Break Your Limits

Thanks to the guys @ 2XU Subiaco they have offered a $50 voucher to one of the BYL team that shows the most encouragement out on course… As athletes you will all be close to each other for a long time during the day and it’s each of you who can prop each other up when you are having those bad times (mmm, do they really come?).

A mystery BYL team member will be looking out for you on the course so make sure you cheer each other on throughout the day. Who is BYL? Anyone wearing the gear, whether it be trisuit, shirt, hat, aero helmet, bike wheels, tattoos on the body etc!

The list is also on the website!

Start researching people…

Busso Half is hotting up, at least from a branding and spectator perspective. The BYL Teardrop is on the way. Check this out:

Break Your Limits Teardrop

The shirts & trisuits are also going to be available by Wednesday with a pickup and delivery on Thursday. So, if you have ordered stuff I will be in contact!

RACE TENT

A reminder that we will be located at the following location (where the flag is) throughout the day (subject to access), a leisurely 1.07km to the finish line and an ample recovery back to our site for all athletes. An approx 10mins walk, for all those embattled athletes!

At this location, we will see both the ride and run legs and the beauty about this, we get to see you at least 8 times throughout the day… You wont need to wait too long before we see you next time around!

The ride and run course appear like this:

For all those bringing family and friends, they should be able to find us here, post swim. ie. We watch the start and then walk up to this location. From a parking perspective, I hope to get the car parked before the roads are blocked where you can store all valuables etc. Ford RD is the main cross intersection so look for this!

More information will follow but for now keep tapering!

Well, the wait was over and the event that we have been waiting for, the opening of the 2XU Subiaco Store occured last night. With the red carpet rolled out and a crowd of 70 people gathering it was great way to celebrate the occasion. A great night had by all and I will leave the pictures to tell the story. Congratulations to the guys Rick, Dani, Madison, Todd and Mark for a great achievement.

With the relocation of the BYL headquaters the pre-Busso hype is a little lower than what it would normally be. So, without further ado here is a list of all those competing for the Break Your Limits crew and a few extra ones who technically call BYL home but lets just say ‘train in other environments’ (Yes, we will still cheer you on) -

• Alistair Press
• Arron Robertson
• Natalie Grundy
• Claudia Dohr
• Paul Haddleton
• Jason Hick
• Mara Kroyer
• Tom Kroyer
• Tim Eva
• Damien Constable
• Tavis Philson
• Mitch Cleasby
• Denise Cleasby
• Nathalie Bond
• Vivian Oldfield
• Darrin Griffiths
• Kate Griffiths
• Lisa Delaurentis
• Scott Thomson

(I’m pretty sure that’s it but I do think I’ve missed a couple as I left the main list at the gym. I’ll update the list if you know we are missing some.)

People, there are only 10 days left, remember don’t panic and you will have plenty of support from the sidelines! Just look for the 3m BYL Banner currently in production as I write this.

The title of this blog about sums up our movements of late here in SUNNY France (at last…at long long last!). So as my blogging is far from regular, I will attempt here a little bit of en executive summary blog of the past few weeks. Perfect for those pressed for time, or simply would rather do other things than read this impending waffle.

St Tropez

Home to the rich and richer and perhaps one of France’s first triathlons of the year. St Tropez is truth be told a rather hideous place but I shall not dwell on this and instead get straight down to business. The triathlon was wet and windy, yes very windy. Not only was it my first triathlon of the year, it was also the first time I have swum in water at the rather refreshing temperature of 13 degrees. Add wind gusts of 40-60km per hour and the fact that from the start line we could see mountains covered in snow in the distance (not really conducive when trying to feel warm) and you have it. I swam ok, rode like a dying dog, and ran ok. The sprint distance surely throws me around and by the end of the race I was just starting to feel warmed up and good to go. Came home in 18th place, well off the pace of the speedsters that live in these parts (this is my third 18th place of the year….I am hoping this is not a sign of things to come!).

Nice

Claire and I headed to Nice for a day so that I could meet a couple of guys who were planing on doing a bit of IM bike course reconnaisance. As BYL master coach Ray will attest, the course at Nice is absolutely fantastic! A one lap course with climbs aplently and also descents, views, villages, farms, forests. This course has everything! Not at all like the courses we have back home. In reality this cours is a virtual stage of the Tour de France, rudely sandwiched between a swim and run. The thought of running a marathon after cycling the course is about as bizarre to me as watching the shleck brothers, cadel and lance donn the joggers after a hard day in the saddle – its crazy but I love it! No TT bikes and disc wheels needed here! (Fortunately there were only three of us that rode the course this day so I avoided coming home in 18th place).

Cassis

The Team headed to Cassis for a bit of R&R and to celebrate Claire’s birthday. Cassis is a truly beautiful place on the coast. And has all that a die-hard triathlete could possibly need. Great cycling, heaps of sheltered open water for swimming and some awesome trails that run up and down the coast. After a few hours in Cassis we were close to calling it our favourite place in France until we realised that it seems this is the favourite place of about half of france’s population. Yes, tourists everywhere but still, a lovely part of the world.

Apt

Yesterday we headed to Apt for a 142km cyclosportif event. A late decision to race was made as racing plans have been amended on the fly due to a few ‘legal grey areas’ about my rights to be here in france (I hope nobody from immigration reads this blog). We were planning to race in Portugal next weekend but have been advised that perhaps its best not to cross borders until there is a little more ‘clarity’ about my rights here. So anyway enough of the legal jargon – off to Apt we went for a bit of euro bike racing. I love this stuff and I think for the triathlete its great training. The riding is very different, with periods of excuciating speed and gut wrenching pain followed by calmness and peace as the peleton heaves and surges toward the finish line. I gave it all I could yesterday and this was the goal. And I narrowly avoided my fourth 18th of the year with a nicely timed 19th place. Not a bad effort but a little dissapoinitng. I definately need to improve my cycling nous and tactics so I can get up there and mix it with the best.

An annoying physics assignment

Yes this has nothing to do with swimming, biking or running or generally excercising until just before the point of death but it has been this that has prevented me from blogging for a few weeks. I am doing a bit of study on the side here, mostly out of fear of not knowing how on earth we will be able to earn enough to pay back the mortgage whenever we (or the bank) decides that this little adventure has to come to an end. But it’s done now, so all is good for the moment. But physics – well it’s pretty darn boring to me. I think I will leave that sort of stuff to the geeks that design our bikes, wheels and accessories.

I’d rather just ride

Plan today – 2.20 run – DONE!

I started the journey today at 6.15am from Gwelup, ran via the new BYL premises to Deepwater Point and back to the gym. Just a 33km to start the ball rolling on the longer runs. Whilst running for this time you do a little thinking. Running up the freeway I reckon I saw over 300+ bikes, I was passed at least every 30secs by one, two or countless groups of cyclists and a fair few were also spotted on their Time Trial bikes in preparation for the upcoming half in 2 weeks. Fitness in Perth is alive and well. All shapes and sizes out riding their bikes on an early Saturday morning and a great way to start the day. For those who struggle to find motivation, look no further then the freeway bike path!

Why run to Deepwater Point…? Well, Stadium Tri Club were out doing one of their last brick sessions (Ride / Run) and I wanted to ensure Paul wasn’t just sleeping in his car. At his car, no Paul… so yes he is indeed training hard Trudy!

ps. Paul, as a momento of my long run I left one of my Gels under your windscreen wiper. You may want to remove it before it dries!

Well it’s almost time. The long hard sessions are almost in the past and The Half is looming.

Whilst Paul has been Breaking His Limits by increasing the intensity somewhat to his training. Myself & Sue have been extending our sports knowledge at a Sports training for nurses course.

We feel fully equipped to help the BYL team with all strapping needs.

Paul is trying out my handy work tonight on his patella as the long runs have given him patella tendonitis( I never thought he would suffer an overuse injury) heehee.

Anyway, thought since we have been learning I should pass on some of the basic first aid to you.

When an injury occurs Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation, Referral/ Rehab. I was interested to learn that Anti inflammatories are not recommended as they increase bleeding to the site and prolong healing.

Also compression is deemed as most important so don’t just throw an ice pack on, bandage it on to assist through compression.

If injured don’t HARM yourself. No Heat, Alcohol, Running or Massage( within the first 48-72 hrs increases swelling & bleeding)

For those of you that are only just feeling the strain of the last few weeks but have no injury woes, remember that you can assist in your recovery with ice baths, alternating with warmth(eg spa) & Stretching, both static & dynamic stretches are useful(try attending one of Mara’s yoga classes if you dare).

Anyway keep safe in your journey to Taper, it’s not far away.

See you at Busso. Tx

The photos are now here… All taken from a mobile so I do apologise…

As you can see, a little different from the start!

The before shot, boxes, two walls and a door.

This was another wall to go... And more boxes!

Loving the open plan!

A photo from the entry...

The penultimate move has occured and sitting down to write this, has been an epic 48 hours.

First let’s talk about the Hillarys Triathlon. A great result by the crew competing.

• Arron Robertson – Won the age group by the solitary second with a sprint down to the finish line. You would think he was sprinting for the title…? Well, in essence he was a great finish to win the overall Trievents 40-44 title.
• Alistair Press – A great finish to the Sprint Triathlon campaign (although somewhat limited) and combined with that a great run. Alistair was unfortunate to be hampered by injury earlier in the series but now is coming back for a great finish in Buss0.  All those Tuesday morning sessions are paying off!
• Alex Bell – A great finish to the season and his faster Triathlon to date. Struggling earlier in the year Alex had to work hard on his swim and to his credit the hard work is paying off. After only one season he has competed to a high level in a very tough age group.
• Lisa Delaurentis – In her first hitout since winning the Amateur section of the Abu Dhabi Triathlon. Lisa had a solid race and looked very comfortable. Look out for a great Busso result.
• Scott Thomson -
• Nathalie Bond – It’s the Bond / Robertson household team! Nathalie, although feeling a little tired went onto finish 2nd in the race and not only that, but finish 3rd overall in the Trievents series. Not bad at all!
• Claudia Dohr – The quiet achiever…really? Seriously, Claudia continues to grow from strength to strength and even looks like she’s enjoying it. SHe beat her run time by 2 mins and again, looking forward to the results at the half!
• Darrin Griffiths – He’s back and racing. A nw covert to the BYL team he is some serious training for the Half and it was great to see him out there competing.

You would have also seen a few pics of Kate Bevilaqua. A pro athlete based in Perth and someone we’ll be watching closely for the upcoming Busso Half. Kate’s been around for a while and she is now making a comeback of sorts after suffering a major injury. Starting off her professional career she had quite a few top 5 finishes but a recent injury layoff is now on the hunt. She finished 2nd on the weekend but wait for Busso!

After the triathlon it was back to the gym and straight into the task of transforming a once used storage area, to now the new BYL Headquarters. Two coats of paint completed and some new carpet the move was on in earnest for a Tuesday startup.

The gang started arriving from 3.00pm Monday for the movement of gear and with a vision of it being completed in a ‘few’ hours, it was eventually took 9 hours. With a free workout included there has to be a huge thanks (beyond words) to Tim, Gav, Mali, Paul, Trudy, Em, Rhett and Beck the job was completed at 12.00am Monday night. Thanks also to Michael for the first coat of paint and Shao for moving 3 boxes… Or was that 60?

The West Perth address at 1161 Hay Street, will now be called home and it is fitting to welcome all clients, supporters and friends! And, after all this I hear you asking where’s the photo…? Coming!

yes that’s right.. I have decided its only so many times you can ride that freeway bike path towards Mandurah and back… the domain of the triathlete, pass the same weird old people that stumble out of the retirement home in Success, the Gatorade refill at caltex Baldivis and the fat truckie who always feels the need to be a dick.

It only so many sessions I can talk to my special friend the black line at the bottom of the pool… I often ask it for advice… Blacky am I going to swim fast at Busso… why not Blacky? Blacky why do the fat old guys wear sluggos that are way to small for them. Blacky why is there an excess of used bandaids on the pool floor today?

It only so many run sessions that I can run with my ipod… seriously ive even been able to guess the next song on shuffle its been used that much..

I just want to race.. 18 days till it ends and I get to sleep in again.. that is until IMWA 2010 when it begins all over again.