"I resemble a cactus"

I couldn't spend much time with my friends this saturday just gone. I had just pushed myself too far.


On Thursday evening I did a 2hr swim session, followed by 10k tempo run. It's the first time I'd been able to do this for quite some time given problems I had been having with the fascia in my left foot, so it cooked me more than I'd wanted.

Friday was fortunately a recovery day...but I had to teach "prep" (the first year of school, or a preparation year for when school begins the next year - 5 year olds). Kids of this age are fairly easy to teach, but apparently take up so much energy. Especially when your legs are stinging from the previous day's exercise.

There is research suggesting that men respond better to physical reinforcements than verbal. In a teaching context this means high fives, handshakes or my personal favourite (particularly in the lower socio-economic areas I teach) "fist pumps". The action of softly punching each other's clenched fists. As a result, I congratulate the kids with high fives and fist pumps all day long and they enjoy it, regularly running up to me with a big smile and their arm extended, asking for another.

Anyway, when the preps leave in the afternoon, you wish them good afternoon and shake their hand. Well...one kid decided that rather fist pump my fist, while I wasn't paying attention, he would just fist pump my calf, with what was really just a punch! The sad thing was it actually felt really good and he possible released some tightness that stretching hadn't got out of my calf.

I got home and did my hour ride on the trainer and within five minutes, crashed into bed. I was gone. My girlfriend, April, came home to wake me up and ask me what I wanted for dinner and got little response. Next thing I remember was being dragged out to the kitchen for dinner.

The next morning involved the toughest session in my program...

Leaving home at 6, my housemate and I met up with a couple of friends and did an almost 40k loop to Brisbane's bay and on to the criterium track. I ride B grade at the moment which gives me 40 minutes plus 3 laps at an average this day of 41.6kph adding roughly 35k to my ride, as well as some quality riding (top speed in excess of 50kph and from memory the fastest I was leading the group at was 47kph). It's then on home via the coffee shop to shed my companions and on to home for the hardest part of the morning.

Once home, the shoes go on and within 5-10mins I'm out the door for 10ks of running.

1. easy
2. 4:00
3. 3:55
4. 3:50
5. 3:45
6. 3:40
7. 3:35
8. 3:30
9. easy
10. easy

I made it all the way down to 3:35 before I couldn't hold the pace any longer. I have to be happy with the result given the lack of speed and distance since the start of March. I'm especially happy that even with the three easy k's I managed to go sub 40mins for the 10k. 

Given the run is off the back of 90k's in just under 3hrs, I may in fact one day be able to progress to 70.3!

I got through the ride with only 2 gels, but then push down most of a can of lemonade while putting the bike away and slipping into running shoes.  As a recovery, I sit in an actual bath in the backyard with ice and water in it, before having a hot shower and squeezing into compression tights for a calorie packed breakfast.

Shortly afterwards, I pass out: Cactus.

Oh, in case some really stupid person managed to read this far: I don't hit kids or touch them inappropriately...just in case someone really stupid got onto the "interwebs".