Big Jo training Dec 13 - Dec 19

SWIM

Squad x 3
Sea swim x 1
~9km

Nothing wildly exciting to report on this week.  I did a 1500m TT at Parnell Baths in my wetsuit and came out with an ok time with my one-pace. I was at Cook's Beach for the weekend so did a sea swim there which was a bit choppy but nice. And the only time in the weekend that it wasn't raining - how ironic. Full points to Lesbo for letting me waking her up so she could do my wetsuit up for me after a big night out at Jac's wedding. Poor Lesley's little hands hadn't woken up properly so it was quite an effort for her but I fed her with chocolates so hopefully it was marginally worthwhile.

BIKE

Time:
Distance:

Good week on the bike this week. Got my A into G and did some short intervals and got some power PB's woo hoo! And then didn't need to do any efforts on Thursday as holding Uncle Roy's wheel in the gale force winds was hard enough.
My weekend in the Coromandel was a training weekend disguised as a wedding weekend (cunning I know...), sadly the weather was absolutely poo for riding (and for a wedding) but I came prepared and luckily it wasn't cold which is fatal for me combined with the wet. So I did semi-decent ride on Saturday and then good ride on Sunday from Hahei to Kopu on the way home. I was a bit concerned about the road being a bit busy and people not seeing me but am happy to report that the drivers were super courteous and no-one abused me or tried to kill me. It rained the whole way but I was actually pretty happy in my riding apart from the winding downhills with my failing brakes where I was struggling to find my happy place. I got a bit cold once I was soaked through on the downhills but I knew I was almost there by that stage. Some kind man stopped at the top of the hill and asked if I wanted a ride because the weather was so yuck. Bless him. I guess people find it difficult to understand that we do these things for fun, but we do.

RUN

Not quite sure what to do with the running. I did 2x15mins and 1x20mins mostly on grass and while I wouldn't call it painful it certainly wasn't the same as the other side so I'm feeling at a bit of a loss. I know my tibia look a few weeks of running to feel right, but I'd had 4 months off running for that so that was understandable whereas this one I have only had 5 weeks off running. I don't feel like I've aggravated it at all but I don't want to be jumping the gun on it and making it worse down the track.
I think I have decided to have another week off and then give it another go. Tauranga is looking very shaky at this stage... BAH!

How to keep me entertained during boring wedding speeches while waiting for food...

The lovely couple Jac and Tony and the Brownie Cake nom nom nom

Big Jo training Dec 6 - Dec 12

SWIM

Squad x 3
Sea swim x 1
~12km

Did 3 good squad sessions at Parnell Baths this week. Unfortunately me and my old Orca wetsuit did not really become friends this week as it gave me a wicked rash at the back of my neck. Hopefully my special new Blue Seventy Helix Muppet Suit will be made soon so I can wear my original Muppet Helix in the pool. I was in Taupo for the Half Ironman in the weekend and had good intentions of going for a swim while the others were out on the bike but the weather was a bit yuck and it just looked so cold and uninviting... I figured my time was better spent doing a longer ride. Did my Thursday Haydn sea swim in my usual slow time. The tide was a bit low and there were some pretty nasty oyster rocks which were hard to see so I had some pretty bad ouchies on my feet after that.

BIKE

Time: 9hrs 43
Distance: 229km

I have fallen into the trap of thinking I have raced because I was spectating a race in the weekend and therefore thinking I am in recovery mode the following week. Very Bad. I have also lost about 2hrs per week of commuting which I need to make up somewhere else. My long ride was lost this weekend with the half but I did get a decent ride around French Pass in Cambridge on Sunday and while I was in Taupo I did a ride over the new bypass which goes around the back of Taupo.

A new route in Taupo. How exciting

My RooRoo's lever issue is being resolved (after a few days of me realizing it wasn't going to reattach itself...) but until then my Serottica and I are getting reacquainted.

RUN

The big news for the week is I went for run!! Woo hoo!! On the grass I did 4x1min, 1x2mins, 1x3mins all with 30sec of walking in between. There was the odd whisper of pain but nothing at the end or any aching afterwards, so perhaps more psychosomatic... So I will continue to do interval jogs on the grass for the next week just to make sure all is a-ok. I am also going to need to look at my running style (I'm not called Slappy-J for nothing) and need to try and tone down how much lift I get to reduce the amount of load on my poor little bones.

TAUPO HALF IRONMAN

I was supporting the usual Bowden and Lawson suspects for this as well as Jess's brother Sam who was doing his first half in preparation for IMNZ.  J-Rad had a good swim coming out in the Terenzo group with Davo 2mins down and Jess beating her husband out.  Jess had some bad luck with a puncture in T1 which took a long time to fix, which was crap because she would have been close to the top 3 (and $$...) without it.  J-Rad had the ride of his life (until he popped with 30km to go) and Davo blew his foofoo valve trying to catch him. Across the board run times were a bit slower than usual but Jess took the fastest run split of the team and Sam tootled along to get the job done.

Captain Poobum. Could be mistaken for a pout but he's telling me that he's popped

J-rad happy in his running...

Nick with his game face on

Big Jo training Nov 29 - Dec 5

SWIM

Squad x 3
Sea swim x 3
~ 15km

A bit more quality time with my PB and band this week. Although I did learn (after getting yelled out by the whole lane) that I can swim with a band and no PB when I am in my wetsuit.  We have started to do a few squads at the Parnell Baths with Haydn which is always good value. Definitely feel more wasted after a Haydn swim than any other swim.
The Tauranga Tinman Triathlon was on in the weekend and since I was going to be there as a supporter I figured I would offer myself as a swimmer. So I swam a whole 750m (note to self: being a team swimmer is NOT cost effective for $/minute spent racing...), almost missed the start getting carried away watching the individual race, dodged a few jellyfish, came 3rd out of the water (!) and our team was 1st overall. Woohoo.

BIKE

Time: 11hrs51
Distance: 303km

Had a nice 4.5hr ride with my friend Two Piece in the weekend, we had a big 4.5hr chat :) We must do that more often.
Very sad moment after that ride while RooRoo was in the car traveling to Tauranga - somehow my front derailleur lever snapped... I can still use it but its very hard to get into the big ring. Luckily Tauranga is nice and flat so I was still able to go for a bit of a ride on Sunday but its no good for any decent riding. After a few days of hoping it would magically heal itself I have realized that this isn't going to happen and need to get my A into G and organize a new one. Of course they are not very cheap so it is really is quite a sad moment. At least I will then have a spare rear derailleur lever...

Boo hoo

RUN

2 x pool-runs...

Nothing new to report here. I didn't attempt a trot this week, although I had to run around transition to get to my swim start and it didn't hurt so thats a good sign.  So I will try another one minute run next weekend. Fingers crossed.
I have been making a concerted effort to up my calcium intake thanks to my friend and helpful nutritionist Mikki so hopefully my bones are getting nice and strong. My iron stores have dropped yet again (surprise, surprise...) so I am getting the hang of coordinating the calcium and iron since they are not friends, so hopefully its working and I will be super strong boned and full of iron by the time I am back into it.