Training sessions continue amid comments from helpful spectators that we are guilty of overtraining … as we taper in preparation for the half ironman in Taupo.

Less than 10 days away. Into the single figure countdown.

My buddy writes the training schedule. Mentored by triathlete coach John Hellemans who wrote *the book* which drives our schedule. I can’t recall the name of *the book* at the moment, but it has been very influential for our triathlon training.

When we competed at the Blue Lake Contact Energy triathlon in Rotorua on 22 November … guess who (else) was there? John Hellemans. Swimming, cycling and running with the rest of the tri-mob. My mate was thrilled : his hero, his mentor, the one who taught him “everything he [my buddy] knows about triathlon”.

He said as much to a fellow triathlete in transition as they were packing up after the event, “John Hellemans is here. Isn’t that great?”

The other fella grimaced. “Not if he’s [competing in] your age group.”

After biking 160km around Lake Taupo on Saturday, I am happily   surprised to find that I am not-so-sore as I expected.

Bending is a little painful. I have sore knees.

Otherwise Sunday is a relaxing day. An afternoon spent napping. And not much bending …

I swam and cycled and ran … see, I TRI-ed and now I’m tired.

Next weekend .. Taupo Cycle Challenge

Two weeks later … 20 days from today … Taupo Half-ironman

Am I ready? No way!!

I am exhausted. And proud of my effort today.

I am invited to spend a day – or “however much time you have … because we know you are busy with training” – with *the Puke girls* who are renting a holiday-home in Taupo this weekend.

I bring the chocolate birthday cake for the birthday girl, and scones left over from yesterday’s baking effort : too much lemonade and cream in the lemonade scones means I *must* make double the amount I intended … so that I have twice as many scones to share

I bring tentative ideas – and calendar paper, and scraps from my 2003 graphic design course portfolio, and PVA glue, and ink, and tissue paper – to make Christmas cards. I have been living in my small flat for a year(!) already; perhaps December 2009 will be the month I let people know my *new* address.

Today, after a day of crafting, and laughing, and Girl-Talk … I wish the *Puke girls* lived closer to me. Or visited my neighbourhood more often Because it’s good for a woman-on-her-own to spend time with other friendly laughing chortling giggling snorting women.

A friend checks out the strawberry pot plants on my balcony, sheltering under a 2.4m swath of netting.

Thumbs up

There are strawberries ready for harvest.

Training is a little more serious in recent days.

Between bike-breaking (mtb) and bike-hunting (road bike), we schedule an open water swim. In preparation to swimming in Lake Taupo on 12 December.

Swim at the pool – as usual – on Friday.

Complete the bike ride  easy   and the run  not-so-easy   parts of our training triathlon on Saturday. Training buddy declares himself too tired to go swimming … we make plans to swim on Sunday.

Sunday. Drive to Whakamaru. Push ourselves – and each other – into wetsuits not worn since last summer. Waddle to water’s edge. Step in. One step at a time into an ice-cold Waikato River. Knee-deep. Thigh-deep. Waist-deep. Belly-flop into the water. Breast-stroke. Dive. Splash. Splutter. Dog-paddle. General splashing to stay afloat and keep our heads above water.

You can turn back whenever you’re ready, says Training Buddy.

He will hang around. A bit longer.

I put my head down and bottom up, as coached. I swim. Freestyle. Slow steady strokes. Minimal gasping Twenty-two strokes. Stop. Line up with beach. Swim again.

Icy cold. A strong current carries us downstream. Hard work is needed to get back to shore. To hot soup. Muffins. Soft towels. And dry clothes.

34 minutes *swim training* includes removing the rubber wet suits, changing into warm dry clothes and sipping hot soup. Not much of that 34 minutes is spent Swimming.

We need more focus. More Swimming

 

 

 

• new running shoes for the half-marathon at the end of the half-ironman – check
• sunscreen blinds for the front room facing the street (and all-day sun) – check
• quote for custom blinds meets the landlord’s budget – check which means the blinds will stay when/if I leave
• Avanti Cadent road bike – full carbon-for-speed-and-comfort – available for purchase and in town this week … long before Christmas

In the days since I identify the big *treats* I’d like to give myself … I’ve been looking at different bicycles … considering specifications … poring through bike catalogues. Coveting.

There are two bike shops in town. One supplies Giant bikes … which come in all sizes, not just Giant, for you smarties The other is the agent for Avanti.

At Giant – rebelling against my *never ridden anything but Avanti* upbringing – I choose the Defy Alliance. Only to find that the 2010 bike range is not yet in stock at The Giant Warehouse in New Zealand, and my local agent can’t get one for me until after Christmas.

I return to New Zealand-based Avanti, maker of my current second-hand pre-loved and custom-modified bicycle, and of the Sublime bike I bought new in 2007 (and sold *one owner, never crashed, cycle computer included* in 2008) when I was a leisure cyclist and not a Club *racing* cyclist as I am now to see what’s on offer for the 2010 season.

On Monday, the Avanti agents will tell me whether they can supply me with a new Cadent from the 2010 *Race Endurance Road* range … and whether I’ll be riding a new bike in the half-ironman on 12 December Too exciting!

I am mountain-biking in the Redwoods, bouncing over logs and tree roots and ruts in the tracks. Until I realise that the clanging noise is *attached* to my Ghost brand mountain-bike. Which might mean some part of my bike is not-so-well attached.

Field analysis: All parts still attached. But the rear derailleur is bent. Out of shape. So misshapen that *bits* touch other *bits* they shouldn’t

I hope repair or replacement is possible – on the to-do list for Wednesday. And that the clang can be eliminated. Mountain-biking is much more fun when there is no clanging noise associated with a *broken bike*.

After 14 months on prescribed anti-depressants, I think it’s time to be weaned off the drugs.

My doctor agrees. Well, he says, when you are *ready*. “This [Spring, he means] is a good time of year to start reducing your dosage.” At my appointment, he says, “when you are ready”, reduce the dosage from two pills each day to one pill at day. He gives me a new prescription for the reducing dosage. One pill a day for three weeks, half a pill a day for three weeks, half a pill every second day for three weeks.

I am wary. When I started taking anti-depressants, one pill a day, I had a permanent headache and felt sleepy during the day. I fell asleep if I sat down for ten minutes. And I cried. All the time. Cautious, I start with taking one pill a day, on alternate days. On the other days, I still take two pills. And I find that, on a one-pill day … I am extra-sensitive to slights, I cry easily, and I don’t cope with criticism.

Perhaps I am not ready.