Lord and lady of the Manor......

So what has team benben been up to ???

Week commencing 13th August has been our toughest 7 days of training to date. I knew I was in for trouble when 30 x 100m’s at your best pace greeted me first thing Monday morning in the pool. 180k’s on the bike and a 12km run set off the bike was waiting for me on Tuesday. Run squad Weds am which requires quick feet on our dead legs and a double swim nearly finished me off. Thurs was all about hanging on in there and telling the screaming legs to “shut up”! 4 hour bike ride with big ring efforts, 40 min tempo run then swim squad was nailed before Friday, and relax our day off.

We did the usual on our day off, morning out with Russell and Marg. A hike up Mutton Bird Island with the binoculars to see if we could catch any whale activity was on the agenda. In luck this time, a few blowing spouts were sighted. We are looking at doing a whale watching boat trip in a few weeks to really get up close and personal with them. Mid Sept I have been informed is when the droves of migrating whales will swim down the coast from the warmer waters where they had their calves up North back to their home.

Rest day over we were back in the saddle. Saturday started with an open water swim in the jetty, the water was as clear as I have seen it since we arrived. A few k’s or just over an hour later we were enjoying our brekkie, gour-met porridge of course in the warmth of the early morning sun. I am loving the winter sun, it’s been about 25 degrees over the past few days and I see the forecast is promising us highs of 27 in the not so distant future. Just going back to the porridge, it’s like a daily ritual for us, it’s what often keeps me going through the first session of the day! If you are thinking of oats and water stodge let me enlighten you, oats, half water half soya milk and a combination of any of the following, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seats, almonds, apple, banana, blueberries, strawberries, honey, yoghurt, I tried to tell you it was good!?!

Sat afternoon as we have done on occasions over the past few weeks joined the local cycle club race, and boy did I have some fun!! Essentially the group of men I was cycling, competing and racing with were blatantly ganging up on me, trying to attack me when I was off guard or as they assumed knackered in order to cycle on up the road without me on their tale. Little did they know I had my wing ‘women’ with me, Aimee who kept me fully informed when they were coming to get me! “Cat, Cat they are coming I would hear in my ear piece”! I was all over them like a rash, matching and responding to every move they made. Despite a Mark Cavendish style sprint over the last few hundred meters and the lunge for the line I think I just missed out on the win. No time to find out who actually won, I had had a great work out, lots of fun and a run set was waiting for Aimee and I. This time I was Aimee’s wing woman or pacer, keeping the tempo and heart rate up.

Ben rides with a faster group and took the role of the domestique for everyone. He spent most of the time on the front of the pack driving the train, pushing the pace, working it!

Sunday was an early and loonnngggg run, just shy of 30k’s was clocked up. We had a lunch date with Auntie and Uncle thus Sunday’s sessions, run and swim not forgetting calories and coffee all needed to be done by lunch time. The alarm or ticking time bomb as I refer to it as was set for 5am, we are out pounding the streets by 6am. Home is just a few mins to the closest beach and coastline thus we are very fortunate, time on the tarmac is minimal. What it does mean is the first 45 mins of our run from home is always a hilly one which also includes traversing some beaches and running up flights of steps in order to follow the stunning headland path that leads us in to town. Once in town we can pick up the 9km Coff’s Creek loop which meanders its way through the trees. And then guess what, yep back up and down the hills of the headland to get back home.

And so the week starts again, (20th Aug) back in the pool first thing Monday morning. Last week was the 4th week in each 4 week block, it’s the week with a little less volume but the intensity or pain remains.

I mentioned a few paragraphs above the tanning temperatures we are enjoying and have been promised. No Michael Fish blunders on this occasion, its 27 and guess who’s back….the water dragons that take up residence, sun bathing on the fountain in the garden. Summer must be on its way, hang on, we have yet to have spring!!

With the sun out we took the opportunity to have a look round the local Botanic Gardens, we have also been tipped off its where some koalas may reside. The gardens were a very relaxing and tranquille place with a glass houses, nature trails, boardwalk and rain forest area to wander around, enjoy and soak up the serenity of the space. Every so often we would stop and look up,“koala watch”, by the end of our wander we had also learnt which is the preferred tree of the koala. Even in the know, we were not in luck, no sightings.

This weekend (25 / 26th) Ben and I are Lord and Lady of the manor!! We will be your hosts at the Sapphire Motel, Russell and Marg are heading south to the Southern Highlands, Mittagong to see Nan, or Mum in Marg’s case. We have our “how to” files at the ready, room configuration, tariffs, processing payment guidelines etc etc. I think Ben is hoping 12 years of working in retail and dealing with the public will stand us / me in good stead, the customer is king, simples!! I think I am hoping having spent his years growing up in a motel it will be like riding a bike!?!

On that note, I must leave you there we have a room to do and beds to be made, I hope Russell does not check my “hospital corners” !!