Ok, here is the next installment in the adventures of Jenny's training.....

What an insane few weeks it has been since last I wrote! I have just come off the back of three 80 hour weeks and am pretty exhausted! Throw in there a bout of borderline flue and it has been quite the experience. So needless to say, I haven't had a huge amount of time to do much else but work and sleep. Thankfully I had joined the gym down the street from work so have been managing to squeeze a 1 hour trip to the gym every few days, typically at 9pm at night as I am now usually in a meeting over lunch, before then heading back to work for another hour or two to wrap up the day. Did I mention I am an architect? For anyone considering this profession, I encourage you to think long and hard about it first, it can be quite unrelenting!

I am sad to say that I never made it to the biathlon that I signed up for, mainly due to poor logistics on my behalf. When I signed up for it I didn't pay attention to exactly where and when it was and discovered I need to be on the subway heading to the outer limits of the Bronx at 5am on a Sunday morning. Not a very smart idea from a personal safety point of view so I chose instead to cruise around central park on what was the first truly hot weekend this year. Needless to say EVERYONE was out to enjoy the spectacular weather so central park turned into a bit of an obstacle course laden with cyclists, tourists, horses, children, dogs and rollerbladers everywhere. The Hudson River park - another good spot to stretch ones legs on the bike- was no better, but damn it was beautiful! Added to this, I have noticed an old tendonitis problem flaring up in my ankles so skipping out on the biathlon run was probably a good idea. No point in agitating it with a long run. While the nuisanse is ever so small, I have been to see a physical therapist to ensure it stays that way (or better, goes away), and swapped across from the treadmill to the elipse machine (that's what I think it is called) in the gym which is good for cardiovascular fitness while elimating the pressure on the ankle that is recieved from running.

Well, with only 3 1/2 weeks to go, I need to make sure these count!

Update from Jenny

Whoever coined the term change is as good as a holiday was certainly onto something. My big recent change? Moving! Not a huge move geographically, I really just moved into the next suburb, but a wonderful psychological spring clean up to the 5th floor of a walk up in the East Village! The move has left me feeling re energized, and allowed for some changes to my daily routine, as well as a friendly wake up call regarding what I can realistically get done regarding training in the next 7 weeks, and what I need to be working a bit harder on.

This change has brought with it a few wonderful lifestyle in-builts – packing, moving place and then unpacking was great exercise, especially with all those stairs. And now, I get in-built daily stair training exercise. I am now also a little further from work which means 30 minute longer round trip walk everyday.

To my complete surprise, I actually joined the gym down the street from my office ....and I like the place! Who would have thought? Still chronically time poor, I have started going for a quick training session at lunch, namely a run on a treadmill, which is a damn site safer than navigating the crowds of NY streets at midday, followed by some strengthening exercises and stretching. It has started out as a quick 30 minute session; I slap out a couple of miles on the mill and am back at my desk for the afternoon round of meetings. It has been a long time since I used to run for exercise, possibly back in high school, so a 20 minute run without stopping has me pretty pleased at the moment. The plan though is that every time I go to the gym, I will add on an extra minute or two till hopefully, by the end of the month, I should be comfortably running for 45 minutes and still get back to my desk in a timely manner! As motivation to do this, and to provide a shorter term goal, I have signed up to participate in a biathlon on April 25, involving a 3 mile run, then 18 mile bike ride, then 3 mile run again.

So those were a couple of wins for the last fortnight. On reassessment of some of my earlier goals, I recognize that there are a few things that probably won’t happen before Ranier - actual hiking outdoors for instance. A bout of mild food poisoning last weekend meant I didn’t get to enjoy the sunshine on my bike, but some research for work will take me touring the Staten Island Bluebelt on two wheels this weekend so lets hope for some good weather!