My Gym

It's that time of year when 'normal' people head indoors if they're exercising and around here the local gym is a popular option. As a triathlete I should be hanging out at the pool or on my wind trainer or a treadmill. However, being decidedly abnormal I choose to remain outdoors and just dress differently. This week I took the camera along on a couple of runs to try and capture the flavour of 'my gym' ... the big wide open drafty one where the duty gym operator (God) keeps forgetting to turn the heaters on!

Sunday's run went way over time, like 1 hour 40 instead of the planned 1 hour. I finished up going to the end of Arataki Rd and over the swingbridge into Pureora Forest before turning round and running back via Pakonui Rd. The swingbridge is one of those places which holds very strong memories of Ron, probably because we crossed it lots of times to go hunting, we'd pause

midway to look for trout and sometimes just lean against the wires and talk. Nice place.

Monday's run was 10 k at an easy pace. I started pretty late so most of it was in the dark. Up on top of Henderson Rd I could see the snow clouds over Titiraupenga (see photo right)

Tuesday was my first hint of a 'speed session'. New York is 20 weeks away so it's time to start shaping my programme with that in mind. I was looking at the website this week and saw that the entry numbers for this year were being increased to 58,000 for the 40th Anniversary race making it the biggest marathon ever. Even increasing entries to that number they're turning away 4 of every 5 lottery applicants. I'm getting pretty excited about this one and that's helping me get out the door and away from the fire.

I was born to run ... apparently. This week I've been reading 'Dr Sheehan on Running' written by noted cardiologist and runner George Sheehan in 1975. He asks the question "How do I know if running is my exercise?" and then answers with If you ran in school, tend to be narrow rather than wide, have small wrists and weigh in pounds twice your height in inches, you will probably like to run. If you are a loner, have few friends and have been described as a dreamer, you can go out right now and buy shoes. Not only is that the best description of me I've ever read, it also means I'm a kilogram over weight!

Wednesday was a day off and a chance to change the Donkey's real estate and organise firewood.

Thursday I was back on the road with an easy 10 k over rolling hills. Friday's run was also kept to 10 k as I wasn't allowed to be late home. We were going out to see a friend of Sp.K's in a local (Taupo) production featuring a selection of songs and dances from musicals. The 1st half was a 'one man' play called "Verbatim" with a cast of about 6 people? It was about a guy in prison for murder and it looked at his life and his crimes from various perspectives including his own, his family's, the victim's spouse and the 'all knowing' talkback caller. The 2nd half was the musical show. It was great! I really enjoyed the live theatre. We'll have to check out the Broadway shows for October since we'll be staying in Hells Kitchen, very close to Broadway.

Saturday we headed to Rotorua to a different outdoor gym. Sp.K was teaching dancing so I headed out through Ngongotaha towards Hamurana ... running in the footsteps of giants on the Rotorua marathon course. I'm guessing I did about 16 k, good enough for now.

Ordinary life is very zen ... chop wood, carry water ( you could add shovel Donkey doo's ). That, and a slightly longer run, is the plan for Sunday.