Weekly Update - 17.05.10 - 23.05.10

SWIM

Swims x 4

~10km

Haven't gotten my A into G yet to find a squad to join, its on my to do list... Did a short swim at the Lloyd Elsmore Pool this week which is down the road from my work and, most importantly, free to use. I was just pootling along doing a few 200's when the lane ropes disappeared turning the pool into a huge free for all. I continued along my black line for a bit but had to evacuate once too many kids came in, good for my dodging skills though.

BIKE

Time: 9hrs19
Distance: 232km

No long Sunday ride this week bringing down the distance and volume a bit. Did the TT on Saturday, good conditions without much wind so did my standard 24.30ish. Power was a bit average but bearing in mind I had a half marathon to run the next day it was no biggie. The weather has started to turn a bit poo so am digging out the winter gear and dusting off the dreaded windtrainer.

RUN

Time: 4hrs
Distance: ~52.3km

Started doing some track work this week in lieu of my O'Hagans 5km, and it went ok. Did some 2km, 1500m, 800s and 100s so had a good variety (even though I run them all at the same speed..) so will continue at the track from now on.
Did Huntly Half Marathon on Sunday which doubled as the NZ Half Marathon Champs. I really didn't know how this was going to go since my 5km times have been slower than normal but I had done more long runs than this time last year. I was aiming to run under 90mins and my plan was to run the first 5km with one of my Lawson friends (I have the tendency to run the first 5km WAY too fast and then suffer for the rest of the way) and then see how I go. So I latched onto Jess when I saw her at the start and we got through the first 5km in a couple of seconds over 20mins which was pretty much where I wanted to be. I thought I might be able to drop Jess over the next few kms but she hung in there so we ran together and I hoped she wouldn't want a sprint finish. Its a hard course - running across a field, on gravel and rolling hills that never end, but we kept a steady pace and picked up a tough oldie who wouldn't let us pass her so we ran the last 10km together.
No funny business at the end, the oldie upped the pace in the last km so I tried to keep up but ended up a few seconds behind and I'm not sure if Jess was just happy to stay behind me or was too wasted to sprint for it but she finished 5secs behind.
So overall time of 1.27.10 which is my second fastest half marathon, got to be pretty happy with that. I was almost 2mins quicker than last year and a few seconds quicker than the year before but the course was different then (way harder now).
Quads took a hammering in the last couple of kms so wasn't feeling too sprightly afterwards but my chocolate strike ended so I was able to celebrate with a couple of hokey pokey mallowpuffs mmmmmmmmm.


Me and my pacemaker with about 7km to go

Happy not to be sprinting

Weekly Update - 10.05.10 - 16.05.10

SWIM

4 x swims

~9.8km

More of the same in the swimming department. We have just heard that the Teps is not going to reopen now until they have done all the work on it which will be finished early 2012... I'm thinking I'm going to have to find a squad to swim with because pootling around by myself can't be that beneficial. I will need to start getting into some meaty 4-5km sets before September and think I will struggle by myself. So will start looking around and will try and start a couple of squads per week.

BIKE

Time: 11hrs06
Distance: 276km

A bit less this week mainly due to our Sunday ride being cut short due to weakness (not mine). Did a club handicap race on Saturday which started off bad (I was dropped after 15mins on a downhill) but ended up ok as I was able to stick with the next bunch and concentrated heaps on the downhill (it was a 4 lap course) so I didn't drop again. We managed to hold off the rest of the field by a few seconds but had a couple up the road who we didn't manage to catch. I think I was the first girl across the line but not quite sure. I learnt a few more things about cycle racing and the squally storms that were around that day kept away so the weather stayed fine. Everyone worked together really well and took their turns at the front which was good compared to other club races I have done.



Wow. 50w/kg!!!!!!

RUN

Time: 2hrs55
Distance:~37.5km

Only 5 runs this week and no leggy ache yesssssss. Long run was only a bit over an hour - had to juggle a few things around because of a Saturday's clubrace so ended up running early on Thursday morning. Not too keen on early morning runs so hopefully that won't happen too much. Did O'Hagans for the last time for a while because I will now be working Tuesday evenings. Managed a 18.45 which is my best post-stress fracture so getting there slowly. I'll now start doing some track speed sessions at the new Pakuranga track on my way to work during the week. May need to jiggle the days around a bit but hopefully it will work out.
Doing Huntly half in the weekend so will start to get an idea of how my long running is coming along.

Weekly Update - 30.04.10 - 09.05.10

SWIM

4 x swims
~10.5km

Sadly my secret pool has been discovered by a few too many people and my mid week swim this week was a bit crowded. Luckily we all knew each other and were able to work out a system so there were no collisions but I did start to feel quite seasick with the water sloshing from side to side.
My 3km threshold has been going quite well, 3km used to be quite an effort to do by myself but I'm getting used to it and may even start to think about increasing the distance a little bit (maybe).
Hopefully we will find out this week what the fate of our beloved Teps will be and when we will get it back.

BIKE

Time: 13hrs 15
Distance: 330km
Boyfriends: 1 (you know who you are)

Had a bit of an average TT this week, about 1min slower than last week... It was pretty windy though so I wasn't too disappointed.
Our Sunday ride raged out of control, I had expected it to be between 3 and 3.5hrs but ended up being 4hrs (or 3hr59min59sec as Taptap told me...) which was the longest I had spent on my bike in one go for a very long time. It could have been a bit shorter thanks to some pointless touring of the North Shore but at least it was a nice day(ish). I have given up chocolate for the last month (thanks to my friend Anna Ross) and definitely have noticed when having to chose mid or post-ride fuel/treats. Its actually quite hard to get something non-chocolate from a dairy to keep you going. But I have come this far and only have about another 10 days to go and then I can gorge myself and undo all my good work.


So close...

RUN

Time: 3hrs56
Distance: ~49km

A slightly more successful 5km this week just under 19mins again. Its getting darker and windier so times aren't really going to go down a huge amount plus I will only do it once more before I have to start working in the evenings which will ruin my O'Hagans plans for a while. But maybe I will come back in a few months and whack out a 17.50 first off...
Longest run of 90mins and had a whisper of an ache in the leggie so may drop one run a week to take it to 5 per week so as not to upset anything. I have started doing pilates twice a week which will hopefully make me nice and balanced and awesome.

Weekly Update - 26.04.10 - 02.05.10

SWIM

Swims x 4

~10.8km

Getting a bit more into the no-squad swing of things and managed to get a decent amount done this week. Managed to stick with the 3km M/W/F 3km rule so far. Not much else to report in the swimming department really, I'm hoping the Teps will be opening again soon so we can have our squad back but no-one is sure about it yet.

BIKE

Time: 13hrs26
Distance: 325km

A bit eager this week and ended up riding everyday. I have been having one day a week off the bike but it was such a nice day on my no-bike day that I couldn't resist since I had most of the day off work.
Redeemed myself from my last attempt at the TT in the weekend with a reasonable ride in terms of power and time. There was new seal on the waterfront which was nice and smooth but had quite a bit of surface water so I think I lost a little bit of time being a bit muppety on the corners.



Nice morning for a TT

Had a top 5 worst weather experience during the week with some of the most torrential rain I have ever ridden in. I was trying to be good and carry on with my efforts but it was starting to get ridiculous (rain and wind) and then the dreaded bouncy feeling at the back tyre started and I discovered my tyre was going down. Luckily I was close to home so had to make an executive decision to put some gas in it (I had 2 cannisters but no hand pump) and hopefully it would get me home. I had to stop half way to use the other cannister and made it home luckily. The next day I was plagued with another puncture then a slowly leaking tube so after spending half of my riding going into different bike stores for air when I got home I located the culprit which was the inner wire/kevlar strip (?) of the tyre was poking out a tiny bit enough to cause teeny tiny puctures in my tube. So sadly I had to say goodbye to that tyre but was glad I solved the mystery puncture problem without wasting any more tubes.


Even the Serottica needs to stop for wees sometimes

RUN

Time: 3hrs58
Distance: ~51km

Good solid week this week with 81mins as my longest run. Had a disappointing 5km at O'Hagan's - was trying really hard and came in just over 19mins when I expected it to be 18.50ish. I'm not sure whether I should be worrying about my 5km time or not since its more 20km+ is what I'm really training for. I'm doing Huntly half in a couple of weeks so will see how I go there before I try anything different to get me faster over a short distance. I'm feeling better running for longer now which is good.