Training, pain and freezing cold

Yesterday I did the whole three-hour shebang on the bike. I was meant to ride in the morning, but slept in and by the time I had breakfast, did the dishes, tidied the house, did the washing, ate lunch and got my bike off the mag trainer, it was 3pm. Day off? Pah!

I headed over towards Williamstown, on the shared bike/foot paths. It was great - a really nice ride with nice scenery. It wasn't too easy or too hard, with a serious headwind on the way back. I had to stop in Willy and get my tyres pumped up, because I rode all the way over with a low back tyre! No wonder it felt hard and was pretty slow. It was also kinda bouncy going over bumps!

Here's some scenery:

Sunset, looking back towards the city from just past Cresser Reserve 

The path around Willy Beach was concrete tiles, with constant bumps - I suspect between this, riding over bluestone pavers and being in the saddle for hours; it mimics the road surface around Yeppoon. I'm from NZ, so I'm used to nasty volcanic chip roads - but apparently Yeppoon gives even that a run for it's money. Should make for an interesting 90km or so I think. I need to map out yesterday's ride and see how far I went.

Aussie Pukekos - not sure what they're called over here.

I got my two hours done, with three laps of the old Williamstown racecourse included. I chased a guy on a mountain bike for a while, which helped me forget that my saddle was sore (LOL). I got home, had some crackers and a cup of soup, got changed and headed to the club for the mag trainer session my coach wanted me to do. 

After some technical issues with trainer skewers not locking and my bike (and me) falling off the mag trainer (not my fault!) I did half the session before my quads packed up with lactic acid burning a hole in my legs. Not fun! I tried to take on fluids and a gel and pedal at about 80 with no gear, but it was agonising. Next week, I'll do the morning ride early as, then go do the washing and cleaning, then do the mag trainer after a nap!  I think it was too much too close together yesterday.

I also tried my first Kakadu plum marinated skippy steak yesterday. I didn't think very much of it - not sure what I was expecting, but it just didn't rock my world. The cat ended up with the rest, which she threw around outside for a while before turning her nose up at it. Clearly it didn't rock her world either.

The shoulder has been good for the past few days, but was aching like mad yesterday on the bike. I did some triceps work, TRX incline rows, rotator cuff exercises and such like on Friday, and by Saturday my shoulder felt good. I think the TRX rows loosened up my pecs and traps a bit, which is always handy, but my delts hurt today along with my traps. I'll do some more upper body stuff today before work, to get it all moving again.  I'll try and get back in the pool next week, and will continue with the cuff exercises. Hopefully I can start swimming again properly, and soon!

It's really cold here at the moment. Apparently some nasty weather system has blown off Antarctica and hit us head on. It's definitely two-jacket weather, and I'm wearing two long sleeve tops, a hoodie, two beanies (one icebreaker double layer reversible merino skullcap and one lambswool), bed socks and slippers with my compression tights and trackies - and I could probably do with a blankie over my legs! We had the coldest overnight May temperature in three years this week, and guess what Kiwis, it's coming your way, so don't laugh at me just yet!

Time for a boiling hot shower and some lunch, then a nice three-train journey to work (thanks Metro Trains, I love wasting half a day getting to work on three trains because you can't run a piss up in a brewery).

Ciao.