...with a little help from my friends

Since my last blog post I've:

• taken supplements
• had a birthday, and received a post card and present from Speedy Reidy
• got a public hurry up from Tyno Myte via my Facebook page
• entered Challenge Cairns
• had the first of what's bound to be many pep talks for Challenge Cairns, from Coach Andy
• commenced a course of anti-biotics
• taken supplements

Supplements, anyone?

The Athletic Powerhouse is desperate.

She's taking everything she can get her hands on.

Recommendations from friends, fellow athletes, even work colleagues all lead to another trip to the pharmacy or health food store, and another fifty bucks later, another herb, mineral or wonder drug to pop down the hatch.

I can't seem to kick this cold and I need to. It's only seven weeks till the Run Like Crazy marathon, and the longest run I've done is 24ks. It's not enough.

I heart riding my bike

So it turns out that 24ks really was too much last weekend, compression socks or not.

Perhaps it was the combination of a 24k run on Saturday; a mega-early start on Sunday to officiate at Noosa Triathlon; and a massive Melbourne Cup Day? Either way by Wednesday morning I was back to square one in fighting off my cold.

By Friday I was climbing the walls after no training for nearly a week, so I rugged up and ventured out for a walk. I followed it up with another walk on Saturday, hoping that Sunday would dawn with a little less phlegm. Not quite ready to run, but there would be no walking for me. On Sunday, it was time to ride.

It ain't fashion...

The Athletic Powerhouse is not known for her love of fashion. Case in point - I'm writing this on Melbourne Cup morning, and I don't have any shoes to match the frock I wanted to wear. I have a secret fear that if Trinny and Susannah do a series in Australia, my friends will dob me in for a makeover.

But I digress.

On my long run this weekend, I debuted my CEP compression socks, which are designed to "maximise power, boost energy, and speed recovery time". They aren't the kind of garment you buy for their looks, but I've got the hot pink ones. So do they count for fashion?

France Retrospective: July 16, Mont Ventoux

After saying goodbye to Morzine, and to Hayden, Sue and the kids, we drove a long day to Carpetras for an overnight stay to ride Mont Ventoux. Located smack back in the middle of Provence, a wine growing region, Carpentras is not where you'd expect to find a mountain like Ventoux, but I think that is part of its mystique - its bleak, treeless shape protrudes from the flat countryside around it like a pimple in the middle of your forehead.

Of course, Ventoux is one of the legendary climbs of the Tour de France, with names such as Eddy Merckx and Marco Pantani being some of the big names to have won a stage finish on top of Ventoux.

While I certainly didn't have ambitions of climbing like those guys, I was looking forward to experiencing this legendary mountain for myself.

Blown away

The wind on Saturday was overwhelming. So much so that I bailed after just a few Ks, running back to my car with my tail between my legs. I don't think I've ever felt like I would be blown off my feet before, but this weekend, it happened.

I'd run from Kingsford Smith Drive along past Newstead Park and into Teneriffe. When I turned back I knew the morning was a write off. I decided to stop along the way and smell the roses, so to speak. It's in doing this that I was truly blown away.

Here comes the sun

The sunshine is back in Brisbane. In a fashion. The light filters down through a veil of cloud cover; sometimes brightly, and other times, less so. So, maybe the description at best, is that at least it isn't raining. For now.

It meant I could do my hill repeats dry yesterday. Not so for my long run last weekend, which I started in the rain, and finished in the rain.