Training Log Archive: immy

Recovery aqua jog. Surprisingly, my legs aren't sore at all after yesterday, with the exception of my quads, which are very very sore! Maybe swimming in the freezing cold stream after my run yesterday actually helped? Hard to know if this has a physiological effect or is just placebo.

Stretching - it was good. But it didn't really help my quads.

I am a bit stuck at the moment because I want to join a gym, but I want one that has a good stretching or yoga class. And I can't find one with such a class that I like the look of. The alternative is to just do yoga classes separately, but this gets a bit expensive. And the pool, which I now have a concession card for, has some cardio machines, but no weights so it's not a proper gym. Do I really need to do weights/strength stuff in a gym? hmm.

Anyway it's not really a problem for the present moment, because I'm not going to be in Rotorua much over the next 6 weeks - doing a GP placement in Murupara! Doesn't get more rural than that, pretty much.

Event: Kaweka Mountain Marathon
 

Kaweka Challenge! (now called the Kaweka Mountain Marathon, but I didn't actually run the marathon course, so it feels weird to call it that...) This took a lot longer than expected... The old short course used to be run in under 2 hours, 1:45-ish, but I'd be surprised if any girls could do this one in that sort of time (really fast guys possibly could). Anyway, the course basically went up to the top of Kuripapango, then up and down a rocky ridge to the Kiwi Saddle Hut. Then back down the same way (!). There was a short run across a couple of bridges, and then it was straight into the climb. And this was some serious uphill - walking with hands on knees and gasping for breath. That was what the whole first hour was like, more or less. Think it took me about 55 minutes for the first 4 km? Hahaha, great. A few guys were in front of me, and one girl, who I stuck behind for most of the climb. She was going at a good pace, but one which I thought wouldn't kill me for the rest of the race.

After about 4 km we were up on a ridge, and there were some uphills and some downhills. Though still mostly up. I started passing people, including the girl in front of me, particularly because they were not fast on downhills. Got to the turnaround point in 91 minutes, and then a disaster kind of happened: at the hut, there were a number of volunteers checking gear. They took me over to this veranda so I could show them all the gear in my pack. But then while I was doing this, the valve on the water nozzle on my camelbak fell off, and it fell through one of the cracks in the veranda!! Then of course all my water started leaking out... I was stressed and trying to find a large stick to get the valve out from under the veranda. Luckily though, one of the volunteers managed to get it out somehow. But still, I probably lost about 3 minutes because of that, and it was all rather stressful... A couple of the guys who I had passed then got ahead as well, grr.

Anyway, I managed to get moving again finally, and passed one of the guys. I started going a bit faster as there were more downhills, yay, and I could actually run! I must have done ok because after a little while I couldn't see anyone behind me. But I still tried to keep pushing. It was all fine until about 1.5 km from the end, when I noticed my legs had really had enough - they were literally about to collapse. I have never had my legs turn to jelly quite so badly. Luckily there wasn't far to go, because I know I slowed down a lot in the end. So so happy to finish!

I think I was first girl, and second overall on the short course, which is cool :) But, there probably weren't that many fast people doing the short course. Also, I know I can do this faster, because there were a few times when I was just being too polite, and waiting behind someone for them to let me past on a downhill... I should have just gone past earlier. Also the 3 minutes or however long it was at the top. And thirdly, I think my legs will be a lot stronger already from having run the course once!

Overall, an awesome race with fantastic amounts of climb and amazing scenery - definitely will do this race again! and maybe even try the 28 km next time? :) Would also love to do some training there - you would get so strong running up those hills. But as they say, the race is actually won on the downhills! Definitely a lot of time to be gained there, if you are ruthless :)

Easy aqua jogging today instead of running, to give the legs a break. Went to the Rotorua Aquatic Centre, which is right next to the hospital. The indoor pool there had a whole 2 lanes dedicated to aqua jogging, which was full of "type II" aqua joggers. (Basically, in my experience, I have encountered two types of aqua joggers: type I = runners, usually injured, soldiering through the session with typically a very high cadence and expressions of grim determination; and type II = older adults, probably with joint pain/hip replacements, required to do non-weight bearing exercise, who frequently blitz past you but are actually adopting more of the doggy paddle approach. Type II often come in pairs I have found.)

Anyway, I quite enjoyed being back in the pool again, though I felt out of practice. Also the pool was a bit too warm.

Another interesting note: today I had my psych OSCE, and I decided to practice a few mindfulness techniques. Tried to look at everything with "friendly eyes" and not be overly critical of myself :) The OSCE went quite well but I was still nervous and could tell that I wasn't as focused on the patient as I would be if it were just me interviewing them on a normal day. I was definitely in story thinking a lot of the time... Lots of work to be done, but I expected that :)

Went for a run with Rachel! From Waipa Rd carpark around a whole bunch of small tracks, gravel roads and a bit of terrain running. Just took it really cruisy which was good, because my legs are smashed. Two very easy days coming up for me now that's for sure!

Run with a couple of new friends from Rotorua, both house officers :) I didn't really plan to run for so long, but it was much more enjoyable running with them than by myself. Went around the blue lake and then a loop out around the side of the green lake. The run was a pretty decent pace - fine, but I wouldn't have wanted it much faster!

Just can't get over how beautiful it is here :)

C • Rotorua 3

C • Trout 1

Stretching out a few tight spots.

Purple loop - with my flatmate for a bit of it, then by myself. Very enjoyable! Quite a bit of climb but I just took it easy. Legs were feeling good.

Took a wrong turn at one point, but in general the route was well marked.