Big Jo Training May 13 - May 26

SWIM

I am pleased to report that my tempo timer and I are now friends, quite inseparable actually.  I think I may suffer from separation anxiety if I swim without it which slightly concerning,
Now that I have found the right tempo for the easy stuff we are getting along well.  I especially like it for the harder stuff like 100's because it means I pace myself better.  I think I was starting with a really high stroke count and then blowing up after 50m whereas now I feel like I am going easier holding the higher tempo at the start but then am able to hold it for the last 50m.
Swimming has been pretty boring recently since it is most people's off-seasons so they are putting all these boring (and impossible - why would I ever need to do breaststroke kick on my back?!!) drills in and nothing really meaty like what we do over summer.

BIKE

We quickly discovered that being inner-city apartment dwellers makes you very lazy on the bike.  Commuting is a pretty big part of my training if nothing but as motivation to get out the door and actually get to work but staying in the city cut out a huge part of my commute out.  And not to mention how dirty the Serottica got from not staying at home where the Sunday cleaning sessions usually take place.
However the last two weeks have been pretty snotty and coughly (?) in our household so maybe it was a blessing in disguise to not have to ride in the cold and wet too much.
We had a very dramatic Saturday ride last week with our friend JT riding headfirst into a metal and stone bollard on the old Mangere Bridge snapping his bike int half and knocking himself out for 5 minutes.  As the resident health professional of the group (jointly shared with Dr Dildo the dentist - don't expect him to put someone's tooth back in if it gets knocked out though...) I did the best I could but was pretty thankful when a paramedic rode past and took over.  Luckily JT came around but was pretty spaced out and ended up with 7 fractures in his face and a few broken ribs and a concussion.  Never good to see a buddy on the ground and especially in that state, and probably a timely reminder that I should do a refresher first aid course.

Snap goes the Willier

RUN

Managed to get back on the running wagon then had to jump off due to sickness but am now back on.  We are doing the Mount Half Marathon next weekend will be severely underdone but it will be good for training.  I did a couple of long runs of 14km and 16km plus the 23km volcano run so at least I have done a bit.  If I can go somewhere around the 95min mark I will be pretty happy

Man with an umbrella on his head

Edward Fishslice hands and Steff the sausage

Big Jo Training April 29 - May 12

SWIM

The latest trend at swimming at the moment are these Tempo Timers things which you stick in your cap and they beep in time to your swimming, or what is actually supposed to happen is that they beep and you swim in time to them.  Haydn has set some ridiculously slow warm up tempos where we are only take 22 strokes per minute - not so good for weaklings like me where the longer I try and glide for the lower my elbow drops down.  I think they are quite good for keeping my stroke count up for sprint/VO2 sets but jury is still out for the easy stuff.  I think I will be forced to purchase one of these soon so I'll keep you posted.
My little muppet swimskin is currently being sewn together in the Blue Seventy factory so will be with me sometime next month - exciting!

BIKE

Not much has been happening on the bike in the last two weeks due to an annoying cough and me being sensible (or being a wuss?) and not training through it.  So I missed the Sunday ride the week before and didn't do much last week.  We are currently being inner-city apartment dwellers which reduces my commuting time by quite a bit but is quite nice on those rainy afternoons where I only have a 3 minute bike from the ferry as opposed to 30 minutes.
I said goodbye to a good friend last week - RooRoo and I parted company and it now has a new owner and lives in Whakatane.  It was sad to see it go but the extra cash paying off my credit card made it a bit easier.  I was a bit disturbed that they put it on a bike rack on the back of the car (RooRoo's first time on a bike rack...) and then it absolutely pissed down with rain about five minutes later which made me feel sorry for RooRoo getting all wet.

Stocking up for winter.  Spot the odd one out...

RooRoo I will miss you but I do love MONEY

Commuting on a nice day nom nom nom

Anyway Taddy is getting ready for it's new paint job within the next couple of weeks so standby for some mini bike porn.

RUN

Not much running happened during the week of the relentless coughing but I did do a fun 23km (!) run last weekend which was a fundraiser for my friend Amy who is doing the Badwater Ultramarathon in July.  It was basically a self guided run of the volcanoes of Auckland with a few different distances.  I had planned to do a couple of longer runs building up to it but only managed an hour so ended up increasing my long run milegae by about 100% - none of this 10% crap.... Jared Razzle and I ran with our friends Claire and Two Piece and the km's flew by as we tootled along and chatted.  We went up four volcanoes but was maybe supposed to do six, it was supposed to be 21km so by the time we went up the fourth we had all had enough.  There was an aid station up the top of One Tree Hill with coke and Em's cookie bites and other delicious treats which were all very well recieved.  Not sure I would have made the last 5km without that stop to be honest.

Helpers helping themselves

It was a great way to spend the morning and kick off our long run training.  And an awesome way to fundraise, way better than doing a gay movie night or something.
Leggies actually held up pretty well aside from a few DOMS which crept up the next day so all ready to get serious about running...

Murfy and her new friend Simon the apartment cat