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I reaquainted myself with Western Australia's SE hills-Blackwood Marathon(long story)
Yesterday was a long but cool day. :) Thanks again for the butterflies & good vibes ;)
Just an aside, a few months ago I was searching for an event to train for & to prove to myself that I had the power in my right leg back. Prior to entering the event with my team, I was unable to jump out of the saddle and hoped that the strength would be back by yesterday!
Anywho, one fine afternoon I received an email regarding a team searching for a cyclist for the Blackwood Marathon(http://www.mccays.com.au/theevent) on Oct 25th. I set myself a training goal of finding as many hills as possible & doing well. Hill rides were fine except that jumping out of the saddle thing wasn't there yet. THat was until a month ago :D & it magically appeared!! *phew* Moving on..
I was in a bit of a panic this week as I was only able to cycle once on Tuesday AM(team meet up at a restaurant). Tues night..I think i had a mild case of food poisoning...(owwwww), didn't get much sleep wed & just did a short walk on wed. (thurs swim) EEEEEE...:mad:
Saturday morning I dragged ian out of bed & drove 3hrs to Bridgetown.. due to logistics. (Next year, i'm sure this will all pan out a wee bit more logically!) We found the start of the cycle leg(not much to the road!!!) with ease & then mozied on to the canoe/kayak end/swim start to try and locate some of my team! Found our kayaker, runner & equestrian and breathed a sigh of relief! Wandered back to the cycle leg, set up my stuff.
O! Time's here & awaiting my equestrian to come in...Stood around wondering if it was best to cycle up the gravel path or leave it at the top of the hill and run up :confused: More standing around & didn't notice my right cleat had come loose for some reason.. Aha! Team 97's equestrian coming in. Congratulated her & ran up the hill. My heart rate was a bit high but it was soon to skyrocket!
The first 5km's or so of the cycle leg are uphill..straight up! I wanted to do the 20km leg in 50min (ok i'm slow :o) and had to think if i was pushing too hard and then panicked as I wondered if i'd trained enough. I was thankful for being able to jump out of the saddle! Then again, i don't think it helped :o:rolleyes: I kept pushing as hard as I could & attempted to breathe out long breaths. I just kept thinking i must beat the hill & the big dude in front of me on the upright bike! That thought went away & then heard a funny noise coming from my bike. GAGHGHGH..
I couldn't use my big chain ring as I thought i had a problem. Keep on moving & try and get my speed up was my main thought. Legs going as fast as they could and just hoping i'd meet my time. Aha! Almost at the end & we are at the trotting track. AGGHGH..will my bike get me through this sand on the trotting track. Mozying it in, I was at the end. WAHOOOEEYYY!!!
I made it in 53:31 but that included the run up the hill & the trotting track! Our team placed third in the Open women's category.
Next year..50min. I'll still run up the hill to catch my bike..:D
The strange noise..my pedal hitting my odometer sensor..:o
Some pics for you
