Holiday Time; Week 1

Most folks are still working hard with a view of taking some time off over Christmas and hopefully between Christmas and New Year, I however am firmly in Holiday mode, yippee. I kind of consider myself fortunate when it comes to holidays, but at the same time it was me who decided to be a teacher, so actually I am not fortunate at all!! By the same token if you don’t like something, then do something about it and do something else, I have a pretty low tolerance for folks who moan about their job, particularly moaning teachers.

Much to Sarah’s amazement I have had a great week of training and chilling. I say to her amazement because she has yet to see much evidence of me shopping and is getting a little concerned whether her Christmas stocking will be slim this year??? I of course have everything under control. Ellie still had a week left at school, Evie was in nursery on her usual days and Sarah had a pretty normal week of work. More carefully planned than the invasion of Iraq (actually that is a really bad analogy) I constructed a week of training around the girls, school and nursery drop off’s and pick up’s and other things that were in the weeks planner. This post will be largely training based because next week there will be far more exciting things to write about; at least I hope so because I have been a good boy this year!! Before we get on to my training a little of the rest of the week.

I spent a really chilled afternoon on Thursday with Sarah curled up on the sofa watching the film ‘Australia’ and munching on Terry’s Chocolate Orange. It was great to be able to spend some quality time together and not a bad film.

We now have a couple of outdoor Christmas lights on the Garage, much to the joy of Ellie. I think this is the start of the slippery slope, more planned for next year adding a couple yearly until we have a house resembling that of the Character played by Robson Green in Northern Lights (a nice film, see it if you haven’t)

We travelled north to Newcastle for the weekend. Sarah’s Dad took me and Sarah out on Friday night to a Christmas Party at his local. Bernie changed his local pub a few years ago and rather amusingly the refurbished Pub he now frequents has become a focal point for the Gateshead and Felling Gay community. The owner (an energetic lady in her 50’s) and most if not all of the bar boys and girls are camper than camp people in a camper van in a campsite. All involved in the pub have been great to Bernie over the years, especially with his various problems associated with his Parkinsons and balance difficulties, they are great bunch and really look after him. Anyway I ‘camped’ it up a bit with my outfit, and we went out. A nice Christmas meal was followed by some live music from a group calling themselves ‘Souled on Sax’ It looked promising and the first song a great version of Santana and Rob Thomas ‘Smooth’ was excellent, unfortunately the music went to a rock place and the Saxophone stayed on its stand (much to Sarah and Bernie’s disappointment) But this said it was still great to be out. The band were good, the Saxophonist and lead Singer looked pretty good in her black catsuit, knee high 6” heeled boots, and their rendition of Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer brought back a few teenage memories!!! Geordie women just don’t care!! Age or size is no barrier to getting dressed up and having good time, fair play to them. There was plenty on show, the main outfitters must have been ‘TopShop’ and the vast majority a size 18, throw in the bar staff and their friends and you get a bit of an idea of what the night was like. We had fun, the wine flowed and it was a good evening, thanks Bernie.

Sarah and her Mam went shopping into Newcastle on Saturday whilst Bernie and I entertained the girls and watched some of the Cricket. We spent the afternoon at his local ‘Gay Bar’ chilling out whilst Ellie and Evie played in the indoor soft play centre. Eileen’s new super deluxe spa bath complete with underwater lights got some action, (nearly fell asleep in it on Saturday night) and as usual we were very well fed and thoroughly spoilt by Eileen, a nice weekend.

Training wise I have had a great week, currently I feel aerobically very fit but I also feel like I am getting quite strong from the recent gym activity. I put quite a bit of emphasis on strength training. I think it is key (along with stretching) to not incurring repetitive injuries from running and swimming, leg strength is important for the bike when the road goes up or higher levels of power are called for, plus in my mind a strong body is a fit body and this is vital for everyday living and more so as we age, finally I really enjoy the variety of being in the gym lifting weights. Recently I have been doing loads of Core work with Medicine Balls with my Judo friend Dane and on Thursday we had a monster session. Not particularly Triathlon specific but a great Power and Plyometric session. Power Cleans and Tuck Jumps, Power Squats and Bench Drop jumps, Power Bench Press and Plyometric Press ups, Rows and Kettle Bell Torso Rotations, Medicine Ball Side Throws and Seated Overhead Throws followed by some really challenging core work. I really enjoyed pushing Dane hard and enjoyed trying to match him in my own performance. Needless to say I was sore and stiff on Friday.

On Monday I hooked up with Ove for a Run. After a steady 30 minute warm up we put in 6 hill repeats each lasting 50 secs, taking it in turns to lead and set the pace. There is something very motivational about being on the front, I think we both upped our game. We then ran home giving us a 7 mile run with some hard work in the middle.

Tuesday was long day in the gym. A steady 2k swim, was followed by an hour on the spinning bike, then the spin class group turned up, so I thought it was rude not to join in. 45 minutes later after some tough fast spinning and high resistance, slow cadence work I was cooked. I had a bite to eat and then met Dane for a 90 minute strength session including heavy squats and leg press. I once read that Gordo Byrn at the end of a long ride or Ride and Run would do a few tyre pull intervals to really work himself hard. His thinking, if he could run some intervals with the tyre pulls at the end of a long day he would easily find the extra effort to push through in the final k’s of the Ironman, also none of his competitors were doing it!! Tuesday was a 4 hour day, nice.

With Ove on Wednesday I had the wettest ride I have had for ages. By the time I got home I had ridden 55 miles, 3 ¼ hours and was soaked through. It was great to ride with Ove, nice and steady and good company, great motivation also, would I have stayed out for that long on my own? I tried to swim in the afternoon, but my arms were pretty sore so just settled for 1500m of chilled out drills. It did all add up to another 4 hour day.

My final session of the week was a Run in Newcastle. Fresh snow had fallen late Saturday afternoon so a nice off road hour’s run at a really steady pace, (dictated by the conditions) Crunching through fresh snow with blue skies above made a for lovely start to the day.

By the end of my first 7 days of holiday I had trained really consistently on 6 of them, including 2 4 hour days. I had managed a really nice balance of all disciplines and pushed myself in the gym, in total I trained for 14 hours, race season seems a way off, but I just love it!!

Christmas is firmly within our sights and our house is gearing up for a good one. I think I am as excited as the girls this year. My Mum and Dad are coming up on the 24th for 5 days, we are all looking forward to seeing them and spending plenty of time together. It goes without saying Ellie’s excitement goes up a notch every morning when she realises the Christmas is a day closer and Evie is mirroring her sister’s behaviour.

Enjoy Christmas week, try not to let the preparations take away from the real pleasures in your life, make some time for those close to you and for yourself, and then kick back and have fun.

P.S. Rage Against the Machine, such lovely boys!!!!

P.P.S This weeks photo is what happens when you let a toddler choose her clothes for nursery?