Tag Archives: shopping

I’m Not Dead

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Matilda the Dog

I like this picture of Matilda The Dog

I’m still alive!  But it has been a bit dark in my triathlon brain.  There has not been much room for jokes and lighthearted blogging tomfoolery.

I’ve been pondering my existence.  As in, how useless is a human being that can’t run without warming up for 20 minutes?  What kind of caveman would I have been, if at the first hint of a delicious wild boar racing past my rocky abode I had to stop and limber up while the rest of my clan starved to death? Would I have been a caveman vegetarian? How did I make it through evolution, along with whichever of my ancestors cursed me with these non-natural runner genes?  Do I actually deserve to be on this planet?

And so on and so forth.  It has been challenging, but challenging in a way that was totally made up in my head.   Continue reading →

Data-less… And Happy?

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Geddit?

It’s about time

Following on from my rather pathetic whining during the Wild Horse Mountain 16.5km race and throughout the ensuing report, it is time to answer the million-dollar question that literally hundre Grandpa has asked me:

Why don’t I just buy myself the infamous fancy Garmin watch that measures distance as well as time?

Well the answer is complicated, because in case you hadn’t noticed I am a complicated soul.  Turn your brain on and try to keep up because before unleashing this blog post upon the world I re-read the dribble and counted approximately 8 instances where I contradict myself or make no sense.  Brace yourself… Continue reading →

The Ongoing Goggle Saga

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In my swimming hat and goggles

The first goggles

Since I started swimming in October last year, I have had 6 pairs of goggles.  That’s nearly a pair a month – and in some of the early months, I estimate that I only went swimming about 8 or 9 times.  I’ve had more re-use out of paper cups than some of the goggles I’ve tried.

Needless to say, buying 6 pairs of goggles is adding up to serious dollars.  My first pair (pictured above) cost only $7.99 from KMart but I soon realised that you can’t swim for long in such cheap goggles – I started to get black eyes from the pressure (presumably because the padding around the eyes is not very effective) and at one point I had a small cut under my left eye from where the plastic was digging in.

 

frogwoman

The third goggles (I broke the second pair before I even took a picture)

So the quality of the goggles had to go up, which of course meant that the price tag also had to rise.  I paid $50 for one of the pairs of goggles (the ones pictured above that made me look like the evil fiend Frogwoman) but they lasted a matter of days before they broke – or rather, as Shane points out over my shoulder – before I broke them.  Which frankly I maintain was the goggles’ own fault – I wasn’t being particularly rough with them.

I knew the goggle saga was spinning out of control when, as I was shopping in Myer last week wondering whether to buy myself a new perfume, the voice in my head said:

‘Gee, a hundred bucks on perfume, Lauren.  That’s like, your next 2 months’ worth of goggle purchases.  Just not sure you can justify that.’

Yep.  When you are measuring your other purchases in terms of number of goggles you could buy with the same money, you need to sort some shit out. Continue reading →

Aldi Love

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Aldi Indoor Bike Trainer. Oooooh yeaaaah

Aldi Indoor Bike Trainer. Oooooh yeaaaah

You may already know I love Aldi.  If you didn’t, you do now.  I really like the smaller size of the shops and only having one choice of, for instance, mayonnaise.  It makes the boring grocery shop much quicker and simpler for my impatient and confused self.

And the weekly specials!  I do love popping in to get the week’s food and grabbing a new sleeping bag, wireless doorbell or 3D printer at the same time.  I don’t need a 3D printer (does anybody) but everyone knows the rule that says if you buy it with your groceries it’s just part of your weekly sustenance requirements.  We have to eat.  We have to buy groceries.  Supermarket purchases are basically free.

So I could probably end this post here – you’ve seen the picture above so you can figure out the rest, right?

Well OK, I can’t miss an opportunity to report back on triathlon training progress.  So yes, the Aldi buyers in their infinite wisdom realised that there was a growing need from one of their most loyal shoppers.  A growing need for a bike trainer.  And so they did deliver. Continue reading →

Straddie Nerves Kicking In

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swimming poool toilets

The glamorous life of a triathlete

Now that I have no silly swimming races with which to distract myself, the unavoidable disaster that is  looming closer by the minute is The Straddie Salute.

I signed up for this race just before Christmas, as a way to bridge the massive gap between my baby Bribie Triathlon (300m-10km-3km) and the Olympic distance Noosa Triathlon coming in October (1.5km-40km-10km)

And suddenly the Straddie race day is only 7 weeks away on Saturday!  Which means THE TAPER is only 6 weeks away.  Which means PEAK WEEK is only 5 weeks away.  Which means it is time to FREAK OUT.

Let me explain. Continue reading →

Training With Gels

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Endura Gel - Raspberry and Grape flavour

My gels of choice

You may remember that my report on the Bribie Island Triathlon included a mention of the very glamorous moment that I had a little vomit.  Honestly, this sport of triathlon is just perfect for ruining any image you had of yourself as being sophisticated and lady-like.  You should totally try it.

Anyway I thought that the ‘issue’ was caused by a number of factors – including nerves, swallowing copious amounts of seawater, prolonged jiggling up and down and trying an energy gel for the first time.  Which was a silly thing to do, by the way – never try anything new on race day!  How many times do I need to say it!

In fact, most people I spoke to about the race felt that the gel was mainly to blame for my tummy trouble.  But I usually have an iron stomach that can handle all sorts of gone-off milks and whatnot (apologies to those who have dined at my house, but I tend to treat ‘Best Before’ dates as ‘Buy Me Before’ dates and ‘Use By’ as ‘Begin Using By’)

So I don’t know if it was the gel’s fault.

The thing I do know is that I should train the way I plan to race – which means incorporating some gels into the longer training sessions that need it (sometimes forgoing my beloved Sesame Snaps for a gel) Continue reading →

Starting Out

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shiny

Sweating makes you smile

I did once promise to do a post on how I started out exercising, and now that one of my greatest supporters (and friend since I was about 5 years old) has joined a gym, I decided it was high time to share some tricks with you! Continue reading →

Your First Triathlon

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Mum and me

Yes, she can.  So can you.

I feel like a bit of a fraudster, passing on my advice for ‘your first triathlon’.

I mean, I’ve done precisely one triathlon.

But if you’re looking for advice like I was/am, maybe learning from somebody who is as new as you is the best option.  When you’ve done a few, I imagine that certain things become obvious, and you might assume they’re obvious to everyone.

So this guide to ‘your first triathlon’ is for the real beginner, and the one who is Type-A, needing to know every detail they possibly can, including the obvious.  This is for you, my friend (although the rest of you may read if you want to)

I have split the post into sections, because it is long – there is a lot of information.  If you’re OK with some sections of your triathlon journey, you can skip the parts of this post that cover those sections.  I’ve also made a special page on my blog where this post will live permanently, if you need to refer back to it – here.

Let us begin. Continue reading →

Represent!

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I Tri T-shirt

Triathlete T-shirt. This way I don’t need a tattoo on my forehead announcing it. Yet.

I got this t-shirt for Christmas, but I didn’t wear it straight away.

There is something about declaring your sporting commitments publicly, such as wearing a t-shirt that states ‘I Tri’, that means you have to be ready to represent and be an ambassador of your sport.

I don’t look like your average triathlete; I look like I spend most of my days sitting on the couch watching re-runs of Friends and eating chocolate ice cream.  Which is why I knew I’d make a good triathlon representative and that it was worth waiting until such time as I was ready to take on that responsibility.

Yes, I dare to think that I might inspire other crazy weirdos to have a go at this sport – because I am part of a minority of un-athletic, un-talented morons doing this for fun, as opposed to the generally intimidating triathletes you might normally see or hear of.  I have visions of some other average joe lunatic standing in the checkout queue at Coles, noticing my t-shirt and asking me a question about triathlon.  And me, enthusiastically telling joe how terrifying and challenging yet ultimately achievable it is, before he or she scurries off to sign up for the Bribie Island Triathlon that very afternoon.

I will be kind, welcoming and encouraging.  Average Joe Lunatic’s world will be a better place.

So, I knew I had to be ready to represent seriously.  Therefore, I didn’t wear my t-shirt straight away, even though I was swimming, biking and running – and tri-ing – really hard.  I was definitely a triathlete, I had no issue with that.  You don’t have to enter a race to be a runner.  You don’t have to publish a book to be a writer.

But I wanted to make sure that I could wear my t-shirt with my head held high, ready to answer questions if needs be.  I waited patiently for that time to come, thinking it might be after the finish line at Bribie. Continue reading →

Physio Session 2

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Emergency! Emergency! Buy New Shoes!

Emergency! Emergency! Buy New Shoes!

Just over a week ago my new Physio, Jake, banned me from running but promised he’d have me ready to run at Bribie.

So when I turned up for my second physio session on Friday, I was fully prepared for more needles, more pressure points and more running ban.  We’ve still got 3 weeks until the mini Bribie Triathlon.

Indeed, an hour of the same physio talk and tests ensued – there was jumping, hopping and twisting of my legs.  Jake got his extra-thick needles out and did some more dry-needling – actually, a lot more.  And it was really painful.  I wished he would switch to acupuncture instead.  Dry-needling is more of an archaeological dig for injury fossils inside me than just a few strategic pin pricks like you get with acupuncture.  There is a lot of ‘rummaging’ with the needle tip once it’s inside and boy is it painful.  Especially when he hits a nerve (yes that happened)

But then, as a magical surprise just as I was about to leave and make my next appointment, Jake announced that he was happy for me to go for a run.  Well he called it a jog, but we all know that sounds much less serious than a run and what is the technical difference? I don’t know so I always claim a run, never a jog. Jogs are for wimps.

Anyway, I stared at him.  Really?  Yes, just take it easy, wait for at least 24 hours from now and don’t do more than 4km.  Stop if you get any pain, but if you just feel a bit tight then you can keep running, he said.

I took this to mean that I am the best physio patient he’s ever had and I have healed at a speed that even Superman would be proud of.  I patted myself on the back and hurried out of the office to plan my first Recovery Run. Continue reading →