i think that this year is going to be an interesting one. 2013 had either highs or lows and not much in between. i am going to make 2014 a good year and turning 50 something to enjoy rather than get all fucking depressed about it.
first up of course is my triathlon goals. i have huge plans but will be limited by money and time available away from work. i have ironman cairns in june. i am currently at week 13 in training and my fitness is picking up fairly quickly from where i left off after busselton. this makes me very happy however getting out of bed early can be a struggle. but this was the challenge when i decided to do cairns. i also signed up for a sprint race in early april. it is at the end of a recovery week so i am hoping to have some legs. this will be my last race in the 45-49 age group. the number of competitors in the 50-54 age group drops off quite a bit compared to 45-49 but it will not mean any podium finishes for me (podium by elimination) because i am back racing with three of the best in the world. i will not mention names but one of the girls won kona in 2012 and came second in 2013. the other two have gold medals from world championships over long course, olympic and sprint. so the only way i will get close is if they dont show up.
this year i decided not to do karri valley as it was too difficult to work into my training and i just didnt want to spend the money. i have to pay for cairns and then there is molly dog and of course i had to buy something BIG for my birthday -more about that later. anyway someone posted on FB that they had registered on the waitlist for Busselton 70.3 and a few weeks later got in. i had decided to not to do this race as it is only 5 weeks out from Cairns and the money factor. i dont know why but last week i decided to register and this week i got in !!!!!! fuck. i managed to get some accommodation and luckily it is not in a roach motel. now i just have to figure out how to work it into my training plan without disrupting things too much. my two favourite weeks in ironman training are the two biggest. this race is basically in the middle of this two week block. i am excited as it is a great course and the atmosphere is wonderful. and it was my first 70.3 ever.
i got an email a few weeks back from ironman inc. to inform me that i am a BRONZE all world athlete. this is brilliant marketing and costs them nothing. they asked me to up date my address as they want to send me a huge fucking bronze medal. i am actually not sure if this is correct but they now have lots of address details from idiot triathletes like me. basically they take your three best races for the year (in either 70.3 or 140.6) and give you points and then rank you with everyone else in the world. so the more you race the higher you can finish. again nice to target idiots like me who now want to be silver so therefore should enter more races. aside from busselton and cairns i will do mandurah in early november so i will have my three races and now i am in the old lady category i could get that silver.
i have really big fucking plans for 2015. it will start off with the Albany Half in early January. this is run by the local club and will be a nice get away and the course is meant to be tough and spectacular. it was cheap to enter as well. then i will be signing up for ironman australia in port macquarie. this is a scrappy course but the event has been around for close to 30 years and i want to do it. this is in early may. then in september i hope to travel back east and do the sunshine coast 70.3 in mooloolaba. then i am going to do ironman western australia for the third time in december. they have changed the bike course to two laps so that will be interesting. more of a mind fuck really. i also have another reason for wanting to go back. apparently my good result this year was due to the reasonable conditions and had nothing to do with hard work and training etc. so i guess i have to hope for a really stinking hot and windy day in 2015. some people just cannot let you enjoy the moment.
this is the reason why i have to be careful with my cashflow and could possibly have to live off two minute noodles for awhile. i dont get to share my birthday with anyone and while i know my sister never forgets me the rest of my selfish family do so i have to make up for that ! good enough reason i think. it is a trek madone series 6 project one. it is one of the most aero road bikes available. i picked starry night black with seafoam for the logo. i LOVE it. i wanted a really good road bike. my beloved trek speed concept is a great bike and i dont really need to upgrade that for another two years. now this i would like to take to france and climb a few hills. i wonder how i can fit that in and pay for it ! so now i have attained n+1.
i know that i have listed a huge amount of very expensive adventures and i am concerned about spending the dollars and finding the time. but when you are faced with turning 50 you realise that time is finite. i will not be able to keep doing this forever and at some point it will come to an end. i am not 25 and bullet proof. so i have to put aside certain things that i know i will always be able to do and instead focus on ironman and long course events while i can. your view of the world and the people around does change as you grow older. at the moment it has become important to really make sure i have those life experiences and not waste my energy and time on things that are not a positive influence in my life.
first up of course is my triathlon goals. i have huge plans but will be limited by money and time available away from work. i have ironman cairns in june. i am currently at week 13 in training and my fitness is picking up fairly quickly from where i left off after busselton. this makes me very happy however getting out of bed early can be a struggle. but this was the challenge when i decided to do cairns. i also signed up for a sprint race in early april. it is at the end of a recovery week so i am hoping to have some legs. this will be my last race in the 45-49 age group. the number of competitors in the 50-54 age group drops off quite a bit compared to 45-49 but it will not mean any podium finishes for me (podium by elimination) because i am back racing with three of the best in the world. i will not mention names but one of the girls won kona in 2012 and came second in 2013. the other two have gold medals from world championships over long course, olympic and sprint. so the only way i will get close is if they dont show up.
this year i decided not to do karri valley as it was too difficult to work into my training and i just didnt want to spend the money. i have to pay for cairns and then there is molly dog and of course i had to buy something BIG for my birthday -more about that later. anyway someone posted on FB that they had registered on the waitlist for Busselton 70.3 and a few weeks later got in. i had decided to not to do this race as it is only 5 weeks out from Cairns and the money factor. i dont know why but last week i decided to register and this week i got in !!!!!! fuck. i managed to get some accommodation and luckily it is not in a roach motel. now i just have to figure out how to work it into my training plan without disrupting things too much. my two favourite weeks in ironman training are the two biggest. this race is basically in the middle of this two week block. i am excited as it is a great course and the atmosphere is wonderful. and it was my first 70.3 ever.
i got an email a few weeks back from ironman inc. to inform me that i am a BRONZE all world athlete. this is brilliant marketing and costs them nothing. they asked me to up date my address as they want to send me a huge fucking bronze medal. i am actually not sure if this is correct but they now have lots of address details from idiot triathletes like me. basically they take your three best races for the year (in either 70.3 or 140.6) and give you points and then rank you with everyone else in the world. so the more you race the higher you can finish. again nice to target idiots like me who now want to be silver so therefore should enter more races. aside from busselton and cairns i will do mandurah in early november so i will have my three races and now i am in the old lady category i could get that silver.
i have really big fucking plans for 2015. it will start off with the Albany Half in early January. this is run by the local club and will be a nice get away and the course is meant to be tough and spectacular. it was cheap to enter as well. then i will be signing up for ironman australia in port macquarie. this is a scrappy course but the event has been around for close to 30 years and i want to do it. this is in early may. then in september i hope to travel back east and do the sunshine coast 70.3 in mooloolaba. then i am going to do ironman western australia for the third time in december. they have changed the bike course to two laps so that will be interesting. more of a mind fuck really. i also have another reason for wanting to go back. apparently my good result this year was due to the reasonable conditions and had nothing to do with hard work and training etc. so i guess i have to hope for a really stinking hot and windy day in 2015. some people just cannot let you enjoy the moment.
this is the reason why i have to be careful with my cashflow and could possibly have to live off two minute noodles for awhile. i dont get to share my birthday with anyone and while i know my sister never forgets me the rest of my selfish family do so i have to make up for that ! good enough reason i think. it is a trek madone series 6 project one. it is one of the most aero road bikes available. i picked starry night black with seafoam for the logo. i LOVE it. i wanted a really good road bike. my beloved trek speed concept is a great bike and i dont really need to upgrade that for another two years. now this i would like to take to france and climb a few hills. i wonder how i can fit that in and pay for it ! so now i have attained n+1.
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| the birthday present |
i know that i have listed a huge amount of very expensive adventures and i am concerned about spending the dollars and finding the time. but when you are faced with turning 50 you realise that time is finite. i will not be able to keep doing this forever and at some point it will come to an end. i am not 25 and bullet proof. so i have to put aside certain things that i know i will always be able to do and instead focus on ironman and long course events while i can. your view of the world and the people around does change as you grow older. at the moment it has become important to really make sure i have those life experiences and not waste my energy and time on things that are not a positive influence in my life.
molly dog and casey girl are going to play a huge part in what happens over the next year. Casey will be 12 in July and this is the average life expectancy age for a golden retriever. Casey has been great health wise and it is only in the last few weeks that she has started limping a bit. especially after the trips to the beach with plenty of running and swimming. what hasnt helped is jumping out of the car and so i have invested in a dog ramp. this will benefit molly as well. so casey is going to the vets today to get some drugs to ease her old bones. sadly molly is not doing as well. physically she hasnt changed and this makes it difficult to understand. but the disease has progressed and is more evident around her mouth and the oncology vet decided that it was time to start treatment. just so you all know chemo is not the same for dogs as it is for humans. dogs tolerate it very well and have very few side effects. i would never put my dog through anything that was painful. also it does not cure the disease but puts it into remission. it will always come back. with molly we found the problem early so the last 18 months feel like a gift. she will be 9 in february and if she can make it to 10 i will be extremely happy. i truly hope that i do not lose both my girls at the same time.
