by Nikki (Egyed) Butterfield
Well the last couple of months have probably been some of the most busy times I have ever had in my life….but also the most enjoyable! Tyler and I were married on the 8th of November in Bermuda (where Ty is from) and then we had a second reception in Australia after our honeymoon in Tahiti. Very fun!
From the World Championships until our wedding I was pretty concerned with making sure I stayed in shape so I was running 8-10 kilometers most days. I am fortunate with such a long triathlon history my body doesn’t mind switching straight into cross training mode without much of an adjustment period.
I have been back on the bike for 16 days now and I think from now on I will run as I have over my break as I have been able to jump straight back into about 80% of my normal training volume and intensity without much of a struggle. My weeks have gone: 300km, 450km, 600km to date.
It is fortunate I have stayed quite fit over the ‘winter’ as December training in our Gold Coast bunch is significantly different to previous years. First off Nic (Gates), Bobby (Jason Philips) and Sara (Carrigan) have retired, and although Nic still comes out for the occasional ride, our bunch is a lot smaller. Of course this means more time in the wind, and you would think a slower pace, but I have to say Robbie (McEwen) is fitter and more motivated then I have ever seen him at this time of the year. Johnny (Cantwell) has become a regular and last but certainly not least, Tyler is always a pretty safe bet to do some km’s with….the extra bonus of riding with Ty is he very aware of whatever I am doing (which means I also get in trouble sometimes for not being careful enough in the traffic!) and will always TT me back on to the bunch if I ever need to stop one too many times and the boys want to keep riding.
I am not sorry to admit I have been spending a little more time the usual sitting on the back, especially when the boys start to swap off turns, and I have even been occasionally dropping off the back over the top of hills when the guys get a little bit too excited for me for this time of the year. With Sara retiring I have been the only girl out, so fortunately for me the boys take care of me, and rarely am I left in the middle of nowhere (except that one time that I ended up riding a large portion of a 150km loop solo unintentionally….!).
The other great thing about the Gold Coast is there are always lots of different options for riding groups so the days I don’t feel keeping up with the cycling boys I head out with the triathlon bunch who also tick it over pretty quickly but tend to ride flatter routes so the rides don’t end up being so demanding. The other good thing about this bunch is they leave a little later as they often swim before heading out on the bike. Tyler is now doing Ironman so he has been riding more in this bunch then the cycling bunch so I wave him off to swimming at 5.30 in the morning, I go back to sleep and I get up when he gets back at a lazy 8am for a 9 or 10am start giving me time to check my emails and have an all round ‘slower’ morning. The great thing about that is I get to catch up with all my old friends at the same time too.
Next on the agenda is a trip down to the Australian Institute of Sport where I will have my leg retested after my surgery in February (I had a vein patch angioplasty on my right iliac artery), do some testing in the lab to see where I am at over different time-power intervals and get a good start on the planning for my season for 2009.
'Til next time,
Nikki Butterfield