Hill Climbing

Jo and Adam went to 'the snow' on Friday so I was left looking aft' baby ... well Laura anyway. We had a great time watching GG re-runs and eating pizza and ice-cream. I paid the price for it though with stomach pains all night but that's another story.

I couldn't get out for a run (Friday) so decided to get up early Saturday morning and hit the Mount. I've always wanted to run up it but never got round to it. Today was going to be the day to try ...

It was an overcast morning but the sun was trying to poke through. As always though the Mount looked gorgeous ... and intimidating.

I decided to do a warm up loop of the basetrack and to be honest I felt pretty sh!te. I think i ate breakfast too close to starting the run. I've made this mistake before (many times). I really need to learn that I get an energy spike soon after the breakfast but crash really quickly after that. The start of the run on the basetrack coincided with the crash I think and I felt 'bonkish'. I just sipped my energy drink and about three-quarters of the way round it came right. I stopped at one point to take a picture and I thought I had paused the watch but probably not as I presume I turned it off when I thought I was restarting it. I therefore lost all the data for the rest of the run until I noticed half way up the Mount. DOH! I need to be more aware of what the button pushes do on the watch as the first one sometimes (most of the time) just 'awakens' the watch and the second push does what you want. I'll figure it out before December I hope!

Although it wasn't perfect weather the setting of the wedding above looked really cool. You can see the groom waiting nervously for the rest of the 'party'. A lone runner strides across the sand. Not sure which of the two is the craziest ...

Last picture before putting the camera away and attempting 'The Mount' ...

The 4x4 track is crazy steep and the biggest challenge is keeping your footing in the loose shingle. I was running on my toes most of the way and my calfs were stretched to the limits with absolutely no problem. Even more evidence (I believe) that my calf problems have nothing to do with them being pulled or stretched.

I ran the whole way up but it was slow and I did stop at three points to take pics.

I don't think I could have run it without stopping this time around but I'm glad as that gives me something to aim for. I've also got no idea how long it took as my watch was turned off for most of the climb. This also gives me an incentive to go back and try again to get some decent data. I saw my HR in the 160's for the climb so I know I was working hard(ish).

Getting to the top was a big thrill and had to be documented with a few pics.

I'm not a big fan of the 'Mr Bean hold the camera in front of yourself' shot but it seemed appropriate for this occasion

Looking down you can see part of the the basetrack

As I was scrambling down (just about managing not to fall on my @r$e or off the side of the cliff) I thought about attempting the run/climb again. The memory of the pain of the climb seems to go very quickly with me and like Reid Rd on the bike I always think (on the way down) 'that wasn't too bad'.

This time I did a deal with myself and compromised on another run of the basetrack instead. This time I felt strong on the run and didn't have the muzzy head of the first loop. It felt really good. I've missed the basetrack runs. I will do more before December.

As I came off the Mount I noticed the rest of the 'party' had turned up. It was a very early wedding. This was about 8am. Gonna be a long day for 'em.

I had a quick stretch by the car and was home well before 9. Jo was busy uploading photos from the snow trip ...

... and both kids were still asleep. Perfect start to the weekend. Big bike (maybe a brick run) around Welcome Bay to look forward to tomorrow. Might take some food with me this time.

Almost Normal

I almost LIKE this picture of me modelling my new tri-top in the aero position (must get those elbows in more!).

I almost like it cos I ...

almost look normal (well as normal as a person can look sitting on an imaginary top of the range carbon tri-bike)

almost look comfortable in front of the camera

almost look like I've got some muscles developing (never known before)

almost look like I've got some hair

and if you look carefully you'll almost see evidence that ... the sun does actually shine out of my @r$e :)

Rotorua Bike Course

I just did a Buckeye entry and realised it was longer than most of my blog entries so thought i would post it here as well.

I was on strike today so what to do??? Ride the Rotorua Bike Course of course! Ride out was good. Must have had a bit of a tailwind. 1:26 which is at least 4 mins faster than previous attempts. Then it fell apart. I had the plan to go with just liquid calories but i didn't drink enough. I bonked badly on way back. I had no solid fuel and was craving an energy bar or a cookie. I was riding into a headwind (although not that bad) and it just seemed ALL uphill. I was dying. I hadn't gone out too hard as I had kept HR below 140 even on the Hell's Gate climb. Average out was 136 which is definitely in my comfort zone.

Think it was just lack of calories (and general unfitness obviously!) ... it was actually a relief to get to Hell's Gate climb on way back because I knew I could just spin up and I didn't have to force the pace/speed. Back along the airport road (that is a sh!t road surface!) wasn't too bad as I think the wind was more tail/side than head and i was soon at the left turn. It was then that I got a call from Jo (who had come with me and spent the time in Rotorua) saying that

she had got a call from the school and Laura was sick. She was at the roundabout so I got back onto the Tarawera Rd and turned right instead of left towards the lake. It meant I didn't even make the last climb and my time was over 3 hours and I was spent. Average HR on way back was 125 ... just couldn't get going - legs were empty! Need to sort out my nutrition. Garmin Watch says I burnt 1250cals and I drank about half that! DOH!!! Next time I'll go out a little bit slower and take on board more calories and maybe actually finish the course. Laura was fine btw :) We'll both be back at school tomorrow :)

Jo took some pictures of me at the start and also stopped the car at various points on the ride and took some pictures. It wasn't 'in the plan' and I was so excited to see the action photos. Here are just a few of the best ones.

:(