A week in Port Douglas

Well Port Douglas was a great place to spend some free time.  It probably wasn’t as warm as I expected but a regular 27C made the swimming very pleasant and the running not too demanding.   

The resort we stayed at was called “Pool Resort” and when you looked out from the balcony it was apparent why that was.  The entire length of the complex was fronted buy a pool.  It was segmented in the centre with a sunbathing platform but our half was about 70 metres long by my estimate, and in a curve.  It’s always interesting swimming in something so irregular because the times mean absolutely nothing as you are swimming.  So you just relax and get on with it.   

On the running front I managed to belt out 3 runs all around 50-60 minutes.  It was very pleasant running, always including some on the beach and variations on the other “bits”.  It was also great to be able to get straight in the pool on returning and walking out the aches in the cool water.  As a result the Achilles is feeling pretty good at the moment and with some attention to stretching (arrgggh) they should stand up to some decent work over the next few weeks.

Back in Brisbane for the weekend allowed me to get back on the bike.  I had considered hiring a bike while away but the timing never seemed quite right with all the other things going on.  When we returned from Denver I found getting back on the bike to be a fair bit harder than I anticipated.  Coupled with this we had very strong winds in Brisbane on Saturday morning.  So rather than go out and attempt a four hour ride I reverted to a tried and true 70k ride that is pretty rural with some decent hills and a nice run into home.  At times the wind made for a nervous ride with side gusts pushing me all around..  With a shorter ride on the cards I went out to put in a decent effort and an average heart rate of 145 or 78% of maximum indicates that was the outcome.    A much easier recovery effort today, out to the bayside suburbs of Wynnum & Manly in a very pleasant 23C and only a slight hangover of the winds from yesterday.

Overall at this point there is no doubt that while I have managed to increase my capacity to absorb work I also am behind where I need to be.  Over this week I am going to reassess and build some targets through to the end of September.  I’ll put those out here and then you can kick my butt if I fall short.  Need to be kept on track.