Sunday 31 July 2016

Bike PB

Up early with J to ferry boys for usual Saturday AM antics.

There are a few lads in the office who have been talking up their chances re the Ride London race this weekend - it's massive here and the equivalent of the London marathon weekend.  One of them I know well and he's basically as near to a pro as it gets.  He came 9th last year which says a lot with Tom Boonen winning today.

Anyway it got the competitive juices flowing and so committed to my 34k TT from the off. With 450ms or so of climbing and on the windy country lanes it is hardly conducive for quick times but it's my mental battle against myself and oh hell how it hurts. The first split crossing the Layham's road cross-section I was at 16 minutes blowing hard and then the left switch back down to the valley bed before the 4k drag up to the high point behind Tatsfield. It goes on forever but was stoked when I got to the top in 32 minutes. Pretty sure 2 minutes quicker than ever before.

Then it was a case of holding it all the way back which is essentially all down hill with the exception of three very short and steep hills. The first is at Tatsfield, followed by Cudham and then the mother of all hills at Downe. With me hitting as much wattage as I could handle I even started cramping at 40 minutes which is rather pathetic but symptomatic of my effort. I reckon this cost me 120 seconds to get me home in 1.07.45. Still stoked with that given it was my 4th ride in well over 12 months. I have the bike mojo bike.

Then Florian my cousin from Germany arrived with Karin and their girls who are staying with us for the next few days. The extended family then turned up for a major feast and a lot of beer in the garden. Uncle Paul even insisted on some Gaelic football watching his beloved Donegal - what a load of rubbish that is!

This is the ride PB:

https://www.strava.com/activities/658385998

Pictures of the extended Fam with Mum first:










Frenetic Friday

Another completely nuts day. Full on from 8.30 to gone 9pm in the office. A couple of massive things on the go. Did manage 25 mins at the gym to do my excerises with Mark P.

Friday 29 July 2016

Feel good

With all the crazy antics going on in the world reading this article on the train this morning was a welcome relief. A touching story.

It's pretty crazy here in Europe at the moment with Germany now a focus as well as France which is in a state of emergency. It makes you think twice about being around large crowds. Next month we travel to France and the Eurotunnel is something which I worry about. The repurcussions of a bomb going off in there are unthinkable. It makes you think twice about your holidays albeit we are travelling to a low key area.

The game changer is Germany which has taken so many refugees it is staggering. I would suggest somewhere in the region of 2 million - Australia take note, 10% of your population. It is not a surprise to me that Germany has for a long while been unaffected by terrorism given its liberal approach to the refugee crisis. I salute Merkel in that regard. Germans look up to her and yesterday she stood firm.

This amazing story hammers home the issue:

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/36604675

40 mins at the gym doing my Mark P exercises. I am focused, I am determined.

Tommy H also wrote about the Obama speech which I was glued to. The Tim Kaine speech was pretty damn good too.  It will be non negotiable viewing for my boys; my parenting duties for the week done in one swoop.



Wednesday 27 July 2016

Long

Long day but on my way home now.   The highlight was the session with Mark P. He thinks the sciatic issue is down to my lack of mobility through the hips and lower back. His initial testing proved a little embarrassing.  The session was knacekring too although I hardly moved.

He's told me I HAVE to do his excerises every day or it won't get better. I will do as he says.

Tuesday 26 July 2016

Leader

Our illustrious leader is over from NY and is one of the most impressive people I know. Spoke for 60 mins off the cuff and then drinks with the entire floor. Interesting getting his insights this evening.

Managed 30 minutes on the rower at lunch. Very slow and only 7,016 meters covered.

The sciatic is a mess. Session with Mark P booked for the morning.


Monday 25 July 2016

Well done Sammy

Today back to work and did a 60 min strength session at the gym. Spoke with Mark P about my sciatic issue.

I absolutely loved the Tour. Loved every single second and watched nigh on all the live action in that third week. I love all of the subplots and is probably my favourite sporting event going. The slam dunk is the fact that it goes for 3 weeks. David Millar's commentary on ITV 4 was a different class too. Incredibly insightful.

But lastly have to finish by congratulating my buddy Sammy Bennet for taking out the Lanterne Rouge - an esteemed honour. Only 5 hours and 17 minutes behind Froomie after 100 hours of racing :) The infamous 5% difference between first and last.

Some of my fav pics from the Tour below. The first of Froomie running Ventoux (I reckon he could run a 2.20 marathon) and then the second of Pantano with Alaphilippe in close attendance on Saturday's penultimate stage - check out Pantano's eyes!!!!

http://gu.com/p/4p5qh?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other




Sunday bikes

Morning: bought Ryder a new bike.

Lunch: rode my bike around my 34k TT circuit in 1.12 at circa 28kmh. 2 mins slower than 2 days ago.

Arvo: all of us rode our bikes to Kelsey Park and then to meet aunty Mia and uncle Paul for a pint.

Ryder is a revelation on his new bike and now keeping up with his brothers. The upgrade has done wonders. It is not a coincidence that we named him Ryder. In Kelsey though he misjudged his pace and went careering into a step and flew over the handle bars doing a super man impression before doing a roll in mid air and landing on the grass. After 30s of pure shock he burst into tears but post major kudos from his bros he burst out laughing.

Looking forward to J being back tomorrow. Not looking forward to going back to work.








Saturday juggle

Somehow needed to juggle 2 football trainings and 2 birthday parties on Saturday morning which was no mean feat.

Managed a 60 min session at the gym whilst Ryder was at his party.  The sciatic is still troublesome.

Rode our bikes to Kelsey Park in the afternoon.

Evening with boys and Mum/Dad for Pizza.






Friday TTT

Mucked about at home with boys but jumped on bike at lunch and did my 34k circuit and was actually quite quick on the hilly circuit holding 30kmh in just under 1hr 10 minutes. Had to work really hard but felt a million bucks after.

One of my quickest and my riding legs came back all of a sudden.

There is something so very liberating about riding your bike as fast as you possibly can.



Thursday solo

Home solo as J away with Tommy in Amsterdam. Friends from Manly have recently moved back like us and was one of Tommy's best mates. J surprised him and he was over the moon. So that's me solo now until Monday AM.

So today we went into town and just mucked about. Everyone getting their fix including Ryder a brand new pair of Nike Frees. He always gets hand me downs and never complains and so he was mildly ecstatic with the purchase. A nice day.

I got home and blasted some strength.









Jack's last day of Primary School

The reason why I took this week off. More sultry temps hitting >30 dc too.

Spent morning with J and then picked up Jack from school after his final assembly with parents. It felt like the whole school got academic awards except for him. Unfortunately our boys are not at all academic - I was exactly the same. True to form he did though get the sports award. Nice post school party in the evening. He is so ready for secondary school even though he is starting 18 months earlier than what he would have done were we still in Australia.

More unbelievable days at the Tour.

Pic below of Lukie and a girl having written her name on his arm before writing over it with LOOOSER!







Tuesday 19 July 2016

Home part 2

Usual day. Dropped boys. Gym with J. Golf with Tommy at Langley with dad. Beer with dad. Pick up boys. Bbq at home. Mass water fight at 9pm. Still light and still 30 dc.