Well, what a start to the year it’s been. I work in IT and the application I support has been experiencing nothing but issues since the new year ticked over. Consequently I’ve been working crazy hours trying to keep things afloat and keep the associated staff happy.
My contract here finishes soon and if that wasn’t stressful enough, they’re going to advertise my role with the view of making it a permanent one. I would think I’d be the logical candidate, however nothing in a university is a “given”, and so this is a particularly stressful month.
I got the Niner Air 9 carbon back for the local bike shop I use, all in a “near as new” condition. She needed a whole new drivetrain - chain, cassette, cranks, bottom bracket etc, plus a good service, ew cabling and anything else required. The result is an almost brand new bike, quiet and fast. It’s been a great week in that regard!
In the meantime I’ve been using my “ old faithful”, a Giant Anthem X2. The bike is several years old, needs a new rear shock, but other that it goes, stops and handles extremely well. Plus the added squish on the rear certainly makes you lazy when it comes to getting out of the saddle over the humps and bumps. Just barge right through!
The Anthem out on the trail
I also decided to go to the gym a few nights back with my daughter to work on my core strength, as I think this should be a major part of my training. No use having the legs if I don't have the core/back to maintain form and function I figure!
I had lined up a 150k ride tomorrow (Saturday), however my wife has other ideas now and has determined that we will spend the weekend at her dad’s place down at Tweed Heads. A gorgeous place, with pristinely great beaches (http://destinationtweed.com.au/)
While this isn’t such a bad thing it will interrupt my training and of course this led to a disagreement about priorities. So…. I’m now going to do a 100k time trial out around Sandgate/Redcliffe, or 100k’s as fast as I can maintain to sufficiently exhaust myself, and to get some decent miles under my legs. I don’t mind compromise usually, but I’m not doing anywhere near enough miles at present and my Everesting attempt will, as is usual given the limited support I get, have to be done on a “beer budget” rather than a champagne one (as we Aussies says). This means it will be likely a massively exhausting and painful exercise, done on little training, and on my own. Physically and psychologically very difficult. Nonetheless, on I go to the land of Sufferlandria.
Have a good weekend and stay upright.
No comments:
Post a Comment