Cycled in this morning (via the ferry), narrowly missing the rain! I’d been in work about 15mins when it started pissing down. Rained all day, and although it had stopped when I left, I decided to leave the bike in work over the weekend as the spray from the rear wheel woudl have soaked me anyway.

B: 26km

Another cycle in and out. Left work around 5.40 to meet up with Katie for sushi on the way home. TOm went off to Woolys biek shop. I got a text while eating but I didn’t read it. After dinner I had started cycling home, when I thought to myself that Tom had probably bought a bike, so I stopped, checked the text and I was right. Tom was now the proud owner of a Specialized Stumpjumper. Turned around and went to meet himself and Niall in Centennial Park, but the lads were on the way home. It’s a nice bike.

The hill was a little harder on the way home. Probably a combination of the messing around and the fact that I cycled yesterday as well.

This Week:

Bike: 24km

Just made it home after the first cycle of the year. Liverpool St. to Vaucluse in 29mins. Alpe De Vaucluse (Old South Head Road) wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Still hard, but no worse than a gym session.

So, that’s a 10km cycle under the belt, and the Year Of Fitness™ commences ;-)

B: 12km

Right, the bike is back on the road. A little rusty but it’s all good. Pumped up the tyres, bought a lock and some lube. Getting into work was really easy as I just cycled down to the Rose Bay ferry (pretty much all downhill). Getting home will be an issue, as the last 1.5km is severely uphill! Still, if I stick with it, in a couple of weeks it will be no bother.

The new office in Sydney has an underground car park, which is great, as it means I don’t have to lock my bike on the street. We’ve got showers too! Got our passes from the building management today, so can start cycling in anytime from now. Might give it a try tomorrow.

Looks like Tom will be off shopping for a bike pretty soon.

Not much exercise done this week. Have spent the whole week cleaning our apartment in Canberra, packing stuff up and moving out. We should have taken before and after photos! Now it’s spotless and we’re all back working in Sydney. Will have to get used to the trafffic all over again, and will have a much longer commute into work, but, as part of ‘The Year Of Getting Fit’ the trusty bike will be dragged out and used to cycle to and from work. Should be fun.

Welcome to 2004, the year of getting fit.

New Year weigh-in: 89kg

Feeling a bit better today. Can walk & stand properly, but still have twinges in my back if I try moving suddenly. Looks like that’s it for exercise before Christmas, or at least the rest of the week. Physio dude recommends running and swimming to strengthen my back.

Great weekend. Surprised Jacqui on Saturday morning with tickets to see Duran Duran and Robbie Williams that night. She was over the moon. Concert was great. Going in I could only name two Duran Duran songs, but once they started playing I recognized nearly everything, including some that I didn’t realise were theirs. Robbie put on a fantastic performance. He’s such a showman, and a real cocky bastard. All in all, great concert and Jacqui loved it.

I lifted her up a couple of times so that she could see over the crowd. All was fine, until I was reading the paper on Sunday arvo and put my back out! It was excruciating all day yesterday. Got some remedial massage today and it’s a lot better now. There’ll be no exercise for a couple of days though! Bloody old man.

Lot’s of excitement last night. Was on the couch watching TV, when the couch wobbled. I thought it was John, but he thought it was me. Tom, sitting on the other couch, had his wobble too, so we realised it was an earthquake. Very cool! Turns out it was 4.3 on the Richter, centred on Mittagong, about 100km outside Sydney.

Row: 2 * 10mins @ 19spm (2:06.7/500 = 2376m, 2:03.5/500 = 2425m)

Walk: 5min @ 6kmh

Swim: 500, 2 * 100, 500, 2nd 500 in 7:10

Down to 88.6kg as well.

Got a phone call today from Apple to say that the final 15" AlBook in the recently arrived batch will be allocated to me, so hopefully I’ll have it before the weekend. About time too!

Weights: 1 * 12, 1 * 10

R: 5 * 3min @ 6, 10, 10.5, 11, 6kmh

S: 400, 200, 400

Managed a 5:35 for the second 400, which I was happy enough with. Running still feels a bit odd around the knees.

This morning…

Swim: 1000m various

Hoping to get ready for the Palm Beach – Whale Beach swim at the end of January. 2.5km open water. I’ve never done an ocean swim before, so the plan is to concentrate on swimming for the moment.

Row: 10min @ 21spm, 2445m

R: 5min @ 6kmh, 5min @ 10kmh

Knees weren’t up o much running tonight.

Had a weekend of splurging on food. Went to Oh Calcutta for dinner on Saturday night, with Tom, Sean, Kevin, Mal and a few others. It has won the Best Indian Restaurant in Sydney for most of the last 10 years. Lots of nice food with a really nice goat curry for a main. Then on Sunday it was Michael’s birthday, so Jacqui’s family and me went down to Doyles in Watsons Bay for a seafood extravaganza. Doyle’s is a Sydney institution, so only the best food for me this weekend. Will probably have to a bit extra in the gym this week to try and make up for it ;-)

Last night…

R: 3 * 1km @ 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 8 * 100 on 2:00, Avg: 1.21, 200 easy

Felt good in the pool. Again, wasn’t too crowded so I didn’t have to stop every length. Run was easy enough too, though calves are still a little sore. Had intended getting up for the gym this morning, but I couldn’t get to sleep last night and was just too exhausted when I did wake up.

R: 9km – S: 3200m

Last night…

Weights: Upper body only, 1 * 12 & 1 * 10.

Golf: Driving Range

Decided not to run as my calves were still a little sore. Did uppper-body only weights as my legs are getting enough exercise from the running. Upped the weights by 5kg all ’round too. Went for a blast at the driving range with Tom afterwards and sprayed balls all over the place. Still quite a lot of work to do on the swing ;-)

Last night:

R: 3 * 1km @ 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 100 – 200 – 300 – 300 – 200 – 100m @ ~1.29 pace

Got a lane to myself in the pool which was a bonus. Didn’t have to slow down behind people or spend ages at the wall waiting for a gap that would allow me to swim more than a length without catching someone. Calves are a bit sore today after the run. Could have over-stretched them, so will probably just do weights tonight.

Back to the gym last night…

R: 3 * 1km @ 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 5 * 200m

Both felt good. The swimming felt a lot better and there might be the beginnings of ‘feel’ coming back.