Back riding

Well apart from a weeks holiday at Mt Maunganui late last month, I now been for a half dozen or so rides over the last few weeks.

I've gradually picked up the distances and today rode my longest yet of 21 km, in 64 minutes.

The plan at the moment is to keep riding 3- 4 times a week at least through to early April when we lose our day light savings hour. This is due to be riding after work usually between 6 & 7 pm.

You can follow my training on dailymile which i've also got a link to in the side bar at right.

In need to get back into some strength training also , just a matter of finding time. That will probably need to be an early morning thing as I just can't see where else I would fit that in. Problem there is its difficult to throw weights around in the garage while the rest of the household is sleeping. Will just have to use nice slow movements i guess. There's plenty of exercises where you can just use your own body weight as resistance anyway so there are always options.

Not sure about running yet, still seem to have a niggle in the ankle which would likely flare up again once i started running again.

I'll close with some holiday snaps from beautiful Mt Maunganui.



Sam and I on our way to the summit.


Just started the climb and already worked up a sweat


View from the top


Then its time to relax on the beach - sorry to those suffering under winter snows.

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Sam's Soccer

My six year old, Sam , has been setting the soccer pitch alight this winter featuring weekly on his team's score sheet, often multiple times per game. I was therefore stoked to be asked by his coach if he was 'available' for a rep team to represent our Albany club in a local tournament. Naturally I confirmed he was.


Sam and his coach celebrating a goal during a club game.

We had the tournament today. The intensity levels were certainly a step or two up from what Sam plays each weekend. Today he came up against opposing teams full of talented youngsters.

Sam's team, the Albany All stars, were looking pretty sharp in the Arsenal replica uniform and it was pleasing to see them win their pool after two wins by 4-1 and 4-2. Sam took little while to adjust to the pace of the games only really finding his feet in the second pool game after a wee pep talk from Dad.



The team were the narrowly beaten 2 -1 in a toughly fought semi final. Sam unfortunately only got a few minutes (the games are only 12 minutes each half) game time in the second half of this game as I guess the coach was opting for the strongest five players for the majority of the game.

It was easy to see that even at this age the sports stars of tomorrow really do stand out head and shoulders above the rest. Some of these kids just hate to lose and there were some tears from a few after the semi final lose. I could tell these were genuine tears bought on by the pain of losing, just as I'm sure a many a World Cup or Premier league player has probably shed after losing a final.

One not so pleasant aspect of following childrens sport is the behaviour of some of the parents on the sidelines. At one stage during one of our pool games, three or four fathers were all marching up and down the sideline just barking orders at their children in the opposing team. The same would happen when a player came off the field after a substitution. Sometimes I think we all need to remember the reason why we play sport and that is to have fun. I'm all for encouraging our kids to be winners but they've got to be having fun at the same time.

Sam has one more tournament this season in a few weeks and now that we have had a taste for these age group tournaments I cant wait for more.

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Our new arrival

Our eagerly awaited new arrival joined our family on Monday. Alice Rose was born at around midday weight 2.9kg. She is a beautiful baby.

Mum and baby came home from hospital today. The boys can not get enough of their baby sister, Jack particularly. Any chance to help out and they are there in a second.

Here's a couple of pictures.

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The Pregnancy Marathon

I'm perhaps not qualified to comment on either pregnancies or marathons not having experienced either of these events, however it has struck me while observing Michelle's pregnancy, that pregnancy is a little like running a marathon in many ways.

Like a marathon a pregnancy can be broken up into smaller sections;

From what I have read, the the first ten k or so of a marathon is about settling in to a rhythm. You feel fresh and perhaps a nervous apprehension about what lies ahead.

Usually the first few weeks of a pregnancy will go unnoticed so this is one race that you don't actually know you've started until you're a few weeks into it. The next few weeks can be a breeze for some and tough on others as the body gets use to supporting a baby. Fortunately for Michelle the first ten weeks or so of her pregnancy passed without too much fuss.

Kilometers ten through thirty in a marathon are where you lay the ground work for the latter stages of the race. Maintaining a steady rhythm, looking after yourself, hydrating etc.

It's the same for weeks ten through thirty in the pregnancy. The body (and mind) are over the initial shock to the system and you can set about preparing for the final stages of the race. It's still important to look after yourself through these stages and not make you move too soon.

I've heard many people say the a marathon does not start until the final ten k and again I think the same can almost be said for pregnancies. It seems as each week passes the tension is building as the finish line draws near. The body is tiring and she just wants the race to finish. Sometimes there's a false alarm and you think you can see the finish but then it disappears again into the distance.

We're two days from the finish line. Hopefully the organisers will have measured the course correctly and we wont have to run an extra 'mile'.

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Back training and waiting for a baby!!

Well after last weeks post about having lacked motivation to train for the previous two weeks I was left with little option to get back into it wasn't I? That's the great thing about maintaining a blog - all you have to do when you're feeling you need some encouragement is to write a post about the issue and a couple of things generally happen;

1, As soon as you've posted about something its there in black and white, online for the world to see. You look a bit foolish if you turn around and don't do what you said you were going to do. The act of posting your plans in a blog, is like taking the first step towards achieving what ever it is you were setting out to do. Once its there for all to see the words take on more meaning and your goals become clear again.

2, The second thing that happens is that generally you will receive some form of positive encouragement, and that's always pleasing to read also, knowing that you're not alone and that others are interested and can empathise, and are willing you along no matter where in the world they might be.

So this week I hit the pool for two 30 minute swims as well as my Exercycle for two rides of almost an hour each. If you haven't checked it out before, I record my workouts in the Training Log which can be accessed by clicking the link at the top of this page.

Any training woes are quickly forgotten when I consider that at some stage over the next week or two my beautiful wife Michelle will be giving birth to our third child. All the usual preparations have been made, baby's room readied , nappies stock piled, etc etc , and now all we can do is wait for the impending arrival.

Cant wait to meet our new bundle of joy and re-live all that 'baby stuff' again!

Happy running.

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On Holiday

Well it's not really a holiday, just a three day break from work and home with the boys while Michelle returned to work this week.

It's been fun and pretty packed with some exciting stuff. Yesterday we took a trip to the Auckland Museum and got and up close view of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found. The T Rex, named Sue, is naturally quite famous it seems and is on a bit of a world tour. Like most young boys , Jack and Sam are pretty keen on Dinosaurs and Sue made a great impression.

There's some great photos of Sue here.

photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/flissphil/1755339908/

After some lunch on the lawn in front of the Museum, we went off to the Parnell Salt Water Pools for a cool down. They have a great kids pool there with a slide and fountains which were a lot of fun. While I enjoyed cooling off as well I was able to enjoy some time lounging around pool side just watching them play in the water. It's great now they're at that age where you don't need to be with them every second when they're in the water.

Today we went to the Woodhill Bike Park for a bit of an off road Mountain bike adventure. It was Sam's first time here and he was a bit nervous to start out but he soon started enjoying himself, particularly on the downhills. It was hard work for him on the hills and there was a bit of walking and pushing from me but we got there in the end. Must have tired him out as he fell asleep in the car on the way home!

Just one other ride this week, on Monday, another six miles in about 30 minutes. If that seems slow it's due to it being a 'hill ride'. Found a bit of a loop which I did twice which gives me three hill climbs in all during the ride. Back to work on Friday so will do it all again then.

Have a good week.

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