I have a new toy

Thanks Paul M =)

(Oh, and thanks to lovely wife! It is my birthday present afterall...)

Training fail

Not a good week training. I didn't get over my illness; I'm mildly asthmatic, and I was suffering random coughing fits, and waking up coughing a few times during the night.

So I decided (after my run on Monday - 40 minutes, 7.27 kms, 5:30 mins/km), to take the rest of the week off, and I think that was a good idea.

I went for a run tonight, and while I wasn't any faster than last Monday, I definitely felt a lot better, and didn't have a coughing fit as soon as I started. I'll take it easy (effort wise) the rest of the week, and hopefully I'll be back on the horse.

I will have photos from now on

There are none in this post. Apart from this:

This is the second image that came up in a google image search for "awesome hill". And it has a cross country skier roller skating up it. Awesome.

I searched for "awesome hill" because I rode an awesome hill on Sunday; I rode down it twice. It has a 20% gradient in part, no driveways, it's dead straight, and has a hill up the other side to slow you down. Got up to 76 km/hr by the bottom (which is only about 200 - 300 metres). Awesome.

I've realised the difference between my and Kate's blogs. Apart from witty, thought provoking (or at least mildly interesting) posts.

Photos. Hers has them. Mine does not. Mine will from now on (where possible).

Still sick. I have energy, and am mostly feeling ok. But I am sniffly and and coughing lots (although thankfully not while I exercise).

Hopefully this damn thing goes away; I'm looking forward to slowly building up the training. And training consistently for that matter!

The week that was

This is a separate, boring, weekly wrap. Really only for me, my coach, and really, really boring people.

An ok week's training - but I had the sore leg, and then the sickness wouldn't go away. So while I was relatively consistent, I cut back on the volume (and there's not much intensity at the moment anyway).

M - I had my first ever solo trial the following day, and was still a bit under the weather, so took the day off.

T - 30 minute run, 5.17 km, 5.48 mins/k. Ran around Cambridge golf course with my bike lights put on the optional headband I bought. Felt ok.

W - 1 hr on the trainer. Felt a bit gammy - but have worked out that might be because my cleats we a little bit loose and were moving a little.

T - Rest again.

F - 1 hr "aerobic intervals" on trainer. Felt reasonably good.

S - 1:10 off-road run around Waiuku Forest (actually, a lot was on the beach, some through mud flats; no more shiny white shoes for me...)

S - 1:35 ride. Was supposed to be 3 hrs, but just didn't think that was a good idea. Good ride though, rode a number of the local hills, I used biggish gears for all the climbing.

Being sick sucks

While Kate has been unwell (and in fact been worse over the last couple of days), I'd been feeling a bit under the weather all last week, but got pretty bad on Friday night.

So I took the weekend off exercising. Which is a shame, but better than getting really, really sick.

I was going to run yesterday, but I found out yesterday afternoon that I had my first solo trial, which was today! So I finished in Court at 4, then had to prepare a trial! (The trial went ok, although the guy got off. I got a lot of constructive criticism from a partner who came and watched how I did, and while that's really valuable, I got a little down on myself).

But I got back into it today. I'm still not feeling 100%, and my left ITB is still pretty sore, but it doesn't seem to be a problem while running. I went for a run after work, but decided to come home first and run around the golf course near my house. So I took my ayup lights (which I have been using for my after work rides around the otherwise pitch black countryside), used the headband, and went for a run. And it was great! Not too heavy at all (even though the battery is on the strap), and meant I could go running somewhere slightly different.

Last week's training was unsurprisingly not super good, but could have been worse. I also had a swimming lesson on Thursday - I did exclusively balance work, but the dude seems good (I have two more sessions).

WARNING - super boring weekly training log:

M - 30 minute recovery ride on the trainer, because I was feeling a bit sore (I'd had my bike fit looked at, but it seems they did more harm than good).

T - 30 minute run, 5.76 kms (5.12 mins/km) - felt a bit gammy to start with, but got back into it and felt good.

W - 1.29.50 ride around the hilly route. I'd had the bike fit put back by someone else, and it seemed better. Not feeling that great, but was still a bit quicker than last week (not that it's a race!).

T - the swimming lesson (about 50 mins all up).