Ok am trying to be good and update my blog more frequently!!

Am feeling a bit nervous about the fact that my training program has a cycling only focus for the next two weeks and then nothing at all for the 3 weeks after that!! The cycling only part is fair enough, I have Graperide this weekend followed by Around Brunner the weekend after so that is all cool, don't wanna go race with legs that are sore from running. But eek 3 weeks off!! Apparently thats an off-season, I get all jittery everytime I think about it! I was good tho and when I was at the nutritionist today I talked to her about eating and nutrition while not exercising so much so have some good ideas now of what to do and not do while I am less active. So if anyone wants to go fishing....golf....anything that doesn't involve a swim/bike or run then just let me know, I will be at a loose end from 20th April for 3 weeks!!!

Have managed to get some good training sessions under my belt this week tho so am feeling quite good about that. Had to do a 5km run TT the other night, it wasn't quite as sharp as my last couple but its still heaps quicker than what I was doing a year ago so can't be too unhappy about things! Swam at Centennial on Wed am, that is one busy little pool in the morning! Phew, its quite a mish finding enough lane space for yourself, decided to flag the drills I was supposed to do and just did some long sets as it seemed a lot safer. Went for a nice ride on Thurs evening in that nasty nasty wind that we had going on here in ChCh, I don't think Pete enjoyed riding with us somehow, he was very chatty at the start and was pretty quiet by the time we got home......

Saturday was a good running day, all overcast and ick! Started at the top of Evans for a change, I think I am almost a little bit over the Capt. Thomas now. Headed along the Scarbrough Bluffs to Taylors Mistake and along Godley Head, its real gorgeous over there. Underestimated how long it would take to get back tho as running that way there is more uphill on the return trip. I was a little silly and decided I would try and run all of those 193 steps, hmmmmm thats not a smart idea, they hurt a lot! Never mind, I have something to strive for there now.

Sunday was quite a huge day, a 4 hour ride followed up with a 20min run. I made sure I loaded up with some decent nutrition for this one, 4 hours is no walk in the park and I chose a challenging course for myself. I headed up Dyers to the Kiwi, went right at the Kiwi along the Summit to Gebbies, along the bays to Lyttleton up Evans, along the Summit back to the Kiwi and home. Was chatting to some dude when I was climbing Evans and managed to keep up with him and climbed Evans a minute faster than I ever have before........hmmm I must have been slacking, best I give it a really good nudge next time I am heading up there which I guess will be after that enforced rest thing! Had a good run afterwards which was nice, just did the usual wee loop thru the Horseshoe Lake reserve.

Right.....time to bring on Graperide!!!

Easter

Easter was a mission training weekend, beware what you ask for as you may get it!! Hahaha, I suggested that I have a huge training weekend over Easter as I wasn't going away or doing anything in particular so that is exactly what I got. It looked a little like this: Friday - 60min swim and a 3 hour ride, Saturday - 2 hour hill run, Sunday - 60min swim, Monday - 3 hour ride plus an hour run off the bike. So lots of hard work but heaps of fun!

On the Friday I decided that rather than doing drills etc I would have a go at doing a 3.8km swim so I knew that I could do the distance as I had never swum that far before. Let's just say that 152 lengths of a 25m pool is not the most inspiring swim one could do! I was a little worried about losing count so decided to split it into quarters counting 4 lots of 38 laps. I wore Geoff's HRM so I could download all the data and hit the split timer every quarter so I would have an idea how consistent I was over the distance. The good news is that my HR was very consistent throughout and the splits were all relatively similar, nothing more than a minute difference in each of them which is good. I took it pretty easy as I had never swum that far before and obviously had a big weekend ahead of me.

Headed home after the swim and managed to catch Ironman NZ on SKY before heading out on my ride. Went for a slightly different ride to normal, headed out to do short bays, have decided that I am only going up Dyers Pass Rd from now on (I really hope that decision doesn't bite me in the bum at a later date!). Headed down into Governer's Bay as normal, then headed along the bays, up Evans and turned left to go along the Summit Rd to the Kiwi, it is such a pretty ride going along there but blimey it just keeps going up and up and up!! Descended from the Kiwi down Hackthorne and headed home.

Had some nice damp weather for my run on the Saturday which is actually quite nice for running. I started off at the old Capt. Thomas walkway yet again, (I need to start experimenting on diff runs) on Rapanui I took the turn-off to the Scarborough Bluffs and managed to get myself all the way to Taylors Mistake, this involved running thru a paddock full of sheep so was quite amusing! Heading into Taylor's the path took me down a track that led into an awful lot of steps, so I figured, hmmm will count those on the way back it seems like quite a few steps, imagine my horror when I headed back to see that the sign on the track is simply '193 Step track'..........and they are narrow steep things too! It certainly raised the heart rate getting back up those!! I'll be back to do them again tho :)

Sunday was pretty casual with just a swim on the cards, did a technique session with some speedwork thrown in for good measure, Murphy's Law the pool was 50m today! They couldn't have organised that when I did that 3.8km could they!! I even managed to get out and rake the leaves in the drive and generally get some jobs down around home although I did have reasonably sore legs from the day before. I need some compression tights methinks!

Monday the biggest mission of them all!! Off to try another new bike ride, I have decided that standard long bays is just a huge mission! Its a long way out to Motukarara, so I decided to do long bays the other way so headed on up to the Kiwi, turned right there and headed along Summit Rd to Coopers and descended down Gebbies. I have never gone along Summit Rd that way before and it is absolutely stunning along there!! Gorgeous views that whole way!! I'm definitely riding along there more in the future. Managed to comfortably get myself over the 'Bitches' using my '21' rather than my '25' for climbing so that was pretty cool!! Headed along the bays and up over Evans, through Sumner to home. A quick change of shoes and top and off for that run. I had worked out that a lap around the river plus a loop thru the reserve would take about an hour, the good news is that it didn't!! The bad news is I had to quickly figure out a good place to add on a detour that wouldn't take me too far away! I ended up running just under an hour but the super-cool part is that I did run the whole time! That's huge for me as I am the proverbial run/walker, its so much fun to be able to run and run now!

So rather a mission but thats what long weekends are for eh :)

Phew busy busy!!

Went for a lactate test a few weeks ago which was pretty interesting, I was keen to see how much I had improved since the last one way back in October. Well I can tell you that I am now a helluva lot fitter than I was back then which is pretty damn exciting!! I managed to go up another couple of levels on the wattage threshold before my HR went thru the roof, jeepers it was hard on those top levels!! Lots of pain, but fun as well....issues? Yes!! :)

Managed to break my HRM recently so now have an uber-flash new Polar RS200 which is a wicked toy! I can download my workouts to the web so that is pretty cool and I managed to figure out how to set the zones to my HR thresholds in my program so that is cool. And it can countdown to Ironman as well, thats a bit real when you see the countdown on your watch each day, not sure how long that will last before I get over that! Its been a bit weird not racing over the past few weeks, it has been nice to get out for some long runs and rides tho, its a bit challenging to get those in when you race most weekends. The wetsuit has been washed, rinsed, dried and hung up for the winter. Next time it sees the light of day will be when it goes on Trade Me so I can buy myself a new one as my current one is too big now! So if anyone is after a 2XU Elite Womens wetsuit I have one that needs a new home.

Hmm I seem to get too busy to update my blog, I imagine that is going to get worse and not better as I train more. Maybe I need to get uber-geeky and send myself an appointment or something so I remember....

Anyway, an update is why we are here! Last time I posted it was IMNZ day! Woohoo! Lots and lots of watching the net seeing everyone finish, it was a late night but worth it to see Ginni beaming from ear to ear as she crossed that finish line :) Well done Ginni! I am impressed!!

The next morning I had my last tri of the season out in Rangiora, this was always going to be an interesting day as I had been for an 80min run the day before, the plan being to race tired so I would know how it felt.... Hmmm it felt interesting....My legs and glutes were pretty achey, they have been since those hill runs and spin. The swim went ok, I was in a wave with all the quickies (I may have lied about my est swim time) and got bashed around a fair bit at the start, its an honest 750m swim so I wasn't superfast but survived. The bike was ok to start with cos we had a tailwind at that point, I could feel my legs hurting, mainly quads and glutes and knew I was in for a tough time and when I hit the headwind I was a bit over it. By then my legs just felt dead and they didn't wanna play anymore! Bonus is I spent a huge amount of time on my aerobars which was cool and I felt fine on them. I was pretty worried about how ugly the run might get given how I was feeling but figured I would just try and tough it out as long as I could. So after about 200m I wanted to walk.....not good, so I convinced myself that I would try and run the first lap and then re-evaluate. Well by then I had run half of it so decided I could keep going, plus other people were walking and I didn't want to be one of them! About half way thru the second lap I had a who cares moment and slowed to walk but pulled myself into line before I walked and just hung in there. I started lining people up to pass and that helped heaps. I managed to turn out another PB which is pretty cool! Yay, and managed to be quicker than a couple of folk who normally whip my butt! So thats it for triathlons for awhile, the wetsuit has been soaked and dried and about to be put away for winter!

Still plenty of training going on tho which is heaps of fun. I am really enjoying my running at the moment, it seems to be coming along in leaps and bounds which is cool. Have been doing some fun random things like running home from work, am quite stoked that I managed to run home about 5-6 mins quicker than previously (yes I ran the same route home!). I think all that running up the Capt. Thomas walkway has helped, I never used to do hills before but they are fun, I need to get that booklet that has all the Port Hills runs and walks so I can vary my runs a bit. Have been having fun doing the swim sessions of swimplan.org, heaps of variety to keep me motivated in the pool, might have a go at a 3.8km timetrial this weekend just for fun!

Not long now till Graperide, I'm looking forward to that, it was an awesome event last year and should be good again this year esp as we get a bottle of vino as returning riders. Then Around Brunner the week after so it should be all fun and games in April!!

Eeek, entries open for IMNZ in April, thats not far away! Best I find those $$ pretty quick to guarantee my place on that startline, am all fired up now after watching the SKY coverage of IMNZ 08!!

Quote for the Day:

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.

- Unknown

Well what better time to update my blog than while listening to and watching ironmanlive!! So for those not in the know, the first weekend of March is Ironman weekend in NZ so that means it is just a year away, that's a lot closer than it was in November when I decided to start this journey! Tis all good, I am fully inspired now, am waiting up to watch Ginni finish and then it will be off to bed to try and get some sleep cos I have a race in the morning. Tomorrow's race is the North Canterbury Women's Tri and it better stop raining or I really don't think I wanna do it! Yeah I know I should just take some hard pills and get out and race in the rain but I ran for 80mins in the rain this morning and it was ok but not something you want to do everyday. Anyway I guess I will be there and will race no matter what the weather is doing, the poor Wilier tho she will look rather disgusting after going out in that nasty weather!

Its been a fun week training this week. Headed up the Capt. Thomas walkway again on Tues evening, had a really good run, managed to run a lot more of the uphills than I have previously so that was cool and I literally flew along the downhills which was heaps of fun!! Back to spin on Wednesday evening, funny I never used to like spin classes and I have really missed going to spin so am pleased its kicked off again! It was stinking hot on Weds so the shot runs outside were a blessing in disguise. Thursday seems to have become my day to bus to work and run home which I am really enjoying so that's cool and something different to do, it makes me practice running with my camel back which is good cos I need to use that for my longer runs. Might look at getting a fuel belt at some stage as well. Ran for what seemed like miles and miles today, I ran all along the river and estuary and got as far as Bridge St so was pretty impressed with that esp as I really didn't want to get out there to start with, but had heaps of fun once I got into it!

And yay my new speedo arrived for my bike! It is very flash, now I just need to find out how much I owe the bike shop...... hmmmm never a cheap experience but always a good one :)

Gosh I have been a bit slack at updating my blog haven't I? Things have been a bit busy with work, going support crew for the Coast to Coast as well as racing mid-week with the Surf'n'Turf series.

Surf'n'Turf's have been fun, I have just been doing the long distance swims as well as cycling out to Sumner for the race and then home again. Generally I've been pretty happy with my swim times esp as the water has usually been a reasonable level of choppy/wavy! I even managed to carry on my tinny luck of winning spot prizes by winning a pair of asics running shoes the other night. All good, I have been into the shop and my shoes are on the way! Yes I have been and bought a lotto ticket after my recent run of luck! Power ball is apparently $8 mill this week, wouldn't that be nice!!!

Hmmm trying to remember what else I have done since Timaru and its a bit of a blur really! Lots of training hard and getting older! It was my birthday last Friday so as usual I took the day off work, why work on your birthday if you don't have too! Geoff gave me his credit card for the day so I could buy clothes that fit! At last I no longer look like I am dressing out of the rag bin! Its nice to try on size 10's and 12's at the shop and discover that the 10's fit really nicely! I have no idea when I would have last bought a size 10 item of clothing, it would have been many years ago, maybe when I was half the age I am now...... Tried out the BBQ the next day by inviting lots of the girlies etc over for a BBQ, it was bucketing with rain so we BBQ'ed in the carport butheyit was still fun. The Oceanswim was cancelled that morning, the weather was foul. Big nasty southerly swells out in Corsair Bay. Kalina and I momentarily thought about going for a swim anyway and then decided that going for coffee would be a far nicer way to spend the morning! So a bit gutted that I didn't get to do the 2.8km swim but better safe than sorry I spose!

Sunday morning was the Canterbury Classic Triathlon at Corsair Bay. The water was flat as glass!! You wouldn't believe how flat it was after having seen it the previous day. The water was freezing cold tho after all that rain, huge ice-cream head-ache level of cold! Had a good race tho. Swim went well, T1 wasn't bad considering I had difficulty putting my shoes on cos my feet were frozen. Had a pretty good cycle, managed to pass a few folk and held Jazz and Tanya off for a reasonable distance, I knew I would beat them out of the swim but that they would catch me on the cycle. T2 again was fine except for the cold foot syndrome still hapening! I had a blimmin' great run for me! I started off running out of the carpark but that carpark is just nasty so I walked the last half and then ran the whole thing apart from that other nasty little steep part near Magazine Bay. Overall I was pretty stoked with my time, I was approx 9mins quicker than last year and 5mins of that was on the run! All those running technique classes must have paid off! Oh and won another spot prize at prize giving, a huge tub of Leppin this time and Tanya finally won her first ever spot prize!

I have started a new trend of running home from work about once a week. Its kinda fun, I hop on the bus in the morning with my camel back etc, leave most of my gear at work and run home. The best part is I am home by the time I would have got there on the bus and I don't have to turn around and head abck out cos I have already been for my run. Its real pretty running home along by the river.

Had a good ride up to the Kiwi and back yesterday morning, I left home around 6am, its still dark then by the way! It was gorgeous cycling thru town and up the hill while the city was waking up. By the time I was at the Kiwi, all the street lights were out and there were quite a few people out and about running and cycling etc, not much traffic tho which was really nice.

It will be up early-ish tomorrow to get in a nice 3 hour training session before we go to the cricket and sit in the sun and drink beer!

Quote of the Day:

Time is not measured by the passing of the years, but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.

- Jawaharlal Nehru

Tribute to Merlin

RIP Merlin 16-09-1997 - 02-02-2008

My wee buddy of 10 years passed away this weekend. Merlin was the coolest dog, a big gentle giant and my old man! He loved nothing more than spending time with his family. He would happily come for a ride in the car, go for a walk and even a run although he would try and trip you up when he had had enough of running along! He would come for a drive when I would go swimming in the morning and would wait patiently in the car for me to come back so we could go home and have breakfast. He was great for having a nap on the couch with when you were tired from training or just tired, he would even let you use him as a pillow. He was very much a food loving dog and if you ever got the cheese out of the fridge he would hear you even if he was sound asleep at the far end of the house! He also knew that the last piece of toast was his and would patiently wait while you ate your breakfast knowing that I would save him a wee corner. My wee boy was also quite the couch potato loving nothing more than curling up on the couch for a cuddle while you watched telly, if he was human I reckon beer and motorsport would have been pretty high on his list of favourite things! He was such a sweetie, he would give you a kiss when you did stuff for him even if it was just filling his water bowl or giving him his breakfast.
We took Merlin to the vet a few weeks ago as he seemed to have a bit of a sore back and they put him on a course of steroids and he improved fairly quickly so after a few visits to the vet over a couple of weeks he seemed to be doing ok so he came off the steroids to see how he was. Two days later he was quite sore, he yelped when he was patted on his back, my boy never yelps he is a pretty tolerant boy, so he must have been pretty sore. Geoff took him down to the vet as I was still at work, I headed down there when I got home so I could find out what was going on. It appeared Merlin had regressed fairly quickly so back onto the steroids and he seemed to be doing ok over the weekend, he wasn't moving around quite as much but he still seemed ok. That was Friday, Monday when I got home he was quite sore, he was sitting up on the couch and didn't want to get down cos he knew it would hurt. So I decided to take him into the vet in the morning, I couldn't get an appointment at a time when I could make it so I dropped him off for the day. They took a few x-rays of his spine and the vet diagnosed him as having spondylosis which is a fusing of the spine. They recommended I leave him there overnight so that he could rest, something which is a little difficult for a dog to do in a house that has stairs everywhere! I went in to visit him the next day and he was having some trouble walking around. The vet ran some tests the next day as he thought he may have an infection which he did so onto antibiotics as well. His condition just didn't get any better and the next day he couldn't walk on his own, it was like his wee back just couldn't do what it was sposed to do anymore. you could see in his eyes that he was keen as anything to see you and he desperately wanted to stand up but just couldn't. So it was with much sadness that Merlin crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday afternoon. He can now run around and hang out with his big sister Tara and the kitties that he has befriended over the years.

For those of you who don't know about Rainbow Bridge follow this link: http://petloss.com/