What's in a word?

The word "trainer" means different things to different people. 

To me it can be:
1. your coach or
2. the thing you put your bike in/on when you have to do your cycle session indoors. 

It was this latter meaning that I had in mind when I read the following email subject line from Amazon.co.uk and nearly sprayed my drink all over the monitor.......

Garmin Edge 705 GPS-enabled Cycle Trainer

Now I know that when on my trainer in my back room  the SRM read out has shown that apparently I've climbed  a small hill(??!!??), but FFS I thought...who needs a GPS when statically grinding away indoors?

New blog

I'm adding another blog which will run in tandem for a while and then take over.  A change in direction requires a change in blog...

It's name is:  http://lizrandallscyclingtravels.blogspot.com/

I'll post when the change over happens.

ps...yet another dead rat...this time under the computer desk .
 
My heart rate shot through the roof and it took a while for the adrenalin surge to dissipate!

3 days of cycling work rather than play

First there was volunteering at Hisense on Wednesday for the Revolution5+Austral..bit disappointing both racing and spectator- wise, I thought and actually I nicked off early.....

My second volunteering moment came at the Aus Madison champs at DISC on Friday night. MUCH better..full house, exciting racing, better atmosphere, although I drowned in the free large size shirt ..too big for anyone in my family...could fit 3 of us in it and there's still be room for another!

My job was to keep the hoi polloi in the back straight in order(!!!) ...no prob actually although 1 very, VERY grouchy man refused to show me his ticket "how do you think I got in" he snarled...I didn't bother to point out he could have a standing only ticket at 1/4 the price...what did I care.

Third came my club duty today...at METEC doing the start/ finish for the Eastern Vets crit event.

Enough already!

Phil's in Sydney with family, Alex going away for a coupla days to Bright (gateway to the Aus alps) with friends......."Peace Perfect peace with loved ones far away" is what the hymn says!

Arrivederci.
A dopo!

My week for volunteering

I'm somewhat agin people who take heaps out of their sport and give nothing back, but how can I, me, myself give something back to the cycling fraternity? I'm not sure I want to coach, I think being a commissaire is waaaaay beyond me (eyesight, age and don't really know the rules anyway!) and so I'm dipping my toe in the volunteering pond.

Last night I sold programs at Hisense during the "Revolution+the Austral" event. As the newbie, I got the "least likely to sell anything" position, and although I got to see plenty of people I knew, without exception they'd bought their progams from someone else. I tried suggesting they take them back for a refund, but to no avail. I think I managed to sell 39 by the end of the evening. And what did I gain from all this? Positive:free T shirt, food, entry, and car parking and "giving something back" negative: sore feet, sore back. Actually the crowd wasn't very big......was it promoted enough or was it the stinking hot weather......the 39 programs I managed to sell were promoted as being a great fly swat as well as good reading value!

A glutton for punishment, my halo goes back on tomorrow at DISC for the Madison...ushering in the front straight...different shoes I think and at least my back wont get so sore...standing still is not one of the things I do with ease, so maybe next time I specify no program selling.

I'm busily harassing my travel agent to organise my flights to Italy in May as I think there are some good deals happening and once she's got that in gear, then I can book hotel rooms in Palermo for the day or so before the ride actually starts and in whichever city I'm travelling from before I fly out. I'm excited!

I'm also starting to learn Italian much to the enduring amusement of all at work. I've got a teach yourself Italian CD which I play in the car and then practise what I've learnt on an Italian co-worker. The only problem is.....by the time I get from the car park into the gym, I've forgotten what I've been listening to! So far I can order a bottle of wine (red/white/house) and bread...that I CAN remember! I can also say hello, goodbye and is everything ok! and I'm a whizz at various food items..you know them too...spag blog, pizza, espresso, cappuccino.....and I know the word for a bicycle!..bicicletta. Impressionante!

Planning 2010 holidays

Some things are guaranteed to make me giggle and one of them is quaint literal translations, nowadays probably via Google translator. So while trawling through hotel and B&B ads in Bedoin, at the foot of Mont Ventoux (guess what I'm planning to do!) I came across this beauty, which has left me scratching my head:

"Vain apartment of village, joint with the owner, in calm dead end. Stay corner includes/understands cooks, corner living room".

Sooooo ???, part of the owner's house in a cul de sac. Then??????? !

Suggestions invited!

Wind tunnel session

Yesterday evening I had a session in the Monash Uni Wind Tunnel to see if my position on the TT bike could be improved aerodynamically, bearing in mind that it also had to be comfortable and as I stiffen up with age, that is rather a large factor.

One memory will last for a long time and one I wasn't aware of...its very very cold! Actually the person before me, with less fat to keep him warm, had to get a coat on after each test whereas I didn't but maybe I should have as 3 hours later I was still feeling hypothermic. A long shower and a session of hugging a hot water bottle dealt with the problem.

The result of the session was that my position was already good and so although there will be no magical improvement to be able to pin to the experience, at least I can be confident that it's well and truly dialled in correctly.

Today is my last official day of full time employment...yay! I'll continue working a 4hr/5 day week(=20hrs/week), but what my hours are will depend on me and also I have to factor in 8hrs/week Workplace Wellness hours. The first week's hours are a total dog's breakfast of a mess and I'm going to have to brief all my patients about the variety of times they will get to attend the gym for a Physio session. Hmmm! so much for "patient centred care"!

Today is Walk to Work day..so I'm off for a walk!

Part time here I come!

This week is my last official week of full time employment...yay! Since I have to either use up or get paid out my excess ADO hours, I'm really part time this week too as I arrive late and leave early. I have 15 hours and 23(!) minutes to get rif of. How on earth I clocked up 23 minutes is beyond me and I'm not bothering to find out as the explanation will be waaaaaay beyond me.

This week my training is gradually increasing in intensity, so as I write this I'm sitting in full cycling gear waiting to go to the track for a motorpacing session and tomorrow I'm off to the uni wind tunnel to fine tune my TT position. No more cruisy rides until after the Worlds. its .all mega effort and recovery now. Not sure I'm up for this.

Cadel's win the other day was an inspiration for keeping on and on trying though. Proud to be an Aussie. What a great effort by the team. Doesn't it make you wonder what Cadel do with a really great team behind him and doesn't it make you wish we could have an Aussie sponsored pro team..we've got the talent, but I guess there aren't many Aussie enterprises global enough to benefit from advertising in Europe.

Cold hens

Actually its cold hands...but I'm an Aussie now so I'm obliged to pronounce it hens ;-) and I now I remember why I never really took to skiing or other snow sports. With single digit temperatures both today and yesterday my weekend's program of motorpacing and a long road ride has gone down the tubes. So instead, yesterday I spent a boringly mind rotting 20 mins on an ergo program followed by 45 minutes chasing a virtual reality cyclist on my TACX Fortius followed by another 45 mins spinning on the rollers while watching the AFL grand final. Well actually I only managed to really WATCH a few minutes of it, the rest was just a noise in the background.....Aussie rules....pffft the round ball game is so much better....more skill less brute force required.....

So when not cycling I started on the clean up the house which has been in a mess after the painting. We're taking the opportunity to chuck out a heap of rubbish..camping gear from 30 years ago and a whole heap of other no longer used stuff, so today will be cycling plus multiple trips to the tip.

The aliens have not only been here in malevolent mode..see many previous posts(!) but also in generous mode as today they found my long lost arm warmer which disappeared after one wear. I discovered it in the dryer snuggled up against a giant zip tie...can't imagine why either of them decided to hide there!!!! Actually the dryer had been put outside while the laundry was being painted and left there, forgotten, while it rained and rained. Finally realisation struck this morning and after having to tip out rather alot of water the 2 runaways were discovered...not sure if the dryer will ever function again though!

I'm off work for a week

I've managed to find someone to do my patient load for a week and so I'm away from the salt mine until 21/9. Luckily for me the weather looks to be favourable, so not only will I be less tired but the opportunities to ride in the dry are also present...yay! up to 26 degrees today which is whole heap better than around 13. So today I'm off up the 1 in 20 and around the Mt Dandenong loop...not a long ride, but a whole longer than I've been doing recently. If there are any wet days I'll do laps at DISC..the track is free most mornings.

I hope to get some semblance of fitness happening before the World track champs, but will definitely not be "on song" and WRT any other competitive plans..seems to me that I'll have to wait and see how working .7 ie 3.5 days a week helps my fatigue/stress level. I've certainly lost my way this year. I was warned there would be a period when progress halted and I would take a dive, so maybe this has been it....

I'm booked in for the next years road worlds already and am happily planning for a 6 week hol in Europe around that , so maybe THAT will be my new major focus......guess I'll find out this next month as it all depends on energy levels.


Alex is back from Queensland after cleaning up with wins on both days of their State MTBO champs and is busily earning money before he shoots off to Sydney where he has about a month's work of labour, training and fun. Phil's thumb is now enclosed in a little thermo-plastic splint so he's able to help with the housework including doing the washing up! ;-)! The drama part of his recuperation is now hopefully complete.

Mind you the place is in an uproar as we are redecorating the whole house and plan on gutting the main bathroom completely ...well Alex and I plan to, Phil's not so keen, but it IS 30 years since it was last done. Currently we've got 3 downstairs rooms almost finished and the smell of paint is strong. The painter wants to move into the main lounge room next..but he can forget that until he's completed the 3 rooms...got nowhere to put all the gear if he insists on that plan!

Regarding the recent uproar in Athletics about the South African runner whose gender is in doubt, check out the blog Science in Sport (link on the right) for a sensible, science based, non inflammatory series of posts. This blog is well worth following; check out the archives for great posts on hydration, cramps, fatigue to mention a few.

Finally posted ...Yukky pix

Phil's thumb as it is today:

I'll post the xray when I can get it to an xray viewer, although they're hard to find nowadays since we've gone electronic.

Despite this he's up and about and doing things, although managing to steer clear of doing the dishes! and regretfully has found a spare part for the stove top.

While discussing the topic of broken bones he reminded me that about 10 years ago he'd broken his other thumb too, but hadn't realised it until much later....

I dunno..????no sense no feeling?!

My weekend. Stiff fingers and a bung stove top

I've always thought it was handy having an engineering husband who could "fix" things. However on Saturday I changed my mind!

The automatic lighter thingey on the gas stove top wouldn't stop clicking and I was delighted since I hated that particular stove top and I could see a new one being bought...yay! WRONG! Directing from the side, since with his thumb out of action he can only be a foreman and with Ben's help, the top was stripped down and the problem found and...dammit...it looks like its fixable.

Not happy Jan.

My normal Monday groan is to do with the after effects of a weekend's riding. Today my groan is all directed at my hands, which are telling me that 7 hours weeding was about 6 hours too much!!!

The plan was to ride in the morning then garden in the afternoon. However it was a bit cold and a bit windy first thing so instead I rugged up, plugged in the audio book into the CD player and went outside to do some weeding (we have a ~1 acre garden).

Accompanied by my cats, who love it when we're in the garden, I got down to the task. Checking my watch some time later I realised it was after 1pm, so lunch was the next task. Then out again to clear up the heaps of weeds, thinking I'll just stay for 1 more CD...then another...then another and finally it was really was time to stop and it was much too late to ride anyway.

Looks like I'm starting my rest week just a wee bit early!

this is a rant post

I can say it here 'cos he wont read this..."but I told you so. I was right, you should have listened to me.."

44 years experience as an orthopaedic Physio trumps a young ortho surgeon and a husband who just doesn't want to change his holiday plans. Yup..that's right Phil's thumb is a disaster...see a previous post to get the original story.

I was so involved in packing for this weekend's trip to Castlemaine that it took me a while to ask Phil how his thumb was..and clearly he was not going to volunteer the info..not about to risk the "I told you so"(!)..but when I finally did ask and saw the mess that was his thumb I let out a string of @##$%%^&'s and opined that it looked infected..it was red swollen and misshapen.

Transpires I was wrong..not infected... the titanium plate had broken and the bone now fractured in 2 places! I'll post the xrays when I can. Needless to say the surgeon(who knew that Phil was going on a motorbike holiday) immediately thought he's re-trauma-ed, but Phil says not and I suspect it must have been caused by 7 days of sustained gripping of the motorbike handlebar.

Anyhow...you may well have heard a loud commotion at about lunch time yesterday...that was me venting my irritation, frustration and negative opinion about a certain person's lack of common sense...egged on I'd have to admit by a young orthopeadic surgeon who has now learned a lesson about the strength of titanium plates.

Soooo a coupla hours after his ortho review he's back in hospital having his thumb re-operated on and that's where he still is...they kept him in overnight. Hopefully this time they've plastered him into immobility for a bit longer and lectured him into not being so ...so...cavalier about his well being....thumb mobility and strength being somewhat important to life in general and motorbiking in particular, especially the trail riding that Phil does.

As a rehab and ortho Physio I have seen many worst case scenarios in my loooong career and it's those scenarios that are always at the back of my mind when I see injuries..lets face it I don't get to see the real successes...I get to see the ones that dont go as the surgeons would like or that are really slow to recover. So if you think my ranting is a bit harsh.....think this through....worst case scenario...poor grip/no grip=inabilty to control a bike on rough ground=no more motorbiking.

Couldn't have chosen a worse weekend to do all this as I'm in Castlemaine(freezing), Alex is coming up tonight and Ben is in NSW...luckily we've got a few cousins around the place to call on.

and we're racing again

This weekend sees me racing again. I don't think I've raced so much since I started being coached and was told not to race so regularly 'cos the resultant fatigue got in the way of a structured training plan. The reason I'm racing so much this year is that FINALLY there are enough road TT's in the State to make me want to race.

So this weekend I'm back up to Castlemaine to ride the penultimate race of the Masters TT Series on Saturday and the State Masters Road Champs on Sunday; the weather is apparently going to be a "iffy". I always struggle to travel light, but this time I've gone overboard, packing for absolutely every weather possibility except hot. I just hope its not too windy.

The TT is over the course I rode a couple of weeks ago and which also forms the early part of the 30km road circuit - I have to go round twice. As usual there are few older women entered in the road race...did I say a few...actually I mean 2! We start with the 50 yr olds who will no doubt spit me out the back over the first hill, as I'm not climbing well at the moment, and then I'll be solo TT'ing the final 50km. I may have company of course - depends on how Shirley is climbing.

Alex will join me in my cabin on Saturday night as he has entered a 6hr enduro MTB race being held somewhere in the area on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ben is off up to NSW to race the "3 ring circus", riding for AyUp and Phil has returned from Alaska, and San Francisco looking extremely tanned but with a thumb that doesn't look too good, its still very inflamed....a visit to the surgeon is planned for today. Looking at the pix of Ben in the link above, for the first time I am struck by the resemblance to my father and brother...apart from the side burns(!)

My training has been going well this week and I've also managed to shed a bit of excess blubber. The stress of making a life changing decision is behind me and I'm much more relaxed and able to focus as a result. The ad for my old job hit the website the day after my last post; news travels fast and I have been approached by many people from all parts of my campus and the easternhealth network commenting/congratulating/teasing me.

Now we wait to see if anyone is interested in applying for it.

C'mon!

It's all very well for me to make my life changing work related decision ie moving from full to part time work, its another thing for it to actually happen.

I've made my decision...I want it to happen NOW!

But...and there's always a but...the change has to be approved by my manager, his manager, her manager and finally THE manager. Somewhere amongst that list it has to get past a bevy of financial people and finally HR gets into the act. So about 7 people have to be at their desks, agree to it, sign off on it and finally insert an ad into a website or 2 and the local rag (The Age).

In the meantime, I'm hopping up and down on one foot wanting it all to happen NOW!

Currently its stuck at HR 'cos HR, which is well and truly understaffed ie there's only 1 person there and she's about to leave and is busily using up AL and ADO hours, is an empty office.

So approval has been asked for and given, the ad is almost but not quite out there and still there will be a delay for the usual how ever many weeks the ad has to run, plus interviewing time, plus allowances for the preferred candidate to hand in their notice.....always assuming someone applies for the job.......

and I want it to happen NOW!

So what this all means is that while my training is vaguely back on track, I will not be able to feel the benefit of my yet to happen extra recovery/training time this year.

Next weekend is a double wammy race time...another one of the Masters TT series on Saturday followed by the Masters Road Champs on Sunday. So its off to Castlemaine again on Friday straight after work..no passing Go! no collecting $200..at least this weekend I'll know how to work the heater in the cabin.

Less work, more fun

So finally the bullet has been bitten and I'm moving from full time employment to half time ie 40hrs/week to 20hrs/week clinical load plus 8 hours/week for the Workplace Wellness and Communications Group.
I'll be working Mon-Fri..arrive late/leave early.

I'm happy with my decision and grateful the half time position was available when I needed it. I'm also very happy to have the Workplace Wellness hours too.

Now how do I apply for my Seniors Card!

Navel gazing

Introspective moment....momentous decisions.

During our lives we all have moments where our decisions are really VERY important and we know it at the time. Other times you sort of just roll into decisions; they're not something you have to spend time over, they just happen.

I've had many of the latter type, but only just a few of the former.....41 years ago it was "is this man someone I want to spend my life with, cos if I do I'll have to leave UK and live in Australia?" ( a bit of a double wammy decision) and today it is "do I want to keep working or do I want to retire".

No, that's not right, 'cos yes I do want to retire as work is definitely getting in the way of the things I really want to do(cycling/racing/travel), but the $$ allows me to be indulgent about what I really like to do (cycling/racing/travel).....the question is more how do I want to manage the situation and WHEN do I want to stop working.

Currently I'm fast approaching my 65th birthday (and a 40th wedding anniversary) and have worked as a Physiotherapist since I was 21 with time off for good behaviour (travelling round the world on a Merchant Navy ship with my Merchant Navy husband and during 2 pregnancies).

Maybe, just maybe, its time to call it quits.

It's that dementia time again..or are the aliens just having fun

Yesterday while having a shower I noticed a humungous bruise on the inside of my left ankle. I stared at it in a dumbfounded manner for quite some time as I couldn't recall any action that would have resulted in such a large wound.

After musing over the problem for a while I came up with the following:

• Bruise..what bruise...I am an amazon. I feel no pain. On the other hand...maybe I've got spinal canal problems and have lost sensation..or a neuropathy from some disease I've suddenly developed.
• I've not done anything to remotely cause a bruise. On the other hand maybe I DID get a knock but my dementia/short term memory problems are arcing up again or perhaps I've suddenly developed a life threatening disease which causes hideous bruising from minimum cause.
• OR finally something I always have ready when "things" happen.....maybe I've been taken over by aliens again. After all they've had fun with me before...like when I lost my glasses for 3 or 4 days and they turned up in the garden...or more recently when they stole 1 of my new "only worn once" arm warmers......

Well what ever the reason.its winter and being well rugged up no-one is gunna see it..but I have a really story ready just in case. With my work colleagues.....it's important to have a good story ready....!

Don't know where I read this, but....

There's no doubt that anyone reading this cycling blog will be familiar with Bernard Hinault' s public persona..both as a racer and nowadays as the TdF podium MC.....his nickname being the Badger.

In the current litigious society you just have to admire his method of getting rid of anybody daring to crash the party........charge.......shove.......bugger off ........! (images copied from various public access websites, 2009 one Bettiniphotos)

2008

2009 version

You may also know of the bracelet that some fervent Christians wear..with WWJD on it.."What would Jesus do".

This morning I read on Twitter (I think..but I also got diverted onto Joe Parkin's blog..so maybe it was from there)....

WWTBD "What would the Badger do".....I rather like that idea

Hey...might be worth a silicon bracelet...which I think would probably have to be black. Or maybe red.

Catastrophe

Phil returned home very early from his trail bike ride today...'cos he'd had an accident and has a fractured right 1st metacarpal..base of the thumb.

He has 10 days until he's due to fly out for a trip to Alaska...he's off to see a surgeon tomorrow for an opinion..maybe for an ORIF (open reduction/internal fixation). I guess whether he still goes OS on the planned day depends on when/if the op will take place. If it were me (but its not!), I'd delay...I've seen too many post op complications to be happy for him to be going to America, land of expensive health care.

BUT...as I said..it's not me.....

A positive and quite a few negatives and a family update

The positive... note singular! ...
My track SRM arrived yay! now to put it together. Or at least now to go bleating to Ben to ask him to put it together as the cranks are not the "easy even for me" Durace type. No matter, once on they're not moving to any other bike in a hurry

Negatives...note plural

• In an effort to do something, anything towards setting up my track bike with the SRM, I took the chain ring off my current set up and attempted to put onto the new when the inevitable happened...I couldn't get the bolts off the old spider. Makes you want to spit...EVERY time I change chain rings 2 or 3 of the backs fall out cos I've never got round to glueing them in...now I want them out they're refusing to budge!
  
• stressful,stressful weeks at work.. alot of change going on and currently it's quite a difficult time while we gradually work through some fairly major issues.
• Flea, the ginger tabby cat is in my bad books again not only is he pawing at the monitor as I type(!) and wanting to sit in front of the monitor every time I'm at the computer but he also brought another rat into the house. This time it was during the evening while I was spinning away in front of a re-run of the previous TdF stage. He kindly left it in a different room so it was a while before I found it and then I wasn't sure it was dead....yeeetch!
• the weather...I'm s'posed to be racing a 2 day 3 stage event this weekend...but I find the following a bit depressing, I suspect I'll be doing the first race...the TT and waving goodbye!:

Forecast for the rest of Saturday

Severe weather warning for damaging winds for the Central forecast district.

Gale warning for Port Phillip.

Strong wind warning for Western Port.

Cloudy. Patchy rain. Fresh to strong northerly winds, averaging up to 55 km/h, decreasing to 30 to 40 km/h later in the evening.

I do have another positive...I've managed to work out how to record the TdF when its on SBS2..haven't yet managed to figure out how to record via pre-set and have to sit up until it starts but at least I've got it happening. Once the cricket is over and it goes back to SBS1 I'll be able to get to bed earlier again!

Alex is still in Europe with just one more comp to go, the Lithuanian 3 day. He seems to be improving and managed to get 10th in a couple of his races in the Czech 5 day; the European Champs was a disappointment for him as he really benefits from lead up comp of the sort he can't get here ie multiday events with a good depth of quality riders.

Ben seems to be enjoying his new job as workshop manager at the BSC shop in Elizabeth Street and Phil is about to go OS again...USA and Alaska this time round.

Well off to battle the breeze!