A great week...

...but I am feeling completely "blah" and I couldn't use "Blah" as a title as I've already used it! (that says something about me). The blahness is, I think, a result of a number of things, including hormones, tiredness and wacky weather. It has been hot and stuffy and my appetite and diet have been completely out of whack (nibbles and popcorn for dinner on Wednesday, grilled cheese and instant chicken noodle soup at about 9:30 last night...), so am feeling bloated and exhausted and, well, blah. Ah well- as I said above, it's actually been a great week!

So, first "FIRST":

Key Run #1 (Monday): w/up, 5 x 1k (goal: 4:30) w/400m RI, cool
4:22, 4:23, 4:23, 4:24, 4:25 (hard but good!)

Key Run #2 (Thursday): w/up, 4mi tempo (8:15-8:30), cool
4mi in 33:00 (exactly on pace - even though I felt inCREDibly slow and was so hot I ended up in my sports crop top only, a first for me and I feel sorry for the other runners I saw)

Key Run #3 will be at the City of Wellington Half Marathon this Sunday. I'm not super excited about this, as it's a race I've never enjoyed (even the time I PRd there) and I'm only doing it to help my friend break 2:00. The plan calls for 12mi @ PMP + 45-60 (9:54-10:09), so we won't be too far off. I hope we can do it, but I'm not sure that she's ready- still, I really hope that I can help her run the best race possible on the day!

On Monday night we went up to P's aunt and uncle's place in Martinborough (country town, farms, vineyards etc). We enjoyed a fabulous barbeque with them on Monday night and slept in a wonderful room (they run a B&B- this room was waaay nicer than anything we'd have ever paid for!), then slept in before taking the twins (bikes) out for a nice medium-long ride around the countryside. Because we're us and it always seems to work like this, we rode into a headwind for the first half. It was still enjoyable though, if slow! Then stopped in a local pub for a huge lunch (I'm sure it more than compensated for the calories we burned). We did some short sprints on the way back (new top speed, 55kph) and I worked some more on my technique. P said I had really improved. It is so great riding out there- we are going to make an effort to drive up semi-regularly throughout the next year, so I can ride somewhere where I'm happy and relaxed. It's SO much better for me! We spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing (I finished re-reading Harry Potter 6) and watching cricket, before we got as dressed up as we could be bothered to (something offputting about make up in the heat) and went out for a romantic dinner.

Weds I turned 25. Woo! Did a really uncomfortable swim in the morning- was sooo tired and back was stuffed from cycling. Had joint birthday drinks with a good friend that evening- heaps of good friends there, lovely presents, perfect weather, nice crisp white wine- perfect!

We went to a bike maintenance class last night- the last thing I wanted to do on a really hot night, but very valuable. I'm feeling a lot more confident about my ability to do all those basic things. One day I will love and cherish my bike, I'm sure of it.

Anyway, we're blobbing out tonight. We'd planned a romantic night at the beach, but the weather's packed up a bit again and, well, we're knackered. Masters at 8 and an easy run tomorrow so I think sleep is the best thing for me.