Timaru Triathlon

Packed up my wee car with bike and gear etc as well as Geoff and Pete who were racing as a team and headed off to Timaru on Saturday afternoon. Stopped on the way thru Timaru to register for the morning, I'm a bit intrigued about the race t-shirts looking very Wellingtonian in colour! All quite flash tho since it is one of the Contact Energy races this year, you get a rather nifty sheet of stickers with a sticker for just about everything including one for your supporter to wear so everyone knows who they are supporting! A little unimpressed about having to put a sticker on my bike, at least it only had to go on the seat pillar tho! Headed off to the camping ground where we discovered that our kitchen cabin was the tiniest thing ever and the six of us got to sleep in bunks for the night, that brings back memories of school camp! Drove off to check over the cycle course for those who hadn't raced it before, it was interesting to see Geoff go a little pale when he realised just how tough that cycle course is! I never said it was easy! It is a toughie thats for sure!! Checked out the run course and run to transition from the swim as well so Jazz knew where things were at for the morning.

Race day was pretty nice weather wise, was good to get to transition and start getting ready. Was funny that I hardly felt nervous whereas last year I just felt ill at the thought of how far I was going to have to swim and how long I was going to be racing.

Swim was a beach start with a short run into the water which is a little different to a lot of races I have done. Swim was 2 laps (1500m), the guys had started 5mins before us and the quick ones passed me when I was about 3/4 of the way thru my first lap! They were flying! I had a pretty good swim and came out feeling ok. That run up the beach to transition is huge, its about 400-500m, never mind, plenty of time to get of your wetsuit when you have to run that far!

T1 went pretty well, headed off on the bike feeling ok. My legs were kinda achey tho and had been the day before as well (maybe I went a bit too hard in that 5km run the other night?), the cycle leg seemed harder than last year for some reason. It didn't seem to matter what gear I picked it either felt too easy or too hard so I felt like I wasn't going as well as I could have. Silly speedo stopped going after about 3kms so that was kinda frustrating cos I had no idea how far thru the cycle leg I was.

T2 again was pretty smooth, headed off on the run feeling not too bad but not great either. Plodded along nicely to the first hill and then walked the hill, hills hurt and it was stinking hot! So decided to go with last years plan of attack and walk the up-hills and run everything else. Nadia caught up with me about 2/3 of the way thru the first lap and walked along beside me and then we just kinda stuck together doing my plan of walking the up-hills. Was kinda nice to have company and made me feel a bit better about walking parts, although I'm sure she was just humouring me by staying with me. Was funny at the finish, we sprinted in together which was kinda cool.

I went a bit quicker than last year so that is awesome, I have a nice tri-suit tanline all over again as well!

Times:

Swim + T1 - 35.20, Cycle - 1.27.44, Run + T2 - 1.02.06 - Overall Time: 3.05.10

Compared to last years times:

Swim + T1 - 42.33, Cycle - 1.29.16, Run + T2 - 1.06.12 - Overall Time: 3.18.03

Oh and big news for the day was that I won a major spot prize of a very very flash BBQ!!! Nice eh! Its worth about $1500 from Placemakers Timaru. Hmmm bit of a challenge to figure out how to get it home, they were going to freight it up to me but Andrew Moon kindly offered to put it in his van and drive it home for me so that was pretty cool! There will be lots of BBQ's for awhile I think!!

Quote for the Day:

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

OK, first of all a bit of an update on training etc this week then I will do a separate post as a race report for Timaru.

It was a pretty busy week this week with something on every night after work so most days I was leaving home at 8am and getting back home at 8pm, that doesn't leave a lot of time to get everything done that you kinda need to do in a day.

Wednesday evening was the Surf'n'Turf at Sumner, I was just doing the long distance swim (800m) as well as cycling there and back. It was nice weather/water for swimming, the tide was in and it was relatively calm at Sumner for a change. It was nice only swimming for a change so I went pretty hard which was fun and was very pleasantly surprised to see that I did the swim in 6mins 40!! hahaha that is crazy, there is no way I swim that fast!! Turns out the course was pretty short (no kidding!) and Dave has bought a GPS so that the rest of the series are more accurate!

Thursday I cycled to work again, I have been a bit of a bike geek this week and have cycled every day! Had running drills/class again after work, these seem to be going ok, I don't get corrected too much which means I must actually be listening and doing what I am told for a change :)

Friday was a well deserved rest day! Phew, needed one of those!

Saturday morning I met up with Nadia to go over transitions and what we need to do for Coast to Coast so that hopefully I don't let her down on her big race! Blimey, multi-sporters have a lot of gear, no wonder they need 3 people to help them race!

Quote for the Day:

Feelings change - memories don't.

- Joel Alexander

Woohoo!!! A PB run today! I think I can almost run fastish now! Well fast for me anyway :)

Did the 5km Shoe Clinic run at Hagley Park tonight. Ewwww the weather was so foul! It was freezing cold and pissing with rain! Seriously not a lot of fun!! I'd cycled to work so also cycled to the park, hmmm not nice getting a wet butt in the first 10 seconds on my bike, but there you go! Was mighty pleased Mel had driven down (she was working so got to stand around in the cold!) cos then I had somewhere to put my bike and gear and best bonus was a warm dry ride home. It was real windy tonight so I figured I would be lucky if I managed to do the 5km in 30mins. My previous best time was 29.30 so wasn't really hoping for much tonight. I started off feeling pretty good, they call out the times at every kilometre and at the 1km mark I had done 5.20 and I worried a bit that I had gone out a little too hard but figured I felt good so just worked on maintaining my pace, did the second km in the same time. Slowed down a little for the 3rd and maintained my pace to the end and was super stoked to finish in 27.10!! Thats a PB by about 2 and a half minutes! Thats huge, gosh I may turn into a runner if I keep this up! I think running class is paying off, I don't think I ran like a shuffler even once today, I focused on lifting my knees and just generally thinking about my running.

Yesterday was a bit of a busy day, into work at 7.30! Eek! Very early but first day in the new building and all. It is so nice to be back in town and we have such a stunning view of the Port Hills from the 7th floor, it even looks nice when the weather is grotty! Off to the vet with Merlin when I got home, he is doing well and we are going to see how he goes being drug-free for a couple of weeks. He has managed to lose a couple of kilos which has also helped him no doubt! Finally got to the pool for a swim at around 6.30pm. Its so busy there at night, I'm pleased I don't swim in the evenings very often. Still had a good workout and thats what its all about!

Quote for the Day:

To me, fair friend, you never can be old

For as you were when first your eye I eyed,

Such seems your beauty still.

- William Shakespeare

Wow, had a wicked day today! We live in such a pretty country and we barely notice it let alone enjoy it while we are busy running around doing what we need to do!

Started off today, Sunday, by heading down to Scarbrough to watch Jazz do his first triathlon. Well duathlon as it turns out, I think I would have switched too if I had to do my first ever triathlon swim in that water this morning, it wasn't pretty out there and it was super windy! He did real well tho, nice speedy transitions and looked real comfortable running.

After that I headed off to do my run, I had to do a hilly run so thought I would try somewhere new so headed off to do the Capt. Thomas Walkway which starts off in Sumner. I had read that it was pretty steep to start with so I was prepared for that! The first few hundred metres is pretty steep and lots of steps. After that it is just nice and undulating while continually climbing if that makes sense. Most of it is just a nice wee track cut into the side of the hill with a few rocky bits and stiles to navigate, it was nice having a tail wind push me up the hill! Crazy people mountain bike down the track, gee if I tried that I would be screaming the whole way down, it is pretty narrow and tricky in some places, I managed a few good skids and slides just running! At the top of that track I crossed the road at the hairpin in Evans Pass and headed up the Rapanui Track to the road at the top, across that road and up onto the Crater Rim walkway. I ran along there until it was time to turn back at which point I stopped for a few minutes just to admire that absolutely stellar view! It is amazing up there, you can see for miles and miles! There was no-one else around, I could see people in the distance running/walking and cycling but that was it, I could have stayed there all day just looking at the view. Had a good run back down, the head wind acted as a good brake so I didn't run too fast and fall down the side of the hill!

Had a good training day yesterday, swam at Corsair Bay and the water was lovely and warm! Did a lap inside the boats and then another out round the 5 knot buoys. Cycled from Corsair Bay to Governors Bay and back along to Lyttleton, up Evans and then thru Heathcote, over Murray Aynsley and home for a quick 10min run off the bike. Spent the rest of the day watching the Australian Open on the telly, did manage to get out and do some lopping of the bushes round the house so we can get in and out without fighting with the trees all the time. In the evening watched the awesome tennis game between Federer and Tipsarevic, what a game! That was better than watching a movie any day!

Yay work has moved into our new building so first day there tomorrow, I'm a little worried about how distracting that view will be from the 7th floor where I am, its amazing looking out there towards the Port Hills! It even looked nice the other day when the weather was icky!

Quote of the Day:

You don't drown by falling in water you drown by staying there

- Anonymous

They say things come in 3's right?? Hmmm, this was so true on this mornings ride. I was up nice and early (6.03ish) to go for my ride, the weather was not bad, as I go to leave it starts to rain! Now I don't have too much of an issue riding in the rain except I really don't like getting the Wilier wet and dirty, she deserves better than that! So it rains, then about 2km in my speedo decides to stop working for no apparent reason (kinda frustrating when you have to do a 10km TT as part of your ride!) so spent 5mins standing in the rain trying to figure it out with no joy. Counted my blessings that I had driven my planned TT route the night before to see how far 10km would be from where I wanted to start. Was cycling along thinking hmmm its days like this that I am likely to get a puncture. Yep, you guessed it! About 3km from home! Nice and busy 8am traffic, there I am on the corner changing my tire! Oh well, at least I know how to change a tire without using my cellphone. And now I get to spend a nice evening watching the Australian Open Tennis on telly.

Yesterday was just a swim in the morning, did a good set, mixed it up with reducing sets and using the pull buoy. Took Merlin back to the vet, he is doing good and his back seems to be getting better so hopefully he has just twisted it or something similar. The steroids are making the poor wee thing drink heaps, he is emptying at least a bucket of water a day at the moment!

Went for a nice drive to Sumner last night to check out my proposed 10km TT course for this morning and then headed over the hill to Lyttleton as my spies had told me there was a good ice-cream shop there. We managed to not see said shop cos we were gazing at each other in horror that some kid was actually skateboarding down the hilly streets in Lyttleton!! Who does that? So back over the hill and stopped at the dairy on Sumner for an ice-cream instead. Awesome sky on the way back in, the southerly was just kicking in and the clouds were starting to change. It looked amazing! Thats something ya don't see from the view on ya couch!

Quote for the Day:

Time is like a handful of sand--the tighter you grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers.

- Unknown

Hmm, working, training and blogging all at once are challenging even for a girl who is fully skilled in the art of multi-tasking. I'm thinking now that a couple of updates a week is going to be about all I can manage. Better infrequent updates that never I guess.....

I have been on an easy week which would normally equal a little more time but with one thing and another it's still been really busy.

Thursday am I headed out for a ride before work, I only had to do a quick 40mins so headed down to Marine Parade for a long stretch on my aerobars, it was more than a tad windy out there again but I had a good ride and its nice that the I don't wannas seem to have moved on! Yay! Went to a running technique class after work which was great. I learnt heaps and hopefully after a few more weeks I will be capable of running more efficiently and be able to go further and faster....

Home to watch the final of Survivor, aah the sad addiction I have to reality TV! I'm sure it can't be good for me but if it's reality (ie loosely engineered to appear as realistic as possible) then I am there watching it! heheee

Friday = rest day! Woohoo, its been a long week being back at work!

Saturday morning, Kalina, Jazz and I headed over to Corsair Bay for a swim. It was heavenly over there yesterday! The water was as flat as could be and warm. There were heaps and heaps of people over there swimming, I guess everyone is getting ready for the OceanSwim which is only about a month away now. Kalina and I swam out past the boats to the 5 knot buoys, along the back of the boats and back in again. We were good and actually swam this time instead of swimming a bit, stopping for a long chat, swimming some more and so on. The funniest part was even tho the bay is fairly big we kept swimming into each other and I managed to knock Kalina's goggles off! hehehee

Was sposed to go for a 50min run but had an appointment at 11 so figured I would run later, managed to then run out of time before Geoff's cycle race which I decided I would go and watch, so figured I would run after that instead. I ended up marshaling for the race as there were short of volunteers, it was kinda fun but blimey the temperature was in the 30's! Standing in the middle of the road in that heat was hotter than hot! I decided that running in that kinda heat would be pretty damn silly so managed to convince Richard (my coach) that postponing my run till Sunday and doing Sunday as a bike/run was a good idea. I think he only agreed as he was concerned that I might melt on the pavement and he would have to clean up the mess. It was Tanya's birthday today so off out to the Yellow Cross for dinner again, I don't think cold beer and hot pizza has ever tasted so good! It was melting out there as well tho.

Sunday I had planned to be on my bike earlyish to beat the heat of the day, well I'm not so good at getting up early when I really don't have to so it was 9.30 before I was on my bike. Lucky it was less hot today as I was off up to the Sign of the Kiwi and return. Climbed in just under 27mins today, not bad considering it was still pretty damn hot out and about. Saw a few folk I knew when I was at the Kiwi and on the way down so that was cool. Had a nice long relaxed transition at home and made sure I had taken on enough water and fuel before heading off on my run. Running at midday is kinda daft and I end up doing it all the time! I need to plan better! Still, had an ok run given how hot it was so that was cool.

I have just finished a 6 week program from my coach and received the next instalment last night, sometimes I wonder why I do all this! My next program scared me a little! It has some tough stuff in there, but there is still heaps of fun stuff too so thats pretty cool :) I think it freaks me out looking at 6 weeks at once, I need to just worry about one week at a time. All good tho, after a chat and having my fifty million questions all answered I feel a lot more balanced and am looking forward to ripping into all tomorrow.

Just watched the movie The Prestige. If you haven't seen it you really should, its awesome. Geoff hadn't seen it before and is looking a little stunned which is probably how I looked the first time I saw it but it makes much more sense the second time as you pick up on all the little nuances that you miss the first time around. Definitely not a happy movie tho!

Anyways, sleepie time for me I think so I can get up and go swimming tomorrow and Merlin has a follow up visit at the vet. The steroids seem to be doing their job, he seems a lot happier and more comfortable than he did last week.

Alrightee, I have been chastised for not updating my blog frequently enough so here we go....

Went back to work on Monday so things have been a little busier than the last couple of weeks. I was kinda lucky tho cos at least I didn't start early! I was up and about early-ish to go swimming tho. That was hard, I have been having a case of the 'I don't wanna's' over the last few days. I got to QE2 and pretty much was on auto-pilot and as I was walking thru to the pool I was thinking, why I am here, I don't wanna do this. But then sensibleness kicked in as I realised that I had just paid $5 and that I needed to do a little more than just inhale the smell of chlorine. So I got stuck in and swum, felt better for it, really I did! Then off to the nutritionist on the way to work.....hmm, I was a little hesitant about how this would go. I figured I had eaten reasonably sensibly/carefully over the Xmas break but you can never really tell! Phew, I did lose another 600gms so thats all good.

Tuesday was another I don't wanna day! I was all set to do a cycle after work and even biked to work so I could head out on my ride straight from work. (Any excuse to park my bike by my desk, I won't be able to do that when we move buildings nest week.) Anyway, normally I have my ride all sorted before I go. I left work and was still dithering about where to go! I kinda meandered alot! Went along the base of the hills, thru Heathcote, ended up in New Brighton so trundled down Marine Parade/Beach Road before heading home. I was good tho and had no issues doing a short run off the bike, I had even remembered to leave my shoes all ready in a mini transition area at home. Was pretty pooped and went to bed real early last night.

Had a chat with my coach last night about my I don't wanna phase, bless him he is about to redo my program and is going to put some time-trial type stuff in for each discipline so I can gauge my progress over a space of a few weeks. Hopefully that will give me something to focus on. I'm normally pretty motivated but the last 2 weeks have been 14+ hours of training so I think its all catching up on me now. Lucky this week is an easy week.

Swimming was a little easier to get into this morning (Wednesday) so that was nice! I have had huge issues getting decent coffee this week as my regular coffee shop doesn't re-open till next week!! Aaahhh! So tried somewhere different for coffee this morning and that seems to have helped, its not good for a girl to have bad coffee! Had to take Merlin to the vet after work today, he has been all restless and a bit funny about stairs etc and it seems he has a sore back. Poor wee thing! (Well, big thing! He weighed in just under 40 kilos!) The vet has put him on steroids and we go back in a few days to see if he is any better. He got a steroid injection this evening and he seems perkier already and was puppying around being silly before which he hadn't been doing. Finally got out for my run at about 8pm! Hmmm, its not easy getting out the door that late. Lucky I only had to do a 30min run and it was lovely running round the river at the time of the evening and it was still lovely and warm out.

Quote of the Day: (some people have asked about these, so, I send them to my team at work each day with their stats, its just a nice light-hearted way to make stats a little more interesting. I subscribe to them at www.boardofwisdom.com - there is a link on the right of the page)

No man can be happy without a friend, nor be sure of his friend till he is unhappy.- Thomas Fuller

Wow, awesome weather for my last weekend off work! I almost got rid of those cycling tan lines yesterday only to have them re-appear again today! ughhhhh....

Had a bit of a sleep-in yesterday and headed over to Corsair Bay for a swim. Got there just before 10, there were still a few people swimming which was good as I was swimming on my own. I feel competent enough to swim on my own in the open water while there are others around, just not so keen to swim completely solo. Did a couple of laps out to the boats and back and was quite surprised at how little time that took with no-one to stop and chat to while swimming! hehehe... Oh well I do need to practise actually swimming longer distances in the open water since I have entered the 2.8km ocean swim which is only a month or so away now. After the swim I headed off for a run, I did 3 laps around the triathlon run course again. Its good to get my head into the idea of doing lap Timaru is a 3 lap run and most other tri's seem to consist of laps. Running laps used to really do my head in but I seem to cope with them better now which is all good. Stood in the nice cold water at Corsair Bay for 10mins after doing my run in the hopes that my legs would feel ok the next day. Had a thirst for an icy cold coca cola in the afternoon so took Merlin for a gentle meander to the dairy and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sun reading my book.

Sunday I headed out to do long bays. Jazz joined me for a ride since he was sposed to be doing short bays anyway. We had a stinking headwind right from when we left home! Blimmin grrr! Chch is not sposed to be windy! Although this is what Richard said when I texted him saying 'wind!:-/' he replied and said 'Wind is your friend, you live in Chch! It helps you practice getting aero, makes you stronger mentally and physically. Is awesome if it is behind you and is better than snow!' aah gotta love it! yes it is better than snow, but since when is Chch the windy city? I thought Welly had the rights on that one? Anyway, the weather was odd today, we kept looking at the clouds in the distance and debating whether or not it was raining where we were headed. It got pretty cold and unfun heading to Tai Tapu so we agreed that if it was raining by the time we reached the bottom of Gebbies Pass we would turn around and head home, theory being that a flat ride with a tail wind would be more fun in the rain than riding the hills! Well, there was no rain! Once we were over Gebbies Pass the weather was stunning! It was almost worth the headwind just to be on the other side and experience such a stunning day round the bays! We even got a wee push up Evans Pass from the wind which is almost unheard of and kinda pleasant! No causeway sprint today, it was far too windy for that kind of fun!

Right, best I head off to bed since I have work tomorrow and will actually have to get up early to go swimming for a change! And I have a nutritionist appt tomorrow am, fingers crossed that I don't weigh more than I did before Xmas.....

Quote for the Day:

"Beer the cause of and solution to all of life's little problems"- Homer Simpson

3th and 4th Jan

Yesterday was a bit of a grim day, I woke up feeling pretty tired and sore from yesterdays beach run. Tiredness was mainly due to not sleeping so good. Merlin, aka beautiful Boxer dog, is pretty restless with these hot nights so he was up and down, walking all round the room last night trying to get comfy and managed to keep me awake for most of the night as well. Headed off to do Short Bays via the Summit Rd for a change. Went up Dyers Pass Rd, haven't done that in a long while, it went ok given how dead my legs felt, I eased off from the Takahe to the Kiwi due to sore legs and knowing there was still a fair amount of climbing to go. As luck would have it I managed to find wind! Go figure! The day before was calm as could be, this morning was calm until I got onto Summit Rd, oh well as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger! At least it cooled down a little, it was baking hot when I left home. Geoff left home after me and was chasing me, he finally caught me on the descent into Sumner (he had to take a wee detour back home after leaving without his helmet)! It was a bit of a slow toddle home for me, my legs were feeling pretty fried and I needed to do a run off my bike! Got home and meandered my way thru a really slow transition, someone needs to slap me if I ever do a race transition that slowly! I was procrastinating about going for my run cos I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant! I headed off to do 2 laps thru Horseshoe Lake Reserve. Ran not so bad for the first 15mins and then it pretty much all went to custard and as I neared the end of the first lap past home I was having an argument with myself as to whether it would be better to stop now and not run for as long as I was sposed to or whether it was better to suck it up and keep going even tho I wasn't running very well. I still don't know which would have been the best option but I did take a couple of hard pills and kept going even tho it wasn't fun! I was feeling pretty blimmin tired after that effort and recovered by spending the afternoon on the couch watching the tennis. It took me forever to get up enough energy to go upstairs and have a shower, the fact that I knew I smelt bad after all that exercise was the final motivation I needed in order to move!

Friday is rest day! Yay! Am feeling better already! Had an appointment to donate plasma this morning so headed off to the blood bank, my haemoglobin levels were a tad on the low side so they sent me away today! They took a couple of samples to send away for testing, hopefully they don't stand me down again cos that would suck. Best I be good and remember to take my iron tablets regularly again, that could also explain why I feel pretty tired as well. Went and bought some new work pants today at Riccy Mall, yay its exciting to fit a size 12 for the first time in forever! In fact the first pair I tried on were a little big so I tried on the 10 which did fit, they were very tight so I didn't buy them but yay that I can find into a size 10 pair of pants! heheee

Might do some yoga later, only other plans for the day are to watch the tennis and hopefully find a good movie on telly later tonight! Only 2 more days of relaxation before going back to work on Monday.

Quote of the Day:

They do not love that do not show their love. - William Shakespeare

2nd Jan

Eek, can't believe how quick these holiday days are slipping by! Only 4 days left before I have to start thinking about trying to fit my training in around work again.

Swam at QE2 with Kalina this morning, gee she is a hard taskmaster and made me work! One would think she would play nice since I let her sit on my wheel in that nasty headwind yesterday! But no, there was no mucking around this morning which is probably good for me anyway! If you read this make sure you ask her about her blonde ditzy moment in the changing rooms! heheee

After the swim I headed down to the beach to run along the beach for a change of scene. Phew it was warm! I parked at Waimari Surf Club and headed north. It was a bit like playing dodgems initially as the beach was real crowded but it thinned out fairly quickly and then I just had to keep an eye on the incoming tide so I didn't get wet feet, I turned back after 30mins and I reckon I nearly made it to maybe Spencerville (is that the next beach along that way? Anyway there were heaps of people in the water just up the beach a little.) when I turned back I could barely see the pier and certainly couldn't see the Waimari Surf Club. Ewww saw a nudie man when I was running back! He just walked out of the dune natural as could be with his towel in his hand. Since when is that beach a nudie beach? Too random! Stood in the nice cold waves after my run, felt so good on my sore tired legs!

Nothing much exciting on for the rest of the day. Visited my new fave supermarket again! f you haven't been there you need to check out Pak'n'Save Wainoni, its new and clean and they have self checkout so you can shop without talking to anyone! I discovered today that the playlist on my ipod is just the right length to do groceries too!

Took Merlin down to play in the river at Horseshoe Lake Reserve, he isn't loving this heat so hopefully he is a little cooler now he has had a play in the river. Hmmm he has disappeared, the wee sod better not be asleep on my bed cos he is still soaking wet!

Quote of the Day:

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.- Mary Pickford, actress

New Years Eve and Day

New Years Eve was a pretty gentle affair, kicked off the morning with a nice walk thru Bottle Lake Plantation. Then off to the pool for a swim, I really need to go to the pool before I do anything else cos I really lose my motivation if I wait. However Jazz had swum earlier and said it was real busy so by waiting I did get to swim at a quieter time of the day. Long distance swim this morning. Was good and did some yoga again this afternoon, am hoping to see some improvement in my flexibility sometime soon... Pretty quiet evening and was tucked up in bed well before the fireworks and excitement of the New Year. And one day I will remember not to leave my phone by my bed, lots of texts to wake me just after midnight was entertaining!

Up nice and early on New Years Day to have my first taste of support crewing for Nadia while she practised part of the Coast to Coast course. I now know where Woodstock is! The river at the Waimak Gorge looked incredibly inviting! It was very blue and pretty looking! I had a nice time sitting in the sun reading my book while waiting for the kayakers to turn up, I think next time I am there it will be a little more frantic somehow! Unloaded Nadia's bike, loaded up the kayak and sent her on her way to cycle home down a rather long and windy Old West Coast Rd. Dropped her car off at home and then headed home to do my own training. I managed to convince Kalina that she really wanted to cycle to Tai Tapu and back even tho it was really windy by this time. I think the offer off sitting on my wheel while I practise on my aerobars seems to convince most people that a ride is a good idea! Not much aerobar time today tho with that wind, I'm starting to think my aerobars are just a really expensive ornament lately, its been so windy that I have barely touched them!! I did spent quite a bit of quality time down on my handlebar drops while battling the wind today, it was kinda the no option option! It honestly took us nearly 20mins longer to get home than it did to get there today! Nasty! Quick transition at home and zapped off down the road for a nice 5min run straight off the bike.

Have just been reading the Assistants Guide for the Coast to Coast so I know exactly what I am in for in a few weeks time, it all makes a bit more sense now that I have some visual references to go by.

Quote of the Day:

The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.- Unknown