Way back in time (2002) I went on a trip to South Africa for a friend’s weddding. I finally got around to putting the pictures online today. Click the camera on the top-right, or go straight there.

I’ve just added the photos from the party at the weekend. Click the camera icon at the top right, or just go straight there.

Getting a little lazy at the moment. Don’t really have the same enthusiasm for going out running in the dark. I’ll ahve to get my shit together and at least do something this week!

Weighed in at 87.6kg yesterday, though body fat is down to 17.6%. Still heading in the right direction, though a little slower after the last week sitting on my arse in Canberra. It’s getting dark so bloody early now. Obviously an hour of that is as a result of gaining an hour, but it seems like it’s getting darker almost 2 hours earlier. 3 weeks ago it was dusk around 19:45. Now it’s 18:00. I can’t ride my bike now until I get some lights. I was going to get some heavy-duty liights which would do duty off-road as well, but I reckon I’ll stick with the brightest flashers I can find for the moment.

Well I’m down in Canberra this week and training is out the window. It’s dark a LOT earlier down here, so that rules out cycling after work as I haven’t gotten around to buying a set of lights for the bike. I decided I’d get up this morning and go for a cycle. Set the alarm for 6.40, dressed, hopped on the bike and set of down the street. Second problem: it was bloody freezing! Here’s me dressed for usual daytime weather of 20C plus and it was less than 10C. A quick about turn and back into bed. I’m going for a run in the gym tonight which will have to do.

Weigh-in on Monday: 87.2kg

No training at all this weekend. Kirsten’s birthday on Friday, boat party on Saturday afternoon, Graham’s birthday drinks after the boat party, then white-water rafting at Penrith for Nick’s birthday. The rafting was good fun. Not as hard as the Zambezi obviously, as it’s a man-made course, but fun nonetheless.

Up bright and early for a swim this morning. Went pretty well. Quite slow compared to what I’m used to, but that’s only to be expected at this stage of the game. Left the bike at home as I’m off to the movies after work. It will give my legs a break as well.

200 FS easy
20 * 50 FS on 60 (avg: 41, stroke count: 34)
200 FS easy

B: 20km – R: 3.3km – S: 1400m

Just another exercise day today. I’ve just finished my run and it felt pretty good. My calves were a little sore at the start and I was tempted to stop just in case I was going to aggravate them, but I continued on. I ceased trying a Pose-type style, which is known to strain the calves initially, and reverted to a shuffle style and all went well. I’ll have to take my bike out and use the bike computer to measure out some of the run route so I’ve a rough idea how far I’m going.

B: 40km – R: 6.6km

Back on the bike today for the commute. A bit windy this morning, but my legs felt fine after last night’s run, so it wasn’t too bad. Cycling home was quite good. I was trying to practise pedalling correctly, applying power all the way around the stroke, rather than just pressing down. It felt easier for a while, then my hamstrings got sore, probably because they’re not used to doing much work on the bike.

B: 20km – R: 3.3km

I wanted to figure out how quickly I could burn a kilo of fat by doing various amounts of exercise. I found a site which gave a lot of figures for the caloric cost of various forms of activity. So, I messed around in Excel a bit and did up a spreadsheet which allows you to enter how many hours a day of each activity you do, and it will tell you how many weeks it will take you to burn off a kilo of fat, assuming that you stick to the schedule and that you don’t eat more to compensate for increased activity. It also points out that having too great a defecit between the amount you eat and the amount you burn off is also not healthy.

Anyway, if you want to use it you can download it from here. Naturally, you will need Excel to use it.

No cycling today, mainly because it was blowing up a storm when I was supposed to leave the house and I hate cycling in big winds. Got the bus instead. Went for a run when I got home which was fun since it was still very windy. Upped the run to 5W/5R * 3 and it felt pretty good. Legs were tired by the end of it though. Now that I’ve got 3 sections to the run I’ll gradually start increasing the middle section as the weeks go by. The first can stay at 5mins and serve as a warm-up and the final 5mins can be a warm-down. Lots of stretching should mean that I’ll remain injury-free.

R: 3.3km

My legs are still tired this morning after all the work from last week. I plan on concentrating on my swimming and running for a couple of weeks now. I’ll still be cycling, though not as much as last week.

Since I was a swimmer as a kid, I never played football or rugby, so my legs aren’t very well suited to the additional stresses placed on them while running. I used to get shin splints after running 200m for the bus! I want to learn to run properly, so I’ve ordered a book on Pose Running which was recommended to me by the guy at The Runner’s Shop in Clovelly, where I bought my shoes.

Obviously everyone can run. It’s just something you learn at a very early age. What I want to learn is proper running technique, and more importantly how to run while putting as little stress as possible on my legs. That should lead to nice, efficient and injury-free running.

Weigh-in: 87.6kg

The aquarium has finally finished cycling (cycling is the process of building up a beneficial bacteria colony) so I was at last able to add more fish. I had three Platies, two males and one female. The problem is twofold:
a) I should have 2 females for each male to keep everyone happy, and
b) they breed quite quickly.

As I want to fill my tank close to capcacity with a range of fish, I can’t afford to have them breeding all over the place, so I decided to give the female to the LFS (local fish shop) and get 4 more males. I dropped them in yesterday and they’re all settled in now and seem to be happy enough.

I now have to wait for the tank to go through another mini-cycle as the bacteria colony grows to handle the larger fish load before I can add any more fish. It’s a very gradual process.

Struggled out of bed this morning. Was not looking forward to cycling anywhere, but forced myself to do it. I’ve finally cracked the 100km in a week barrier. Tried doing a swim before work as well, but gave up after 400m as I was drained.

B: 102km – R: 4.4km – S: 1400m

Did three laps of Centennial Park with Greg and then another run along the cliffs. Am almost at 100km for the week.

B: 92km – R: 4.4km – S: 1000m

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone. Enjoy a Guinness for me!

Did another couple of laps of the park with Niall on the way home. Tired now ;-)

B: 62km – R: 2.2km – S: 1000m

Well, I did it. I managed to get out of bed in time to go for a swim, even if it was only 1km. I found that my arms get tired quite quickly, so I guess I’ll just have top stick with it for the moment. Got myself a 20-visit pass which should last me at least 6 weeks, assuming I stick to 3 swims a week.

B: 41km – R: 2.2km – S: 1000m

I was reading Peter FitzSimons in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday and was very disappointed that he hadn’t named Ireland as one of his ‘Teams Of The Week’, seeing as how he’s an ex-Wallaby and would have been delighted that England were beaten. I emailed him the following tongue-in-cheek letter:

TFF, how could you? After all we’ve done for you lately!

You were unconvincing in the early stages of the World Cup. We came along, and after administering a severe wake-up call, graciously stood aside so you wouldn’t have to meet France in the quarter-finals. We rejoiced as you reached the final, admired your gallant efforts against the English and groaned when you failed at the final hurdle.

As if that wasn’t enough, when you were down, and facing 4 years of ignominy, we stepped up to the plate and showed you how it should be done. We battled your oppressors on their home turf, wiped the smile off their faces, humbled them in front of their adoring fans, and brought delight to Australians everywhere.

Was all this deserving of a mention as Team Of The Week? Bloody oath it was! What more do we have to do?

Yours etc.,
Donncha Redmond

Lo and behold, I actually got a reply!

That is a very good point!

And I stand before you with my head bowed in deep regret…

Please forgive me…

Peter TFF Fitz

Got this week off to a good start. Did a couple of laps of Centennial Park as part of the commute home, then went for a run once I made it home. The run is along the cliffs, passing Australia’s first Lighthouse, and sure beats trudging through the streets of Canberra! Maybe that’s why the run felt reasonably good today, or it could have been the fact that my legs were well warmed up after the 21km cycle home.

I’ve just rung the Cook & Phillip Pool to see if they have lap swimming in the morning and they do, starting from 6am. If I can get up around 7, then I’ll cycle in and have a small swim. It’s about time I got back in the water.

B: 31km – R: 2.2km