Missing in Action – Part 3 (Gold Coast, Thursday to Monday)

Thursday was a busy day, after arriving to the apartment I had to get things sorted out. I went to buy food, then made lunch, assembled my bike and went on the search for bike shops. Unfortunately, Australia is similar to Canada (actually a bit worse!) and all shops and stores close at 5:30pm. The only places open after 5:30 are supermarkets (and don’t get your hopes up) until 9pm and restaurants. Night time came and I convinced myself that was not even worth going for a run and I was better off to start Friday full on. Friday I went for a 1.5 hr ride to Rainbow bay (straight south), the place was awesome and you can pretty much ride along the beaches and towns the whole way! Here is a picture…

After that I went for a 30 min run close to the apartment, and a 1hr swim to Southport. Southport is about 5km north and the pool is right besides where transition will be set up. The pool is nice, 50m, outdoors, but the water is very very warm. I haven’t asked yet but closer to 29 than the 27 I am used to at VAC or the 25C at Kits pool. I finished off Saturday with a second large groceries purchase to get a good stock of things. By the way, yes, Kangaroo is available and is lean, tasty (I have already eaten quite a bit including sausages) and cheap (about 10$/Kg, same as chicken and ground beef).

On Sunday I went for a 2 hr ride to Hope Island/Helensvale/Coombabah reserve area. It was a nice ride and the first 20 km were part of the race course (out and back) so I got to confirm that is flat flat dead flat! After that I went for a 1hr run towards the Spit. This is a park that is very desert like looking, trails are with gravel, there is no shade anywhere. I truly felt empowered to be running ïn the “desert”. It was very different than trail running in Vancouver where you are in the rainforest. At night I went out to check Surfers Paradise downtown area as it was fathers day (happy fathers day dad!) and more people was out than usual. Dinner consisted of a nice Steak with mixed veggies, meat is pretty good around here and you can get a T-Bone steak for about 12/13$ per Kg when they are on sale! (yes, I already know the deals =)

Today (Monday) I went for a swim in the morning at 8am, first time with the team as it seems that most people arrived on the weekend. There was about 20 of us… I found out that not only Curtis and Kamal are here (which I knew) but also Cam and Kelly. Curtis is living about 10 blocks away from my place with his brother Neil; Cam and Kelly are living with another 7 people in a huge house about 8 blocks from my place. I am yet to find out where Kamal is staying and I will have my network of people complete =)

After the swim I biked ½ hr to get the feeling and then went for a 1/2hr run with some intervals. It might be the rest, but all 3 sports are feeling very good… Swimming is feeling easy and smooth, as opposed to how shitty it was feeling in Kits pool about 2 weeks ago (and Nationals 3 weeks ago). I have done 20x100, 10 with pullbuoy and band on 1:40 holding 1:21, and 10 swim on 1:30 holding 1:18 effortlessly… or 10x100 pullbuoy and paddles on 1:25 holding 1:15. Biking is feeling good also, speed is up, effort is down, and recovery is quick between hard rides. I am looking forward to a calm day (it can get quite windy here) to get the bike done under 1hr. Running is feeling the best all season. I am feeling smooth, quick, hip pain is gone, speed is up, shouders and back are more relaxed than ever.

I am off to buy food again, and to make thai chicken for dinner (I have been craving that for a while). Buying food and cooking are keeping me busy, happy, and relaxed during my time off. After the race I will try surfing, go out at night with Curtis (he has been going out pretty much every night!), go to some of the theme parks and so on; but until then, I am avoiding any risks and getting ready to rock. The race is in 5 days and I am really looking forward to doing well.

Until next time

Facundo