from view an Anzac biscuit was suddenly in front of me, and with nothing to lose I gave it a go. It wasn’t really on the nutrition plan for the day, but it tasted good and I started reflecting on the hard times Anzac biscuits were created for. I ran into transition smiling and looking on the bright side, “I’m just so glad to get rid of that bike” I said to the ladies in the tent.

I stayed chirpy for the first part of the run but mid way through the second lap things started to change. I’m sure I was doing some kind of stumble. I looked up at the 20km marker and thought “this isn’t sustainable.”

I gave walking a go. I walked fast and stretched my legs, the rhythm of running was still inside me, it wouldn’t leave and I didn’t let it. A woman came past and said “run with me”. It felt wrong to turn her down. I looked up and saw my friend Karen running cheery and strong. Maybe I gave her some kind of despondent smile. I knew I hadn’t given up, and though I would enjoy surprising her later.

I might have walking for a minute, it might have been three, I don’t know. I turned my hand and hoped, as I would if I was trying to start a broken down car. I started running and it worked. My legs were loose and I was moving to my rhythm.

On my last lap I saw Karen again, I smiled and waved.

Felt bicycles partner me in all these crazy adventures. I've been riding a 48cm B2 Time Trial with 650 wheels since June last year. I'm 163cm and it fits me perfectly. It can be hard to find time trial bikes that fit "little people". It's amazing how efficient this bike feels. I call it "the fast one." bicycle.

I also ride a Felt RXC Team hard tail mountain bike. It's light and it's very forgiving on me being new to mountain biking. I've been doing 6 and 12 hour endurance races and it's perfect.

JAGGAD. I love my Jaggad Sprint Jersey. It's completely breathable and has pockets to carry all the things I need in long races. Jaggad are an Australian company and they put a great deal of effort into making clothing that suits women with all different body shapes. It's lovely to have so many choices in the women's range.

Brooks. My feet aren't the easiest customers to please and if my shoes aren't right, they're not afraid to let me know. Brooks provide luxury accommodation for my feet. I run in Brooks Trance and Brooks Adrenalines. In all races including Ironman distance I use S3 Racing Flats.

All these shoes offer really good support but one of the best things about them is they seem to last longer than previous runners I've had.

Noosa Enduro - July 15th 2007
100km Mountain Bike Race (almost 6 hours for me)

We'd just climbed a fairly large hill, which had come not long after a similar fairly large hill and we were making our way up a ridge which was really just another fairly large hill. At this stage we'd come out of the forest and it was a pretty ordinary place to be if you were a cow. But we weren't cows, we were mountain bikers, we'd been pushing ourselves for about 4 hours and as I felt myself nearing my "brink", I felt sure the two cyclists next to me were feeling the same. I couldn't help laughing and saying to the others, "we're a strange bunch."

And that's kind of the celebration that an event like the Noosa Enduro is. It puts the challenge out there and the people come. I feel really lucky that people have been out there for years, building up the mountain bike scene, so that people like me can stumble into it. Everybody out there today was giving it a go, giving something a go, giving a life a go. It doesn't mean they're superhumans, but in my opinion, they're often interesting people.

It's funny that we like to push ourselves to the brink, it's funny exposing ourselves like that amongst a group of strangers. Really they're seeing us at our weakest but strangely enough they're also seeing us at our strongest. It's amazing howmuch you can know about a person from riding beside them in a situation like that for a day. The same person you don't recognise without their cycle jersey and bike.

http://www.usmevents.com.au/enduro/gallery.html

I was in Melbourne for a few weeks in May this year and as a Queenslander I struggled with the cold. Eventually I solved the problem, Skins. The benefits of Skins for recovery are widely published and I've heard many people praise their benefits to this extent. My first experience with them however was as training attire. Running and cycling in Melbourne I was layering myself up until I almost couldn't bend. I obtained some Skins which kept me warm as an inner layer without getting sweaty.

I've now got top and bottom skins and I use them in almost every training session. I feel they assist with posture and warmth and afterwards my recovery from running. For cycling I wear them under my arm and leg warmers during cold weather. I'm finally winning against the cold.

Finally, after running the Gold Coast Marathon earlier this week, I can testify from personal experience that they aid recovery. Some of the aching in my legs was removed immediately when I put them on to sleep that night. I can't explain why but I felt it.

Felt - B2

I'm now riding the latst B2 Model Felt. After a year on my S22 Felt, it's taking a little while to get used to a new set up. I'm also coming out of a rest period and I feel I need to earn my position on this bike. I seem to be getting stronger quickly though so I think we have to attribute half of that to the bike.

Gold Coast Marathon: July 07
3hrs 10 minutes

About 3,000 people ran the marathon this year and over 16,000 were involved in the events. I had a good day. Two years earlier I ran my first marathon here, and this time it was a pleasure to watch the kilometre markers drift past in a much healthier state. Ironman has made me appreicate that any kilometre you've already run in a marathon is one you don't have to walk if everything suddenly goes wrong.

I'm now very appreciative of those "bad days". The most important thing about them is they are in the past. I've done the suffering, I've been to that place and all that they can do for me now is remind me that I've been in worst situations than this. So I'll take the good out of them now.

There was a huge contingent from Central Queensland at the events. The Frenchville Frogs Triathlon Club, Gladstone Roadrunners and Rockhampton Roadrunners were all out in force. A happy reunion for those of us living in different places.

Mount Perry 6 Hour Enduro Mountain Bike Race

My introduction to mountain bike racing,came four days after I was introduced to mountain biking. I got a Felt Hard Tail, with a team issue frame and snazy componentry. The bike was definitely the strenth of the team, as my mountain biking skills left a lot to be desired.

The event was really well organised, well attended and really, really friendly. Out there on the course everybody was polite and supportive. I guess the suvival element of the sport makes it a bit more condusive to comradory during events. I think I ended up doing nine laps of the course and I fell off a similar number of times. However, I did improve througout the event so the majority of these falls were in the first laps.

Port Macquarie Ironman, April 2007
10hrs 13mins

I had a tough day. Maybe I rode to hard, maybe I didn't have enough electrolyte, maybe my training wasn't good enough, maybe I just muddled something up. Whatever the reasons, I started the marathon feeling quite wrong and after a bit more running I started feeling even more wrong. It was my longest time yet for an Ironman but it didn't detract from the satisfaction at all. Race day is about pushing myself to my limit, and if I do that I give myself a 10. My first comment after the finish line was "I don't care what the clock says, I never expected to get through that thing, I did and I'm proud of myself." Of course however I have to look for the learnings and whilst some of them appeared immediately, others turn up a little later. Reflecting now, I feel fortunate for my "bad days," because they're the ones that make me appreciate the good ones.