Cookie arrived in one piece and soon had his bike ready for an action packed Friday which started with the famous Roly time trial swim session. We had been warned the session would consist of a 2km TT and I knew this would only begin after a serious warm-up.  Sure enough we did a solid 2km first with some paddle work and then the fun was about to begin.  It was a mass start with about ten of us spread across 3 lanes and we had to do 1km followed by 100m run, back into the water for another 1km and 100m run to finish.  I was expecting to feel pretty tired as I had already exceeded my normal weekly swim volume but felt surprisingly strong.  I was beginning to get a much better feel in the water, which I think was from all the paddles work we had been doing.  

A big breakfast was is order when we got home and then it was time to head off back to QEII for our meeting with the podiatrist (Adele).  Cookie and I decided to bike down which takes about 20mins and then we could go for a ride afterwards. Adele spent about 30mins with each of us individually and completed a full foot and leg analysis.  She also had us run on and off the treadmill with video analysis so we could actually see any faults.  Most of the things she raised for me were related to my ankle injury of 6yrs ago as expected.  We talked about strengthening my calves, straightening my left footstrike and changing the model of Asics I have been using for training and racing.  I have now bought the new shoes and they are great, my feet actually feel like running when I put them on which is always a good start!

While Cookie and Fred were doing their analysis, Mark and I decided to test out the new track, it had been completed resurfaced and was only opened on Monday.  I have been following John Hellemens sustained speed sessions for 8 months and had 8x400m session to do.  I have found these have really helped develop my running and don’t drain me as much as sprint sessions but the effect is as good if not better.  I found the session hard today but that was to be expected, I knew I would be tired from the racing and training this week.

It was a beautiful day which was about time and I was looking forward to taking Cookie up in the Port Hills although not sure he felt the same!  We rode threw town and headed up Dyers Pass, which is one of the three routes over the hills and is about 7km.  Once we made it to the top, there is a really nice road that weaves it’s way along the summit.  I had been this way in the car with John and must have been talking as I hadn’t appreciated the distance along the summit back to Mount Pleasant where we were staying.  It was the normal story of Cookie asking how much further and how many more hills and my response of “Oh, this must be the last climb and it’s just round the corner” must have been growing a bit thin when Mount Pleasant finally came into view. Another good days training under our belt……

Saturday was brick day at Corsair Bay, there is always a group of wetsuit clad bodies on the beach ready for action at 8am every Saturday.  We all rode over Evans Pass, this is a nice 40min ride although Evans is always a shock to the system this way round.  We normally swim for about 40min followed by a 10km very hilly run and a nice ride home back over Evans.  I had planned on riding a bit longer over by Corsair Bay but my legs were tired so I decided that was enough for today.  Time to head home for a good breakfast and get ready for our first personalised yoga session.

The great thing about Mark’s yoga school is that he is an expert in many types of yoga, meditation and massage but also has a real appreciation of athlete’s needs.  I had already had 3 massages with Mark and he had identified some areas we could also work on using yoga.  The idea behind us having a 2hr private session on both Saturdays was so he could help us develop a yoga session specific to our requirements and that we could keep doing at home. I think we all initially thought 2hrs was a long time but the time flew and I felt great afterwards.  I have particularly found the rejuvenation pose useful and try to use this after big sessions or training days to help recovery.

The boys had decided Sunday was a day of rest and that learning to kite surf was far more appealing than the Canterbury Team Time Trial Champs. Can’t say I blame them!  We managed to recruit Jason as our third team member who was another housemate over from Canada training for the summer.  It goes to show what a small world it is as we discovered Jason finished one place behind me at Ironman Canada last year.  Pretty amazing when you consider there were over 2,000 competitors!

With the team organised, Cookie, Jason and I headed off bright and early as we were going to ride to the race as a warm up.  It was a nice hour ride on the flat, which included about 15mins trying to find the race start.  It was only by accident we finally found Andrew (race organiser) and he soon had us numbered up and briefed on the course.  Unfortunately, there were no other teams ready to toe the line - they had obviously heard about the hot team from Hong Kong who had just arrived!  

We had decided to do 1min turns for the first 20km which was a slight uphill with tailwind and possibly reduce the time on the 20km return into the headwind but downhill.  We set off at a good pace holding about 39km/h and swapping turns like a well-oiled machine, Ingrid would have been proud of us. I was soon able to settle into a good rhythm and was feeling strong.  Andrew passed us in the car and stopped every 8km or so to shout encouragement and give out splits – what could be better, our own personal time trial!  As we neared the 20km point, we spotted Andrew diligently stopping traffic for us and directly us round the turnaround cones.  We put a spurt on as if to make sure the traffic was impressed they had been disrupted for some top athletes in race mode!  The last 8km was tough and we dropped a little time as the headwind started to take it’s toll and I can’t deny I was glad when I finally saw the cones marking the finish.  As they came into site, I decided a sprint for the line was in order and took off thinking the other two were glued to my wheel.  I guess I didn’t communicate my plan that well and I left them chewing the dirt off my wheel and wondering what happened to that teamwork! We were all pleased with our time of 1:03 and were the proud owners of the Canterbury Team Time Trial Champs title for the next year.  After a quick cup of tea and biscuits Andrew pulled from the boot of his car we were on our way home.  As the traffic would be busy through town, we opted for the more scenic route round the base of the Port Hills.  An hour and a half later we finally made it home after another solid workout. Poor Cookie felt like he had been through an Ironman bike, no apparently this was tougher – he would be sleeping well tonight!