A good read

December was a productive month on the book reading front... I managed to finish three very different books, and thoroughly enjoyed each one of them.

"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami
This book is my selection for our next book club read and it has been sitting on my nightstand for a good 6 months so I decided it was time to read it. It was one of the more imaginative books I've read. It essentially focuses on two characters, Kafka and Nakata. Kafka is a 15yr old boy who runs away from home, and Nakata is an elderly man who lives a simple life on welfare. Ultimately their story is connected, but it's an odd, imaginative journey before the connection is made. I liked that the book kept you guessing and in many ways the book seemed like a very bizarre dream. I'm sure it prompted some strange dreams of my own!

"Sophies' World" by Jostein Gaarder
Gordon recommended this book to me. He read it about 15 years ago. I even found an old Glasgow train ticket lying within the pages. The book centres around the main character, Sophie, who one day starts receiving philosophy teachings in the mail from an aging philosopher. The book takes you through a history of Western Philosophy and I found it very interesting and educational. I also found the character of Sophie to be very mature for a 15 year old, the things she said and the questions she asked seemed a bit beyond what a regular 15 year old would think. There's also a fantastic twist that comes into play around three quarters of the way into the book. It's this twist that turns it into an Alice in Wonderland type fantasty land. I laughed out loud at some of the antics in the book. It was creative but factual and I found it thought provoking and entertaining.

"Almost French" by Sarah Turnbull
My sister Kate recommended this to me and it appeared under the tree on Christmas Day (courtesy of Kate and Tim)! It was a relatively quick, fun, humorous read that at times I could really relate to, even if the author was describing adapting to life in France when I am living in Texas! Although the cultures are wildly different (French vs. American) I could definitely relate to the trials and tribulations of adapting to a new culture. What I connected to most of all was her descriptions of what she missed about living in Australia, her homesickness after returning from a holiday to Australia, and the need to retain her Australian-ness while also having to make some changes in order to adapt to the way of life in her new country. I have to admit to feeling more than a little homesick at the end of the book. While for her, France has ties because her husband is French, I don't have any such ties to the USA (Gordon is Scottish) which sometimes makes me wonder... why are we still here?

Holy shit, I'm doing an Ironman

2.4mi swim. 112mi bike. 26.2mi run.

It hit me this weekend. After a 17mi long run yesterday and an 85mi bike ride today, suddenly the Ironman has become a much bigger deal. I always knew it would be hard, but now that we're starting to do the really long, hard workouts, it is suddenly seeming a whole lot harder.

If only it were metric!

Ironman Arizona Week 8: More Mental Prep

8 weeks down, 16 weeks to go.

That means we are a third of the way into the training program. Yikes!

Week 8 was the first week of the base 2 build phase. The goal of this next 4wk phase is to keep building base endurance and build up to a 95mi long ride and 20mi long run.

Week 8 started out a little tough. I was still feeling tired from the brick workout we had done the day before (reassuringly, so were several other people in our group) and at our quality run workout Monday evening Maurice made us do an hour of hill repeats. Grrrr... that was tough. The weather was also quite warm, for December, so that made it a little more difficult. That night I didn't sleep so well, my legs felt very restless and I tossed and turned most of the night. So I took a much needed rest day on Tuesday.

I had a good swim Wednesday night and a great run + ride combination on Thursday. Friday was another day off...

Saturday we rode 65 miles. It started out sunny and ended up raining for the last hour on the bike. I was glad to be done! I've really been struggling on my bike rides lately. Today was no exception. I felt great for the first hour then started dragging for the second hour. I don't think it was a calorie issue today because I made sure to take in over 1000 calories during the ride (probably still need to take in another 300-400). I did realise that I had a slow leaking flat and I'm sure that didn't help. Thanks to Gordon for changing the tyre for me. It's nice to be taken care of sometimes! I'm definitely learning a lot on these rides. The group we're riding with is much stronger than the group I was riding with earlier this year and last year. They also work together more while they're riding. I can feel that I'm getting stronger on these rides but I still have a long way to go. It's strange to feel that my running is stronger than my cycling at the moment!

Sunday we were supposed to run but due to bad weather we put it off until Monday. But we still did a decent long run on Monday.

Goal hours: 11.5

Actual hours: 8

Bike: 5hrs / 88 miles

Run: 1.67hrs / 9.5 miles

Swim: 1.25hrs / 3000 yards

A Christmas Run

Gordon and I were supposed to do our 15 mile long run on Christmas Eve, but when we woke up Sunday morning it was raining and very cold. Running for 2.5hrs in cold, rainy weather would not have been fun! So, we decided that we would attempt to do it Christmas Day instead. Christmas Day when we woke up it was still raining and windy, but we decided that we just had to get up and start running anyway. We decided we'd try and do at least 1hr. All part of the mental training required for the Ironman. So we started the run, it was windy, cold and raining! There was barely a soul out there on the roads, apart from the odd car every now and again (I do wonder what those people must have thought seeing us running in the cold and rain on Christmas morning!). But after about an hour the weather started to get better and we decided to keep running... we ended up running for a little over 2 hours, not bad for Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve or Day?

Living in the USA I am eternally confused.

For example, right now it's 5:30am on Christmas Day in Australia, but here in the USA it's 1pm Christmas Eve. Because it's not at all related to when you were born, Christmas Day always falls on the 25th day of December of the timezone you are currently in, no matter what. So even though it's Christmas Day in Australia, I am celebrating Christmas Eve.

However, your birthday is relative to the timezone in which you are born, or is it? Come late afternoon on June 10th in the USA, is it really my birthday because in Australia it will already be June 11th? But then what happens to all the hours that you lose then gain while you are travelling? Do they ever even out or do you rack up a deficit, or surplus, somewhere? Does this affect when your birthday really is? Could my birthday really fall on June 12th by now? Don't get me started on leap years...

Anyway, back to Christmas. I wonder if my Dad will let me open a present tonight, even if it's just Christmas Eve for us?

I can't wait to call them and wish them a Merry Christmas. Although I used to wake my parents up at 3am to open presents, I don't think they will appreciate a 5:30am phone call today!

So I have to wait for a few more hours, then use the wonderful modern technology of Skype to see them.

I wonder how bad Kate and Tim's hangover will be after their big day out for Christmas Eve?