What’s He Up To?
Not much. Training and Resting. Literally. Let me give you a sample day:
7AM: Grumble about the light and bury myself deeper into my pillows.
Weetabix
8AM: Look out the window: Cloudy'n'wet? Roll over... Sunny? Woohoo! Unfortunately, I now already find myself at the hardest part of the day: pulling my achy-breaky body out of bed. Eventually I usually succeed and stumble into the kitchen for some Wheetabix or toast or something. Once armed with carbs, I'll sprawl as luxuriously (some say awkwardly) as possible across one of the free couches (Alex and Josh are usually up before me) and bring my mind up to speed with some Southpark or Cricket Results (depending on Josh's mood).
10AM: Regardless of the buildup I'm usually out the door for a morning session by 10. Today Mitch called for:
am - AB 55' >< 65' start @ slow end of pace zone, end @ fast end
+ stretch
+ ice achilles
The run went really well (considering I had to massage both my achilles to life before starting the session). I've been having some problems starting these longer pieces off slowly (especially when I know they should be picking up). Problem is I usually get to 12min in and realize I've come all the way down to the bottom of the pace zone. Oh AB = Aerobic Basic, 5:20-6:00/mi. Today I just decided to stay 6:00 for first 30min. Around minute 40 I hit the track and got a speed check. 85.5 lap so 5:51 pace. Good. Coming back home I dropped a 20:20 to finish up the 5.8km back to the flat. Finishing up 5:20 bang on. So I'm really pleased.
Noon: Whatever the workout, eventually it will come to an end and, as per the Seb Coe plan (zero extra-curricular energy allowance), it's straight back to hard core lounging. The only question is the form of the lounge. And with that, we come to my one decision of the day: Sit down in the power chair and crank out some web work? Or re-assume my splayed position on a couch and trash talk it up with the locals. The decision largely comes down to: Will I be disappointing anyone by not working? Is Stefan Smith here and likely stirring up trouble? (surely yes). Either way, I have 5 hours to kick my feet up before the next session.
5PM: Sessions number two, which carries on for at least 2 more hours total (maybe more if I have to get to and from Freyburg pool), takes me all the way to dinnertime.
Today I have:
pm - GR 25' >< 35' easy
+ Lift 1
+ stretch hip flexors
+ ice achilles
Most went well, I think I strained my back a little bit with the squats and my left achilles (getting quite bad now, gotta talk to Mitch) couldn't handle the calf raises. Strong effort overall though and I'm feeling pretty powerful. Upon getting back to the flat, it is a tradition of Alex and mine to whip up some fortifying milkshakes in hopes of gaining some recovery carbs.
8PM: Time to craft some sort of meal, which is a group effort though usually under the supervision of head-chef Van Dalen. After that, it's kick back again and take a peak at what horrors Mitch has concocted for me the tomorrow. More sports and banter to finish off the day and then off to my room by 11.
Midnight: Despite my best efforts, I usually don't end up falling asleep until midnight or so as some email or blog post requires writing.
But with that, you have a nice template of my average day.
Wellington Welcomes You
My bus ride back to Wellington couldn't have gone any better (especially in comparison to my trip out) as I arrived in Wellington 10 minutes early(!) on a beautiful day, having happily slept 7 hours of the trip. In fact I had hardly awoken for the second time when I was greeted with "Wellington Welcomes You" (a road sign I may have made up to suit the purposes of this entry).
Wellington Welcomes You
I'm settled and unbelievably happy to kick back and relax for a bit. More than that, I've been looking forward for quite some time to being able to sink into a nice living situation, organize my stuff, catch up and stay current with work, and (most of all) finally put training first in my life. I've felt guilty ever step of the way, tossing workouts aside because there was no track handy, skipping sessions because it's impractical to get to a gym, staying dry because there was no water deep or safe enough to aquajog in. Well no more! And after 3 full days here, I know I've landed in a good situation in a great city. If I'm not careful, Wellington might turn me into a bit a city guy. I have nothing negative to say about it at all.
I should mention that my flat mates for a time are Alex Wallace and Josh Van Dalen. They've been game enough to house me in their mate Aaron's room (who'll be gone for ages) until I find a permanent home. I just hope it comes close to what they have set up here. Right now I couldn't be happier. I'm at an awesome desk, perfectly suited for my system, I live with a couple of runners, and the location can't be beat, 1 block from a grocery store across the street from Parliament, and 3 blocks from the beautiful Wellington harbor waterfront. I should mention Josh is a bit of a cook as well. Seems the rumor about NZers being a bunch of foodies isn't too far fetched.
With this situation, however, I have begun to focus my attention on various computer projects I've been interested in diving into, some paying, some not (Sadly for you, I will not be releasing the details to anyone but my closest confidantes... and that has nothing to do with how boring it would be to read). The result is that I think my time writing about the NZ experience is largely at an end. I'm going to divert my time at this point to the more elitest pursuits of aquajogging lanes, coding textbooks, and Photoshop tutorials.
But! This personal journal is not over! Just simply scaled back. I will try to have a bit of an update weekly (mostly for fretting parents), and today marks week one.
So check back every now and then, and I'll have something curious for you to mull over.
Cheers!
WORKing Holiday
Yippy Skippy!
Day off. Only run was to Jane's (beating Cary's bus from the same location). 2 miles.
Today I woke feeling good, grabbed some breakfast, and sat on the patio for a couple minutes. Then I got straight to work starting around 11AM...
.
.
.
.
So Long, Mt. Vic
Today was a very busy day but quite unremarkable, and as I've fallen behind in the blog while playing catchup on work, I'm going to leave this mostly running-centric.
What boxer's look like
The big event today would be moving out of our old place on the top of Mt Victoria. The sole reason: one of our two other flatmates is extremely hormonal and unpleasant. She basically showed no signs of wanting to share life with the people she lived with, droopy eyes, constant snippish remarks, and cold one-line responses to attempts at any conversation. All in all, her outward countenance was the biggest wet blanket I have ever met (and those of you who know who I previously considered a wet-blanket know this is a serious statement to make. At least buzz-killington of old meant well). The only thing she showed any affection for was her boxer, which she apparently rescued from the pro-dog-fighting circuit because it was losing every match. There's probably all kinds of psychology I can read into that choice and for about 48 hours I even toyed with the decision to make it her my project. You know how sometimes you meet someone so unfavorable you want to reach out a little bit? Please, you know you do. Well, I didn't have the fortitude to keep with it once we made our plans to move out and allowed our "relationship" to lapse into silence.
So we find ourselves living for two days with Alex Wallace in his flat. His mates are home for the summer and they've been generous enough to let us use their rooms for two nights before we head up to Tauranga for the next 3 weeks. We'll pick a new place when we get back.
Today we ran for 7miles 48min RE around the Botanic Gardens and down to the waterfront. Did some strengthening exercises.
Day 26: Hostel Relations
Today was our final night in a backpacker. Hopefully for quite some time. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the living part of backpackers, always meeting new and interesting folks. But once you get out of the nature-loving, bed at 10, ultra-considerate personalities on the West Coast, it becomes increasingly difficult to sleep soundly. Something always creaks. Someone always grumbles in their sleep. And light always makes it's way into the room just when you're dreaming about dragon lairs, resulting in your premature roasting, your limbs flailing you back into reality. Good luck falling back to sleep...
Tonight was no different with a window behind the far bunk being slightly ajar and jostling a bit with each occasional gust of wind. Worst part was, it would happen just when you finished being angry with the last gust, finally forgot about the situation, and lost your previous resolve to close it "if it happens one more time".
Good to be going home
Well, we hit the road early as we needed to take those pics at the lookout, get gas, and speed back to Picton to turn in the car and make our 1:10 ferry.
Everything went swimmingly and we even enjoyed some glorious sun on the deck of the massive ship (This time we had the latest and greatest, though apparently finicky ship). I didn't take any photos but it was like a nice hotel in there with mirrors and glass and hard stone everywhere. Wind was quite intense as we were making our way through the Cook Straight, and the captain exclaimed that we would be entering "less than favorable water conditions." The boat rocked enough to make walking hazardous, and there were a few sea-sick individuals curled up with little white baggies. I was uncomfortable enough myself to hold my tongue right now describing their faces. Got over it by lying down for ten minutes before getting up and enjoying walking through oscillations of weighing 50 and 100kg.
Wellington
Let me say right now, Wellington is such a cool city.
- Nelson had great weather and a cute little strip but overall, I'd rate it as just a big town. Also, the population was generally older and less likely to be out or at least visually appealing on weekends.
- Queenstown is indeed very pretty. I could become a recluse and feed off the tourism out there. Lots of money and youth coming through but the excitement was lacking when I was there. Either way, definitely NOT a city.
- Dunedin kind of sucked. The waterfront was horribly industrious and downtown not very pretty. The school wasn't even that attractive to me. The fellas that took us in, however, were awesome! I had a great time kicking it with you guys.
- Christchurch was impressively lovely. Unfortunately, once you get beyond the numerous parks, gardens, and canals, it was like any other city in the US. Grid-like and no real high-rising buildings. In that sense, I can see it being pretty boring after a while.
Well, that's a pretty brutal breakdown of the cities I've seen so far. Let me definitively say they certainly beat most American cities I've been in (certainly beat Boston). But Wellington is awesome! Really stylish, exciting, and diverse downtown district, with suburbs that rise on sharp, steep, twisty-turny hills that tuck the city in. Great waterfront too! I think Cary made a great choice when he settled down there who-knows-how-long-ago.
Alex kindly picked us up from the ferry and we headed straight to practice.
Thought about just swimming but my achilles felt good, it was a circuit (not much running?), and I was there without option so I joined in. Actually turned out to be one of the most brutal... anythings... I've done since Bee Hill.
1 mile warmup.
3min uphill tempo "as far as you can go".
Tony set up a devilish set of cones, 100m apart, to sprint between, doing exercises at each end. Let's see if I can remember some.
20sec "press-ups" (push ups). sprint. ah, I already forget. sprint. Squat thrusts (mountain climbers). sprint. Something. sprint. 45s rest. fast feet in ladder. sprint. half-squats. sprint. 45s rest. v-ups. sprint. side crunch. sprint. burpies. sprint. high knees ladder. 3min rest
repeat 3min hill "tempo".
repeat circuit.
repeat 3min hill "race".
half mile cooldown.
5miles total?
Exhausted. Shower. Computer work. McDonalds with Shane. Computer work. Cereal. Computer. Take a dump from McD. Computer. Brush. Bed 2AM. Zzzzzz.
Day 8: All About Speed
Need for speed was the name of the game today. The highlights were a double training session today with a bunch of speed and getting on film the ridiculous climb to our house at the top of Mt Vic.
25minutes RE, 4 miles in the AM by myself. Just got familiar with the trails on Mt Vic. Saw a car off the side of the road in the trees. Would have made a great addition to this post but sadly I didn't have my camera. I did have a watch though. I know, shocking.
Met up with Tony and the guys at a cafe to talk training a little (their training, i don't have much of a plan yet). Then we got out on the track for another high-speed workout.
15minute warmup
drills
10x200m @ 28.5 for 5, then 27.5 for 5. 75s rest in between (200 jog).
6minutes rest
10x200m @ 28 for 5, then 27 for 5. 75s rest in between (200 jog).
I was hitting right in the target zone most of the time. Had a few dip under 27 (including last one) but I don't think any were over 29. Towards the end of the workout I was feeling the wear on my legs and I made sure to do a good long stretch afterward. I'm sure I'll still feel it tomorrow. Damn I love doing speed though...
15minute cooldown
So I finally remembered to bring my camera along to practice as Alex drove Cary and I home after the session. I am obliged to mention that he did NOT hit 80mph at any point, NOR did he burn any rubber, and his license plate number is certainly not 23HJ4S.
My hand did about freeze holding that camera in a death grip on the way up though...
Te Papa Museum of New Zealand
Te Papa is unbelievable. It was really well laid out and the architecture inside was fascinating. I have no idea how the museum got to be as incredible as it is because here's the kicker: it's free!
Now I gotta admit I went in there with the intent of taking a bunch of pics. However, I failed and the few that I did take didn't come out great. My bad. However, I did get to read up on the history of these islands. Here are a few key notes:
The first floor is devoted to geology and ecology of the region. The exhibits were amazingly interactive and at the back of the floor, behind a glass wall and floating in some disgusting preservatives was a GIANT SQUID. pretty cool to look at. 4m long. Eye-balls the size of soccer-balls. I've seen the Discovery show where they find it but it's a lot cooler in person.
On the next floor was a ton of info about the progression of culture and peoples on the island. I couldn't believe this, but NZ has only had people on it for 1500 years. Maori ('MAU[as in 'ouch']-ree'). Then Cook brought the European influence in late 1700s. The rest is non-violent history as they turned the massive forests into sheep pastures. Typical...
Kura Pounamu
In the Maori section, these little guys were EVERYWHERE! Apparently, they greatly value greenstone. It can't be that rare though because the museum had hundreds of tikis and weapons made of the stuff. I also found it incredible how well the Maori and Europeans get along.
Check out the size of the Beatle's Tiki
The last interesting floor (2 so-so ones in between), was the art exhibit. It's my second-favorite ever next to the Clark's Dove/O'Keefe exhibit (mostly O'Keefe). There weren't any big names in there (though I will be the first to admit that my knowledge is... how shall we say... limited.), but some of the paintings were really intricate and you could still see the same progression of 1600-current art being influenced by Kiwis going to study in Italy and France, and later the US/abroad. Cary and I agreed that the Maori tattoos, especially, were really interesting, primal, and attractive. This is probably because that is the culture that's native to NZ and has resisted the influx boring European ideas.
Day 7: City Shopping: Life Drain
Really? It's been a week since I left Ohio? Wow...
The big goal today was to get into town and take care of loose ends. oh but first, Wed run:
54min, 8miles. That made for a pretty moderate pace as we had to run down and back up Mt Vic.
Took a bus into the city at noon. Allow me to impart some more Kiwi knowledge.
Tim Tam Slam - I was introduced today to Tim Tams. It's an Aussie-based cookie (biscuit) company. Their cookies are quite delicious on their own, but even more so when performing a Tim Tam Slam.
- Ingredients:
- Tim Tams
- Coffee
- Bite off one end of the biscuit.
- Bite off the other end.
- Insert one end into coffee.
- Suck coffee through your Tim Tam until the hot coffee collapses the biscuit and melts the chocolate.
- Dribble what's left in your hand into you mouth
Cary and I chose Starbucks caramel mocha macchiatos as our beverage of choice. Delicious!
Cell Phones Salesmen - They suck. I went to get my dataplan from Vodaphone and the rep there told me my phone was compatible. Fortunately, on Cary's advice, I put in the SIM card to test before purchasing and got no service. Ummm, asked what was up and the rep quickly threw up her hands. Well, I went home, planless, googled the issue, and discovered I just had to switch from the US's 1EX network to 2G/3G. I even asked the rep if it had anything to do with my network settings and got a blank stare. I can't believe you can have that job without knowing that. I wonder how many other foreigners went to a store looking for a plan and left without one for that reason... Bad business.
New Zealand Plug
Electronics - Got some camping supplies and talked to a guy about electronics in NZ. They have a 240V plug while we have 110-120V outlets in the US. This caused my speaker fuse to blow. When coming here, make sure your electronics have their own voltage regulator (most laptops/cell phones do on the charger for instance). I think I'm just going to ditch mine and buy a cheap $20 pair when I get back form the south island.
- Hazelnut Spread - Good on anything. Addictive (way better, and cheaper, than Nutella).
- Tim Tam Biscuits - Delicious aussie cookies.
- Bumper Bars - An energy bar that tastes way, way better than cliff bars or the equivalent in the states.
-
Me & my Mars Bar
Mars Bars
- Used to LOVE these. They've become rare in the states. - Meat Pies - Cary recommends these. I haven't actually had the pleasure yet.
As the shopping in the city wore on, I just found myself getting really tired... When I finally got on a bus home and sat down, it was one of the most relieving experiences of my life. I just don't think I like being on my feet in a city for as long as I was... It had to be done though, it had to be done.
Oh, I the big event of the day slipped my mind... We went to Te Papa, the best free historical museum I've ever been to! I'll get my pics up, then write a short new post about it.
Day 6: Reintroduction to Mondo
Today was a pretty boring day highlights wise. You'll likely find the same information in this entry as you might if I just sat around in Ohio for a day.
In the AM I opted not to go for a morning jog and workout on the computer catching up on all the little jobs and email communication I'd neglected for a week. It felt pretty good to get all my ducks in a row before practice.
Practice was the highlight. Cary and I took a bus down to Wellington where we got picked up by Alex Wallace (from now on A-wall/AWOL). One crazy car ride later we arrived at a relatively crowded track. I'm used to seeing 50ppl on a track before with William's practices. But never so diverse. There were sprite middle schoolers up to still-trucking-along coaches. And the thing about all of them that impressed me: they had GREAT form! Everybody looked quite professional as they run. After talking to some people about it, I've decided that NZ does a great job of developing young talent on the track. A lot of those kids were doing workouts we'd put Mendoza, Rodilitz, and other college freshmen through.
Disappointment of the day: Tony Rogers didn't show up. I was hoping to get in a good conversation about training with him.
We put our gear on, laced up, and got out for a good 15minute warmup around the facility. There were going to be 3 of us doing Tony's workout today: Cary, Awall, and myself. It was classic and a fun reintroduction to the track. Oh, on a side note, everyone thought it was really weird that Cary and I didn't put on spikes for the workout... I'm glad I didn't because I'm feeling my achilles even with the new pair of Asics Gel Cumulus I busted out.
15minute warmup
10x400@date 1500m pace. 2min rest in between. Simple and sweet
I ran something like 63-62-61-61-60-60-61-62-60-59. It felt really good for the first 3. After 4 I didn't think I was going to make it all the way through. But I ended up being at the same pain level through 8 where I got blown away by Awall how was only doing 8 (ran a 58). 9 and 10 were quite painful but I was definitely going anaerobic. Between each I fell into a routine of 200m jog and 40s rest before the next.
15minute slow cooldown
7.5 miles
Showered off in the facility locker-room before heading to Jane's for an amazing dinner! She cooked up some Cabrera (sp?) which was cream, ham, mushrooms, nutmeg, garlic, and something else stirred together and drizzled over a pasta bowl. It was particularly fun to cook with her because she was under the influences of 4 glasses of wine... allegedly from a work party? However, she also had a bottle of wine for the three of us and for dessert we made fresh brownies with chocolate drizzle and apricot yogurt. Definitely one of the best meals I'd had in ages (Mezze might have been better if I was more focused while eating it). A+ in my highly esteemed opinion. However! I can't give her too much credit because later in the night she tricked me into betting Russia has less than 100million people in it. It has 141million. Damnit. Fortunately, NZ bills are one step up from monopoly money.
Also watched some Flight of the Concords (sorry Brooks) with the Kiwis in her apartment. That was especially fun.
Good day, still lousy weather though. Fortunately, predicted sun for our journey south on friday!
Day 4: Cheers!
I woke up today to sunlight in my window, quickly rolled out of bed and looked out. The view was incredible!
Hataitai
We have a perfect view of Hataitai, which is the western suburb of Wellington (check out the album for a view from the other side of the house, Wellington proper). I grabbed a PB&J, some tea and launched out the door into the beautiful 70degree heat. This is living. Cary and I stretched a few minutes and headed out for Wellington Harriers Headquarters. Once there, we met a dozen runners and I hit the toilet (bathroom in kiwi). Bad move, cause when I came out, the crew was gone. I talked for 5 minutes with the head dude (not really a coach) of the club, Graham Somebody. He's been everywhere so it was a really interesting convo. Cary eventually came back like a good mate and apologized way too much for leaving me behind. It was fault really.
Island Bay Run
However, turned out to be a blessing because the team ran into the city and Cary and I had decided anyways that we wanted to head out around Island Bay (One spectacular thing about living at the top of Mt Vic is that we can literally plan our runs from the window!)
I'll let the pictures tell the story of the run. We ran 90min, 14miles RE. Stretched a bit afterward, showered, and made way toward downtown.
Black Mac
The rest of the day was spent with Cary and his GF, Jane Andrews:
- Touring the waterfront
- Getting gellatos from Gelicious
- Taking a cable-car to the botanical gardens
- Grabbing a brew (I had Mac's Black) and an amazing Grubfish dinner at The Loaded Hog
- Buying a few clothes I desperately needed (still need some good jeans).
All that for under 6 miles of walking. I love this city, and our location is superb!
Got some technology going that night. Tomorrow: Errands.
The Author
I'm a runner who's managed to escape the NE winter for a NZ summer. This is a chronicle of my travels.
Cheers!
Cell: +64.021.123.1347
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