For the Love

Public holiday here in Australia today. The Public Holiday itself is rather a somber one, a day called ANZAC Day, which is a day in which we remember all those who have fought and died in war in the defense of Australia (and New Zealand, hence the NZ). 

Whilst it is a day for commemoration rather than celebration, it is still a great chance to enjoy a day off work by getting out and spending some time outside. Which is just what I did today. 

In fact today has been quite an exercisy one. I got out for a ride this morning and a run this afternoon and my wife got out for a lovely spin during the mid morning. Splendid. 

For me the exercise today was a great reminder of what got me into triathlon in the first place, I simply had a ball. I headed out by myself and just enjoyed just being out on the bike, riding during some prefect autumn weather. Riding for as long as I felt like and then heading home, not having to chase down a particular interval or a set power level, but simply doing what I felt like. It really was a reminder of what I have always enjoyed about cycling. 

Being a Public Holiday every man and his dog was out riding too and so I also had a lot of fun chasing the down the odd cyclist. Being a weekend warrior is perhaps something that I shouldn't be doing too much of these days, but it is a bit of a guilty pleasure that I can help but indulge in from time to time. It is hard to go completely cold turkey on a competitive streak. 

The run this afternoon was a similar experience to my ride (albeit much shorter). Running tonight I just really enjoyed the simple sensation of running. That isn't something that I thought I would ever write a few years ago, running was always such a core. However, over the last couple of years I have come to see what others love about running. It isn't a feeling that I am able to share in all the time, but when I have been running at my best I have come close. I am not exactly running at my best at the moment, but being able to get out to run with no pressure and simply do what I want has certainly got me enjoying it.

Another reason that I am enjoying running at the moment is because of the results of my stress test from a couple of weeks ago. Off the back of those results Dr Stobie gave me permission to exercise at a bit more of a moderate intensity. It doesn't sound like much, but being able to push the heart rate that little bit more has meant the difference between jogging and actually being able to run. It might only be another 15 beats or so a minute, but it has bought me about 1 min/km. It has been great to run again rather than just jog. 

Of course the problem with running is that there is the constant temptation to run harder, which I had to work hard to avoid. It is a good problem to have though and one that I am loving.