training for london tri in the world's most beautiful location

let's be honest; australia is one of the most beautiful places on earth. during my visit here for the last couple of weeks i've had the opportunity to kick start my training for London Triathlon in some pretty exceptional places. let's look at the highlights;

1. swimming *here* seriously the best view i've ever had whilst getting the kms under my belt. swimming down the lane, you're looking at the underbelly of the sydney harbour bridge. get to the end and turn around, and you're looking at luna park. now that makes training easy.


2. long runs *here*




visiting my parents on the south coast of nsw, two hours south of sydney, has its benefits. like views such as this! hello long runs!

it's been a while since i've been running any distance, so the other week when i clocked 6km - i found walking hard the next day, AND the next!! whoops.; that was worrying! last week i hit 10km, and felt fine. thankfully! these two runs were taken through the coastal countryside, hmmmmmmm.



3. fartleking *here*



this weekend husband + i stayed in sydney for our three year wedding anniversary (!) and this morning i took a run down to the end of the road, and guess what i found? just a little old sydney opera house. perfect grounds for fartleking. looooove sydney!


so london is less than 8 weeks away: how are we looking? getting less than 2.50 is paramount, as i'm NEEDING to beat my time from last year. that is NECESSARY. here's my training gameplan priorities.

swimming; am hitting 1.5km comfortably in a 50m pool, so fitness is okay. not perfect yet, but okay. no idea if timewise i'll be any faster than last year. when i get back to london i'm going to prioritise ows 1.5km +. this is where i'm hoping to improve from last year, as i had no experience at this distance, with wetsuit, in ow.

training priority; 1 x 1.5km+ ows in wetsuit for 6 weeks.

cycling; not good. i've been without bike for 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS. need to get onto that saddle upon return to uk, and pronto. last year i hadn't even cycled 40km - so to be honest, i'm expecting to improve here, even though i've been sans bike for five weeks. but i need to move. soon.

training priority; 1 x 40km+ cycle race pace for 6 weeks

running; it's still hit and miss. last year (again) i'd only once run 10km, so i think i should improve with time. but i find speeding up hard, because running fast is as enjoyable as getting slapped with wet fish. i'm going to keep to my gameplan of how i've previously picked up my 10km pace. long slower runs combined with shorter faster fartleking.

training priority; 1 x 10km run for 6 weeks.



am back to london this week. let's see how she goes!