One of the women from work has been going to the gym for ages now, and just did her first triathlon a while ago.  She really loved it, and now really wants to get into road cycling.  Tomorrow we are off somewhere ‘safe-ish’ for her to have a real practice with the pedals and learn the gears etc.  I am so excited, as she has Taupo 160km in her mind next November, and I will be there, supporting her the entire way!  I remember standing at the start line at Taupo one year, and tears just welled up in my eyes and I just thought to myself “If I can get around this lake today, I can do anything”.  I got around that dam lake!  Sure I still struggle big time with self belief and self confidence, but the feeling that gave me that day was pretty awesome, and the fact that I said it has stuck with me.  I just hope it gives my friend such a confidence boost also….may it be a year of moving onwards and upwards, for all of us!

Right now I really think my sport is keeping me from going completely insane.  It is helping me keep some kind of grip on life thankfully.  I have been struggling lately, and I continue to do so, but without being able to swim/bike/run, I think I would be in a much worse place than I am right now.  Oh some days I struggle to get out there and do something, and even on the days that I do get out, there are negative thoughts flying through my head….but I need to keep fighting them!  I have done it before, and by golly, I won’t be beaten!  (just wait for the downer post to come in a few days ha ha).

But anyway….I really can’t wait to help my friend out with the bike, it’s going to be awesome!  Try encouraging someone into doing something they never thought they could do, support them, believe in them, for sometimes it only takes one person to believe in you, and you will attempt and achieve amazing things.

It’s all just a mess.  No beginning, no end, no out, no in.  Just a big jumbled, firey ball burning fiercely.  Similar yet different.  A tiny flicker of hope is lying somewhere just out of reach right now.  Sheltering from the strong negative winds that are threatening to put it out.  Where do you turn when it is all just a ‘mess’!

Well…I certainly paid for that.  Got up to the pylon, and thought ah I can bike up here to the 4WD.  No need to dismount today….grit and determination is all I need, after all it’s only about 10m of track.  Well….my bike had other ideas.  I ended up on a grassy bit (which was better, as it had more grip than the loose gravel), but then the front wheel turned back down the slope, I had no time to right things, and KA-BOOM I slipped over and fell onto the gravel, then started sliding down the slope on my back, hitting my head on the way of course!!!  When everything was still I was hyperventilating something wicked.  I had to actually tell myself “You are ok”….to calm my breathing down.  Then I felt really nauseated and just wanted to puke my guts out.  I just sat there for  a wee while, gathering myself together again.  Should I carry on for a wee bit longer or turn around and go back to the car?  Hmmm…the car won.  Probably a good thing too.  I started to get cold, and just felt like I was going into shock!  I know, unbelievable ay, seeing as it was a really minor crash!  But I knew that I was already low on energy, and I really didn’t want to fall off going down the single track.  So I went back to the car, with my tail between my legs.

The thing with me and mountain biking is that I really need to be fueled up to do any sort of decent riding.  Single track riding requires my full concentration.  You really need to be focusing on every little thing around you, especially when there are trees to dodge, tree roots to cross, random rocks, concrete pipes, loose gravel etc etc.  I love it for that very reason, as you are working out your mind as much as anything else.  Mountain biking is such a full body work out. I just can’t afford not be 100% when I am riding!  Will I learn?  hmmm.  That’s another story!  You’d think by now I would have the nutrition side of training pretty much sorted….hmmm.  Think I might just head to the pool tomorrow

Just a few weeks ago we farewelled a friend of my brother’s.  Sean was just 35 (almost 36) when he died suddenly at home.  No signs or symptoms of being unwell….was watching the rugby, and collapsed.  Dead.  Just like that.  Far out.  What a crazy thing to happen.  Youngest of 5 boys.  A real goof of a guy….such a nice guy.  A really good mate of my bro’s.  No illness (well obviously he had an underlying heart condition, but he was unaware as far as I know).  Just gone.  One day up and about and all was good, next day DEAD.  Gone forever.  That really rocks the world.  Seeing his parents grieving was just incredibly heart wrenching.  Now there are 29 families, 29 sets of parents that will be going through something so similar.  Death is just something so hard to deal with I reckon.  Makes you question life a LOT.  Well it makes ME question life a lot at least!!!

Somehow we have to make the most of the time we have, because who knows when our time is ‘up’.  Who knows when we will be called from this earth.  Sometimes that is easier to say than actually to DO though.

It just blows my mind that we as people can stuff so many things up by making one wrong decision.  We can ruin/change our lives forever, plus the lives of our families/friends, just because of ONE thoughtless decision.  One stupid moment.  Which will stay with us for a lifetime.  How is it fair that some people get such a crap deal with life yet others seem to sail on through?  How is that good for anyone?  I guess I am just really questioning the point of life with all the crap that we see on a daily basis.  Not one single soul I have met has ‘deserved’ what is happening to them.  Not at all.  So why do they get dealt the crap hand?  What is wrong with the world?  What is wrong with life?  Hmmmm.  Gosh.  Getting all deep and meaningful.

So life has certainly been chugging along over the last few months.  It almost came to a complete standstill at various moments along the way as well, as it tends to do.

I did my very first triathlon since Ironman just a couple of weekends ago.   It was absolutely awesome, and it (along with the summer coming along nicely) has really ignited my motivational fuse.  I have been out on the mountain bike heaps lately which is just awesome as well.  I have been slowly filling up a calendar with events I would like to do in the near future.

On Sunday I ran 60mins of hills which was awesome.  Hard-ish, but great still.  I ran that in my Asics-blocks of concrete   Afterwards my knees were a wee bit sore from all the hills….oh my, will I ever get it right?!!  To be fair, I haven’t done many long runs like that on hills lately, so the knees do need to adjust.  It was great to knock it off though…YAY.

Today I had 30minutes of hills which had to include hill efforts (6x200m).  I have a wee route marked out for such training.  I also decided to wear my beautiful billy goat shoes, the Adidas Adizero XT’s…oh my goodness.  They are just the best shoe out there!  They really are!  I think Adidas should employ me to sell them for them….and actually, they should keep producing the shoe, cos they absolutely ROCK! 

I had a good run, I love the way these shoes allow my feet to fall more naturally, and the rough stuff is all good in them!  I haven’t really tested them on ultra rough terrain yet though….but I have been on loose gravel and rocks and the like.  I am in love.  Totally in love…….

Today’s session was just 30minutes on the hills.  Yes yes, baby training I know!  I had been struggling last week to break the 20minute mark while running!  20 minutes!!  Crazy….well today went absolutely great, and I came home with a positive feeling towards the half marathon again!  It’s so funny how you can have a good run, then a few terrible ones, then a great one!  Guess that’s what keeps me going back for more!  So run training done for today.  I aim to increase my ‘training’ so I’m being more active, cos right now, I just feel like a bit of a sloth who runs every now and then.  That just won’t do…. me and Sparky have just got to get out there more

Here’s to good runs!

These are the very shoes which are going to help me transform into a nimble billy goat   They arrived today, after their long trip from the USA, via Canada, Hawaii, and Australia!  I ended up getting a size 10 – turns out the 9.5′s would have been suffice, but hey!  My feet feel snug enough in them as it is, there is enough room for my toes to wiggle about. 

I had to lace them up as soon as I had them out of the box.  I usually run in a supportive shoe because I tend to over pronate blah blah blah.  I got these shoes as a bit of a test to see how my legs/feet would cope in a neutral shoe after a year in bricks.  Well…..my goodness.  Just walking around out on the lawn was heavenly.  They bend with my foot!  Whenever I have been wearing my other shoes lately, I have come back with sore feet……and I feel that the Asics demand where and how my foot lands, whereas with these, my feet fall more naturally!  It was so amazing even walking around in them.  Today wasn’t a scheduled run day, but I took off up the hill to test out their grip on some lose gravel type stuff.  They were awesome…….I ran for about 2 minutes and I did feel a bit of discomfort in my knees…..but apart from that, nothing.  On the way home, instead of taking the 4 WD track home, I clambered up the hill and followed the ridge instead   It was awesome…I even went flying over the rocky bits to test the shoes – and they delivered.  Not one stumble (not that I usually do that anyway), not one slip, and not one bit of doubt in the shoes.  It was like I could throw myself down any terrain with complete faith in the shoe.  YAY.

Psychological?  Possibly.  They certainly felt better on my feet than my Asics!  What does that mean….that I no longer over pronate to the same degree that I once did?  hmmmm.

I bought new running shoes a few weeks ago, as I was beginning to get a few twinges from my old shoes.  I am now running in Asics 2150 shoes….and they are a stunning ‘purple’ colour!  I had no choice – that was the only option.  I first bought this kind of shoe (actually it was the 2140 that I had, but apparently the 2150 has taken over those) at the beginning of last year.  The first pair were blue, then my second pair (which I got in August) were red….and now these ones are purple!  PURPLE!?  Who came up with that!  Ah well!  They are going well so far!

I have been doing heaps of hill runs, as that is easiest for me seeing as I live right by a great track!  I haven’t done a lot of running on the road since I started up again last August.  I can handle it, as I did 7km Round the Bays in Feb with no problems, so that’s encouraging. 

I haven’t run a half marathon since……hmmm the last one was Petone I think…..which was a good few years ago now!  Maybe 2007 or even 2006??  Can’t remember!  So I feel as if I am starting afresh, at least with this running business! 

I’ll never be someone that can run 6 days a week however, as my legs just won’t handle that sort of training.  It’s ok…as I can do biking on the other days when I am not running (as long as the energy levels approve that is!).  I have been finding I am struggling to train when I work morning shifts.  I get home at 4pm and am just shattered most days.  The other day my legs felt more tired than they did after Ironman!  It’s definitely a struggle at times.  It’s ok, because at the moment, my focus is the Half Marathon, so as long as I get the run training in, that’s what matters most to me right now.  The biking training can be on hold for a month or 2 if necessary.

So Wellington half mara….here I come!  Somedays I really doubt my ability to run 21.1km….but you can’t always have good runs huh