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Showing posts from 2011

Karen writes: New Year, Nightmare, and Knees

Tomorrow it is 2012.  The year of Ironman.   Eek. I had a nightmare last night, it was one of those nasty ones where the silly detail is horribly clear.   It went like this....it was the morning of the 3 rd of March but the fridge needed cleaning so I couldn’t be dropped off to do the Ironman until after the ice (?) had all been scraped out.  The race was due to start at 8.30, my anxiety grew and when it was 5 minutes before the gun I got sick of waiting for transport and decided to run down the road to the start (I did worry that I was burning unnecessary energy).  There were only a few people left, and I didn’t have my race number, so they gave me a new one and a pen (which didn't work) to write my name down.  Then I realised I didn’t have my bike, wasn’t wearing sports gear, and my children were still with me.  Then I woke up, so I don’t know how well I did!   Doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to figure out what that says about my subconscious activity. Back in the real

Kate Writes: swimming

Its been blowing a gale here at the Manukau Harbour. I have swum twice this week in the rough sea and feel more confident. But I decided I should do some proper training and push myself, so up to the school pool I went. But the key did not work :( . Borrowed a friends key and that worked, it needed a bit of twiddling. I always worry about swimming on my own, what happens if I knock my head and drown? No one to save me!  But then again I can swim better now and really just have to get over myself. The training this week was 2650m endurance. Wow do I feel tired. Had to come home and have a sleep. I wonder if I can have a sleep on the day of Ironman - He He He! Its still blowing a gale, hope to get out on bike tomorrow and check those gears.

Karen writes: still playing mountain climbing

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Tuesday was the high point of my fitness year.   Up early, big breakfast, then I got dropped off at Ocean beach for my favourite Christmas tramp/run.    Every year I attack the Lion range at the tip of the Whangarei Heads, starting with the steep trail up from the beach at Bream Head , where I pause near the top to say hello to my Grandfather Hill who worked on the 2 nd World War radar station there, then it is some serious up and down till I come out 3 hours later at Urquharts bay and run home (another hour).  I love this route, but there is one part which always reminds me how easy it is to make mistakes, especially when you are by yourself.  An hour into the Lion tramp you get to the top of a steep bush slope and there is the choice of a left turn or a right turn.  The direction you instinctively go in is left, however following that way brings you onto a really skinny track with a drop on either side, then there is a big, but scale-able rock in the way.  The first year I d

Kate Writes:resting?

I was supposed to be off resting for 2 days! But on Christmas day my brother in law took the boat out and I just had to have a go on the sea biscuit. Then I had to have a swim. The water was so still and clear, which is unusual for the Manukau Harbour. The next day the same. I jumped off the boat out in the estuary, very brave I was, I mean to say there are sharks out there, and swam to shore against an out going tide. Today I went for my 1 hour ride and had problems with my gears again, but as my coach says get over it and move on. So I just did a different ride, with hills in it. I went to see a neighbour to get some help and he said there was nothing wrong with the gears, I still think there is so will have to get out and do some more riding. The tide today was at 1pm so ideal swimming. But there were big waves, just good practise. Rach and myself had a good swim, shes a great encourager and gets me doing more. We tried doing tumble turns in the waves but I just ended upside down s

Karen writes: Giant Christmas present

First thing this morning it was time for a quick trot up my favourite small mountain, then home for a second breakfast, keeping in mind my need for increased carbohydrates!    It was a white gift wrapped mountain today, I walk/ran up in about 35 minutes, paused on the rock platform at its top while the shreds of cold cloud blew past me, and then took 20 minutes to scoot down to the bottom again.   Then off for a walk to get my un-energised children moving, they would much prefer to watch TV.     I kept thinking “this time last week I had finished the half IM swim”, or “this time last week I was half way through the ride”, it seems like it was forever ago though.  Tomorrow morning is the 25th, I plan on another trip up the mountain. It is my ritual on Christmas morning, I sit at the top for a while and look around, at Whangarei to the East, the Heads just below me, Ocean Beach on the other side, Auckland to the South, then I stand up, close my eyes and spin slowly around, and appreciat

KateWrites: School pool

I had a txt message from Jacky, that she and Barbara were swimming 8am at school pool. I set the alarm and off I went. I was not looking forward to it, it will be cold, its only 20 meters long its early on my first day of the holidays. Well it was great. The water was not cold, it was clean and wonderful. 2k later i was shattered and ready for a sleep. I'm very lucky to have the facilities around to help. I can see some early morning swimming sessions booked for the holidays. Mind you this morning the sun is shining and the tide is in, so I must go for a swim in the sea. Happy Christmas Eve to all who read this blog today. lol Kate 

Karen writes: Resting

I am resting.  Unusually, I am not feeling in the remotest bit guilty about that, I am not worried about losing my hard-won fitness, I am vaguely worried that my food consumption hasn't dropped to reflect my lack of energy expenditure (party time of course)...but a few days isn't going hurt really...I think... Anyway, I have in front of me my eating planning from Cate the nutritionist, and it is all terribly sensible. She wants a lot more energy in on heavy training days, particularly high quality carbohydrates and some protein, I'm to be more strategic about eating overall to keep energy levels up, and should be testing new combinations and ramping up what I eat during exercise to get 60-70g carbohydrate in per hour (that is the hard one for me).   That will start, let me see, after Christmas probably!   But this is really scary, there are officially only 9 weeks to go till Ironman, that is probably only SEVEN weeks of real training! Tomorrow is the trip north to join

Kate Writes: Bike

After the gear failure on Saturday I thought I better go back to the bike shop. I'm well known in Cycle city, and they are always helpful and a nice cup of coffee is on hand while I wait. Whats wrong with the bike, he said, gear broken, No he said looks OK to me? OH. Then I explained the big bang and crunch and not working. So poor bike was put up on the stand and he managed to get it to jam. There is a fault with the gears. They were made for 3 gear wheels and I only have two. Do I want to ride over Christmas he said? My face dropped, I'm doing Ironman, need to train. Deep breath, I can cope.... The Gear paddle on the handle is being sent back to see if we can get it replaced and I have a second hand one to replace it so I can carry on training.. $140 later I'm out of the shop and off to work. Very relieved that I can train. Its good to have good people around to help and support. 

Karen writes: Equipment neglect

This morning I finally felt guilty enough to look after my equipment after Saturday's soaking wet half Ironman event.  The bike workings were liberally sprayed with WD40, the wetsuit got turned properly inside out and the leaves and mud rinsed off it (I figured it was a fresh water swim so I wasn’t too worried), the running shoes are in the shower full of soap and will probably take a couple of days to change back to a mostly white colour,  and the sodden clothing migrated from the smelly bag in the boot of the car to the washing machine.  Oh   I loathe that bit!    

Kate Writes Half Ironman

Friday we packed up the car with double equipment. Left the daughter home alone for a Christmas party of 18 year olds! Not sure whats most worrying, ironman or teenage daughter! Any way off we went. The sun was shining but that was a pretence. Registration had moved to the Avanti shop in Rotorua. We took our wetsuits to get them dipped in sunlight washing up liquid. Probably the cleanest its ever been. Met up with Greg, who I swim with and also doing Ironman, swapped a few stories and off home. 5am the alarm went and I forced breakfast down, running late into the car and it was raining. Into wetsuit, could not find my transponder, searched everywhere, do not PANIC. I had put it with my goggles, deep breath and down to the waters edge. I do love my red toe nails, they stood out in the sand.   The horn went and we were off. Loads of people all trying to start together, legs and arms everywhere. I took a deep breath and started. It felt OK, water was clear, no waves. This should be a

Karen writes: rain, rain, and did I say rain?

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Saturday for the Rotorua Half Ironman was predicted to be rainy, not just 'showers', that forecast stubbornly stuck to 'rain', and for a change the weather boffins were spot-on. The day dawned saturated, we swam in the lake in drizzle, and that was as dry as we were all day. But in spite of constant rain, often torrential, it was a really GOOD day.   I didn't think it was going to be however, I was running late for the start, got stuck in a queue at the 2 stall toilet, and eventually raced to get into my wetsuit just in time.  I'd never worn the replacement secondhand wetsuit in the water, didn't know how it was going to work, but at least Kate managed to get me zipped in so I was fairly optimistic when standing with my toenails digging into the sand, not cheery red like Kates, mine were pretty tame in comparison... then we were away swimming. I thought I was going to have to give up in the first stretch of the swim.   Every time I put my face in the water

Karen writes: Another event

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It's Thursday evening, older daughter is hanging over my shoulder reading out loud as I type.   Another event has arrived, this is the last formal endurance activity before IM.  Tomorrow the dog goes to the kennel (she will be grumpy when she gets home), I shall have to finish off the bags I have half packed, one for the girls, one for the adults, four for sports gear, the chiller with food (mostly for me!), and lastly there is a small Christmas tree which temporarily transplants Christmas from Auckland to Rotorua. I tell myself as my anxiety goes up that Rotorua has useful things called 'shops', if I forget something, it ISNT a disaster, I can pick up forgotten sunscreen or panadol or anti-chafe or supplements or socks...or perhaps a life-jacket the way the weather is shaping up. Funny, last week I was fervently hoping that the weather would be fine for Saturday's event, after looking at the dreadful forecasts I now hope for 'just' wind and rain rather than

Karen writes: Seem to have run out of time to do things right.

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No training tonight AGAIN.  The annual Christmas carols at the beach became Christmas carols in the Hall at another beach because of the awaited heavy rain.   It was an exhausting exercise, probably more so but in a different way from what I was meant to be doing, a 500m swim, a 20km bikeride and a 5km run.  Oops.   So spent the evening sitting on the floor in the gym at Te Puru park with hundreds (it felt like thousands) of sugar fueled primary school children racing and dodging and ducking and diving like some swirling juvenile maelstrom...the band and singers bravely (and sometimes successfully) out-noising the yelling children. Oh joy.   Anyway, home at last, tired small bodies packed off to bed, and I am contemplating the spin bike as a token gesture towards training.   It is watching me contemplate it, not saying much.  I really don't know that I can face it though!    I seem to have destroyed my wetsuit too, the flexible arm panels have started disintegrating, so that is t

Kate writes: out door pool

Monday night was my last training session. We went to the out door pool. I was determined to prove myself as good as the others and pushed myself too hard. I felt out of breath and a tight chest. My coach slowed me down and got me to do 5 strokes to one breath and to empty my lungs, this worked well and I felt much better. I must remember that its my race and not any one's else. Saturday is looming and only 3 sleeps. The weather forecast shows a big black cloud and lightening. It should be fun! 

Karen writes: 'C' foods

Went to see the nutrition person Cate yesterday.   I carried my little food diary in with trepidation, there were too many items starting with 'c', like chocolate, cake, cookie, cheese and croissant...sadly it is the worst time of the year to watch what you are eating.  Like today was the office party, beautiful healthy food choices (thanks Kates daughter and friends), but it is very hard to say STOP.  I don't do self control very well and it does seem soooo unfair that I burn off so much energy with all the exercise, and cant just replace what I've used with whatever I like. Anyway, Cate was very helpful, she had obviously thought hard since she first met me ("I'm tired...I don't like vegetables... I want chocolate...and I want to do Ironman").  She had practical suggestions and understood that I wasn't going to turn into a model client overnight...probably not ever.   A permanent ban on the 'c' foods wasn't even mentioned, but the f

Kate Writes: weekend

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Rachel and Mazie West coast Beach  I know its the last week end before the half ironman but I have taken it a little easy.Firstly the long walk turned out to be 2 short walks on west coast beach. But it was beautiful and the dogs enjoyed themselves. I did not huff and puff as I tell my patients it was more of a gentle stroll and a climb over a few rocks. It was a good place to talk and gossip about the world. The next bit of exercise I did was to go to the beautician, have a pedicure and my eye brows waxed. There was a ton of black sand between the nails, but they look so much better now , painted red ready for the event next week. I mean to say its all about the look. I do not think that Norma, Beautician, was that impressed that I was in a rush to make the mid day tide and a little swim in the sea. Swimming into the waves with rescue boat The dead sting ray which I saw yesterday was rotting away nicely. The waves were big and Rachel was surfing well on the waves. I think I

Karen writes: Too much looking around...not enough cycling

I'm sure you know the tune. On the tenth day of training, my cycling gave to me... Ten black clad cyclists Nine thundering cows Eight crazy runners Seven menacing motorists Six mowers mowing Five pukeko Four berry pickers Three sets of roadworks Two tired legs, And a roadcone roosting in a pine tree

Kate writes: competition

There really isn't any competition between me and Karen. She always blitz me, Taupo lake was a one off. I felt good on the ride and Karen did not. Very simple. I had a great ride yesterday. I went to swim school first and had a hard work out for an hour then lunch with the girls and boy! Then Barbara and me went off for a ride. She was ready for a 2 hour ride I said I wanted to do 4 hours or 90 k, so off we went. We rode the back route to Waiuku and 42k later we were at the shell garage, top up the water but it also has the best toilets in the area. Home we went and finished 84km in 3hours 20mins. I was pleased, Barbara thought it was a bit slow.  24k an hour is really good for me. Felt tired though. Today the tide is right and Rachael said she would be the rescue boat. The wind is blowing a gale but I need to go out and swim, after all you never know what the conditions will be like on the day. The water was churned up and when I had my face in the water I could not see anything.

Karen writes: Left behind!

I had a swim, admittedly in the fairly energetic swell down at the beach, and a 2km run afterwards to try to get my reluctant legs to work when back in the vertical position.   Thought I had done ok until I got a text from Kate to say she had had a big ride…fast…and a big swim.  Sigh.   

Karen writes: Sea swim

Good wetsuit swim tonight.   Had been to the end of year school prizegiving for the girls, being a bad mum I turned them over to afterschool care afterwards and selfishly went off to swim (my daughter has since said she doesn't think I'm a 'bad mum').   The tide was half in, the sea flat, my body felt ok and I swam most of the 2.25km without the usual stops to have a rest and muck about.  The local wharf is a bit tricky sometimes though, fishermen cast off the end and not wanting to get tangled up in line with hooks I swim between the poles underneath to avoid them.  It gets a bit scary with the young ones jumping off the wharf and I splash hurriedly through with visions of something heavy landing on me as I emerge on the other side. I got out of the water and tried to run the 200 metres over the road and back to the house.  It's hard to run in a tight wetsuit in the sun after an hour of horizontal exercise, I was puffing and my legs were so heavy they didn’t want

Kate writes: Hot Yoga

I do not stretch very much and have an injury. So when there was an offer of a hot yoga session free to the sports club, off I went. There was about 20 of us in a small room and the heat was amazing. The sweat just poured off us. 40degrees someone said. It was an interesting experience. Not sure if I will go back but it did make me stretch for an hour and half.

Karen writes: Training brain...

The recipe to fix tiredness was...get plenty of rest and eat well.   Last night however, was the graduation of a fabulous young woman I have been mentoring (theoretically, I've probably learned more off her truth be known) for the last four years as part of the YWCA Future Leaders Programme .  It involved a trip into town, buffet dinner, of course dessert, and a late night for me, but very worth it to see S graduate from the programme and get a prize for her volunteering work. She did make me laugh in her thankyou speech, she had to make the comment in front of the nearly 300 strong audience that she thought her mentor was “mad…but in a good way”, making reference to Ironman.    Things ran late, I was shattered, and I had a long drive home so I left before the finish at about 9.30pm.   I picked up my keys, phone, the bunch of flowers given to mentors, and hung my coat over my arm and left.   I got to the carpark and looked at what I was holding and found I had picked up a fork, h

Kate writes: out door pool

 I don't usually swim with the squad on Monday nights as it starts at 7pm and I do try to go home and spend time with the family. But it was too tempting to swim in the large 50m out door pool with wet suit on. The Jubilee pool  is 50m long and not open to the public yet, but Jarrad had a key and a trained life guard, so about 15 of us met up on Monday evening and had an assume swim session. Its great having the length and with no lanes we all swam together , with lots of splashes and kicking. I do tend to hold back a little but still got there in the end. It was a good experience in the wet suit too. Mind you I think the wet suit is too large as water seeped in the neck and up the legs. I,m going to try my friends at the week end to see if that is any better. There are disadvantages in losing weight :)

Karen writes: Nutrition

I had a 2km wetsuit swim in the good-sized waves down at the beach last Friday,  had a reasonable 70km bike ride on Saturday, and the 19km run on Sunday was OK if uninspiring.  In fact, I almost did the half IM over the 3 days, there is no doubt that I am fit enough, it's just that I don’t feel  good right now.   After a discussion with trainer Grant I can be a bit flexible with this week's programme, it asked for 2 training sessions most days but I will be building in a little more rest.  The other thing is to take care of two other neglected areas, the hypothyroid and the food. So I had the blood tests to make sure that the thyroid thing wasn’t an obvious cause, the levels are not far off where they usually are, and then I asked for help with nutrition.   It turns out the rules we teach in health education-land  aren't always that easy to apply to endurance activity.  It doesn't seem to just be a matter of increasing everything across the board, or if you use the fo

Kate writes: training with good friends

I'm still not really running , so the coach said a 2 hour walk. It had to be undulating and not a granny walk. Sunday morning I had Husbear, Rachael and Audrey come with me and the 2 dogs to West coast beach. It was only drizzling a little and off we went. We were sandblasted by the sand and all the hairs on our legs were stripped off, we went climbing over the rocks so it was undulating. Had a shower as the waves crashed over us and the rain started pouring down. It was not a granny walk. Its good to have good friends that will encourage you to train. Thanks Guys.

Kate Writes: There are nice people out there!

Friday is my day off work. I had planned to swim and bike. The sun was shining and I was hoping to go for a ride with my friend Barbara. I was feeling a little low and contemplated just going home, but no I'm going to be an Iron man! I do not give up. So off for a swim I went. Barbara was not there so I was going to have to motivate myself. The Swim was good, as long as I concentrated and did not hit the wall at either end. Garrard works us hard and then has a good word for each of us. Fiona had just had a hand op and so filmed us. I thought I was doing ok until I saw the film. Who was that large fat girl with the orange hat on. Oh that's me! I quickly turned it off. Its much better to have an image of your self that's better than real life.   We go for lunch and coffee after the swim and its a good time to catch up with friends. It started to rain! I hate the rain,but I was in my bike kit and had my new hat, which goes under my bike hat to keep the sun off. I bought it to

Karen writes: Playtime is over

Oh boy, I was so wishing for my next training plan to arrive, Kate has got hers and it shows that she has Christmas eve and Christmas day off!  Now I wish my plan hadn’t arrived, nine sessions scheduled during this week and I have already screwed up, it’s Wednesday and only three have been done…two of those weren’t even according to the programme. I also feel a bit like someone has taken my icecream away, having always enjoyed the luxury of expecting that if I did a big event, I then DESERVED to spend a month (even a week...a day?) eating too much and taking it easy… not this time!    Actually, its not that bad. I have this little bubble of anticipation growing, this continues to be new territory, with every different challenge teaching something new about how the body copes and bringing its own satisfaction and sense of achievement.  It's a pretty cool feeling to be pushing past all previous limits...or it will be, after I have had another sleep...or three!

Kate writes: life after Taupo!

We spend so much time getting ready for an event, it seems like such a big thing and then its over. I feel almost depressed. One friend said "wish I was as fit as you". I do not feel fit, I feel tired, but also elated. Yes I completed Taupo cycle challenge, but now the half ironman is only in 2 weeks. Back into training. Back into planning the next event. What am I going to wear, how wet and cold is it going to be? Have I got enough time to get all my training done? The training is a mind game you need to be onto it the whole time , I know I can do this, I just need to believe.

Karen writes: Blogging

The journey to Ironman is interesting, but so too it turns out is the whole ‘blog thing’.   For example I love watching the different countries show up on the little map indicating where traffic comes from, some countries I have never heard of apparently have a citizen or two who has stumbled across our ramblings from the bottom of the world.  A surge of interest from Russia did have me stumped though…till I read about the blog spamming phenomenon which originates from this country and others.  So as much as I enjoyed the idea that there were hundreds of Russian people following our every move with avid interest…in a peculiarly co-ordinated way…my research put paid to that idea, these are computer generated hits with nefarious intent.  Makes the numbers of readers look good though.   Anyway, about the blog, regardless of whether anyone else ever reads the stuff, it is a terrific way of remembering and reviewing our endurance journey and I would thoroughly recommend the act of 'bl

Kate Writes: Taupo and the wind

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We were all ready for the big trip to Taupo. I had checked the weather out, westerlies it said. That's fine can manage that, no rain. We woke during the night with a gale blowing. Would they cancel? That's all I could think. We rode down to the start line and got to the lake. The wind was so strong I thought I would be blown off my bike. The usual queue of bikes was not there. We were ushered up to the front and waited with the bike riders that were hoping to do it in 6.30 hours. I was very anxious and considered pulling out. One girl near me was crying. But I'm training to be an Ironman, I do not give up, and the wind had stopped around the corner. We started early and that was good, off up the hill we went. I have done a couple of training runs with my multi sports club and they encouraged me to draft and ride in bunches. So into a large bunch I went. Karen was behind but I knew she was OK. Later she caught up and we decided to ride our own ride if we found a good group t

Karen writes: Taupo cycle challenge, what worked and what didn't

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You always look back at what you do for any event, but especially the more challenging ones.  Now this is what I did on the day, Kate did something different, and so would every other rider out there on the course, you listen to other people then figure out what works for you.   Beforehand we talked lots (obviously) about whether we should even go because of the strong winds, and decided on the strategy of forgetting our time goal, putting finishing and safety first.  We committed to not giving up until at least 100km if it was just ‘hard’, because after all, we needed a long ride this weekend, if we missed this one we would just have to go home and do it anyway.  We would have stopped if we thought it was too dangerous however.  Kate had been told that in the wind it is a good idea to keep peddling to improve stability, that seemed to help, as did tucking in with other riders. I ended up wearing: whitecaps on the lake! Light singlet made out of one of those moisture wicking

Karen writes: 2 training events down, one to go

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Home safe after a busy weekend.   The trip to Taupo for the annual cycle challenge starts the excitement, there is something about spotting that first car with bikes on the back or inside or as is the case quite often these days, stuck on the roof.  You feel like you are part of some sort of exodus from the city, on a mission. No problems with the trip itself and we were happy with the accommodation which was a backpackers called Berkenhoff's .  It was clean, friendly, and I don’t know what it’s normally like, but filled with cyclists it was a quiet place to be, especially considering it had it's own bar with plenty of character.   I had to laugh, some people do the backpacker thing as part of miss-spending their youth, I feel like I am taking the opportunity to miss-spend my middleage (not really, I think I have forgotten how to). The ride.  Hmmm... we woke up at about 1am with the doors and windows banging, the trees whipping and the wind howling round the building.  At da

Karen writes: Trip to Taupo

I have just done a whirlwind rush through the house, the children have clothes for the weekend, the dishwasher is on, the pantry has food in it, and I have several bags in a state of being half packed.  I have fiddled with the bike, debated lithium spray versus ordinary crc for the clattery derailer, and done an emergency wash of my favorite riding gloves.   Camera is charging.  Where did I put my helmet? The next question is the weather...the forecast for Taupo says 'showers', but that is what it said for today in Auckland, it was more like heavy rain and the sort of wind only the mad would cycle in.  Better take the base layers, the merino skullcap, the light rain jacket, the heavy rain jacket, the winterweight arm and leg warmers, the shoe covers, the...yes, I am packing half the house here. But it gets worse, not sure what the facilities are where we are staying, will there be towels, cutlery for vital sandwich making, somewhere to store milk for the essential weetbix.

Kate Writes: Swimming

As my coach keeps saying to me its time to get out into the open water! So Karen and myself checked the tides and booked the swim . We squeezed into our wetsuits and ran down to the beach, well in my case hobbled, into this perfect calm water, it was cold. I pulled the wet suit up around my neck and let all the water in. Rude words were said. Off we went, it takes a little time to get into the swim and I lose my breath and huff and puff. We swam under the Pier and headed for a rock, then off to the end of the beach.We turned to come back and the wind had picked up and the waves were bigger. Still a good swim back and we were finished. As we came out of the water there was a lady called Shirley just entering with an ironman wetsuit on. Talking with her she had just done the Sprint tri in Auckland with the big boys and was training for the Ironman. I asked if I could touch her and get good luck off her. She had only just come back into training after breaking her pelvis 2 years ago. S

Karen writes: Looking back at 2010 Taupo Cycle Challenge

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Got such a full-on week this week.   Lots of work lined up, couple of evening meetings, and plenty to do to get things ready at home so as to leave the whanau to their own devices for a few days.  I really look forward to Taupo, it’s the annual girls weekend away, and a very brief intermission from family responsibilities…well…you never really leave responsibility, that’s what phones are for.   Anyway, every year is different, every year is great, however last year stands out in my mind.  It was great to have an excellent ride, knocking yet another half hour off our time, I also caught up with long unseen relatives and friends who were there for the event too. Last year however was significant because of where we stayed. We had left our accommodation to the last minute, Kate managed to make a booking and in the car on the way down she said she “hoped it would be ok”, there was good reason for concern, it was suspiciously cheap!  We got there, and drove down a road which ended with cru

Karen writes: No brain

Glad to hear I am not alone in suffering from a concentration malfunction.   Obviously especially important not to fall under trucks (PLEASE don't do that Kate!), but I seem to be slipping in other slightly less consequential areas right now.  For example, on the weekend ride I got a few km up the road and couldn't find my favourite handkerchief tucked up my right sleeve where it usually is, oh no, 4 more hours on the road sniffing, yuck.  I did a quick personal audit, did I have anything else I could use like ear warmers, scarf, old tissue in a pocket, money for the shop to stop and buy something?  Sadly no.   A bit further along the road I looked at my left sleeve for some reason, what do you know, handkerchief.   This morning though was a classic, I found I've been washing my hair with a bottle of conditioner instead of shampoo all week, picked it up because it said it would provide extra protection to hair exposed to the elements.  It sure did that. Here's hoping

Kate writes: concentration

Having been away for a week end I thought a quick bike ride was a good idea. I have taken Monday off work to support the daughter who has 2 more exams this week, but she was up out of bed and studying. So no excuse. The problem is my brain was working overtime. The right side was talking to left side, do this, no don't do that. Most of the time its OK, but when you are going up a steep hill and forget to change gear and come to a grinding stop  it becomes a problem. The ground starts coming up very fast towards you and you know you are in trouble. Luckily my left foot was out of the pedal and I managed to get it to the ground before I fell. This happened 3 times, missed a truck once  and had to re do several hills. Moral of the story, concentrate more on what you are doing.

Kate Writes: Queenstown

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In the middle of my training I went to Queenstown to a work conference. It was a great week end. I had a few hours off and went walking up hills and along the lake. I was being very fit and very active. I was going to go mountain biking but the meeting I was in went for too long and all I could do that night was put my feet up. But the place is amazing and fitness is the word. I wish I could have done more activities but that's the way it is and work gets in the way. Anyway, it is a place to revisit and get more active in. One person said it was a place that there was something going on all the time. She had been on a 10k race that morning. Another person was very surprised at my activity levels and very encouraging about my Ironman. One of the talks at the conference was about how Christchurch was coping since the earth quake. It was a good reminder that they are still struggling and how grateful they are for people helping out. So if you are thinking of donating to the appeal, pl

Karen writes: Pests

I got out of the house for my last long ride before Taupo as soon as it was light enough to see.   I nearly didnt go, my body was sore after yesterdays deep tissue massage, usually I would allow at least 24-36 hours before exercising after something like that.   But I wasn't going to get my ride if I didn't go Saturday morning, so off I headed for the planned 100km. Got to the bottom of the driveway, left was the flat route, right 'there be hills'.   I went left, but a km along the road I told myself off and turned back the other way. A little way along the road past Beachlands I saw something grey scoot across the road, it was a large rat.  Now the roads around there have big drains alongside them, this rat was going so fast it leapt the drain but miscalculated and crashed head-first into the the clay bank and rolled inelegantly down.   I just caught a glimpse of the bedraggled rodent having a bit of a wobble and then sprinting off into the scrub as I passed, and t

Karen writes: Korma

We have discovered a wonderful Indian takeaway over at the Otara Town Centre, Maharajas kitchen.  I've been retrieving the coins from the ashtray and under the mats in the car, and raiding the emergency stash in the mug on the bookshelf in my office.  I am planning on working my way through the entire menu, the trouble is, too many favorites...I dither between ...something new....this favorite...try something new...or that favorite?    Yes, I know curry is probably not on the list of sensible choices for endurance nutrition, even making the assumption that there is sure to be some protein in there...and with rice being a carbohydrate! I have to say too...there is a small downside.  I've just been for a run. Six hours after lunch I have just korma burped myself around Maraetai, not something I want to repeat in a hurry.

Kate Writes: riding home from the airport

I've had a bit of a quiet week with friends from England staying. So how was I going to fit in my long bike ride? I had a cunning plan... lets drop them off at the airport and ride home. Well anyone who knows where I live will know that is madness. But so what! Off I went on my bike. The computer did not work so I had no idea what I was doing. Then it started to rain and I was only in Manurewa, a long way from home. I did think of ringing the husband up and getting him to pick me up but then Taupo is only next week! The rain stopped and I felt better. 2 hours into the ride I was miserable, I hated riding, what did I think I was doing? 3 hours into the ride the sun was out, I was dry and warm and realised I could ride all the way home. I knew I was mad but hey why not. 90km home and off for a drink with some friends. From my house, which is on the Manukau Harbour I can see the airport, its a long way to ride, but now that I have done it maybe I can ride to work or home from work...

Karen writes: Grumpy customer

The Taupo cycle challenge is next week so it is time for the pre-race sort out of muscles and ligaments and things, try to knock off a few of the aches which accumulate as the training mileage goes up...so I booked (I thought) online for a sports massage.  Now I have been going to these people for a while and love what they do, I don't love their booking service, it seems looking back that almost every appointment I have ever made with them has been messed up by messages being wrongly recorded, something not transferred across from a scrap of paper to the computer, there's been a double-up and I have even managed to make an online booking with a therapist on a day they didn't even work.   I got annoyed (privately) this time, huff...running out of time...grump... thought I had organised my life...whinge....I'd rearranged the training schedule to have time off...grizzle...picking the girls up late...blah blah...and the upshot of it is I need some body maintenance done an

Karen writes: We have donations!

Fundraiseonline  has safely deposited donations received up to now in the DPT bank account, monies we are collecting for the workers taking care of people with diabetes in earthquake recovering  Christchurch .  Thankyou so much to those who have made a donation!  I thought it was pretty brave of Kate to say to her friends and family “please donate in lieu of a birthday present” too, I’m just selfishly glad my birthday doesn’t fall in the timezone so I don’t have to make that decision...with young children I'd end up making donations to myself! When doing something like this, there are two big fears, one is failing, and we have set ourselves multiple tasks we can potentially fail at right up to the big one on March 3 next year (not that we are going to of course!).  But also we had the fear that we may end up raising a grand total of $12.50 for our colleagues in Christchurch , which was just too awful to think about.  Anyway, I am pleased to say that we have well exceeded $12.50 al

Kate Writes: wet suit

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The time had arrived and the wet suit came out! Had it shrunk, would it still fit? I have lost weight so I was very concerned. It started raining so I put off the swim, then the sun came out , so I just had to go out for a swim. The wet suit fitted perfectly. Got in the water and forgot how to swim! My friend Rachel arrived with the rescue boat, and 2 helpers. I'm sure that there are sharks and sting ray, but with a little help from my friends I had a good swim. Now I have to do more of it.

Karen writes: Whanau Sunday

I took my 8yo daughter for a short run tonight, when she gets a bit fitter she will leave me for dust, right now she is speedy, I'm wily.  One trouble I find with having a heavy training commitment is that it takes extra effort to motivate and encourage the girls, I feel quite guilty about how often I don’t have the energy or time.   Today I was wiped out after yesterday’s big ride so I didn’t get out for my long run this morning, that meant the bonus of having enough energy to take Rose for a short run before dinner… I always enjoy sharing something like that with her, I always promise myself we should do it more regularly.   So we came home, my girl bright red and huffing and holding her chest after 10 minutes of ducking and diving, big feet, small feet flying through the bush, but she was claiming to want to do it again, I was feeling like a proud mum.   Then it was a feed of scallops and crayfish caught this morning.   I ate the scallops, I listened to the crayfish being crick

Kate Writes: training in Rotoura

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Well the title sounds good. Sounds like I was at the lake. No I was on holiday with friends. I decided to try and swim in the pool. 10 strokes and I reached the other end. Still I carried on and 100 lengths later I felt I had done something. I also soaked in the hot mineral pools. They must be good for the ankle.

Karen writes: Longest ride before Taupo

128km on the bike this morning, that's the longest ride on the programme before the Taupo challenge which is now 2 weeks away.   Early start, beautiful day.   I took an olfactory tour of the backroads of south-east Auckland .   Funny, I have limited sense of smell, but on the bike I get everything.   Pungent but inoffensive rural aromas...hot tractor, privet flowers, gorse, mown grass, turned dirt.  Past the airport there was avgas, warming tarmac, the fresh smell of light rain.  Closer to Takanini though the deep drains on the side of the road wafted stagnant fumes, with suspicious hints of corruption, I followed the exhaust of too many vehicles, rode through smoke and inhaled unidentified chemical smells.     Home feeling fine, but the legs might not be up to the usual Sunday run.  Just been up the road to pick up the 5yo from a party.  I talked to some other mums, my conversation is very boring, it usually ends up something to do with the days/weeks exercise efforts or what nex

Karen writes: The morning after...

When will I learn?  I need to sneak up on fitness with patience, not leap on it and wrestle it into submission like I did with yesterday’s energetic swim.   I’m seriously stiff this morning, there are muscles protesting which I didn’t even realise I had in my arms and shoulders, and even my stomach and sides hurt!     But I am pretty happy.  I have no worries now about the swim part of the half Ironman in 5 (!) weeks time.

Karen writes: Think I'm hooked

Oh no, swimming could be my new favourite exercise, I did 2km in the Otara pool this afternoon which was an excellent antidote to a seriously brain draining workday.  In the first 20 minutes I worked with the hand paddles and no kicking, then flippers with no arm use, but then I started on some freestyle, planning on completing a further 10 lengths. Next thing I was powering through the water feeling great for a further 40 lengths.  I didn’t want to get out of the water,  probably would have kept going to see how far I could manage if the girls hadn’t been waiting to be picked up from after-school care…funny that.  Now given my complaint has always been that "swimming is so boring", that is one BIG change for me!  Tomorrow is another challenging day for work but it is an essential rest day from exercise.  On Saturday I have the dreaded 130km bikeride programmed, and if I can manage, a run on Sunday.    The weekend weather forecast says ‘partly cloudy’, so I can’t look for an

Kate Writes:last day at school

Yesterday was the last day at school for my beautiful 17 year old daughter. A little tear was in my eye when she was on the stage singing the school song with all her Heart. This I will not see again.It seems strange how fast time goes by and not that long ago she was a new born. This reminds me of how far I have come. 6 years ago, I think, I started with a special K triathlon, could not swim 300m as it was too shallow and people walked faster than I could swim.I could not run 3 km. Now I say its only 2k swim and its only a half marathon. How life has changed. I  wish all students and their families well over the next few weeks and exam time. May the future hold wonderful exciting things for them all.

Karen writes: I feel like I am at last swimming!

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Its not often I say this, but I had an enjoyable pool session this morning.  1500 metres, mostly freestyle (or using flippers/no arms or paddles/no legs).   I had been a bit worried and thinking I would have to do the entire 2km of the half Ironman with my inefficient mishmash of alternating strokes, but I think the 'aha' moment has at last arrived.   Kate…well…she would appear to be part-fish…slicing through that water and leaving me waaay behind. Now it is unfortunately time to swim self pity as we admit defeat.  Diabetes Projects Trust has lost the coveted Golden Croc with the Mangere Eye clinic people having outdone us on the Feetbea t challenge. We have had to officially hand the trophy over.  Unfortunately Kate and myself have had a bit of a detrimental effect on the team totals, we spend all our long training hours swimming and running and cycling, but not walking which is what counts for Feetbeat.  Next year we will just have to win it back, well done Mangere Eye cl

Karen writes: Problem solving for upset stomach

After a poor start, last week has turned out a success.   On Friday afternoon I had my longest training ride ever, 113km, and followed it up with a pretty good19km run on Sunday morning.  Most importantly, I think I have now figured out what has been upsetting my stomach in recent months, my GP has been testing for everything from Guardia to much more sinister options…but I have done some experimenting this weekend and think I have sorted things. Anyway, the previous weekend after the 101km ride and 20km run things weren't good, my insides felt dreadful, and I took a few days to recover.  I have felt like this before, but usually only after a big event, like the half ironman last year.   Looking back on the weekend, I had done a few things which were out of the ordinary in order to meet what I had guessed were the needs of the extended training distances.  I had taken a bottle of undiluted sports drink on the bike, and used two different types of energy supplements (bars and gels)