Tony’s ramblings and life

To start a new post i started going back.....back to deleted all my posts from the last few months - firstly because they were quite crap and mainly going on about my back injury which i want to put behind me for a while, and secondly I wasnt happy with them or me and my outlook at that time. If only it were that easy to delete mistakes made in life eh?

Anyway, I'm back on track with VOX blogging and will try and keep it up to date - mainly for me, as a Diary really for the big changes i've taken on in my life.

I'm finished with New Zealand for a while, I quit work a few weeks ago after months of deliberation ( i have and excellent job and company i work with, which made it harder!) - but i knew something had to change - It just is not the life i want here - yes , good weather and beautiful country, some real nice Kiwi's - but other than that I am a little bored and tired with it all....  It would be easy to shrug the shoulders and accept that fact and carry on the same mundane life, but I rejected that in the UK to come here, so why should I put up with the same just cos its warmer a little bit longer in the year...So , time for CHANGE!!!!! time to see the world, time to meet new people, places, food, sights, smells, sensations....time to live!

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Also a significant factor was my back injury, still not fixed and not looking good for quick solutions. It has played on my mind since I got it in September 2007 - and has been a constant sticking point in getting on with my life. Ideally I wanted to see the world on the back of my Mountainbike, and constant postponement and waiting for Specialists to never give me a straight answer got me very very depressed. But NO MORE! I am now going to WALK my way around the world instead! MWUAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

On that note - watch this space................. ;-)

http://dented.vox.com/library/post/taupo-daynight-thriller-12-hours-solo.html

top bananas!

tuesdays are like that arnt they! unlike thursdays which have friday to look forward to ....

after 2 days rest from the race i didnt fancy a long ride so hit the 'track'* for a long run at lunch, managed 22Ks with a fairly good pace, but on the 7th lap of the 3.1K circuit i started to feel the pain...still its postive if i think i can up it slowly each week to marathon (or almost) distance for the Auckland Marathon 28th October

my meloncholy mood continues

* track - its a path around the Lagoon near where i live, very handy, sheltered and has 3 sets of toilets on the way round - very handy for us runners :-)

so the 12hours Taupo Day Night thriller came up quick - www.daynightthriller.co.nz

I was in a 2 person team with anne and we did good, claiming 6th spot in the 2/3 catergory, with only 1 other 2 person teams above us! very pleasing....the weekend was good catching up with friends and Andrew from oz (www.ayup.com.au) - and meeting some very nice new people!

the track wasnt taxing too much, and if i was to do it again i would make it more fun as part of a bigger team , costumes etc, like most other teams there....

my riding was uneventful apart from a faller right in front of me at the start, my seatpost collapsing down and twisting my back in funny angles that caused me great pain for the rest of the riding , and a falling to avoid another fallen rider in the downhill section at night!

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i just wish i could figure out whats missing

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there is something missing!

K's that is - saturday morning on the road bike, was well pleased with that, trying to stay in HR zone 2, but had a few peaks into zone 3, nothing serious, and it was a 4hour effort on the bike with increasing headwinds. Sun shone, but it was bitterly cold - plenty of riders out, of all abilities, the ones with the 'pro' kit on just ignoring my head nods and waves - the ones with bright yellow 'see me' jerseys smiling and waving back. !

What impressed me more is that even though i was exhausted at the end, legs were 'unstrained' , just all tingly. Plenty of carbs and chocolate milk later and they were all good!!!!

Saturday night was a late one watching the rugby, All Blacks look strong - very strong to win the title, England look pathetic!!!

Sunday was just rain most of the day, a good excuse to put feet up and watch motorsport all day, a quick run in the afternoon between rain showers - some hill repeats took it out of me!

Today , monday - mountain bike is back and has a few new bits on it, should see me through the 12 hour race next weekend, and the 100K mtb event in rotorua in just under 4 weeks (Oh My God!!!!) , just took her for a spin and all seems to work great, thanks to the guys at Cyclexpress in Panmure, always doing a good job, and they spotted i needed new rear brake pads, so had them done too! awesome!

I have such a relaxed attitude to my riding at the moment its untrue - i think i was just to tense and too much training and riding before I went to the UK - beginning to hate that 'night before' phase of racing ... fitting the races in-between training for OXFAM etc - thankfully the UK holiday could not have come at a better time, relaxed my mind and broke it all up- i certainly think i'd been overtraining - had all the symptoms - now since coming back i just focus on more effective training and pick and choose events rather then go for as many as i can (although i have to force myself to not do that!!)  to sum it all up, i guess i just needed to lighten the hell up :) :)

So probably no updates now till next week after the race as my life isnt that exciting to blog twice a week while NOT on holiday !!!! :) :) :)

...on Sunday, my 'best' day - but more of that later, firstly to say i had a great weekend in Rotorua riding the trails with friends (www.dented.vox.com) , took me an hour or so to get back 'into it' on Saturday with being off the MTB since Wales a few weeks before, and also the terrain of the trails was very different - i felt fresh and motivated - something i've missed from riding Rotorua a lot mainly in races...

so to Sunday...

aahh.... no more of that even later...

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The sun shone all day Saturday, temperatures were high in the forest and after 40K's of hard singletrack i sat soaking in the lovelly Hot Pools at the local Holiday Park, 5.30pm with the sun setting and no one around, easing my aching legs and stretching out - worried though about the 100Km race coming up next month  - and also the 12 hour race in 2 weeks! Sitting in the sun i promised myself to stick strictly to my H.R. training plan and get plenty of long distance riding in at the weekends - crossing fingers i'll make the finish of 100K race, it will be a personal challange and i dont really care where i end up. finishing is all that matters.

So to Sunday, legs were a little tired as we headed out once more, i span in a low gear to get them moving again, but i did feel confident and excited to get back into the Forest. After 3 more hours or riding in the sun we got to the start of one of the best trails in the forest - 'Be Rude Not 2' its got everything, everything an XC rider wants and you use all the skills you have to ride it well. Legs amazingly were fresh and good, and the brain too (always a bonus)....

I hammered it, as fast as i could with everything i had, looking ahead, moving right, braking right, gears right, thinking of the trail coming , it all came together and i shot out of the end of the trail grinning outwards and inwards - i have never been so pleased with my riding as i was then - it made me feel like a million dollars inside and boosted my confidence no end. I know i sound like some kind of pro-elite rider - but thats not what i'm trying to get across, they would have done it faster and better - i know that, as would a lot of 'normal' riders, but to me, and only to me, it was my Perfect run, something i've not felt in a very long time.

Monday - Im still buzzing from the weekend :)

The wind was howling along at 40ks, traffic was bad as it was middle of lunchtime - decided to go on my longer ride route today - mistake!!! - it was clogged with lunch timer's attempting to park with little indication or checking of mirrors.... but finally i got out to a long side road, and next to a small park and for just a few minutes i had peace, like the eye of a storm, all i could hear was the rolling of the bike, rustle of the tree's and a few birds chirping away merrily - so few times is it like that it seems, and then back into the busy streets of auckland , cut up by 2 lorry drivers coming across into a side street from the opposite side, car doors opening , people 'almost' taking the space in front of me before jamming on the brakes - the usual stuff that makes for a horrid 2hour ride... 

i got my mountain bike back from the shop, almost 200bucks on maintenance, but she's looking sweet and well looked after at Cyclexpress in Panmure Auckland, - a big test this weekend as i head down to Rotorua to give the trails a bit of a bash - lets see how my long enduro legs are after such a big lay off....

A lot to report since my last entry, We (michelle and alan, co-workers) went off to Sydney to do the 100K OXFAM Walk from Sydney up to the Blue mountains (http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/sydney/team/539) (www.kiwi-tourists.vox.com) - arrived Wed 22nd to meet up with our support crew, Angela and Neville and Peter and Lorraine - and our 4th team walker who we'd not met before, Wendy. We all immediatley clicked which was good as we'd spend a lot of time together over the next few days.

Fantastic start-line buzz, as with all major events, and off we went - rain coming down for the first part of the day, clearing for the second.

The course was much much harder than we thought (as we'd not seen it or trained on it) but we progressed and plodded along - Wendy easily outpacing us but waiting at appropriate times for us to catch up.

Michelle's illness starting to show (bronchitus) when the sun went down and the temperature cooled and the rain came back....pulling out at just under half way. Alan, Wendy and I continued in the rain - my hip starting to give me real issues, not only lifting my leg but when i plant it down. The Terrain requiring very very careful foot placement too - not making it any easier.

At about 65K, 4am-ish, Checkpoint 6, I had to quit , 6 neurofen couldnt mask the pain, and i was stumbling and falling all over the trail - Alan also finished due to exhaustion.

Wendy continued on to the finish, which was utterly fantastic, in appx 33hs.

If the above report seems a bit crap its because i really dont want to think about it at the moment - as well as the constant replay in the mind of what i could have done to finish, did i quit to early?, why my hip was so bad?, its also the thought of just simply not finishing something that i started, that ive worked hard for over so many months, comes to nothing. The moment i remember so cleary on the trail that the realisation of the fact i could not finish and will quit is painful to remember.

Positives - , as with anything in life, the best positives that come out of defeat are the people you met and shared it with you. They all know who they are and what they did - and i dont need to recite it all here.

Sydney - a fantastic city, bathed in warm weather and sunshine (except when we needed it!) on the Sunday, clean, friendly, great food and coffee culture and easy to get around...i will return.

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Time for more thought and reflection as i go throught the Working Day and everyone comes up and asks the same questions and i give the same answers and get the same 'Well Done's and Never Minds', but all it does is bring back memories that i'd rather not think about - everyone means well, i know, and perhaps ive just not got the right attitude at the moment....

So back in NZ - arrived Friday 5am, waited around for my bike till about 7am before Air NZ said they had lost it, and probably be in later off another flight...so straight into work.... bingo!!! 2pm it was 'found' and sent out to me...fantastic...all in 1 piece...even better :)  Friday PM - Got so tired i couldnt sleep till 2am saturday and took me all weekend to catch up...all good now.

Still theres always something strange about coming back after doing so much on a holiday, things that started to become familiar suddenly changed - holiday thoughts and adventures all gone, friends and family back to being far away instead of down the road....

Ho hummm....

Sunday was bright and sunny in Auckland but a terrible northerly wind...still not having been out on the road bike in 5 weeks I was keen to do a long run - and ended up doing 75K's in about 2.5 hours - i ached, i ached big time... an afternoon on the couch watching drivel on TV helped :)

Back to work now, same routine as always.... looking forward to the 100km walk in Sydney on friday - going to be doing live blogs and updates on the team site (www.kiwi-tourists.vox.com) if anyone wants to check it out. Slightly nervous about it, but should be fun to do it with friends and meeting up with new people from across the pond in OZ - who are just amazing in the fact that they are going to be our support crew for 30-odd hours of us walking. Truly humbling that they are giving up thier time for us.

Will report back next week after the event.

My ride for the next 30odd hours!!!! Back in nz friday 5am and work for 7am i think i may need a coffee......

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