Iron Jack

I have well and truly got the mid-winter blues. We had the shortest day this week - thank god - so I’m really hoping that means it will be a short slide into summer. I’m sick of the rain, I’m sick of the wind and I’m sick of the cold - and this is from the person who usually prefers winter to summer! But that’s what a few weeks interrupted training and another sore throat will do to you.

I do tend to the blues anyway. That’s our code word for irrationally irritable and emotional. You know that your equilibrium is slightly off when you start crying at the ads on the TV! God help anyone around me if I was to watch Lassie!!!

Exercise and my training has really helped with the blues. They come fewer and farther between, and now are usually simply a sign of having worked some really long hours and being a bit run-down. Quite a good signal that it’s time to take stock and a good look around. Hence I’m having Monday off to get on top of things and get the start of a quality training week under my belt.

With the help of a few good friends (Mrs P, Nina, Alison and Mike especially) I have come up with a few strategies to kick the blues away and get back into training.

Firstly, I won’t be swimming in the outside pool until it starts warming up and is a bit lighter in the morning - September probably. I’ve always tried to stay in the outside pool because its 50 metres, and it takes a LOT of 25 metre lengths to make up 3kms! But, if its 3 degrees outside and it means the difference between swimming or not, then the indoor pool it is. That’s the first step for this week.

Secondly, taking that day off to get things sorted and fit in my sessions.

Thirdly, planning my week properly! Things have been so busy at work that I stopped planning out my workload. Come Monday, there will be times and slots for doing different pieces of work - and my email will be closed down for two hours at a time while I get that work done. (My other work goal this week is to get one of my colleagues using his electronic diary!! Nothing like setting big goals!) Efficient Jacky is back in business! 

In line with this, the fortnightly meal plan will be on the fridge tomorrow, ahead of going to the supermarket to buy everything we need for those two weeks. But not only will I be planning our dinner meals, I’m going to plan each day for me as well so there are no surprises and I don’t get caught out. I’ve got two weeks (theoretically) in the office in Rotorua so now’s a good chance to get the nutrition sorted too.

There is nothing like putting a plan in place to start taking back control of life. And with that, I think I’ll get on the bike!

If anyone else has some good ideas about training and getting through the winter please let me know!

Stay warm everyone!

Get ready for even more superlatives than usual.

I had an absolutely sensational run tonight. It was amazing!

I had my heartrate zones reassessed last week. For some time Coach and I had felt they might be a bit out of whack. Let’s face it, there is literally no comparison to where I was a year ago when I first had them done. We knew they were really wrong for my biking, and even I would have to admit that my running had become, well, comfortable.

So after a particularly taxing ramp test last week (taxing for me because I was the one pedalling - but taxing for Coach because my heart rate monitor was all over the place and he couldn’t get readings!) I have two new sets of heart rate zones - one for the bike and one for running. Both sets of zones have jumped up significantly. I’m hoping that’s because I’m fitter and faster than I was a year ago. Surely?

Anyway, it was with some trepidation that I headed out for my run after work - and not just because I was aiming for a really high heart rate zone - its absolutely freezing at the moment!

I hit the ground running and really, well, ran!

I won’t pretend it wasn’t hard because it was bloody hard. I also forgot my MP3 player (actually its lost somewhere in my wardrobe but that’s another story) so for the first time in ages I had to listen to my own panting, which always seems to make it more difficult. I couldn’t quite hit the zone I was after, just a few beats under, but still managed to run for 45 minutes at nearly 20 more than before!

Six kilometres later and I had knocked just over 15 minutes off my time around that block.

STOKED!

Of course I’m feeling it now and I expect to feel it every step of tomorrow’s run, but even so, STOKED!

I knew we were in for a challenge when I walked into spin class to find tonight’s title - The Devil Rides On! - written on the whiteboard at the front of the class.

I love our RATs spin classes. Taken by Coach, they are always hard work, but extremely satisfying. Between 40 and 50 people rock up each week - in the bitter cold. When I left tonight it was 4 degrees!

And the music rocks! Tonight’s spin class was proudly brought to you by Led Zeppelin and ACDC! I was in my element. Mike has always given me a massive amount of grief for my passion for hard rock - the louder the better - but nothing beats hard rock for making you work harder.

A basic five minute warm up was quickly followed by a five minute fast spin. Then we were straight into 10 sprint sessions - one minute sprints in a very hard gear, followed by 30 seconds recovery. By the time we got to the last few sprints my legs were screaming! But that was not even half the fun that was in store for us! Those intense sprints were followed by a set that started with one minute on (still in a hard gear), one minute off, two minutes on, one minute off etc up to five minutes and then back down again.

To say that it was hard work would be an understatement! But it was just fantastic.

My head seems to be in a much better zone for cycling and I was determined to have a solid workout today. I did.

And I need to, as my dear friend Stu reminded me this week…262 days to go!

Thanks Stu.

9am saw me up early, organised and out the door to the Blue Lake - the stunning training mecca that we are lucky enough to have on our back doorstep.

I wasn’t on hill reps (but there was a fantastic turnout for that!) but on instructions from coach I was off for a run around the lake before a four hour bike course. I was a bit nervous about the run - my first run on Thursday after being sick for two weeks was a disaster, and running around Blue Lake is not an easy 5.5km at the best of times.

But it was great. Loved it. It was an absolutely stunning day. Me legs went well. My MP3 player was cranking out all the best running songs and 44 minutes later I was back at the clubrooms. Very pleased with that effort.

After a bacon buttie and catchup with my RATs buddies, they all left and it was just Jan, Coach and I to commence the process of learning to love my bike.

If you hadn’t gathered from some of my previous posts - the bike is not my friend. I’ve been swimming my whole life so the only thing I’m worried about with the Ironman swim is getting faster. I’ve never been a runner, but I am really really enjoying the running - who would have thought?! But the bike? That is a whole other story. To say that I dislike it strongly would be the understatement of the century. Every bike ride is a drama for one reason or another. I’m slow. I hate the hills. I get a really sore bum. Overall, its just not a great experience. I was really really hoping that Lawrence’s bike course session would help start the slow journey to doing better on the bike.

We started off with some basic tips about making sure the bike is in good shape and ready to hit the road. He didn’t really make any tweaks to my setup, but my brakes did need a bit of adjustment. Next we headed out on the road and up to the lookout between the Blue and Green Lakes. We got to the top.

“Hmmm, I think I’ve seen all I need to see right now,” says Coach. Ooops, that sounds ominous! “We’ll just head back to the carpark for some drills.”

Back in the carpark the mantra was “you control your bike - it doesn’t control you.” Lots of drills out of the saddle and “throwing” the bike from side to side, getting maximum power from each down pedal. The tourists gathered at our beauty spot must have thought we were absolutely mental! A bit more practice on some rises and then back to the clubrooms for lunch.

After yummy homemade soup, muffins and loaf (thanks Lise and AJ!) we headed back out on the road to Lake Tarawera - another stunning spot in the place that we call home. But very very hilly. HIlly on the way out, and then practically straight up on the way back. And we did it twice!

And…turning point moment…it wasn’t that bad! Learning to ride hills properly is still hard going and it still makes me puff, but it is definitely easier to get up the hill and I found they weren’t “staring me down” like they used to. I knew I’d made real progress when we rode back up to the lookout between the Blue and Green Lakes - a steep hill I know well and have struggled up many many times - and it was like it was only half as long! I was at the top before I knew it. I was absolutely stoked. Progress had been made.

Of course, I did fall off my bike - while standing still - and I have a spectacular graze and some good bruises to show for it. But otherwise, a fantastic session that was well worth while.

The bike isn’t my friend yet. But its certainly become an acquintance!