The Goldie

Ahhh, the ups and downs of sport.

Here's the race report: I was violated in the swim, seriously, thoughts of "say NO, then GO, and TELL someone you trust" came into my head when I was swimming. Not sure if it was the due to my start position (as many of decent swimmers who started near me came out of the water with me too) or if I was just too tense being stuck in the chaos, or if my swim was just weak. Anyhoo, got onto the bike and ended up being second chase group that didn't want to work together and lost almost 2' to the lead group of 7.

Now for the run, here I should explain first. I've had some left leg pain since I stepped on a rock at the Calgary 70.3. It's manifested itself in various aches and pains, from my heel, to my calf & glute medius, and finally to my tibialis anterior (or what I call shin splints). I was pretty optimistic that I would be good to go on race day, I'd raced the Aquathon and felt ok after but race morning, my 'tib' was not too happy with me. To keep this short, the run into the swim hurt, T1 was not comfortable and T2, not good. I ran one lap to see if it would ease but it didn't. I made the decision to pull out--not wanting to do any further damage in hopes I can still finish off the season in Clearwater (70.3 World Champs) in November. Now, I won't even type what I think the problem might be, since I'm hoping it's not that, but I'll be getting it all checked out once I get home. Disappointing, yes, earth shattering, no. I just have a new game plan now.

Now some pics: Yours truly in Surfers Paradise--not a cloud in the sky the entire time there. Beautiful beaches, but the whole 'scene' is not my style...maybe if I were 21 and backpacking....

The skyscrapers in Paradise, quite a contrast from Noosa!
Me, after my first surf lesson--complete with a certificate! It's as hard as it looks people! I was definitely not a natural! At one point the instructor jumped on the board with me to help me stand up....It was kind of like when you first learn to ride a bike without training wheels, you remember; when your Dad runs with you and says he's holding onto the seat but he actually isn't and then you realize he's not and start to wobble and crash...I managed to get up, and stay up, thinking he was still with me, then I looked back and realized he'd let go and got so excited that I began to wobble and down I went hard in about a foot of water (it was low tide)!

It was fun, and I want to try it again but I'm sore and banged up today from the board kicking my butt for 2 hours!

That's about all for now. I am currently in Auckland taking the milk-run home. Will keep you posted on the status as soon as I know.

I may have one more flat white for the road.....

LM

-SOrry for missing practically everyone who was down in the Gold Coast, we were staying a little farther from the race site than I thought & my internet/telephone access was limited. Hope everyone had a good race!