gym junkie....wot me?

Its our last weekend in Christchurch and at last the sunshine has made a re-appearance. The last week has been cool/cold with the winds from the south brining all that chill right over here from the Antarctic and its been raining non stop for 2 days. I guess that we’re entering autumn now– apples, pears and blackberries are fruiting – as are nectarines and apricots. To be honest the rain has been providing motivation to get to the pool and the gym .Yes, the gym! Scott is on a mission to make me less scrawny, provided a free pass to his gym and pool in town, and given me a short upper body gym routine to follow as well as some stroke specific stuff to focus on in the pool. And I’ve been really enjoying this work – for the first time in ages I am enjoying swimming, and feeling good doing it. I’m not kidding myself – I’m not repping any faster, I’m at least motivated to try.
I’m thankful for this new distraction since under Scott’s guidance, the long explorotary rides that Steven and I had been planning to do last week have been struck strictly OFF the menu in order that I could fully recover from Epic camp and let that training sink in before a final week of race specific work. I really did feel like I was missing out on al the fun, but inside I knew that, although I’d surely manage the long rides, my body was tired and would certainly not benefit from becoming more so. It’s a dilemma that will resurface I am sure – it just happens what we do for leisure is pick a nice looking route, with a few promising café locations, get on our bikes/put on the fell shoes and make a day of it. Though psychologically it‘s a world apart it is not entirely dissimilar to ‘training’ and certainly nothing to do with resting or recovery and will of course impact the quality of my ‘proper’ training when harder efforts are required. Having entrusted myself to a coach’s expertise, I’m really going to have to be disciplined about this…so a 3h ride should NOT become a 5hr ride, just because it’s a nice day and there’s a tempting new climb to ride! And a 40 min run IS worth getting out of bed for if it’s done correctly – no need to double it. So, we’re just going to have to come back to Christchurch next year and do the Akoroa Summit Roads route and see Port Levy and run through the forest up to the nice café on the Lagoon at Brooklands, and the rest….;o) for the remainder of our stay I will be doing what is important for a good race in 2 weeks time, though I am pleased to see that there are a few opportunities to run in the forest and Port hills included in next week’s schedule, as well as some moderate rides in the hills. And of course the gym!

I’m beginning to feel that things are falling into place for the Ironman. Well rested and taking care of my diet, cut out the caffeine and alcohol since Epic Camp and ensuring that I fuel well for harder or longer sessions, I’m getting buzz out of performing a few race intensity intervals. Of course there’s still much uncertainty preceding the first race of the year, paticulary so early in the calendar when the majority of the field, being southern hemisphere based, have been race-fit for months – but I’m looking forward to testing the water, setting a benchmark to work from for the rest of the year, and a fun day out in race kit!