Adrienne Jerram

Adrienne Jerram

Thursday, February 27, 2014

The race

Race report Huskisson long course triathlon 2014

It was the race that almost didn't happen.

3pm Friday and I was sitting next to a hospital bed in emergency waiting for my husband to come back from a scan. I'd been told they would be 20 minutes and I'd already waited an hour. I was beginning to panic.

Swimming 2km, Cycling 83km and running 20km was a long way from the top of my mind and quite a long way from my cares.

At 10am that morning, just as we were preparing to leave for Huskisson, my husband had collapsed with pain and I'd driven him to emergency. We had no idea what it was, the nurses had no idea what it was and the doctors, while they had some theories, weren't that much more helpful.

Eventually, my husband came back from his scan, which still showed nothing. He'd already been in emergency for a good six hours, and given that no one could decide what he had (except to all agree death or incapacitation were no where near imminant), he was packed off home with a weeks supply of Endone and instructions to come back in if the pain got worse.

We were home, but I still didn't think we'd make that triathlon. Part of me was relieved. Even though I'd trained hard and done everything I could to prepare, I wasn't convinced that a long course triathlon was something I could actually complete. My longest run in training was 17 km and in my last triathlon I'd struggled with the 10km run and ended up with a disappointing time.

By nine the next morning my husband was feeling better, an insisted that we head down to Huskisson. I drove, while my love lay back in the passenger seat, doped up on Endone and Neurophen.  We got there just in time to register and rack my bike, ready for the 5am transition open, and 6.50am start the next day. It was then I began to get nervous. My goal was to finish the race and I knew I'd do it in around seven hours, but then, that night I read the race manual again. Anyone who finished in over seven hours would receive a DNF (did not finish). There was no way I wanted to complete the whole thing and still have it recorded as a DNF.

Ten minutes before race time and I wasn't just nervous, I was terrified. Why was I doing this? Why did I think I could do this? My wetsuit had turned all boa constrictor and was strangling me. I belived that Id make it somehow, but thought there was no way I'd be able to do it in under seven.

As soon as the gun went off I became calm. Unlike the sea, which, had grown quite a swell. I thought back to my race plan. Head down for the first 100 metres. Breath every 5 strokes. Find the feet of someone you want to follow and stick to them. It worked. The sea was rough and I swallowed plenty of salt water on the way, but as long as I followed those feet I felt fine.

Forty five minutes later I was out of the water, thanking the woman I'd tailed on the swim as I passed her on the stairs, feeling a little sick from taking in too much of the choppy, salty, seawater.

I was a long time (5 minutes) in that first transition. I took a long swig of water to try and dilute some of the seawater in my stomach but it did nothing for my queasiness. My wetsuit seemed to take forever to peel off and my shoes wouldn't slide on. But, once I was on the bike, again I felt calm.

On the first loop of the bike leg I realised that I couldn't do this at my fastest pace. The course, described as 'undulating', was extremely hilly and tiring on the legs. There were three loops and each loop would take me over an hour. I was still feeling queasy but knew I was going to need to take on nutrition to keep myself going through the cycle and onto the run. I started sipping my energy drink and nibbling on some energy bars. Half way through the second lap I vomited, but I kept going, forcing myself to keep drinking and eating. I kept my mind focussed on the end. breaking the ride down to manageable stages.

Half way through the bike I resigned myself to finishing under seven hours. 'At least,' I told myself. 'I'll know I finished it.'

Almost three and a half hours after I started I hurled myself off my bike and into transition my mind was clear about whatI had to do - just finish the thing - don't worry about the time.

I was fast through my second transition, slipping my  runners on easily. Right away I realised I felt good. My legs felt fresh, like I was just starting an ordinary run. Three kilometers into the run I still felt great and I knew that my goal to run the entire first 10km was easily with reach- if I could keep going after that I might make it across the line after the cut off.

I put my contingency plan (run for 5 minutes, walk for 1 minute) behind me. When I passed the 10km mark my watch stopped working. With no watch I could only estimate how close I was to that goal. I made sure I took water with coke or an energy drink at every nutrition station to keep me moving. At 14 km it began to hurt. By 16 km my legs felt less than solid under me.  All I could do was keep moving, keep running, I knew I was close to my goal but didn't know how close, I kept imagining myself missing out on my goal by 30 seconds and knew I could not stop running.

I crossed the line in 6 hours and 42 minutes, eighteen minutes faster than my stretch goal time. I ran the entire 20km. The first 10km was close to my fastest ever ten kilometres and 8 minutes faster than the 10km run in my last triathlon (which was half the distance).

I was stoked. I'd trained hard but it was worth it. I remember a friend telling me two years ago that she'd run that race and I thought I'd never be able to do something like that. But then, there, I did it, and much faster than I thought I ever would.

My thanks go to my coach Matthew Thomas at triaction for some amazing coaching and my husband Alistair Cowie for training alongside me, and cheering me on even though he wasn't well.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Miracle transformation

Have you ever watched any of those transformations shows on TV. You know, where someone's life is changed over an hour episode.  You know that you're only seeing a small part of what that person has gone through but, somehow, they make it seem so simple, neat, packaged-up, that it makes it look easy.

But transformation is not simple, there's never really a miracle (except when serendipity sends the right person, or message at just the right time, which can seem miraculous). Change is heart-wrenchingly difficult. Change is not comfortable, in fact, by it's very nature it is the opposite of comfort. Change is filled with doubt, fear and tears. Change requires letting go and, if you've ever tried aerial acrobatics you'll know letting go is always the hardest part.

And I should know, my life has changed a lot lately and it has taken every bit of my courage (and support by some fabulous family, friends and colleagues) to get as far as I have. There have been times I've been so filled with doubt that it's been crippling. Sleepless nights and stressed out days, have been common.  All I can hope is that the end will be worth it.

I wanted to speak up about it in this blog because I think there are plenty of people out there who are going through a transformation who feel like they are alone in their struggle, like other people have it easier, like there are just too many mountains to climb. And I would hate for those people to compare themselves with others who have changed, whose change (from the outside) looks easy, to find it too hard, and just want to give up.

I'm lucky because in many ways my triathlon training has prepared me to cope with the strain and heartache of change. Because, no matter how much support I have there are always so many hard and lonely hours of training. So much pain that nobody else sees or experiences. So many times when it has come down to just putting one foot in front of another. Yet I know, when I cross the finish line it will all be worth it.




Monday, February 17, 2014

Letter from my death bed

Have you ever written yourself a letter, as though you were writing from your deathbed? It's illuminating. It has a way of cutting through the crap the everyday, the stuff you have to do and get straight to the point of what you SHOULD be doing. 

I had to do this recently as an exercise for my career coach (she has a tough, long job ahead of her!).

It was a  tough, and emotional task, but very quickly I got to the point. There are things, important things, that I didn't want left undone and things. Things that, should they continue to be left undone, I would regret.

I've always believed in living life with no regrets, but looking back from my own deathbed I realised that I've avoided what is hard (but most meaningful) by never taking a moment to sit back and reflect.

If you get the chance to write yourself a letter as if you're on your deathbed, do it. It's not an easy task but you're sure to find it eye, and heart, opening. 

A little bit fishy

I love salmon. If it weren't for the environmental issues, I'd eat it twice a day and never get sick of it. I love it barbecued, steamed, baked and (especially) smoked. 

I eat it because it's delicious but it's also thought to have a number of health benefits. For a start it's a great source of Omega-3 which is critical for good health and has been shown to help in preventing coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis and depression. 

In addition to the environmental concerns,  the other problem with salmon is that most of the salmon on sale in fish shops is double the normal serving size. So, when you're picking your piece of salmon, ensure that each fillet is around 150gm (or choose the 300gm one and cut it in half).

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Brother

Last night my brother told me he's moving out of Sydney. It's not unexpected, Sydney's expensive and his family is young. It's not unwelcome, it's a great break for him an the children will love it. But when he told me he was going I felt ... well devastated.

It's not like (to look at) you would call our family close, but me, my brother and my sister do share a closeness. My parents were immigrants, and that meant that every Christmas, holiday and birthday celebration, there was just the five of us. I used to envy people with uncles and aunts, and cousins always sounded like a lot of fun. But we had just the five of us. Mum, Dad, my sister, me, and my brother. There is a history that was created and shared by only the five of us.

For a first generation Australian my brother is in many ways the Australian archetype male (at least all the good parts). He's intelligent but whispers his intelligence in such a quiet hush, you would miss it unless you were really paying attention. He's loving, but shows his love with a nod or a grunt, or by offering a hand.  He's hardworking but playful, and cheeky and disrespectful to authority and I hope he always will be.

I'm his little sister and he would always do anything for me. I once moved three times in a year, and each time he was there, under the fridge, or the impossible to lift sofa bed, sweating buckets.

When I was at Uni I bought a car that should probably have been condemned to the scrap heap. It cost me $250 to buy $500 to fix up and $200 to register. It was red with one white door. Five weeks after it was finally roadworthy I crashed it in the parking lot of Hornsby Northgate. I thought it was done for, but minutes after I brought it home my brother jumped on to it, with a sledge hammer and started banging it back to straight. A funny image made even funnier because he was in plaster up to his knee after practising skiing on a slippery dip.

I'm going to miss my brother, his children and his miracle of a wife ... and not only next time I want to move. Still I hope he goes on to create his own family history, a history shared by just the four of them.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Feel the burn

So 20 years ago today the best thing happened to me. My child, Amelia was born. I remember holding her and falling deeply and immediately in love, and so very connected.

But before the love came the pain, and so to celebrate I'm issuing everyone with a challenge workout.

Here it is:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes

20 Chin ups (or assisted chin ups)

20 Push ups

20 Box jumps (or box step ups)

20 Body weight squats (add 20kg barbell if you're experienced)

A poem: for valentines


Your breast is enough for my heart,
and my wings for your freedom.
What was sleeping above your soul will rise
out of my mouth to heaven.

In you is the illusion of each day.
You arrive like the dew to the cupped flowers.
You undermine the horizon with your absence.
Eternally in flight like the wave.

I have said that you sang in the wind
like the pines and like the masts.
Like them you are tall and taciturn,
and you are sad, all at once, like a voyage.

You gather things to you like an old road.
You are peopled with echoes and nostalgic voices.
I awoke and at times birds fled and migrated
that had been sleeping in your soul.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Hunting beauty

So today, in the pursuit of a happier life, I've been trying to find beauty in the small things. The idea came from Rik Hansen, who emails me weekly with tips and tricks for a happier life.

My task today was to hunt out beauty in the everyday things (in fact to "Hunt for beauty like a child looking for seashells on a bountiful beach", and this is where I found it:


  • The grimace on a client's face as she achieved a personal best dead lift
  • The colour of my daughters eyes
  • Bright green basil mayo on my burnt orange sweet potato chips
  • My dog's tail
  • our newly painted brick wall
  • A client's new trainers
  • Sun reflected from a tinted window in main street Parra

If I hadn't been hunting these would all have been things I never noticed. I definitely felt less stressed and ... well happier. 

I think I might go on another beauty hunt tomorrow.


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Bubble butt

There is not much that interests me more than your butt ... In a professional sense I mean.

The truth the most of us use our butts primarily for sitting. This means that our butt muscles get long and weak, while the opposing muscles on the front of our legs get short and tight resulting in a pelvis that tips and pulls our lower spine out of position, or conversely put pressure on our kneecaps.

So, given that 90% of my professional life is strengthening people at the back, and then stretching them at the front, it's not surprising that I've become butt obsessed.

The other day I raced a short triathlon and, on the run leg, was going slow enough to notice that those tearing up the field had buns of steal. Their power came, not from the front of their legs but from behind.

I've created a workout for butts, thighs and legs for anyone interested to download and print off http://java.pumpone.com/ipump-web/print?print=1&printjobid=1b5kegg0000k894hig40000000&print=1.





Shhhh .... I'm training.

Wise words from my coach today. 'Remember, Sleep is training too'

So, for the first time in months I set my alarm for 6 50 tomorrow morning.

Goodnight, I need to get some training in.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Having faith

I'm not really a person of great faith (except in people but that's another story). I'm not a church goer, buddhist, taoist or maoist. Every Sunday I red my stars and chuckle at the fiction of it.

But sometimes, when things look grim, I need to find a little faith. And so I keep this gem of a fortune in the cover of my mobile phone, so I can be reminded every time I open my phone, that everything is really going to be okay.



Saturday, February 8, 2014

Singing to a different tune

With my training for the long course triathlon now tapering, I'm turning my attention from training my body to training my mind.

You see, I have no doubt that my body can make it through the 2km swim, 83km cycle and 20km run but my mind will constantly try and interfere. "This, hurts, it's hard, it sucks, is that a blister, my back hurts  etc."

So, I'm trying to find ways of distracting myself from the mammoth task in front of me.

One method I'm trying is singing. I usually train (or at least run) with music, but no music is allowed in the triathlon. So I've been training without and, whether I'm cycling running or swimming, I've found that my mind gets stuck on one particular song.

During my 120km cycle I couldn't get Lorde's Royals out of my head. Problem was I only knew one line. "We'll never be Royals (Royals)" which, when it's sung, over and over and over and over for the five hours it takes to cycle that far, gets kind of repetitive.

So, I'm trying to learn the words to any songs that might randomly get stuck in my head, starting with Lorde, possibly moving on to Miley, and maybe taking in some Billy Bragg on the way (it'll be an eclectic collection). If each song is roughly 3 minutes long and the run takes me 150 minutes, I'll only need to learn the complete lyrics of 50 songs to get me through the entire run, or, alternatively 5 songs sung ten times each.

Alternatively, I could just stick with Royals and sing it 50 times ...

'I've never seen a diamond in the flesh ...'




Friday, February 7, 2014

Winning or losing?

There's been a lot of talk about the biggest loser recently. Not about Australia's biggest loser trying to 'change the health of a whole town'. But about Rachel Frederickson who won the most recent biggest loser in a state that could only be described as extremely underweight. If you haven't caught up with the controversy you can read more about it here

Anyway, I thought I'd also put in my 5 cents.

Firstly, The Biggest Loser is what it is, good (or bad depending on your view) and ultimately successful (for now) entertainment. Rachel Frederickson, who describes herself as competitive, was just doing what she had to do to win a competition. One commentator noted that her final result was probably not as underweight as most of our Hollywood stars. 

What concerns me, is that is is an indicator of how much the health and fitness industry has changed its emphasis from 'good health' to 'perfect looks'. 

Everyday I see clients who are not in optimum health. Some struggle to  get up from the floor, others have bad back or knee or neck pain. Others I see are in reasonable health, but they want to feel better, correct their posture, or they have fitness goals and need motivation to achieve them. And it's here that the health and fitness industry can do what it does best, make a difference to people's quality of life. But, instead, we seem to have become stuck into helping people achieve an ideal of perfection, and not even their own ideal, but one that is so prominent and insistent that we (and I include myself in this) are so quick to adopt it as our own.

As a personal trainer with my own business, I'm naturally in the business of having to sell my services.  It saddens me that nine out of ten people don't want to train to a health and fitness goal, but rather to the unhealthy ideal. It becomes, therefore, much easier to sell to this ideal.  It's a hard thing to admit but selling to this ideal and buying into this ideal makes me just as responsible as The Biggest Loser for the fact that Rachel Frederickson has ended up possibly as unhealthy as she was when she started. 

Quite a bit has been written about trainer Bob and Jillian's faces when Rachel revealed her 'transformation'. I'm wondering if their look of shock might have partially been some realisation of the role that they themselves have played (as part of the health and fitness industry) in promulgating an unhealthy and unrealistic ideal. 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Are you a little lopsided?

Are you stronger in one leg, or arm than the other? Most of us are. Because one hand (or leg) dominates that hand (or leg) gets stronger while the other gets weaker. if you play a sport,like tennis or baseball where one hand predominates, this will only make the imbalance greater. An injury will also compound the problem as your body automatically moves to protect the injured side from being re injured.

Unfortunately these imbalances can lead to even more injuries, as it often means you have one side tighter than the other too, which will make your overly tight muscles pull your skeleton out of alignment.

Unfortunately, some of the equipment we use at the gym only reinforces this. If you only use barbels or only ever do squats, you're probably only making this imbalance worse.

So, next time you're at the gym try a dumbbell or cable machine instead of a barbell, and try squats instead of lunges. You'll probably notice the differences between sides right away, but persist with this 'single sided' training and you'll soon correct the imbalances.

Are you a little lopsided?

Are you stronger in one leg, or arm than the other? Most of us are. Because one hand (or leg) dominates that hand (or leg) gets stronger while the other gets weaker. if you play a sport,like tennis or baseball where one hand predominates, this will only make the imbalance greater. An injury will also compound the problem as your body automatically moves to protect the injured side from being re injured.

Unfortunately these imbalances can lead to even more injuries, as it often means you have one side tighter than the other too, which will make your overly tight muscles pull your skeleton out of alignment.

Unfortunately, some of the equipment we use at the gym only reinforces this. If you only use barbels or only ever do squats, you're probably only making this imbalance worse.

So, next time you're at the gym try a dumbbell or cable machine instead of a barbell, and try squats instead of lunges. You'll probably notice the differences between sides right away, but persist with this 'single sided' training and you'll soon correct the imbalances.

Never say never

So this blog nearly didn't happen. Too much training (other people and myself). Too much life. Too much stuff.

But, when I was swimming today my mind finally got to wander and this is what I thought.

Some twenty years ago when my daughter was born I fell into a pretty horrendous depression. Drugs, psych ward, the whole lot. I remember once, right at the beginning being at a baby health clinic when the nurse got a call from a friend. Did she want to go for an evening swim that night? It was February. It was warm. It was daylight saving. A swim sounded lovely.

And I remember thinking 'My life has changed. How can I ever swim again. I'll never swim again.' The whole swimming thing seemed impossible.

And yet, this evening, there I was, on a warm February daylight savings type of evening. Swimming. And who knows, maybe, earlier that day, I'd got a call about the swimming and maybe someone had overheard me and thought they'd never go swimming again.

I wonder if I'd known that twenty years ago if it would have made any difference.





Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Flexible or a push over?

I've always wondered where to draw the line between when to be flexible and accommodating of other people's needs and when to 'draw the line' and put my own needs first. There's a balance there somewhere and I don't think I've found it.

Ponder on this this. There's a chocolate you like, but when you get to the supermarket there's only one left, and two of you reaching for it at the same time. What do you do?

I'd definitely offer it up to the other person. Which is fine sometimes ... but always??? Am I not equally as deserving? Why wouldn't the other person offer it up to me? Does taking it myself make me greedy? If so why would I never see the other person as equally as greedy?

I'm not offering up a solution here, because I don't have one, other than to say there is nothing wrong with being selfish.

I'd love to hear what other people think ...

A

Monday, February 3, 2014

Clean eating

I wanted to tackle the issue of 'clean eating'. A catch phrase that's banded around without much discussion abourt what it actually means (except that most people agree that there's loads of chicken and broccoli involved). From Paleo, to no sugar, to counting macros ... there are loads of options that all proclaim to be 'clean'.

So what is clean eating? The truth is there is no one definition. To me its just eating to achieve your goal in a way that is not destructive to your body. So, if your goal is to stress less, maybe your diet will include a few more take away options in a week, if it's to enter a body building comp you'll be eating to bulk or lean out. If your goal is to fit into those skinny jeans again, you'll be reducing overall calories and staying away from carbs in the evening.

My goal at the moment is to complete a long course triathlon. With all the training associated with endurance sports, I find I get exhausted if I don't eat enough. So I'm eating a lot, including carbs with dinner, just to ensure I feel fresh enough to train. I'm not weighing myself, or spending too long in front of the mirror because at the moment I don't want to stress if the extra eating adds a couple of extra kilos, I just want to stay focussed on getting these arms and legs to power me through a 2km swim, 83km cycle and 20 (gulp) km run.

But no matter what my goal there are a few guidelines I try to follow.

1. I try to fit as many green (and orange and red and white) vegetables into my diet as I can

2. I try to stay away from ingredients I can't pronounce

3. I try and make sure any meat and dairy is organic, or raised and killed humanely

4. I try not to become so extreme it becomes anti-social and make sure I make sure I have some treat meals scheduled in

5. Stress is the enemy of good health, so if it stresses me out, it's not healthy.

The plank

When I was a kid 'the plank' was the name of an 'hilarious' British comedy starring Eric Sykes and various actors from Dad's army. I guess it was a classic because it was on all the time.

Now days the plank is something completely different. Named the king of all ab exercises the plank involves holding yourself prone on your forearms and toes (or knees if you really have to).  The ability to hold yourself in plank position for 3 minutes straight is sign of a rock solid core. The plank works a range of upper, lower and abdominal muscles, including shoulders, abdominals, flutes and even the neck.

Plank looks simple, but it's not, it's tough physically and mentally. A minute sitting on the sofa watching TV seems to last, well, a minute. A minute held in plank feels more like an hour.

The plank can be made easier by dropping to your knees, or harder by raising one leg, flipping onto your side (on arm and one leg) or adding additional instability (try it with your feet in a TRX).

The best way to improve your plank time is to hold the plank as long as you can, take a rest of half that duration, then repeat twice more. As soon as you can do three one minute plank  with 30 second rest between, start decreasing the rest.

In no time you'll be planking like the best of them. And, who knows, if your plank time ever gets up to 45 minutes, you can do it while watching The Plank


Saturday, February 1, 2014

Break it down

Big goals overwhelm me. Sometimes, if they're really bid, they feel like they're crushing me and I'll never achieve them. But, instead of quitting, lately I've been trying to break those big suckers down into something that seems achievable.

Running sucks. Short runs ruck, and long runs suck even more. Unfortunately they are the inevitable ending (usually after an okay swim and fantastic ride) to every triathlon.  And the longer the triathlon, the longer the run.

In three weeks time I will be running 20 kilometres after having swum 2km and cycled 83km.  I'm determined not to let it beat me. So, instead of looking at it as one, long run, I'm training my mind to break the sucker down into small components. Early on in the race it will be to think about making it to the next aid station (2km away). But when things really get tough. I'm going to have to think about running in much shorter intervals, like the next tree, or lamp post.  Eventually, lamp post by lamp post I'll cross the finish line.

If, at the beginning of the run, I allowed my mind to on everything left to complete, I would never be able to reach my goal. But, by tricking my mind, I'm giving my body the opportunity to fulfil its true potential.