The Sounds of Summer

Summer is hitting Perth in earnest this week. This morning I woke up to the true sounds of Summer, the sound of a howling easterly wind.

Summer mornings are usually a pretty nice time to be out exercising Perth. It is unusual for the mornings to be warm, even on the hottest days, so temperature isn't typically a problem. The skies are blue, sunrise is early, all up it can be rather nice. Usually it is no struggle to get yourself out on the road, motivation to stay in doors and jump on the Kickr can run a little low.

All that isn't always true though. Some days during Summer the big easterlies start to blow and the temperatures rise. On those days staying in doors on the trainer can sometimes be the more pleasant of your options. This morning was one of those mornings. I had always intended to be on the Kickr this morning even though I felt like it was a waste of a nice Summer morning, but when I woke up and heard the easterly blowing I didn't regret my decision at all.

I had decided to jump on the Kickr for the same reason as I always do. Because is it a darn effective way to train. Over the years since I first got the Kickr I have been amazed at how beneficial it has been for me. The ability to accurately control your power output, exactly hit your targets and hold them with nowhere to hide makes a smart trainer an invaluable training tool. One of the most effective tools I have ever owned.

Training may not be all that serious for me yet, but I am starting to get myself back into gear in preparation for starting training proper in the new year. With that in mind I jumped on the Kickr to do a bit of quality bike work. One of the things I learnt from Ironman WA was that I need to find another 10 to 15 Watts on the bike. Finding that extra power starts now and the Kickr is going to play a big part in it.

Whilst the Kickr allowed me to avoid the big Easterly, there isn't going to be anyway of avoiding the heat that it is going to bring to town. I said at the start of this blog that the big wind was the true sound of Summer and that is going to be very true over the next couple of days here. Today is heading for a maximum of 35 degrees before things really ramp up tomorrow with a maximum of 41. Youch. At least Christmas Day isn't looking that hot at the moment, which it often is here in Perth, current forecast is only for 33 degrees. Almost reasonable.

Besides spending a bit of time on the Kickr this morning I am also hoping to get out for a jog tonight. The run on Sunday morning demonstrated to me that the body is ready to get back into running a bit more earnestly. The plan for this afternoon still isn't for anything dramatic, but it will be good to get out and start getting some miles back in the legs. All part of gearing up for the new year. Hopefully the temperature isn't too out of control when I head out. Save the really crazy weather for tomorrow.

Away from training, I had a weird dream last night. In the dream I was about two weeks out from a race and I was beginning to stress about it. Was everything ready, was I ready, what preparation did I need to be doing? I woke up all geared up to make sure I was all prepared, before realising that I don't have a race in two weeks, or for many weeks for that matter and there was no reason to stress. It occurred to me that my brain may be so accustomed to worrying about upcoming races, training etc that when I don't have anything it just makes up things to stress about. The brain sure is a strange critter. It was a massive relief when I realised it was a dream though.