Karen and Kate's journey to Ironman and beyond

I'm pretty happy to see the end of 2012, it's had some high points and they have been pretty high, its had its low points, nuf said.   2013, the important question of course is not whether or not we will be Ironmen, but where to put the tattoo afterwards? Anyway, the normally outside dog has snuck inside and is quivering under the sofa so fireworks celebrations must started. I hope everyone has an excellent New Year and cant say thankyou enough for all the support, advice, and good thoughts in 2012.

Now it is a difficult sort of decision I am faced with right now.  Do I get serious today, Monday, first day of a new week, or tomorrow, Tuesday, first day of the new year?   Being an expert procrastinator I find no real resolution works for me unless it starts on a Monday, but...its New years day tomorrow, doesn't that mean I  should take advantage of today being the last slack day of the old year?  I read Kate's blog, she is being serious about her training, but then her coach is tougher on her than mine is on me...well, my coach is me...I'm notoriously soft. I was actually quite pleased with myself having done a pleasant 50km ride in the wind this morning, until I read that Kate had done twice that.  But in my defence I did have an equipment failure, I was riding through Clevedon on the way out on the only patch of smooth tarseal in the district and I became aware of a funny kerthump (technical term) sensation coming from the back of the bike, I stopped and had a look,

My Challenge this week was to meet my targets with training. Sunday was a 4hour bike ride! the Daughter woke me at 5.30, as she was off to work to say it was not raining and I should get on my bike. 10 minutes later the heavens opened and down came the rain so I just pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep. When I woke at 8am it was a lovely day and so a quick breakfast and off to Waiuku for a ride. I have a nice route that I like that takes in the back roads of Waiuku, about 20k into the ride I turn off to Otaua, long straight road. Saw a lady riding in an orange jumper. I thought that would be nice if it was my friend Barbara, who is also doing Ironman and it was. Great to have company and off we went. Much more fun with a friend. We went down to the mine with the wind behind us and then back up to Patamahoe. By this time we had run out of water. So the shopping in the corner shop was- 2 bottles of coke, 1 bottle of water, 1 bottle of power aid, bag of lollies a banan

I headed off for my Christmas hike over the Lion range (from Bream Head to Busby Head) then a run back to Mt Manaia with a degree of trepidation.  I’m carrying several injuries, the knee was worrying me most, I was planning around 5 hours with some very serious climbing, I kept asking myself was that a silly thing to do, or was I just getting on with what needed to be done? Anyway, headed along Ocean beach with the sun just bathing the ocean, the surfers were up early and out sitting on their boards waiting to catch a wave.  Up the hill towards the WW2 radar station is a slow slog, before I got there though I found myself climbing into the low cloud, what clammy enervating stuff that was, I stayed wet for another 2 hours of up and down and couldn’t see more than a few meters ahead.  I must have been the first person along the track, my face and arms collected the spider webs strung across the track and I kept expecting to catch the spiders too but fortunately didn't, perhaps th

Its been a different Christmas for many reasons, but what is always good about Christmas is the presents :) . There was a theme this year. From my nieces a bedside light with tinker bell in it that lights up and from my friend Karen fairy lights. They both have special meanings and I cried when I opened them both. My daughter gave me a charm for my bracelet with a pink ribbon on, symbolising breast Cancer awareness. My Mum has been recently diagnosed with Cancer and its a reminder to enjoy every day. My Sister , who is away in the UK seeing mum, also gave me a charm of a heart with a koru on it.   Friends and family are very special and we need to let them know. I was out on my bike this morning in the rain! and 2 little boys shouted at me did you get your bike for Christmas, so I shouted back of course Santa was good to me. They laughed and told me that they also had new bikes. Its amazing what conversations you have even when out on your bike. Karen said that she was not doing much

Up north for Christmas with the whanau.  As usual it has been lovely to spend time with the my folks, brother, the niece and nephew.  Of course I have eaten far too much, not as bad as Christmas celebrations can be, but that little bit of trifle, a little bit of pav, a little bit of jelly, a little bit of cream...a little bit of each different type of chocolate revealed in everyone's presents...fresh plums, cherries, several khaki coloured cupcakes with splodges of green icing which were put together by the girls as this years version of a Christmas cake, all this can stack up on top of the healthiest of dinners.  And if you don't eat everything, there are leftovers to come so you just shift the problem. When I am here I like to run up my mum and dad's garden ornament, a small mountain called Manaia.  Usually I do it most days and push a bit, but this time I am pacing myself, my dodgy knee keeps reminding me that I should be a bit careful on the hills, both up and down.  

Its my first break from work in a long time. What shall I do? Train of course! but the storms coming so I can not go out on the bike. So off I went to see Norma for my feet and eyebrows to be done. I mean to say I must go faster with red toe nails. Training will start tomorrow :)

I had never been on a poker run before, so it was a new experience for me. We could run or bike. Well its only 4 days since the half, so I thought biking would be the best option. There were only 4 of us on the ride and about 10 runners. The bikers were fast or me that's slow. We rode for 10k and picked up a card, then again another 10 k and another card. the last two stops were with the run group so were not very far. It was a fun way to spend a few hours and took away the pain of the legs. But today the legs feel better so maybe it was for the best. I did not win anything at the poker though.

DON'T... put a banana skin in a cycle shirt pocket on a hot day while bike-riding, then leave the shirt in a plastic box in the sun for hours, then pack the box into a car for a day, then get home and leave the box to be sorted out later...just don't!

Well what can I write about the weekend. It was Hard, Hot and Hilly. Swim: the water was still the buoys were big and I had a great swim. 48 mins a minute slower than last year but no panic attacks felt good. Bike: Weather hot, had a nice ride out, thought I was doing OK at 24k an hour for the first part out around the lake, then the hills and lack of energy. I had gels and sandwiches but no caffeine, maybe that's the problem!  Came over a hill and loads of little rocks on the road, thought I was going to fall but no, still on the bike. There were 10 bikes behind me but no one in front. It can be quite lonely out there. I averaged 22k on the way home. But it was hilly! Not happy with that, need to work on food intake and drink and keep the speed up. 4 hrs and 9 mins - 11 mins slower than last year. Run:  By now the sun was up. I had drunk all my water 3 bottles and had a 4th bottle of hot water to drink at transition. I really did not want to run! I walked up the first hill

Home, washing machine churning, suitcases being unpacked a piece at a time, sports gear box still unopened until I feel much braver. The event, wow that was so HARD!  The new course turned out to have a few more hills, great big ones and the run was a nice bush track which was also noticeably more...um...challenging (read 'hilly')...than previously, and throw in the wonderful sunshine especially down in the still gullys it was a kinda warm, enervating experience. We stayed in a neat old two story house in the heart of Rotorua as we have in previous years, it has lots of rooms and the kids enjoy the freedom of all that space after living in a shoebox sized house (less housework I always say) for the rest of the year.  Is it my imagination or does Rotorua have a lot of cockroaches? I've been evicting them from various boxes and there was even one which traveled to work with me on the car bonnet this morning.  Anyway, the night before the event we had a lovely Thai dinner,

I looked at the training plan, I looked at what I did last week, what do you think, was there the remotest bit of resemblance between what I was meant to do and what actually happened? Um, nope. Last week I took Monday OFF training, Tuesday 1500m swim and 60km bikeride, Wednesday OFF because of an evening meeting (I could have had a morning swim but found excuses not to...like not wanting to smell like a swimming pool and mess my hair up...yes...pathetic), Thursday 50 minute read on the spinbike, Friday OFF, Saturday 2km swim, Sunday 19km run.  Being my own coach I have to ask "where did 3 days off come from, they weren't in the plan?" and "what happened to the 'brick' or back-to-back sessions which were?" This week, Monday OFF, Tuesday 50km bikeride, Wednesday 8km reluctant run, today...a short sea swim. That makes 3 training sessions out of the scheduled 6 and not one was the right amount.  Oops. Tonight is is decision making time because for tri

I have a cold. Its lasted at least a week. Very little training has gone on. I now believe that I can not swim, the bike has disappeared into the garden and running has got to be a joke! Well that's how I feel. But tomorrow I need to pack for Rotorua half Ironman. the brain has got to get back into the I can do mode. The sunshine is helping, but then again will it be too hot! Watch this space.....

I am a carnivore.  I have over the years had various 'goes' at being a vegetarian, but having usually taken the easiest route I tended to make my health worse rather than better.  I also came to terms with the fact that not having had the moral or philosophical drive to permanently swap such cultural treasures as bacon, roast beef, and cottage pie for tofu and lentils meant that the non-meat eating discipline was never likely to become a way of life for me. My most recent effort was a wee while ago now, spurred on by research suggesting that a mainly vegetarian diet has advantages for health generally and...bonus...sporting performance.  I purchased a vegetarian cookbook in a secondhand shop and sat in the car while waiting for an appointment, eagerly perusing the contents for irresistible recipes for meals to put on the family table to start our new healthier life.  Sadly there wasn't anything irresistible, there wasn't anything uncomplicated, there wasn't anythi

Anthony from the Whitiora diabetes service visited the team other day while I was out of the office to drum up support for his latest scheme.  Anthony is a specialty podiatrist and he wants to buy a piece of important equipment to help out with providing footcare for patients with diabetes, so he is undertaking an amazing challenge to raise awareness...and money.  When I first heard of his plan I thought I had made a mistake, he wants to run 1000km in 10 days.... no, cant possibly have heard that right! So I went over to his clinic to buy some of his raffle tickets and just check up on the facts.  Yes, he is running 1000km in 10 days, no, he doesn't think it is a big deal. Not...a....big...deal.  From my own perspective I couldn't cycle 1000km in 10 days!  It took me a whole 4 months to run 1000km according to my sportband thingy and I was pretty impressed with that. Some little things to consider...1000km is a long life for a pair of running shoes...running at 5 minutes pe

Is it inspiration or bl...dy mindedness that gets us through. I think its a bit of both. I am tired after 2 days of hard training. Do I give up or just keep going. I know I feel better for the workouts and I feel like I've done something when I get home and almost too tired to eat, but is it good for you! I think its all in the mind, mental strategy is so important. Believing that you can do it and can finish is so important. I'm having today off as I have a committee meeting to thank the sponsors for the recent Ironmaiden event that we ran in Waiuku last month. A few beers and meat sounds like ideal recovery food. Then back on track ready for the half Ironman.

I loathe the swimming pool.  With my severely cut down swim training I've been putting my effort into a few slow wetsuit swims in the sea, gently putting my dodgy shoulder under pressure to see how it copes with greater time in the water, not worrying about harder work just aiming to achieve the distance with a minimum of stress.  This week I just couldn't see how I could swim in the sea, the tide is way out in the mornings and evenings all week and it wont be possible to swim on the weekend. So I had to go to the Otara pool before work today.  Older daughter is off to school camp, tenting, so it was a bit muddly getting last minute items packed for her, is there enough sunscreen because its shaping up to be hot outside and what's the plan for the expected torrential rain?  Yep, good old Auckland smorgasbord weather, just pack everything.  Anyway, finally she was ready to go and I was too.  I had my togs under my clothes, wearing jandals, bag with undies/ towel/ toiletrie

Last week was a funny week, it was recovery from the not-insignificant effort of riding round Lake Taupo, but it was also about ramping up the triathlon aspect of training to get ready for the Rotorua half Ironman which is now just 2 weeks away.  I ended up doing - Monday 20 min sea swim, Tuesday 30 min run, Wednesday 41 min swim/run (event), Thursday off, Friday 90 min hill run/30 min spin, Saturday 2 hr bike-ride, and Sunday 2 1/4 hour bush run. Not enough of the right things would be the way to summarise that effort. As usual the hardest part is fitting in what you need to do, and last week was a classic, things like meetings, children's activities, inconvenient tides, and trying to separate the longer activities out meant training didn't go as planned.  Take the bikeride on Saturday evening which was shorter than it was meant to be because of available time, it was nice enough but sluggish after a challenging mid-distance run the day before. Then I followed the cycle up w

I have had a busy week, loads of swimming and feeling a lot happier about open water swimming. So Sunday arrived and I though I better get out and have a ride on the bike.I packed the bike into the car got all my stuff together and was just about to leave when I realised I had no hat to wear. I think its in the back of Karen's car, well I will have a look tomorrow. Lucky my brother in law had a spare one so off I went. I had a good ride 2 hours and back to Nicks for coffee.

The wind was gusting 40km per hour, every time I looked outside the office today it seemed to get worse, so much for the planned bike ride this evening.  Anyway, driving home it was clear that going out on two wheels was just plain stupid, so a run and spin were the substitute. I got home and changed into the new penguin suit...otherwise known as a sleeveless 'tri-suit', 'onesie' or the "you cant POSSIBLY be wearing that outside can you?".  It consists of lightly padded tri-pants and a form fitting singlet stuck together, sort of like long legged togs, and it was a super bargain from the $20 bin at a bike shop in Cambridge last weekend. I couldn't leave it there, it was the right size, Orca brand which is really good, and down from $180 so it seemed like an excellent way to try out something novel without massive investment.  The first time I wore it was on Wednesday for the Stroke and Stride, it went on under the wetsuit and had the advantage of not thr

With a bit of complicated organisation Kate and me managed to get in to Mission Bay after work on Wednesday to try out one of the long running ' Stroke and Strid e' series.  These are regular events through summer, with differing length swim and run distances.  This week we got the 750m swim straight out into the harbour, and a 4km run along the waterfront towards St Helliers.  We had looked at the times for previous events and decided they were all far too fast, pessimistically setting our own targets to be right at the back of the pack.  We also wondered what to wear?  Was it the sort of place you turned up letting it all hang out in a tri-suit, could you strip down to bra and tri-pants getting out of your wetsuit, or were conservative togs/shorts/t-shirt the norm?  Turned out it was all of those, lots of people wonderfully confident in their bodies of all shapes and sizes but as a friend who observed the event did comment afterwards (referring to a popular TV icecream ad )..

Went for a swim this evening to test out the shoulder before the planned swim/run session in the city on Wednesday night.  No point in turning up I figured if I couldn't manage the 750m so I estimated a half hour session in the sea would be a good trial, Kate has already beaten me soundly in one discipline in the last few days, I would rather minimise the margin by which she does it if I can. I squeeeezed into the wetsuit, and headed over the road and set off at a good pace in a quiet sea.  As usual it took a little while to find some sort of rhythm, feeling ok, breathing good, no particular pressure on the problem shoulder and then THUNK. YES, thunk (cue theme from jaws here).  I'd impacted something solid and when I had finished yelling and sinking and came up to see what I  had hit I became aware of two things.  One was the bemused looking shag staring back at me with little beady eyes, his long beak inches from my face... I quickly filtered through my brain to remember

Well what a title! I dreamt this one up as I was cycling around lake Taupo. There were just so many men to thank for helping me along. There was John, Paul, Eric, Mathew, Evan, Morris, John so many Johns I can not remember them all. It might seem a bit strange, a bit like a song... 'to all the men I have loved and lost' but it seems like that in a way. Riding around the lake you need friends, drafting helps so much. But you have to pick the person that you are going to draft carefully. They have to know what they are doing, not stopping for a drink or just because they could. I met Evan just outside Taupo. He had a bronze number on, which meant he had completed 10 + rides. I followed him for some time and then noticed his bottle of gel was leaking down his backside and down his leg. Sticky. I rode up close to him to let him know. I kept seeing him over the next few hours. He was Welsh and had the welsh dragon on his water bottles. You learn alot from looking. He came in a few

We only have one more big event before Ironman having on Saturday knocked off the Taupo cycle challenge for another year.  Kate...mutter mutter mutter....no competition here...as predicted, thrashed me, coming in with an amazing under 7 hour performance of 6 hours 57.  I managed a respectable 7 hours 13, knocking half an hour off last years time.  These times might not sound great to some people, but remember our first effort in 2007 took nearly 10 hours and we have gotten progressively faster and faster each time. It was an interesting experience in more ways than one.  The anxiety in the week before about the likely impact of the volcanic activity came to nothing, the only real reported impact seemed to be in one of the enduro riders (multiple laps of the lake) pulling out on Thursday night because of ash in the eyes, but otherwise we saw no evidence that something big was going on.  That was in spite of looking hard at the peaks in the distance hoping to see a plume of smoke or

I put a few pictures of the ocean swim on face book.   It seems as I have got lost. But a friend of mine, well is she a friend! did this to them!       I mean to say.......       I'm back swimming tonight! we will have to watch out!

You know how we were worrying about that minor thing...a volcanic eruption...interrupting the planned weekend bike-ride (of ourselves and 10,000 others) around lake Taupo?  Well, apparently the  Te Maari crater on  Mt Tongariro has just erupted and is busy chucking clouds of ash at the sky just next door to the lake. The question is...when will the one we were actually expecting, Mt Ruapehu, follow suit? Photo of Tongariro, today, November 21. 1.30pm We do keep finding novel ways of sabotaging our endurance careers don't we?  All is not lost however, last report was that the wind was blowing the ash clouds away from Taupo, long may that continue.

If I had been a bit more worried, and obviously acted on the worry, a month ago, would I feel better prepared for Saturday's ride?  It is a bit like preparing for an exam, you know (have always been told?) that if you do a little bit every day in a planned way things WILL GO WELL.  Actually, I'm not sure that is always how things work, the best laid plans have a habit of turning custard-like regardless of the amount of preparation but you do OK on the day anyway. As I am sure will be the case on Saturday.  The PLAN is...everything packed on Thursday... pleasant trip to Taupo on Friday stopping at Cambridge for a light and nutritious snack...check in to the accommodation, unpack and organise everything...have a leisurely and sensible dinner...check equipment, and retire for an early night.  In the morning have a leisurely breakfast...ensure the carefully calculated type and amount of food for energy is packed in line with the well thought out plan for eating and drinking... he

Bike ride on Friday evening, did the hard hills around Whitford, out to Takanini for those long wind blown straights, off to Clevedon then finally out to Kawakawa bay and back. Thinking all the while...the plan says 100km...should I do that or should I do what my body says...go home now.  My shoulder hurt, a bursitis problem from earlier in the year which never really went away, but it was possible to ignore the occasional twinge while I wasn't attempting to strength train or doing much in the way of swimming...hello...triathletes normally swim...now what?  Why, the usual, stretch, avoid doing the things that hurt (like sleeping on my favourite side or sitting on a bike for hours at a time), panadol, cold and/or heatpacks, and eventually when I get a bit more worried off to the physio.  On the plus side, the bike is going really well, I'm getting used to it's idiosyncratic but now relatively reliable gear changes, and there are no new strange noises or bits threatening to f

One of my fears last year at Ironman was the swim. When asked what the problem was I said I was afraid of the snakes and sharks!  But really I was afraid of swimming on my own. So the plan is to do some ocean swims. Wednesday I was looking at the summer swim series at Kohimarama Beach in Auckland on the web site. Pressed the enter button and that was that, I was entered.  I turned up on Thursday night, got my hat with my number on and sat and waited for the start. My friend Barbara turned up and it was nice to see a friendly face. The gun went and off we went into the sea. My fears came running back, all the other swimmers were better than me, I was left behind, I could not breathe. Breast stroke and catch my breath, talk my self into being OK. I can swim to the first buoy, its only 250m, I can swim to the next 500m, I can swim to the 750m. OK I'm going to be OK. I looked around and there was no-one behind me so I thought I better turn around. 1500 m I swam in 41 minutes. Not b

I drove home after work last night in the extraordinary thunder and lightning (and some hail) and pondered the fact that I had an iron-cast excuse for not getting outside on the lighting-rod with wheels otherwise known as a bicycle.  The weather was so scary that even running or swimming weren't a viable option. You only have these sorts of genuine, impossible to ignore excuses when you actually really really want to be training...when you are aware time is ticking away...its nearly time to taper...and you haven't done anywhere near enough work. I got home and got on the spin bike and pedaled to nowhere for an hour and read my book.  Backlit e-readers are just great when you are out on the covered deck, the light is fading, and unlike real books you can balance them nicely on the handlebars and adjust the font size depending on whether you are sitting up or leaning forward.  Having decided to try to train myself into the 'spinning' rather than 'grinding' style

Less than 2 weeks to the  Taupo cycle challenge .  The big bikeride with Kate on Friday did lots for my confidence though, 5 really enjoyable hours on the road, circumnavigating the whole of the Hunua ranges and covering 105 spectacular km.  This was the course followed for the SRAM Tour de ranges held in January of each year, or pretty close to it, I forgot the map and relied on the "I'm sure we just keep turning left" style of navigating. It is so much more enjoyable to do these things in company, picture us starting out by climbing the hills out the back of Clevedon until we were way above the tallest power pylons, stopping for a snack and to take in the view. Then plunging along the rollercoaster roads past Hunua, stopping for a snack and to take in a view.  Next racing along the beautiful coastal road at Kaiaua looking towards the Coromandal, stopping for a snack and to take in the view. At last, grinding up winding (hilly) roads through gorgeous bush before Kawaka

Saturday I helped out at our local clubs annual event: Steel man Iron lady. Now I belong to a Multi-sport club and I think most of them are mad! They road bike, mountain bike, kayak, and run off-road. They really are mad people, but the kindest lot of friends I could have wished for. I've been going through a rough patch and they are just there encouraging me and supporting me. I might be the slowest runner and slowest biker in the club but they will always come back and check that I'm OK. So when they asked me to join the committee I did not hesitate, well I did a little but otherwise it would have looked as if I was too keen. So yesterday was the big event. loads of bikes, runners and boats. I was helping to run the kids event. We only had 36 kids come but those who did had so much fun. They ran around a field, then had a bikeride and then an obstacle course. There were goody bags to win, shirts, and the top prize a freestyle bike!  Not sure what that was but the kids liked

Well the question is did we get lost or just have fun? Karen and I went off for a long ride today, we followed the route of the SRAM tour de ranges going around the Hunua hills. Well I think we actually went over them, there were some very long and big hills. But at one stage we had a T intersection in the road, one way was to Auckland the other to Tauranga. We could not work out where we were. Luckily there was a shop and help was on hand. A new bottle of water was bought and new directions and off we went. It was a beautiful day and when we came to the top of one hill we were treated to a lovely sight of the sea and the Coramandel hills. We are very lucky to see such amazing sights. My friend Mark died this week. He had been ill for a short time and we had time to say goodbye. On days like this we are so lucky to be alive and enjoy life. He always commented about my running thing and bike thingy, he said I was the only one he knew that came in from a run and if offered water or win

I was very sad to see that the New York Marathon had been cancelled following on from the big storm they had. It brought back sad memories of our Ironman cancellation. The emotions go away and you have to move on and plan the next event. Its hard but safety has to be the most important thing.

It has been a year since the gears on my bike worked properly.  I have over time developed a habit of avoiding changing from high to low on the big cogs at the front because going back from low to high was barely possible, involving lots of clicking of levers and muttered curses and frustrating slow downs and wobbles.  I thought it was me and had gotten embarrassed about complaining at the bike shop...visualise the mechanic looking superior and saying "I took it for a ride and it was fine...and look...click click... it changes perfectly up on the stand...nothing wrong with it".  When I took the trusty scott in for a pre-taupo service I decided to try my luck and have a grizzle to the new people who have taken over the bike shop.  I hoped that they might see something the last lot didn't. This time it was "oh look, see how these bits are worn out" and what do you know, a slightly depressing amount of money later and I have a bike which has nearly double the numbe

Its been another busy week, but quite fun, It started on Tuesday when I said to Karen that I was riding on my own as the bike group was going mountain biking. She said lets go on a 50 k ride from Maraetai, Clevedon and back. It was hard work and I was late for my meeting but a good feeling. The next ride on Thursday I went out with the boys. They are so much faster than me but kept coming back for me and checking that I was OK another 33k and fast, well for me anyway. Friday I was off to Wellington for work. I worry about flying so I thought why not train in Wellington. So I arrived at 10am and it was cold and wet! Not a good start, but that was what I was there for. I ran along the water front to the pool and then swam for 2k and then ran back to the hotel. It was great I could then get on with work and having done my training there was no worries.

I've just been online to check my results from this morning's Panasonic standard triathlon  and how upsetting, my name isn't on the list!  I hope it is a clerical error, not a case of the transponder not registering.  Anyway, I've just sent off a plaintive email to the organisers...please find me. So the day started with being up at 6am for breakfast, admittedly feeling a little sluggish after an unplanned buffet dinner last night which was absolutely not my usual idea of a good pre-race meal...but it was seriously nice.  Time to pack the plastic box with all the essential things for a triathlon...water...bike things, run things, anti-chafe...water... handkerchief.  Decisions...what top will I wear, just bra under the wetsuit and the singlet to ride and run in, or is the weather poor enough to put the whole lot on after the swim...singlet, bike shirt, and jacket?  Do I need my neoprene bonnet...or just the yellow swimcap?  What food...not enough time between bike and

I realise I am completely hooked into triathlon training again, the weeks have suddenly gotten organised with the need to fit extra sessions in and all the extra hours.  Was training this tiring before though?  Yes, actually it was, probably worse when I look back at last year's notes.  Last week I did over 11 hours training, the last 3 days as usual the heaviest, with a 100km ride, a 1.7km sea swim, and a 20km run.  Almost a whole half Ironman. The bike-ride was good, I was so sick of the mess and the traffic on the roads out by Takanini that I made a spur of the moment decision when I got to Clevedon to head towards KawaKawa bay.  What a nice ride, windy roads, undulating enough to be challenging, lots to see, and I stopped and turned round at the top of the big hill which goes down to the bay itself because I thought I would like to check the elevations before attempting that one.  I did that twice, made up a bit more mileage around Clevedon and came home tired-out after over