Ride down hill fast!

Another saturday and another brick session :) Must admit I was not looking forward to getting in the water especially after the lighting and thunder storm last night.  Not to mention a late night on Friday after going to the movies with mates, but I made the most of the time by stealing a small nap during the movie.  Not the first time :0, soon I will be known as Nana and noone will want to go with me.

Somehow I managed to drag my butt out of bed and made it to the pool almost on time.  We started out with a 600m time trail, unfortunately I jumped a lane to skip ahead but a slight tactical error as ended up coming in last place and then stayed at the back for the remainder of the swim session.

Thank goodness the biking was on the road rather than wind trainer in the hall.  The team headed down to the Birkenhead Ferry terminal, where we completed hill repeats riding from the ferry building up to the shops and back.  Coach and another cycling genuis were giving pointers on how to ride down hills at speed, who knew it could be so fun !!! almost made the ride back up the hill pleasurable.  Managed to get the bike up to 65k without feeling like a bundle of nerves.

So managed to NOT fall off the bike, then go make an egg of myself by falling down some stairs at netball.  What a *#@^% ! managed to bruise the knees of both legs and draw blood on the plams of both hands.  Nothing serious! but stings like a buggar and can tell it will hurt during riding tomorrow.  Sweet :(

Its been 9 days since my last confession

A weekend down south and work, work and more work! doesn't make for good training.  This week has almost been a write off.  I dont know how Im ever going to do K2, with only one day available for big rides, if the weather is crap on a Sunday then the big rides just arent getting done.

Loserville

I must be a real loser! this weekend we are heading down to Christchurch to see family and friends, which is fabulous, as Dad turned 65 today and has just had a double knee replacement and we always love to see our nephew and nieces.  But at the same time Im thinking I will miss Saturday brick and the Sunday Group ride.  I know ......

Then to make me a double loser ... was speaking with my Bro about the pending hill rides I need to knock off in preparation for K2.  He suggested I take a look at the cassestte on my bike, perhaps I could swap out for a lower gear so easier to ride up the hills.  So I did my reasearch seems he was right .... so we headed down the bike shop to see what could be done.  Personally I was hoping for a miracle that would make hill riding easy, yeah right! 

Not sure if the guy at the shop was practiced at holding a straight face, but I was super embarrassed to learn I was already using the lowest cassette possible for my bike..... Buggar and Dam!  Unfortunately for me it is all down to the motor (me) so looks like I need investigate those performance enhancing drugs :) or just get on with the training ....

A Bit of Biff in the Pool

A mild'ish morning, at least no major rain overnight which drops the pool tempature by a few degrees.  Managed to get thru another 90min session although it was a bit all over the show today with a set of 100s so the various speeds of the swimmers in our lane meant some were over taking whilst others were trying to rest. I will do better next time .....

Already carrying a bruise from my last biffo session in the pool, then today I manage to get a fellow swimmer right in the face as they stood up when I swam past.  Hurt me, but must have hurt them way more ... But seems a 'bit of biff' was the flavour of today as everyone in our lane was playing biffo with the lane next door.  Then to end the day we did some sprints all pushing off at the same time, replicating a ocean swim start, and ofcourse a bit more biff.

Unfortunately missed the wind trainer session tonight due to late work meetings at vendor offices, but after learning about the passing of a mates mum, it reminded me, it is not worth sweating the small stuff.

Over it or Thru it !

Yah Sunday group ride time and a chance to get out on the bike and stretch those legs!.  Got to learn a frew more local loops with the odd hill or two :) thanks to a hockey crazed sunday rider.

This week our life flashed in front or our eyes as we came within centemetres of either flying over the top of the van or going straight thru it!  We were gunning it on a straight piece of road as we trying to catch the green light, some nuffy in a van decided to turn left into a drive way cutting in front of us ... &^#@*&& !!!! ... thank whoever that our top speed was not so speedy and we managed to slam brakes and swerve to miss the beep, beep.  Lucky for him cos our bikes would have been worth more than his van so he would have been up for a pretty penny, not to mention the hospital bills !!!

Despite the weather forcast showing rain with thunder and lighting in the afternoon, it was a pleasant day, great for a quick 2.5 hours.

Sushi and Cupcakes, my kind of training!

Saturday morning brick, back to the 8.15 start so I can attend coach's session, and lucky for me because today had benefits!

In the pool for 200m sets with a few lengths of other strokes including butterfly, dam hard when you haven't swam it for a long time !!!, then quick change over and onto the bike.  What a treat today :) whilst biking we were first presented with sushi as an entree then after a bit more up hill sections (i.e. high gear, high resistance low cadence) out came the cup cakes, awesome!!!  I great way to keep me motivated to keep pedaling :)

Coach must have thought we ate to much as for the run, she sent us down to the Chelsea Sugar Factory with a series of uphill runs, nice one!.

Have had a request for more photos so will take a few at the next brick session.

Playing catchup

After Wednesday's shocking weather I decide to try catchup everything on Thursday, starting with a run in the morning, a swim in the evening followed by a wind trainer session.

Managed to get out for the run, although after all the rain perhaps heading into Chatswood reserve was'nt the best plan !!! Very mossy and slippery, a few close calls but somehow managed to stay on the boardwalk rather than in the creek.  Then always forget how steep the Colonal Road is and it goes longer than you always remember, but again managed to drag my butt around the streets and even run up the hills.

So feeling rather satisfied went for a swim at 5pm, but dum dum it actually started at 5.15pm so mucked about with a few extra lengths, an easy technique set, however everytime I moved I got cramp in a new muscle.  Dam it!  Not one to normally get cramp so when it was recommended to go home and rest I took advantage and ditched the wind training.  A the good side managed to get to Miss Caitlins netball which was a bonus!!!.

I can tell when I start to get run down as the cold sores thrive and things just arent 100%, so really enjoyed having Friday off also :)