Sparkle's back...

So I haven’t laid down a week plan here in a while. Each week, to date, has had a similar rhythm to it. At first it took me a while to see that there was some order to the chaos; working a non 9-5 job / training for an Iron'wo'man / being a normal social being. Now, however, I can quite simply map my week out. There is a nice balance where all areas of my life come together, not mentioning the super early starts, an arvo nap and early social departures tucked in here and there.

As I have noted in previous posts, I have found by planning your work and working your plan (the diary is your best friend), combined with keeping your eye on the 'big' goal that you're working towards, you are able to turn a daunting week of training and achievable task. 

I would be lying if I said I rarely speak of my training and journey towards Ironman. Somehow it turns up in every conversation whether I bring it up or not. The good old, 'so what have you been up to?' ' What's new's with you?' evidently leads to the ins and outs of firstly 'Why?!', my training routine, nutrition ect. To be honest I am really just taking it one step at a time, not dwelling on the huge mission of the day (March 23,2014 for those playing) and by no means claiming to be an expert. And trust me, I'm finding lots of Ironman 'experts' out there :) . I love hearing the advise, concerns and past experience of others, everybody has a story. I choose to listen to them, appreciate them for sharing it with me, and then keep faith in the path that I am taking and what my coach has in store for me. 

Gosh, if I was to take onboard all of the tips, judgement and concerning stories I would be stopped, dead in my tracks. Where is the fun in that?!

So the week that was: 

After two or so week of feeling heavy, tired and flat, at one stage there were nearly tears in the googles at swimming, it felt awesome to show up to each session, this last week, fresh and raring to go. Or as my coach  Clinton would say, I had my 'sparkle' back. And boy was I happy to have it back. When you aren't feeling 100% everything become an up hill battle. Good recovery, catching up with friends, improved nutrition and most importantly a positive, clear mindset when training, were the mix of elements that lead to this weeks sparkle. I know life isn't always bright and shiny, however you always have a choice to make it the best you can. Even if you have had a few draining weeks of work, training or life in general stay on the ride. Perseverance is the key, because before you know it your back sparkly and stronger than before!  

Red faced after the trail run, up, up, up Arthurs Seat!

Cooking is one of my favourite ways to chill out.
As I tell my mum, Messy =  Delicious!

And wasn't I right, this was a hit with the fam!

Quinoa, almond and ricotta 'meatballs' with zucchini pasta
Check out Belle Gibson's app,
@healing_belle, The Whole Pantry for this delicious recipe.

Sisters getting active. Well about to!

Couldn't resist a coconut water with
Terri after an awesome yin yoga session with
Aimee at Summer Healing Yoga 

Go on, surprise yourself.

I keep coming back to the whole notion of;  rarely does greatness manifest by doing what we feel. It's created by feeling what we feel, then taking action regardless.

If I acted by how I felt, not much would get done. I can confidently tell you that most mornings you would find me sleeping in, being too busy, tired, sore, flat to get off my butt. However, over this last year, I have trained myself to feel these things and get moving regardless. The most amazing thing I have found and have proven time and time again, is that, once I get going (whether it be training/starting a project/ writing this blog post) I become alive. The mind loves to set up these hurdles that want to keep us from starting anything great or small.

It's all about the magic in the action. I have learnt to believe in myself, trusting that taking action will send me leaps and bounds ahead of where/what I have ever thought possible.

Take Saturday just gone for instance. On my program from the coach I had a 5 hour ride. Let me just say that again... I had a 5 HOUR ride. That in a car my friend would take you to, I don't know... Bemm River! (Look it up, it's a gorgeous little costal town on a lake in East Gippsland :) ) This would be, by far, the longest effort on the bike to date. Something that I would never had thought possible 6 months ago!

So the alarm goes off at 5am. I want to fit a 5 hour ride in before one of my best friends, Elle's, birthday lunch at 12pm in Elwood. What a mission! And if anyone was around in Melbourne on Saturday, Gale was out in force! I set out just after 5:30am with 2 water bottles, 5 clif bars, Morg's gloves, 3 layers on top and my squeaky clean, freshly body geometry fitted bike. I can tell you that in the wind and the sideways sprinkle of rain...this is a moment of feeling what I feel and acting regardless.

I did it, 5 hours in the saddle. I rode from Aspendale to Rye return, 120km's and all done solo. I kept the ride easy yet at some points the head wind, cross wind, diagonal wind, rear wind, made it some what difficult. There was one point I was practically leaning hard to my left so I wasn't shoved out of the bike lane onto the rode. The bike handled beautifully and only with a report of a sore butt! the fit that Matt did at Total Rush was perfect.

Body fit at Total Rush - Entire body is measured and lined up.

Matt making such slight adjustments, making such a huge difference!

Video footage was captured of me riding from all difference angles.
So funny to see you're self riding up close! and how out of alignment my knees were at the beginning! 

I was so proud of myself that mentally, I stayed focus for the whole ride. I can't remember a time where I was completely frustrated, pissed off, or wanting to stop and get off as I have done on previous 'long' rides. Not letting myself get to worked up prior and keeping a goal of staying in the T2 (easy) zone, allowed me to keep perspective. What an achievement :) This gives me hope that I am going to stay sane come Ironman day, my goal for the 180km is 6-7hrs!

I'm aiming for greatness. I know everyone's not keen to become an Ironwoman,  however everybody has things in their lives that they want to strive for, where they want to see greatness. How can you feel what your feeling and act regardless? Try it out, you'll surprise yourself.

Maddy Xxx

Inundatedly christened!

It's safe to say the the new bike got inundatedly christened over the weekend. I woke to the sound of the pouring rain (yet again) and thought to myself, this is a fabulous day to take the new wheels for a spin. Haha yeah right. I did however think, 'I'm bloody glad Laura and Emily suggested I change the bald race tyres to the Roubaix Pro's', something with a bit of grip to keep my upright on the wet roads. The last thing I wanted to do Sunday morning was slid sideways off my new ride!

The crew met up at the Frankston pier car park, the commitment of this group of people I train with is remarkable. And yes it was still raining. It was my first chance to show off my new bike. It got a bit of attention I can tell you that much. A few of the guys were asking if it was a carbon frame, I was so proud I could answer and say, nope it's FACT frame; a Function, Advance, Composite (more than just carbon), Technology frame. This mouthful breaks down to; a combination of design, material selection and manufacturing that allows the Specialized team to consider the performance of the bike as a whole, rather than purely focusing on the weight of stiffness.

As we were gearing up for our 3 hour ride I had a thought, 'Oh gosh, I haven't event check if my clip-in shoes match the new pedals!' It was kind of too late now, thank god the guys at Total Rush new what they were doing! I saddled up; with my 2 drink bottles of gatorade 'isotonic lemon' is my favorite, 2 gels and 2 clif bars, clipped in (quickly making sure I could clip out) and mentally prepped my self for a 3 hour ride ( 92mins T2; an easy pace, turn around, 92mins T3; race pace)

The quick take off was the first notable change that I felt. Rather than having to push to get the bike moving, the ultra light frame worked with me, and straight up I knew I was in for an entirely different experience. Heading out, the T2 pace allowed the crew of 25+ to stick together as we wound our way from Frankston to Mornington. It's was when we up Balcome hill that the group began to split and my legs weren't fatiguing a quick as they did on the Trek monster. I kept to T2 the whole way to Rye eating at 45min intervals and ensuring I had drunk a whole bottle before turing around.

Working at race pace from 92mins, was going to be a challenge, new bike or not. We had a head wind and the rain was still falling thick and fast. I kept pace with Phill for quite some time. In passing a group of 3 guys, I think not only my flash wheels but me being a quick chick on a bike, put a rocket up their saddles. Not long after swiftly passing them, all of a sudden they had amped up their speed to be riding along side us. 'What are you training for?' they were asking. We lost them as we continued with our T3 effort. It was such a smooth ride, the bike didn't shake or vibrate, regardless of it not being an 'aero' road bike.

I was stoked that I still had fuel in the tank to power up the last few hills coming back into Frankston. With the ride over, the skies miraculously cleared as I transitioned into the run. Rookie error, I didn't bring dry sock so soggy feet for 14km's it was! I downed another gatorade and took another 2 gels, and set out towards Chelsea. It's a quick shuffle off the bike, legs are heavy and feet are tingly. Surprisingly I clocked 4:15min for my 1st kilometer and averaged 4:20min/per km for the 40mins of race pace on the run. I love the tee tree track along side the Nepean Hwy. It's soft under foot, and I love never really know where I am. To finish of the quick pace of the 40mins my mind was set on small milestones. Focusing on keeping pace for the next 5mins, thats achievable. And always reassessing the body. I was so ready when it hit 40:00 on my Garmin to take it easy for the next 20mins to bring it home.

All up we covered 85km on the bike and 13.5km on the run. Throw in a swim and we were just short of a half ironman! Not a bad effort for a Sunday morning!

drying off after it's first shower

killer tip! stuff your wet shoes with newspaper
and place in the sun/heater,
they'll be bone dry for the next day's use!

Catch up - Grape Run

This last week has just flown by and I need to fill you in!

pre race hustle and bustle 

So last weekend, Morgan and I ventured up to Healsville to run the 30km Yarra Valley grape run (we clocked in 31km). Coach Clinton wasn't too keen on this, as it really doesn't complement my training at the moment, so ' take it easy peasy' were my orders. These instructions were a blessing in disguise. Even though it was going to be the longest distance I have ever ran, by 10kms, I really didn't give it a thought until we got there.

team M & M before the run

I would be lying if I were to say I woke excited the morning of the run. I had worked until 10pm the night before, not getting to bed til 11:30pn with the alarm going off at 5am! I'm only human.

Once we got to Healsville Morgs and I went for a quick warm up jog, that was all I needed to get in the right frame of mind. There were roughly 400ppl out that morning running the 30kms. Amazing to see so many people out there challenging themselves :)

Morgs gave me the plan of taking an energy gel at the 8, 16 & 24 km mark and to run, roughly, 5mins kms. This set me up really well in terms of pacing myself and to also break up the run into manageable pieces.

The scenery was beautiful, green rolling hills, wineries and paddocks of roaming live stock. Hang on, did I mention the roll hills? Yes, beautiful to look at, yet they're not so attractive when you have you use all your woman power to get up them!

I have never run any long distance ‘fun runs’ with a partner. This was a whole new experience. It was great, because we were taking it easy Morgs and chatted most of the way and he kept reminding me of the ‘easy peasy’ I had been given. I am prone to getting a tad over excited and speeding up…a lot!

We got to the 11km mark and I felt like I could easily do another 11km. Then we reached the 19km, this mark was nestled amongst the rolling hills. I was feeling strong up the hills and still felt like I had another 10kms in me at this pace we had set.

afterward legs were feeling a tad heavy, yet the spirits were high

I was so happy to finish the 30kms along side Morgs in 2hrs and 33mins. And to top off what was a great morning, I ended up placing 3rd in my age group :)

the delish 'ginger ninja' from Veggie Bar

Now you always need to hydrate and nourish the body after a run of this distance. We couldn't go past Veggie Bar in Fitzroy. Sooo good, the nachos and the burrito hit the spot and I had the hydration covered with the delish ginger ninja cocktail ;) 

Feeling Specialized

The lovely Specialized ladies: Laura Wilson and Emily Smith

I'm still pinching myself! Yesterday I became the proud owner of an amazing bike. For the next 4 months I will be gracing the road on 001/200 Specialized Edition, S-Works Amira, SL4. Um frieneme with the bike...what, me say that?...haha never! We're totally best friends now ;)

This is an incredibly generous offer from Laura Wilson and the team from Specialized and I can't wait to get on the gorgeous machine.

Coming from a second hand Trek 1000, thanks Ildiko, I’m really going from one end of the spectrum to the extreme other. Don't get me wrong the Trek monster and I have had a great time over the last 12 months. I have gone from being a complete newbie on the road, to a competent rider, having only ever fallen over twice from a stationary position. (Classy I know!) I've built up my confidence on the road, along with a growing stamina for the longer hauls, with greater hauls ahead!

Handmade, this is the first female specific road bike created from the ground up. Could is be any sexier! 

Coming into the phase of longer rides, I'm actually jumping out of my skin to be on a bike of this calibre. The sheer weightlessness of it blew me away, not mentioning the floral print on the back frame. Irrelevant to some, crucial to me!

Adam doing a few final tweaks.

I’m looking forward to discovering the brilliance of this bike as the weeks go by. Adam, I’m going to call him the Specialized bike GURU, sat me down for a crash course of what creates and in particular, defines a bike like this apart of the rest. I commend him for successfully conveying extremely in-depth, technical and meticulous information, in other words total gibberish, to a complete bike nuff!  For all those tech heads out there, here are all the juice facts!

Now that I comprehend what I’m riding and the engineering behind it, I can already feel my appreciation for the ride component move to another level. I’m excited to share my learnings with you as I go :)

So let the fun begin! Tomorrow the coach has got the Trispecify Crew hitting the road for a 4-hour session. Perfect timing. Can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning… right?! We are setting out for a 3-hour ride, followed by an hour run. This will be the longest ride/run set I would have done to date.

I’m interested to see how the body transitions into the run from a long ride.  I’m sure having my new wheels (Rovals, for those playing) to take me along for the ride, will make all the difference!

Maddy xx

Big Picture Stuff

I am pumped to be back and blogging. It's an exciting time as I'll be racing Noosa in 6 weeks and followed closely by my first attempt at a half Ironman in Shepparton in 8! It's so great to have a goal to work towards. We've all heard that before I know. But it's powerful stuff. It gives you that drive and purpose you just can't create on your own, especially when the Melbourne weather decided to turn for the worst.

In the last 48 hours I have had the joyous company of a head wind on my ride around the bay from Port Melbourne to Black Rock and back. Endured the speedy yet graceful dash to the pool last night, freezing in my bathers and this morning when my alarm went off at 5:05am (snoozed till 5:15am) I was delight to hear the sound of the pouring rain on the tin roof. So much so I thought, gosh it's going to be a pleasant run this morning!





Hey head wind, thanks for the company on the ride.



Rain. Hail. We Run. Savouring the shelter.

I find being focused on the bigger picture of my goals rather than each single session, I'm not so much phased by the icky Melbourne weather. I'm making a point of this due to the reoccurring, I'm calling it an excuse of, 'oh I'll wait till the weather's better', 'it's was too cold', 'I just have no energy in the colder weather'. So many of us tell ourselves these things to make it 'ok' not to head out to the gym, pool, studio or whatever it is that you do, to only feel guilty later on. Trust me I've felt the guilts. But what if you could look past the right here right now (cold, tired, busy) and think of the bigger picture? What then would be possible?

I'm really enjoying my training at the moment. I'm at the end of the build phase (strength, hills and high interval training) and about to move on to speed and endurance where I'll be looking at longer run and ride sessions. My main improvement thus far has been my swim, seen both in my technique and speed. After having another catch up chat with the coach last night, I can see the change in myself in terms of keeping open and constant communication with him as well as being consistent in my training. I am no longer disappearing when this aren't going smoothly and more importantly I've still got my sparkle.

As I have mention in a previous post I need to focus in on the bike. Now that I am no longer frienimes with it, I need to become one with it for durations up to 4 -6 hours in the next few months. Oh wish me luck haha. I'll be thinking of the bigger picture. 

Word.

I've been out of touch lately with my blog, and now I'm back. 

Yes I have been busy, aren't we all. It's how you choose to handle it, how you choose to speak about it and how you act that make the difference. I'm rarely at home and that was before I started my IM training! Now time is even more precious, and trust me I get that I'm not the only one. Work, friends, boyfriends, family, socialising and training oh my. I found this last couple of weeks that everything felt like a burden. Do you ever feel that way? 

 Poor me. I'm not going to be getting home past 10pm for the entire week. I have to be up early for training, then I have to be apart of a lululemon photoshoot, then I do have time to have lunch with friends but then I have to write my inspiring blog and then to head to a V.I.P night at work. 

Sound shocking doesn't it....I know I know, it actually doesn't, because it isn't. I am doing things that I love, so where is the problem? It's definitely not in my day!

Instead of 'I am SO busy' and it's just the way it is, I now chose to say 'I live a big life' and it isn't anything until I create it.

When I first created this blog, I said that it was to share my good days and the bad. My trials and tribulations. Well over the last few weeks I haven't held my word. When things got tough, I got outta here! Instead of sharing what was happening, I got back to old habits of thinking; why should I write my blog, I don't have time, I have nothing to say, what's it all for anyway....? I lost sight of the bigger picture and my intention. There whole point of documenting this challenging journey is firstly: for myself to look back on and see how far I have come. Yet more importantly, to inspire you to find your potential beyond you perceived limits, even when things get tough.

So if you hadn't already pick up, things have been tough, balancing training and life isn't easy and when motivation evaporates you are simply left to your commitment to you word. Here I am, back in business and sticking to my word. Word.

mads xx