My normal has changed

Stuff that in the past I would have thought weird or just plain odd is now becoming normal and in a strange way I think I kinda like most of it. So what kind of things you ask? Try these out for starters....

• I think swimming a 3.8km TT is fun!
• Its normal to get up and put my togs on and wear these under my trackies while I walk the dog in the morning
• It's normal to get up at 6am every day and walk the dog
• I smell like chlorine often and I actually quite like it
• It's normal to shower practically everywhere except home, ie the pool, work
• I seem to live out of a backpack on a regular basis
• It's normal to eat my breakfast out of a plastic container while sitting at my desk
• I like cycling up to the Sign of the Kiwi, only so I can see if I did it quicker than last time!
• I like going running on the hills, 5 years ago I used to refuse to run at all!
• It's normal to spend up to an hour each night getting everything ready for work and training the next day
• It's normal for my bank statement to show that I spend my money at the bike shop rather than at the mall....
• My swim gear now permanently lives at work so I don't have to cycle with it to work
• It seems strangely normal to shake hands with someone whilst wearing togs
• It's normal to not have good hair days, a little challenging when swimming/biking/running everywhere
• It's normal to run home from work, geez I never even used to walk home!
• It's normal to fall asleep on the couch cos I am tired from training
• It's normal to have a bike that costs 3-4 times what my car cost
• Most of my favourite websites are about triathlons
• I think orienteering is fun (it really is in a geeky kinda way!)
• It's normal for me to make my lunch nearly every day
• It's normal for me to wander down the street every day and get an awesome coffee!
• I actually enjoy spin classes for the first time ever!
• It's normal to always go for a run after going for a bike ride

I'm sure the list could go on and on and on forever!

Phew nearly Friday...

Blimies, another week nearly done and dusted!Yet another whirlwind of a week as they all seem to be at the moment, not sure how I am going to cope when the training levels start to pick up! Oh well, cross that bridge when I get to it I spose. I started reading a book on time management today, someone kindly left it on my desk a few months ago so I figured it was about time I looked at it, let's face it I could do with the help managing my time at work and home! So far I have read about half the first chapter and promptly remembered about something I could do (didn't need to do but could cos it was more fun!) and put the book down! Hmmm, so far not so good. I have bought it home so you never know, after I procrastinate a bit longer I may actually start reading it again, who knows I may even learn something!

Had to do a 5km TT run in training this week, I decided not to do this at Hagley Park this time cos quite frankly that park and I are not mutually compatible! Luckily I now have all these nifty km markers on the road right outside home, thanks SBS marathon :) So I meandered down the drive and did a bit of a warm up down to the nearest marker. It was a tad tricky trying to see the markers in the dark, I was carrying my bike headlight as a torch so that helped some. I managed to see enough to hit the lap timer on my watch at each marker which was cool and when I downloaded it my times are very consistent so that is kinda cool, makes me think that at least I didn't go out too hard then blow up! So ran out 3km, back 2km and warmed down on the way home. Not a stellar time but still heaps quicker than anything I used to churn out so can't really complain eh!

Had some interesting times in the pool this week. Apparently there has been 'lane rage' at Centennial Pool lately. I now understand why, some people just do dumb stuff in the pool! An older guy was being particularly annoying the other morning, he kept swimming on the right (I think to try and avoid the 2 of us when we were passing him) but it was more frustrating than anything. I decided to say nothing and just keep my eyes peeled for what he was up to so I didn't crash into him. Luckily a lifeguard saw what he was doing and had firm words with him and got him to change lanes which was nice. Then today I was swimming with nice people and we were all courteous to each other and it was all fun, one guy who I had talked to a few times even introduced himself and shook hands this morning while we were standing at the end of the pool.

Went off this afternoon and bought myself odd things such as a whistle and survival blanket for our trek around Cheviot to do the Rogaine event on Saturday. I think last time I was ever in a camping store I would have been a wee kid and mum and dad would have been buying stuff for the caravan or something, aah the memories!

Quote for the Day:

We're women. We don't say what we want, but we reserve the right to be pissed off if we don't get it.

- from Sliding Doors

Orienteering

Orienteering is just fun!! It really is, if you haven't given it a go then get out there and do it, I'll be very surprised if you don't have fun. We did decide that it was all a little bit British in a Famous Five adventures way :)

Today's event was up on Godley Head which was beautiful today being surrounded by all the snow capped hills in the nearby vicinity. It started off a little crisp and cool but a bit of climbing up and sliding down some hills soon warmed us up!

We were feeling a little more confident today after our previous experience, we did do a bit of a gulp tho when we realised that the orange course was longer this time! Last time it was 3km and took us nearly 2 hours, today's course was 4km so we initially thought we could be out there for anything up to 3 hours!! Luckily we were wrong about that and the course took us about 90mins. It certainly seemed easier this time, the terrain was definitely easier for navigating on, less trees and bushes getting in the way of things, just lots of climbing up and down steepish slopes this time. I managed to do a few slides on my bum when I slipped over going downhill! I think we were more aware of what we needed to look for as well as looking at the distance between clues so we had a good idea of how far we needed to travel between each checkpoint. We took turn about navigating this time and this worked quite well as we only got lost on one checkpoint and in our defence the fence was in the wrong place, well according to the map we had anyway! So not a lot of running down in today's event, a lot of the day was scrambling on the hillside but we did run when we were on the paths and roadway. Definitely looking forward to the 6hr Rogaine next week!! Nadia, Rebecca and I are all entered and the info pack arrived in the post yesterday, it all looks very serious but I'm sure we'll find ways to have plenty of fun while we are out there :)

Quote for the Day:

Brother, as you travel towards your goal, keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole

- Maxwell House Coffee Billboard, 1946

Some firsts

Tried a couple of new things this week, hmmmm running at lunchtime was a novel experience that I don't know that I am keen to repeat on a regular basis. It proved to be quite a mission and given my work location not a great deal of fascinating places to run. I headed off down Madras St, along Armagh St, around North Hagley Park and back to work. By the time I got changed twice, showered and ate lunch it only made my lunch break about an hour and a half which I figured wasn't too bad. Hagley park just messes with my head eh, I really just don't enjoy it! The worst part tho was running past the groups of people standing smoking on the street...ick!! Give me car fumes in 5pm traffic any day! Having swum in the morning already, managing to miss the pool rage that was in the paper I did manage to get myself told off for wearing my shoes poolside, apparently there was some sign but in my sleepiness I managed to not see it at all. So showered at the pool after swimming, then showered at work after running, it's like I never shower at home anymore! I seem to be a mobile sports gear, shower gear carrying person these days.....she goes by bike, she goes by bus and very very rarely goes by car! I have taken to leaving my swim gear at work since I am only swimming on week days at the moment. So hopefully not many more lunchtime runs, I normally run home on a Thursday but had managed to forget that I was entered in a team for a quiz night at work and running home after that seemed very unappealing!

Another first, took Zac for his first run yesterday! I had to do a 15min run off the bike so figured that was a good distance to try him out on. He did really well for his first run, he started out a bit fast so I had to remind him that I couldn't run as fast as him, he did calm down after a wee while so that was good. He managed to nearly trip me up a couple of times which was interesting and not very smart on his behalf but we both had a good time so that's cool!

Ohh, managed a bike ride in that lovely warm weather that we had pre-snow yesterday! Gosh it was gorgeous out, I was riding in just shorts and a long sleeved cycle top, unheard of for this time of year! I headed up to the Sign of the Kiwi, first time I had been on the hills since before Graperide/Around Brunner! Was all good though and headed up Dyers Pass Rd as per my no more Hackthorne policy! Managed to get a flat tyre at the end of the first really steep bit, I hate stopping on the hills eh so I was pretty unamused! Managed a reasonably snappy tyre change on the side of the road, multiple folk asked if I was ok which was nice and they smiled as I grimaced about the joys of getting a flat, in general the guys seemed pretty impressed that I had everything under control, no damsel in distress syndrome here! All good tho, continued on my way up the hill then toddled along the base of the hills, thru Heathcote/Ferrymead then home. Beautiful day for being out and about and I'm stoked to be back on them thar hills on my bike!!

Quote of the Day:

If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat.

- Hershel Walker

The things we do...

...in order to get ready for training or to get our training done.

Some mornings seem like such a mission whereas others seem quite lazy. Take this morning for example, I get up just after 6, go walk the dog, pack up all my gear for work and swimming, oh and did I mention that I was biking to work as well? Bike into work, lock my bike up, drop my helmet and lunch at my desk, stop and laugh at Mark in my team who is all confused cos we packed his desk up on Friday and put a welcome note on it for someone else, cos he was away on a course last week. I may have also hinted that I was thinking of making some seating changes, hehehee was funny to see him looking all worried momentarily! Walked to Centennial pool, oops had to take a detour downstairs to see Shirley at work and borrow $5 cos I managed to remember my wallet but had no eftpos card! Did my swim, bless the bimbo who decided to do breast stroke in the fast lane while 2 of us were doing kick with fins on! Had a shower and walked back to work. Realised that I needed to get up earlier and muck around less on days like this as it was now 9.20am and I was only just starting work and still hadn't had breakfast! Then off out again for my physio appt at 11am. Finally managed to go get my morning coffee after that, phew!!

Tomorrow is more of the same, I have spin after work tomorrow and since I have to drive across town to get there I take all my stuff to work yet again. So, get up walk the dog, drive my bike to town, walk my bike from my car to work to lock her up safely for the day, have to be there by 8am so I can leave on time to get to spin. Tomorrow I need to try and zap the car back thru the testing station as they failed her warrant on silly stuff the other day but hopefully Geoff has fixed her for me. Luckily they open at 7.30am and are only a couple of blocks from work. Then after work, back to the car with my bike, drive across to Pioneer stadium, get changed either there or at work, do spin, load the bike back into the car and then drive home again. So have spent what feels like half of this evening making sure I have breakfast and lunch ready to go, drink bottles on my bike, clothes ironed for work and gear organised for spin.

I never ever thought I was capable of being organised to this level, it's craziness! Imagine the chaos if I wasn't tho?? The poor dog would never get walked! As it is he only ever seems to get walked in the dark as that seems to be the only time I am ever home. Crazy as all this running round can seem at times I wouldn't change it for the world. When people ask me why I do it, I simply smile and say, 'because I can' :)

Quote for the Day:

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots."

- Unknown

Tour de Macklin

I love public holidays, they are like bonus training days! I always always make sure I ask for a mission weekend! It's great to challenge yourself and do a bit more than normal. This weekend wasn't as huge a mish as normal due to racing on Sunday.

Today I headed out for a ride with Kalina, all the boys piked out. It was too wet/cold/they were full of excuses eh! Geoff scoffed at every suggestion I made for a ride and told me I would get soaked if I went where I wanted to go. So with a promise not to call home if we got caught in the rain etc, Kalina and I headed off to meet young Tim Macklin at Coffee Culture Cashmere.

I was quite relieved to discover that I needed to do a flat ride as I had been thinking of doing short bays. So with not much of a plan other than to stay dry we headed along to the Halswell Downs then kicked off towards Lincoln/Prebbleton way. We were cruising along nicely when Tim asked if we wanted to see a really flash house, we figured why not and there started what became the Tour de Macklin, not quite as many stages as the Tour de France and a lot less lycra clad bodies but fun nonetheless! The flash house was Tim's brother-in-law (I think), then somewhere along the road were Tim's in-laws, Tim's brother, someone's previous house. The list was endless! Kalina and I were having a great laugh being held captive by all of this. (Held captive - cos basically we had no idea where we were so no choice but to keep following Tim or who knows where we would end up!!) We ended up in Lincoln, by this time I was really cold so we decided to head back to Cashmere for a coffee to warm up. On the way we managed to detour plus some more Macklin residences, both past and present! Craziness!!

Mmmmm coffee was good! We had missed a lot of the rain but were still damp, thankfully we managed to miss a huge downpour while we were inside in the warmies! Once the showers cleared we decided to head off, wouldn't you know it, my tyre had gone flat while we were inside. Luckily tho my bike is smart cos while we were fixing my flat it pissed down again!! We managed to shelter out of the rain and avoid that shower as well, if I hadn't had a flat we would have gotten drenched! I managed to impress a guy with my tyre changing ability, esp as he suggested he would be calling for a ride home on a day like today, I kindly explained to him about my earlier dramas and said there was no way in hell I was calling for a ride home today. It could have snowed, hailed and had ten flats I would still have found my own home, stubborn wee girl that I am at times! hehehee, oh well, it was all fun until I went to clean my bike before! Ick, she was filthy!! Just as well the boys at the shop didn't see her in that state, they may well have told me that I don't deserve her anymore! Never mind, she is sparkling now! Chain is all freshly lubed, I even rotated the tyres!

I managed to spend the rest of the day multi-tasking, if it was an Olympic sport I reckon I would have no trouble qualifying! I must have done about 7 loads of washing, made pumpkin soup, made a roast vege salad for my lunches, vacuumed, written my blog, updated my coaching log and emailed that away and after tea took the dogger for a nice wee walk. Phew, time to relax now but it starts all over again getting stuff ready for tomorrow, best I remember to pack those goggles this time!

Quote for the Day:

When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the fire department generally uses water.

- Unknown

Race Report for 10km at the ChCh Marathon

Well first up yay I had a PB!! Wicked eh! First time ever under an hour so am pretty stoked with that. I looked back over some previous results earlier and the last 10km race result I can find was in 2006 and a did an hour and 9 mins so 58.15 is looking pretty damn sharp from where I'm sitting!

I had a funny old day yesterday, I was pretty excited to be racing again, there's something about race day that just gets me all fired up. I love it! I felt a bit nostalgic and envious heading out to the race. I live on course for the half and full marathon so when I saw all the cones out and the signs up down our street I really wished that I was doing the half marathon again this year like I have done for the past two years. Oh well, by doing the 10km I was able to see everyone else finish this time round which was nice.

Great weather for running, nice and cool and overcast! Yay for me cos I'm not really a fan of hot weather running. Managed to find Tanya and Nadia on the start line, not bad considering there were 4500+ of us there! That was cool and I was able to wish them luck for their races.

Geez it was a pretty congested start! Why do people feel the need to start up the front when they just can't run that fast? I spent a fair bit of time elbowing my way between people jogging along 2 abreast at a fairly staid pace. I managed to remember to hit the lap timer on my HRM at every km mark so that makes for pretty interesting reading now that I have downloaded it! I think the 9km marker must have been at the wrong place otherwise I did an uber-fast km followed by a terribly slow km.....

Was good to see a few friendly and familiar faces out on course spectating, Ginni, Zarnia and anyone else who was out there.

As I say it was a funny day, my goal was to go under an hour cos I have never done that before, I was quietly confident before the start of the race, I seemed to just know that I would do it which was scary and comforting all at the same time. I think I went out a bit hard at the start tho.... Had a really sore, tight stomach for the first few kms, kinda like stitch but not stitch, so had a bit of a walk just before the 5km drink station (I figured I would just say I was walking the drink station, that works right?), ummed and aahed about whether to take my GU that I had on me. Figured I may as well use it, I decided it wouldn't make me feel worse and may well make me feel better. So got that in and drank a cup of water from the drink station and jogged off again. Geoff and his family were at the 5km turn around (that way they got to see all of us, Geoff's brother Pete and g/friend Jill were doing the half marathon) that was nice to have a friendly wave and smile at halfway! Geoff was cute the night before, he came up to say good night after I had gone to bed and was telling me that I would have an awesome race and called me his champion runner. He told me my running was looking really good at the moment, I thought this was quite amusing as I couldn't remember when he had last seen me run so I asked him about that and he reckons he sees me all the time when he is heading off somewhere or driving home in his car. That was cute and nice that he mentioned it, it's always good to get some positive reinforcement before race day.So from the 5km mark I needed to have wee walks every km, they were just wee, just a hundred metres or so, unlike in the past when I have had to literally walk half a km at a time. From 5km I knew unless something really drastic happened I would breeze in under an hour so that was cool. Just before the final corner this girl behind me burst into tears and saying to the person she was running with that she couldn't do it and wasn't go to make it. I turned around and ran with her a bit and encouraged her along, she picked up and had a huge sprint finish which was cool, seeing her got me all choked up tho and when I turned to go up the finish straight I couldn't get a decent breath which wasn't good. Managed to sort myself out tho and cruised on up and over that line!

So an interesting day, not a perfect race but still a PB which is always great :)

Quote of the Day:

One of the best ways to measure people is to watch the way they behave when something free is offered.

- Ann Landers