I'm Outta Here...

Sunday 14/01/07:
... like a bald man!
Thats right, tomorrow I'm off on my annual summer holiday! Five days of (hopefully) soaking up the sun and relaxing in Taupo. I've inserted a pretty map for the "non-locals"!!
Lake Taupo is the biggest fresh-water lake in Australiasia and about the same size as Singapore! Its a real holiday town, due to the lake in summer and the mountains in winter. Its about a 3.30hr drive from Auckland and this will be the third year in a row that Courtney and I have headed there for our summer holiday. Altho the first year I hired us a camper van and we drove all round the central North Island, staying at various places. That was when we discovered the holiday park where we have gone back to stay ever since. Although it is a "camp ground" as such, it has a lot of cabins, self-contained units and great facilities, including tennis courts, a huge playground, swimming and spa pools, kids club, jumping pillow for the kids, etc, and all in large park-like grounds. Being a lover of my 'creature comforts' we hire a self-contained unit and enjoy the best of both worlds! This year we are taking my girlfriends daughter with us too. Courtney is very excited about taking a friend away on holiday for the first time! And I'm thinking it might afford me a little more 'time out' too! They are both very easy going and play well together, so it will be no trouble and I'm sure we'll all have a lot of fun. Got all the mandatory things in the boot such as the cricket set, the kite, the frizbee, the boogie board, the playing cards, etc! We'll spend the last night in Rotorua, so we can do something there too, before we head back to Auckland on Friday night. The sports company Todd reps for is based in Rotorua and his territory covers most of the area between Rotorua and Auckland, so he will probably spend the day with us there on Friday, in order to catch up with Courtney. Of course it suddenly dawned on me yesterday that I had been planning to increase my number of running days and distances this coming week - however unless I want to be arrested for neglect, this could be a little difficult with two 7yr olds in tow! Still, I am sure I will find a way around it - running in circles round the playground while they play or round and round the campground while they are busy watching a DVD first thing in the morning springs to mind! Also intend to do a bit of bush-walking with them and things like that, so there will be exercise for sure! But if Todd does meet us in Rotorua on Friday, I will be leaving the girls with him for a while and heading off on one of the numerous and famous forest trails there for a 'proper run". It would be a crime to be there without doing a least one of them!

As for today, I got out of bed this morning curious to see how my legs were going to feel. As it was, the only tightness I've really noticed all day is in the hammies. I expected sore quads and calves after yesterdays hills, but perhaps I am not quite as 'out of condition' as I thought! Maybe all the walking the hills thru the country road was worthwhile! I did have a lazy morning, knowing I didn't have a babysitter till mid-morning and contemplated whether to run again today or just walk. In the end, the run option won out! Its was extremely humid and sticky again (98% humidity according to the TV tonight!) when I headed out at 10am. Decided to see how the first few minutes walking felt and how oppressive the heat was and then decide whether to run. Thankfully there was a slight breeze which cooled it down a little and with the legs feeling great after 5mins of walking, I eased into a run. Decided on an ol' fave loop around the streets which I haven't done in a while. I like it because about half of it has no footpath, but a wide gravel shoulder instead and I can safely run on that. (I do run on the tarmac where ever possible anyway, rather than the concrete footpaths, but on the main roads of course its not always safe to do so.) Kept the pace fairly easy most of the time - just one "vanity fartlek" (love that term - stolen from 2P's blog!) when I passed a cyclist who I had seen pushing his bike along the road when I was walking, with the front tyre tube removed and over his shoulder. Later in the loop I passed him sitting on the curb outside the park, obviously waiting to be picked up. As I 'cruised' past him I was tempted to say "At least running shoes don't get punctures mate!" but thought better of it and settled for "Good morning" instead!

Brisk walk warmup: 5mins
Easy paced run: 27mins (5kms)
Brisk walk cooldown: 5mins

By the time I stopped I was dripping sweat but feeling great. The legs turned over very comfortably. That is the first time I have run two consecutive days since the end of November when I decided the only way to get my leg right was to cut the running. Straight after this I'm off to the Ausrun forum to remove myself from the "injured list". Its as much a mental thing as anything!

So, another 24km week over four runs, bringing the monthly total to 48kms. If I can double that by the end of the month without any further problems from the leg, I will be happy and then crank it up from there.

Right, still got packing to do and things to organise before we head off in the morning. After the very inconsitant weather conditions of the past few weeks, it sounds like it is all going to improve from tomorrow and we should be in for a hot and sunny week. I certainly hope so. If tonights sunset was anything to go by, it looks promising. After a scorcher of an afternoon, this evening is absolutely still and clear and beautiful - if a little warm! I'm not complaining tho!

No internet access while I'm away, so I will catch up after I get back. Hope you all have a great week! Happy running...