"live your dream"...

And it's Sunday again, and well, as usual, tomorrow i am back to work :/

Another interesting week of, well you guessed it, ups and downs haha. Wednesday and it was at the pools for another morning swim, another close to 4k and a nice "t-shirt set". These are coming way to common with Brian but they sure are building strength!! Tough tough! Wednesday arvo was off as i was still letting my feet recover. Thursday morning i was up early for a quick wind trainer set - wow, jumping on the wind trainer is just SO unmotivating sometimes, or is that just me.. Thursday arvo i finally got an easy run in, with Paigey around the river. It was only something like 4k, but it was good with barely any foot pain. However i still felt as though my feet are on a tender edge so I'm not getting to excited.

Fortunately i was treated to a nice dinner there afterwards which topped of my night :) Friday morning was a nervous morning for me. I had a swimming tt for the TEP development squad. 1.5k in 19 mins, i was pretty fricken nervous to say the least and got there pretty early to get in a really goood warm up in.

I was off and the tt was a shock. I had never done any real serious swimming tt's before to be honest and for a 1.5k to be my first far out! Tough as bro!! Finally i touched the wall....GAH just short by seconds!!!

I'm not going to lie, i was pretty devo. Especially being so close. But Brian was really happy, saying that we hadn't trained for it (anything specific) and i considering how early i was in my build he was really happy that i had gotten so close, that changed my out look a little, but i was still pretty p*ssed during my warm down. Just my high expectations. Afterwards i had a good catch up brekky with Johno at a schweet little cafe down the road, was good to see him after be abroad for so long!!

We ended up meeting a few hours later for a nice easy 50k on the bike, up the freeway and around Kings Park and home. Was a good little warm up for Saturday. Friday night was topped off with a real nice night out with Paigey - dinner and a movie :) (where the guy behind us actually fell asleep during Inception - oh the irony).

Saturdays road race was killer, i mean i don't know how they keep getting harder and harder but they just do. It was back at the Serpentine course again and 7 x 9k loops. The pace went out stupidly hard, and honestly honestly didn't stop. I worked so so bloody hard during the whole race, and finished at the back of the main pack, which dwindled down to about 7 or 8 at the end. It was really satisfying at the end as i had a lot of people coming up to me saying how impressed they were with the amount of work i was doing during the race and the high intensity i kept. Made me feel real good, although i am there for training so it doesn't really bother me, but it is good now and then to hear people talking positively. I was so gone after the race and considered going straight to bed afterwards but it was off to the airport to pick up lisa and andy from their 10 week Europe adventure! Was very glad to have them back :) after picking them up and taking them home, i was off to a party with Paigey for a good night :)

Sunday morning and it was off for a brew ride with Big T!! About 10 weeks overdue! It was pretty cruisy and really good to catch up with the big fella!

Overall another pretty good ish week. But i am continuing to think positive :) and it's working for me. Tomorrow starts a TOUGH 3 week block, 1 week easy, another killer 3 weeks and taper then GC race!! :)

Something that really made my week was a gift i got from Lisa and Andy, a small bracelet from Europe, inscribed on it is "live your dream..."

A bracelet i think i'll be wearing for a while now, and who's mantra i will be following :)

I encourage all to follow that and continue to think positive. See you 'round the training track

Markusss

Another week of ups and downs

Well another week another late blog, this will be short and sweet.

A full week of swimming, finally and i'm really getting some good speed and technique back. Problem with swimming is it takes so bloody long tp progress! blergh but i am getting there! :)

Riding during the week suffered a little bit but i made up for it on the weekend. Killer killer road race on Saturday, back into B grade and it was a bloody tough! Ended up 4th overall chasing down the pack of three solo-er's to the line, was a really tough but a really good training set :). Sunday i had a 20k tt, down at Wandi. Seano and i met up rode there and hit it out. I wanted to average over 40kph, but just missed out 39 point something. Had to be happy though considering the effort i had put in on Saturday.

I had a couple of nice runs including and absolute smash-fest with seano on thurs midday, 10 x 1k repeats, i ended up doing them on 3.40's with seano hitting them up on 3.50's was toughhhh but so awesome. Unfortunately foot pain returned on Friday - in my fricken opposite foot, exact same spot and pain as the previous pain i was having. So i haven't been running since :/ just gotta be patient but the GC is getting closer and closer. I am confident though

Monday was back into the pool and a couple of beers in the arvo with one of my best mates Nips in the arvo, so good. Tuesday was a nice river ride in the morning, and some hill work on the bike in the arvo, so getting there gettingggg there.

Time to really start building and I'm pretty happy where i am headed :)

Keep smiling, keep happy, keep training, keep positive, keep it up right, keep doing what you want to do, keep it real

Oh and i have a new girlfriend, she's very pretty and she keeps me smiling :P

See you out there

mark ussssss

lying in my bed..

As i sit here lying in my bed, the same 'phrase' keeps running through my head, "life's too short".

Haha and you know what? For once i am right!! Life is too short. It seemed to be the topic of my last blog, so at the risk of repeating my self... (whoops to late).

Live life, woot! Tomorrow i will update with a training related blog, the week (just gone) started well, but yay! Another foot - running preventing - injury, super happy....*sarcasm*. But hey that's ok, a chance to continue to pick my riding and swimming up :)

I am really happy now, i am surrounded by an awesome group of friends, an amazing family, an amazing group of training people (young and older - but hey age doesn't matter) and an amazing girl :)

Seriously what else could i ask for?? Perhaps to be back in the mysterious and majestic cleared paddock of Jarrahdale - maybe, but for now I'm happy with what i have. Knowing new opportunities will prevent themselves. Can't let negative people bring yo down!!

:)

Update tomorrow, for now - stay classy, and remember..

"champions seize their moments"

(i think this can apply to any part of life...)

markus..

I am running out of blog titles...

Well here I am sitting in Jarrahdale, on another warm night *sarcasm*. The reality is I think this is the coldest town in the entire world. I think it has actually snowed here before, but everyone was so frozen it wasn’t able to be recorded.

The last few weeks has given me a lot of time to think about all of the aspects of my life, training and otherwise. There is nothing like a little bit of sickness and some life changing events to get you thinking about certain aspects of your life.

Something that I have truly come to realise is the massive part that music pays in my life. But also the fact that, man, my music collection needs expanding (since I lost 90% of it on my old computer). But I am getting there. On the train on my way to work, in the car on the way to swimming or smashing myself up Neddleton Road, music can really really set the mood, and I believe define moments of our lives.

So often now I find myself listening to tracks and associating them with various (good or bad) moments in my life. This can be trap however as I have had the occasional song ruined by an associated memory, moments from high school to current day. But man I do have some good memories with regards to various songs.

This general time of sickness and more work commitments has given me a lot of time to think, on an early morning or late night train to work, or an early morning (over tired) drive to swimming. These are all times I believe where I come across my best thoughts. My definition of good thoughts and the general consensus may differ though... :/

Then bam, it hits me. Wow, life is wayyyy to short. Life is too short to be unhappy, to be unfit, to be lazy, to plan, to postpone, to sleep in! I mean sure you have to stop and think about certain things, haha you can’t be tooooo stupid (I think we have all learnt that the hard way)... But life is too short, to be unhappy that’s for sure and we can all be responsible for our own happiness. I don’t believe in fate, everyone has control over their own destiny and now is the time to take control and make yourself happy..time to make me happy. :)

Anyway I thought this was a training blog...

On a more training based approach...this week has been a mix of ups and downs. Monday through Wednesday I was really on a roll. Double swim set Monday, and I FINALLLY got a killer run in on Tuesday! Tuesday was pretty much the happiest day of the week. It was the usual hills run with squad. This week was a warm up, 5 x 1k sets of up across down across up across down across (wow that is really confusing to read..). Brian had told the front group (myself included in this group) to run them on 4.30’s. This was a little worrying due to my complete lack of running over the past month and a half.

This was not going to bother me though, after instructions from the physio to run more and longer distances I was ready to really smash out the sets. The first one was a relatively each one, coming in just over 4.10, which I was pretty happy with. The next two I picked up the pace and dropped the group. I was feeling really good, and so fricken happy to be running hard again. That’s it I thought to myself, I’ll give everything on these last two laps, after all, to use a favourite quote of mine “I wasn’t there for a haircut”.

I set of on the second last one as it was the final one, something I love to do. It really makes you realise how deep you can actually go, and such a massive part of our sport, and any sport is the mental game. When you think you are giving 110% you really aren’t.

3.26, BAM! That was awesome, I was gone but man it felt good, 1 mins rest before the next one, I was off again. I was absolutely gone but I pushed deep, and decided not to look at my watch. 3.26, gahhh what are the odds!?! The exact same time again?? At least I didn’t positive split. I was so gone afterwards and could only manage and jog/walk warm down back to the car. But god I was happy.

Wednesday was an awesome set. 1k time trial. Oh wait, in an extra large t-shirt. My god killer killer killer. With still close to 3k to swim afterwards, the lane dwindled to 2 finishers. Satisfying set. Unfortunately from here the training aspect of my week went downhill. Work took over and I was unable to make the arvo swim set. Thursday mornings ride went out the window, due to a great night had out with some good mates on Wednesday (life’s too short to let opportunities like that slip by once in a while). Cruisy nights out with good mates are good for the soul.

Thursday night was spent watching the tour and praying Schleck could break “Pisterello” (urgh worst nickname ever). Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but it was awesome to watch two of our generations greatest athletes battle it out.

Friday was a write off, I had such good intentions....until the call from my boss way to early in the morning, “are you able to come into work?” Dayum. Ruined.

Saturday and I finally got the chance to test out the Argon with at 808/1080 set up. OH MY GOD amazing amazing amazing, to find out more, please see photo :P

Then it was off to Jarrahdale, as soon as I got there it was onto the bike for 2 repeats up Jarrahdale road. I went really hard on the first one, but was confident to try and negative split the second one. Good news was I did, by over 50 seconds; I was super psyched, but goneeee. After an awesome dinner, it was off for the best night trek through the Jarrahdale forest with Paigey. The highlight of the night being the massive massive paddock we found with a massive number of wild Kangaroos as well as the rocky out crop we found, the highest point of the paddock. Was schweetttt.

The next morning I was up early to hit up Neddleton road before our planed group training run. The ride was tough and I hit up the entire route in the big chain ring. Tough tough tough but really good. I’d finished and grabbed some brekky and everyone started to rock up for the run. I was told by Brian I would be running two 10k loops. We had no idea how tough the course was but we quickly found out, undulating for 2.5k on the road, then ridiculous ridiculous ridiculously huge hills off road for the next 2.5k and return. The run was so tough only 3 of us could make it out for the second lap, respect to everyone else running it though, this course was the hardest I had even run.

I ended up smashing the run and felt so so excellent. This was well over double the furthest I had run since Busso and I was so happy with the results. However I was absolutely goneee after the run and had to have a close to two hour nap before I left for home.

Overall a really good weekend, and as I lay hear on my bed absolutely gone, I am very satisfied with the weekend happenings training and all. 10 weeks to Gold Coast and I am really starting to feel confident and am RARING to go.

Train hard, live happy people

Markus

Training training training

Well the start of the week didn't go to well, mon tues i was sick as a dog, couldn't even make it to work :( by the time wed came around i was starting to feel better. But if I've learnt anything from these last few months, it was not to push myself and let my body recover more. Thursday came around and thanks to the vitamins and extra sleep i was feeling really good again.

I hit up a big hills ride with scotty to hotty, my place to Jarrahdale and back. The ride was great and was a really good hit out. It was the first try out on the new Argon, she was amazing :) :) I was just happy to be riding again and really enjoyed my self.

I missed swimming on Friday morning, which means it was a no swim week this week :/ BUT i got a TEN K run in with Seano at lunch time!! This is the furthest i have run since Busso at the start of May and i was so happy to be running relatively pain free!

Saturday rocked up and it was off to road racing as usual, this time it was a 50k HILLY HILLY HILLY out and back. I was in the 3rd last group to go, and the first pack to go had 25 mins on us, this was going to be tough. We set off and as we hit the first climb within 2 k, i shed my entire group. Great i thought to my self, i rode alone to the first turn around, 25k, and i rode hard. I was pretty happy with my self as i had put a lot of time into everyone in front of me, but Paige and Caroline we riding really well, i was worried! :/

As i got to the turn around the A/other B grade boys caught me, riding solo had taken its toll, and the group of 7 (of them) had worked well, but i jumped into the pack, ate the last of my lollies and with 25k to go put my head down and went for it. After working hard with the group for 15k Nathan and I made a break. And it stuck, a couple of k later i saw Paige up the road, she was riding fricken well, we were putting on a mean pace and as we passed her, i sat up for not even a second to let her jump on the train.

She had absolutely no problem and we were away again, working fricken hard. With 4k to go we caught Clarky, she was riding incredibley hard and had done a fricken awesome job holding us off for the win, i honest though she had it. I felt pretty bad as she couldn't quite jump on the train :(

The finish was INTENSE there were five of us me, nathan, paige and 2 others, riding at well over 50k an hour trying to break each other. I went so deep and was sure i had the win with 20 meters to go. Unfortunately it wasn't to be and the boys pipped me! Ahhh bummer but not to worry, i worked so hard in that race and was happy with the effort. I was also pretty happy i didn't get chicked....wow that would have been realllyyy embarrassing..hahaha.

I was buggered afterwards and after catching the tour with the Bowmans and Clarkys, fell asleep pretty well.

Then it was up and at 'em again this morning, for another hills ride...who's great idea was this :/ it was a struggle but was another really good ride. :)

Got a run this arvo and then back to swimming on Mon, i have 6 swims to do this week...ekk!! Cant wait! And i'll be back running yay! Really looking forward to be back at it again, properly! TOUCH WOOD :P

Stay classy guys and train hard.

Reeeeeeegards

Markus :)