Flying moths and Week 19 done

Is it a bad thing that moths flew out of my swimming bag this week?  After considerable time off, the festive season blurring passed and being away last week in the southern states of Oz.  (A beautiful place where the humidity left the air and you could breathe again.)  I came back rested and ready to get cracking into 19 weeks left until the race.

trying to get off butt :)

After the initial get your butt out of bed and go to swimming session; first cab off the rank.  Fingers at the ready, I unzipped my swimming bag to check all was well.  It was well, alright, and I had additional friends to help me train.  A family of moths.  Let's just call them the Addams family.  I'm happy to report they have been since relocated and swim bag is free of moths.  Woot woo. :)

Saturday is our brick session day.  Now, if you are anything like me when I first started, I wondered what the hell was a brick session.  Did people throw bricks at one another, as strength training?  Did we each get a brick and carry under water like the chick in Blue Crush?  My mind did wonder as you can see.  In short, it means putting it all together (swim/bike/run or swim/bike bike/run etc) and practising those transitions and getting the jelly legs from bike to run (or in my case grandma shuffle) in motion.  Practice makes perfect, so I've been told. 

 

Never smile at crocodile...

My bike and I still haven't done road time yet so, instead of hitting road, did an extra swim session in the nets.  (It's Far North QLD, this time of year nets are in ocean to keep stingers away and I guess the crocs.)  And we would have got a lot of extra swimming in, until, coach thought she saw something surface and go back down in the net.  Hmmmm, let's just say after that we waiting until additional swimmers came down and did a couple of laps; they were all good so we went in after that.  That's how we roll in north! 

Despite the additional friends gathering, by Sunday I think I felt every muscle in my body.  Hello training.  It can only get better right.  Ha ha ha ha....

Train hard (or try your best, which is me)

Keep smiling

Shell xo :)

Opps I did it again.

So, the 70.3 Cairns Ironman and I has some unfinished business.  To say; to actually get to the start line this year will be a feat in itself.  But again my finger quivered over the final registration page on the Ironman rego page and hit enter for 2015, did I mention, AGAIN?

Yep, I know you'd think that mid-life crisis of doing the Point to Pinnacle (P2P) would have got all this out of the system.  But, alas, it has not.  Mind you it may have, for the P2P, I look at a wee hill now and I'm still scarred......

Now the training begins, got the all clear from physio to "go hard" with training.  It has all begun again.  I'm really hoping that I get past 14th February 2015 this year, and anything after that should be a bonus.

Woot woo :)

Here is to fun 20 weeks of training.   Oh man, did I just say fun....nuts, nuts is what I meant.

Safe training

Shell xo :)

No Happy Ankle Here :(

Head spinning....

Ever had a couple of weeks where the head spins, and you feel like you are stuck in a revolving door.  My revolving door has consisted of Dr, Physio, Xray, repeat, and yep lets repeat that again, and ok CT scan time now.  No, specialist now and an MRI.  Man can I get off this revolving door now.

That's a long story short.  Yesterday, was the final head spinning moment where I got told by the Orthopedic surgeon; "you don't have a happy ankle".  Really; wondering what gave that away the swelling that is still there after 6 1/2 weeks, the fact you nearly sent me sky high when you hit the mark pressing into my ankle or maybe that I'm still stuck in a fabbo boot, or well, enough of the sarcasm now, yep.

Anyways the 70.3 Ironman goal is over for this year. :( End result and final conclusion; fractured my fibula near ankle (that is nearly repaired woot woo).  But and herein lies the kicker, MRI revealed; I have badly bruised bones around said ankle, and extensive soft tissue damage.  Again with the words you did "a good job and my you have a high pain threshold," remarked as putting in the long pointy thing containing local anesthetic and cortisone directly into X marks the spot on the ankle.  Yeah, baby. 

Another 2 months rehab getting from boot to ankle brace, then see what happens.  No improvement back to surgeon.  Bike and running not for probably 6 months.  Bruised bones and soft tissue damage take a very, very long time to heal, apparently. Alright.

So this is well and truly my mental fitness months of training in preparation for me to do 70.3 Ironman one day because it's going to happen.  I hope the first one will be Cairns but as this has taught me who knows what is around the corner.  And really it's about having a go.  So it is just meant to be later that I have my go.  Looks like the mental fitness is coming first.  Plus guns from swimming.

Head slowly coming to stop...

Bonus:  No surgery....I can still swim with pool buoy, I can still travel (very happy days), have camera in hand makes a happy camper, and I think I'm about to get creative with one leg exercise so stick around that could be well worth a laugh. 

Train safe, avoid tennis balls and 

have awesome day.

Yours, my head is going stop spinning

Shell xox :)

70.3 Cairns Course Change

(18th March)

Last year the swim leg was in Trinity Inlet.  Off the wharf of the marina in the heart of the city, where boats head out to the reef, sea planes lay anchor oh and the occasionally a snappy hand bag is seen.  But hey, they are further up the inlet, apparently. 

The whispers that were filtering through the tri world, ironman land, and local cairns channels where confirmed.  The course has changed.  Dant Dan Dahhhhhhh.

Change; some people embrace it, some people it scares the shite out of.  Depending on what it is.  The later is generally me.  However; at the moment, I’ll be happy just too bloody compete.

Oh the drag of swimming in waters off Palm Cove.  Yeah, sure there are still snappy hand bags, it’s the tropics.  But the probability of one snapping at your heals, is lower.  Gotta love odds.  It is going to be a bit rougher and more head winds on the bike.  Everyone will be in the same boat, so maybe it is a solider on moment.

At this stage like I said, I’ll be happy to just compete and I like the new course changes.  But I’m no expert so will see what happens there.

Embrace the change

Shell xoxo :)

Grounded by kryptonite....

So, can't say it hasn't been an adventure this past 10 days; visiting physio, x-ray, doctor.   I'm not going to bore you with the details of all that totally thrilling maze; the end result and final diagnosis....drum roll; 

•    Small fracture in fibula near ankle
•  Avulsion to ligament from said fibula to ankle bone.  (In English, means I stretched my ligament that much it pulled a flake of bone off - yippee) 
•   Grade 2 damage to both middle and back tendon.  Which isn't so bad in big scheme of things.  :)

Yep, think that is about it.

Everybody keeps telling me I did a good job.  So I'm going to take pride, ownership and say thanks.  When I do things, I like to do them well.  I have this annoying trait everything has to be perfect when done well.  Although, this time I didn't quite have to take it to this level.  It kinda puts a different angle on training.   

Training, yes, well where does it leave me?  Good question. For the next two weeks (at least) I have a very fashionable boot on.  I could now be known as "Puss in Boot"  As everything is happening on the high end of the ankle, my said boot extends all the way to the knee.  Just need my sixties dress now with sparkles and will be rockin'.

My new fashion accessory...pretty cool hey :)  With dark and stormy clouds or days ahead maybe?

Anyway, as to where this all leaves me for training and my 70.3 Ironman Cairns.  Not sure.  I'm just going to take to day by day, see what happens.  I've had the why me, water works and the absolute shites about it all in the last ten days.  In-between the laughter of what an idiot super girl was at not sticking the landing.  So time will tell.  Remain positive, take pain killers, listen to your body (that one courtesy of Coach M).

At the end of the day I can't change what has happened, and things could be worse.  Am I a tad disappointed, at this stage of the game.  That would be, yep.  But need to focus forward not backwards and get on with making it better, is the first step.  

I'm a firm believer of what will be, will be. ( Oh dear so many cliches yet here we go again..) So if the universe really wants me to nut this year's 70.3 Ironman Cairns, out it will happen.  I wish I could fast forward to see if that is going to happen but have to wait.....  Kinda thinking I'll be in for one hell of a test of mind, body, and spirit.  Good thing I have some amazing people around me.

Yours Puss in Boot

Shell xoxo :)

PS: the one bonus is that swimming is first thing I can do, how awesome is that considering live in the tropics and its summer.  Woot woo. :)  Safe training everyone xoxo :)