A clean bill of health

This morning I went for an easy 6km run before work. It’s amazing how light it is at 5.45am – I could actually run along the cycle path rather than the roads, which is what I usually have to do at that hour of the day. Also, it wasn’t cold so it was a very pleasant run. Mind you, no-one else seemed to be up as I didn’t see a soul the entire time I was out. There was no pain while running or afterwards and dutifully I did my stretches before having a shower.

I had a physio appointment later in the morning to review the past week. I mentioned that I had run this morning. He looked at my card and read out something about no running for a week until the next appointment when we would review things. Minor detail. My reasoning was that if I ran this morning then if there were any problems he could fix them! Besides it’s not like I went gangbusters this morning – it was a very steady, measured jog. So, after further prodding, manoeuvring, and mobilising, he agreed that I seemed to have recovered well which was due in large part to me playing it cautiously and getting the initial niggly, nagging pain looked at before it got too bad. Points to me! He did do some loosening of tight muscles including applying the elbow into the tightest spots in the glute – oh man, that is so cruel and it hurts. Anyway I have been given a clean bill of health but with the proviso that I don’t go out gangbusters on my training now. Also he suggested I not do the Coppins/Uriarra and William Hovell loop again before the event which is perfectly fine by me.

The Chicken, Orange and Avocado Salad I had for lunch today came about because I am trying to use up what is left in the fridge before the end of the week and grocery shopping. I used left over chicken from the roast the other night, an orange which was part of a box load that came from a work colleague’s father in Griffith, and some avocado that we had in the fridge. Add to that some cucumber and mixed lettuce leaves, and it made a delicious meal.

Tomorrow: the plan is to do a weights session in the morning (and I can include lower body exercises) and another intervals session on the bike after work.

“The will to win means nothing, if you haven’t the will to prepare.” – Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

Spring equinox

Today is the spring equinox. This means that from now on the days are getting longer and we’re heading towards summer. Hallelujah! And on 7 October daylight savings will start.

So what did I do today? Why, clean the oven…….as you do. After yesterday’s efforts of smoking out the house and setting off the smoke alarms when cooking roast chicken, I felt that a good clean of the oven was in order. Which is why I was wearing heavy-duty rubber gloves, mask and safety glasses early this afternoon before spraying the oven with a heavy-duty cleaner. That was the easy bit. After an hour or so came the downright dirty and mucky bit – wiping out the dirty, mucky stuff and trying not to get it everywhere, including on myself. But it was worth it – I am now the proud owner of a sparkling clean oven which I promptly used (after heating it for a bit to remove any fumes) to bake a crustless berry cheesecake. Which, by the way, we had for dessert tonight and was delicious

I also did a 2km swim, non-stop, at the pool this afternoon. Just to be sure that I can swim the distance, come race day. Seems like I can!

Tomorrow: the plan is to do an upper body weights session at the gym before work. And continue with my stretching regime.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” –  Aristotle, Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC – 322 BC)

Counting down

Its nine weeks today to Port Macquarie 70.3 triathlon. 2 months, 1 week. 63 days. Whatever way you look at it, time is marching on. And between now and then there is still a lot of work to do. And I’m trying not to stress about it too much.

Which is why it was great to catch up with Jen, my wonderful coach this morning. To touch base, to talk about the course (ie the hilly bike course), and what is in store over the next 9 weeks (hmm, a lot more time on the bike and something about introducing intensity on those…ahem…runs off the bike). Besides it’s always nice to catch up with Jen, just because she is a lovely person

And of course we had to have a macaron with our coffee (as you know this is all part of my finely tuned, nutritionally balanced triathlete’s diet).

And later in the day, I did a 10km run which was not only highly enjoyable (did I really say that?!) but also invigorating. I really do love running the day after the long bike sessions. I always expect that I will be tired but I find that I run strong, that my legs feel really good. I can’t explain this phenomenon but enjoy it nonetheless. Now if can get the same effect from those runs straight off the bike I’d be a very happy woman

Last night’s dinner at The Hungry Buddha in Curtin was great and really tasty. For entrée, I had pakora, followed by Khasi Ko Masu (curry of tender boneless goat flavoured with fenugreek, cinnamon, tomatoes, coriander, bay, ginger and garlic) and pulao rice (saffron rice spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay, cashew nuts and peas), and Kheer for dessert (rice pudding flavored with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachios and almonds). There were lots of gluten-free dishes to choose from.

Tomorrow: the plan is to swim in the morning and then run intervals on the treadmill after work. It’s the start of my recovery week which can’t come soon enough!

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can.” – John Wooden

 

Thursday thoughts

Well so much for the Olympics effect – the gym was really quiet this morning! Not that I mind, it means easier access to the weights and machines I require. No having to keep an eye on the popular machines to ensure you can make a beeline for them as soon as the current user has finished. No having to shuffle the planned exercise routine around to accommodate what equipment is available. Let’s hope the same goes for the pool tomorrow.

The wintry weather has returned. During the night, about 3am, I was woken by thunder and lightning. Plus it had been raining since early evening so I had been lucky with my late afternoon run. And I’m glad I hadn’t gone with one of my initial thoughts yesterday of moving my run to this morning, instead of the gym, as I would’ve been running in the rain. At 5.30am that’s not a lot of fun. And today, it has been drab, grey, damp and chilly – definitely umbrella weather. I am hoping that Saturday morning will not be like this (but then again I don’t want a frosty morning either!) for my long cycle/run session.

The work birthday morning tea went well. The Stephanie Alexander lemon tart went down a treat with everyone. And Mr N is happy as I only took half of the tart to work – the other half is sitting in the fridge at home! Also, everyone had either baked or purchased gluten-free items so nothing was off-limits for me…..which is a good…and bad thing! Still I do have a long bike interval session after work today so I will have worked off some of the extra calories. All part of my finely tuned, nutritionally balanced triathlete’s diet!

“Don’t limit your challenges – challenge your limits.” – Author unknown

postscript: 4 minute hard efforts on the bike go for a very,very, very long time. Like f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Just saying….

Weekend hangover

I feel hung-over. Not in an over-indulged-in-alcohol sort of way but rather a very-active-weekend sort of way. Probably the better and healthier hangover to have, though maybe not as much fun…initially, anyway! I’m feeling tired and blah and my legs are just so over carting me around today. In fact, my body is just saying stop, enough already, give me a break, I want to do nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch. No surprises there really – it was quite a weekend and I haven’t had one of them in a while. In fact, its full credit to my training program that I have come so far. Just a few months ago if you’d mention doing a 60km ride on Saturday and back it up with a 21km run on Sunday, I would’ve said you’re dreaming. Well I did it and I wasn’t dreaming!

Anyway it was a smart decision to have an unscheduled rest day today. Too much of a good thing can sometimes be too much of a good thing, if you get my meaning. Rest and recovery is very important. Mind you, apart from the expected tiredness I’ve pulled up well after the weekend’s exertions. I think there’s something to be said for cross-training.

I enjoyed a delicious, protein packed breakfast this morning – apple quinoa with cinnamon and yoghurt. Quinoa is a high protein gluten-free seed that can be used for both sweet and savoury dishes. I tend to use it instead of cous cous or rice, and its great for breakfast.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back into training once again. The plan is to do a weights session in the morning and the first of 2 bike intervals session for the week, after work.

But for now…..I’ll kick back and enjoy the break!

“That’s the monster that’s human nature. We train to look good to other people, to look good to ourselves, to justify the cost of a coach, or as some sort of inoculation against the fear that we won’t have what it takes on race day. But we rarely train for the only reason that matters: to be the best we can be in body and mind, and deliver our finest possible performance on race day, regardless of the result.” – Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack, 2-time Ironman World champion

Stir crazy

I started my day with a weights session & I had the gym all to myself! Mind you, I wasn’t bounding out of bed this morning, it was more like dragging myself to the kitchen to make a coffee and this was after hitting snooze several times on the alarm! But I told myself I would feel a whole lot better for getting up & doing something physical. After all, the rest of the day would involve a lot of sitting interspersed with coffee & food. And I was right! It was a novelty to have a fully equipped gym to myself & so I zipped through my session with no interruptions.

The rest of the day was spent sitting, listening, chatting, drinking coffee & eating. The best thing was that the organizers had catered really well for those with special diets. I had no complaints about the food available to me – it was incredibly tasty! However all the sitting was making me stir crazy. I needed to do something physical.

Which was why I headed back to the gym once the day was over, to do a 50min cardio session. The first 30min was spent on the treadmill running intervals. This was followed by 20mins on the spin bike doing 10 x 1min in a hard gear, followed by 1min in an easy gear. It was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.

Tomorrow the plan is to go for a run down by the Yarra before breakfast.