I am really enjoying my riding at the moment - the R3 is an absolute dream to ride, however HI is still not keen on getting out on her “roadie” as she doesn’t feel as safe and secure as she did on her mountain bike. If you can’t beat them you have to join them, so I went out and brought this ….

… it feels so different to ride compared to the R3, all heavy and robust - I can see how HI gets the security thing. I sense it is going to take some getting used to. I will probably spend some time riding around the local streets before taking it “off road”. Then again a trip to the National Park and hitting the trails in the showers that we are supposed to be having all weekend does sound like good fun .

For some unknown reason I thought we had pretty heavy downpours in Sydney, but they are nothing like what I have seen over the past couple of days. Christchurch was nearly washed away yesterday afternoon, and it continues to pour down now.

My plane to take me back to Auckland is flying around the South Island trying to find somewhere to land as Queenstown is under snow and the passengers need to get off somehwere other than Christchurch.

Fingers crossed it gets here soon, otherwise my whole day is going to be in bits and I will be struggling to make my 6PM flight back to Sydney.

No exercise at all since I have been here, way too cold to even contemplate heading out for a run. I did spot one lone runner in the park this morning, pissng down with rain, windy and he seemed to be at home rumming in his shorts and singlet - mate you need your head looking at!!

Todd - to answer your question the R3 is like sex on wheels, go for it man you wont regret it for a second.

…. was the sound advice I got yesterday - the weather in NZ has taken a turn for the worse. I did see the news about the storms in Auckland over the weekend, so I knew I was in for a cold snap, but then i find out yesterday that Christchurch managed a maximum of 4 degrees on Monday - WTF!!! Looks like I will be wearing all of my clothes at the same time again.

I sense this is going to be an interesting few days, with some of the staff over there being relieved that I am going and one or two others not so happy as there life is going to change dramatically. Oh well you can’t win them all as they say.

No exercise at all for me this week so far. A few last minute change of plans on Monday saw my window for riding gone in a flash. The rain yesterday morning didn’t help, and a 5AM taxi booking and a late dinner in Auckland tonight doesn’t help either. I feel like a fat pig at the moment and I must start to do something about it - I have even contemplated running at lunchtimes, but then I think about all the things I get done during that time and that I will either have to stay later at the office to do them all, or start working again when I get home.

The cold and wet weather doesn’t help either, hopefully I will be a bit more motivated when spring and summer arrive, otherwise I will be looking like a blimp again in no time. I have resigned myself that some of my goals for this year are way out of reach at the moment, so I am going to go back to square one with my running and have a slow steady build up again - if I can get in 2 or 3 5k runs during the week and one decent 10 - 15K run over the weekend with some good rides thrown in then I will be happy. Once I have got into a good routine then I will start to add some swimming and other core work - with work being so full on a bit unpredictable with travel its hard to know if I start training for something that I will even be around for the event, which then affects my motivation to put in the hard yards.

Life has been full on, as usual. Running has taken a back seat, mainly due to the arrival of a new shiny Cervelo R3, which has taken up huge chunks of my free time. I have also been suffering with a painful right instep for some unknown reason. I can’t say the pain is directly related to running, as some days I can run with no adverse effect and then others, I can only manage a few metres - very odd.

Since last posting I have been to the US a couple of times - Florida last week was a long way to go for 3 days, but it was great to run in shorts and singlet and have the sun beating down on my back. I am off to NZ later this week, as my boss decided I needed more responsibility and a few more challenges in my life. I fear that my traveling will reach new levels over the next few months.

I took HI away for the weekend, as I had to celebrate my birthday alone and half way round the world the week before. We had a really relaxing time and spoilt ourselves something shocking. There were a couple of real special “moments” which involved some total fuckwit wannabe in the restaurant on Saturday night - the first was when she called the waiter over trying to work out why her boyfriends entree had been served and she didn’t have anything to eat - he was very cool and calm as he explained to her that he hadn’t served her anything because she hadn’t actually ordered an entree - what a fucking tool - HI nearly pissed herself.

This was then followed by a great discussion over the wine list, when she announced for everyone to hear that they didn’t want anything too heavy, as in a cab sav, so they would probably have a shiraz - lady, I have some advice for you - get back in the gutter where you obviously belong.

After much deliberation I have finally managed to narrow my lengthy list of potential tracks down to the 12 that I need to completes HI’s challenge.

My all time fave was the easiest one to commit to paper, without a shadow of doubt it would have to be the best 3 minutes of pure Ray Davies brilliance “You really got me” by The Kinks. The amazing sounds of the guitars were created when Ray took to slicing the cones of his amp to produce the distorted noise.

My “sound tracks”, in no particular order are: -

1. Rebel Rebel - David Bowie

2. Blue Monday - New Order

3. Private Life - Grace Jones

4. Judith - A Perfect Circle

5. Owner of a lonely heart - Yes

6. New Year’s Day - U2

7. Being Boiled - Human League (original line up)

8. Ziggy Stardust - Bauhaus

9. Pretty vacant - Sex Pistols

10. Tainted Love - Soft Cell

The red faced, you can’t really like that do you, my God you even know all the words is Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung, which is just slightly better, by a miniscule whisker, than quoting a song by Phil Collins.

My training and diet had been going really well until I had to travel over the last week. Tonight was the first time I had eaten at home for 8 days. Which brings me to MY question for the night - why is it when you order fish when eating out they “insist” on serving it with hot chips!!! What’s wrong with these people, there is nothing wrong with steamed vegetables, but can you get anyone to cook them, not on your life.

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of runs but nothing spectacular. Never mind I did run tonight, and I will be dragging my lard arse out of bed early in the morning to ride for the first time in 10 days.

After telling the world that I was going to run an ride today in last nights post, I have to put my hands up and say I failed to execute the plan.

Everything started off well enough, up at 4.15 out of the door before 4.30 and off into the dark chilly morning for a 40K ride. By the time I had covered the first 20K my feet and hands were so cold I thought that they were about to drop off. I can’t ever remember my toes being as cold in my life. If I had been close to home I would have pulled the pin and called it a day. 

As I was probably as far away from home as I could have been, I had no alternative but to keep going. Each turn of the pedal was really painful, so you can only imagine the relief I felt when I had the wind at my back and my toes had some shelter.

I had set out to cover 40K but as I neared home and saw I had covered 37K I thought enough was enough and I could not be arsed to tool around to make up the extra distance.

Work was as full on as usual, and I had little energy for swimming by the time got home, so I settled for baking a fresh snapper and steaming some  veggies for dinner - very yummy. My diet has been pretty good over the last week, and I have managed to record a loss on the scales, which makes me very happy and even  more determined to get below that magic 76kgs mark. 

… due to being awake around 4.20 this morning, I managed to squeeze out 11k, be back home and showered before dawn had even began to break today.

Fark it was cold at that time of the morning, as well as being very black without any moonlight. The wind was also blowing a bit. For no known reason when getting my running gear on I threw on a lop sleeved top over my singlet, not something I normally do, but was I glad that I did. The weather is so unpredictable here at the  moment. Yesterday it was really warm during the day but it must have dropped off significantly during the night.

Legs felt great following yesterdays ride, and to my delight my chest didn’t flare up with the wind or cold - the two things that start it off quicker than anything.

The beach was as dead as, there was only one other brave soul out running - he was certainly braver than me as he was running bare footed in the sand - his toes must have been like blocks of ice, cause my fingers were that cold they were tingling with pain.

Plans for tomorrow - another 40K ride before work and a swim some time in the evening.

Having made the decision that I want to have a real crack at the triathlon business, I have been really motivated over the last couple of weeks - lots of running and riding, including a 62K ride this morning.

My sinusitis has finally settled, after some pretty heavy duty antibiotics, steroids and some wicked nasal spray - for the first time in a very long time (at least 2 years) I can actually smell again.

No I don’t smell you fools, but I can tell what things smell like again. Spent yesterday wandering around the green grocers picking up herbs, fruit and veggies sniffing at them as if I was one of those sniffer dogs they use at the airport to catch drug traffickers. The pleasure I got from being able to smell fresh mint was immense.

Now my head doesn’t feel as if it is going to explode, my nose isn’t over sensitive and my chest is now clear it is time to make a return to the pool. I know I have to work hard on my swimming, so there is no room for excuses any more.

Just to make sure I keep on the straight and narrow I have secured the assistance of a full time pro triathlete, not so much as a coach, but rather a mentor and guide. As he will be in Europe for the next 6 months, there will be many sms’s, emails and phone calls over the coming months to ensure I keep on track.

We have set some realistic goals for the next 2 years, which I believe are very achievable providing I can fit in work around the training. There are going to be some very tough sessions along the way, but I am really looking forward to ticking the boxes as we meet each goal along the way.

To make the journey to the end of my plan all that more enjoyable I have been looking at buying a new bike. OK so I haven’t had the one I am riding for very long, but it had been 28 years since I had ridden a bike, so the decision not to spend a huge amount of money was a wise one.

But that was then and this is now - I am hooked well and truly, and as there is going to be a lot of time spent riding over the next 2 years I have decided to treat myself and buy one of these

Hopefully I will have it in my hot little hands in the next few weeks.

… the legs are on fire again today. Another early morning ride and an evening run today. The legs felt pretty good when I feel out of bed this morning. I set of for a “recovery” ride on a pre-determined route through the city. I had forgotten to take into account the fact the “small” incline from Rushcutters Bay to the top of Kings Cross takes a slightly different route than the one I take in the car, and without 3.5 litres of Mercedes Benz engine at my disposal I was going to have to work bloody hard to get to the top in one piece.

It was some relief I managed to roll over the top of the hill and spent the free ride down William Street catching my breath, before I set about riding through the streets of the city. I find it fascinating watching the city come at life at 5AM, or in one case ending the day in the custody of Mr Plod for throwing a few punches at the gay couple walking down Oxford Street - what an idiot.

After a pretty full on day at the office I had an enjoyable jaunt around our Waterfront and Golf course loop with HI. The weather has taken a dramatic turn towards winter, as I needed a long sleeve top on as well as my singlet. By the time we got home I was wishing I had put my gloves on as my hands were like two blocks of ice.

AJH - as much as I would love to do “Round the Bay in a Day” this year I do not think my work schedule will play ball, however I am still keen to have this on my to do list for 2009. 

My mojo has returned with huge bang. Since last Monday I have managed 4 rides (114 k’s) 3 runs (17 k’s) and a 600 metre swim.

Out of all the sessions the swim gave me the greatest cause for concern - not so much the actual swimming as I have managed to maintain my “technique” but my heart rate was through the roof from the first few strokes until the end. Oddly enough my breathing wasn’t out of control but man was my heart pounding at the end of each lap. My HR could have been elevated from the Ventolin I inhaled before diving in to the water, but it did seem excessively high even with the use of the inhaler.

My legs feel a bit trashed tonight after a 30 odd k ride this morning and a gentle run this evening. To be honest I think they are still suffering from the huge workout I gave them on Thursday when I took the day off from work and had a very enjoyable jaunt around the Royal National Park.

The scenery is certainly spectacular but man those hills are a killer, especially the one from Audley back up to the freeway. I did notice that the hills closer to home didn’t seem that bad today, either the pain of Thursday is stuck firmly in my head, or my legs and general bike fitness are on the improve.

The plan for the coming week is to spend more time riding each morning and running at night. I am keen to shed some unwanted kilos by the middle of May for the SMH half and fitting in a ride each day should have a dual benefit of increasing cardio fitness without over stressing the joints as well as burning some extra calories.

I must try and find a spare moment to fit in another swim to see what happens with the heart rate. 

My final observation for the day - riding has to the best best excuse for eating snakes at 6:30 in a morning.