Quite a day

It has been one hell of a day of training today. I seem to have got to Darwin at about the same as a low started developing just to the north of the city. As a result, Darwin, which I gather has been pretty dry for the last couple of weeks, has had about 70mm of rain in the last 30 hours or so. I have always loved the wet season in Darwin, so it has been great to be here for some of it. But I have to say the rain has not made training any easier, particularly since my only mode of transport is a bike.


It has rained pretty much all day today. There hasn't really been any hope of getting out between showers or anything. It has been the kind of day where you know that if you are stepping out the door and getting on the bike, you are going to get wet. As a result it took me a couple of minutes to get myself out the door into the rain this morning so that I could head down to the pool. I managed to get myself to the pool by telling myself that whilst I would be getting wet, it was only going to be a short ride. I was right, it was only a short ride, but I still got soaked, both on the way to swimming and back again.

The swimming bit in between riding to and from the pool was tough as well. It was good to be back swimming with the squad, but far out it hasn't got any easier. I was swimming a bit quicker than I used to before I left Darwin, but that didn't translate into an easy session. I was still totally stuffed by the end.

This afternoon it was even more of a struggle to get myself out the door. It was the sort of session that if I was living up here I think I may have jumped on the trainer. Unfortunately the only trainer I have at the moment has two wheels and looks a lot like a bike, so getting out on the road was really my only option. Still I always prefer to be out on a bike, rather than on a wind trainer if I possibly can. Wind trainers have their place, but I still think there is no substitute for the real thing.

Once I did get myself out the door I spent the next two hours getting soaked to the bone. I think it stopped raining on me for perhaps five minutes or so during the whole ride. Despite that though the session was a good one. It was kind of nice to be back out at Lee Point, Darwin's only long hill, for hill repeats. Every time I come to Darwin I always seem to find myself out there at least once. It is nice to get back there, since it is a section of road where I have spent hours and hours in the past. But in the end it isn't a great piece of bitumen, so after a bit of a trip down memory lane, it is always nice to leave again. All up it was a tough session. But it is also the sort of session that you know good races are built on, so I am glad I made the effort to get myself out there.

Running day tomorrow, which brings with it its own set of challenges. Last time I was up here for one of these run sessions the heat nearly killed me. The rain we have been having has meant that Darwin is lovely and cool at the moment, so hopefully that hangs around for tomorrow at least. It would be nice to be able to enjoy the rain tomorrow, after suffering through it all of today.

We shall see.