Travels

Well a heap has happened since the AIS camp.

The camp revealed that I really just need to concentrate on swimming. On return I was faced with a massive swim week. Where all I did was basically swim. In fact, I swam 60km in total for the week. It seemed more of a mental battle that a physical one. I came out the other end with a much stronger stroke and more consistent times so the pain was worth it. I raced the first Bribie Island tri of the season at the end of the week which was interesting given I had not riden my bike. I ended up winning after making a fair bit of ground on the bike.

Then we had two weeks of preparation prior to the Noosa triathlon. So we added some serious speed work which was tough after a week of no legwork! Noosa went well. I had a top swim for me and quickly made my way through the field on the bike. The chase was on on the run but there was no catching Emma Moffatt as the end came quicker than I could run.

Then I had another two weeks of training that really worked me over and included some testing at the QAS. I was a little disappointed with my run TT but I think it may have something to do with my race the weekend before. I was also given a new gym program to keep me busy.

The Thursday prior to the HK triathlon I was graced with Vanessa Courtot's presence. We went to dinner with Darren (Mike and My best man from our wedding) as a pre-campaign salute'. We then set out for HK.

I had a pretty smooth trip and we arrived in Disneyland at around 7pm. I went for a light jog and then had a late night massage. The lady had to elevate the bed and slip me off or I would not have left the place! Feeling pretty relaxed I had a good nights sleep ready for my pre-race training on the Friday. Race preparation went well, no issues, lots of rest, right training, right foods etc. I went to bed pretty early because the race started at 7am.

The race went really well. I had an okay start, lost a bit of time on the first lap of the swim but made ground back (amazingly) on the second lap. Then I worked back up to the main pack by the third lap of the bike. I probably did a little too much work on the bike once I made the lead pack which may have cost me on the run. heading into T2 I was sitting pretty and feeling confident. Fritova made a break through transition and I lost time because I could not get my shoe on easy. I then had to surge a few times to catch the 40 or so metres i had lost. Niwata sat on my shoulder whilst catching Fritova. After we got to the section of the course that multi-lapped, I was too slow going through a water station and lost a couple of meters on Niwata. She slowly started to edge away. I tried a few things but before I knew it she was away. I held on to take second and finish my 2008 of racing. Other than the aquation the next day. The picture above shows the footrace.

The aquathon was really a bit of fun. No points, no money etc. I was stoked with my efforts to come third. After the racing I spent a couple of extra days in HK to relax and take training easy for a while.

Since return it has all been about swimming again. I will soon turn into a fish! Mum is comming up this week. Then I have a camp before returning to Adelaide for Christmas. I can't wait to see everyone. I will be doing the Gatti on the 21st and then the aquathon.

Cheers for now.

Sarah

AIS Camp

I have just returned from an 8 day visit to the AIS for testing and lectures as part of the NTID triathlon program. The camp was awesome to say the least and it was amazing to be at the complex amongst superstars like Jana Pittman, Brendan Rickard and Brad Khaldafelt (sorry if i misspelled!).

Some of the tasks conducted included power testing on the bike, oxygen consumption analysis, lactate testing, using the recovery facility, time-trials, urine analysis and blood sampling.

We were also privileged to have visits by specialists in physiology, self massage, nutrition and time management. I had my bio mechanics assessed by a physio and was able to have one-on-one chats with Australia's top triathlon coaches.

It was a huge week for learning with moderate training and time for reflection on my goals and current training habits. I would really like to thank the guys for arranging such an inspirational and enlightening experience. I am now more aware than ever of the sacrifice and hard work that it takes to be a true professional triathlete.

The best part of the whole week was the cool dining facilities. Everything is marked with calories, nutrition and serving sizes and is very healthy. It is serve yourself. Wow the food was good and healthy. Back in Brisbane now for some more training in prep for Noosa and the HK Asian Cup.

Cheers

Ryan's Visit

Hi

Well...three weeks ago I brought Ryan Davison back from Adelaide after the City to Bay. He was up in QLD for two weeks to see what the life of a professional triathlete entails. It turned out to be two of the hardest weeks of training I had done since training with the group and am extremely impressed that Ryan could cope (with shining colours) with the whole program without complaining once.

It was not quite the intensity we had faced in recent months but the volume was huge. We had several 100km rides during the week coupled with weights, long runs and mentally challenging swim sets.

I think Ryan was impressed with the group and he definitely benefited from the tough program achieving a 1km swim PB in 50m pool. I was totally stuffed but I think having Ryan around helped to push me to a new level at swimming achieving 6pb's in the pool in one week!

Ryan now knows what he needs to do to make an impression at the Run-away bay camp later this year. Good luck mate!

Sarah

City to Bay

Hi Everyone

I had another good race on Sunday at the city to bay. I really enjoyed my time at home as well. I arrived on the Friday night at 9pm and left on the Sunday at 3pm so sorry if I missed anyone. I was smiling the whole time I was home and was so happy to catch-up.

Prior to leaving on Friday I did a run for charity called the Foxtel Lap. I was struggling after a 4 session day on Thursday that included a swim, gym session, 80km ride and 7km run. You jump on your company’s treadmill and run as far as you can in the allocated time. It was very successful for Deloitte. I won the woman’s, Andrew Stewart won the men’s and Deloitte ran the furthest of any of the teams. I maxed the treddy out at 16kmphr!

I attended Leon’s swim session and run on Saturday morning and then went to the hair dresser. Then straight up to Mike’s mum’s for lunch and a chat. Then we stopped by the expected parents Angie and Mike for another quite chat. We also went to see the Mummy 3 at the movies that night. I didn’t rate it as much as the previous two movies.

Sunday morning arrived way too quickly and I was up at 5.30am to head down to race start. After listening to my tunes and then going for a warm up (which included a bathroom stop at the train station that scored me a bag of Natural Confectionary Lollies!) I was at the start line ready to go.

I was not sure what to do about tactics etc so I followed Leon’s advice and went out 5 seconds below my race pace for the first 3km. I was able to hold 3.15s for 4km and then got into a rhythm in 3.20s. The field quickly strung out and at 4km it was me and the eventual winner running shoulder to shoulder. She was able to hold 3.15 pace for the whole race so she started to creep away. I passed the 10km mark in 33.28! a mega PB and went on to run 2nd for the 12km in 40.15 (3.05 minutes quicker than last year!).

Special thanks go to Ian Wynn and Leon for helping me after hyperventilating at the line and Shane Johnson for pacing me during the last few kilometres. Also thanks to everyone who has provided me with their support over the past few months. It really does make a difference.

I am off to the AIS in two weeks (leaving on the 4th of Oct so I may miss those doing the GC half if you don’t arrive early) for a camp and then my next race is Noosa and then HK Disneyland. Then I will be home for Christmas after a camp at South Golden Beach Yeah! I will do a Gatti and the Acquathlon when I am home. For those I don’t see at Noosa or prior to the GC half, I will see you at Christmas.

Cheers

Sarah

Bridge to Brisbane

Hi Everyone

Well i had a very successful race at the Bridge to Brisbane. 2nd in a time of 34.22 (29th overall)! I was really happy with the time given that we are in heavy training and we had a swim and 80km ride the day before. All I wish was that I had a little speed in the last Km to take out first. Hopefully this will change once we start track work.

I was actually winning the race (to my surprise) until the 9.2km mark. I just didn't have any speed in my legs when I tried to surge. The girl who won was a very solid runner having won the Gold Coast Half this year. I came home in front of Ashley Gentle and Felicity Abram.



I think I was effected at the end by the large Bridge at the start. My first Km was 3.45 which is slow. I did the first 5km in 16.40 which is 3.20 pace. I must have slowed to 3.30 pace in the last 5km. The plan was to go out pretty solid and see where my running is at because I have made some large improvements lately and wanted to know what I was capable of.



Anyway, looking forward to seeing you all this weekend.



See you soon.



Sarah

August update

Hi all

Well after a fantastic tour of Asia I returned home to Adelaide to catch up with family and friends. It was great to see you all. Sorry to those I missed! Below is a cool photo from a dinner I went to thank to Vanessa Courtot.



I returned to Queensland after a week of appointments and gatherings to start a big training block that will last until November. I have been put on a massive swim program. The swim Km’sincreased to around 40kms a week for a couple of weeks and buy-gee does it hurt your shoulders!

We have also started doing a 170km ride over three mountains. We are doing this ride regularly and have managed to drop the time taken down by over half and hour. Stephen Moss uses the scooter to push the weaker riders up the hills, so there is no slacking.

I had a meeting with Steve about the races that I will be doing over the coming months. I am looking to doing Noosa, The HK Disneyland ITU Continental Asian Cup, Perth, Hobart and Mooloolaha.

We are also doing a group camp in December and I have been chosen to go down to the AIS for a week in October to do some testing.

This month saw Mike arrive for good. Mike and I went to the river fire festival on the 31st of August. It is a huge fireworks show at the Brisbane River. At the end a fighter plane goes over with the afterburners on which looked pretty cool.

Next month sees me doing the Bridge to Brisbane and the City to Bay. I don’t know how I will feel for these races because of the sheer volume of training I have been doing.

My swimming has improved this month. I have seen big improvements from improving the flexibility of my thoracic spine and finally implementing bilateral breathing all the time (even in TTs and heart rate sets!).

See everyone after the city to bay in a couple of weeks.

Cheers

Sarah