...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.
Showing posts with label cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cycling. Show all posts
Friday, February 09, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Another bullseye
Well, key run #2 is dead and buried (just like I felt before I started). It's a long story.
My boss was away yesterday, and the weather was perfect. What better way to celebrate finishing work before 6 than a brick workout with my man?
We headed out to Scorching Bay to ride/run through some of the course for Monday (it's a public holiday here), just a nice 20k out and back and a quick 2.5k loop on the run course. The first 5k or so of the ride was awesome- spinning along in an easy gear at about 23-28mph and I felt confident in my improved cycling skills- so nice to ride easy on fresh legs. Guess I should have twigged! Of course we met the headwinds after that, and apart from one stretch it felt as if they never left us (though they obviously must've) The super speeds were more the result of a massive tailwind than my buff legs. Still, I had gears left for Africa, and I definitely know my technique has improved- I stayed above 13mph on the hill in both directions, my fast is faster and my slow is faster too!
The run was fine- I was thinking about doing my tempo run last night to free up this morning, but decided at the 1.25k turnaround that I wasn't into doing the loop two more times, even though I felt like I could have held the pace (about 7:58). I had pulled ahead of P early on, which was quite fun, but he was right on my tail (being polite by not passing) on the way back, and when I told him to move his sorry ass at the end, he sure moved it. We would have had maybe 150m left and I think he must've finished about 100 metres ahead of me!
Had a quick stretch (it was after 8 and I was hungry, OK?), then P opened the boot (trunk..) to get the bike rack. Close boot. Put rack on boot. Put bike on rack. Grab lock. Grab key for lock. Wait. Grab key? Key not in pocket. Key not in door of boot. Key not on ground. Uh-oh.
So there we were, phones, credit cards, sweaters and water in the car. Us and my bike (minus the front wheel) on the outside. Fortunately it wasn't long before someone came past with a phone we could borrow, we only had to wait about 35 minutes for the AA, and it was warm enough to be outside in skimpy summer workout gear (with a little jumping about to keep warm!). Also, it meant we could justify Thai food for dinner! Like I said to P, I would have chosen the evening we had over an evening at home or at work any day!
BUT, getting home at 9:30 and eating Thai food did mean I was feeling very full and very tired at 5:15 this morning when my horrid alarm went off. And very disoriented ten minutes later when I re-awoke! I was still drinking my coffee, surreptitiously, on the bus to the gym, and I absolutely could not face food, so I wasn't feeling that confident about hitting my pace target for this morning's tempo run (8:15s). But thanks to my trusty ipod, I did! I did my 4 miles in 32:20, 8:05. Cool.
So, as a result of this week's runs so far, I think I can confidently base my goal pace around an 8:00 10k pace. This means that my intervals should be done at 7:15 pace (1:46 for a 400/3:30 for an 800) and my tempo runs should be between 8:15 and 8:30. My long runs will be based on PMP, which is still 9:09 (ambitious 4:00 pace). FIRST gives me a PMP of 8:45 (3:50ish), but it ain't going to happen, not the first time, and definitely not on the Rotorua course.
I felt like I deserved the muffin I had with my marathon-buddy before work. I'm tossing up at the moment whether to do an Oly on Feb 11th, or whether to run with her and hopefully help her finally break 2:00 in a half that day. I don't know. I really hate that half, but I really want her to break 2:00, and it would be interesting to see what "racing" together is like. Hmm.
I also had a good swim today. It was lunchtime and I didn't have much time, so I had 40 minutes max. And in that 40 minutes, I did 2k. I did wear flippers for about 500m, so it's not great, but it was also pretty crowded, and I spent a lot of time getting caught behind a woman who thought breaststroke in the medium lane was a good idea. And how random are girls who swim properly wearing string bikinis? Give me my speedos any day.
Worked late again, and shouldn't be posting at all. Should be doing dishes and getting ready for tomorrow, but the dishes can wait, so will get ready and then maybe have some camomile tea while I read my book.
(ps: not that I'm 12 or anything.. but this is post #69 *giggles*
My boss was away yesterday, and the weather was perfect. What better way to celebrate finishing work before 6 than a brick workout with my man?
We headed out to Scorching Bay to ride/run through some of the course for Monday (it's a public holiday here), just a nice 20k out and back and a quick 2.5k loop on the run course. The first 5k or so of the ride was awesome- spinning along in an easy gear at about 23-28mph and I felt confident in my improved cycling skills- so nice to ride easy on fresh legs. Guess I should have twigged! Of course we met the headwinds after that, and apart from one stretch it felt as if they never left us (though they obviously must've) The super speeds were more the result of a massive tailwind than my buff legs. Still, I had gears left for Africa, and I definitely know my technique has improved- I stayed above 13mph on the hill in both directions, my fast is faster and my slow is faster too!
The run was fine- I was thinking about doing my tempo run last night to free up this morning, but decided at the 1.25k turnaround that I wasn't into doing the loop two more times, even though I felt like I could have held the pace (about 7:58). I had pulled ahead of P early on, which was quite fun, but he was right on my tail (being polite by not passing) on the way back, and when I told him to move his sorry ass at the end, he sure moved it. We would have had maybe 150m left and I think he must've finished about 100 metres ahead of me!
Had a quick stretch (it was after 8 and I was hungry, OK?), then P opened the boot (trunk..) to get the bike rack. Close boot. Put rack on boot. Put bike on rack. Grab lock. Grab key for lock. Wait. Grab key? Key not in pocket. Key not in door of boot. Key not on ground. Uh-oh.
So there we were, phones, credit cards, sweaters and water in the car. Us and my bike (minus the front wheel) on the outside. Fortunately it wasn't long before someone came past with a phone we could borrow, we only had to wait about 35 minutes for the AA, and it was warm enough to be outside in skimpy summer workout gear (with a little jumping about to keep warm!). Also, it meant we could justify Thai food for dinner! Like I said to P, I would have chosen the evening we had over an evening at home or at work any day!
BUT, getting home at 9:30 and eating Thai food did mean I was feeling very full and very tired at 5:15 this morning when my horrid alarm went off. And very disoriented ten minutes later when I re-awoke! I was still drinking my coffee, surreptitiously, on the bus to the gym, and I absolutely could not face food, so I wasn't feeling that confident about hitting my pace target for this morning's tempo run (8:15s). But thanks to my trusty ipod, I did! I did my 4 miles in 32:20, 8:05. Cool.
So, as a result of this week's runs so far, I think I can confidently base my goal pace around an 8:00 10k pace. This means that my intervals should be done at 7:15 pace (1:46 for a 400/3:30 for an 800) and my tempo runs should be between 8:15 and 8:30. My long runs will be based on PMP, which is still 9:09 (ambitious 4:00 pace). FIRST gives me a PMP of 8:45 (3:50ish), but it ain't going to happen, not the first time, and definitely not on the Rotorua course.
I felt like I deserved the muffin I had with my marathon-buddy before work. I'm tossing up at the moment whether to do an Oly on Feb 11th, or whether to run with her and hopefully help her finally break 2:00 in a half that day. I don't know. I really hate that half, but I really want her to break 2:00, and it would be interesting to see what "racing" together is like. Hmm.
I also had a good swim today. It was lunchtime and I didn't have much time, so I had 40 minutes max. And in that 40 minutes, I did 2k. I did wear flippers for about 500m, so it's not great, but it was also pretty crowded, and I spent a lot of time getting caught behind a woman who thought breaststroke in the medium lane was a good idea. And how random are girls who swim properly wearing string bikinis? Give me my speedos any day.
Worked late again, and shouldn't be posting at all. Should be doing dishes and getting ready for tomorrow, but the dishes can wait, so will get ready and then maybe have some camomile tea while I read my book.
(ps: not that I'm 12 or anything.. but this is post #69 *giggles*
Thursday, January 11, 2007
...but not a real cyclist.
As I posted earlier, P and I had arranged to ride long with a cyclist friend of ours (J) today. Perfect cycling weather- light breeze, clear sky, not too hot. Gorgeous. And what did I end up doing?
Riding inside and doing spinervals.
Yup- I'm insane. But my grazed knee is all pus-y and sore, I always get nervy and crash when I ride with J and I didn't want to be out all day when my house is a tip. Plus I had a run scheduled, and I'm meeting a friend at 4:30 for a sea swim, so I was likely to be pushing it a little after a 100k hilly ride. So I did 70 minutes or so of my base building compilation, which I loved! I also loved riding inside with my new computer- I could see the beautiful weather and look forward to getting out there on my run.
The run was hard. Crawled up the hill at the end, and averaged over 10 min/m with HR of 153. I am reminding myself that before my first half I had hardly run at all. I'll be able to get in shape by April 28- right?? please?
Now- to that housework!
Riding inside and doing spinervals.
Yup- I'm insane. But my grazed knee is all pus-y and sore, I always get nervy and crash when I ride with J and I didn't want to be out all day when my house is a tip. Plus I had a run scheduled, and I'm meeting a friend at 4:30 for a sea swim, so I was likely to be pushing it a little after a 100k hilly ride. So I did 70 minutes or so of my base building compilation, which I loved! I also loved riding inside with my new computer- I could see the beautiful weather and look forward to getting out there on my run.
The run was hard. Crawled up the hill at the end, and averaged over 10 min/m with HR of 153. I am reminding myself that before my first half I had hardly run at all. I'll be able to get in shape by April 28- right?? please?
Now- to that housework!
I'm a REAL blogger now!
I've been tagged by Aleks:
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss (OK, we get into heated debates about apostrophes. I confess. And we each own a copy, so our shelf boasts too)
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
Page 123 is on the ellipsis and the semicolon and doesn't quite make 5 sentences, so the sentence I started from actually starts on page 122. The three sentences following number 5 begin with a quote.
"Popotakis had tried a cinema, a dance hall, baccarat and miniature golf; now he had four ping-pong tables. He made good money, for the smart set of Jacksonburg were always hard put to get through the rainy season; the polyglot professional class had made it their rendezvous; even attaches from the legislations and younger members of the Jackson family had come there."
The semicolon has rightly been called "a compliment from the writer to the reader".
5. Tag three more folks.
Ellie
Sar
Shannon
Things are pretty same ol' same ol' here. Had an embarrassing run in with a hose on Tuesday and skinned my knee. Went for a couple of swims that ended up being very perfunctory- Tuesday night I got to the pool late and last night it was sooo busy that my friend and I spent the second half of our workout aqua jogging! We are off for a long bike ride that I am very nervous about soon (I may yet chicken out) and have a sea swim tonight, probably just 1500m. Went for a run with P that was much less awful than my first run back- easily kept within zone except for the big hills, and the little hill that I decided to race. Evening runs are so much easier on the HR!
We have a busy weekend this weekend- a wedding on Sat and my little sister's birthday on Sunday. Must go present shopping! I'm not quite sure where my long run will fit in, but am thinking Sat morning after my sea swim. Blah blah!
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss (OK, we get into heated debates about apostrophes. I confess. And we each own a copy, so our shelf boasts too)
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
Page 123 is on the ellipsis and the semicolon and doesn't quite make 5 sentences, so the sentence I started from actually starts on page 122. The three sentences following number 5 begin with a quote.
"Popotakis had tried a cinema, a dance hall, baccarat and miniature golf; now he had four ping-pong tables. He made good money, for the smart set of Jacksonburg were always hard put to get through the rainy season; the polyglot professional class had made it their rendezvous; even attaches from the legislations and younger members of the Jackson family had come there."
The semicolon has rightly been called "a compliment from the writer to the reader".
5. Tag three more folks.
Ellie
Sar
Shannon
Things are pretty same ol' same ol' here. Had an embarrassing run in with a hose on Tuesday and skinned my knee. Went for a couple of swims that ended up being very perfunctory- Tuesday night I got to the pool late and last night it was sooo busy that my friend and I spent the second half of our workout aqua jogging! We are off for a long bike ride that I am very nervous about soon (I may yet chicken out) and have a sea swim tonight, probably just 1500m. Went for a run with P that was much less awful than my first run back- easily kept within zone except for the big hills, and the little hill that I decided to race. Evening runs are so much easier on the HR!
We have a busy weekend this weekend- a wedding on Sat and my little sister's birthday on Sunday. Must go present shopping! I'm not quite sure where my long run will fit in, but am thinking Sat morning after my sea swim. Blah blah!
Monday, January 08, 2007
"Training" vacation styles
I started the holiday with high hopes for training, but my real goal was not about training as much as about lifestyle. I knew I would come away happy if I felt like I had been "active" every day. And, guess what? I nearly did it. I wish I could say I did it, but I'm not beating myself up too much!
On the first full day at P's parents place, we drove into Hamilton, the nearest city. While P checked out the shops at the scary huge hypermall (tiny by US standards), I swam 2000m in the local pool. I was a bit disappointed in the pool, to be honest- the outdoor 50m pool was closed (the weather wasn't great, but wasn't THAT bad) and the indoor 50m pool was split up. BO-ring. It was an OK workout though, and it felt good to check it off the list!
In the course of my swimming pool research, I discovered some hot pools located in the region that boasted the longest opn hot water hydroslide in the country. Perfect way to entice a boy to a swimming pool! We tossed up riding out there and back, but once I realised it was at least 65k in each direction I decided it wasn't so smart. As we drove, we breathed a HUUGE sigh of relief- it was another 23km of steep windy hill to get to the pools after you reached the town! That would have meant over 100m of pretty hard riding that day. The hot pools were fun- not the fanciest, but not too bad. I didn't do any particularly "active" swimming, but running up the steps to the hydroslide's got to count, right? I didn't take any pics, which was a little silly! After that P drove me out to Raglan, which boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. I fell completely in love with the place and can't wait to go back there next time we're up in the area.
When we got home I was feeling antsy, so I persuaded P to run with me after dinner. The one problem with staying at P's parents' farm is that it's right on the state highway, so you can't just run from home. It's not really a big enough farm to run around either. Since I don't drive, I was kinda reliant on P. Excuses, excuses! We drove into the centre of town and ran for about 50 minutes around the streets and some lovely trails. It was great being able to run on trails after 8:30pm, and to be able to run on trails that weren't 90% vertical!
The last day before we left for the beach we rode. We didn't go far, and although it was high on P's list of "top holiday moments", I was feeling a little bit stressed out for some of it so it wasn't quite as fun for me. Having said that, the stress ended pretty early on and all in all it was AWESOME. I love love LOVE riding out there. It's mostly rolling and some medium sized climbs, and you can go off on country roads and just fly. So so fun and SO different to riding in Welly (where it's UP or DOWN or FLAT and if you want to do anything other than ride round the bays, you're in traffic. Yuck.
When we got home, we ran twice round the horse track. P needs to do some bricks to get ready for his du on the 22nd!
The drive to the beach from Cambridge was the MOST beautiful ever, absolutely breathtaking, and I am embarrassed to say that I do not have any pictures.
It's probably not necessary to spell out the details of my other workouts/"active" activities, but I ran for 30-45 minutes 2 of the mornings we were at the beach, fell in love with the swimming pool in New Plymouth (I didn't "train" as such- I probably did about 10 laps of the 50m pool- the rest of the time was spent playing, going down the hydroslides and mucking about in the wave pool), we went on a couple of walks (other than the one I talked about yesterday) and spent some time in the surf. I did some "proper" swimming in a lake on our way back, my guess is about 400m though, so nothing too flash!
The last workout I wanted to talk about was on our last full day- the day of the Round the Mountain ride that we had originally intended to do. We planned some of our route during our drive to the mountain the day before, and were thinking we'd do a loop of about 70 km. The first 12 km looked easy, but oh my god, I was ready to stop at 12! That was the hardest "easy" 12km every. Basically, combine a loong false flat with strong headwinds and a really bumpy road and you get one tired and frustrated Kate. It got a bit better after that, though it was so cold I had to stop to put a polyprop on- the roads were better, we could mostly ride next to each other and we got to enjoy the undulations a little more (my speed was still only in the early 30s (km/h) on the downhills though!). P pushed me to keep off the brakes on the downhills, and I got much better at letting myself go, even with him cruising in front of me (it drives me CRAZY). Pretty much before we knew it we'd arrived in a smallish town a little further on than the one we'd originally planned to stop in, about 47k from the start. We had a late lunch in an Irish pub (yum), refilled some water bottles and then headed on. We also got to see some of the stragglers in the Round the Mountain race go past. The next part of the ride was hard but fun- riding hard into cold headwinds on the state highway. It's amazing how having cars speeding past you makes you push that much harder! My water bottle holder came loose, which was very distracting- it sounded as if some important part of my bike was making that odd clinking noise, so we stopped in the next town (where we'd planned originally to turn off) to fix it. As we slowed down, I noticed that we hadn't clipped my front brake on. Hmm.. only like 70km in!!
The last 25-30km were amazing. We both found a second wind, the wind was at our back and instead of a gradual uphill, we had a gradual downhill, with lots of super fun rollers. WOOHOO! My speed went below 30km/h ONCE for those last ks and that was on a short hill and it went down to 29.5. I was glowing, just loving it! My cadence improved, and we think we would have averaged over 35kph on that last bit. If only we could have a whole ride like that! When we got back into town, we were at about 97 km so we decided to be a bit pathetic and to zigzag back home for the next 3 km. I was also sitting at 2984 calories or something, so I was keen to kick those last 16 calories in the butt :-) We hit home at 100.31km, and 3031 calories burned. I am so proud of us- that's our longest ride to date by about 30km, and getting past that 100 mark is so cool. I know now that if we keep up with our training, we WILL be able to do some proper rides during 2007, and also that I will be able to ride with P stress free.
I'll probably post some more random pictures, but other than that, that's it for my holiday tales.
On the first full day at P's parents place, we drove into Hamilton, the nearest city. While P checked out the shops at the scary huge hypermall (tiny by US standards), I swam 2000m in the local pool. I was a bit disappointed in the pool, to be honest- the outdoor 50m pool was closed (the weather wasn't great, but wasn't THAT bad) and the indoor 50m pool was split up. BO-ring. It was an OK workout though, and it felt good to check it off the list!
In the course of my swimming pool research, I discovered some hot pools located in the region that boasted the longest opn hot water hydroslide in the country. Perfect way to entice a boy to a swimming pool! We tossed up riding out there and back, but once I realised it was at least 65k in each direction I decided it wasn't so smart. As we drove, we breathed a HUUGE sigh of relief- it was another 23km of steep windy hill to get to the pools after you reached the town! That would have meant over 100m of pretty hard riding that day. The hot pools were fun- not the fanciest, but not too bad. I didn't do any particularly "active" swimming, but running up the steps to the hydroslide's got to count, right? I didn't take any pics, which was a little silly! After that P drove me out to Raglan, which boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. I fell completely in love with the place and can't wait to go back there next time we're up in the area.
When we got home I was feeling antsy, so I persuaded P to run with me after dinner. The one problem with staying at P's parents' farm is that it's right on the state highway, so you can't just run from home. It's not really a big enough farm to run around either. Since I don't drive, I was kinda reliant on P. Excuses, excuses! We drove into the centre of town and ran for about 50 minutes around the streets and some lovely trails. It was great being able to run on trails after 8:30pm, and to be able to run on trails that weren't 90% vertical!
The last day before we left for the beach we rode. We didn't go far, and although it was high on P's list of "top holiday moments", I was feeling a little bit stressed out for some of it so it wasn't quite as fun for me. Having said that, the stress ended pretty early on and all in all it was AWESOME. I love love LOVE riding out there. It's mostly rolling and some medium sized climbs, and you can go off on country roads and just fly. So so fun and SO different to riding in Welly (where it's UP or DOWN or FLAT and if you want to do anything other than ride round the bays, you're in traffic. Yuck.
When we got home, we ran twice round the horse track. P needs to do some bricks to get ready for his du on the 22nd!
The drive to the beach from Cambridge was the MOST beautiful ever, absolutely breathtaking, and I am embarrassed to say that I do not have any pictures.
It's probably not necessary to spell out the details of my other workouts/"active" activities, but I ran for 30-45 minutes 2 of the mornings we were at the beach, fell in love with the swimming pool in New Plymouth (I didn't "train" as such- I probably did about 10 laps of the 50m pool- the rest of the time was spent playing, going down the hydroslides and mucking about in the wave pool), we went on a couple of walks (other than the one I talked about yesterday) and spent some time in the surf. I did some "proper" swimming in a lake on our way back, my guess is about 400m though, so nothing too flash!
The last workout I wanted to talk about was on our last full day- the day of the Round the Mountain ride that we had originally intended to do. We planned some of our route during our drive to the mountain the day before, and were thinking we'd do a loop of about 70 km. The first 12 km looked easy, but oh my god, I was ready to stop at 12! That was the hardest "easy" 12km every. Basically, combine a loong false flat with strong headwinds and a really bumpy road and you get one tired and frustrated Kate. It got a bit better after that, though it was so cold I had to stop to put a polyprop on- the roads were better, we could mostly ride next to each other and we got to enjoy the undulations a little more (my speed was still only in the early 30s (km/h) on the downhills though!). P pushed me to keep off the brakes on the downhills, and I got much better at letting myself go, even with him cruising in front of me (it drives me CRAZY). Pretty much before we knew it we'd arrived in a smallish town a little further on than the one we'd originally planned to stop in, about 47k from the start. We had a late lunch in an Irish pub (yum), refilled some water bottles and then headed on. We also got to see some of the stragglers in the Round the Mountain race go past. The next part of the ride was hard but fun- riding hard into cold headwinds on the state highway. It's amazing how having cars speeding past you makes you push that much harder! My water bottle holder came loose, which was very distracting- it sounded as if some important part of my bike was making that odd clinking noise, so we stopped in the next town (where we'd planned originally to turn off) to fix it. As we slowed down, I noticed that we hadn't clipped my front brake on. Hmm.. only like 70km in!!
The last 25-30km were amazing. We both found a second wind, the wind was at our back and instead of a gradual uphill, we had a gradual downhill, with lots of super fun rollers. WOOHOO! My speed went below 30km/h ONCE for those last ks and that was on a short hill and it went down to 29.5. I was glowing, just loving it! My cadence improved, and we think we would have averaged over 35kph on that last bit. If only we could have a whole ride like that! When we got back into town, we were at about 97 km so we decided to be a bit pathetic and to zigzag back home for the next 3 km. I was also sitting at 2984 calories or something, so I was keen to kick those last 16 calories in the butt :-) We hit home at 100.31km, and 3031 calories burned. I am so proud of us- that's our longest ride to date by about 30km, and getting past that 100 mark is so cool. I know now that if we keep up with our training, we WILL be able to do some proper rides during 2007, and also that I will be able to ride with P stress free.
I'll probably post some more random pictures, but other than that, that's it for my holiday tales.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Oops I did it again
Long ride. Overcast. Cautiously applied sunscreen to shoulders and face...
Not hands. Not legs.
Now that you've stopped laughing, tell me off! I need to learn!
So, as you may have figured out, the weather came through for us on Sunday and we got to ride. Yay! We only did about 45 miles though, and I think our ride taught us that we are not ready for a century (surprise, surprise!) As well as fatigue (not helped by poor nutrition and hydration...), we both struggled with the whole "3 hours on the bike thing" and our butts and arms were so over it by the time we got home. However, there is a lot to celebrate about this ride:
1- My technique? MUCH better. NO mashing on those gears. I cruised up the long hill easily, spinning all the way (without actually dropping too much) and even managed to keep up with P!
2- My mojo? Back! I got down the steep hill without wanting to cry. I practiced drinking. Baby steps...
3- My relationship with P? No longer jeopardised every time I clip in :-) I am finally learning to ride with him- we even practiced drafting! He's so patient- a saint!
So we celebrated all that (and replenished some of the 2000 odd calories I'd burned) by getting "brunch" (OK, it was 4pm) at a place in town renowned for massive brunches. I had the big vege fry up (I'm not a bacon fan so usually just have eggs or pancakes) with potatoes, kumara (sweetpotato), pumpkin, carrot, onion (YUM!) and spinach. It really hit the spot! I headed to the pool and did some sluggish drills- was so ready for R&R week come yesterday morning.
Yesterday we had another cracker day! (BTW Wes- the weather in NZ is weird at the best of times. It tends to rain a lot most summers, especially over New Years, and it never really gets REALLY hot, especially not in Wellington..But, as the saying goes, "there's nothing better than Welly on a good day.") I finished work on time and met my friend for a sea swim. She was running late, so I did some 150m laps of the first buoy, and was pleased to consistent times around 2:45- not great, but not bad. We did a 750ish m loop around the fountain (it's the route for my splash and dash tomorrow). She's been off training for awhile, so we went slooow and stopped a lot. Kind of a nice feeling, in an immature way. But I'm feeling really good about how things are going, and although the thought of spending nearly/at least/over an hour in waves and salt water seems mental, I can't wait til Jan 27th (especially if, knock wood, it's like yesterday!)
Today has been uneventful. My "healthy eating" plan has not gone so well so far- the idea is to eat healthy as much as possible in the lead up to Xmas, so that I can indulge when indulgence beckons. That means no more useless junk at work! Vege nights at home are going well. Apart from the tofu, we haven't done vegan yet, but we have had some really yummy meals (a mexican salad with quinoa and refried beans, orzo and roast veges, vege frittata...) If nothing else, it's encouraging me to add variety to our diets!
Oh- and one more for Wes... "Knackered" means exhausted/shattered/stuffed/zonked.
And, because I have just uploaded heaps of pics, here's some I like!
Echidna cake for my sister's bday...
Pretty sunset!
Not hands. Not legs.
Now that you've stopped laughing, tell me off! I need to learn!
So, as you may have figured out, the weather came through for us on Sunday and we got to ride. Yay! We only did about 45 miles though, and I think our ride taught us that we are not ready for a century (surprise, surprise!) As well as fatigue (not helped by poor nutrition and hydration...), we both struggled with the whole "3 hours on the bike thing" and our butts and arms were so over it by the time we got home. However, there is a lot to celebrate about this ride:
1- My technique? MUCH better. NO mashing on those gears. I cruised up the long hill easily, spinning all the way (without actually dropping too much) and even managed to keep up with P!
2- My mojo? Back! I got down the steep hill without wanting to cry. I practiced drinking. Baby steps...
3- My relationship with P? No longer jeopardised every time I clip in :-) I am finally learning to ride with him- we even practiced drafting! He's so patient- a saint!
So we celebrated all that (and replenished some of the 2000 odd calories I'd burned) by getting "brunch" (OK, it was 4pm) at a place in town renowned for massive brunches. I had the big vege fry up (I'm not a bacon fan so usually just have eggs or pancakes) with potatoes, kumara (sweetpotato), pumpkin, carrot, onion (YUM!) and spinach. It really hit the spot! I headed to the pool and did some sluggish drills- was so ready for R&R week come yesterday morning.
Yesterday we had another cracker day! (BTW Wes- the weather in NZ is weird at the best of times. It tends to rain a lot most summers, especially over New Years, and it never really gets REALLY hot, especially not in Wellington..But, as the saying goes, "there's nothing better than Welly on a good day.") I finished work on time and met my friend for a sea swim. She was running late, so I did some 150m laps of the first buoy, and was pleased to consistent times around 2:45- not great, but not bad. We did a 750ish m loop around the fountain (it's the route for my splash and dash tomorrow). She's been off training for awhile, so we went slooow and stopped a lot. Kind of a nice feeling, in an immature way. But I'm feeling really good about how things are going, and although the thought of spending nearly/at least/over an hour in waves and salt water seems mental, I can't wait til Jan 27th (especially if, knock wood, it's like yesterday!)
Today has been uneventful. My "healthy eating" plan has not gone so well so far- the idea is to eat healthy as much as possible in the lead up to Xmas, so that I can indulge when indulgence beckons. That means no more useless junk at work! Vege nights at home are going well. Apart from the tofu, we haven't done vegan yet, but we have had some really yummy meals (a mexican salad with quinoa and refried beans, orzo and roast veges, vege frittata...) If nothing else, it's encouraging me to add variety to our diets!
Oh- and one more for Wes... "Knackered" means exhausted/shattered/stuffed/zonked.
And, because I have just uploaded heaps of pics, here's some I like!
Echidna cake for my sister's bday...
Pretty sunset!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Like a fish.
My next "A" event is a 2.8k swim in the Wellington Harbour. I'm fully registered and paid up (though where that training cap they promised me is, I do not know) and I started my "official" training for it on Monday. So far it's going well. I'm not swimming like a fish at all, and I have noticed my technique slipping since my lessons finished, but I am finding it easier and easier to knock off the distance. A 1.5k swim was one quite an effort- now 2k is easy, and 2.8 is fine. I'm also really loving it! I did a 1k time trial last night- took it easy, with a few harder efforts towards the end. My time (21:45) isn't exactly great (though I was quite happy to do it so easily), but it gives me some idea of where I'm at now, and I'm looking forward to watching it go down (below 20!) as I go through my training. Next trial will probably be in 3 weeks or so.
P and I still have not made up our minds about the Round the Mountain ride. It's on January 2, which is rather soon all of a sudden and we simply have not been riding long, in groups or outdoors enough! Something always seems to come up. Yesterday we spent 2 hours on our trainers watching James Bond in The Living Daylights because the showers and freezing southrlies started as soon as we got out the door! Hopefully we will get out today- last chance to enter before late fees. It looks ok at the moment, anyway and I'm sure we can get at least 50 miles in. However, doing just under a century in 3 weeks still sounds a bit chancy, however fun the ride looks!
This week has been a relatively big training week, Kate-wise. Luckily work was incredibly relaxed (too relaxed, almost) and I was able to do pretty much everything I wanted, when I wanted. I'm feeling great, though I was knackered on Thursday and my weights workout turned into stretching and ITB massage (partly because the bus was late and I didn't get to the gym until nearly 7). Monday I did 2.8k in the pool, Tuesday was weights and track (w/up, some drills and stride outs, 1k reps- 4:19, 4:25; 4:23- badly needing improvement there!), Weds was a 2k swim in the am and 90 minutes on the bike (about 15 outside before it got dark and the other 75 on the trainer in front of the telly..) in the evening, Thurs was the aborted weights workout and Friday was a well-earned rest! Yesterday, as I said, was a trainer ride and run-off, and the 1k time trial. Today we will hopefully get out for a ride, and I have 1800 of drills tonight, which hopefully my swimming buddy will join me for!
Good luck to Jodi, Lana, Wes and anyone else racing this weekend!
P and I still have not made up our minds about the Round the Mountain ride. It's on January 2, which is rather soon all of a sudden and we simply have not been riding long, in groups or outdoors enough! Something always seems to come up. Yesterday we spent 2 hours on our trainers watching James Bond in The Living Daylights because the showers and freezing southrlies started as soon as we got out the door! Hopefully we will get out today- last chance to enter before late fees. It looks ok at the moment, anyway and I'm sure we can get at least 50 miles in. However, doing just under a century in 3 weeks still sounds a bit chancy, however fun the ride looks!
This week has been a relatively big training week, Kate-wise. Luckily work was incredibly relaxed (too relaxed, almost) and I was able to do pretty much everything I wanted, when I wanted. I'm feeling great, though I was knackered on Thursday and my weights workout turned into stretching and ITB massage (partly because the bus was late and I didn't get to the gym until nearly 7). Monday I did 2.8k in the pool, Tuesday was weights and track (w/up, some drills and stride outs, 1k reps- 4:19, 4:25; 4:23- badly needing improvement there!), Weds was a 2k swim in the am and 90 minutes on the bike (about 15 outside before it got dark and the other 75 on the trainer in front of the telly..) in the evening, Thurs was the aborted weights workout and Friday was a well-earned rest! Yesterday, as I said, was a trainer ride and run-off, and the 1k time trial. Today we will hopefully get out for a ride, and I have 1800 of drills tonight, which hopefully my swimming buddy will join me for!
Good luck to Jodi, Lana, Wes and anyone else racing this weekend!
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