3/28/2014-3/30/2014

We left port Douglas at 3:20am and headed to the airport in Cairns. Stopping for gas we got there just in time to catch our flight to Sydney. We got to Sydney a bit before we were able to check into our apartment so we dropped off our baggage and went out to breakfast. Sydney is currently doing a wildlife and art exhibit like Melbourne did last year. This one has 120 Rhino statues in the greater Sydney area. They come complete with an app. I started collecting them. We had a nice wonder around the city, settled into our hotel and then did the Sydney bridge climb at 6pm. It was really cool to climb at night. I wasn't going to climb the bridge but my friends were nervous and forced me to do it with them. It was a nice experience but really I think I'm done. After the bridge climb my friends headed back to the apartment while I went out in search of food. I went to the Glenmore which overlooks the opera house. It was amazing.

Saturday we took the Ferry to Manly beach and had a relaxing day of looking at the water and sleeping on the sand. Bruce had wanted to go to a footy game while he was here so we had planned to go to the Sydney-Collingwood game tonight at Sydney's olympic stadium. Bruce changed his mind and stayed in Manly but I went to the game and it was brilliant. I stopped for Korean on the way which was amazing. Then, I sat right between the two sides and made some new friends. It was great fun.

Sunday we had to be out of the apartment by noon so I went out for coffee and then wandered the area a bit.  I took my friends to the botanical gardens and then lost them while I was looking for Rhinos. By the time we left Sydney I had found 15.  I met back up with them at 5:30 to get chocolate and Messina gelato. Messina is some of the most amazing gelato I've seen. Mmmmm. Then we collected our baggage and headed to the airport. In a surprise turn of events we got on an earlier flight so that we were back to my place by 10pm. I actually got some work done and cleaned a bit. I have so much to catch up on but I'm not motivated to do any of it.

3/27/2014

Last day in Queensland. I wanted to see the Daintree rainforest so I left the house just before 7 and headed up to mossman gorge. I walked the circuit it was boardwalked for about half of it and very pretty. After I finished I went back to pick up Bruce and Rebecca. They had no interest in the rainforest so they took me to the Daintree fairy and went to the cable car in Cairns instead. I walked 11km in to the national park and then did a 2.7km trail. It was lovely. I saw bush turkeys and mangroves. I love mangroves! I made it another few kilometers in to the ice cream factory. I ate chocolate soma AND mango coconut because I was really hungry. By then I was at the half way point so I headed back. I got there a bit earlier than my ride so I took a nap. This evening we went to dinner at flames of the forest. It is dinner and a show by aboriginal performers. They picked us up at 7pm and it lasted till 11. 

3/25/2014-3/26/2014

Today we started our after ironman adventures by flying up to Queensland. We are staying in Port Douglas which is an hour drive along the coastal highway north of Cairns. It is beautiful. After a day of travel we took it easy. We walked along 4 mile beach and went to dinner at Salsa where I had a Kangaroo steak. 

Day 2 in Port Douglas we went diving. Well I went diving. Becki was feeling sick and didn't dive and Bruce started arguing with the guy about how he had childhood asthma and thought that diving was fine so the dive instructor didn't want him to dive. They got to snorkel instead which was still pretty cool. I was thrilled to dive. I saw sea turtles, sharks, and the rest of the cast of finding Nemo. I did two boat dives and 1 drift dive. They were all pretty great. Plus the food on the boat was great. This evening we were just lazy and ordered pizza and salad in. 

3/21/2014-3/24/2014

I have been super busy  getting ready and then running the Melbourne Ironman and then of course recovering. Friday(3/21) I took Becki to Healesville Sanctuary to see some wild life. It was great and I got to see my first platypus in Australia. We went out to dinner on Lygon street and I spent the rest of the day getting ready for the race.

Saturday was bike drop which always takes some time. I think my friends were annoyed by needing to take the train but I think it makes things so much easier. I don't have to worry about my bike being on the outside of a car plus I can get some work done while I'm on the train. I swam at the start line, biked along the run and ran back home. I almost skipped the run but it made my stomach feel so much better. I was happy that I did it. For dinner we grilled all the food we could find.

Sunday was race day. We had a bit of a rough start with taxi problems but they all worked out. We got to the start at 6am and I had more trouble when I realised that I had forgotten my gels. It was a small problem but I worked it out. Here is the race play by play: 

My swim was strong. I felt good. My biggest issue was that I kept losing my line of sight but my training kept me swimming strong all 3.8km. 

I got out of the water and saw the clock read 1:45. I got nervous, raced through transition and got on my bike where I pushed hard and passed people. I started out doing the first stretch of the course at 36kph pace. On the way back I was in the wind and slowed to 30kph. On my way out again I was back up to 34kph and did spectacularly through the tunnel and up the hill. On the way back the wind picked up and I struggled to hold 20kph pace. I was pushing hard and would pick up speed every time I caught a break from the wind. Overall I had an average of 28kph or an hour faster than my bike last year.

I got off the bike and started running. I was having a nice run. I felt really good, like I could keep going forever. Then at 20km I needed a toilet stop and when I stopped my legs cramped up. I struggled for the next 15km as my legs didn't want to move. At one point I came across my pacing buddy who ran with me and he told me I was spot on our 4:20 pace which lifted my spirits. I kept it strong and ran through the pain and my legs felt better for the last 7km. I began to push again and had a really good finish. 

I finished the race in 12:16 which is 20 minutes faster than I was last year. This year the swim was twice the distance, I was an hour faster on the bike and I didn't lose any time on the run. All around I was pretty happy.
My race pictures all turned out really funny. I like all of them. Some I look like I'm 3 feet and about to collapse and in others I look like I'm just out for a day at the beach.

See the rest here

For next time I need to have a better nutrition plan and a better bathroom plan to keep me going. I don't know about Ironman Melbourne next year. Maybe I'll do another one instead. 

Monday was recovery day. I felt quite terrible until we went to pick up our  bikes.  I rode the 20km home and I've felt great since then. Aside from my stomach still being confused. 

3/20/2014

The ironman excitement started today! I am Athlete number 284 and you can track me here on Sunday.

I went to class today we talked about elbow problems and decided that I definitely have one. I have lateral laxity, possible ligament damage and very tight scar tissue around my lateral epicondyle. My classmates and instructor agree with my assessment that I should get through the Ironman and then get it looked at.  There is no gross problem and it shouldn't impact my performance for the weekend but I don't want to let it go forever. 

After class I went down to pick up my bike from Hampton. It is very shinny and fast. It feels amazing. I rode my bike up to the expo and checked in and bought some gels. I bought 1 cool mint and 3 coffee. I don't like cool mint but I figured that I might need a change of flavour mid race. After buying the gels I opened my bag to find that I got 2 free cool mint gels. Fail!

Becki and I went out for lunch and drinks while Bruce got a massage. Then I sent them home by tram and beat them by 20minutes biking. 

We had plans to grill things for dinner but were foiled when we realised that Kat still has the hose that connects the gas to the grill. We made do, fairly well I must say, using the oven instead. 

Then I started organising my stuff for the race. I am so excited that this year's bags are nicer than last year's bags so that I can use them after the race. 

People have been asking me if I'm nervous. I am not. I am going to spend all day Sunday doing 3 sports that I love and I'm gonna look mighty good doing it. What else do I need?

3/19/2013

I almost skipped tonight but didn't. I had a pharmacology exam at 9am. It was pretty easy. I think I did well. Then I took my bike to get serviced. Went to prac class where we learned cervical rotations. Then I took my friends to the night market. It's actually the first time I've ever been. It's pretty sweet. There are the usual things plus extra food stands, live music and drinks. I did silent disco which I thought was awesome and my friends laughed at. We were home early and I meant to do work, with no luck :( procrastination hit really hard. Doing absolutely nothing.

3/18/2013

My friends are here from the US!!! How exciting. I'm super pumped to be hosting. It was a busy day of running around doing my things and getting them stuff. I got a nice run in with Bruce and we all went out for dinner. It was great. I have acquainted them with the city, tram system, and clock in Melbourne Central. More tomorrow.

3/17/2014

Happy St. Patrick's day and also Purim. I tried to get up early again this morning with no luck. I did make it in time or a lecture on the elbow and hand. We had a guest lecturer that was super funny. 

After class I did errands, busily getting ready for my friends to come from the US tomorrow. Yay! 

For dinner I had over 2L of Guiness. No no I wasn't drinking too much. I made Guinness braised lamb shanks with Guinness polenta and shared it with Kat and Billy. I also made caramel filled, brown butter and toffee cookies. They are great. 

3/16/2014

I was supposed to wake up at 6am for a 15km run. Didn't happen.. Surprise surprise. It did make my 8am start feel like a sleep in though. Today I had day 2 of my APPI course. I am now qualified for level 1 of Pilates as a Physiotherapist.  I don't know how I feel about that. Maybe it's because I'm not particularly good at Pilates or any of the concepts involved or maybe it's because it has changed so much form it's origins. However it has added to my repertoire of exercises, shown me new ways to teach, and has given me another line to add to my resume. So the class was beneficial.
I got the run that I missed this morning in after the class. Last long run before the Ironman….getting close now! (March 23rd! get excited!)

3/15/2014

I know, I know. I'm sorry. Last weekend was busy and I have spent the week trying to catch up. Plus I was bike-less until Friday evening so transport has been much more time consuming and annoying. I have walked about half the time and trammed the rest. Things that you have missed. We celebrated Billy's birthday last Saturday. Monday was a public holiday for everyone except for me so i did a gelato crawl with Damien. Studying, training, and cooking. The Veronica Mars movie last night. Oh also I spilled pasta water on my stomach Wednesday. It really hurts. I'm hoping that my stomach fat protected all of my organs.
So today I did my last long bike ride before the ironman last week. The rest of the day was spent cleaning and studying. I'm getting ready for my friends to arrive from the States on Tuesday. I'm super excited to have guests. The guest room is all set up and I'm getting the last minute things that they need. I still need to finish a bit of homework before they show up and buy food, otherwise everything should be set.

3/7/2014

This morning was sports prac. I forgot that I didn't have a bike to ride so I ended up rushing to make the tram on time! Stupid public transport. Prac is quite hard but also very useful. We practiced again after class. We are learning so much. It is quite useful to practice and it helped my stiff neck. 

My coach told me to try to gently get back into training today. I tried to bike this evening. But skipped climbing. The bike was fine. A bit slow but I managed just fine. 

3/4/2014-3/6/2014

This is the first week of having a split class. My half of the class is in the classroom while Kat's half is doing the clinical a that I had last September. Monday we had a lecture and a practical on the shoulder. You may be thinking... "Maddie didn't you do the shoulder before?" Yes I did this is just advanced musculoskeletal physical therapy and sport. So we do things in even more detail than the extreme detail we had last time. We also do more sport specific application. 

After class I had a very productive evening of studying. It is my last week of organisational behavior and I have 3 projects to finish by Friday. I also started reviewing the shoulder because it is quite intense. 

Tuesday we had our first pharmacology lecture. It was mostly review but it looks to be quite a difficult class. 

After pharm we had informal practice for musc. 

In the evening I went to do the hard hilly  bike ride again. On my way I got hit by a car. Riding my road bike not my TT luckily! I was flung quite far but nothing looks too bad. I have a bruised left arm, ankle, and cheek. Other than that I'm fine. I was a bit shaken so I got checked out by the ambulance. They said I'm all good but I might want to see a Physio. The person who hit me was quite kind. She drove me home, made a police report, and called to check up on me. Kat skipped practice to take care of me and Billy cooked us dinner. They are the sweetest. 

Wednesday I woke up a bit stiff but no major problems. I spent the morning taking care of bike problems. My bike is in the shop getting a safety check and a quote. I talked to my coach about how to change my training schedule. So I'm all on the right track. 

I had class this afternoon where we worked on necks. I did surprisingly well considering. Since I am bikeless I walked into class. It was actually quite good. I felt much better after moving. I got a bit more homework done this evening and also cooked peanut soup and chocolate ice cream. 

2/29/2013-3/2/2013

So Friday I went for a swim, had class, took a leadership and management exam, had a group meeting and headed home. I talked to my lovely little sister Gillie and decided what I should eat next week. Then I went shopping, went for a run and went out to dinner. Kat and I crashed a scientist party at a lawn bowls club. I have never played lawn bowls before so it was fun. Lawn bowls for people like me who don't know is similar to bocci but the balls are weighted so you bowl them as opposed to throwing them. I won the first and only game I played.

Kat and I left around 10 and walked home. The 6km seemed so much farther on the way back but I had a friend so it wasn't too bad. 

Saturday I had a 6 hour bike ride. I pretty much woke up rode down the coast and back up. I think I went just over 100miles but my watch died before I finished(that's how you know it's a long ride). We had friends over for dinner and to play Ticket to Ride. Kat won by so much that she was the only one with a score over 100 and one of two people who had a positive score. After everyone left, I did the dishes and promptly fell asleep.

Sunday I made pizza. Or rather I cooked all my toppings, skyped a bit, cleaned a bit, ran a half marathon in 1:43:00, jogged 5km home very slowly and then made pizza.

I made margarita, mac&chese and buffalo chicken, spicy avocado, and peach,basil & balsamic. They were all very tasty. 

I tried to do a bit of homework in the evening but it was somewhat of a lost cause.