Noosa Training Fun 2012 (not the race report)

This blog entry is all about the fun/training I had at Noosa from Wednesday 31st Oct through to 7th Nov. My Noosa Race Report is here.

Wednesday 31st
Flight was around 10am so Sally and I planned on getting to the airport around 8am. Jetstar was running a promotion for the 100millionth customer so there were cameras around. I got myself on camera whilst I dropped off my bike and waved in the background behind Grant Denyer.

Seafood on a stick

Arrived at Noosa around midday. First celeb spotting Chris (Macca) McCormack was at the Sunshine Coast airport.

Macca loading his luggage into the mini bus.

Both Sally and I stayed with another family before we were to move closer to Hasting St on Thursday. Had a quick lunch before the swim session in the afternoon.

As I had done this race last year, it was a nice change to swim this course with a fresh mind and actually swimming the entire way (but in a relaxed setting). Ollie took us through at every main stop:
1) Around the "first bouy" before turning left around the island
2) Under the bridge and straight towards the T-intersection (at this point, we had a choice of either swimming towards the swim exit or swim the entire course).
3) Turning right towards the 2nd 6 knot sign where the turn-around is.
4) Swim from the U-turn all the way to the swim exit.

Swim course re-con

Thursday 1st Nov
We had a ride in the morning along the bike course in its entirety. I tried out the Xlab torpedo hydration system instead of my profile design sippy thing as it didn't work well with the new bike set-up. The new hydration system worked fine and it is a quicker for re-filling as all I have to do is change the bottles over instead of emptying the contents into the sippy bottle (better for long course). After the ride, it was a quick breakfast at La Monde where I had an Acai bowl (which is Acai cereal with shaved coconut and berry/acai sorbet) - delicous!

Ride Course re-con

A ride back to Noosaville where we had to pack our bags to move to our accomodation on Hastings St, a quick nap/dip at the pool and then it was a long run session along the bank. I did about 12km (over an hour) and luckily had my hydration belt with me. Many people did not cope well with the heat as well as the lack of drinking water along the course.

My view along the pool

Long Run on Thursday

Friday 2nd Nov
Long ride for the LC athletes. As Lidia and I were dropped at the intersection, we got lost. As you can see from the map below, we turned to Black Mountain and decided to turn around as the speed limit slowed down to 50km/h and we were riding through people's driveways. A quick call to the coaches to let them know we haven't been made into lunch or roadkill, we then we both headed back towards Noosa and did 3 more hill repeats of the hill to make up for the distance.

Long ride to whoop whopp QLD.

It was then a quick 30min run off the bike (covered about 5km).

We had some time to kill in between the morning and the afternoon training sessions so we ventured off to the expo. Craig (Crowie) Alenxander was doing some book signings and I got myself into some people's photo (in the background) and also the main interview.

photobombed the main interview

After the run, it was then a dip/nap next to the pool before another swim along the swim course. We did the same thing as Wednesday and it was good to get another swim in prior to Sunday's race.

Saturday 3rd Nov
The day before race day - so training is kept at low intensity. We had a Tri Alliance group photo (combining Vic and Qld) before heading off for a quick 30-45min training session - I opted for the ride along most of the run course (9km) followed by a quick run along the run course (3km). I ventured off to the expo to grab some last minute things before heading to the main house for a Tri Alliance coaches' meeting. After the meeting, it was a quick run over to the house to pick up the bike for the bike check-in before watching some of the men's GP. Another celeb spotting moment captured below:

Caroline (Xena) Steffen and Craig (Crowie) Alenxander prior to Mens GP

I positioned myself at the hot dog turned and the way those guys moved around the turn was amazing to watch - plenty of near misses, plenty of bike handling skills required!

Tri Alliance (Noosa attendees) from Vic and Qld

Sunday 4th Nov
RACE DAY - see race report.
We had a Tri Alliance afterparty at Hog's Breath and then it was off to a bar called Mink for the after party and then off to Rolling Rock until 3am for the after-after party. My calves and quads were cramping up and I had to do calf and quad stretches throughout the night. Haven't been out on a big night such as Sunday night for a long long time. Spent plenty of time of the dance floor and drank heaps of Mother (energy drink) which I never touch --> couldn't sleep.

Monday 5th Nov
A BIG breakfast before heading back for a nap at the pool to work on my tan. A good 1km swim in the ocean (wearing new bathers bought at the expo) at 3pm.

Tuesday 6th Nov
Prior to the Melb Cup day celebrations, we did a good 50km ride along the main highway towards the airport for 2 hours or so.

A quick 1km run off the bike (couldn't do any more than that - legs were tired). The rest of the day consisted of a long 3 hour nap on the couch followed by 4 hours of lying on the beach.

Wednesday 7th Nov
Prior to heading back to Melbourne, we did a final swim in the canal along the ride course but leaving and finishing the swim from the main TA house. This was about 1.6km at a comfortable pace.

The difference between my Noosa week this year compared to last year is that I trained throughout the week leading up to and after the main race on Sunday because:
1) Long Course athletes
2) Shepparton on the 18th Nov

More long swims in the canal was great to increase milage in the open water but will need to swim more with the wetsuit prior to next Sunday.

As I write this entry - I have 8 more sleeps until Shepparton 70.3 - My race number is 608. I am getting very excited and nervous at the same time. My goal of doing a half ironman within 2012 is finally here...be sure to write about this early next week leading up to race weekend.

PS - My HED 6/9 wheels still have not arrived. It has been nearly 4 weeks now since I put down the deposit (early Oct). Very disappointed as I wanted to ride with them this weekend. Very very very disappointed in how it was handled through the bike shop. They said it should be available next Tuesday to be picked up. I bet you they forgot to put the order through 4 weeks ago. Fingers crossed that they arrive by Tuesday so I can so some laps in Melbourne before using them on race weekend.