Yet another update.

I never manage to blog when things happen, so I think we're going to be continuing in this vein for awhile. Using buckeye is partly to blame- now my wee rants and observations go straight up there, and then get lost to all but my remarkable team members :)

So, here we go again...

1- Swim

Nothing to report. Not swimming enough (it's been twice a week if I'm lucky, though this week'll be three). P will be smashing me in the pool before too long if this keeps up! Enjoying Masters and Monday Squad, in quite different ways. Also discovered swimplan.com, which is a bit limited but gave me a far funner workout than the standard ones at the pools!

2- Bike

All going well(ish), apart from the effin gusty northerlies that greet us every Saturday. Last week they got the better of me and we ended up grumpy at home on beastly trainer; this week I joined A for 2 hours of her 2nd to last long run, and, well, running was bad enough! Knock wood and fingers crossed for tomorrow to be a better day (rain clearing, southerly change).

Luckily our morning rides have been going well (if not, I'd be even more bitter about the cr*p hands we've been handed in the weekends). We've been doing 1-2 hours, 1-2 mornings a week, with some rollers, and some glorious coastal flats. Next week I'm planning to graduate to some actual climbing. Am feeling very VERY scared about Rotorua, but finally feel like I'm getting there on the bike, however slowly. I didn't even cry when rotten P took me through the manic roundabout by the airport at 7 in the morning.

3: Run

Run's fine. I did another of the Xterra races last weekend. It wasn't quite as hard a course as the first time, and the "long" course was disappointingly short (*not even remotely disappointing at the time!

The morning of the race was freezing, but the southerly passed, and last Sunday was a simply beautiful day (perfect for re-doing Saturday's aborted ride, but I had a baby shower to attend). This was lucky- because running up the tip track (which looks like this)



(Thanks Scottish!)

for THIRTY FIVE minutes (OK, OK- I ran slower than everyone else walked, at roughly the speed of an elderly tortoise) was worth it for views something like this:


(Thanks Phil C's flickr for the nicked pic)

.. only thousands of times more magnificent.

I've been doing a bit more running during the week too, and am happyish with my times- they're slow, but I feel strong, and ready for the nasty Rotorua run. That's if I make it there before 7 hours.....

I took some pictures of Wellington on a Good Day. More than that- an absolutely MINT day (Pip- I'm sure you remember Thursday...) After I strolled home along the waterfront (surrounded by smiling happy Welly people) and P rode home, we ran up to the Mt Vic lookout (from our place, which is halfway there) and jostled with half of Wellington and a bus load of tourists for a piece of the view. The Rimutakas were amazing! It reminded me of my old bootcamp route at Mt Vic, and we've decided to start doing it some mornings- we'll need the stair training! I'd love to make you all jealous, but my camera is flat,and I'm on P's laptop. Plus, today's a real stinker, so I'd feel like a bit of a fraud!