Karen writes: Runner meets triathlete.
Today was long run day, and I made the mistake of not thinking about the fact that the Auckland half Ironman participants were heading off on their bikes on the same stretch of road I was going to be spending 3 hours plodding along in the sun.
It wasn't a problem heading towards Clevedon, but when I turned around and came back I was running straight into the oncoming stream of cyclists. While leaping into the drain and back out again played havoc with my legs, that was almost made up for by having the opportunity to play one of my favorite games, 'mad smiley runner'.
How you play the game is you smile at everyone you see and see if you can get a response. Sometimes you wave, sometimes sing out a cheery "hi there". As expected, the fastest ones with the flashest gear didn't apparently see me, I got about a 1 in 20 strike rate from that lot. As the field spread out though it was a different story, there were surprised smiles back, some "hello's", and even a couple of "go runner" calls.
It was a long, slow run, and I ended up stopping regularly to stretch as the muscles weren't feeling that flash. Poor run it might have been, but it was profitable on the sports equipment front. I found 2 different sorts of C02 bike pumps with full cartridges, a small bonus for spending rather a lot of time trying to stay out of the way of whirring wheels by struggling along in the drains (plus I can say I was being a tidy kiwi!). I think those pumps are going to need future design consideration, I remember commenting how many were on the road at the Taupo half Ironman and now wonder how hazardous those little pressurised cylinders might be if left exposed to the elements for too long.
Speaking of triathletes, older daughter has just finished packing her transition box for tomorrow's weetbix tryathlon. It's an early start for the whanau to get into St Helliers, hopefully the rain will have stopped by then!
It wasn't a problem heading towards Clevedon, but when I turned around and came back I was running straight into the oncoming stream of cyclists. While leaping into the drain and back out again played havoc with my legs, that was almost made up for by having the opportunity to play one of my favorite games, 'mad smiley runner'.
How you play the game is you smile at everyone you see and see if you can get a response. Sometimes you wave, sometimes sing out a cheery "hi there". As expected, the fastest ones with the flashest gear didn't apparently see me, I got about a 1 in 20 strike rate from that lot. As the field spread out though it was a different story, there were surprised smiles back, some "hello's", and even a couple of "go runner" calls.
It was a long, slow run, and I ended up stopping regularly to stretch as the muscles weren't feeling that flash. Poor run it might have been, but it was profitable on the sports equipment front. I found 2 different sorts of C02 bike pumps with full cartridges, a small bonus for spending rather a lot of time trying to stay out of the way of whirring wheels by struggling along in the drains (plus I can say I was being a tidy kiwi!). I think those pumps are going to need future design consideration, I remember commenting how many were on the road at the Taupo half Ironman and now wonder how hazardous those little pressurised cylinders might be if left exposed to the elements for too long.
Speaking of triathletes, older daughter has just finished packing her transition box for tomorrow's weetbix tryathlon. It's an early start for the whanau to get into St Helliers, hopefully the rain will have stopped by then!
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