I wasn’t sure on what I wanted to write about this week, I had a few ideas but I just couldn’t really decide. My health has improved from my last update (yay, I’m not sick anymore), it took a bit longer to get better than I expected. I felt fine most of the time but I lost my voice which took a long time to get back; it showed that my body wasn’t really fully recovered. I was excited to get back into training more this week especially since Spring Challenge is slowly creeping up.

So the training session set was a cycle called rolling hills, 2hrs, sweet. My friend had asked me the week before if I wanted to go cycling, so I thought this looked like a good session for him to join me on. Spending 2hrs cycling around the cashmere downs didn’t sound overly exciting, so I decided I would go on a mission to find some other rolling hills.

We started at CPIT after class and rode up Dyers Pass road (it definitely doesn’t count as a rolling hill), and then down the other side and on to Lyttelton. I did not think this section of the ride through. It was awesome riding along Governors Bay Road, with some kinda rolling hills which is what I had been hoping to find and awesome views. It was going pretty well until we reached Lyttelton……so…. it turns out you’re not allowed to bike through the tunnel, oops and the only other road out is over the hill, which is closed…… My friend talked to a guy on the street about some options. He was about the walk up the bridle path…that’s a good idea. So we decided rather than to bike all the way back the way we came, we would push/carry our bikes up the Bridal Path. 🙂 It was one of those moments where it was convenient that I currently use mountain bike cleats and shoes on my road bike. It was a bit of fun going up that hill, and I had some good conversations with the guy who gave us the idea. Once at the top of the hill we got some nice views. We turned right at the top of the bridle path and only had a little bit more hill along summit road before turning down Mt Pleasant Road and whizzing downhill, which was awesome. We ended our little adventure back at CPIT where I picked up my backpack full of my study stuff and biked home.

The day wasn’t quite over yet, I made it home for short while before heading out for a paddle with the TeamCP kayak group. We had a good session working on technique and power. No mini adventure luckily, one was enough for the day. Unfortunately not much study was achieved other than attending class.

The ride didn’t quite go to plan but was a good training session and fun. It’s the things like this that are what make training interesting and fun. The reasons I love training and racing is because it’s lots of fun, sometimes comes with adventure and because of some of the small but exciting moments, like reaching the top of the hill and the awesome places it can take you. 🙂

Have now completed my first “official” Brevet, albiet a short one. The Coaster micro-adventure, 230km, 2400m of climbing and 13.5hrs riding over Saturday 1st August and Sunday 2nd. While most decided to ride the entire distance on the Saturday, a friend and I decided it was far more sensible to overnight in a comfy motel in Cheviot. I rode with my full kit on the bike on day 1, as a test, then decided to strip out all the non-essentials for the “sprint” on day 2.

What did it show? – 1) – after a very slack 5 months of training since Challenge Wanaka, I’m not as fit as I used to be!!

– 2) – There is still a large amount of “residual” stamina tucked away in the body and as long as I keep my heartrate down around 75% of max, I can keep turning the wheels for sustained periods of time

– 3) – After a bike fit and a few reasonable rides, my bike seat / posterior are still at odds with each other.

To solve no 3 above, I have now purchased a Brooks B17 leather seat. All the reports I have read and people I’ve talked to about the Brooks seats appear to be 100% correct. For touring, these seats appear to be supremely comfortable. A 3 hour first ride, followed by 2hrs the next day and no issues, on a seat that supposedly takes up to 3 months to break-in.

On the “exciting new toys” front, I am expecting my new handlebar roll, Top Tube bags and Stem Pouches from Stealth Bike bags shortly.

September is shaping up as a big month. Micro-adventure 3, a weekend of biking around the Methven area is shoe horned in between a ride from Timaru to Twizel and return on the 12th and 13th, and a 3 day weekend (South Canty Anniversary) on the 26th – thats 3 days to bike instead of two!!

I’ve also got my A into G and started swimming again, just to keep some variety in life

The Coastal mini-brevet, Gore Bay

On the back road to Culverden

Last time I updated the blog I was finishing up my first four weeks and embarking into the unknown of the next four weeks.

The last few weeks have involved spending more time on my feet and practicing carrying compulsory race gear and nutrition. For the last two Sunday’s, I have headed out on two 3 hour walks with my partner in crime Jenn who is also training for the marathon distance in the Taraweras. We’ve headed out come hail, rain or shine.

I am usually a fair weather runner/walker and of course, the weather has not been obliging the last two Sundays. The first Sunday I headed up the Rapaki, traversed the Crater Rim joining Mitchell’s track and Gilpin’s Track before heading down Mount Vernon and to Fava for a well deserved coffee and slice. It was great getting up into the hills and you will all remember the beautiful fresh snow up there.

Last Sunday I headed out again but this time in the rain. It was non-stop for 3 hours. This time I headed up Bowenvale which is one of my favourite ways onto the Port Hills. The terrain is so mixed and it is a fun way to make your way up to Summit Road. At the top, I jumped onto the Crater Rim and headed down the Harry El track and back round to Bowenvale. By hour 2 I was a bit over it as every inch of me was wet and sodden.

I have learned a lot about wearing the right gear. The first week I headed out I wore quite minimal gloves and I did well to keep all 10 fingers. I upgraded for the second week and kept my hands toasty for the first two hours before they submitted to the rain.

The next few weeks will be more gym sessions along with lots of ab work. If I happen to laugh or cough in a weird way, it’s because my abs feel like they may explode. Good to know there are some muscles in there though! As well as the gym work, I am also doing my first hill run up the Rapaki along with a 10km time trial. Almost 8 weeks into the training and I’m still loving every minute of it. Now it is only 12 weeks to race day…almost at the halfway mark.

I think I’m starting to ramble…a bit like my long walks so I’ll leave it there.

Until next time…

I was halfway through writing an update for this blog last week, which was based on how my training was progressing and the enlightenment that occurred with my second coaching session with Richard, when the unthinkable happened.  A post on Facebook announced that due to the ever-increasing PC nature of the world that we reside in, Bedrock50 for 2016 has been indefinitely put on hold due to the increased health and safety pressures put on the organisers.  My initial response to this was a resounding, “Noooo!! Do you people not know how much this event takes up most of my thinking space and, at times, is the sole reason why I actually move my butt and exercise? Seriously you are going to cancel after I have braved snow, ice, numerous frosty mornings, wind and rain to train for this?!”  Keeping things in perspective I can completely understand the organisers position but there is a part of me still hoping that someone else will take over the organisation of this event.

My poor husband had to put up with me bemoaning and whingeing about this change in events and after feeling like I was in limbo for a few days I began to trawl the internet to look for another event that excites me as much as the Bedrock50 did.  It feels odd and a little disconcerting having to change tack after being focussed on this event for so long.  As of yet I haven’t signed up to another ultra marathon so my focus has been shifted to the Queenstown marathon for now.  My reason for doing the Queenstown marathon is that I am away for a month over Christmas time and completing this marathon was going to be my psychological race – if I could complete 42km in November, I kind of figured I could do 52km in February even with a bit of a lull in training.

For me having a goal and making plans to achieve that goal is important.  I need to know where I am going and keep the destination in mind.  However with the recent shifting of my ‘goalpost’ I have had to learn to sail with the wind and not against it and recognise that unexpected changes (something that I am not always so comfortable with!) can lead me to new adventures and still bring success.  So what’s my new BHAG – still unsure at this stage but am sure a new experience will open up. I am realising that we can choose to be transformed.  This is how we grow, how we learn and why we are here.

Hi everyone! Back into the swing of things this fortnight. Surgery went really well and I am healing nicely but am still under a good behaviour bond! I’ve caught up with Beck and Fleur and Apollo Power Yoga and am not expecting any further interruptions from here on. That’s the really neat thing about having training tailored for you, it’s infinitely adaptable.

So… I’m hoping that the weather forecast isn’t too accurate for this weekend, I have training to do on the road and I really don’t fancy riding in the rain. Now before anyone calls me soft, I know I am! It’s not that I can’t handle being cold and wet but more that I really don’t want to slip and fall. I can’t afford the drama. I’ve had enough knocks lately and I really, really want to get fit for this climb so plan B will be bolt the bike to the trainer again. My next short term goal is to be able to join you for the Spring Brunch ride on the 30th. I know I can really nail the coffee and cake part, but please be nice to me on the bike part!

My fundraising site received a really generous hit of $105 this week and talk about fizzing! I nearly popped with excitement! I certainly don’t lack for motivation. Do please head over to https://2uptt.everydayhero.com/nz/isobel to see what on earth I am going on about.

Til next time, pedal on…

Today my new running friend Pauline (who is also coached by Richard) and I showed we were totally committed to our marathon training by not only running in the Port Hills, but running in the Port Hills while it was snowing!

We set out from the Sign of the Kiwi just after 9am, it was cold but no rain or snow – we thought we had done pretty well in getting a nice day to do our hill run. The further we got along the Summit Road the more the weather turned, it started with what I though was a few drops of hail – nope it was snowing!

Now, I am one of those people that really love running in the rain, I know weird, this was literally the coolest run I have done in ages – not only because I had some company but because it was snowing. There was a point where the snow felt like it has pin pricking our faces, this is the point we decided to turn around and head back – we decided that we were totally committed to the training that we would endure this sort of weather just for a run!

It was actually really lovely running back to our cars, the road looked nothing like it did when we set out an hour earlier, was pretty cool.

We has such a great time chatting as we ran but also completing these vital runs for both of our marathon’s. Pauline’s marathon is a month before mine so it was nice to be able to chat and pick her brains on things like nutrition, the Queenstown course (as the one I am doing was her first marathon) and a few other things that us runners sometimes have issues with.

Till next time….can’t promise there will be as pretty photos as today!

Pauline and I at the half way point, it was so bad Pauline couldn’t keep her eyes open! 

I have big feet*. I have had them all my life. I also have very flat feet. I have had them all my life.

This, as you can imagine makes it slightly difficult to find shoes. Bigger feet in women is more common these days, but this unfortunately doesn’t mean that it is easier to find bigger sized shoes.

I am a women’s size 11*. I do find it hard to find shoes sometimes – I am thankful for places like Willow Shoes (who specialise in larger sizes) and Nine West (who have lovely shoes in my size). Running shoes are a different story – I am an Asics women’s 12* – as you can imagine, shoes this size aren’t exactly easy to source, especially since I need the shoes that have the most support.

This brings me to today. I FINALLY have a new pair of running shoes (or 3), the Asics Foundation 11, after waiting five months, yes FIVE months. They were ordered from Australia and took that long. It turns out that Asics only brings out eight pairs of these shoes in the whole of Australasia, only eight! Can you see now why I find it so hard to find the right shoes for my big flat feet?!

So I have new running shoes and I am pretty excited to finally get these on my feet and get running! They are probably the most important part of my “running kit” along with my amazingly fabulous Garmin running watch!

Till next time!

*please don’t tell me I have big feet, I am more than aware.

It was my birthday last week and I got a new Garmin watch. Ok so it wasn’t a diamond but it was better! A diamond is not going to tell me how fast I’m running (or not running), how far I have run, what my fastest km was, how long I have been running or how many calories I have burned up. It also beeps and lights up when I have completed each kilometre. It congratulates me when I have set a new running record and rewards me with a little gold medal picture on the watch face. It can even tell the time!! Diamonds just sit there, look pretty and expect to be admired. My Garmin and I are true best friends. We work as a team and always finish together. It records the good times we have had so I can look back and see how far we have come together – literally!

If you have never run with a GPS gadget give it a go. I find it has helped me become a better runner. You know how you often go out too fast then fade? The Garmin will keep you in check because you can keep an eye on your pace and slow down a bit if you need to or you can challenge yourself and try to make each k a little bit faster, even do a negative split.

This weekend I am taking my Garmin up to the Summit road for a good run around the Port Hills. Richard has said running the hills will make me stronger and to mix it up with some trail running. I have always resisted running up on the Port Hills as I don’t think I am worthy and it seems to be the place for pro-runners not some middle aged battler like myself. But I will have my Garmin best friend with me so it will be another adventure to do together and you never know we may even get a new record.

Diamonds might be a girls best friend but not this girl – but I wouldn’t say no to them being my second best friend!!!

It’s official, the entry fee is in, I’m now committed to racing the 2 day Coast to Coast but before Coast comes is Spring Challenge! It’s an all women adventure race in teams of three. This year will be my 3rd time racing Spring Challenge and I’m super excited that it’s in Wanaka. I’m excited to be racing it with Kathryn Bunckenburg(a previous team member) and Nicole Ranger.

Over the last few weeks I have had some good and bad luck. I got sick not once in 3 weeks but twice, which has been annoying a bit of a set back for training. The first time didn’t impact on training too much. It just meant I wasn’t feeling so great and I was a bit worried as it was 2 weeks out from a race. Luckily I got better and I was ready to go by race day. I smashed out Twin Peaks a 26km run/hike with compulsory gear (like 10kg of gear). It was an awesome course with a mix of hills, ridges, ice and mud. It even snowed while we were racing! I was really stoked with how the it went. I was 2nd place female most the way until the 2nd big hill where I overtook the 1st place female. This gave me a massive metal boost which powered me to the finish (5-6km ish). I was super stoked to take out 1st place female individual.

A few days after Twin Peaks I had an avalanche safety field trip in the Craigieburns so there wasn’t much time for training. I started to get sick on the field trip, which was just annoying – lots of coughing and a fever. It’s taken awhile to get over being sick but I’m nearly better and am looking forward to getting back into more training soon.

Am not sure if this happens to everyone in winter, but as the mornings get colder and colder the effort to get out the door and exercise with a positive frame of mind gets harder and harder. I am very fortunate enough to be a part of an inspiring group of women who have entered the Catch Fitness 20-week challenge. There has been much chat amongst us about where our mojos disappear to at times and also what methods we use to keep focused and pushing ourselves when really, at times, I want to do is stay at home, eat and keep warm.

For me being out of my comfort zone and my mojo are pretty much linked to the little voice in my head and the mental battle I have with myself.

Due to a waning mojo, over the past few weeks, I have been working on training my mind as much as my body. A motivational slogan popped up on Facebook a few weeks ago that said, “The body won’t go where your mind doesn’t push it.” I am beginning to realise that mental training is just as important as the physical. Recently I have probably had to work harder on getting my mind in the right space in order for my body to follow.

Currently one of my goals is to improve my 5km run time, which not only requires me to push myself out of my usual meandering run style it also requires me to quieten the doubts and fears in my mind to be able to push myself. Usually the run starts out okay then my mind starts screaming, “Slow down! Warning! Warning! Your lungs are about to explode!” Of course they never do but unfortunately that little voice sometimes wins and I do slow down. This leads to feeling annoyed with myself and with that annoyance negative thoughts creep in about my perceived lack of effort and a bit of my mojo disappears. With my last couple of interval sessions I have been working on silencing the mind with breathing and not panicking about time and speed. Am trying to move my mind into the positive as I run as often my thought pattern is along these lines – running too fast I worry that I am going to keel over and running too slow – I worry that I’m not going to get the time I am aiming for. Either way both these ways of thinking means that I am thinking in the negative. So I have been changing too fast to – Ooh I am doing good today, and if I am a bit slow I try and think – good time but just push a bit more.

I find myself in the same situation with personal training as well. If I dwell on how hard it’s going to be (again this is an area where I am usually well out of my comfort zone!) then it’s bound to feel worse than it is. My trainer sent me a message last week which said, ‘See you tomorrow – bring your muscles!’ which has helped with turning my thought pattern around. Sounds crazy but for me separating my body from my mind enables me to be in charge of those muscles and takes away the panic factor of how hard I am going to be working. Pessimism and doubt is like a road block – you have to believe to achieve.