No more pig jokes, please

I'm still sick.

I had yesterday off work, and it was probably the sickest sick day I've had for awhile. I had to leave the house when we had a fire drill at 8am, but I could barely handle the trip to New World (100-odd metres away) and back. Then I alternated napping and reading for the rest of the day, until I got so bored I wanted to throw myself out the window and crawled to bed again at 7:45pm.

I'm back in today, and I think I'm on the mend, although walking up Victoria St dang near exhausted me. No working out for me for the time being, which means basically I'm feeling like a failure lawyer and failure endurance athlete too. Oh, and living on spaghetti on toast and frujus means I'm also definitely feeling like a healthy eating failure.

Hopefully I will be myself again soon! Eric wants to ride, and I miss the pool!

Do as I say, not as I do

This is a post I started writing last week, then stopped and replaced it with "Pre-race musings":

"After doing my best to take it easy on Monday and Tuesday, I worked until 12:36am on Wednesday. I slept in, and didn't turn up until 9:30 on Thursday morning, after a quick wee spin on the bike, but by Thursday afternoon I realised that the dodgy tummy I've had for a couple of days had been joined by a wee sniffle and a slightly swollen gland on the left hand side of my neck. My predictable, good old friend, "Kate's pathetic cold."

I get this cold when I get rundown, and I generally don't get sick much at all otherwise (I've had 9 sick days in the past 5 years at this job- though I suppose if you added up all of the days I've worked when I shouldn't have been it'd paint a slightly less healthy picture). It runs basically the same course every time- not many outwards symptoms, but always includes the dodgy tummy and generally at some point will involve me lying down on the bed and feeing utterly pathetic, with a wee bit of a fever, congested sinuses and glands out to "here".

I'm not sure whether I should race, but I want to..."

I stopped at the last sentence when I realised I was being an idiot and that anyone who ever listens to my advice would tell me to listen to my intuition, not my ego.

My pre-race run on Saturday was OK. I made it out of the house, anyway, and huffed and puffed my way through 3 slow kms before running hard for 2:30 at 4:15 pace. Phil and I meandered to Taupo with a car full of tissues, first defence and vitamin c. The dodgy tummy got worse on Saturday night, and the cold wasn't any better on Sunday morning.

"But colds are always worse in the morning" said I. "I think I should race"

So, race I did. The first half went perfectly according to plan (55:15), and I felt pretty good, although I was blowing my nose every 5 minutes, and I could feel that my breath wasn't quite getting through my congested chest. I scoffed at the people going harder than me- the ones puffing and panting to get past in the first 5 or so ks, and when I got to the turn around I turned on the ipod and got ready to drop the hammer and nail out a negative split.

Or not....

The first part of the second half is offroad. My speed went from safely within the 5:10-5:20 zone to 5:25-5:30. My breathing got worse, and as I twiddled with my Garmin, I saw that my heart rate was peeking into the 180s, although my pace had slowed. The people passing me were now people I'd seen earlier, not just speedsters coming from behind, and it was harder than it should have been to keep on their tails.

My last "lap" (about 6k) was at 5:39 pace. My nose had dried up and was feeling sore, overblowed, and blocked. My chest was tight and I was getting passed on hills. ME! My legs were still OK, I just couldn't make them move. I kept expecting A (who'd started after me) to be the next to pass me.

I saw Phil just before 19k and managed a weak smile. From then on, it was just the typical half-marathon chant of "ten minutes to go...ten minutes to go."

Crossed the finish line at 1:54:30ish (almost exactly the same time as my first ever half in 2004 [UPDATE: It was 1:54:28, which is exactly one second off my PW of 1:54:29!]), with an average HR of 178 (basically 175ish for first half and 180ish for second half, but my splits are much more random).

Now- because I'm supposed to be positive:
- my legs felt strong until about 19k, when the quads started to protest a little. This is great for me in a half-m (usually I'm willing my legs to keep moving from about 16k.. thanks to cycling and Paul for the leg strength)!
- I did run a 1:54 (which sounds horrid to me, but isn't ACTUALLY a bad pace (5:23/k) with a nasty cold
- I did a good job of "being awesome instead". When Phil saw me, I was reasonably upright and my turnover was good. I was doing my cerebal palsy arms, but I ALWAYS do those. I felt the difference instantly when I remembered to pull myself up, focus on my abs, and breathe well
- half marathons are the best. I shouldn't have let myself forget how much I love them- even though this was a bomb, I can't wait for the next one.
- the Taupo half is a great race! Great course, with the rolling hills and mixed terrain. Brilliantly run, with well organised road closures/partial closures and a very effective wave start. I will definitely be back!

Some pre-race musing

Once again, my build up to this race hasn't been great. The after-midnight work days on Sunday and Thursday really hit hard after the last couple of weeks and, to be honest, I feel a bit blah right now. I've also missed two swims this week, and 40 minutes of riding which makes me sad!

I'm still going to race on Sunday, and I'm going to stick to the plan I set out earlier (first half in 55, blat the second). Keeping a 5:00ish pace was fine during my last E2 effort, and my legs are feeling pretty good, so I think this is doable. If not, there's always Auckland!

Great Lake Relay: Team Blog?

I've been thinking for awhile that we've built up a solid quorum of Kiwi running/triathlon bloggers, and it's about time we followed the example set by our North American brethren and had a big ol' meet up.

I dream of one day having a mega training camp, WIBA styles (and seriously, we have got to do something faboo to welcome Steve and Pharmie if they come), but in the meantime....

...is anyone keen to be part of Team Blog at the 2010 Great Lake Relay? Taupo's central enough that even the Wellingtonians can make it for the weekend, and it's a good fun event (I've done it twice). AND you can run extra and/or bring your bike if you're doing something silly like training for Ironman!

Just putting it out there.

I vow

I, Hot Potato Kate,
do hereby promise,
from this day forward,
to bite my tongue,
and stop commenting "slow down- I'm right, you know",
and I vow,
to stop telling you off
in your heads
when you run.

Unless you REALLY need to hear it ;)

More thoughts about riding

Thanks everyone for your comments and tips yesterday. Like most triathletes, eating on the bike is tricky for me. So from now on, I'm going to start making sure I follow the same pre-ride plan for every long ride. Porridge, then a banana if we leave too long after breakfast, then sports drink and a little smackerel every 10-20 minutes on the bike. It may mean I take on too many calories, so I'll have to watch the post-ride binges (!), but I think it's worth doing some experimentation.

BUT, I need to emphasise that I have bonked on the bike (hmm! sounds interesting...) even when I eat and drink relatively "well." It happened in a ride over the Haywards with Phil, Dave and Andrea. It happened in Rotorua, during the half-m, and it happened again in Rotorua when I rode the course last month. Also, although I maybe didn't have enough, I had almost exactly what Phil had for breakfast, pre-ride, and during the ride, although he had a bit more to drink during. So, that leads me to believe that there may be something more to it.

Coach Paul has made the very good point before that this will come with fitness and time. I've got some experience, but I'm still relatively new at this. Clearly, my blood sugar on the bike is something to watch out for and work on. I also have to accept that bike endurance is, for me, a whole different ballgame to run endurance. I need to consider my pacing, my nutrition, and my overall approach from scratch, and not simply to assume that because I can run a decent marathon (they haven't been that fast, but my splits were all reasonably even, and I've never had a real blowout), I can jump on the bike for the same length of time and do the same thing.

The other thing is, of course, work, eating well and rest. I had a terrible diet while I was in Wellington, barely slept, and worked late every night. Eventually, that's gotta catch up. And-oh! deja vu, it did, halfway through the Auckland marathon in 2007.... As Mike pointed out, I can't take a week off before every event, and, sadly, my timetable isn't predictable enough to plan in advance, but I CAN try to focus on eating as well as I can and resting as well as I can in the lead up to smaller events, like the ones I'm doing at the moment, and I can hedge my bets by taking a little extra leave before and after big events... Or, you know, I could just pull a "Phil" and start working civilised hours!

Anyway, that's all my thoughts for now. Thanks for the reminder to be positive. Don't worry- I generally am, and I know there are some good things to take away from Sunday, but every so often it all gets to be too much, and, well, that's what the blog's for...

Okoroire fun ride report

I am shagged (figuratively). Totally and utterly knackered.

This morning Phil and I (and Tri Saint) did the 7-km Okoroire fun ride, just out of Tirau. The course was absolutely gorgeous, though I might be somewhat blinded by the stunning weather the Waikato put on for us today!

The ride started out well- once we got through some of the crowds at the start. We passed a bunch of people, sat at the back of a somewhat poorly organised paceline for a bit, and struggled over the roadworks. As per Coach Paul's instructions, I nailed myself up the only real climb in the ride (there were LOTS of wee rollers out there though), at roughly half-way, then settled behind Phil to let the wind blow us home.

Then things went pear shaped. I hit the wall with a big bang, and all of a sudden went from happy-Kate-enjoying-the-sun and the awesomeness of riding, to Kate-zilla. I slowed down, I snapped, I yelled, I swore, and I sulked. Oh yeah- I cried too. I had no energy left, my legs were killing me, my tummy was rumbling, and I just wanted to curl up in the ditch and sleep. I death-marched it to the end, with a 15-min positive split, then snubbed the Saint, weaved my way to the car, steadied myself and crashed into the front seat.

I have lots of faboo excuses for this. I've had an exhausting and training-impaired week at work. My HR on my long-ish run was consistently 5 beats higher than it felt like it should be (I controlled it OK, it was just higher than usual at any given RPE), suggesting a bit of tiredness and/or dehydration. We didn't plan well or bring enough food- I should know by now that I really struggle with blood sugar on the bike. I decided to be awesome instead of carrying the lame-o hydration bladder. I pushed it too hard at first, and revelled too much in being able to smash people up the rollers.

But the problem is, this was Rotorua all over again. Same 1st half pace (ish); roughly the same 2nd half pace. Same wall, same sulking. So, I really do need to find a way to fix this. Because seriously- I should not find riding a bike for 2.5-3 hours harder than I find running for that long! And I should not keep being crushed on the bike by people who are eating my dust on the run- or else I'll never, ever, ever get off the bike at the kind of place I should be.

AWWWWWESOME!

It takes a LOT for me to post over a wedding picture, especially one from a magazine... (hint hint).. but this is so cool I must share it:


We are thrilled to announce the launch of the ORCA Karapiro Half Ironman which will be run on the 14th November 2009.

There are a number of fantastic and unique features about this event that will appeal to competitors of all abilities including -

1. Swim leg down the course for the World Rowing Championships, AWESOME! Umm- HELLS YEAH!!!!!!

2. Bike leg around Maungatautari, NZ’s largest inland native wildlife reserve( www.maungatrust.org ) that is a 3400 hectare forested extinct volcano situated beside Lake Karapiro. And the bike leg finishes in the main street of Cambridge! WOW. I can just imagine rolling into Cambridge at the end!

3. Run leg over 4 laps in the township of Cambridge, 4 x up the main street that will be closed to traffic, lots of spectators, loads of atmosphere, lots of cafes and bars for the spectators to blob out in and great for post race recovery sessions!

4. Lots of event categories – winners trophies in 5 year age groups for men and women, individuals and open teams – mixed, male and female!

Phillip and I are thinking team entry... Who's with us??

We're famous!

(from the current Bride & Groom Magazine...)

*Thanks to Team Pink for graciously sharing the bike image!

FML*

I went for a run this evening before a late teleconference. I was a bit cold, but couldn't be bothered changing properly, so I put my jeans and a jumper on, but otherwise stayed in my running gear.

My boss (who is 50-something, gruff and something of a legend in certain circles) arrived at the end of the call, and stayed in my office for about half an hour, while we tidied up some things (yes, yes- it's 11pm now...).

He just left, and I turned around and noticed that my backpack was open on the floor with my clothes, INCLUDING MY PADDED T-SHIRT BRA, hanging out.

I'm glad it's home time now!

*If you don't know, look it up.

Slow running resources

Since I'm still on my slow-running preaching, annoying the crap out of everybody, kick, I thought I'd provide some links:

First- watch the Lazy Marathon Runner experiment with Maffetone here.

Mark Allen says it here (I particularly like that his "mile" paces are worryingly like my "km" paces ;))

Dr Maffetone himself

..and I'll re-post the Jack Daniels vdot calculator again.

In slow running news, I borrowed the husband's HRM for my run this evening, to make sure I haven't been kidding myself. I did about 4k in 24 minutes, with an average HR of 145. I'm a bit tired after a big work week, so I expected a little creep-up, and I think this suggests I'm about right. Looking forward to continuing this experiment throughout the week. Not that I'm a geek or anything!

Cautiously optimistic

Gratuitous picture of Wellington on a good day- this is from Phil's PHONE, and is one of the clearest shots of the Kaikouras I've ever seen. It is just MINT out there today! (it's seriously so gorgeous I don't MIND being at work, because I can gaze out over the flat harbour and look at the snowy Rimutakas in the distance!)

.. Anyway- onto the substance.

Last night, well- very early this morning, to be precise, I was dictating a note for my boss using the phrase "cautiously optimistic" and it's stuck in my mind.

This week has been all about the run- partly because I have a half marathon in two weeks, and partly because it's the only thing I can manage, working 12-15 hour days! I had a very chilly 30 minute run in Southgate on Monday morning, then a very satisfying aerobic intervals session around the good old bays on Tuesday evening. I'm really liking these runs- they're fun, but not hard, and being able to run "easy" and respectable paces is very gratifying! Tuesdays's was particularly fun, as I got to round the workout out with 4 minutes at TH pace (I ran about 7:33, which I guess is about right).

On Thursday, I did an old favourite loop- Thorndon Quay, Tinakori Rd, Glenmore, and down through Kelburn. It was a slow run, but still very satisfying- partly cos it's a damn fine route, and partly because I am getting better and better at running "easy" up hills. Glenmore's not steep, but it's long, and it basically gets steeper and steeper as you go. By the end, I was still running nice and steadily, and barely noticed the final wee climb.

Today's run was what left me feeling "cautiously optimistic." It was a 90 minute LSD, with a 20 minute "End 2" interval (upper end of aerobic) thrown in. Phil and I started with some rolling hills, basically along a ridge in Southgate, then headed down to Island Bay. I was feeling like absolute arse on toast when we got to the park, so wasn't expecting much from the 20 minute interval. I think I was working at the right level- I was still pretty much keeping up a conversation, just not easily, and watching my average pace gradually pick up over the length of the interval. I finished it with an average pace of 5:11/k, which I'm pretty pleased with! The fact that I held a faster pace for my 20 minute interval than I've been holding for my 4/6/8 minute intervals in my weekday sessions has made me feel very good about my running- it's really coming along again. So, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Taupo Half. I'll obviously raise this with Paul, but I'm thinking I'll try to start out at about a 5:10- 5:20 pace, hold that for the first half, and then pick it up for the way back. I'm confident in my ability to go under 1:50, and while I'd love to run 1:45, I think my ultimate goal will be for a good solid negative split.

Awesome eating

As y'all know, I like to compartmentalise, no matter how much I pretend I don't! So, I've started another wee blog to talk about food- check it out if you're interested!

Weekend training with my man

I tell you what- it's great having my weekend training partner back!

This past weekend was a goodie. We ventured out in the rain and mud for a short but good "day's" mountain biking at Woodhill (see Phil's blog for a more informative report) on Saturday. I took awhile to get going, as usual, but I'm finding that I'm getting into it more quickly as well as getting further each time- it's two steps forward, one step back rather than vice versa, and the forward steps seem to be getting longer, as the backward steps get shorter. In the end it was heaps of fun, and I managed to do a few clever-er than usual things too!

On Sunday, it was "long" run day. Last week I had an hour while Phil had 40, so we went out for 40 together and I plodded through the last 20 while Phil went home and stretched. This week, I woke up earlier than Phil and instead of pestering him out of bed, I thought "hey- I could do the FIRST 45 minutes alone and the second half with Phil." Genius.

It worked really well. I ran our Grey Lynn loop backwards and discovered that backwards kicks forwards' butt so hard that forwards runs screaming away- backwards means we climb College Hill and Richmond Rd, and go down through West End Park, and down the Cox's Bay steps. Much better! I did the first 4.34 miles in around 44 minutes, met Phil outside the apartment for a quick drink, and we headed out again. We did a bit of exploring, and our second loop was a little over 5 miles at 10:19/mile pace, which is slow, but I think about right for this run. I was impressed by how good I felt when we went past the 1:30 mark, as I haven't run "long" for a very long time! I'm not quite sure what to expect from my upcoming half marathon, but at least now I'm feeling confident that I can run the distance strong.

In Wellington for the next two weeks. It's going to be interesting from a training persepctive, but I'll do what I can. Also- it's bloody cold!

Cyclists' playground

I wanted to ride outside this morning, so I set my alarm for 5 and, after a fitful sleep (memo to self: do not read books about violent grisly murders before going to sleep alone) manged to pull myself out of bed at 5:08.

After nursing my coffee for slightly longer than necessary and enjoying a piece of homemade banana loaf (I get hangry if I ride without eating first, as Phil well knows), I dragged myself up, got my gear together and headed out.

Boy, was it ever worth it.

It was a cool, clear morning. But not too cold for my ordinary fingerless gloves. And definitely not cold enough for booties. So, in other words, perfect.

I decided to explore the Western central suburbs, so rode along Ponsonby Road and down Richmond. Richmond would be a great descent, if I could see, but this morning there were too many runners in the road, and too many corners I couldn't see properly to really let go.

I then found myself on Garnet Rd, so decided to head down Meola- just for fun. Coming back along Meola, past Motat, is always the funnest part of the Waitakeres ride- it's really easy to push a massive gear, and move along faster than the cars!

The Western-central burbs turned out to be perfect- like a playground for cyclists! The roads are wide and oh so veeery smooooooth (I'm from Wellington, ok? Wide and smooth are not in our vocabulary). Things are well-maintained; after all, rich(ish) people live there. They're well lit, and busy enough that they didn't feel deserted, but quiet enough that I didn't meet too many cars until I got back to the Marina. There's big, sweeping corners, fast fun descents, and wee grindy climbs that are just hard enough to make you work, but short enough that they're easily manageable. Well- easily manageable for me after 3 months of long standing intervals- they were pretty ghastly the first time!

I came back via Curran Street and around Westhaven. Curran St was pretty horrid- way too dark! I could barely see the marks on the speedbumps until I was just about on top of them, and it was hard to tell where the road stopped and the footpath started in places. But well worth it for the fun of swooping along Westhaven Drive in the morning- past the marina, with the light slowly rising, and over the speedbumps, which are that awesome kind that slow cars down but are roller coasters for bikes.

Got home just over an hour after I set out, though with stops and starts along the way ride time was around 50 minutes. But all in all, a nice morning's work, and getting home to a heater, a hot drink and a hearty breakfast made it a marvellous start to the day.

I've made no secret of my political leanings...

...but occasionally the PM and I find ourselves on the same page.

Doesn't that picture just make you want to ditch work and grab the bike?

Car v cyclist

I was surprised to see that more than a quarter of bike/car accidents are caused by the cyclist.

Obviously the fact that 73% are caused by motorists is far more significant, especially considering that inconvenience and maybe a dented door for a motorist probably means death or serious disability for the cyclist. But still- 27% is quite a few.

Please, be careful out there.

On slowing down

Slowing down. It's counter-intuitive. It's nigh on impossible for the ego of an amitious, competitive, type-A endurance athlete to handle. It's sometimes boring.

It WORKS.

I've believed in the philosophy for quite some time, but if you look back at my old blogposts and old training data, I said I was slowing down a lot more than I did. How many times did you hear me say "I kept my long run easy- you know, about 9:00/mile". Right- so "easy" is "marathon race pace"?? I was espousing aerobic training, but most of the time I was only doing it half-assed at best- meaning I got none of the benefits of slow training AND none of the benefits of fast training!

So, since I started with Paul, I've been trying to actually do it- to let go of my ego, and the fun of running fast and just do it right. It's been hard- especially as my HR strap's conked out (I'm waiting on the new Garmin one before I replace it), so now I have to trust myself not to pick up the pace and "pretend" it's easy. Especially when I sneak my GPS on and see how slow I really go.

But let's look at the evidence:

In December 2008, when I was in tip top, post A-race, plenty of speed-endurance work, shape, I ran a standalone 5k in 23:18. Then I had 2-3 months of patchy training, wedding planning, moving, working and weight-gaining. I started training again in around March, and from 1 April to 30 June I ran a total of 162 miles, at an average pace of 10:00/mile. My average run time was 40 minutes, so it's not like I've been running "long". I did one "speed"work session (supposed to be two, but the second turned into a goss session with Anna), which is probably more aptly described as relaxed fartlekking- 45 minutes of flat aerobic intervals, with the "fast" bits run at about 8:55 min miles.

Then, at my duathlon on Sunday, I ran a "5k" at 7:29 pace, roughly equivalent to... a 23:18. I ran without music, and, instead of kicking it to the finish line, I eased off at the end so I'd have a relaxed transition. Then I got on my bike and raced for another hour.

If this doesn't prove it, I don't know what will. But wait, there's more...

My husband ran an EIGHTEEN minute 5k last year (that's 3:39/k, or 5:51 a MILE). Right now he's injured and his easy runs are around 9:20-9:45/mile pace (up to 5:50ish ks), but even when he was fit, his easy, aerobic runs were generally around 8:00/mile pace, sometimes a little over or a little under.

And we're not done yet. Check out this quote from our coach's blog:

"What stood out the most was his belief that you should never push yourself too much whether by doing hard /anaerobic training or lots of mileage. Again he advised steady aerobic training as the key to long term success in endurance sport, every session should be 'quality' so you should always train well with good technique... and without pain or "Strain"... he actually told me to slow down, me who runs slower than many agegroupers out there?? "

Paul is a pro-triathlete, who ran a 3:02 marathon in IMNZ '09. Yet he trains slower than some age-groupers out there, and people are still telling him to slow down.

The last thing is blogging. I read so many running blogs, and unsurprisingly most of my favourite bloggers (apart from my team mates) are people who are a bit like me-25-35 year old women trying to go from breaking 4:00 in the marathon to getting that elusive BQ. Trying to or going sub-6 in the half. Getting the half-marathon time from the 1:50s to the 1:40s (or even, hope beyond hope, the 1:30s...girl can dream!). I read about people's training times, and I think "my god, chick's amazing. she's gonna whip my ass next time she races." But nine times out of ten, it doesn't happen. Most of the time, we're all training too fast, so of course our races are disappointing.

Now, this may all come back to bite me. I have a couple of half marathons coming up, and maybe I won't feel as "proven right" as I do right now. But I'm willing to keep believing.

PS- Phil and I did a quick check and found that this calculator is pretty consistent with our actual training and racing paces. Give it a go- it's interesting! And make sure you read Mr Daniels' advice about training at a higher Vdot value you haven't yet achieved!

PPS- Don't think for a second that I'm against hard training. Not at all. What I'm advocating is keeping easy runs EASY, and being honest with yourself about what "easy" really is. And not trying to PB your easy runs- that's just asking for trouble.

PPPS- Every coach is different. I'm not your coach, I'm no expert. Maybe the experts who read this will differ (if so dudes, please comment!) But if you're self-coaching, don't you think the "too easy" option sounds safer than the "too hard" option??

Making baking!

We had a very successful baking weekend. Well, I had a very successful baking weekend, which meant we had a very enjoyable eating weekend!

The first success was the "healthy" Sticky Date Puddings from Healthy Food Guide.



The recipe was pretty easy, and miraculously the mixture worked out perfectly for 12 muffins- just like it was supposed to (does anyone else find that quantities never quite seem to work out?). We had one each and froze the rest, and they were great heated up again on Saturday (ok.. and Sunday).

230 calories is more than I generally aim to eat for "dessert"- especially when you just have to add ice-cream - but these preciouses, served with a smidge of Tip Top's Gingerbread Ice-Cream were worth every calorie! I'll definitely consider making these for a dinner party or to take to a potluck.

The second success was a banana, date and walnut loaf. I love banana bread, but was actually googling for a good date loaf recipe when I stumbled across this one. Again, the recipe was mad-easy, and I whipped this up pretty quickly on Saturday before we took off for our quick brick. I spent most of the workout looking forward to my post-workout snack! It's high energy (by my calculation the entire loaf is around 2700 calories, though we've chopped it into lots of pieces), but very satisfying and very low fat- I much prefer having a slice of this in my lunchbox to having a boring old muesli bar!

Contact Duathlon, Auckland: Race Report- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good:

The first run: "5k" in 21:03- technically netted myself a sweeeeet PB, but before you get excited, I promise that this course was hella short. About 100m per lap, and by the time you do five of them.....? Actual pace for the first run was about 4:38/k, which translates to around a 23:15 5k (my last 5k, just after Rotorua was 23:18, and I had quite a lot of slackarse time after that). I'm still pretty bloody happy with it! I've been a bit nervous about running fast after so very many 6:30 kms in training, but I think I can stop being a doubting Thomas now. And now when I tell you to SLOOOOOW doooooown in training, maybe you'll believe me???

The second run: "2.5k" in 11:14 (actual pace about 4:53/k). Not quite so chuffed with this, but it still counts as "good". In my head at the end of the first run I set myself a goal of sub-11 for this one, but never really looked at my splits. I like to think I could have taken those 14 seconds off if I'd focussed a little more. Basically- I need to get faster on the bike to get my run more competitive- if I can run 4:53/k with no-one around me but little old ladies, I think I could pick it up a bit if only I could get off the bike with people more my pace.

The race: Well organised, and cancelling prize-giving was a supremely awesome decision, even if it did mean dudes with umbrellas walkeing into me during my second run. Also, mad props on the sweet tunes- and double props for playing Thriller, even if it wasn't in deliberate commemoration of the late-great MJ.

The Husband: Out in the rain with the camera, running around the course to cheer me on from a different place each time.

Riding to the course: Made me feel gloriously hardcore- I've always wanted to do this, but it's too hard for tris (until someone gives me a sweet tri bag!), and we've mostly been a bit far away. Riding home in the pouring rain (it got worse and worse) was less fun, but had that adventurous feeling.


The Bad:

The conditions: If I'd wanted to race a technical course in howling winds and torrential rain? I'd have stayed in bloody Wellington! After we'd been standing around freezing for an hour or so,I it cleared a bit, and started off OK, but the roads were slick and wet and full of puddles. Sometime on the bike, I think, the rain started again in earnest, and just gradually got worse until I got off. I took my gloves off during the second run, squeezed them out a couple of times, and they were still drenched, and by the time I finished, I was just an utter drowned rat!

The bike (20k in about 44 minutes?): It was just arse. I just can't RACE on the bike, and I don't quite know why. I started off OK, but every time I got some speed I'd hit the headwind, get to a corner, or get passed by some speedster with beautiful Zipps. I noticed partway through that my average cadence was bizarrely high for me (97), and figured that I probably wasn't pushing big enough gears, but every time I got myself into a decent gear, I'd be changing down again. I'd expected to be close to or over 40 minutes, especially with the rain, but I hadn't anticipated being quite so rubbish. The only people I passed were on hybrids (yes, I think I was lapping those ones). The last loop was a bit better, because the fasties were all done, and I could ride without worrying I'd hold someone up at a corner.

The Ugly:

The bike (equipment): Poor old Eric had a tough time.

- Soon after riding out of transition I realised he'd been knocked, and my computer's sensor was hitting the spoke with every pedal stroke. That's roughly 4180 irritating clicks over the course of the race- and even though I knew it was just the sensor, the sound made me a little antsy!

- There were some deceptively deep puddles towards the left coming back down Brigham Street. Because I was slow, I was generally reasonably far left. On my first loop, I rode through a puddle, went BUMP, and felt the nose of my saddle shift ever so slightly up. B*gger! It happened again on lap 4, I think. Lap 5 I was smart enough to avoid the puddle :) It was actually quite noticeable when I got off the bike- turns out the poor seatpost is frigged from Eric's crash into the carpark (yes, thank you Bike Barn for picking that up...)

The competition: Sorry to whine, but this is just stinky. 4:38/k and I'm 17th out of 25 women (on the run...)? When I was just a runner, this was called "ok" to "good", not "pretty bloody rubbish". I'm going to find me a nice old ladies tri or du!

All in all, a good race and a good day. Looking forward to the rest of the season!

In two minds

There’s a good chance that I’ll be spending most of July in Wellington. I’m very much in two minds about this. I started by writing a very grumpy post, then tried to be awesome instead, and had a go at a “yay!” post. That didn’t work because it was full of lies, since I’m not overly happy about it, but the grumpy post was a bit too bratty. So, here goes the “I’m in two minds” post.

Mind One
I love Wellington. I love the waterfront, the hills, the coffee, the lunch options in the Lambton area. Tempt.

I am excited about having friends again! People to lunch with, coffee with and shop with. I’ve missed that.

I am excited about the task that’s been set for me while I’m there. It sounds like it will be a fantastic challenge and incredibly interesting. I think being there will really help us all really focus, and make something great.

I really do like my Wellington work. I had a fabulous time going back to see my colleagues earlier this week- I miss them at least as much as I miss my friends.

Mind Two
I am frustrated by the short notice, and by the expectation that I will drop everything to fly down, when I feel like I’ve JUST settled in here.

I am hurt by an implicit suggestion that I need to come back because I haven’t tried hard enough to keep things moving since moving North. I HAVE tried, so hard, but it felt like no-one else tried back.

I am sad about missing swim squad, and especially sad about missing the social squad races that are starting in July.

I’m a little tense at the thought of living at home for a month- I love my dad and stepmother, but I feel like I’ve just got myself sorted, and I’m not sure how I’ll handle not being able to control my days. I know, it’s silly- but I’m liking my routine, my meals, my workouts.

I’m nervous about Phil. We’re used to our Cambridge/Auckland commutes, but airports make it harder, and we’ll by reliant on the benifecence of my firm.


Anyway, we’ll see. It might not happen- I should find out on Monday. But it’s been in my head a lot this week, so I needed to get it out

Holy effing crap

My first race of the season is this [edit Sunday], and I'm wondering what the freak I'm getting myself into. I know I've eeked about this before, but it's my blog, and I'm gonna EEK again.

It's a sprint du, which normally wouldn't faze me. I can run 5k, cycle 20 and run 2.5 in my sleep. Well, maybe not quite in my sleep. But, y'know. I can do it.

But Contact races tend to be competitive. Read my Rotorua standard distance report from last year if you don't believe me! Not only that, but this race is also the North Island Inter-Club champs, which means lots of lyrca clad legends competing their way to the Nationals.

It gets better. The bike course is a 5 lap dealy in the Tank Farm area. Pancake flat and FAST, but twisty as all hell, and with two 180s per lap. Yup, that's 10 180s in around 40 minutes. I hate 180s at the best of times- and usually do them at about 14kph- and that's in races! So doing them at speed, with guys triple-lapping me at 40+ kph?

EEEEEEK!

But I'm also looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to racing- I LIKE racing. I STILL like racing, even when I'm last. I'll still get keyed up, I'll still spend the rest of Sunday going a mile a minute about every second of the race, and I'll still relish the Mexican food Phil's promised me afterwards!

Weekly rundown

I reorganised my week to make Monday a rest day. After a low key but exhausting weekend and Simon and Garfunkel on Sunday night, I needed some chillaxing time (well, I think in the end it was "working late" time). Got home from work and made a delicious Israeli couscous salad, and also whipped up some prune and chocolate "grab and go" breakfast bars- yum!

On Tuesday it was time to get back into it. I started on the wrong foot by sleeping in, taking forever to drink my morning coffee (it's very important befre a run!), and then had to squeeze in the run at about 7pm. It's a lesson you'd think I'd know by now! The run was aerobic intervals, so doing it along the waterfront was great, and although it was cold it was lovely out. I ran my intervals at "not quite easy", which was about 5:30/k, but I think I was supposed to do them at "quite hard" (half-m pace), which I hope is faster. I remember the days when "not quite easy" was in the 4:xx zone...I got home and made a huge pot of pasta sauce, as well as some date scones from Healthy Food Guide. I really can't recommend that magazine (or the site) enough!

Wednesday swim squad was great- see below. I had my photo course after work, so no exciting domestic goddesstry!

Thursday morning was a decent brick- my normal morning strength workout on the trainer (the one with the hellacious 8-minute standing intervals), following by a ten minute run around the (short) block. The run was great- even just for ten minutes! The uphills were easy, coming off the bike, and I was well warmed up, so didn't mind the crisp morning air. As I came down Franklin at the end, I could see a band of orange in the north. Gorgeous!

More swim squad on Friday. Nothing exciting- a good 3k workout though. I had a 20 minute run scheduled for after work. Sadly, I ended up engrossed in some law (yes! this happens sometimes...) and having to do it at about 7, while Phil arrived up from Cambridge and started the moussaka (another HFG recipe).

On Saturday morning, I decided it would be fun to explore a little further afield, so I calculated a route to Mt Eden, and planned to meet Phil at Circus Circus for breakfast. I ended up getting a little lost (New North Rd confused me), and taking a slightly longer route, so didn't get to run up the mountain, but still had a good, solid run and felt I deserved my share of the banana bread with almond mascarpone ;)

As usual, Sunday was long ride day. Phil wanted to check out a cycle shop in Kohimarama, so we decided to meet there- which basically meant riding around the bays and then finding a way to mosey around on the bike for the remaining 2 hours! So that's what I did. I'm not quite sure where exactly I went- I wish I'd used the GPS, as checking out this map would be hilarious!

Basically though, I rode up into Glendowie, pottered around there until I'd had enough, then headed out along St H's Bay Rd towards Glen Innes. I conquered the roundabouts in Panmure, and rode a bit around Mt Wellington, before having my grab and go bar at the Port Englad reserve. From there I followed some signs to the Tamaki campus, and then tried to find my way to Remuera. Turned left at Ladies Mile (I think) and headed back, with only half an hour or so left (but I was only maybe 10 mins from Kohi...), headed back along to Glendowie, got myself a little lost, and ended up at 2:35 calling Phil to get him to meet me at Glover Park instead of Kohi! I had heaps of fun just going wherever I felt like going, and starting to get a better sense of some different places. Still- I can't wait until the boy's back up and running!

Off to Wgtn this evening for work. Definitely excited- just hope I've packed enough warm things!

What would you do?

I was pretty disgruntled when facebook told me I was meant to be a "big-firm lackey", but it did make me think about what I'd want to do if I didn't do what I do do! Then I read about Heather's new job, and saw Salty's post, so I made a wee list.

If money (and time) was no issue, what would I do?

• train all day long
• practice law part time
• teach law, probably to non-lawyers
• study race relations
• make fabulous recipes
• do more to help women and children
• be a stay at home mum
• travel
• write
• be an awesome advocate for sustainable transport

So, what would you do?

Seven quick things

A couple of blogs out there are doing this today, and I don't have anything worth a full post so here goes:

1- Getting up and going to swimming is ALWAYS the right choice. Today we did 15 x 100 (which we do roughly monthly, as a TT). NONE of my 100s (that's metres, folks) was over 1:43, and a good number were in the high 1:30s. Last time I did this (a month or so ago), I was sitting around 1:45 to 1:50, so I'm very happy with today.

2- Work has been BUSY! Good busy most of the time (notwithstanding last week's moan session), and very glad to have a pile of work on in the current economic climate (gracious- I wonder how many times that phrase has been used in the past year!)

3- I have a race coming up, so I get to start doing fun stuff. Last night I did my first interval run. I didn't check my plan before I left, and I think I was going more like "not quite easy" than "quite hard." Either way, my times were utterly uninspiring, but not too bad. I am fairly confident that I'll be in at least sub 1:50 shape for my two half marathons, and that'll do for now.

4- I made Israeli couscous for the first time on Monday. It was a lovely addition to the chickpea and pumpkin-y salad, but I think I needed more salt.

5- Day 1 of officially tracking my weight (got my scales back at last) was a bust. I ate well and gained a pound. I know it's not real (it probably relates to eating dinner at 9pm...) but still! A not real 1 pound LOSS would be preferable. This is why I weigh every day and use physicsdiet!

6- Simon & Garfunkel was pretty awesome, but didn't blow me away. I just don't think "America" needs a shrieking guitar solo- it's quite allright as it is.

7- I need to stop watching old episodes of the West Wing on DVD. Every so often I find myself thinking it's real life. Ouch.

Weight and assumptions

The weekend was a bit of a sh*tter, though my grumpy mood was as much the cause of the problems as the result of them! So I’m not going to go there, and instead I’ll relay a brief conversation from Thursday evening.

A brief backstory: I transferred offices in March 2009, but still work for the same firm. The last time I met a lot of the people here was in June 2005 when I was 23, running my best half-marathon times and weighing a fair bit less than I do now (somewhere between 5 and 7 kilos, probably). More backstory- people in Auckland are much shallower, on the whole, than people in Wellington. The boys in my team commonly comment on the relative attractiveness of girls in the team, and they have exacting size standards!

The context: Walking to the pub with one of those colleagues, chatting about swine flu.

Me: Young fit people often do have not-so-hot immune systems, because they tend to work themselves just a bit too hard.

Colleague: When you were doing marathons and stuff did you find that?

Me: Well, when I first started out, I would crash every time I stopped going hard. I could push it so far, but once I stopped moving, it’d all catch up with me. Wait a sec, when I was doing marathons?

Colleague: It seemed like in the old days you were always on the front page of [internal newsletter], running across the finish line….

Me: Yup.. Like in December… when I did my half ironman?

It sort of petered out around there, but I had the clear impression that he’d assumed my endurance exploits were a long time in the past. I found it interesting. It’s been awhile since I felt as if the people in my everyday life were making assumptions based on my appearance (obviously those toned, super fast ironladies in swim squad, and at every race I do are judging me non-stop…) In Wellington, my poor, long-suffering colleagues were treated to excruciatingly detailed training tales almost daily, and no-one would have dared assume that I was less dedicated to my fitness and endurance than I was previously. I wanted to say “You know, dude, I still train at least 7 to 9 hours a week. I go for long bike rides- why, last week I spent 8 hours on my bikes plural over the course of the weekend. I climb the freakin Waitakeres. I run hills. I swim with a squad. I finish half ironmans. Don’t assume I sit on my behind eating candy all day because I’m a bit heavier than I was WHEN I WAS TWENTY THREE.”

Glorious food

A couple of weeks ago, I reached my “no more” point.

No more eating treating a 70% as a “good” day.
No more atrocious weekends (plain old bad weekends are still ok…)
No more guzzling cheese and crackers while making dinner.
No more treating desserts as essential.

It’s time to listen to Sesame Street, and remember that “cookies are a sometimes food”.

I haven’t gone from 70% to 100% in two weeks- nothing like it. But I feel like I’m lifting my average weekday to an 80, even an 85%, and we’re working (slooowly) on the weekends too. I’m trying to get to the point where this is life, not diet. I’ve been putting a bit more effort into cooking something “proper”, though that hasn’t always succeeded, and I’m trying to lift the quality of my convenience food. I’m eating less meat, more veges, more pulses. I’m trying new things, so that every meal is exciting. I’ve having great fun with breakfast and baking more of my own workout food.

I've had some wonderful meals since I started being more careful, some new, and some old favourites. The roast pumpkin penne last week was just divine, and I spent all of the next day looking forward to leftovers for lunch. Porridge with almond butter, agave syrup and chopped dates was a perfect indulgent post-ride breakfast yesterday, and kept me going until at least 11. And dates with almond butter? Really are like "healthy" snickers. Yum!

Be awesome instead!

Tonight I am working while Phil is out doing his run. Last night I was working while Phil rode home on his bike. On Tuesday, I was working, and I don't actually know what Phil was doing- cos I was working. On Monday I was sick, so I watched West Wing episodes all day while Phil was working, but that doesn't count, so shh!

I quite like working, and I like being busy, and I love that I AM BUSY right now, in the midst of this recession. But when I am working and Phil (...ok, ok, anyone) gets more training time than me, I get absurdly bitter. Like I want to pinch him and pull his hair (if he comments and tells you I sometimes do, ignore him. he lies). The other thing that happens when I work late? I reward myself with chocolate, and cheesy extrusions- y'know, for all those calories I burned NOT working out and sitting on my butt instead.

So, tonight, whenever I look out into the still night, and think of my togs in my bag, and my dinner at home, and the mess that needs to be cleaned up, I am going to...(with me now)

STOP BEING BITTER AND BE AWESOME INSTEAD.

That's right.

Now- back to work.

PS- for those of you who are thinking I should be working, not blogging, please know that this post took me precisely TWO billable units.

Epic weekend: Part II

It was bloody cold in Rotorua on Saturday night, and I slept fitfully until we all woke up around 8. We had a quick breakfast, packed the cars and headed out to the other side of the Redwoods for the boys’ mtb skills course. As I mentioned, I planned to ride the Rotorua half IM course, though I started (and finished) it at the carpark (near Te Puia) instead of Blue Lake (therefore missing Tarawera Rd- gee, what a pity..)

The first 25 k or so was delightful, apart from the always-ghastly chip along Te Ngae road. The bike path was full of gravel and broken glass, and I felt like it would have been better suited to the mountain bike. I had my first wee break about an hour in, at Rusto Bay, and sat in the sun enjoying a muesli bar and a few lollies. Perfection!



Since I had plenty of time up my sleeve (the boys weren’t due to finish until 4, and I had only 3.5 hours planned) I thought about going a little further and making it a round metric century, or about riding Tarawera and the Okareka loop on the way back, for a real epic ride.

Sadly, those grand plans were quickly abandoned as I started the next leg of my journey. My pace started to slow, and every k ticking by seemed to take forever. I’d planned to ride until 2:00 or 50k, but ended up giving up at Matahi Spit Reserve, at about 1:51 and 44k in (yup, the old pace had slooowed).




I sat in the chilly sun for as long as I could, eating my rather sad salami roll and a mandarin, and drinking a bit more water, and then started the journey back. I told myself to man up, and promised myself another break at 70k, which I thought would give me a good rest before climbing up the evil evil Hells Gate.

Leg 3 was better than leg 2. My attitude improved a bit, my cadence magically started working again, I had a slight tail wind (some of the way), and Rusto Bay came by again much sooner than expected. Unfortunately, so did Hells Gate, and all of a sudden, there I was grinding up, cursing the world and chanting “stop being tired, be awesome instead”. Hells Gate comes at a good time, actually- the way back on the Rotorua course gets a bit hard and a bit dull, and having the real effort of a nasty ass climb breaks things up a bit- even if it does hurt like f**k! The next few ks flew by (well, in relative terms), and I postponed my next break to just past the turnoff (about 74k, I think).

Leg 4 was OK. My butt was killing me, my hammies were tense after Hells Gate and my hands were absolutely freezing, but it was OK. I knew the signs to the city centre were about right in terms of distance, and I knew the end was in sight. All I had to do was get through the gravelly, cold, headwindy stretch by the airport, and I’d be away sailing! Also- there’s something about passing the same dairies you passed during a marathon ffs to make you harden up on the bike! Every traffic light conspired against me, and refused to give me a rest, but finally I was back on smooth road, and heading home. The roundabout at Tarawera was a bit of a pain- from my position, I couldn’t see the cars’ indicators, so had no idea whom to give way to, and ended up choosing a not particularly brilliant point to pull out. I managed to push it a bit back to the carpark, and finished happy in about 3:51 for 88.6k (freakin hell, I’m SLOW!!!!!). Not my longest ride ever, but my longest since the half IM in December, and by far my longest solo adventure. I have a whole new level of respect for all my training buds (Mike, I'm looking at you...) who regularly ride extreme distances alone. You guys are legends!

I thought I'd have some time to kill when I got back to the MTB park, as the boys weren't due to finish til 4. I thought about getting Max back off the roof and heading back into town, but that insanity didn't last long. No freakin way was this behind getting back onto the saddle! So I got myself dressed in the cramped porta loo and headed back to the car to relax and enjoy the sun. But who should I run into but the boys, who'd finished an hour and a half early! They were keen to try out their new skillz, so they headed out for a quick half hour while I explored the redwoods on foot. A beautiful path, but the stairs really took it out of me!

Once we were done, we headed back to town to celebrate before heading back to Auckland and New Plymouth respectively, and to replenish some (ok, all) of those calories with spicy wedges and Spring Tide.

Epic weekend: Part 1

[Blogger is being a pooper and not uploading my pics... so pics to come- maybe]

It was a pretty epic, and totally awesome weekend. Phil and I drove from Cambridge to Rotorua on Saturday morning, to meet my future brother in law, D. We arrived at about 11, and set off for a morning mountain biking on the easy trails in Whakarewarewa MTB park.

The ride to the park from Long Mile carpark starts with a shortish, sharpish climb, which is a good way for me to get used to being on Maxwell instead of Eric. I used the climb, and the following descent to get used to going over bumps, to not being able to pull up with my feet, and to using different gear shifters. Unfortunately, adjusting to the different shifters took more getting used to than it should have- I remarked to Phil it was amazing how fast he could spin, when we were both in our lowest gear. Turns out, I was reading the display all wrong, and I was in my hardest gear (well, my hardest on the wee chain ring, anyway). Ah well- at least Saturday was supposed to be my “strength” workout day! I finally got shifted down, and discovered that Maxwell doesn’t like the lowest gear at all (oddly- this is something I’ve found with each of my three Avantis).

We headed onto Tahi, from a different entrance than I used either of the previous times I’d been there, and it wasn’t long before the boys surged ahead, with Phil obligingly waiting for me every 2 minutes or so! Unfortunately, something went wrong in all of our internal navigation systems, and before we knew it, we were on what seemed to be a walking trail, with no D in sight. It took about half an hour of exploring the four wheel drive tracks (and going over that wee part of Tahi again and again) before we found him.

From Tahi, we headed to the Dipper. I hated it the first time (around Xmas time)- from the sharp hand turn at the start to the steep, bumpy downhill early on, to the 3 and 5 year olds whooping past me. The second time was better (with Jenn and D in April)- I’d had more of a warm up, I was enjoying riding with my sister, and at least I could pass those 5 year olds back on the uphills! This time, it was awesome. It was much quieter than it had been previously (winter, I guess), I’d had plenty of time to adjust to the MTB (apart from the doopid backwards shifters), and we hit the trail head on, rather than turning onto it. I rode most of it, though I was still much slower than the boys, and really enjoyed the smooth trail, the sweeping corners, and the mini roller coasters.

After the Dipper, we headed back to the camp ground via the exit track, which was downhill and bumpy and not at all my cup of tea. We headed to Pak n Save to pick up the components for our traditional ‘Vegas lunch but were gutted to find that they had none of our favourite ciabatta rolls. Shame on you, Pak n Save. Shame on you. We ate a chilly picnic lunch on the floor in the cabin, watching a truly, spectacularly awful game show, Beat the Geek, and a few music videos, and then headed out again, stuffed full of chicken rolls and salt and vinegar chips.
I wasn’t particularly keen on heading out again. As my mountain biking slowly improves, a session on the trails becomes slightly more of a workout! But it was only a bit after 2pm, and I certainly wasn’t keen to chill out at the campsite for a few hours by myself. Also, I needed to do something about those salt and vinegar chippies (and the feast we had planned for dinner), so I sucked it up and got back on the bike.

D had planned out a big loop. We had to cut it down somewhat, as we wanted to beat the sun home, and we knew I’d slow things down. I told the boys I’d stick with them, but that I’d turn back at the top if it looked like things were going to be too hard for me. I was definitely keen to see some of the rest of the park. The route started with the same shortish, sharpish climb as before, and I was pleased to handle it a bit better this time. From the beginning of the park proper, the boys headed along Mad if You Don’t, while I rode along the parallel 4wd drive track. It was fun to beat them for once- if not by much! The big climb started not much later, and continued for the next 40-odd minutes- and from about 335m to 665m! It was a heck of a climb especially with flat pedals (no pull) and no granny gear (I’m that weak, yes….) but usually, just as it got to be too much, the trail would level out or slope down for a bit. The two or three gasping for air stops helped too!
Finally, it was time to turn onto Spilt Enz. Split Enz was part of the Xterra course, and D had described it as Exit Track, but smoother. It certainly started off well. I told the boys to go on ahead, but to wait in a few places, especially as it was now after four, and the sunset was on its way. The first part of the track looped gradually down, with mostly smooth and reasonably un-rutted trails. The corners were just windy enough, and the dippers were just deep enough to make it fun, but it mostly wasn’t too hard- even for me. The feeling of riding on the side of a mountain, and the views of Rotorua peeking out through the trees made me feel deliciously hardcore, even if I was still riding like a complete pansy. The boys waited for me at a breathtaking lookout, and then we got going again. The second part was harder- bumpier, and a bit rockier and steeper, and I rode considerably less. Mindful of the sinking sun, I tried to spend any time I wasn’t riding running while pushing the bike, so I still got a good wee workout in! Then we were at the bottom, and it was time to head home. But not quite- the quickest way home was via Pondy’s Downhill, another Grade 3 track which was a bit tougher than Split Enz. I probably rode about 20% of it, though that was partly in the interests of timing- once you’re running it’s quicker to keep going than to jump back on the bike every time the trail evens out again. After a nerveracking few minutes as the sky darkened, the trail snaked back out of the forest and I met the boys in what seemed to have been a reasonably recently logged area.

We weren’t quite sure where we were, whether we were supposed to be there, or how to get back to the carpark, but we took a shot, and soon found ourselves on a sealed road, so we ramped up the gears and sprinted off. There’s nothing quite like pushing a mtb “fast”- even if you’re only going about 30km/h it feels like you’re flying. Soon enough we reached a gate, and we were back at the end of “Mad if You Don’t”, so we headed back along the forest roads to the carpark. The first wee bit was fine, but it was after 5 and the sun was getting fast. A few hundred metres before the end, I had to give up and walk- the ground was just too gravelly for me to feel comfortable, and my poor shortsighted and astigmatic eyes don’t handle falling darkness very well. Finally, we made it back to the carpark, and started our tentative trip home- grateful for my uber reflective Kathmandu jacket, and for the brief illumination that every passing car offered.

We made it back to the camp ground (Redwoods motor park- I’ll be back at the log cabins next time!) by about 5:45pm and breathed a sigh of relief. Riding in the forest without lights as darkness falls is not something I’d recommend, but it sure was fun!

After a good four hours of riding (in total), I was looking forward to a good dinner, and Stonegrill was the perfect place. A huge hunk of tender beef, cooked as I ate it, with kumara, roast potatoes, carrots and a lovely glass of warm pinot was the perfect end to a great day.

Words to live by

I need to start taking Barney's advice. Well, on this one!

For something else that's helping me through the week, see this awesome post on awesomeness.

Healthy and yummy too

Since I'm no longer a colour scheme obsessed bride to be, I needed something to fill the bride blog void left in my reader. And I've found it! Foodie/nutrition blogs!

These are all written by women who are sort of like me, but completely awesome and inspirational. Their blogs focus on healthful eating, on REAL food, balance and frugality and offer up dozens of ideas for delicious and interesting healthy food.

Here's some of my favourites:

Healthy and Sane
Hangry Pants
Nutritionista

So far, Phil and I have enjoyed dates with almond butter as an after dinner snack, grab and go breakfast bars for riding, and warm and nutty cinnamon quinoa for breakfast. I'm also using much less meat, and many more white beans in my cooking. Yum!

Weekly rundown: 25/5

An OK week. Would have been good/solid if we hadn't so utterly stuffed our Sunday plans. Time to stop stewing on it and start running though!

M- Long swim (3500m). Great swim (despite the annoying breaches of swim-squad etiquette)

T- 45 minute run. Went up Franklin Rd, down Curran Street and back around the Marina. At least I think that's what I did...?

W- Planned rest, and photo school in the evening.

T- 60 minute Strength set on the trainer. The 8 minute standing intervals were my best yet!

F- Speedwork (swim). Workout was 2900m in total, with 1000 w/up, 3 x 100 sprint, 8 x 100 medley, and an 800m ladder to wind down. My 100s were OK- 1:35, 1:37, 1:35. I'd like to go faster, and think I should be able to- I didn't feel even remotely puffed.

S- 45k ride in Maraetai (where the Akl half IM course goes). Mostly ok, but a serious fade at the end when I ran out of water and enthusiasm.

S- We had my "free" day on Sunday so Phil could ride with me on Monday. We'd planned an awesome trail run and a walk, but ended up having to go to Manukau again, then we couldn't find the trails we wanted out around Woodhill. We ended up heading to Muriwai out for a run, but we weren't dressed well, and it was absolutely freezing. Phil was too cold, so I gave him my jumper and we headed back.

M-A lovely ride to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Just up to Titirangi, as I only had 90 mins planned, and Phil's recovering and just getting back into things. I felt really good on the hills- I'm still slow, but I'm getting better. The first bit of the descent wasn't particularly comfortable- bumpy, freezing cold, and couldn't see a thing with the sun in my eyes- but the rest of the way back was awwwwesome.

By the way, this coming weekend (Sunday?) I'm going to be riding the Rotovegas half course while Phil's learning to MTB. Any takers?

Swim squad: tips (pet peeves)

Squad swimming is much better than normal pool swimming. You all do the same workout, and you don’t get people doing breaststroke in the fast lane, or aggressive pass-ers in the slow lane.

But it’s not perfect, and as a somewhat competitive, easily annoyed person, I thought I’d share some tips, and see if anyone else has anything to add (who knows, I may be doing something heinously annoying without even realising)...

-If someone is faster than you, let them pass. You don’t need to stop for them, but keep left and don’t flail around too much. Make it easy for them.

Even if that someone’s usually slower than you, they might be a much stronger kicker, and it might annoy them having you change to BREASTSTROKE kick so they can’t pass, then turning around super fast so they’re stuck behind you doing your slow, flailing kick again. Hypothetically.

Oh- and they will be especially annoyed if after all this, you decide to cut off half a length so you can beat them back at the end of the set.

- Don’t race the warmup. No-one appreciates being rushed, and no-one’s impressed. It’s a warmup. Same goes for DPS/easy sets.

-If someone is consistently passing you in the first few lengths of each set, let them go first on the next set. Yes, they can pass you, but it’s easier on everyone if you just start in the right place. Not Rocket Science.

What are your pet peeves?

A weekly rundown

Monday: REST (planned, but switched from Weds, as I was shattered after our weekend in Welly)

Tuesday: Spinning (strength)... The 8 minute standing intervals are a b*tch. But I can feel them working (at least that's what I'm telling myself!); 20 minute run (easy)

Wednesday: 15 x 100 swim test. Hard but good. Between 1:45 and 1:50 for all reps- could have gone faster I think. Was relieved that it was 15 x 100 rather than 1500 TT, as I'd been out of the pool for awhile!

Thursday: A wee run round the bays after work. Nothing really to report. Pace was 6:08, which is OK for aerobic for me, I think.

Friday: Swimming- 1200m w/up followed by 52 x 25 sprints, including all the medley strokes (yup, that's 1300m. Of sprints. Oh boy) Sprints were fun. I kicked on the backstroke sprints, but was about equal with the other woman in my lane for the free. The hardest part was the underwater sprints which totally wasted my legs. I made it to the second flags on the first one, but never got much past halfway on the others.

Saturday: 1 hour bike with Phil, followed by 20 minute run-off round (and round, and round) Victoria Park. Ride was lovely, but no idea of speed. We felt fast enough! We did part of my wee St Heliers loop, but my directions were terrible ("I don't know, you just go the way that feels right!") so didn't do the whole lot. Felt much better on the wee hills than last time- standing intervals paying off?

Carless weekend, so we had quite a big wander around Ponsonby/K Rd before tea.

Sunday: Lovely (and exciting) walk over the 'arbour in the sun. Was quite tired out after the evening and morning's wandering. I ended up riding inside (for 2.5 hours, not the scheduled 3), first to avoid the traffic buildup due to the Bridge protest (blimmin cyclists always causing trouble for the poor old motorists....), but also because I was worried that Phil had no cellphone so would be unable to rescue me if I fell off/got a flat/whatever, and because I don't really like being away from the husband for 3 hours of our meagre time together. I watched "Across the Universe" (again) and tried to do something (eg standing, one leg, spin, low gear) for the duration of each song.

Woohoo!

Yesterday I was proud to be a temporary JAFA.

Today, I am ashamed.

It seems like every time I read the paper, I'm more aware that the country I love is not the country I try to believe it is.

I want to believe that Aotearoa New Zealand is about tolerance and support. About innovation. About standing up for what's right. About protecting the vulnerable.

But I'm starting to think I'm mad, and that this image is a product of my idealistic naivete. It seems that we're actually a bunch of judgmental, intolerant, selfish, brats, who whinge whinge WHINGE, and who don't care about much apart from preserving their own, individual, status quo.

I know, I know..

...The wedding's well been and gone... But I just got this photo from a friend of ours, and it made me so happy I had to share it.

Happy 3 and a bit months of marriage, Phillip!

Races! Races!

Paul has given me a few race options. Yay!

At this stage, I'm thinking about doing three events:

1- Contact Duathlon in Auckland on 28 June. Paul thinks this would be good to do, though I'm a little nervous about doing a sprint distance race and a lot scared of being last! Ah well- character building! And it's been AGES since I did a du, so it could be quite fun!

2- Okoroire Mid Winter Fun Ride (70k) on 26 July. Would be my first standalone cycling event, and looks fun.

3- Mizuno Half Marathon on August 2. Only a week after the ride, but Cambridge and Taupo are both easy to get to, I'll be riding easy(ish), and I'd really love to see where my half is at.

Any takers?

Sorry Paul & Art

..but I just can't pay $369.

Poos.

Monday mundanity

- Wellington was pretty awesome, though windy.

- Running around the bays after the sun came out on Sunday was fantastically invigorating, if rather depressing in places.

- Elements in Lyall Bay really is fantastic!

- Most random experience? Had to be the bodyguards complete with squiggly earpiece thingies in Floriditas. In FLORIDITAS?! Seriously.

- Simon and Garfunkel tickets are on sale (again) tomorrow. Wish me luck, cross fingers, etc etc!

-This weekend is an Auckland-only, no driving, weekend. Phew!

- Apparently if I can run 6:15ks when aerobic, I should actually be able to pull out a sub-4 marathon and 23:18 5k. Who knows if that's true, but it makes my steady runs a little more bearable.

- We're spending Christmas in Seoul with my baby sister and London with Phil's "Best Man" (and others). WOO!!!

Wellington

We're going to Wellington tomorrow! Only for 2 days- we arrive early Saturday morning and leave on Sunday evening. But, nonetheless- yay!

I have two runs scheduled- 90 on Saturday and 60 on Sunday (I'll probably do it the other way round). Right now I'm trying to come up with a wonderful plan that covers all my favourite running spots- though I don't think that'll be possible, especially since we won't have a car.

We're staying in Northland, so I'm thinking of a hilly suburban 60, taking in some of Tinakori hill, and a Round the Bays 90 (even though the forecast isn't promising me the perfect Wellington day I had in mind)

It's not only running that's hard to decide- where will we eat?! We're going to Elements with our photographer on Saturday morning (PS- planning our album- WOO!), and having dinner with friends on Saturday night. I'm thinking maybe Olive. I'd like to do lunch at Wholly Bagels if we can. Oooh, and a coffee at Mojo... Oh, I can't wait.

Have a great weekend all!

Type A-

I have a confession. I’m not really a type A. More like a Type B+/A- if I’m lucky.

I care quite a lot about the things I do, and I am a pretty big fan of achievement, whether it’s work, money, exercise, weight, grades or whatever. But I’m missing that drive that most real Type As have- I’m a bit slapdash, easily burnt out, kinda lazy and a king procrastinator. In fact, most of my success comes from natural ability, and is nothing to do with hard work.

I enjoy my job, and I get a kick out of working hard and doing it well. But I don’t want to put in the hard yards required to seriously advance in my field.

I like not being fat, but I definitely don’t like being thin enough to forego chocolate, red wine, cheese and the odd cinnamon bun from Snickerdoodles in Oakura (seriously- that place is worth trekking to the ‘Naki for). I don’t think life would be any better if I looked hotter in a bikini, though I do think a little bit of discipline would be worth it if it helped me ride up Tarawera Road a leetle faster than 9km/h!

I like being organised, and I feel incredibly satisfied when I go to bed after a good meal, with the chores all done, lunches ready and “leftovers” in the freezer. But I don’t like it enough to sacrifice my Sunday evening Phil time, or my chillout Monday West Wing DVDs.

I like running and triathlon, and I LOVE getting to that place where I can knock off a 12-14 hour training week and feel awesome. I love races and time trials, and running up giant hills. I love it enough to wake up early every morning (ok, ok most mornings), and enough to dedicate a good chunk of weekend to my training. But I don’t quite love it enough to turn down invitations for it, or to squeeze 3 hour rides in before 9am on a Sunday.

This is OK now, I can just about keep on top of most things without flipping out too often. But what about one day in the not-near but not way distant future when we have kids? I’ll still need these little achievements, but I’m going to need to say goodbye to that chill-out time. I guess I should start practicing Type A now?

PS- I have a major sense of deja vu about this post, but I can't find an earlier version, so apologies if I'm repeating myself

Not so awesome

After starting my training with Paul with a real burst of energy and enthusiasm, I've been finding it hard to keep at it for the past couple of weeks. There was the thing with Eric, but a lot of it's just been that ordinary mixture of work deadlines, work drinks, family occasions, rain, darkness, tiredness, rain, chores and general interfering miscellany. My sleeping patterns have suddenly changed from "generally good" to "nightmares with twice-nightly wakeups" and that's thrown me more than I'd hoped it would.

The other obstacle is Phil's injury. He's been my number one training buddy for the past year, so training without him is a bit sad, especially now that weekends are our only time together.

This just feels like a blip, and I suspect that things will look up soon. After our weekend in Wellington this week, we're staying in roughly one place for awhile, which I think will help. Plus, I'll soon have Eric back, and Phil is getting back into the swing of cycling pretty steadily (knock wood).

Anyway- this week is all about spinning and swimming, and going to Wellington (woo!) and lots of running. Onwards ho!

Small things

What's been defining my week this week?

Not my poor bike lying alone in bike-intensive care.
Not an exciting career landmark.
Not the surprise visit from my husband last night (though that was by far and away the BEST thing this week)
Not envying all marathon racing blog buddies

Nope- it's my poor toes. On Monday, I wore fins that were too small for 800m of fartlek kick and 600m of backstroke drills. My poor toes were cut to shreds which makes walking, swimming, running and wearing work shoes incredibly, irritatingly painful. It's such a little thing, but it's made quite a difference.

New Plymouth this weekend. Yay!

Retraction

Well, after the little funeral yesterday (threw a piece of front fork into an overfill bin at Titirangi Beach- which, btw, is GORGEOUS), and the little death notice today, it seems that Eric will LIVE. Just needs new front fork and new saddle. Lucky I didn't have time to deliver a tearful eulogy!

RIP

Sad news in the Cornfield household. Yesterday at around 11am we made our way to Maraetai for a long ride in the sun. I needed to go to the bathroom, and our usuals in Mt Eden were closed for repairs, so we thought we'd pop into Westfield Broadway and grab some muesli bars while we were there.

We turned in to the carpark, heard a sickening c-RUNCH and both realised at the same time what had happened. The roofracks are ruined, Eric's seat was twisted about 90 degrees, and his poor left carbon fork broke in two.

RIP, Eric the Strada. We will miss you.

Kate, Phil, and Derek-the-Strada

Is it really only Wednesday?

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Yes, and I really wish it was Thursday.

Thursday means a cruisy 40m run in the morning, a trip to the library and dinner with one of best friends who'll be up from Welly. More importantly, Thursday means "nearly Friday", which means swimming (yay) and Phil (double yay).

Wednesday on the other hand means working late, doing the housework I've been putting off since Monday, trying to create something fun with leftover 90-second rice, and going to bed without any new library books to enjoy.

Luckily, Wednesday also means tomorrow is Thursday, so we're getting there slowly...

When does it become rude?

Magazine (and internet) articles, diet books, and all manner of healthy eating guidelines offer a number of tips to make dining out easier, whether it's at someone else's house or a restaurant. Dressing to the side, nibble on the vegetable sticks, ask the chef to leave out the cheese, forego the wine, share a dessert. Lots of these ideas are great if you want to keep healthy without sacrificing a social life, but sometimes they involve stepping into social and commercial etiquette grey areas.

So, I've been wondering- when does keeping "healthy" become impolite? And, in a time where all the focus is on fighting the good ol' obesity epidemic, does "healthy" automatically provide a rudeness get out of jail free card?

This was prompted by a couple of things. The first was a fellow blogger doing a raw foods detox asking restaurants to create special salads for her. The other was hosting a brunch for friends on Saturday. I tried to keep it reasonably healthy as I knew one of our guests watches her weight very closely (for context, she's a size 6runner, not a size 26 type-2 diabetic), and made some "fancy Bircher", a platter of fruit and a batch of homemade brioche. Our guest brought her own lo-cal hot chocolate, and refused to even try the brioche, although luckily she ate some bircher. I felt a little slighted- first, because I had consciously tried to make healthy options (realising of course that brioche is hardly multigrain toast- but it's also hardly muffins or donuts), secondly, because her abstinence meant I felt like a big fat pig as I dug into my second warm brioche, and thirdly, because I felt as if as a host, I had let down my guests by failing to meet their needs (yes- me= oversensitive).


Now, I don't think our guest crossed the line into rude- it's just an example and she's certainly no worse than the bridesmaid who refused to eat anything but vege sticks at my hen's night. But where is the line, and when is it crossed? And does the line move depending on how overweight (or not) the guest/customer/whoever is?

Thoughts?

Christened!

After my last post, I started feeling sorry for my poor, nameless mountain bike. So I did a bit of thinking, and before I could even open google, there is was:

Maxwell (Max for short)

My MTB is manly, but not very rugged, just like a Maxwell. Plus (and this is the actual reason) he's a grey Avanti Hammer, I'm a Beatles Fan. Chocolate fish to the first to figure that one out.

So, welcome to the brood, Max.

Why I go mountain biking

This story starts on the road.

About 5 years ago, I bought a bike. He was an Avanti hybrid, cost me about $600 and his name was Mike. I hadn’t ridden since I was 8, I’d never used gears or handle-bar brakes, and I was pet.ri.fied of everything. Christy and I decided to train for a duathlon and a fun ride, so she and her road bike and me and Mike used to head out around the bays in the mornings. We usually went about 10k, which was enough on a hybrid! Once, Mike and I had a big adventure, going all the way around the bays and back. I packed lunch in my backpack, and must have thrown a drink bottle in too. To get from my house on Roxburgh Street to “The Bays” I walked Mike down the Hood Street steps, crossed at the pedestrian crossing, and headed out from there. I avoided traffic lights, and I rode back home along the (shared) footpath. I didn’t like to travel downhill any faster than about 18kph.

It wasn’t long before Mike got upgraded. A friend who was getting into tris had a new road bike, so I got her slightly more-roady hybrid for a while. Although she was a lot more confident on the bike, I was in good shape, so we could ride together happily. We’d head around the bays, with me following her through traffic, and we’d always do an out and back, avoiding Kilbirnie entirely. I was still using flat pedals and braking all the way down even the easiest of hills.

I got my first road bike (Christy’s) in 2006. That year, I started using clipless pedals and completed my first three triathlons. At the New Plymouth tri, I found out how fun it was to cruise downhill without braking (ok, without braking “much”). I was still terrified of stopping, and at all of races that year I had some form of slightly embarrassing dismount. In terms of training, I stuck to the Bays. Whenever I went somewhere else in Wellington I wound up regretting it. But Phil and I also did our first hundred k ride in the Naki, and I started to like the bike.

2007 was about the marathon. The bike stayed on the trainer, while Phil took his out for massive adventures in faraway places I couldn’t even imagine going. The Akas, Haywards and Blue Mountains all sounded like fun, but the motorway, traffic lights, downhills and lane changes put me right off.

In 2008, I upgraded twice. I gave Christy’s old bike to my sister and starting riding the road bike my friend had upgraded to in 2006. I finally got used to making my way around by myself, and managed a few adventures with Phil. I was still terrified of hills and traffic, but I got used to them, and started to feel my confidence improve. I upgraded my pedals, and my speedplays increased my confidence immeasurably. I rode down the steepest freaking hill in Wellington on an unplanned detour and while I cursed Phil and just about burst into tears over it, I made it, and all of a sudden the windy bits coming down from the prison didn’t seem so bad. I bought Eric late in 2009, broke him in quickly, and raced the Rotorua Half Ironman in December.

I’m still not a confident cyclist. My speeds are abysmal. I still can’t get up a hill without going all out. I have to psych myself up to drink (hence the long ride Camelbak), and opening and eating a whole muesli bar on the go kept me celebrating for a good ten minutes. I certainly can’t “attack” on a steep hill. Before I ride with or without Phil we drive the course or discuss it at length, analysing every little “tricky” bit. I ask “so, when do I change lanes?” and sometimes (including last Sunday) I whimper “never mind I can’t do it, I’ll just call you and you can rescue me.” I still usually have a quiet moment of nerves before setting out.

But now I do it. When I’m going up a steep hill I remember how Tarawera Road felt on bonked dead legs. I don’t pike out because it’s raining and I don’t sit numbly on a trainer for two hours because I’m too scared to ride alone. Every ride I do is a small victory and I’m getting better and better.

So- mountain biking..

I suck at mountain biking. I spend at least the first half hour of every ride refusing to believe in my gut that a mountain bike can actually ride over roots. Even big ones. I grip the handle bars and grit my teeth, and I spend the whole time entirely focussed on the trail. I get passed by little kids and get frustrated when I can’t get started again. I panic at the top of (very wee) hills and walk down them, and sometimes can’t get the momentum to get up the other side. I brake even when it’s utterly counterproductive. I’m lucky if all I have is a flash of nerves instead of an all out pouty tantrum.

But it’s only been a few months since I won the bike (it doesn’t have a name yet, which means it probably never will), and by the end of every mountain biking excursion I feel like I’ve improved, just a tad. And with all of the small victories adding up, one day I may be as confident on the MTB as I am on the road, and on a further day still, I may actually be a bit good at either of them.

All my life I’ve been good at stuff and if I haven’t succeeded, I’ve given up. I go mountain biking to remind myself that I can do it. Whatever “it” is.

Easter in bullets

I keep starting posts and not being able to finish them, I’m boring myself so much.

So, bullets it is:
•Easter was great. I had six nights with Phil (SIX!) and four days of fantastic training.

•My cycling has improved about a thousand percent. I took on Auckland traffic and the Waitakeres BY MYSELF on Sunday and lived to tell the tail. And remember; this is coming from a girl who in SEPTEMBER was crying every time she hit an intersection or had to go downhill.

•My aerobic run speed is abysmally slow. But I am starting to learn what aerobic feels like, and I am feeling more and more comfortable at those slow speeds. Plus, keeping all my runs aerobic is making the longer runs a hang of a lot easier.

•I cannot stay aerobic when I’m riding on the road. Either I’m pushing because I’m trying to get through the next traffic light, or my heart is pounding because I’m still quite frankly petrified, or I’m slogging away uphill. I will need to get a lot fitter and stronger before I can get my bike up a hill keeping my HR where it should be. Lots of aerobic sessions on the trainer until then.

•We have our thank you cards and envelopes, have started filling them in, and will hopefully be sending them on Monday. Then I will have to say goodbye to the wedding, and start focussing on the future.

•Lastly- why are you all not commenting on Phil’s blog? Go! NOW.

Oh- one more thing. We're going to Xterra this weekend so Phil can do the swim as part of a team. Anyone going to be around?

Hotpotato as JAFA?

I am really enjoying my new plan. One of the awesome things about having a coach is that I don’t beat myself up for not doing MORE. If there’s a 40 minute run on tap, I do it, maybe do some core work, then go to work. Without a plan, I wonder if I should have done an hour. I decide I need an after-work session to round out the day, and beat myself up if I don’t do that one.

Another awesome thing is having to get on the bike. You all know me and my bike issues, but since starting with Paul I’ve done two at least somewhat hilly 2.5 hour rides (last weekend's was in the 'Naki), and am looking forward to 5 hours of riding this weekend. Since one of my key limiters last year was bike endurance (at 2.5 hours I was absolute toast, and had an hour to go), I’m stoked about this. Also, since Phil’s injured, I’m having to go out there and do them alone (though of course he’s wonderful about helping me plan Kate-friendly routes, meeting me on the course with Mizone Rapid, and even riding through the traffic with me to get me started).

I’m also enjoying my swim squad, even if I’ve gone from being at the faster end of the fast lane to the slower end of the slow lane (which includes blogging celebrity “Lardman”). There’s a point in almost every session when I decide I can get out at the next rest. Sometimes two or three. Since we are not scheduled to finish until 7:30, plenty of people sneak away early to get to work on time, so it wouldn’t really be piking, especially as my scheduled workouts are 60 minutes, and we often do up to 75. But I’m managing to tough it out, and of course I’m always glad I did.

Running is meh. Need to lose some weight. But I’m finding it easier to run to control my heart rate, and to keep an eye on my turnover at the same time. I’ve been step-counting for a couple of years now, but had lost focus on running technique, so it’s good to be engaged with that again. I’m looking forward to some exploring for my 75 minute run this weekend.

On the whole, I’m liking Auckland (while missing Phil, of course). Living near town and close to the sea means I can embrace the good while ignoring a fair bit of the bad. It’s hard to totally hate a city which is home to the Parnell Markets, Parnell Baths, excellent ethnic foodhalls, Circus Circus for brunch, stunning harbour views and the West Coast beaches. The people? Now that may be a different story..

Eric!

Eric and I had a good ride on Saturday. Over 2.5 hours in the saddle (in Xterra tri shorts, no less) and not much discomfort at all. Oh Eric, it's good to have you back.

Phil and I drove out to Maraetai (Half IM swim start and T1), where I started doing some of the Half-IM bike course (after the competitors had left). I met Phil briefly in Clevedon and had a drink, then stopped again in Kawakawa Bay (T2 and finish). There were still some competitors on the course when I continued past Kawakawa Bay. No-one on my side of the road, so I wasn't in the way, but enough that I got a lot of positive encouragement as I pushed away up the hills. I would have been coming last by a country mile!

The hills on the second half of the course felt pretty brutal, especially since it was hard to pick up much speed on the downhills. They weren't technical by Welly standards, but they were pretty twisty, and the roadworks meant I rode pretty cautiously (of course, the fact that I was not racing, and had not been on a bike since 30 January had something to do with it).

All in all did between 55 and 60k in between 2:30 and 2:35. Slow, but I'm happy with it. Hit the mini-bike-wall at about 1:45, so I've probably lost about 45 minutes of comfortable riding time since last year. Not too bad at all, really!

Eric went back to Cambridge with Phil for the week, but we will be reunited tonight, and exploring the 'Naki this weekend. It's a big riding weekend, followed by a big running week (and by "big", I really do mean comparatively big, not objectively big!)