Mooloolaba 2009

My second time at Mooloolaba. And my one year anniversary for the olympic distance. The race this year felt different. I wasn't as nervous. I knew what to expect. Julie and I drove up on Friday night. Saturday morning we went for a spin with the squad then relaxed and headed over to register and rack our bikes. At expo we got to meet the reigning Olympic Champion Emma Snowsill. She wasn't racing this weekend, but I did get this picture with her (I was a little excited to meet her).
Saturday they also announced that the swim would not be an ocean swim. One of the things that I loved about Mooloolaba last year was the surf swim. It's one of the few races that takes place in the surf. It's tough, and I'm definitely better at swimming without waves, but it's a unique experience. Unfortunately the weather this year would not permit it. There were huge, dumping waves on the beach, so the swim was relocated to the "river" which was more of canal. Nice and salty, but not wavy. The real downside is that transition stays in the same place but the river is 600m away from transition. This means after the swim I had a 2min 45 second barefoot run to transition. They did say we could bring our sneakers out to the river, but I opted to go without cause I didn't want to have to first find my shoes, second put them on, third run and fourth take them back off again.

Triathlon involves a lot of gear. Saturday night I laid out everything that I needed for the following morning before packing it up (sans bike since it was already in transition). Months of preparation and practice were all coming together for this race.
Sunday morning we awoke at 4:30am. Between the 7 of us sharing the apartment and the 2 bathrooms, we needed plenty of time. Transition opened 5:15. Part of the preparation process involves getting the right hair. In my first triathlon in Boston the hardcore girls wore french braids, so now I do braids for each race. After doing my own Kirsty asked if I could do hers as well. Here we go. I was also trying to instruct Julie and Paul how to turn the flash on.
We set our things up in transition and went off to the BTS tent to drop off our non-race gear (extra waterbottles, dress, sandals, camera, etc). At this point I made the decision to take all three GUs with me. GUs are carbo gels. For an olympic distance I usually take 3. One before the race, one toward the beginning of the ride, and the last one at the end of the ride. Since I was taking three GUs I opted to only have water on the bike. My tri suit has little elastic pockets on the back, so I just tuck the GUs in there and have them whenever I'm ready. Kirsty and I pose for one last shot before leaving transition.
There's not a lot of space on the river, and pretty much no option to warm up in the water. They sound the horn and we're off. The swim was rough lots of swimming on top of eachother, but I pulled myself from the water in 29 minutes. Hooray, love swimming sub-thirty minutes. I did the run over to the transition area, and it didn't feel too bad except for the one pebbly bit.

I hop on the bike, and there are some hills. It's only a few Ks of hills out to the highway, but they're big, and I struggled. I get out on the highway, and I start to feel better. I start passing girls in my age group. Sweet. I decide it's time for my first GU. I reach for them, and my pockets are empty. They had swum out of my pockets on the swim. At this point I start thinking what am I going to do. I've got over 2 hours of exercise, and I have no sugar. I start to freak out a little bit. And as I'm freaking out, I start thinking of other things that I didn't do according to plan. Like pee. I didn't pee before the race. I start thinking I'm not going to be able to do it. I'm going to have to stop on the run at least to pee and probably because I've crapped out with no sugar. Then I start thinking, no this is all in my head. I just have to push through.

I get to the turn around point and get hit full on with a head wind. It's rough. I pass a few more girls in my category. But a few minutes later they pass me back, but slow down right away. So I pass them. And this is the way the rest of the ride goes. One of us makes a move and pushes forward, then gets hit by the brunt of the wind and can't break away. Then some one else pushes up. In the last 3K as we head back through the hills the sky opens up with rain.

I get back to transition, and it's decision time. Do I go to the loo? I drop off the bike, pull on the runners, and spot Tanya's bike next to mine. If her bike is already there then it means she's already on the run, and there's a GU sitting with her transition stuff. Sweet. I grab her GU and eat it on my way out of transition. I'm feeling like I'm not busting with pee. I know that can change once I get running, but for the moment I feel ok.


The run is two out and back laps with a hill at the beginning. Running down the hill for the first time the rain lets loose again, soaking me and my shoes. But the course is still nice running parallel to the beach with clear km markers. I feel good. I don't pass many people on the run, and a few I passed on the bike pass me again. At the 7K mark, I checked my watch and I knew I would make my goal of sub-2:45.

Last year I did Mooloolaba in 2hours 51 minutes, 3 weeks after being hit by a car and on some one else's bike. I did Noosa in 2 hours 48. This one I wanted to improve upon that again by 3 minutes. Ideally I wanted a sub-30 minute swim, 1:15 bike and 50 minute run, without transitions. If I got that I'd pull a 2:35. Well the swim went to plan, the bike was overall 1:21, but that includes the run 600m to transition as well as transition times themselves. And the run, well it was still 53 minutes. That's what I ran the moo run in last year. At first I was disappointed, I haven't made any run improvements in a year. But then I think back to all the struggles I've had with my running this year, and I'm pretty happy that I haven't gotten any worse. And it's still only 2 minutes off my best 10K time of 51min, which after swimming and running is a really good effort.

The night after the triathlon, we went to the post-race pub party. There they had the footage from the finish line on loop. I took a picture of it when I crossed the line. That's me in the background just as I finished. Yay. 2 hours, 43 minutes.

Love that dirty water

Ah, Boston. My former and future home.

When I first came to Australia it was for 6 months. Those 6 between 9, which then became a desire to stay. I wanted to explore more of Australia than just Cairns, and I wanted to make a break from BCG. It seemed the thing to do was to stay.

I've loved living in Brisbane. It's a great city. I love the ferries, the weather, the triathlons, the coast. I love the lifestyle. I think I could live very happily in Brisbane for a long time (provided I used a lot of sunscreen).

The thing is long distance relationships can only survive when there's an end in sight. If there's no future, there's no present. One of us had to move. I have known for a while that it was going to have to be me. Australia is my dream. And in a way, I'm happy to not have to share it. Paul did ask about the potential to move his job to Brisbane, but they wouldn't do it. We talked about cities though and Paul found a job in one that I love, so it will be back to Beantown for me.

This is the craziest thing I have done for love, ever. And that fills me with excitement.

Half Ironman

Well, I've been hemming and hawing over it for too long. It's only 7 weeks away, so today I signed up for the Busselton Half Ironman in Western Australia. The 2nd of May will be my first half IM. Exciting! And scary!

The kids are back

One of the benefits and pains of working at the University is the students. Yesterday was the first day of class for uni students, and the campus is crawling with them. On the tough side it means the city buses are full, the queues for lunch are outrageous and the professors are all busy teaching classes. On the plus side, being surrounded by students makes me feel young. Only thing that could improve this effect is if I could drink their essence and turn them into drones (who don't ride the bus), like in the Dark Crystal. [cue evil laugh]

Mom's visit

One of these things is not like the others. That's right - my new helmet is not a bucket! Big thanks to my mom for my new helmet. I christened it at this weekend's Luke Harrop Memorial Gold Coast Triathlon.

The visit from my mom was wonderful. We visited the markets, made lots of tasty veggie dishes, went to Bribie Island for a tri, and drove through the Glass House Mountains. And topped it all off with a trip on the Brisbane Wheel. Thanks Mom for a fantastic visit.

Mom in Brisbane

Bribie Tri

The Bribie Tri was tough. Longer distance than what I've been doing at 1K swim, 28K bike and 8K run. Swim felt good and was nice and flat. Bike was 4 laps with lots of turns and twists. And run was long. I don't think I've run that far since Noosa. And just mentally it was tough. And I got passed in the last 800m by two girls in my age group dropping me to 11th overall. Time to get serious about the half ironman.

Cairns in the news

A friend of mine pointed me back to the Cairns Post website yesterday. He makes the point that they have dedicated half of their real estate to tourist destinations, and half of it to the dangers of being a tourist. If you can't read it, the three top headlines are:

1. Tourists tracked and raped
2. Man attacked by shark
3. Child eaten by croc

Ah, Cairns.

Race Report: Robina and Resolutions

Last weekend I competed in the second triathlon at Robina. This one was a full sprint distance (750/ 20/ 5). The biggest difference, of course, is my cool new sunnies. Take a closer look at them:Pretty cool, huh? They are the same style that Emma Snowsill the Olympic Champion wears.

The race itself went pretty well. All my times were slower than the Raby Bay race, but I think it was overall a slower course. I still came 7th in my age group. Though I did get beat on the bike by one of my squad members and that was a little discouraging.

I also discovered the hard way that permanent ink provides good sun protection. See, sunscreen smears numbers, and there isn't a lot of the alcohol based gel available here, so I opted for having the number written on pre-screen, then just outlining the numbers in screen afterwards. The result was that I still have a few numbers burned into my right shoulder:

I need to get other screen.

The run felt good and was pain free until two days later, when my shin splint in my left leg came back at run training. And this brings me to my first New Year's Resolution: No More Shin Splints. I've translated this into several sub-resolutions:

1. No flip-flops, ever. This one sucks, cause Brissie in the summer is prime flip-flop-wearing time, but I can feel the impact of no support on my legs just walking to catch the bus, so they are out. (I am making one exception to the rule and that is the beach)
2. Stretching and strengthening exercises every night. I know they should be easy to bang out every night in the hour or so between dinner and bed, but somehow TV is so enthralling, I can't move my butt from the couch to the floor to stretch - this must change.
3. Get new running shoes. I've been wearing Nike Triax's for many years now. They were recommended by Marathon and I've trusted them, but I think it's time to check out a new shoe and see if this makes any difference. I went to a good running shop on Wednesday night, and should get my new kicks (Mizunos) today.
4. Get my old orthotics recovered. I truly believe that orthotics are more of an art than a science. I had my old orthotics for about 5 years before I started to wear off the top layer of them, and I started getting blisters. I've had shin splints on and off since I started running, but I was pain-free in Cairns, and this new bout came in with the new orthotics, so I'm getting a friend of mine who's a podiatrist to recover the old ones, and I'll go back to them.

Kicking the shin splints is particularly important as I start thinking about increasing my distance to achieve my goal of competing in the Busselton Half Ironman in May. It's just not that far away, and there are a lot of miles between now and then.

Finally, I'm instituting a no dishes in the sink over night policy. It's far too easy when you live alone to get sloppy. Sure it's another thing to do between dinner and bed, but it's a good habbit to get into.

Highlights of the tour 'Up Above'

So if I'm down under, does that make the US 'Up Above'? I think it does.

I'm back in Brissie from 2.5 weeks back in the states. By the numbers:

18 hours flight out
27 hours flight back (there's no direct US -> Bris flight as there was on the way out)
8 flights total
22 kilos of luggage
$45 in checked luggage fees
3 hours by train
1 night at the 9s
1 ride
2 swims
3 runs
Many bottles of fine American micro-brews (good show, Portland)
2.5 lbs gained (mostly in steak)
11 discs of BSG watched

I had a wonderful time. Here are the highlights:

• Cycling around Houston with Paul's step-dad. John was an avid cyclist for years, but hasn't gotten a chance to ride much of late. We rode along the wide boulevards into the city, and out to a large park. It was perfect weather, didn't even require a jacket in December.
  
• Playing boggle with Paul's sister and cousins (and getting thoroughly beat, even though I came up with the word "eleven")
• Getting triathlon sunnies in the "asian fit" frames cause I'm so asian, seriously though they're the first pair of wrap around style sunglasses that don't bounce around
  
• Finding and being convinced by Paul to purchase a New Year's Eve dress that got heaps of compliments on the night. Thank you, Paul, and Betsey Johnson.
  
• Making pysanka eggs with my mom and Paul. My mom has been decorating eggs in the Ukranian batique styel for years. Paul got to try his hand on his first egg, which given that it didn't crack was a huge success. I got to try my mom's electric kistka, very cool.
  
• Hanging out with my mom's housemate Cindy. Hi, Cindy.
  
• Poking fun at the incredibly practical footwear in Portland. Maybe some one told the cocktail waitresses that they'd be behind a bar, but I doubt it. Some one was getting ready for work and thought, "yeah, you know what, I'm going to wear my orthopaedic sandals with knee highs with my little cocktail dress"
  
• Listening to jazz music in the VIP lounge at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland (the drink lines were less of a highlight, but overall a successful party)
  
• Going swimming with Paul in South Bend (and trying to calculate how many laps of a 25 yard pool I needed to swim to cover 1K, while swimming it)
• Watching ISU win their 14th game in an undefeated season (not making the list is watching them take the stats to 14-1 in the next game)
• Going to the ND basketball game, getting $6 student tickets, sitting on the floor in the fourth row, and then spotting ourselves in the ESPN coverage of the game the next day
• Spending at least one full day in jammies watching Battlestar Galactica

New Year's 2008

Authentic Australian Experience

In between tri's and Christmas parties, I've been trying to fit in a few more Authentic Australian Experiences.

First, I went to the Eumundi Markets with my friend Julie. The markets are about an hour and half north of Brissie. According to the website they are "World Famous.". But I have it on good advice that their heyday was actually 30 years ago. Still, they were huge. Mostly arty, but also commercial. The biggest surprise there was the truly fantastic Mexican food. Sure, it's by Australian standards, but still, nice thick chips, real guac, pulled beef. I was happily surprised.

On the way home from the Eumundi Markets, we stopped at the big pineapple. Large roadside attractions (see the big lobster from my Great Ocean Road trip) are an Aussie icon. The pineapple is big - 3 stories tall. But in the end was a bit of a disappointment. It's free to climb up and the inside is filled with diaramas of a pineapples trip from the farm to the can. But there was no info on the pineapple itself. When was it built, who built it? It also was a bit of a let down that they'd clearly built this large parking lot and a special bridge across the highway to access it, and it was empty. There might have been 8 people there. Just felt a bit sad.


From there we stopped at the Abbey Museum. It's a 3 room museum, and we were the 3rd and 4th visitors for the day. The man at the front refused to allow me to pay the full price admission of $8. Instead I got the student rate of $5.50. The museum was surprisingly good. It followed civilization from cavemen times to the Victorian era. And had some pretty impressive artefacts (Mary Queen of Scot's shoe!). I am a bit more skeptical now, I mean, how does a 3 room museum in a Queensland country town get the shoe of a tragic queen? Still at $5.50 this was better than the pineapple.

Finally, I got to take part in an Authentic Aussie Surf Carnival. As part of our Christmas celebrations, my tri team broke down into country based teams: Australia, New Zealand, Rest of World. I brought my tiny American flags. Who knew how useful those would be? Some people got assigned new homelands since the Rest of World (or as I like to think of them, the American) team would be lacking. We did an ocean swim, a boogie board contest, beach flags (sprints, starting lying face down in the sand). It was a great experience. Picts are here.

Race Report: Raby Bay

Can't hold it in: I got in the top 10! Not like the top 10 overall. But in the top 10 of women aged 25-29. But still. There were 31 people in my category, and I came 10th. Better than that, I ran my 5K in 24:50. It's the first time I've run sub-5 minute Ks in a tri!

It was a sprint race. The third in the Queensland Tri Series. Each race has gotten a little bit tougher, a little bit longer. This one was a full sprint 750m-20K-5K.

And it was hot. They rotate the start times of the individual waves, so though I was one of the first heats at Robina, at this race I was the second to last. The race also has a kids race and an enticer race (mini-triathlon), so though the kids got started at 7. My race didn't actually start til 8:48. On a cloudless 32 degree day.

The swim felt good for the first half and bad for the second. I just lost my guts, started breast stroking every few strokes. My overall time was still sub 15 minutes, but I know I can do better.

On the bike I could see another BTS person shortly ahead of me. It was a 4 lap course, I caught her on the second, but she passed me back. But I passed her back again. Then an official on a motorcycle rode up alongside me. He says, "Looks like you lost your friend". I was a bit stunned. Officials don't talk to you, unless you've done something wrong. This guy was just having a chat. Very strange.

Luckily to combat the heat, there were gusty winds. Unfortunately, on the bike this made the ride out near impossible and the ride in super fast. At every lap, I'd sail in with the wind to my back, turn around, try to get out of the saddle to get my speed back, but with the wind pounding my chest, I'd bow back down onto my bars to push through it.

Then the run. The wind here really made a huge difference. 5K in four laps of 1.25K, coming back in to the crowds for the half way point. It felt good. Strong. I passed another BTS person on the course, but since we were so close to the last to go, the course was clearing out.

I forgot to stop my watch, so I didn't realize til the official results were released that I'd finished the run in sub 25 minutes.

I was sorely disappointed that after all of that there were no sausages leftover. A sausage on a slice of bread is an Aussie tradition. Though there were plenty before the race, it's not the time that I'm really in the mood. And afterward, they'd already packed up. Grrr.

Also, I got a little sunburned. I mean, I put on sunscreen, but it's only good for 4 hours. And it's not really good for that after a swim. But there's not much option. I can't put on more screen during the tri, the sweat will stop it from sticking. 4 hours and 30+ is the best I can find here. Other than covering myself in zinc, I can't figure out what else to do.

But those things aside, I broke into the top 10. It's only up from here.

Canberra

Last weekend I went to visit my friend Kimberley and Hamish in Canberra. They're both public servants there. Canberra, like DC, was the capital designed when the country couldn't decide if Sydney or Melbourne should be the capital. As a result, it's the only major city not located on the ocean. Ok, calling it a "major city" is probably not quite right. It's more like a "major town". Canberra only has 300K people, almost all of them working for government.

The visit was mostly about hanging out with friends, but I also wanted to take in some government, and K and H are excellent tour guides when it comes to that. We went to see New Parliament House on Saturday. New Parliament House is 20 years old, but the "New" differentiates it from "Old" Parliament House which preceded it. It struck me just how similar our governments are. Sure there's the big difference about having a PM instead of a President, but once you get beyond that, bicameral systems descended from Mother England just aren't that different.

That afternoon we checked out the War Memorial. Which is much more of a museum than a memorial. After being thoroughly educated on the Anzacs at Gallipoli and the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese, I came out stunned at the rules of war. How, in the midst of the bloody and futile months long battle with the Turks, they would call a temporary armistice with their opponents to collect their dead. Then, they'd each go back to their sides to continue fighting. It seems that the wars we're involved in today don't follow those gentlemanly rules.

The following day we saw Old Parliament House. It's must more British, and not nearly as circa 1980s as New Parliament House. In fact the chair for the Speaker of the House is a replica of the one used in the House of Commons in England. However, the original was destroyed in the bombing of London, and now the Brits have a replica of the replica made out of timbers from Queensland.

We also covered, what I can only assume to be, the defining event in Australian Political History. Since Australia remains a commonwealth of England, the Queen has ultimate power over the government. In the 70s, the Governor General (ie, the Queen's man in Australia) told her that government wasn't functioning because the PM refused to call an election (the PM can call an election at any point in his 3 year term). And so the Queen sacked the PM, and put the opposing party in power and demanded an election. Most famously the dismissed PM Whitlam stood on the steps of Parliament and said "May God save the Queen, because nothing can save the Governor General." This story was told and retold in both Parliament Houses.

We also explored the National Gallery, which was a sweet abridged museum. Each room covered one genre of art. It had all a work from each major contributor to the movement, then moved on. Here's the Monet in the impressionists, now just to your left you'll see the Dali in the surrealist corner.

Other than the political history, the biggest impression Canberra made on me was the weather. It was freezing. It rained on and off all weekend and never topped 50 degrees. In fact there was even snow reported in the mountains. Brrr. This queenslander can't handle that sort of chill factor anymore.

Canberra

Race Report: Robina

This was the weather after the race. Thankfully, it was clear skies during the race, but it was hot.

This was a short race: 400m, 15K, 4K. Swim was in a lake, which means it was not salty! So nice for once. Swim felt good, though my time was over 8 minutes which was a bit disappointed. The ride felt good, though heart rate was a bit high, probably due to the cold I had this week, or the blistering heat. 82 degrees, 75% humid. The run felt terrible for the first 1500. The air was still, and I started to feel like I shouldn't have drunk all that water on the bike. But once things settled in I felt good on the run. It was a 2 lap course, and I did the second lap about 10 seconds faster than the first. Overall I came 10th in my category out of 41. 1h 3m 53s.

Sushi Quest, pt 3: Sono

The sushi quest may end up being much shorter than previously anticipated. One of the restaurants in the city has closed. I think this leaves only one or two other options to try out. Bummer.

This week I visited Sono, at the bottom of the Queen St Mall. It was by far the best ambiance. Wood paneled walls, small rock garden, waitresses in yukata. Sort of reminded me of Fugakyu. They offered a lot of non-sushi dishes. We opted for the large sushi/sashimi platter. This might have been a mistake for two of us, as I think it had no less than 35 pieces of sushi, and after a large bowl of edamame and miso (plus raisin toast on a few hours before) it was a bit aggressive. Still, the pieces weren't too large, and in the end I think we only left half a dozen pieces. What they did have though was a large variety of fish. Many I had never tried, but since they didn't identify them for us, I will not likely remember them. We had tuna, salmon, yellowtail (sometimes called kingfish), swordfish, snapper. I think there were 3 other varieties of white fish, but I couldnt' tell them apart. One that looked like mackerel, but wasn't. Maybe this sounds ingracious, but I sort of wish there were fewer varieties. I started getting them mixed up. The overall experience was great. I will definitely return. Though I still think I prefer the quality at Oshin.

Things to do before you die

My time in Australia is limited. I will, someday, go home. And I don't want to settle into that, I just live here I've never done the tourist things. I mean I don't want to do the touristy-tourist things, but it's like living in Paris and never going up the Eiffel Tower. My friend Julie gave me a deck of cards today each with a Brisbane Day Trip on it. They cover museums, markets, vineyards, ranches, rainforests. So, I thought it's time to put together my list. Things I want to do in Australia. Here we go:

• Uluru (I'm on the fence on this one because of time and money, but it's supposed to be awe-inspiring)
• Play on a touch footie team - Aussie rules or league doesn't matter much. I'll be equally ill-equipped in either of them. Maybe Aussie rules is better cause I can run. But either way, I think this will go nicely with my netball experience.
• The Outback Spectacular, brought to you by RM Williams (they make the boots) - ok, they advertise this on TV and it looks like a Medieval Time Restaurant with an Outback theme. I mean seriously, how could I miss this?
• Australia Zoo - I don't even like zoos, but I might be able to see a Bindi Irwin in her natural habitat, that alone is worth the price of admission
• Canberra - I'm going next week, so it's sort of a gimme, but both old and new parliament houses are on the must tour list
• Hangliding - I wanted to do this in Cairns, but never got around to it before the wind died for the wet. I think I can find a place around Brissie to do this.
• Climb the cliffs at Kangaroo Point - I see people do this every weekend and it looks like fun. I've never been rock climbing before, but this seems like as good a place as any to try it out.
• XXXX Ale House - it's shit beer, but it's local shit beer. And for ages the only beer in Queensland, and the brewery is right across the river.
• Witch's Chase Cheese Co - (no explanation needed)
• A half ironman. It's not uniquely Australian, but triathlon is a big part of my Australian experience, and I'd love to do my first one here. There's one in Feb, but with christmas, I don't think I'll have the time to properly train. Then there's another one in May, so that may be the goer.

I think that's enough for the time being. Any other suggestions?

Yes, we can

Patriotism is a funny thing. It doesn't really exist in Australia, and I have trouble explaining it to my friends here. It's a feeling in my gut, a doctrine driven into each American child every morning with the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem. The love of country in the US is practically a religion. I was brought up on 4ths of July, Born in the USA, and the belief that I was fortunate to be born in the greatest nation in the world. It's a very personal thing for me. And a thing that has been attacked by the current political leaders for the last 8 years.

My second night in Australia, I went to see a play. The play was critical of both Australian and American military initiatives in Iraq. And I came away with this feeling. It was one of those "I can talk bad about my mother, but no one outside the family can" feelings. The Aussie's didn't see it that way.

My feelings toward the US for the last 8 years have ranged from frustration to shame. But, no longer. Watching the results come in, in my office yesterday with two colleagues, I felt that desperation vanish and be replaced by hope. It sounds cheesy, but I felt pride again in my country. That's right MY country. I hope I am not wrong, but I believe Obama may lead my country to greatness once again. And that makes me feel patriotic.

Sushi Quest, part 2: Hanaichi and Mizu

This week two sushi joints join the ranks of the Sushi Quest. Hanaichi in the Winter Garden on the Queen St Mall and Mizu in Newstead.

Hanaichi is a sushi train. I know, I know, I said no sushi trains, but I hadn't tried it, and I had a friend with me, and I figured it would be the more wallet-friendly of the options on the Queen St Mall. The most I can say for Hanaichi is that it was decent. Better than Sushi Train branded sushi trains, but not as good at Ginga (the sushi train closest to my house). They did mostly standard fair (nigiri: tuna, salmon, kingfish, prawn, eel, squid, octopus; rolls: salmon/avo, chicken/avo, duck). The pieces were small, and presented no need to chew through them. The thing that most turned me off from the joint was that they had a stack of sushi plate waiting to go onto the train - making me think the fair we were getting was pretty old already. For quick sushi on the Queen St Mall, I stick with the to-go rolls in the food court of the Myer Centre.

Mizu was a different story. I had lunch there today. They're less sushi-focused, more general japanese. I had the sashimi bento box which included 6 pieces of sashimi, prawn and vegetable tempura, salmon teriyaki, miso and salad. I thought this was very good value. The sashimi consisted of tuna, salmon and kingfish, with the kingfish being the standout on texture and flavour, and the salmon being the disappointment. But given that they didn't specialize in sashimi, I thought they were very good. I felt the other items in the box were all strong: tempura crispy, teriyaki sweet and flavourful and miso, um, miso-y. I would return to Mizu for dinner and hopefully find more sushi varieties on the menu.

Just a small PS: My faith in democracy and the American people has been restored. I watched the results and speeches with a few coworkers on a laptop in my office today. I was overcome by chills and tears at many points during the speeches. I am filled with hope for a country, I am once again proud to call my own.

An imperfect race: Noosa Triathlon

My first Noosa Triathlon (and second ever Olympic distance) was plagued with mishaps. No catastrophes. It was still a good race, just lots of little things.

Saturday morning I woke up at 3:30am. I'm usually an early riser, but really even I like to be asleep at that time. I tried to get back to sleep, tried reading, nothing was working, I was too anxious about the race, so I got up. I read the competitor briefing, and realized I hadn't printed out my receipt with barcode (!). Ok, not a huge deal, there's a Mailboxes down the road that's supposed to open at 10am. I get myself packed up and ready to go. Check my triathlon shelf no less than 5 times to make sure I haven't forgotten anything (no to bike gloves, no to chamois cream, yes to sunscreen and heart rate monitors).

I get to the print shop at 10, and they're not open, in fact, they're not opening. They are closed on weekends. Bugger. New plan, have to go into work on the way to Noosa (which is, btw, in the wrong direction).

I take the train into the valley to pick up the car (no car rental place in my neighborhood), and they can't find my reservation. It seems I managed to book the car to pick up at the airport and return to the valley. Gah. But fear not, if I can wait 20 min, they can get a car for me there. Now in my head, I had sorta been thinking, I'd leave at 11, be upto Noosa by 1, easily make it to register before 4. But I don't get the car til 11:30, then I have to go home and load it up with my gear (thank god the bike fits it, it was a close squeeze). Then to work, and finally.... on the road.

When I get there, they scan my receipt and the bloody thing doesn't read, so they have to call over a tech to manually input me. Good thing I went to print it out, right. I take my bike over to transition, which is not at all near the registration tent. And I've forgotten my little ticket to get my goody bag, but I convinced the woman that I wouldn't take more than one. And in the end, I don't know that I even wanted that one, it's not a very nice shirt, and the hat is the same as the one from Mooloolaba only blue.

Fast forward to Sunday morning. I felt relaxed. My transition area was set up, and I was chilling with the team. In the Noosa race the elites go off first. They race the same course and have the same no-drafting rules. In many elite races drafting on the bike is legal, which means that so long as you're out of the water at roughly the same time as the rest, you can ride in a pack for the whole ride, then the race really comes down to foot speed on the run. Personally, I think this is less exciting, and I'm not allowed to draft, so I don't think the pros should either. We watched the pros start the swim and the bike. Emma Snowsill won the women's race in just under 2 hours. She's also the reigning Olympic champion and took hoome her 5th consecutive Noosa win. The woman is inspiring.

Back to my race. Open water start, and no wet suits. So we're all treading water and it's a long start line, so it's not too busy. The horn goes off and away we go. It's nice being so spread out cause we're not swimming on top of eachother. But that only lasts til about midway to the first buoy, which is a turn, and every one pushes to get the inside lane. From then on it seems it's difficult to find open water, I'm always swimming in between people, feeling other hands on my legs. The course is in the canals of Noosa, which makes it calm and protected. But it's not a straight out and back course, and it's hard to get a feel for where I am in the course. And, about halfway through I realize that I'd forgotten to start my watch at the gun. Crap. Ok, i'll start it coming out of the water, and that will give me cycle and run times at least.

I recently purchased tri cycling shoes. The differences with these are that they only have one strap, so their easier to put on and take off while you ride, and the straps open out, so they don't get stuck in the gears. I started with my shoes clipped into the pedals, so all I had to do was hop on the bike and get going, then put the shoes on as I rode. Unfortunately, when I hopped on, my left shoe got caught on the ground, unclipped and dropped off. I had to stop, go back, get my shoe, put it on, and then get started again. Frustrating to see so many people pass me as I was just trying to get on my bike.

But the ride itself was brilliant! I was down on my aero bars most of the time, which I'm getting pretty good at. I passed people on the way out and was riding pretty fast ~35-37K/hour with the tailwind. At the 10K mark, the course turns off onto a winding track through the woods. It's a gorgeous, long climb. The type that you ride in the saddle to conserve your legs. The turns are numbered with 14 to the top. I saw another BTS suit up ahead of me, but I wasn't sure who it was. Then I saw the hot pink bike. It was Tanya. She'd started in my heat on the swim, and I was closing ground on her. She's super fast, so I was excited. When I came level with her, she gave me a "well done, mate" which thrilled me and I pushed on. She passed me back coming down the hill, but we played tag for the rest of the ride, maintaining a Holden Comodore's distance between us when we weren't passing eachother to abide by the no drafting rule. At 6K to go or so, I passed her, and she didn't pass me back. I felt unstoppable. I was watching the clock as well. I had hoped to do my ride in under 1:20, which would mean better than 30K/hour. I came in at 1:18! Sweet!

I get my feet out of my shoes, dismount my bike and start to run it in. I'm trying to hit the button on my watch to get my split time, and I lose control of my bike and lose my balance. I face plant coming into transition. Lucky I still had my helmet on! I slammed my knee pretty badly, and my hands, but I'm ok. I get up, and start to run it back in, this time with both hands on the bike. As I enter transition, I start walking, my head is spinning from the adrenaline and I start hyperventilating. I see several volunteers eying me, but I won't ask for help, there's no way I'm dropping out of this race. I rack my bike, take a minute to get my breath back and get some more water, and I head out to the run course.

My knee is throbbing and swelling as I go, which in a way is a good thing, cause it takes away from any pain in my shin. The run feels like the longest 10K of my life. Turns out, it almost was. I spent 58 minutes on the run, which just narrowly beats the time on my first 10K, which holds the title for longest 10K at 59:03. I keep thinking I'm further along the course than I am, thinking I must have just not seen the 3K marker, then a minute later, seeing it still ahead of me. Mentally it was tough, cause I haven't done that distance, my brain kept saying, you just don't have this in you. And I think the adrenaline spike from the fall didn't help. I just felt wiped out, like I had nothing left to give, even after the gu. It was just put one foot ahead of the other and finish this thing. Finally at 8K, I started to put the doubts aside and move with confidence, but it was a long hard slog. And to top it all off, I forgot to stop my watch at the finish, so I didn't have a time for the run either.

In the end, I came in at 2:48:57. I beat my Mooloolaba time by 3 minutes, shaving 1minute off the swim, 7 minutes off the bike, and adding 5 minutes to the run. I feel confident, with more run training (still no shin pain after 2 days!), I can get those minutes back on the run. I will beat 2:45 at Mooloolaba this year!

What Australian's think of the US election

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/racerace/

This is a publicly funded radio program.

And, in other news

And, in other news, I'm heading up to Noosa today for the triathlon tomorrow. Results will be posted here:

http://www.usmevents.com.au/ntmsf/results.html

My only previous olympic distance was Mooloolaba. I finished that in 2:51. So my goal for Noosa is something in the 2:40s. I expect the swim to be about the same (30 min), the bike to be faster (<1:28),>51). Better remember to pack my watch. I start at 7:26am AEST, which is 5:26pm Saturday EDT. I think the race will be covered by channel 7 here.

Coxing

I was a coxswain at uni. I coxed all four years. In the end, I loved it and I hated it. Coxing is a thankless job. Steering is difficult, but keeping your crew happy is the hardest bit. What do you say when the boat is constantly off set? Or when you're with a crew who would rather be rowing a coxless boat? Or when you've just been passed by another boat? It's hard. And when I look back I have some very fond memories from junior year (Head of the South, Head of the Occoquan, Dad Vail), but that wasn't most of the time I was on the water. Most of the time, it was a struggle.

I've only coxed a handful of times since I left uni, and they were resoundingly bad. It takes time to develop a rapport with a crew and a coach. So, when my company entered 3 boats in the corporate regatta, I was hesitant. I am a triathlete now, not a cox. And I thought I'd rather row than cox. But really, I only have one day off a week from training, and I like it. I didn't want to lose it, so I declined from participating.

But this week, one of the boats was down a cox, and I was asked to fill in. I agreed because I've not been running anyway, so my training schedule is a bit light. And... it was great!

It was so much fun to be back in the coxswain seat. Particularly with a novice crew. My rowing knowledge came back quickly, and I felt like I knew what to say to help them get better at rowing. And though there were a few terminology issues (they call port side stroke side, and starboard side bow side - I still don't know what they call it when it's bucket rigged), it was smooth sailing. I may have broken my bow seat's spirit by the end, but I think they were all the better for it.

The race is the 23 of November. I'll be in Canberra that weekend, but I'll be with them in spirit.