Anyway, I can’t change where I am at this stage so I might as well shut up, rug up, get out there and stop complaining. Before I do stop complaining I want to let you know that on Saturday the only thing that stopped me from phoning a friend to get a lift home was the fact that I thought I would get hypothermia in the time it would take me to get my phone out and call for help! The rain was tainted with a splattering of hail and I was wet in no time, not to mention COLD!!

I guess what I’m saying is - I’m hearing your winter pain!!!

... on winter clothing for cycling - because you learn from your mistakes - or at least, every time the season changes you learn that it is never as warm as or going to be as warm as you hope!...if that makes sense?

It was fine on Saturday morning when I headed out for my 5hr ride, with just a few clouds so positively I felt it would stay like that (Point 1: don’t be too positive about the weather in winter. Always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst!!)

I saw black clouds approaching and thought I would just skirt around the edge of them but alas no - the rain came with the wind and hail and within minutes I was wet and cold. I had no rain jacket so got soaked through (Point 2: don’t be too positive about the weather in winter. Always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst!!)

It was a cold, hard ride home, and took a number of hours for me to defrost, but I did it.

With the winter weather firmly on our doorstep, it is time to don the layers of spandex, not to mention the sweaty sausage skin rain jacket, and very, very importantly the toe covers with another pair of shoes covers over the top!!

Now believe me when I say, you may look geeky with toe booties, but when you have snugly warm tootsies, you’ll love it!!

In these conditions you are better off having to take clothes off, (if for some strange reason you get warm), rather than ride wishing you had more clothes on. A rain jacket squashed into a back pocket is not only good to stop a little rain getting through but if the wind turns to a nasty cold southerly the jacket can keep some of the wind chill at bay.

So, enough of the wet weather talk….and onto how my training is actually going….

Pretty well I think. I have just started a recovery week after building up and up and up for a few weeks. It’s fair to say, I need this down time. Last week, I was hitting the pillow at 8pm some nights, but the great thing is I got through all my training. I managed a 2.5hr run, which is the longest training run I have ever done, and I held up ok, so that is positive. My cycling is probably the hardest discipline to complete although all in all I have managed a few 4.5 hr rides and even a 7 hr one to the Coromandel Peninsula, which as long as it was, I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I will be able to do a few more of those in the next couple of weeks, but add a bit of speed to it.

As for my swimming, initially I found it a drag driving to Te Awamutu (half hour drive) for a swim twice a week (not to mention expensive), but then I changed my attitude and have used the drive as a chance to relax, sip on my coffee, and think about the sun and hard work ahead of me in Hawaii. Now, I look forward to my drive over and the ensuing swim.

Staying motivated in winter is always difficult - or so I hear as I actually haven’t had a winter for 8 years (!) But when you set a goal, or have something to achieve later in the year, you need to keep the motivation levels ticking over. Train with friends, use imagery to picture yourself completing the event, change your attitude and look forward to the feeling when you finish training, not to mention enjoying the training itself. There is no doubt about it - it is hard, but aren’t most rewarding things in life? As the saying goes....Find A Reason, Not An Excuse!!

So that’s about where I’m at. No doubt I’ll have time to update you again, before my departure on the 21^st September - which is flying towards me.

Always hope for the best, but be prepared for RAIN, HAIL, WIND and in some places SNOW!!!

MUST HAVES: Toe Booties, Long Fingered Gloves, Head/Neck Warmer and a Wind/Rain Jacket!! (not to mention the layers of polypro on underneath)