Iron Jack

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!

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 9:54 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.