Training Log Archive: hilarity

Ride along the bike paths to see what sort of pace I can hold over 7km, hard to tell today due to obstacles and a stonkin' headwind in some parts. I think 2:30 to 2:45/km is fairly realistic, 2:30 if I'm able to hammer it, 2:45 if the course is busy.

Cruised the last 1.8km home.

Somehow my GPS gained about 150m in the first lap, which it claims I did in 6:07. Hardly. 7:15 and 7:09 for the other two, then I kept running until the spot that usually marks 3km. Total time is accurate, distance is really 3km, and pace is just funky.

Went earlier today to avoid a repeat of last weekend's sea breeze appearing as soon as I turn around, but failed again. Hillaries to some surf club north and back into quite the wind.

So I still don't have a feel for whether or not I'm capable of the 30km City Lights race in two weeks, my hands certainly aren't with their new blisters, but if I wear gloves I think I'll get through . . . .

Bit of a slog in13kt winds but I knew I wasn't going to fall out so I was able to smash it all the way (until I ran out of muscles anyway). Great fun and a good group - Bae, Karl, new Paul, Steve, Pete and an amazing re-appearance by both Nathan and Tom ('who?' asked Karl when I said they were coming, it had been that long).

4:10/km fastest, downwind laps about 5:35/km average.

I had one brief scare when a large fish jumped out of the water and smashed into my bow, actually changing the direction of my ski and making me squeal like a girl.

When my heart was carking it last year I thought of every excuse possible for why I was slowing down, other than the heart was carking it. Overtrained, undertrained, not eating well, getting sick . . . .

Now the heart is no longer carking it and I seem to be getting a bit faster at running and I am STILL finding any excuse possible for why I seem to be faster (other than the obvious, that I'm actually getting faster) - mainly that the GPS is playing up.

I've had good reason to believe that as the auto pause goes on and off quite a bit sometimes and I jog near buildings, but this morning there was only one brief auto pause - so now I may just have to start believing that I AM GETTING BETTER AND I AM GETTING FASTER.

Woo hoo! Laps 6:54, 7:18, 6:56. Thanks Tooms, I'm sure my speed increase has quite a lot to do with using better technique!

*bloody hell this was an entire minute faster than the exact same run on 9th February!!

C • Well done 2

And stabiliser exercises plus a particularly atrocious round of Running Newborn Giraffe.

Half hour of Happy Hips and 5min of stabiliser exercises and Running Girl. I think Running Newborn Giraffe would be a more accurate description.

I don't think I was quite this fast, there was a lot of auto-pause on the 3rd lap (trees??) and I did it in 6:52 which I doubt (7:08, 7:25 for the other two) - and the GPS bleeped that my 3km was up about 100m before it usually is.

Still, overall I think that was faster. I concentrated on standing up straight and keeping my hands low and that seemed to make me stride out more, I assume cos I'm not stumbling along trying not to fall over with a forward lean!

Looks like I'll have a sports dilemma on Friday as it's the only decent day for a downwind paddle but that will mean I miss running group . . . .

Getting a bit sick of all this wind, if I'm not downwinding I'd just like to get some solid flat water sessions in. This was a battle into an 18kt headwind, which of course dropped a bit for the way back. Around the yacht club it was absolute chaos, sort of entertaining heading into the waves but when we turned I had to stop paddling so I could brace at any time and in either direction - and I was going faster than I had been before when I was actually paddling.

I caught a fish in my footwells, they are hard to catch with your hands to remove from the ski. Then I got to practice my remount in the flattish water with a momentary lack of concentration sending me into the drink . . .