Julie Bishops first Marathon

My 2016 Perth City to Surf Marathon – 28 August 2016

A marathon.  Something I had never even contemplated doing until I was diagnosed, underwent treatment, and BEAT bowel cancer.  After finishing Busso 70.3 this year, it was time to consider a next new challenge and I thought of the Perth Marathon.  That was not to be as the lead up time was too short.  The City To Surf Marathon at the end of August was perfect timing for the right amount of training….so full steam ahead.

Training was HARD!!

It started off quite reasonable and gradually built into the last big running weeks with 3 weeks achieving up to 60km, each including a 32km run. I cried in two of them, the only exception being the long hills run…who would have thought I’d like running hills?!!

So, skip to race day…

After being quite ill with a head cold, conjunctivitis and gastro (yep, all at once!) for the week before, I rose at sparrows fart to consume some toast and espresso, shed a few anxious tears and catch my lift to the city.  The city was buzzing with athletes everywhere at 5:15am – and a few stragglers still getting cabs home from the night before!

Bag drop, toilet stop and a quick warmup jog with Loretta up and down the terrace with some pick ups to get the body a little warmed up.  Then off to the start line to join the masses.   3, 2, 1….we were off!!

I had intended to start off steady and warm into the first half – but got a little caught up in the crowd adrenalin and the first couple of km’s were too quick.  Consciously slowed myself to an easy 5:30 pace, but by 30 minutes in I was ready to quit!  Everything felt terrible.  My legs hurt, my butt hurt, my neck hurt, it was cold and windy and I would have rather been back in bed!  Fortunately I had felt the exact same way in training, so I knew it would pass…and it did.  I slipped into a nice 5:20ish pace and found myself running with a couple of FTC guys for about 6km…then their pace got quicker, so I let them go! By 14 km in, I looked at my watch and was like ‘wow, a third of the way, that went quick!’.  Had some bloks and drink. At this point, I knew I was going to have a great run J

At about 16km got some great cheers from Renee, Ruth and Courtney to spur me on.  The sun reared its head through the clouds and with the wind at my back I breezed through the next 5km back to the city.  Cheers through the City from Kate S, Vic and Neil kept me smiling some more, until heading around the corner and getting a visual on the first big hill.  It was bloody tough after 21km flat, but my geriatric ‘jog’, (little faster than a sloth) got me to the top, where I let out an involuntary ‘woohoo’.

Into Kings Park and totally enjoyed the scenery and the undulating terrain.  It was tough on the hills, but thoroughly enjoyed coming down them and stetching the legs out.  Alee, passed me in KP looking strong and relaxed.  I finally got to a point where I felt warm enough to remove my wind jacket, so I took a minute to walk, remove jacket, eat some bloks, drink and set off once again.  From here, I took water at every aid station and started on the caffeine gels. 

The next part went in kind of a blur.  Before I knew it, I was at 32km and that’s when I really started smiling!!  I knew I was going to make it, and in my goal time of 4 hours. My though was ‘only 10km to go, it’s under an hour, just like a Wednesday morning training run!’.  At 34 km, another big woohoo!!  Just passed my point of longest run ever. Every km after that was just a small step closer to the finish…the best one being the km after two cups of redbull!! I’d heard all the report of the hills and there being one near to the end…but there were sooooo many hills near to the end, I didn’t know which was the last one!  The last one was sooo hard with less than 2km left to go. But by crikey, I made the most of the last downhill!!  By the time I got to the bottom and for the last 500m I was dizzy with elation and had the finish firmly in my sight.  Crossing the finish line was an amazing feeling.  My family were all there seeing me though and I was so happy to see them.  All that hard work in training has paid off. I made it! And it felt relatively easy – it didn’t make me cry in pain! Thanks coach Kate – your race plan was spot on.

Catching up with many friends in the finish area was wonderful.  I was jumping out of my skin with euphoric happiness and fulfillment and feeling so proud of myself and everyone around me for all of our achievements.  The atmosphere was electric and I couldn’t get enough of it.

After getting home and trying and failing to sleep (a week’s worth of caffeine in four hours will do that to me!) the aches and pains started to set in.  The best and most well-earned aches and pains I’ve ever had.  Still smiling next day and starting to think about my next marathon already…..sometime next year maybe and hopefully in a new destination.  Looking forward to it J

Julie Bishop

29 August 2016

August Newsletter

Welcome to our new way to share what is going on at GKE and with all our awesome athletes! We are hoping to create a monthly newsletter so if you have any suggestions, content or feedback, please let me know via email.  After settling back into life in Boise, Kate and Guy made the trek to California for Ironman Vineman and are now enjoying some much deserved downtime & wineries in the Napa Valley!

WHO RACED IN JULY 10th:  Vineman 70.3 - Luke  NT long course champs - Matt B GKE @ EVENTS IN AUGUST 7th  Perth Half Marathon- Courtney, Kate S. & Renee 14th  Hardwood 50 MTB- Paul Gold Coast Peaks Challenge - Rae (235km, 4000m of climbing and a 12hr deadline!) NT Grand Fondo - Matt 18th-21st The Redback Mountain Bike Multi Day event - Shannon 21st Ironman Copenhagen - Fabiana & Patrik WAMC Pancake Run - Mick H. 28th  Bintan 70.3 - Ann Louise, Claire, Kate B., Peter & Suzie City to Surf Half Marathon- Buck, Dylan, Kate S., Kay, Leanne & Leigh City to Surf Marathon- Ale, Janine, Julie & Mick M. BIKE INTERVALS ARE BACK ON! In case you missed seeing it on Facebook, Bike intervals have resumed on Thursday mornings.  We leave from Raffles around 5.30am and return around 7am. All GKE athletes welcome!   Be sure to dress warm (although we will make you sweat) and remember your lights! If the weather is questionable, check the Athlete Facebook page for updates or text Janine on 0412850010.  We have organised a GKE get together and casual picnic to send our 70.3 World Champ athletes off with a bang and also to celebrate the races of the peeps tackling the City 2 Surf that morning! It would also be a great opportunity for everyone to meet any new athletes that have joined the team.. SUNDAY 28th AUGUST 2016 3pm-5pm SYNERGY PARKLAND KINGS PARK Park on May Drive near Zamias Cafe and walk towards the playground and look for the Kaye Family or give me a call on 0412850010 if you can't find us! Please bring a plate to share, and your own chair/blanket and beverages! We will bring the footy and the cricket set..  OUR RESIDENT PHYSIO AND COACH RUTH SHARES SOME TIPS AND TRICKS FOR GETTING HEALTHY AND STAYING THAT WAY! ICE vs HEAT Unsure about whether to apply ice or heat to an injury? This is something I’m often asked in clinic, and the answer isn’t always straightforward! It can depend on the type of injury and the body part affected. Check out this blog post with some simple guidelines.   Direct your physio questions and queries to Ruth via email or in person at either: My Physio Perth, 32 Seacrest Dr, Sorrento  (08)9447 6152 or Performance Pilates and Physio, 189 Carr Place, Leederville (08) 9228 2778 As you train harder and push your body physically further, your perception of pain can be the telling factor in your success.  Kate shared this article which shares some great techniques to use to build your tolerance to pain and how to push beyond those barriers! GETTING TO KNOW YOU 5 Quick Questions with Holly Vernon Here’s Holly! She’s been a GKEndurance athlete since 2015. She’s a multiple 70.3 and Red Dog Relay finisher, Mum to three fantastic kids (Josh, Eva and Matthew), and calls Dampier home. This means training through the hottest summers the Pilbara has to offer… even setting the alarm for 3am when necessary! Let's all get to know a little more about Holly... Do you have any nicknames we don’t know about?  Don’t really have any nicknames that you don’t know about – I am too well behaved to earn one! hehee How long have you been involved in Triathlons and how did you first get introduced/involved into Tri’s? I have been involved in triathlons for about 3 years – the first couple of years were just dabbling in teams in 70.3’s and local races, and then my first solo 70.3 was in Busselton 2015. My husband Paul has got me into triathlon!!! He was racing both 70.3’s and Ironman’s when I was pregnant with our third child in 2012…and I thought….well if I want to lose this baby weight…what better way to do it then try a triathlon in a team! I had always played heaps and heaps of sport throughout my whole life so I thought well why not? Highlight of your Triathlon adventure so far? The highlight of my triathlon journey so far is that my poor poor coach Ruth has taken a person who has never-ever been a long distance runner and forming me into someone who can last the distance. To see improvement of run times is quite exciting as I consider this to be my absolute weakest leg. What is the funniest or strangest thing that has happened to you during or before a race? The most strangest and probably luckiest thing that has happened to me in a race was when I was competing in a short distance triathlon here in Dampier through the Nickol Bay Triathlon Club. I must have had the bike on the wind-trainer beforehand, as I asked my husband to change my back-wheel over for me (as I was still not bike-savvy and didn’t know how to do this). So unbeknownst to me I went off and did the race and did quite well in it….but through the whole bike leg I was thinking to myself that it felt as though the brake was rubbing on the back tyre….something just didn’t feel right. I mentioned this to Paul after the race and he went over and looked at the back wheel…and his face turned into a look of horror……he said… “Oh my god….I didn’t put the skewer in the back wheel………your whole wheel could have fallen off when you were riding”……and me being the newborn into the whole biking scene really didn’t think too much of it. He certainly received a large amount of ribbing from his mates about it……and it’s only now after I know a slight amount about bike setup that I realise the potential of disaster. Especially because Dampier is quite hilly and we are coming down these hills quite fast. Good one my love. Favourite food when not training? Wow – so many favourite foods to pick from whilst not training…….hmmm….does it have to be food or can it be alcohol? I would much rather a glass of champers than a chocolate!  We all love to rock our GKE gear so if you have any ideas or suggestions, be sure to email them to Janine. NEW HATS - $17 each or 2 for $30 After the feedback from the people with "smaller" heads we have gone back to the more narrow trucker hat style of our original black and white design. We have 2 new hat designs now available. A racy red one that is perfect for your race day as you will be visible from miles away on the run and it won't be as hot as black. Plus a funky new black lightning bolt one that you can sport wherever and whenever you like! Contact Janine (janine@gkendurance.com) to order one or both! At the end of June, Lisa Tyack took herself off solo to the USA to visit Kate and Guy and have a crack at Coeur d'Alene 70.3. She had a truly amazing race at CDA, finishing first in her age group (25-29), first female Age Grouper and she set the inaugural course record!  Lisa is truly humble athlete who I don't think realises just how amazingly talented she really is. Hopefully her success at this race has helped her to dream bigger and believe in herself just that little bit more. We are so proud of you Lisa! You can check out her fabulous race report here.  Janine recently did a St Johns refresher first aid course and one of the many great things she got out of it was finding out about the awesome (and free) Emergency + app. This app will not only dial 000 for you with one button press, but it will also give you your GPS co-ordinates so an ambulance or emergency services can pin point your exact location to come and help you. This would be something everyone, especially all cyclists, should want and have on their phone.. so if you ever need help you can give your exact location rather than "somewhere on the freeway bike path near the camels". Get it here people! Claire Davis was visiting the U.S. recently and had me giggling with this Facebook status: USA lessons: Gym treadmills are set to MILES so when you punch in 4:15 pace it really means 2:30/km.....lucky to walk away with only my knee and my pride scratched! We all think George might like a visit to Kona this year ;)

Lisa Tyack smashes Ironman Coeur d'Alene 70.3 2016

 Monday 20^th June at 11.55pm I started my journey to the US. My route to Boise was going to be a long one but I was excited to finally see where coaches Kate and Guy spend their time when not in Perth! Perth > Sydney - 8hr stop over, Sydney > LA - 9hr stop over and 40min delay! LA > Salt Lake City – due to the delay I found myself running through the terminal to catch my next flight - SLC > Boise, arriving at 9.10pm on Tuesday. All up, over 33hrs of travel!

After some much needed sleep the next morning saw me unpack and start to ‘settle in’ and more importantly, time to get the body moving again with a swim and ride.

After a short run on Wednesday morning we packed and began the 7hr drive to Coeur d'Alene with a stop in beautiful McCall for a swim in the freezing water! Around 9.15pm we arrived at the Demoes who kindly let us stay with them for the race weekend.

Friday bought cooler temperatures in CDA, with rain all day, some hail and temps around 16degress! Where was the summer weather I had come to the US for?! After waiting to see if the rain would pass (which it didn’t) I registered around 3.00pm before heading back home to have dinner.

Saturday had some cloudy skies but most importantly it was dry. A morning ride over the first section of the bike course and brief run enabled me to get the sessions done early and then check my bike into transition, followed by one last dip in the cool water. It was now time to head back and pack ready for tomorrow and try to relax.

RACE DAY

With two alarms set, one for 4.00am and the other 4.15am I was already well awake before hearing them. I got up, dressed and quite nervously ate my breakfast. I felt the nerves for this race 4 days out. I had put in some good, solid and committed training so was nervous to see what I could do!

Transition was packed and very tight! I did not realise how big this event was with 3500 odd individual athletes registering and teams on top of this. I was quietly pumped. Being half way across the world I felt at ease with no extra pressure or expectation of extra eyes watching me through out the day.

Once exiting transition Guy made sure my wet suit was on snug and I was ready to go. Kate and Guy walked me to the start and it was ‘good luck, go get them’ and off I went. Knowing it was important to get into the water and warm up I did this as quickly as I could. It was my first rolling start and I was looking forward to it. I calmly made by way down the athlete line and then off I went, running into the beautiful clear water. It was a very easy course to sight. Simple - follow the buoys out on your left, make a left turn into the sun which did make sighting a little difficult for a few 100 meters, then take a left again and back into shore. Exit the water and run into T1. 

 SWIM . 29.47

I had a fairly quick transition. In and out as quick as I could and off onto that stunning bike course. The first section had a few twists and turns through town before out onto the open road, which also featured the first couple of climbs for the day. Once crossing the bridge and heading away from town I felt like the ride course was really starting and starting with a bang! A steady climb that yes, tickled but it was awesome. It was a beautiful day and by now the sun was well and truly out and I was having a blast. I enjoyed the climbs and for someone who is always a little sceptical descending, a little reassuring talk to myself and I found myself enjoying these too. At 65km I was feeling great. I had taken in my nutrition exactly when I needed to, hydrated well and felt awesome. My body and mind was totally with me today and I felt as long as I kept positive my legs would do what they needed to. The decent back into town saw the km's on my Garmin quickly grow from 70-85km and continuous chasing between myself and 2 other female athletes encouraged me to ride strong, knowing there was going to be a race on my hands. I came into T2 side by side with another female in my age but I dismounted quickly and powered through the long run into T2.

 BIKE. 2.43.05

Running through transition I looked around and the lack of bikes already racked gave me some real confidence. I put my shoes and race belt on and grabbed my hat full of gels and my watch and ran out of there.

The run was just as enjoyable as the bike. So many passionate and encouraging spectators cheering you on, it felt like a home race. During the first 5km I felt good. The run was not a flat course and I was feeling the pinch during the small, sharp inclines but it was a good hurt, as I still felt strong. 

Out onto the second lap I had spotted Kate and Guy. At the far turn I had 5km, 5km to bring it home! I could feel the blister growing on my foot. I started to feel tired but positive encouragement from Kate and Guy pushed me further and I kept running. I groaned and sighed and at this point I had my pain face on. In the last 3km’s I was bringing the hurt and for the first time I could feel someone over taking me. I now know that person was professional female Erin Crum and as she passed me she was giving me so much encouragement and support. "Lets go", "Come on girl, you've got this", "Any thing is possible". I was a little surprised by all this support and tried to latch on but only lasted a short stint before falling off the pace slightly. I kept looking at my watch. 2km, 1.9km, 1.8km, then I saw 1.4km. I visualised by run route at home, which at the last turn is 1.4km to the front door. Pushing trough the pain by now any incline felt like a massive, sharp climb. They were no longer tickling, they HURT! 

Finally, I spotted the final sign 'FINISH LINE' and 500m to go. Over the road and one final left turn down Sherman. It was packed! There were so many people who had lined the streets and the Americans were so passionate cheering so loudly. There were only a few athletes at the finish chute so I really got to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy myself. 

As I came down the chute they announced ‘Lisa Tyack, 1st 25-29 female and 1st female AG across the line’. 

OMG?! What?! But as soon as I crossed the line I forgot about that and I was bent over, with hands on my knees to hold myself up! I was toasted. I stumbled through to Kate and Guy at the other end and was exhausted but excited! In my true style I even shed a little tear of joy!

RUN. 1.33.27

FINISH TIME: 4.51.16

If my 3.30am phone call to Andy back home didn’t wake him up I’m pretty sure he could hear my excited and loud voice from America! I was just so happy and still in shock. This result far exceeded any expectations I was a result I never thought I would achieve. It’s been a dream to win an AG title and I was very excited this might now have become a reality. As I mentioned I felt ready to race. I was excited to see what I could do, but that result, I still can’t believe it! Being a rolling start it was now a nervous wait. Had I actually finished first 25-29 and first female Age Grouper?

After walking to the nearest shop for some choc milk, pringles and a twix ice cream it was back to the finish line to cheer on fellow GKE athletes Katey and Geoff and soak up a little more of that finish line atmosphere. Once they had finished it was time to head back for a shower and have a brief sit down before heading back to presentations. By this time majority of athletes had finished and I checked the results again. 

1st female 25-29.

Female AG champion. 

And I set the inaugural course record! 

Still pinching myself!

Stress and pressure seem to get the better of me in races but for me this race was perfect. We all try to achieve perfection, knowing there is no such thing. We all chase bigger and better, want to be fitter and faster. Set new goals and chase PB’s. This race was a spare of the moment decision. It surfaced as an idea but I never really acknowledged it as a reality until it was finally booked. Andy had booked me a ticket to the US and registered me for IMCDA 70.3 the day before my birthday, leaving me with a 5-week training block. I was committed to my program and trained hard. Most importantly, during this process I trusted the process. There were run sessions in particular where I wished I was recovering better and that my legs would feel 100%. A little self-doubt crept in, but you still need to trust the process. I told myself - I’ve done his before, I know what I’m in for. I have a coach because I am not a coach. Trust! I felt in good shape, both strong and fit. I was quietly confident. Most importantly I had self-belief and great support. 

For me I can reflect and know I pulled together a great race across all aspects and I think a big part of that was no pressure – I had so much fun out there and enjoyed myself. I was focused but also took time to enjoy the journey. I think this all contributed to executing for me, the ‘perfect race’. Not just my preparation, mental state, nutrition plan, swim, bike and run but most of all enjoyment was there too!

My secret – nutella banana for your race breakfast. Breakfast of champions!