Last week

Last Sunday I headed up to Threbdo for the annual Bilby's camp. Things did not all go exactly to plan but it was still a great week and I did plenty of training.
On Sunday morning I did my long run around Lake BG, finishing up at the ACT Sprint Champs to watch some friends racing and catch up with people. It was a good morning. Then I had lovely brunch up at mt Stromlo with Christine and Tim, and then drove straight up to Thredbo. When I arrived I unpacked my ludicrous amount of gear and went for a swim at the pool. I did 2.5k continuous and I felt good.

On Monday morning a large group of us headed off for the traditional ride to Jindabyne. Its almost all downhill on the way there and lots of fun. My maximum speed was 81kph - a new record for me. At Jindi we stopped at the Bakery Café in Nugget's Crossing shopping centre. I was very impressed with the wide assortment of treats. I had a little almond meal and raspberry tart - yum. The trip back was (obviously) mostly uphill and Ivo's hill is the hardest one. It was pretty warm by that time and I struggled a bit but made it eventually. Brownie came past me near to the top and said "Come on Irongirl", which was good encouragement. When we arrived back in the village we hopped in the river to cool down - lovely. The total ride was 70k.

I had some lunch before going out for my run, which turned out to be a bad idea. I had a great big bowl of pasta and then I felt really sick on the run. So I learned that that doesn't work for me - pretty obvious really. Apart from that, the run, up to Dead Horse Gap and back, was very nice. I did about 10k at approx 7min K pace. Pretty slow but I was happy that I kept running.

On Tuesday we decided against attempting the epic ride to Khancoban because of the fires at Tom Groggin. I was kind of relieved because I wasn't sure how I was going to handle all that climbing. We will do it another year. Instead we planned a route from Thredbo to Eucumbene Dam and back via Berridale, estimated by Stu to be about 140-150k. There were a couple of stronger guys on the front most of the way out to Eucumbene Dam and the pace was just a bit too fast for me. The turnaround point was 80k and I decided to go straight back to Thredbo as that would be 160k - my biggest ride ever. So most people pushed on to Berridale but me, Stacie, Brownie and Sal headed straight back. I actually felt heaps better on the return journey because I was able to ride at my own pace. We stopped for lunch at Jindi and Stace bought us lemonade icy poles, which went down really well. We also soaked our jerseys in water (on Sal's suggestion) which was lovely for the first part of the ride back up to Thredbo. The climb up Ivo's was tough but we got there and then continued on at a slow and steady pace back to the village. We hopped into the river again, full body immersion this time, blissful! The longer group arrived back not far behind us. On Tuesday night I had a 30 minute massage from Ian Ingram which was wonderful. He mostly worked on my legs and said he could tell my quads had been working (good!) and also my neck and shoulders which get really tight on long rides.

On Wednesday I had a nice sleep in and then went down to the AIS pool for a swim. I don’t usually like doing a long set by myself but today turned out to be one of the best swims I have ever had! I did a 1200 warm up, then 3x400 then 20x50 then 500BK to cool down. 4k all up and I felt really strong and comfy in the water. It was so great, I think it was the fact of not having any time pressures, that I could take as long as I wanted to do it.

After the swim some of us went into the village for a coffee and the waitress informed us that all visitors had to leave by 3pm due to the fires. Lots of people, especially those with kids, decided just to pack up and go home to Canberra, but about 10 of us decamped to the Jindabyne backpackers. It was not as nice as the YHA, hot and stuffy and seriously lacking cooking gear, but it was better than going home!

On Thursday morning a bunch of us headed off for a long run. We drove back out to Eucumbene Dam and ran along the Happy Jacks firetrail. This was good because it was an out and back, so everyone could run as long or little as they wanted. It was a gentle uphill for the first 13.5k to Adaminaby Trig. It was a beautiful run through the trees with some great views back over the dam and open plains. I ran till the Trig with Jen and Julie, with the boys ahead going just a bit faster and waiting for us along the way. I turned around at the Trig and ran back on my own, downhill all the way. I had my Camelback which I found to be really comfy and I kept drinking, but I neglected to eat for over an hour during the run and started to feel really flat. After scoffing a Gu I felt heaps better. In the last few ks my knees and ankles were feeling quite sore and I was glad to stop running.

The others continued, aiming to do about 40k. At the designated turn-around Stu's Garmin said 21.1k exactly! So they ended up doing a fall marathon. Afterwards I was slightly downcast that I was did not do the full run. But I know it would have been crazy and stupid for me to try to run that distance when my longest run in the past few months had been 2 hours and I would not have been able to keep up with the pace of the group.

By Thursday afternoon everyone had decided that they would head home on Friday. The hostel was really hot and stuffy, making it difficult to sleep and the forecast was for very warm weather over the weekend. So after that I attempted to do a wetsuit swim in the lake, which was one thing I had really wanted to do this week. I was by myself so I was not brave enough to go across the Lake, and just skirted around the edge of a bay instead. It wasn't the greatest session ever, but hey at least I gave it a try. That night we had a big BBQ at the Gaden Trout Hatchery, a really lovely spot by the Thredbo River. Julie made yummy lentil burgers and I made a nice potato salad featuring Nando's piri piri mayonnaise. I'll have to remember that one. To top off the week later that night back at the Backpackers Jason performed an unforgettable song called Iron Chicken, dedicated to Simon.

On Friday I drove back to Sydney, stopping off in Canberra on the way home to meet Mum for lunch and have a swim at Dickson pool. It was a good swim but I STUPIDLY got very sunburnt on my back while swimming. STUPID! I never usually swim in the middle of the day so I just didn’t think. STUPID.

On Saturday I decided to have a day off so I could spend some quality time with Tom. We took advantage of it and drove up to the Blue Mountains for the day as I have not been there since I was little. We had a very yummy early lunch at a café, excellent toasted sandwiches on organic sourdough bread. We walked from Echo Point down the Giant Staircase, along the valley, then took the cable car back up to the top to "Scenic World" (ooooh) and then walked back to Echo Point. It was very touristic but fun and a good introduction to the area. I would love to go back and do some proper walking soon (after April!).

FINALLY, on Sunday I did a good brick session. I rode down to Waterfall by myself and then headed into the RNP and did a few loops, finishing up at Lady Carrington Drive with 90k. Tom drove down and met me there and we did a 10k run along LCD, which is great for running. Tom's Polar footpod thingy said we only did 10k in 60 minutes but we definitely going faster than that. We went steady on the way out, probably just under 6 min pace, and then picked it up quite a bit on the way back. It felt fast to me! Anyway, I felt really good and strong at the finish. In the afternoon and evening I was MEGA tired. But I had made it to the end of my first 3 week build for Ironman - woohoo!!