When i moved to Oz i decided to give triathlon a go, i had always been keen on running and cycling, and the whole challenge of adding swimming and putting all three disciplines together was somehow exciting!
Australia is so geared to sport and it's really not hard to get into something new, there are clubs everywhere and most people can tell you how to get involved. Before i decided to join a club though i really had to test out my swimming. I've always loved the water but i've never been a strong swimmer. So i signed up to do a stroke correction course at Queensland Uni and went down every week to work on my freestyle stroke and swimming fitness. I was amazed that i was fit enough to run a half marathon but i struggled to swim 50 meters. It's a completely different type of fitness, i think maybe because you have to control
your breathing so much you really have to be fit enough. Initially i was pretty concerned that maybe my dream of triathlon wouldn't materialise, you'd be a pretty useless triathlete if you couldn't swim. I soon realised that going to the pool once a week wasn't really going to get me anywhere so i started swimming in my lunch hours and trying to go at least 3 times a week. Within a short while i really noticed how much better i was getting. My confidence grew and i decided to find a club i could join.
In Training Tri Squad was based near me in Milton so i started going along. Unfortunately shortly after i joined i started getting really bad knee problems, which meant i couldn't really train with the squad, i also decided that their swimming sessions were still a little advanced for me!! So there i was a going to one bike session a week - not great but i was enjoying meeting new people.
I entered my first triathlon at Robina (just a sprint distance one), all pretty nerve wracking but i had a few people there to support me (thanks Heidi, Annie, Karen, Helen and Colin). I think my biggest fear was that of the unknown. You don't know what to expect - the swim, the transitions, how you're going to feel after getting off the bike, the run! Anyway i did it, i don't think i'd say it was fun but i'm so glad i got through it and my time really wasn't bad. I struggled in the swim but that was to be expected, it was very odd not being able to see anything, the water was brown and opaque. The bike was good and the run tough, i felt really sick but I knew i just had to get to the end. Not long after completing this one i decided to join up for the
Beginners couse with In Training, i didn't know how beginner it would be, but decided it would be a great way to meet people. It was, i had a fantastic 3 months training with a whole bunch of new people, some had never done anything like this before and others were like me, completed maybe one triathlon but needed some direction. We were training 5 or 6 times a week sometimes twice a day. It was pretty full on but a lot of fun. It's not long before you build up good relationships with people and enjoy having the routine of training. A normal week would look like this - a
distance run session on Monday mornings (5:30 am), Tuesday we'd have a swim session in the evening, Wednesday a bike distance session in the morning, Thursday we'd have speed run session in the morning followed by a swim session in the evening, Friday would then be a bike technical session in the morning. Saturday was often a transition session - normally bike to run. Then Sunday a long distance ride early if people wanted to join it. You have to be really careful that it doesn't take over your life.
You're getting up at 5 am a few days a week, which means you really have to watch what time you go to bed and whether or not you can drink alcohol. In my opinion there has to be some slack in there for days off to catch up with friends etc - getting that balance right. The course completed with us all entering the Bribie sprint distance tri. It made such a difference entering the event with a whole bunch of people. The support you get on the day from the coaches and from other team mates was amazing. You recognised people along
the way and could help each other out with encouragement. It was nice having people there for me as well - Heidi managed to get up at 4 am and drive me down there, which was massively appreciated, as was the dinner that Steve cooked the night before. Helen and Karen came down again to watch, which was so nice of them. I did a whole lot better, i was fine in the swim, and kicked asse on the bike. In my age group i ended up coming 5th - i was pretty bloody pleased - and although there were only twenty or so in my group i thought it was definitely an improvment on last time. We all had a good time looking at other people that were taking part in the whole event, it was a national championship so there were so pretty good competitors there, especially a lot of very nice brown, fit bodies! I made some great friends on the squad and the prospect of moving on to Cambodia and missing out on the training and socialising was hard but i will stay in touch and if i go back i will hopefully be able to pick up where i left off. The intensity of training in Cambodia is slightly different - it kind of fits with the pace of life in this part of the world!
I seemed to be trying to fit in too much and i was exhausted, but i figured that i wouldn't see a lot of my friends for a long time, and what would it matter if i was a bit tired for a few days! Anneke moved to Canberra from Brisbane almost a year ago. We had a few months in Brisbane together before she moved. She was a real inspiration. She a dedicated triathlete, she's very focussed and is very good at getting people motivated. She really helped me believe that i could get into triathlon. We trained together to do the Gold Coast Half Marathon and we'd often go on rides or runs together. She has a fresh look on life, she's a go getter and a great friend. We clicked from the beginning, we think it's probably as we have the same birthday, same way of approaching things. Anyway i saw Anneke for a few hours in Sydney before moving. It was lovely to catch up - who knows when we'll see each other again - regardless of when it is it will great fun. 
I seemed to be trying to fit in too much and i was exhausted, but i figured that i wouldn't see a lot of my friends for a long time, and what would it matter if i was a bit tired for a few days! Anneke moved to Canberra from Brisbane almost a year ago. We had a few months in Brisbane together before she moved. She was a real inspiration. She a dedicated triathlete, she's very focussed and is very good at getting people motivated. She really helped me believe that i could get into triathlon. We trained together to do the Gold Coast Half Marathon and we'd often go on rides or runs together. She has a fresh look on life, she's a go getter and a great friend. We clicked from the beginning, we think it's probably as we have the same birthday, same way of approaching things. Anyway i saw Anneke for a few hours in Sydney before moving. It was lovely to catch up - who knows when we'll see each other again - regardless of when it is it will great fun. 
