Getting better

12 k on ski. No tips, and a smoother stroke. 1:21. Faulco ride with Luke. Solid effort on the hills. 3:41 for the Mac road climb is 20sec of late April, but thoroughly respectable. Good day, most tired I've been since early May. W

Close to the end for Clive

Visited travel agent today. Holiday for 2013 ready to be booked up now.>>>>>> I read Clive James' interview with BBC4 today. It ain't good, to the point where the combination of leukemia and emphysema is likely to prevent him from ever being able to get back to Oz. Love an expat who still sounds like he comes from Kogarah rather than a mystery island in the mid-Atlantic,and Unreliable Memoirs remains my favorite ever read.>>>>>> Rest day Tuesday following a nasty head ache day, and 10k on the ski today. A few close calls but no spills. I don't think my balance has improved much, but I have at least become relaxed enogh not to worry about rolling. No speed, but a comfortable and very njoyable late afternoon paddle.

A little house husband

Two weeks of house husband coming. Awesome stuff. Decided to trim all the trees and get rid of the woody weeds today. Who'd have though a privet would look so much like a seedling Jacaranda. Anyway, chain sawed it off - right at the base - gawd a chain saw is a fun peace of kit. Mrs J is suggesting I should use the time off to do more cycling rather than killing her plants, but I've got the bug now, and can't wait to have a go at "stuff" inside the house tomorrow. Really like the idea of ripping out the kitchen an rebuilding it myself - how hard can it be. May have to be a surprise for Mez, as she is resisting the idea.... Strongly. >>>>>>> Took in an post-lunch Faulco via the service roads. Still a favorite, especially in winter when climbing doesn't leave you drowned in sweat and gasping super-heated air. All the training intensity of over boiled pasta mind you, but still a brilliant way to spend 2 hours.

Soleus strain

The stiff soleus that I had yesterday packed it in during warm up for the duathlon today. Ice and rest and surf ski practice. No pain from cycling so will use the running hiatus to get some balance and bike miles going.

Last day on the job

Last day at The 7 today. Nice enough send off, and I'll miss a goodly few of them. It's probably a shame that you can't take the best of the folks you work with around the place with you. But like everywhere there were a couple who made you wonder, and wonder, and"."..........??. Personally I wouldn't entrust the Westlink chief engineer with a project to redesign Freddy the Fish's tank ornaments, less alone a f}#%ing traffic interchange. Nice enough chap, don't get me wrong, but g-a-w-d! there are origami rosettes that are better decision makers. 12 easy k this morning before work. Achilles a bit rough, but a calf massage and some Difflam Gel will probably get me through is one. Winter Solstace Festival and a duatlon in the afternoon tomorrow. Promises to be a good one. Need to get back on the sensible eating plan NOW.

Here Comes the Fat Controller

12k in 52:58 = 4:24. 4:14 for 11k if I take out the Santuary Drive climb. Run with Luke, best tempo I've held for donkeys. Still had a goodly sum left as well - damn freaking happy with that. Apple and raspberry crumble with vanilla bean ice cream to celebrate. A bit sore, so will stay easy for the rest of the week for conservation's sake. Hopefully 35k solid bike in the morning and 20 easy bike at lunch tomorrow. Blackmores in under 90 - Look out Thomas, here comes the Fat Controller.

Stayed out of the water for the first time

Surf ski stayed upright on the weekend for the first time, but I am still hopelessly slow and unstable – 42:38 for 6k is around 8.4kph, and entry level appears to be about 10kph. Not even sure that I was that much faster than last week’s 45:16 if you adjust for the swim component. 

To make 10kph in 8 weeks will require an average improvement of just over 2% per week, which would seem optimistic – though I am (rather obviously) at the beginner end of the learning curve.

Mt Portal run on Sunday with Ads and Luke. Always a nice run but highlighted a whole world of general weakness in my lower body, and was quite sore yesterday, including a bit of roughness around the Achilles. Took a rest day Monday and a gym session this morning in an attempt to straighten things out. Will get Brett over this week which always helps.

Progress still happening.

A good weekend ahead:

Ø  Winter Magic Festival Saturday morning

Ø  Club duathlon Saturday afternoon

Ø  Ski paddle Sunday morning

Ø  RJ Taekwondo gradings midday

Ø  Sunday afternoon Faulco ride – depending on the effort level is always either good training OR a good way to close a winter weekend – but never both.

Nearly cracked 50

12.25k easy before work this morning. Legs flattened by 10x100 on Wednesday night. Looks such an easy session on paper, but when you have done no effort work for a long time, it sunk in a lot more than I expected, and still sluggish two days later. Co-ordination a problem too – God what was happening there, arms and legs everywhere – technique was rougher than a Paul Adams wrong’un.

12 this morning gives me 49.3km from 5 runs for the week. Still growing slowly in both quality and quantity. Now to get the bike restarted. Had planned to do the PCC ITT this Sunday, but the TT bike hasn’t turned a wheel since IM, and I have done virtually no effort work, nor any distance either. Will give the TT a miss and take RJ to archery at Homebush instead.

Will relaunch my ski-paddling career again this weekend. Hopefully will stay dry, but the odds are Old Rowley-like.

I've matured fully nought....

Planned 75min Warrimoo loop with Paddy turned to muck this morning. First a flat for Paddy and then a busted spoke for me. The wheel buckled and wouldn’t turn so I had to call the 1300-MEZZA collection service. There are few things in life that she loves more than 6:30am collection on a weekday when she is trying to get ready for work, though her gratitude was well concealed.

Got out a Tuesday night benchmark run last night – Standard 12k course including GWH and Sanctuary hills – 55:26, an improvement of 3:50 minutes (6.5%) on my effort of three weeks ago. Gotta be happy with that, damn pleased in fact.

I have been meaning to make the effort to do Parkrun for a while now and thought the opportunity might arise last weekend, as we stayed in the city Friday night, but couldn’t get out there. I notice in the results that Tripp, one of the groomsmen from our wedding has been running each week, 21.32 last week for the 5k. Glad I didn’t go out, I couldn’t run that at the moment on a tight, slow course – and it would have been unbearable getting rolled by him.

But now I know he’s there, it’s given my training motivation a huge kick along. I’ll roll up in a few weeks, psyched out of my little pea-brain, act surprised to see him, suggest a coffee and cake after an easy 5k stroll, and then give it full gas, being prepared to swim in a sea of lactic acid for the win. Hopefully it’ll be enough, because failure just wouldn’t be an option – he’s the most punishing winner I’ve ever known. We’ve raced a few times over the years, the first was down George Street between Margaret and Grosvenor for a bet – I think we were probably 19ish. He was faster, but I got the chocolates when he wasn’t prepared to take on a bolshy taxi trying to turn into Grosvenor on a red light – no ticker – 1-nil poof!. The last time was when we were 26ish (21 years ago! crap, time flies) at Hensley Park in a 400. He smacked me that day, and I’ve had to live with the burden ever since. But muscle mass is no friend in a 5k, and I will own the big fella’s ass by the end of July.

Ahhh, 26years, and clearly I’ve matured fully nought – I am Homer Simpson. Long live a life of trivial immaturity.

Long weekend boxed and bowed

Reasonably quiet for a long weekend. Sunday 1hr bike: 2x hills, 2xcc laps (17:35 on roadie was better than I am entitled to at the moment) Monday- ditched the W2G, weather miserable. 30min gym > 30min turbo > 30min outdoor run as a brick @ 4:40s. ...... Not glorious but thoroughly ok.

Learning to paddle in winter

Saturday- 2nd paddle of the new ski today. 6km with three dips into the Nepean. More a paddle/swim brick session. I actually don't think I'm going to get the hang of this thing before Akuna. The first roll I had today was when a dick-head kid sent his model speed boat into my path down near the boat ramp. I tried to avoid it, lost balance and flipped straight over. When I tried to climb back on I went straight over the top and in the other side. Damn kid, was laughing his guts up too - father apologized, but I suspect I'm doing the rounds of the cheeky little f#%^er's Facebook by now. Was freezing by the time I got home. A nice 13k run in 4:40's tonight to save the day.

Stuff going OK

Entered the PTC Du for 23^rd June.  Woodford to Glenbrook is the following day, and will enter that a bit closer to race day. Feel that if I get through that weekend in good working order I’ll be able to set up well for a good spring.

Thu 7th: Lunch time run 8k in 36:45 = 4:35. Capped with 4:11 for the last.

Wed 6^th: AM gym / PM 60min on rollers with 6 x 1min high resistance intervals

Stuff going OK.

Melbourne marathon..???

Still mulling over the idea of Melbourne Marathon in October. On the one hand….. on the other hand…..

Missed my AM bike session this morning. A bit banged up for some reason, almost a hang-over feeling – only deprived of the good bits. 40min in the gym instead, possibly better for my general tightness in any case.

Will get out rain, hail shine tonight for some bike hills – promise to self.

Currently listening to the Community Relations Manager here and the dude from the RMS argue about cycle usage and safety on the M7 shared path. One wants to put speed humps and chicanes every 500m, the other wants a 20k speed limit. Neither considering the effect that such “solutions” would have on driving people onto the main carriageway – where we definitely don’t want them. If there was a stock exchange for intellectual capital these two would be trading junk bonds.

Mind you some junk bond trading wouldn’t be such a bad thing at the moment - Everyone is wise after the event, but in what universe did anyone really believe that the common Euro was a good idea. The whole glorious function of a floating currency is to let a country’s exports become more competitive when they come under capital pressures, and to bring them back when the champagne overflowed. Like communism for the capitalists. Poor Greeks and Spanish are trying to survive on tourism for cash but having the cost of their destinations driven up by the German industrial miracle. Conversely the Krauts have flourished on the back of an extended period of undervaluation, but are now whinging like bastards at having to prop them up. It’s a dog’s breakfast – take the hit – sell Greece to Roman Abromanovich and stop screwing with my superannuation.

Day Dreamin' for the Dolimiti

Latest advertising blurb from the Garda Bike Hotel arrived by email today. I’m sure that there are just times when you are more susceptible to such things, but what a place! – no idea how I will ever be able to manufacture an opportunity to get back there, but certainly not something to lose sight of – easily the most glorious part of the planet that I’ve seen.

Lunch run today. 8k @ 4:52s. Cruising speed seems to be dipping under 5min now. Probably need to search out a bit of a test race to see where it is all at. Achilles issues are still present but not making a big issue of themselves.

Plans to recommence some weekly bike go-hard tomorrow may get scuttled by the weather. Really looking forward to bringing Bubba back from holidays – never thought I’d say that.

W

Progress - Baby Steps

Sunday ..... AM 14k include 4x850m hill reps. 4:14, 4:08, 3:56, 3:55. Smashed..... PM 3k ski paddle in 26min..... Monday..... AM 40min gym. ...... PM 7.5k easy with a 4k press in the middle. 17:17 = 4:18/k. Will take that happily and keep chugging forward...... World is good.

Blazing Paddles

I relaunched the new (second hand) “Custom Kayaks – Horizon” surf ski in the river Saturday afternoon (cold, dark, drizzly) to try and get some practice / balance under my belt before attempting the harbor again. It’s a temperamental cow, so tippy that the first priority of every stroke seems simply to stabilize the boat and keep from rolling over (quite unsuccessfully).

I paddled the 3km from the Rowing Club up to the M4 bridge, but I was so shaky that anyone strolling along the bank may well have felt their heart warmed - seeing someone attempt to paddle a kayak with such a debilitating affliction. I couldn’t even turn my head to the side to see how far from the bank I was, else I lost balance and went into a series of mad paniced movements – throwing my feet outside the ski for stability, and rushing a clipped set of staccato paddle strokes simply to try and remain upright. To the river fouls perched on the overhanging branches, it must have been like watching a fireworks display - erratic and mildy amusing, but you're never 100% sure someone isn't going to get hurt.

When I got home I extrapolated my time for the 3km distance (assuming no fatigue at all) to the full 12k that the Go Natural Akuna Bay Multisport will be raced over, then compared it to the prior year results to see how I would have gone. Ouch! Turns out I’m f%$#king hopeless – hardly a shock, but the disappointment was still hard to hide.

12 weeks to develop sufficient balance to at least not unduly burden the race organiser’s safety crew – will worry about speed later.

Taking one up the date from Mike Tyson

Made the late call this morning to sneak out for an MTB with Paddy. Overcast but mild, the usual loop from our place > zig-zag, Glenbrook Ranger station, Euroka, Bennetts Ridge, Oaks Hut, single track and back. Unbelievably good fortune to have such a cracking 2hr ride as a "standard" on the doorstep. ........ Mountain biking only really works for me when it's overcast. The softer more even light eliminates the shadows which, for the visually challenged, largely camouflage the drops, rocks and crevices that are the very point of being on a mountain bike in first place. Which isn't to say I have the requisite bike skills to negotiate any significant obstacles in any case, just that it's nice to at least get the opportunity to brace and look for landing strip......... As opposed to the more common scenario, being when the handlebars suddenly bounce outside the line of the bike, the seat delivers a Mike Tyson punch to the jaxy, and I get a refresher course in Newton's Laws - His Third, when the bike and I head in opposite though collinear directions with equal force, followed by his First - where I remain at a constant velocity until being acted upon by an external force. Most commonly a tree root. ........ Damn nice ride today. ..... Fri am, 5x3min hill reps on roadie / pm 8k easy. Sat. 40k MTB. Hard to beat.