And now it’s not OK

What an about face.

Just when I thought I was doing so well without a programme and still managing to get a reasonable amount of activity in during a rest phase, it’s all come back to bite me in the bum.

I feel really pee’d off.

There’s lots of tiny little insignificant things that have all happened within the space of 24 hours and now I feel pee’d off.

Each little thing in itself is nothing. 

Possibly what I’m most annoyed about is how sore I am still.  I’m not quite miserable but I’m well on my way there.  Today I woke feeling slightly better than yesterday but there’s a couple of points on my left leg that are painfully tender.

I still struggle to stand and those first few steps are really awkward and sore.

There’s been heaps of traffic jams, then Mark became the navigator – we had to take a different route or end up too late arriving at Cameron’s shop.  I don’t think Mark will mind me saying that he’s not as good as me at navigating and quickly finding locations and reading maps.

Hey, something that I’m better at – finally

I bought a really good light at the end of winter last year for my bike.  The same as Mark’s got.  Today I went to put it on my bike now that I’ve got my original handle bar back on and nice white handle bar tape.  But connecting the light part to the battery part and the jolly thing wont go.

And so probably 4 months later my first try and it’s bung.  I probably can’t do anything about it.  It was purchased new off TradeMe and the guy had told me back then he’d lost the ability to sell them as there was a distributor now in Australia that was responsible for NZ too.

Waste of money, big disappointment.

I really want to do Short Bays after work tomorrow but I’m not sure that I can even manage to bike the 14k to work.

And with this mornings traffic jams and getting to Cameron’s later than expected I’ve got time to make up.  I have to be at home Thursday morning to let the insulation team in (wool blankets being installed in the ceiling) and then I’m late getting to work and have to make the time up.  Every time we need a service person in I’m lucky enough to be able to do glide time, but it’s a pain having to have your day mucked about and the ripple effect that has.

Right now is my 2nd day this week of no activity.  I’m uncertain what I can manage tomorrow and I am feeling really behind.

I know I shouldn’t stress, but I was doing so well and now I feel really disappointed how things have worked out.

What’s done is done.  No point crying about it (and I’m not).  I just like things done my way, in my timeframe.  Oh the control freak.  Freak with a capital F. R. E. A. K.

I’m doing ok

This whole business about no programme hasn’t really damaged me at all.

This is the start of the forth week.  Richard said he’d be in touch after the Flock Hill Adventure MTB ride.  I’m unsure if that means I’ll have a programme that commences that Monday following, or he’ll be in touch to discuss the week following.

Anyway, so far I’ve managed to cope without a prescribed set of activity to do, and a given intensity rate.

Each week of the prior 3 weeks I’ve managed to increase the amount I’ve done.  I started at 4 hours, then 5 hours and last week 6.5 hours.

I think that’s ok given I don’t actually have to do anything if I don’t feel like it.

Talking about feeling.  OMG, am I hurting today.  Typically the worst day for your muscles after a new/long forgotten activity is two days and I can confirm I’m no different to the masses.

Today is a hellish day on the quads.  I sort of begin “walking”, teetering off.  That’s once I manage to haul myself out of the chair.

I have nothing planned for this coming week.  I know I’ll bike to work a couple of times.  I’ll have a run during the week and we’ll slot in a MTB ride on Thursday. 

I’ve been thinking that I need to get out of my road bike and do a decent hill ride.  Short Bays – haha.  Take the easiest “hill” ride I can.  But it’ll be good to know that I can still do it.

Sunday we’ve got a session with Helena on the MTB’s at Greenwood Park.  I need to have my “vision” changed.  I’m almost petrified of single track.  So I need to have the images I see in my mind changed.  Somehow that’ll be achieved, or well on the way after Sunday’s session.

I think the nicest thing about not having a programme is the pressure of doing an exercise at a certain intensity.  Though that’s been niggling at the back of my mind.  Perhaps my next run should be at a higher intensity – well when I can walk again maybe I’ll start thinking of my next run.

But all the stuff I’ve been doing over these past weeks has been done at a moderate enjoyable pace without any performance pressure.  It seems to me the moment I see a higher intensity I stress out about it – not that I recognise it at the time.  But with sitting back and really thinking about how I’ve trained over the last year or so, I realise that I do put pressure on myself and often it’s without any real gain in ability, skill or fitness.

Lets see if this “light bulb” moment keeps me in check when I cast my eyes over the next programme.

Mr I’ve got tired legs

We were at McLean’s Island this morning doing a few laps with Deo.

While milling around in the car park beforehand, Deo asked what sort of pace we were going for.

There was not debate it was going to be casual.  Mark and I both suffering from sore quads from yesterday’s Mt Thomas walk.

Mark’s famous words:  I’ve got tired legs.

Well … what the heck were we doing zooming around the track at our usual pace for then??

I’d said to Deo and Mark they could go off at their pace and I’d just do my own thing.  And sure enough they were away.

I lost them very early on, but when I got to the bumpity bump bit out at the extra 5k look I could catch Deo’s back every now and then.  Ok, so I wasn’t a massive amount behind, but enough not to seem them through that last part of the track – at all.

When I finished the first lap and stopped where they’d stopped I checked my watch.  43 minutes.  43 minutes!  Help!  That’s what we do on a good day.

Despite feeling sore and having had a good lap time there was no doubt about doing a second lap.

I said Deo could lead because he rides very differently to Mark and I (which I pointed out was a good thing) and I wanted Mark to see.  Mark would cotton onto it quicker than I would.

However Mark was too tired to clip in quickly and Deo had sped off.  He was more worried we’d see him fall off – as if!

Needless to say we never caught Deo up, despite him slowing at one section until he saw us, but he was still too far in front, and McLean’s Island is very twisty, windy so what we saw of him was just his torso up as he tore up the tracks.

Anyway, second lap down, again in 43 minutes.  We always say the 2nd lap we’ll take it easier but it never happens.  I think we’ve warmed up enough that the 2nd lap actually feels easier.

Certainly Mark’s "I’ve got tired legs" meant nothing.

As for Deo, it was his first time doing the extended bit of the track, the extra 5k’s and his first time doing two laps.  He’d only ever ridden (with a friend) one 10k lap.

Time to find the couch.  Mark and I are both suffering from giving our quads a hiding.

Eye Candy

No, this isn’t going to be a post about some buffed gorgeous young stud.  Sorry.

After we’d completed our trek at Mt Thomas – which you can read about here – we stopped off at Rangiora in search of a Dairy for a well-deserved ice-cream.

It was 27 degrees when we arrived.  Nice and warm.  Certainly the right temperatures to require an ice-cream.

We found a little Dairy right by the zebra crossing and went inside focused on choosing the best flavour.

Mark then said, would you look at that.  Behind us, almost the entire length of the wall, were shelves upon shelves of lollies.  Even the Toffee Bars I’ve mentioned several times – the type of thing we used to buy at the school canteen.

I had never seen so many lollies all in one place.  And there were chocolates as well.

Mark thought I was gazing at them trying to choose one or two to buy.  I was just happy to admire the variety of sweets.

The ice-cream was good anyway.

There are good days, and bad days.

Today wasn’t really either of them.

Well ok.  It was good that I hauled myself out of bed this morning and tackled some of my weights programme from home.

Oh I love being able to complete the programme from home.  But I had to improvise a bit because I don’t have all the big equipment.  Still who needs to do dead lifts now anyway.

After work I went for a run around the forest.

Isn’t it amazing how you think you’re doing ok (nothing flash, but holding your own) when two people come zooming past you still yapping to each other.  There style of running even looked casual.

I guess on days where you’re not feeling quite as energetic, or it hurts just a little more than you’re used to, it can knock the wind out of your sails to see others fly past you making it look completely effortless.

But that wasn’t all.  When I reached another section of the track another two blokes passed me as if I were standing still.

Just before that point I was having an internal discussion about whether I might just walk the rest.  I was feeling tired and a bit sore (thanks to all those exercises that engage your glutes this morning).  Walking would have been so nice.

Despite the numerous times I debate walking I just can’t bring myself to do it.  It makes me feel as if I’ve failed, or given up.

Anyway, I carried on as best I could.  I don’t actually think I was really any slower than normal, but people passing you at what seems to be twice the pace makes it appear you’re going painfully slow.

We had plans to go for a MTB ride after dinner.  Mark arrived home and I was huffing and puffing trying to get my tyre onto my new (rebuilt) wheel and telling me how much harder he had to work into the headwind (yes it was a true Easterly which makes it even less enjoyable than those NE winds).

I asked how he felt about going for the MTB ride and I was almost relieved when he said he really didn’t fancy it.

No matter.  I figure it’s better to go and do it when you’re enthusiastic and eager than when you feel you must because it’s expected (until I get my programme and do as I’m told regardless of how tired fighting the wind makes me feel).