I'm baaaaaack!

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.

Nine more sleeps

There are nine days to go until I move to Melbourne and I have to admit I am a little scared. 

I am scared, not just because of the prospect of snakes and spiders, but because it is all a little unknown.  Sure, I have spent the better part of six weeks in Melbourne in the past three years so I know it pretty well, but this whole new city / new country / new life thing is bigger than Ben Hur!

I am also very excited. It is like a permanent working holiday, so I am going to treat it as such for the first few months in a bid to avert any homesickness.  In case of homesickness, I’ll just find some pineapple lumps and read the list below:

What I hate about Auckland

• Traffic
• Auckland drivers.  What a bunch of deekheads!
• Distance from Aussie.  Four hours on a plane to get to Sydney or Melbourne? Pah!
• Weather (particularly the sheer amount of rain).  
• The humidity.  Weeks and weeks and weeks of 100% humidity is not fun.
• Pathetic public transport.  Seriously, it's a joke.
• Price of airfares - it's cheaper to leave NZ than to go to the south island.  That's crap.
• The upcoming rugby world cup.  Get me outta here!
• No tri club within cooee of where i live.  I don't want to have to travel 30km to train with others.
• Not feeling like home (home is where the heart is, and mine’s in Aussie)
• You cannot go anywhere you want to without a car, or without catching at least two buses, or a bus and a train, or walking for hours on end.
• The millions of two dollar shops.  Do we really need more mass produced crap?  NO!
• Lack of scrapbook shops (like three for the whole city and none near me)
• Most of my friends have left and now live in Aussie
• Cost of living – we are absolutely “done” over the price of public transport. 
• All the nice staff are gone from my gym
• Feeling unsafe at night walking down the main street.  
• Insular Peninsula feeling – can’t walk down the street without seeing at least one person I know
• Everyone knows everyone else.  Ugh.  See above.
• I have lived here my entire life and I need a change!
• Not fitting into clothes in the mainstream shops, seriously people, learn that not everyone is a size 6 and make and stock more clothes in size 12 and up!
• There are MANY people I will not miss.

Got my tattoo touched up tonight, and number two is booked for next Tuesday.  I'd tell you what it is but only my triathlon event support crew manager and tattoo artist Nigel know, so you'll just have to wait and see!

10 sleeps to go

I have ten sleeps to go until I leave for Melbourne.  At this point in time I am feeling pretty relaxed - being the organisational whizz that I am, my project plan is sitting at 91% complete and I have just seven key things to do. My car is sold, my TV vanishes on Saturday, my bed hasn't sold yet...but everything else pretty much has.  Cool.

I'm still trying to decide if I should take my bike on the plane, or send it with the rest of my stuff.  The main advantages of sending it with the rest of my stuff is that I don't have to lug it around Melbourne the night I arrive, I get an extra 15kg of baggage weight (it would be part of my 30kg allowance on the plane otherwise), and I don't have to worry about the security of my bike at my temporary accommodation.

The cons of not taking it on the plane are almost non-existent, particularly when one considers that my bike shoes, helmet and lock cable are all packed in a big box with my yoga mat, sombrero and camping gear!  Okay, so I won't be able to ride it for a couple of weeks - but it's winter, I'll be in a somewhat strange city, and I have to get it to Fitzroy to get it put back together anyway.

So, looks like the bike will be going with the rest of my stuff.  More room for clothes!  Pity my Samsonite suitcase is on the small side (that was purposely done, back when I was planning on taking my bike on the plane with me), but I'll make stuff fit in it and if it doesn't fit, it can go in a box in the hold of the plane too.

One of the first things I will do on my first morning in Melbourne is head to Virgin Active and join.  I have had the last couple of weeks off training and I'm over it!  I need to get back into it, as the 2010/2011 tri season is only six months away.  They have a PT there who is a multiple Ironman, and to do Ironman NZ 2012 properly, I need someone with a clue to train me.  Not that I am clueless, but who better to train you than a triathlete, who has a clue about Ironman?

I also can't wait to join my new tri club.  Actually living in the area will be helpful, so one of my next priorities is real estate.  I need to find a house with at least two bedrooms, close to everything I need, in the suburb I want, that will take a cat (yes, Miss Sydney is coming with me) and a triathlete, ha ha.

Fingers crossed.

Melbourne - pronto!

Good news – I am still moving to Melbourne and now I have a job to go to!  I will be working for a fashion clothing company, as their sole IT person.  I get to do BA work, project work and IT support, so this role is awesome.  I am so pleased to have a job to go to in Melbourne; it is a huge weight off my shoulders!

Now for the fun news?  I leave in just under three weeks.  Hooray, but GULP!  I had eight weeks to prepare, pack and move; now it is three.  It is okay though, and entirely do-able, as I am super organised and have a project plan.  I am confident I can pull this off in the revised timeframe available.

What is awesome is that now I get to join Virgin Active.  I checked it out when I was over last year and totally fell in love with the place.  I cannot wait to get in there and start training after work.  I will be staying in the city for the first three or four weeks, so it will be very handy as it is only three blocks from my accommodation.  I do not think I can get up early enough to go before work, so after work will be fine.  They have yoga, Pilates, technogym equipment, kettle bells, spin classes, indoor heated pool, sleep pods, internet, etc…bliss!

Bring it on!

chillaxin in vegas

I had a nice chilled day today, including a haircut by a student hairdresser and the trip back to Auckland on the bus was not bad.  I had the same bus driver from the Taupo-Auckland trip back in March and he was just as late today as he was then.  I missed my connecting bus and had to stand around for half an hour in the cold, which did not exactly thrill me.  Meh.

I have had a toothache since Thursday night and it has been steadily getting worse.  I have been taking painkillers for a couple of days but it is still there.  Extreme meh.   I haven’t been able to eat much all weekend and I haven’t slept properly in five days so I am exhausted. 

Gotta go, falling asleep writing this and I need to take the sleep when it comes.  

the day after the marathon - shaun of the dead zombie style

Walking around town today, you could tell the marathoners at fifty paces.  Not just from their finisher’s shirts, but also from the “Shaun of the Dead” zombie shuffle.  Ha ha, my calves are not thrilled with me today, but they are nothing compared with what some of those poor people are experiencing. 

I am supposed to be taking it easy today but the lure of geothermal activity proved too much.  After a nice time at the finisher’s breakfast today meeting marathoners (including the woman who was I think the oldest female competitor, and had just done her 15^th Rotorua Marathon), smacking my kneecap on the table leg, and then collecting a coffee from the Fat Dog Café, I headed for Kuirau Park.  It was cool, but I wanted more. 

I had some lunch, and then headed for Whakarewarewa, thinking I would see geysers close up as I had the last time I was there in about 1995.  Sadly, the answer was no, but I only found that out on arrival.  Some years ago, they split the park in two and the geysers are now at Te Puia, which costs a small fortune to enter.  

However, I had a nice time at Whakarewarewa learning about the history of the village and its residents and ancestors.  I took some great photos, including some of the Prince of Wales and Pohutu geysers, albeit from a distance, the Korotiotio Pool and the bubbling mud around the back of the village. 

I am a bit sad that I did not get to see those geysers from closer range, but if I go back to Rotorua next May to do the Marathon I will definitely go to Te Puia.  We did manage to have an earthquake, which was cool, and I did see the final of the Amazing Race, which was great. 

Tomorrow evening it is back to Auckland.  Boo, hiss – I like being on holiday and generally hate going back to reality but this time it is okay.  I miss my bed, the pillows here are wafer thin and it was a cold night without my mink blanket and Siamese hot water bottle. Tonight will apparently be colder still.  Brrr!

Off to bed, it’s freezing and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.

sounds like a country song

I did it!  I finished my first 10km.  My time was nowhere near glorious however, as after running the first 2km my Tibialis Anterior packed up and refused to cooperate.  I ended up walking the next 3km at a snails pace of about 4kph before I could stretch it out, and then walked the last 5km at a 6.5kph pace.  Damn.  I should have stuck to my plan of walking the first 1km to warm up, but silly old me wanted to run and I should have listened to myself. 

I lost my head in the moment.  I decided to follow the lemmings in front of me (Stuart and Belinda are not lemmings by the way, and they were beside me over the start line, not in front), being those who ran from the sound of the cannon.  Double damn.  Epic race plan fail.  Rule number one – follow your race plan!

Once my tib packed up, I walked the remaining 3km of the first lap with a 74-year-old woman named Neera, who entered that morning – she got out of bed, got dressed, rocked up to the event centre, registered and walked it.  Awesome work Neera!  After we parted ways at the 5km mark, I was on my own.  Seriously – most of the 10km’ers had finished at that point and I hardly saw another soul.  I stopped at the 7km mark and made a marshall take my photo (LOL) before continuing.  Yes, I carried my camera, it was a fun run after all and I got to see parts of the lake shore that I would not have otherwise. 

The Green Apple PowerBar Gel I had at 4km kicked in at 7.5km and my torso felt like it was about three paces behind my legs for the last 2.5km, especially when the rain started to hammer down at 8km.  I had some jet planes in my race belt in case of emergency and promised myself one for every km after the 5km mark.  I did not remember them until the 8km mark when the rain started to drown me but was glad to find them.  The jet planes distracted me long enough to get through each 500m section from then on, while in some serious pain.  Stupid Tibialis, I really didn’t need you to play up today! 

Nonetheless, I finished in a respectable 1:54:29.  Moreover, I finished before the marathon winner and podium finishers came back so I did not feel too bad, and there were people in the 10km who finished after me.  For me, an event is never about winning.  As a FAST triathlete, (that is Fat and Slow Triathlete to you!), I am happy just to finish something.  Of course, my speed averages out at something like 5.25kph but that is still faster than the average bear when walking.  Average walking speed is 4kph, so my speed was good.

Happily, my personalised video is not too bad, even if I do look like a hot pink Michelin woman.  I think I might buy it and stick it on my iPod so that every time I feel like slacking off, I can be instantly reminded of what a FAST triathlete I am. 

After the event, I headed into the event centre for a banana, cup of soup, a cup of tea (best cuppa tea in the world that was, or so I reckon), a massage, my special needs bag contents (chocolate milk, another banana, a bottle of Gatorade and another chocolate milk) and a warm jacket.  Later on, I headed back to the hotel and then to the Polynesian Spa for a soak in seven different hot pools. BLISS!  The sad part though was dropping my beloved Dolce sunglasses on the concrete floor and breaking them beyond repair.  Very sad.

Anyway, I’m pretty tired and need a lie down so I’ll write more tomorrow.

Ciao.

Gearing up for 10km of fun

Tomorrow I am doing my longest event on two feet (aka the waewae express or Shanks’ Pony) – the 10km.  I am quite excited about it, and although there is a lot going on in the background at present I think it will be a good opportunity to burn off some steam and adrenaline.

I have tried to stay off my feet today but I am in Rotorua, and it is the last time I will be here for a while, so after race registration I headed out for a look around.  I will save the major sightseeting for Sunday and Monday, but today I had a look around the lakefront and a nice bowl of spaghetti for dinner at Solace in Tutanekai Street.  I am going to try for an early night, but I am not counting on it as I hardly ever sleep well the night before an event. 

So, I’ll update you tomorrow after the event.

the coast is clear.

I have the all clear to swim again, hooray!  It is another week until I start swim coaching again so the timing was good.  This block of coaching runs until the day that I fly to Melbourne.  Seeing as I do not want to be drying towels and togs an hour before I have to leave for the airport, I have chosen to end my term a week early (and start two weeks late due to the neck sprain and the Rotorua 10k).  Therefore, instead of 11 weeks of coaching, I am doing 8 weeks for $76 – what a bargain.  This term it is all about working on my fitness, with technique monitoring to make sure I do not pick up any nasty habits in the off-season.

It has rained all day in Auckland and most of last night.  It got quite Noah’s Ark around 2pm and shows no sign of letting up.  Thank goodness for umbrellas, but having to hike around in the rain to a work meeting today was not fun.  I did not want to get my Asics wet so had to wear sandals. We desperately need the rain, but it would be nice if it could rain only between 10pm and 5am each day!  The weather forecast for Saturday looks a bit grim for the10k, and it looks like I will be running with an umbrella…maybe I should dress up as Mary Poppins for the fun run?

Escape to the 80's

On a note of escapism, I had a million things to do on Saturday.  I did about half of them, and then went to the movies for the first time in ages to see ‘Boy’; a wonderful New Zealand film set in a tiny east coast village back in the 80's (loved the Michael Jackson Haka at the end).  I sat carefully with my neck supported and managed to forget my pain for the better part of two hours…fantastic. 

I wanted to get to the gym but had a doctor’s appointment right smack in the middle of the morning and my gym closes at 1pm on weekends, which is a pain in the butt.  I intended to go yesterday but slept in until 11.30am and did not have enough time to eat, let my breakfast settle and then hit the gym.  Probably just as well, as I slept in a funny position and my neck gave me hell as a result.

I found a new Asics race belt on Saturday evening.  This one has a bottle holder and two zippered pockets either side of the bottle – one will be used for gummy gels, and the other for whatever else I need that is small and easy to carry!  I was happy when I found it was on sale, but even better, it was just $15.  Bargain! 

Yesterday I hit Shoe Clinic and got a pair of 2XU compression calf guards and yet another pair of my beloved Drymax socks.  I am ready for the 10km now.  The first thing that blows up during a race is my left ankle ligaments, and then my calves start to complain.  With calf guards on during the race and compression socks and tights afterwards, I should be fine and besides, there is no bike section in the 10km.

Off to physio again tonight, I am hoping she will give me the all clear to start swimming again.