Hello Wall!

I met the wall these last 2 months. I knew it was inevitable in the lead up to Ironman, and I had an inclining that it would show it's face sometime around this time of the year.

It's safe to say that I have had on on the most full on last 2 months. Not trying to be a hero (but sort of) here is the break down of what these weeks have consisted of:

I have ventured up to Noosa and competed in the Olympic distance, road tripped to Shepparton and finished my first Half Ironman,

Morgs at the Kinglake start line

a week later covered 115km in the Kinglake ride then backing that up with a Sprint distance tri in Mordialloc,

The Trispecify Seals! At the Moordialloc sprint tri

did the cheeky colour run, then rounded it off by hitting a PB in the Susans half marathon finishing 4th overall in 1:28mins.

Alex, Myself and Mish dressed in pink, 'Doing it for the Ladies'

Running into the finish to place 4th overall

That however is just the list of event I have competed let alone the training that has surrounded that. The following weekend after the Susans half marathon I backed it up with a double 15 +/- run. For those who know the area the run loops up Olivers hill, down to Daveys bay, up canadian bay road pass Toorak collage, up Humphries road then down sweet water creek, than repaeted it in reverse, overall 27kms. This was done on the Saturday, only to be backed up on the Sunday with a 4hr ride followed by a 45min run!

I'm buggered just thinking about all I have covered. For the most part I have bounced back, the body not suffering too much. However, the mind has been a completely different story. Not getting adequate sleep, and not focusing on the right nutrition, at this level of training really started to take a toll. A mental toll. It was on this weekend of training that I began to question what the hell I was doing, what was it all for, why am I doing this, I can't do it. Not only did this effect my training, it effect all aspects of my life. Work became hard, I lost interest in maintaining my blog (obviously!) I just wasn't functioning well at all.

Fast forwarding. It's January, fresh year, fresh start ... only 11 weeks till Ironman! and 100% of my training left to do. This last week I have focused on my nutrition. My boyfriend Morgan is also training for Ironman this year. After his experience last year, which left him in hospital with gastritis, he now sees a nutritionist and has curbed his lifestyle and training around being Vegan.

I am learning so much from him and I'm now experimenting with what works best for me. Gosh there is so much information, theories, facts, faux fact, floating around out there when it come to nutrition, it's confusing. So my approach is to be mindful with my food, considering I am asking so much of my body it's only right that moving forward I think twice about what it is that my body really needs. To date, I really haven't respected this fact and the last month of hitting the wall is a result of that.

A beautiful still morning as we set off for 6hrs on the bike.

Training is seriously moving to another level. This last weekend saw me riding for 6hrs, the longest I have ever been in the saddle, and I felt great. Seriously, I got a good sleep, ate a big dinner before hand and had a hearty breakfast of quinoa, quinoa flakes, rice milk, berries, banana, honey heated up in a saucepan. It's delish and set me up perfectly for the day. Out on the ride I took bananas, dates, and clif bars and drank water and hydraltye. We rode 4 hours through the Danadenongs which was magical, the hill climbs were tough however the S- Works Amria handled them perfectly with a 27 ring on the back (I had no idea but I have a few extra gears that a few other people which made is easier for me to spin).

The real challenge was when we got back to Berwick and headed out to Tooradin in the strongest head wind I think I have fought. Perfect experience if last years Ironman is any indication of what we may face.

So yep I've hit the wall, jumped over it and have come back stronger. I'm so sure another wall is not too far away however I'm now mindful of that along with a few other things, so I just may be better prepared :)