getting there

I havent written a post for ages! And asi look back over my training log i can see why- injury, colds, seized up backs, colds, colds, house moving, relationship blah.......

So I went and booked in to do Lake Wanaka Half Ironman.  I thought why not, it's not as though I have a full time job, full time study going on (doh) why not stick a half in there aswell. my theory is that I get to keep up the training, see friends and then decide later on if I want to do it. At least I have my spot.

Training has been a stop-start affair with an aggrevated ITB injury that i'm working on and then so many colds. I've finally booked a holiday to hot Sydney and I'll at least get some runs and some outdoor swims in as theres so many pools out there.

As the spring finally unfolds and the clocks have gone forward we can have some light late nights to get some work done and getting up in the morning is FINALLY getting easier!

My coach has been giving me some good workouts that aren't too scary and so the weeks have been looking like - 3 swims, still trying to do one RPM class (2 if I cant get outside- it still snows here in Queenstown in spring!), 2 runs (depending on the knee) and a long bike ride of 2-3 hours at the weekend. Its good and with an added 2 strength workouts too I'll see how i go....................

Sore

So i'm training up a storm for the Christchurch half Marathon. Everything is going swimmingly (well there were little niggles but being the same as most people i ignore them) and then boom! Painful as painful ITB. Stopped me running, mid run, which is something that doesnt happen.
I get niggles yeah but not ones that stop me running. :(

Two weeks on and its still painful and so no Christchurch......im annoyed but not as annoyed as i usually get as i think i cant do anything about it, its not something my annoyance is going to change. I have to rest it, massage it with the golf ball (ohhhhh the most excrutiatingly painful thing in the unisverse- think hot needle poking) and massage...and that my friends is it.

My physio and i worked out that 5 years ago my lovely partner drove the car (accidently) over my foot. It didnt hurt i strapped it for while and left it...but through those 5 years the muscles and joints and bones have become tight and made me run funny causing at first shin splint-like pain and now ITB pain.....so massage and rolling and stretching is the only thing i can do. And be patient.

Happily the swimming has come back and im back in the pool 4x a week! Short distances are the way to go as its not stressful and i get out when i get bored-- usually around the 1.5k mark.

So there it is,....hopefully the pain will subside and i can start running again.

Sorry Christchurch you are not mine to conquer!

autumn/ winter

brrrr the leaves are a changing, its beautiful everywhere- golds, yellows, reds and browns are the colours of the day and its been so mild and sunny for about 4 weeks, lucky us!
This week tho it really feels like something's changing- ice on the windscreen, hats on for runs after work and once the sun goes down over the hill its a rush to get home and get warm! Which always makes for difficult training and motivation. I have started running in the morning which im finding strangely lovely- quiet, cold, dark and getting her done so i can forget about it for the rest of the day :)
Im flying to chirsitchurch in 4 weeks for the half marathon and so running has become my drug of choice and im loving it! Running is so free, so easy and so lovely around here that training has not felt like a hassle at all!

Roll on the race......

uphill

I have been recently adding a long usually hilly run to my weekly schedule and its been lovely. Puffing and panting (with lots of walking) has been great and ive definately felt the effects at my intervals earlier in the week- ie not as much heavy breathing as my lungs are getting used to breathing hard!

There are so many trails in Queenstown and Wanaka that sometimes you forget and just do the same old same old.

If you ever get the chance to come here, here are a few. Give me a call and we can go together!

Miners trail:
Arrowtown. 15k's of up, up, up, flat, up , up , up then a nice down hill to finish :)

Fernhill loop/ one mile loop
Again up up up and then some zoooom down hill for the finish

Sawpit gully and New chums
Probably around 15-16k's of up, down, through beautiful (at the moment) golden trees with noone around

Twelve mile/ Sam Summers loop
Not sure how long but undulating twelve mile (that always makes me feel like im in OZ) with a nice steep uphill to Sam summers hut and big downhill to finish

Moke lake
6k's of peaceful lovelyness..some slight up some slight down finish with a dip in the lake

Lakes Hayes
8k nice loop for a quicky after work

Queenstown Hill
Lung burning uphills and go past the basket of dreams right to the real top fast downhill to finish with glorious views of all Queenstown :)

Jacks Point/ Kelvin Heights
undulating with amazing views of the bluey green lake (that you get that side of Queenstown) with a quick run down to the beach where you can often see deer

Happy running :)

cold

Its funny, when im not ill and laying around the house i try and cram in a blog post but when i am ill i cant be bothered so here goes anyway!

Day 3 in the bedroom of the sick and i cant look at the three wall anymore. With all the stress of the last couple of weeks this cold and cough hit me HARD and whammo i was down for 3 days of coughing cold and sneezing. Went for a short walk yesterday as the weather has been beautiful- warm, calm and perfect for riding. Shame im stuck in here. A 20 minute walk had me gasping for breath so back to bed it was......

Anyhoo with the thought of a boring afternoon ahead a friend of mine asked if i fancied entering the christchurch half marathon. The chance to do a distance i usually only do in half ironmans and really train for it so bang! there was my motivation. Next minute im booked in and have written a 10 week programme to get my teeth into. Still with a bit of swimming and biking in the mix (i have got a new mtn bike after all) and im fixed. A happy girl i am now if i could just shake this cold!

getting you up in the morning

I just read back into this time last year to see what i was up to, which is one good thing about these blog diaries...i was swimming and lots. Recently ive found it hard to 'get back into it'. I had a great race at tauranga and then at wanaka and then did that thing you do....rest. Which turned into a month and now two months.
Ive been doing 'stuff' riding, running, swimming and have added two sessions of weight training in (which im loving) but its hard getting up each morning and thinking about what i want to do.

So a new goal is needed and ive got my thinking cap on.....

scary list

I am still on the 'scary' case and have compiled a list of things scary to me...some small some bigger but all mine...do your own and see how many you can tick off this year...

* ride up coronet peak road- check
* do the challenge wanaka swim - check
* do the challenge wanaka bike-
* make lasagne from scratch-
* change careers- .......
* run a marathon in 3.59.59
* bungy
* enter ironman or distance
* complete said ironman or distance
* start training clients in the gym
* go to art class
* cut my hair short again
* do another half ironman- check
* ride up little's road, Queenstown-
* ride up Alpe D'uez
* Look after a small child for a whole day and night, on my own-
* ride up the crowne range there and back
Just some small (and not so small) things on the list that i will add to from time to time.....go on do the scary list :)

The Haters

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day about "the haters', those people who think you're mad, bad, strange, awful, crazy, stupid when you talk about traiing, getting up at 5.30am and just going out on your bike all day long. I call them the haters.

I recently have had people make me feel bad (or try) about what i do, asking me questions about why i get up so early, why im training so much for one silly race why i put some much work in and the simple answer i -for the love.

I dont train just for races, i train because i get to spend time with my friends, my partner, meet new people. I get satfisfaction from runing up a hill and feeling sick and knowing im not ill, or unfit or sliding into becoming old and being unhealthy. I eat crap same as everyone else, im not a preacher but i just wish some people could see what i see....

To people who are just starting to find the love, or who are still hating on it stop pushing. Its the best piece of imformation my partner gave me when i met him. And its taken me TEN YEARS to work it out. I used to moan and groan when we went on a short run, huff and puff up a hilll on a beautiful sunday walk and he always said to me "jane stop pushing against it". Once you embrace this feeling its so much easier to just go with it.
Of course some days i dont feel like getting out of my bed or pulling on my trainers but they are now few and far between. A switch has been pressed for me and im so glad.

Im never going to feel bad again about this feeling, so dont try and make me

Port of Tauranga Half jan 7th 2012

I had been training for this race for what seems an age but when it came round i knew i had put the work in and was ready to see what i could do. I really wanted a PB (in every discipline) and would love a sub 6 but thought that my biking would let me down.

The weather up north has been atrocious with all the good weather down here in the south island (great for training) so i wasnt' sure what we would get race day- wind, rain, chop....the few days before were a mixture of sunshine, rain and some winds at night but nothing too horrendous during the day. I had overcome my fear of the weather as its one thing you can't control and we waste too much energy worrying about it so i thought what will be will be.

Pre race dinner consisted of the usual potatoes, brocolli, tuna and olive oil which seems to sit nicely in my tum and does't' give me any bloatedness. We stayed in a rather hot motel the night before but i managed to get some sleep and then we were up at 4.30 am for porridge then off to transition at 5am.

I tend to get out there as soon as i can as there's too much chatter about times, and gear for my liking :)

Had half a banana about 6am and we had to be in the water by 6.20. I was supposed to do a 30 min run warm up prior to water but my shin splints had flared up a bit so just got in the water for a warm up. Lots of chatting about route and sighting which was really helpful as i knew it would be carnage. This is the first swim race with more than about 300 people in it so i thought it would be crazy. (and it was)


Swim: 40.10 (first 700 metres 13 mins)
The swim was crazy all the way round. As it was two laps and you had to get out and back in again I wasnt sure what to expect but it went quicker than i thought it would. Lots of slow men to climb over and i could never manage to get on anyones feet as there were so many of them! Sighting was good though which ive practiced with and the bouys here are massive which is really helpful.

into T1 and out of there 2.24

Bike 3.19
The weather was looking rather cloudy but still warm and so i left the arm warmers off and set off. A little wind on the way out and a slight tail wind on the way back in. As this is a 2 lap course i felt the wind pick up on the way back in and knew we were in for a headwind on the way back out of lap 2. The course is flat (by wanaka standards) and so i hoped to keep my speedo above 30k's for most of the ride. Unfortunately the 2nd lap had us battling into a headwind on the way out and with dismay i saw my speedo drop to 19k's at one point!! More work needed on the bike. Its my downfall- headwind arrive and i get annoyed and dont feel as thought i can push hard. I get scared of blowing up and thus lose time. My first lap was just under 1.35 so i felt really pleased that the work is paying off but back to the drawing board! Must HTFU!
Had slight tummy pain towards the end of the bike and had stuck to my gel, gel, muesli bar every 30 mins

T2 1.35 ( i was 58th quickest in T2 how proud my mother would be- i can strip fast!) :)

Run 2.07
As soon as i got off the bike I felt the triathlon shuffle come into effect. Just moving forward seemed an effort and my knee was slightly painful. The day after I had sore quads which told me straight away there was not enough use of glutes on the bike. Too much pushing through the legs which is something good to work on for next time. I wanted to also see how my tummy was doing so held off taking anything in at first. I am proud to say i ran the entire course apart from walking through aid stations to drink water and COKE. Oh coke how i love thee :) The run is a long slog out of town, where all you can see is a long line of runners and quite mentally draining. Then onto the Mnt track which is lovely and slighlty undulating. I though it would be hillier than it was as i'd heard reports but obviously hills round there are not like hills round here!! 
I really tried to open up my hips as they were really sore but any effort was too hard and so i pulled back and concentrated on fast cadence which seemed to work for me. I can say i was consistent the whole way round and stuck to the same pace until the finish shoot.
I should have had something to eat at some point as i started to sway and my vision went a bit weird! Thus probably why i look so happy in this pic- im not sure i knew where i was ha ha :)

Finally the shoot came into view and the finish line. So happy with a 6.10 finish. A 45 minute PB for me over the same distance. Happy Happy.

Thoughts:
I definately need to do more biking and running but im so pleased with my improvements. Keep at it!
I had the thoughts throughout the run that im so not ready for Ironman yet. I really want to do more half's first and get some speed in my legs. Although many friends have said ironman is not about speed but about consistency and not pushing hard so maybe 2014.....

Thoroughly recommend this race and would do it again next year :)