It's been a very long time since my last blog post, so let's bring you all up to speed on what I've been up to.
I moved to Melbourne on Saturday 29th May. I spent the next five weeks in a backpacker hostel while trying to find a place to lease. I started my new job on Monday 31st May, got an iPhone, joined my tri club, joined Virgin Active, found a place to lease near the beach and my new tri club, registered for medicare, my stuff arrived from NZ (including my bike), I moved into the new house, the cat arrived from NZ, and I got a Victorian drivers licence.
Of course, other stuff happened in between. I spent a night in the new house without power (the power company I signed up with forgot to connect me, ugh), went to Queensland for four days for a work conference, sat my sport science exam at Melbourne Uni, had a birthday and said bye to my friend Tash who is now in Europe for six months.
Not a lot of training has happened since my 10km event back in May in NZ. However, I now have two (!) gym memberships...one on the way to/from work and one in the city. Why? Because with no car and being totally reliant on public transport (with wishy washy timetables) and my trusty Asics trainers to get around, it's easier to get to the gym up the road on the way to work.
On the way home, the city one is easier as two days a week I have late meetings and end up on the train home as the bus service thins out big time after 6pm. My new PT Cam is based in the city and we train on Tuesday nights. Once I get to October and daylight savings I'll drop back to one gym, but seriously, I'd have spent the extra weekly fee on stuff I don't need or crap food anyway so it's all good.
So, my new plan is as follows:
Monday - Swim (AM)
Tuesday - Weights/Bike/Run (PM)
Wednesday - Swim (AM
Thursday - Weights/Bike/Run (PM)
Friday - Swim (AM)
Saturday - Weights/Bike/Run (AM)
Sunday - day off!
Three buses take me to work from home - or two buses if I get off at the freeway exit and walk. Two buses plus a walk is a good option, so that's what I've been doing for the past week. Bus number 1 stops outside the local gym, and bus number 2 picks me up outside the local gym so there's no excuses now.
With no car and no laundry in my building, I walk the 2.5km each way to the laundrette pulling an old lady shopping trolley with my clothes in it. Going to the supermarket involves walking each way with the old lady shopping trolley. I'm getting a lot of walking in, which is awesome.
I pulled my bike out of the shipping box last weekend and put it back together myself. The local bike shop closed a week after I moved here which is a pain in the neck...so I did what any geek would do and watched a couple of instructional videos on the internet, then broke out the allen keys and whacked it back together.
I've decided that in the interim, until I am used to the area, I'm going back to standard pedals. Once I have my bearings, I'll put my Mavic clip-in pedals back on. Once the bike punt starts operating in October, I'll ride to the gym in the morning, do my swim, ride on to work, then ride back home - giving me plenty of saddle time.
According to an iPhone app that I installed, it's 581 days until my first Ironman. Crikey. According to the instructor at the gym this morning, my bodyfat has crept back up. Double Crikey. And after giving my new doctor the gory family history of heart disease this morning...triple Crikey. It's time to pull finger and focus. I need to do what I need to do, to do Ironman NZ 2012.
So, it's back to protein shakes three times a day, wholegrains, gels, bananas, early morning swim sessions, two loads of washing every week, smelling like chlorine, a decent Carb/Protein/Fat ratio, tracking everything I eat and do in training, cutting out the junk food, and kicking my own butt!
But for now, I'm going to make a hot chocolate and watch some Foxtel, before turning in and hitting the beach in the morning for a nice long walk.
Ciao.
