Our Cards are Marked......

As mentioned in a previous update, we have joined the local tri club, Sunday 18th was the last club race of the season. It’s a very active club holding sprint races in the beautiful harbour area every fortnight. For those not up with the tri jargon a sprint race is a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. As we are training for an Iron man which will take about 10 hours longer the race and races will be treated as hard training sessions on tired legs, more of the mental than physical workout!


As the new kids on the block we were very much under the radar, but now after the race me thinks our cards are marked!! Ben came in 3rd male, but more incredible on his debut over the course he went under the hour in 59 mins only about 4 guys in club history have gone under the hour. I will now provide the bait for the girls as I managed to be the first lady over the line and show those Aussie girls this Brit means business!!! Game face aside it’s a very friendly set up, everyone is super nice and encouraging. And just to prove it was not all about the winning, I did not get recognized for the win another girl did but no “steward’s enquiry” was requested. Santa even made an appearance!!

I made reference about to an Iron Man, again those not down with the lingo we are training for a 3.8k swim, 180k bike ride and then a marathon which is 42km, and yes all in one day with no stopping not even for food, everything and I mean everything is done on the go! As we are going long the volume of our training has been stepped up a notch. Coach Webeck has us training over 20 hours per week with some of the following if you’re tempted and have a few hours to spare!! Maybe the sessions could be banked for post xmas if you have indulged in indulgence:
Swimming 6 out of the 7 days: Key session 30 x 100m repeats with 10 secs rest in between each 100m at the fastest pace you can hold for the duration, that means getting breathless.


In the saddle 5 days: Long bike ride clocking up 100k of ups and downs with the longest climb being 15km. That ride was done in the pouring rain and I never thought I would have to say this, but I was freezing on the way down!
Running is a complete mélange: 90 mins steady, 1k repeats faster than your race pace and running 2km not on the flat as fast as your little legs can go and that was straight off the bike after a ride. I think I was treated to just 1 day off my pegs!

Asides from puffing and panting we enjoyed a rest day, wahooooo, pic-nicing in a Dorrigo, a stunning spot in one of many National Parks. The occasion: Ben’s dad’s birthday, so he was the one puffing and panting trying to blow his sparklers out from his birthday cake! Credit to Ben’s mum she knows how to put on a picnic, homemade sushi, sandwiches are soooooooo last season!!!







I also met the boys! We caught up with Ben’s old school mates for a picnic (no sushi) on Sunday which was fun, they were all very well behaved and did not dish any dirt on ben.


This week…..Another big week of training, Ben’s sister is arriving home for xmas from Alice Springs and a few gifts still need to be purchased! Till the next update, take care with love Team BenBen x