Well it is only 12 more sleeps until I head to Europe! Some of the Australian Para-cyclists are already there and competing with the rest of us leaving on the 31st of May. I have had a number of people ask me where we are going and what we are racing, so here is the itinerary for everyone:
May 31st - Melbourne to Barcelona
June 1st - Arrive Barcelona and travel by road to Zaragozza, Spain and spend the night there
June 2nd - Travel by road to Souraide, France
June 2-7th - we will be training in Souraide
June 8-10th - competition just outside Souraide, Urt Velo
June 11th - Travel by road to Segovia, Spain (about 50 km's north of Madrid)
June 15-17th - Take part in the 2nd World Cup
June 18th - about 7 of us are flying to Great Britain
June 19th - The Paralympic course located at Brands Hatch (car racing circuit) is open for Para-cyclists to train and test.
June 20th - Fly from Great Britain back to Melbourne, arriving home in the early morning hours of the 22nd.
So there you have it! My European adventure.
I am really looking forward to racing other trikes and over this past weekend there has been a race in Italy where my main competitiors have taken to the roads. To be honest when I looked at the results from the Road Race I was a bit surprised at how fast my main competition (French Canadian girl) went, until I found out that the course was really fast, flat and not a bit of wind! So I am really looking forward to testing myself against her and the guys at the World Cup in Spain.
I have been working really hard and my coach has had me doing power efforts lately. Let me tell you, they are no piece of cake! Especially when you feel like throwing up after finishing a set, but they have certainly helped! Funny thing is a get a little pissed off at myself when I don't do personal bests every time! And at times I have to bring myself back to reality...that doesn't happen every week! Instant results aren't always the best results and I have to learn to realize that a lot of good and valuable things take time. Don't get me wrong I have improved slowly each week, but sometimes I expect too much of myself in a short time.
I think sometimes in life we want things too fast. The coach sets out a program and we are meant to follow it to achieve. Sometimes it feels that playing by the rules and adhering to strictly defined discipline makes achievement more difficult, but it plays an essential role in making achievement possible!
These power efforts have been extremely challenging and hard, but while I am doing them I think about the rewards. I use my imagination to immerse my mind and spirit in the rewards that are waiting for me. I think that the better you can visualize and relate what you are doing to your ultimate goal, the more energy you'll have to get to that goal.
So bring on Spain...the first of many goals for the rest of this year!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
An Unlikely Celebration
April 23rd, 1998, 2:15 p.m. was the date that I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. At the time I thought it was the end of the world. It may have been because the neurologist who gave me my diagnosis was an idiot by telling me that "Your life as you know if is over, I would suggest you go home and put your affairs in order before you become incapacitated". Nice thing to hear when you are by yourself with absolutely no symptoms anymore! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that one day I would celebrate this date!
But I am one of the lucky ones! I have a support system...my husband, my family (even if they are thousands of kilometers away), a good medical team and friends. When something like this happens to you, you certainly find out who your friends are! I think back to those first minutes, days and months and I couldn't have done it without everyone who was there to support me. But I am also pig headed and stubborn and I made the decision that "NO ONE" was going to tell me how my life would play out!
Today I don't think I would change my diagnosis of MS (except maybe the way it was delivered!) because it has made me who I am today. The worst part of this disease is the unpredictability, it can diminish the quality of life and create a world of never ending uncertainty, but isn't that what life is like generally? Don't people say that the only guarantee we have in life is taxes and death? Today is the only guarantee that we get, we can't change what happened yesterday and we have no idea what will happen tomorrow.
Living with MS is never easy, but life in general is never easy. Living with MS has given me opportunities that I never would have had without it in my life. It has given me the opportunity to:
- represent Australia at an elite level in rowing and now cycling
- to advocate for people living with a disability
- to educate and motivate
- to run and build a charity event to raise money for people living with MS
- That nothing is impossible if we dare to face our fears and believe in ourselves.
- See every difficulty as a challenge, a stepping stone and never be defeated by anything or anyone.
- That what I am able to do depends on what I expect of myself and on what I choose to do with my time.
- To love the journey and not the destination.
- To live my life with passion because who I am and what I do matters.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The True Test
Well last weekend was the "True Test" of the last 6 months of all the hard work I have put in. It was Nationals time again, only my 2nd Nationals as a Cyclist. The Australia Para-cycling Championships were being held once again on the Sunshine Coast, just outside of Caloundra. Now usually this time of year in Melbourne the weather is not that great, but in the lead up the weather was magnificent! I was a bit miffed as I was hoping to get out of the cold and head to the heat for a few days of training in the sun. The day I left however Melbourne didn't disappoint as it turned cold and rainy! I arrived at the Maroochydore Airport in beautiful warm weather, jumped into the van I had hired and headed to an apartment on the beach!
I had a magnificent 4 days of beautiful weather and then it hit, just in time to race. The weather app on my phone said that there would be a few showers! I would hate to see what a torrential downpour looked like if that was only a few showers! But the racing was still on and when we are overseas you never know what type of weather you will get, so you race in it all.
The Time Trial course is a great one, very flat, out and back for a total of 8km, but very open so the head wind going out the first 4km can be brutal. Combine that with the rain and it was a lot of fun! But at the turn around you get a fantastic tailwind that helps push you to speeds that you would love to be able to do without the wind. In the end I was very happy with my time and speed. As it was the same course as last year I could look at the improvement, although the distance was changed, but I averaged 5km/hr faster than last year. Crowned National Champion in the Women's T2 category was just a bonus.
The Road Race was the next day around the Glasshouse Mountains the exact same course and distance as last year. I was sent off with the handcyclists and the one thing I didn't count on was the amount of dirt and water that those handcycles kick up off the back of them. I hadn't even gone 200m and I was wet! At least the weather helped up by absolutely bucketing down around the back of the course which washed off the dirt! The course itself has a few hills with a couple of 90 degree corners! Thank goodness a couple of weeks ago we had some bike handling skills at the Kelly Camp I went to. They certainly came in handy along with the practice I had in the underground at the apartment I was staying at. Helen (my coach) had me practising a figure 8 down there and it certainly helped!
In the end I completed the course almost 3 minutes faster than I had last year. I felt pretty good at the end of it although my legs (if they could talk) might have been thinking differently. But again crowed National Road Champion!
I am pumped now for our European Tour which we leave for on the 31st of May. We are only heading to the 2nd World Cup in Spain in June and then get a chance to have a ride on the course for London, then home. Hopefully by then I will know 100% for sure if I am on the team for London.
Just one last note about Nationals, I had embarked on a fitness regime in October, aiming to be the fittest I had ever been for these nationals and I feel pretty good that I achieved it. Having lost 12 kilos and my power to weight ratio improving, I had stopped drinking alcohol (yes no red wine with dinner), I made a pact with myself that I would have a drink after nationals. So along with Coaches Helen and Bob and room mate Hannah we all headed out to a beautiful dinner Sunday night and yes I had some red wine! (Actually a couple of glasses!) It was a lovely night and we definitely had a lot of fun, but now it is back to the training regime.
I have learned that the best opportunities require effort, commitment and persistence. The best thing now is that I know I am absolutely capable of making that commitment...I've done it for the last 6 months, and I will continue to put forth the effort that I need to for as long as necessary!
I had a magnificent 4 days of beautiful weather and then it hit, just in time to race. The weather app on my phone said that there would be a few showers! I would hate to see what a torrential downpour looked like if that was only a few showers! But the racing was still on and when we are overseas you never know what type of weather you will get, so you race in it all.
The Time Trial course is a great one, very flat, out and back for a total of 8km, but very open so the head wind going out the first 4km can be brutal. Combine that with the rain and it was a lot of fun! But at the turn around you get a fantastic tailwind that helps push you to speeds that you would love to be able to do without the wind. In the end I was very happy with my time and speed. As it was the same course as last year I could look at the improvement, although the distance was changed, but I averaged 5km/hr faster than last year. Crowned National Champion in the Women's T2 category was just a bonus.
The Road Race was the next day around the Glasshouse Mountains the exact same course and distance as last year. I was sent off with the handcyclists and the one thing I didn't count on was the amount of dirt and water that those handcycles kick up off the back of them. I hadn't even gone 200m and I was wet! At least the weather helped up by absolutely bucketing down around the back of the course which washed off the dirt! The course itself has a few hills with a couple of 90 degree corners! Thank goodness a couple of weeks ago we had some bike handling skills at the Kelly Camp I went to. They certainly came in handy along with the practice I had in the underground at the apartment I was staying at. Helen (my coach) had me practising a figure 8 down there and it certainly helped!
I am pumped now for our European Tour which we leave for on the 31st of May. We are only heading to the 2nd World Cup in Spain in June and then get a chance to have a ride on the course for London, then home. Hopefully by then I will know 100% for sure if I am on the team for London.
Just one last note about Nationals, I had embarked on a fitness regime in October, aiming to be the fittest I had ever been for these nationals and I feel pretty good that I achieved it. Having lost 12 kilos and my power to weight ratio improving, I had stopped drinking alcohol (yes no red wine with dinner), I made a pact with myself that I would have a drink after nationals. So along with Coaches Helen and Bob and room mate Hannah we all headed out to a beautiful dinner Sunday night and yes I had some red wine! (Actually a couple of glasses!) It was a lovely night and we definitely had a lot of fun, but now it is back to the training regime.
I have learned that the best opportunities require effort, commitment and persistence. The best thing now is that I know I am absolutely capable of making that commitment...I've done it for the last 6 months, and I will continue to put forth the effort that I need to for as long as necessary!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Kelly Cycling Camp and Onwards
This past week was certainly an experience I won't forget for a while! Helen and Bob Kelly who are my coaches were holding a camp in Bright, Victoria. For those of you who don't know the area it is at the base of a number of mountains in country Victoria. Not mountains by Canadian standards, but let me tell you after this past week they are "mountains"! Not only did we have Helen and Bob coaching but also a friend of their's Bec.
Most of the riders at the camp were quite a bit younger...no lets say ALL the riders were younger with a few older riders! Two of us were Para-cyclists, Hannah and I. To say I was a bit nervous at the start is probably an understatement. I was extremely worried that I would be left for dead on these rides and end up riding by myself.
We had arrived on the Sunday and our first ride was Monday morning at 8am. It was going to be a fairly flat ride considering the area we were in and we were broken into a couple of groups. I was going to be riding with Helen, Hannah, Ash and Alex (two of the younger riders). We headed off towards Myrtleford. We ended having a short stop in Myrtleford where we met up with the other group and then off we went again towards Lake Buffalo. Before we reached the lake we were told to turn around and do a hard piece back to the bridge we had crossed. Once that was done we were back riding together again. Unfortunately Alex made a bad decision to try and pull a piece of long grass out of his front tire and got his hand caught causing him to fall, with Ash just behind him he ended up flipping over Alex. I was behind both of them and found out just how good my brakes were on the new trike! Thought I was going to go over the handlebars but managed to get the back tires down and stop! Both boys had injuries but in the end they weren't too bad and both were able to continue for the rest of the camp. One big lesson learnt...DO NOT put your hand in your front wheel while moving!
Monday night Helen and Bob had asked me to speak to the group to try and motivate them a bit. I told the riders that there are 3 C's in life, that they were being given a Chance to make a Choice to Change something this week and that there were two words they must take out of their vocabulary...Can't and Never! The best compliment that I got was the next night when one of the riders Cam told me that he had used those 3 C's and it had helped him during the ride. It has been great getting messages from some of the other riders to say thanks for speaking to them!
Tuesday was probably the hardest day of cycling I have ever had. Hannah and I were told to start off first and turn left onto the Towonga Gap Road. We had been told that we had a climb ahead of us on this day. Wow what a climb it was. For the first 2 km's I said to Hannah that it wasn't too bad, then we hit it...a 15km climb and I must say that the last 4km's of that climb were the toughest about 12%. By the time we had reached the top we had climbed just over 2,139 feet. I had been passed by everyone but I had made it! The view from the top was magnificent!
The rest of the troups were cycling on but Helen told Hannah and I to ride back down and head back to Bright and then on further past to Porepunkah then turn around and go back to the hotel. What a ride down! I must say that age has made me a scaredy cat and I had my hands on the brakes the entire way down! We did however find a good coffee once our ride was over.
That night we had a great time playing twister! My god I hadn't done this in years and it was a competition to see who could last the longest. During the last game Hannah and I became the last two and I must say that I don't think my body has stretched or twisted in those ways in a long time. In the end I fell because I couldn't put my nose on a circle behind me!
The last day of riding for us and the under 17's was the Wednesday with an hour long warm up then a 6km Time Trial, then a ride to Harrietville which is just at the bottom of Mount Buffalo. This would have been too much for me to climb and Hannah and I were once again sent back to Bright which was 25km away. I know that Hannah was disappointed that she didn't get to climb Mount Buffalo but we have nationals next weekend and that wouldn't have been the best thing for us to try a week out from racing! But it is there to be conquered and next time I will even give it a try!
It was a great few days and I got to know a lot of the riders the Kelly's coach and they are all great young people! It was also quite a challenge for me and one which I came through pretty good. It was hard but my body handled it by making sure I took care of it. I went into this 3 days deciding that there were valuable opportunities to be had in the challenges of those 3 days. I was living those three C's that I spoke to the kids about. I was given the Chance by the Kelly's to participate and as life is a continuous series of choices I had to decide what Choice I wanted to make in order to effect a Change. My Choice was to make sure I gave myself every opportunity to Change the way I think while riding. Focusing on the positives, like realising that I was conquering that climb, instead of thinking the negative thoughts about how much it was hurting. So instead of adding to the difficulty of the climb with negativity I choose to transform that difficulty into success!
Now as I write this entry I am sitting in Caloundra, Queensland with nationals just a few days away. Yes I have come up here early but I am ready, rested and raring to go on the weekend. I have put everything into my training and now is the time to prove to myself that all this hard work has paid off!
Most of the riders at the camp were quite a bit younger...no lets say ALL the riders were younger with a few older riders! Two of us were Para-cyclists, Hannah and I. To say I was a bit nervous at the start is probably an understatement. I was extremely worried that I would be left for dead on these rides and end up riding by myself.
We had arrived on the Sunday and our first ride was Monday morning at 8am. It was going to be a fairly flat ride considering the area we were in and we were broken into a couple of groups. I was going to be riding with Helen, Hannah, Ash and Alex (two of the younger riders). We headed off towards Myrtleford. We ended having a short stop in Myrtleford where we met up with the other group and then off we went again towards Lake Buffalo. Before we reached the lake we were told to turn around and do a hard piece back to the bridge we had crossed. Once that was done we were back riding together again. Unfortunately Alex made a bad decision to try and pull a piece of long grass out of his front tire and got his hand caught causing him to fall, with Ash just behind him he ended up flipping over Alex. I was behind both of them and found out just how good my brakes were on the new trike! Thought I was going to go over the handlebars but managed to get the back tires down and stop! Both boys had injuries but in the end they weren't too bad and both were able to continue for the rest of the camp. One big lesson learnt...DO NOT put your hand in your front wheel while moving!
The rest of the troups were cycling on but Helen told Hannah and I to ride back down and head back to Bright and then on further past to Porepunkah then turn around and go back to the hotel. What a ride down! I must say that age has made me a scaredy cat and I had my hands on the brakes the entire way down! We did however find a good coffee once our ride was over.
That night we had a great time playing twister! My god I hadn't done this in years and it was a competition to see who could last the longest. During the last game Hannah and I became the last two and I must say that I don't think my body has stretched or twisted in those ways in a long time. In the end I fell because I couldn't put my nose on a circle behind me!
The last day of riding for us and the under 17's was the Wednesday with an hour long warm up then a 6km Time Trial, then a ride to Harrietville which is just at the bottom of Mount Buffalo. This would have been too much for me to climb and Hannah and I were once again sent back to Bright which was 25km away. I know that Hannah was disappointed that she didn't get to climb Mount Buffalo but we have nationals next weekend and that wouldn't have been the best thing for us to try a week out from racing! But it is there to be conquered and next time I will even give it a try!
It was a great few days and I got to know a lot of the riders the Kelly's coach and they are all great young people! It was also quite a challenge for me and one which I came through pretty good. It was hard but my body handled it by making sure I took care of it. I went into this 3 days deciding that there were valuable opportunities to be had in the challenges of those 3 days. I was living those three C's that I spoke to the kids about. I was given the Chance by the Kelly's to participate and as life is a continuous series of choices I had to decide what Choice I wanted to make in order to effect a Change. My Choice was to make sure I gave myself every opportunity to Change the way I think while riding. Focusing on the positives, like realising that I was conquering that climb, instead of thinking the negative thoughts about how much it was hurting. So instead of adding to the difficulty of the climb with negativity I choose to transform that difficulty into success!
Now as I write this entry I am sitting in Caloundra, Queensland with nationals just a few days away. Yes I have come up here early but I am ready, rested and raring to go on the weekend. I have put everything into my training and now is the time to prove to myself that all this hard work has paid off!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Para-cycling Camp - AIS
I am now home after a week at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, where a Para-cycling camp was held. What a fantastic week it was. I had decided to drive up to Canberra which is around 7 1/2 hours. A couple of reasons for this 1. I needed to take my old trike the "Red Rocket" with me just in case the new trike wasn't ready and 2. it gave me an excuse to visit my "Aussie Mum" Margo on the way up and back!
The camp was also designed to have us all meet one on one with people who would form a large part of life at the London Paralympics in the way of medical staff. So we each had a meeting with the Recovery specialist - Jo, Sports Psych - Sarah, Nutritionist - Liz, Physio - Anouska and Doctor - Geoff. (there was a massage specialist but unfortunately he was sick the day I was to see him!) What a wonderful group of experts! It was great to be able to sit down with each one of them and gain a bit of insight into what it will be like in London and to know that we have a relationship with each one of them before getting there.
We also had some training from the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) on how to deal with the media. That was a fun time with some of the athletes being involved in a mock press conference. It is quite interesting that the APC want us to become involved in social media, after all it is all the rage right now and what a better way then to get all the stories out to the public, right from the athletes. This is a stark contrast from the Olympics where social media has been banned by the AOC.
And of course we can't forget the info session on Anti-doping. It always amazes me to think that athletes would actually consider any form of illegal drug to enhance their performance. We were also drug tested this week as well. It certainly isn't fun to have to pee in front of someone but that is the price we all pay for those few who decide to cheat. So I for one am happy to be drug tested.
I think that the best part of the week for me was when I received my new trike!! It has been named the "Blue Bullet", and by god it goes like a bullet! The fact that is about 8 kilos lighter than my old steel frame and I'm almost 12 kilos lighter, I felt like I was flying. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face all week and it seemed that at the end of every ride I just wanted to go out again or for longer! This definitely made training much more enjoyable, even if some of the sessions hurt like hell. But not only the fact that I was on a new trike but the fact that I rode with someone all week. You see almost all of my training is done on my own, so it was awesome to have another athlete to train with. Hannah is a below knee amputee and rides in the C4 category. She is also from Melbourne and I have known Hannah for years, we met as swimmers. Hannah has switched from swimming to cycling and will be a huge contender for World's and Para's in the next 4 years. So it was great to be able to head out on the road and have someone there for those 2+ hour rides.
Now all this sounds after reading it that I am heading to London, well to be honest we just don't know yet! Hopefully I will know by the time of our nationals which are on April 14-15th. It is an exciting time but also a time to just put "head down, bum up" and train hard! I keep reminding myself that I have put in the hard work especially since October and have learned how strong I can be. I have had challenges that I have faced and attained, but the challenges that still face me are not to be taken lightly, I have what it takes to keep moving forward. With my new "blue bullet" I have been given that opportunity to look forward and envision the best possible outcome.
Peter Day our Head Coach said this week "Train with a sense of purpose and finish with a sense of achievement, crunch time is everyday". How true this statement is, each athlete has to realize that having confidence in yourself is only one aspect of the journey, responsibiltiy is the other. Only when you are willing to be fully responsible for your training can you be truly confident in your efforts.
The camp was also designed to have us all meet one on one with people who would form a large part of life at the London Paralympics in the way of medical staff. So we each had a meeting with the Recovery specialist - Jo, Sports Psych - Sarah, Nutritionist - Liz, Physio - Anouska and Doctor - Geoff. (there was a massage specialist but unfortunately he was sick the day I was to see him!) What a wonderful group of experts! It was great to be able to sit down with each one of them and gain a bit of insight into what it will be like in London and to know that we have a relationship with each one of them before getting there.
We also had some training from the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) on how to deal with the media. That was a fun time with some of the athletes being involved in a mock press conference. It is quite interesting that the APC want us to become involved in social media, after all it is all the rage right now and what a better way then to get all the stories out to the public, right from the athletes. This is a stark contrast from the Olympics where social media has been banned by the AOC.
And of course we can't forget the info session on Anti-doping. It always amazes me to think that athletes would actually consider any form of illegal drug to enhance their performance. We were also drug tested this week as well. It certainly isn't fun to have to pee in front of someone but that is the price we all pay for those few who decide to cheat. So I for one am happy to be drug tested.
 |
| Can't wipe the smile off my face! |
I think that the best part of the week for me was when I received my new trike!! It has been named the "Blue Bullet", and by god it goes like a bullet! The fact that is about 8 kilos lighter than my old steel frame and I'm almost 12 kilos lighter, I felt like I was flying. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face all week and it seemed that at the end of every ride I just wanted to go out again or for longer! This definitely made training much more enjoyable, even if some of the sessions hurt like hell. But not only the fact that I was on a new trike but the fact that I rode with someone all week. You see almost all of my training is done on my own, so it was awesome to have another athlete to train with. Hannah is a below knee amputee and rides in the C4 category. She is also from Melbourne and I have known Hannah for years, we met as swimmers. Hannah has switched from swimming to cycling and will be a huge contender for World's and Para's in the next 4 years. So it was great to be able to head out on the road and have someone there for those 2+ hour rides.
Now all this sounds after reading it that I am heading to London, well to be honest we just don't know yet! Hopefully I will know by the time of our nationals which are on April 14-15th. It is an exciting time but also a time to just put "head down, bum up" and train hard! I keep reminding myself that I have put in the hard work especially since October and have learned how strong I can be. I have had challenges that I have faced and attained, but the challenges that still face me are not to be taken lightly, I have what it takes to keep moving forward. With my new "blue bullet" I have been given that opportunity to look forward and envision the best possible outcome.
Peter Day our Head Coach said this week "Train with a sense of purpose and finish with a sense of achievement, crunch time is everyday". How true this statement is, each athlete has to realize that having confidence in yourself is only one aspect of the journey, responsibiltiy is the other. Only when you are willing to be fully responsible for your training can you be truly confident in your efforts.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Hard Slog Continues
Well I apologies for a lack of postings in the last month, life has been extremely busy.
The month of February is always busy for me because of my charity event I run. I have been holding the 24 Hour Mega Swim for the last 12 years at the Fitzroy pool. It was initially only supposed to be a one off event in 2001, but 12 years later is still going and has numerous spin offs around Australia. It has become my life and I love it!
Money raised from the swim and others like it go towards the "Go For Gold Scholarships" run by MS Australia, giving people with MS scholarships for a chance to follow a dream,boy have there been some dreams and goals attained! It is my way of giving back to those who may not have been as fortunate enough as me. I am happy to say that this years swim at the Fitzroy pool had a record number of swimmers (just over 600) and has raised a record amount of money (currently sitting at $290,400.00), with the donation lines open until the end of March. So I am hoping that this amount will rise.
In between getting ready for the Mega Swim I have also put in some good training and I had my first Trike race for the year, just a week ago in Echuca. The course was very flat but boy was it windy! It was a great race with a new Trike rider Jarred and we worked together to get through the wind with me taking line honours by the width of a tyre! We did however have a spectacular finish with the crashing of wheels on the line. No damage to us physically but both trikes suffered some wheel damage.
It has been a hard slog, but I am starting to see the benefits come through. I've lost 11 kgs (24 pounds to those still using imperial measurements) and my power to weight ratio has improved. I am also looking forward to getting my new trike, which hopefully will be next week. That should put me 18-20 kgs lighter than at World Championships last year, so watch out world!
It certainly hasn't been all smooth sailing with a few niggling aches and pains (I blame that on age!) but I am getting through the other side. The weight loss has been hard but it is all about deciding what you want and what you have to do to get there! It has been all about making the right decisions in regards to food choice and yes...forgoing that lovely glass of wine or that decadent piece of cake! All that has mattered to me is changing my behaviour to attain the goals that I have set for myself. It didn't start off easy but it is now. They say that if you do something for a week religiously it becomes habit. I have learnt that I am not missing anything, but I would have if I didn't change things.
I think that I have finally learned...albeit after 50 years...that the time has come to "stop putting it off", if you want to do something you have to do it now! And you know, once I got that through my thick scull it hasn't been that hard at all!
The month of February is always busy for me because of my charity event I run. I have been holding the 24 Hour Mega Swim for the last 12 years at the Fitzroy pool. It was initially only supposed to be a one off event in 2001, but 12 years later is still going and has numerous spin offs around Australia. It has become my life and I love it!
 |
| Jarred and myself get ready to race in Echuca |
It has been a hard slog, but I am starting to see the benefits come through. I've lost 11 kgs (24 pounds to those still using imperial measurements) and my power to weight ratio has improved. I am also looking forward to getting my new trike, which hopefully will be next week. That should put me 18-20 kgs lighter than at World Championships last year, so watch out world!
It certainly hasn't been all smooth sailing with a few niggling aches and pains (I blame that on age!) but I am getting through the other side. The weight loss has been hard but it is all about deciding what you want and what you have to do to get there! It has been all about making the right decisions in regards to food choice and yes...forgoing that lovely glass of wine or that decadent piece of cake! All that has mattered to me is changing my behaviour to attain the goals that I have set for myself. It didn't start off easy but it is now. They say that if you do something for a week religiously it becomes habit. I have learnt that I am not missing anything, but I would have if I didn't change things.
I think that I have finally learned...albeit after 50 years...that the time has come to "stop putting it off", if you want to do something you have to do it now! And you know, once I got that through my thick scull it hasn't been that hard at all!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Upcoming Speaking Engagement
I honestly believe that we all have to take charge of our own destiny, no one can do it for you! Hopefully I will be able to impart this theory on Tuesday March the 6th when I speak with George.
I am really looking forward to the evening and I am hoping that quite a few of you will join us for what I hope will be a fun filled evening!
If you are interested in coming along you must let George know. He can be contacted on 0403 653 951 or at georgehalkias@y7mail.com and on http://www.georgehalkias.com.au/
Hope to see you there!
Cheers
Carol
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