Grades and more
Looking Back and ahead
Hey everyone,
This week I’ll start by saying thanks for the messages about the choice I had to make. For everyone wondering, it’s
still not made, but I am making good progress and talking about it with various people has helped a lot.
So, back to this week—I have some exciting news! I got my first grade in Australia from a quiz I did, and I scored 80 points out of 100. Yay, me! Also, my report from my internship came back with a 7. That is what we call a good week!
Of course, I have been training my ass off for the upcoming race in late March, the Xterra Asia-Pacific Champs in Dunsborough, where I’ll stay with a good mate of mine. This week’s training was a bit more race-oriented with a faster pace. For example, this Sunday I did an 8x4 min with 2 min rest race pace ride. It felt horrible, but that wasn’t because the pace was not there—the heat now is making my sleeping schedule suck. During the day, we reach 30-36 degrees with almost no wind, and it does not cool down during the early stages of the night. On Saturday, when I went to bed around 10:45 pm, it was still around 28 degrees. That doesn’t help with training and waking up early, but I managed to still do 17 hours of training with longer swimming sessions around 4km. My running distances are improving; for the past few months, I have been running between 28 and 36km a week, and that is now up to 38 and 45. Still, I want to get back to the weeks where I can easily do 50km a week, but we are getting there.
This week had 2 fast sessions: one straight off the bike with a fast 5km and 2 km easy recovery, and a session on Friday where I had to do 6x800 with 1 min rest (my time was between 3:05 and 3:00), so you can guess the pace. And 6x200 with 30 seconds rest right after the 800s. Saturday, I did a long run because I had to change my program due to a flat tire on Thursday. I had to buy new tires and sealant, then when I wanted to change it, I saw that I was riding with inner tubes—WHAT!!!! So, I had to find a store on Sunday morning to buy tubeless valves and make the changes, do my race pace ride a day later, and run a day earlier. All was fine and fixed in the end, though. The rest of the week looked like this: 2 weight sessions and long rides with a bit of pace differences.
Enough about sport, let’s look forward to what I will expect next week!
The first thing on my mind is my second assessment that is due Monday and is basically finished as I write this. Then, more school on Wednesday with another assessment—a reflection paper about a 15-minute-long interview. It must be 2000 words. After that, it slows down a bit at uni as we get ready for the final assessment the week after.
On Tuesday, I am going to a bike mechanic to check my bike and make it ready for race day, and I'll probably be working on the paper. Now, back to a bit of sport—the week will start easy with a schedule I don’t know yet! I only know that Monday is an easy swim and strength session.
Oh yes, and OF COURSE, the Formula 1 Race weekend is coming next week! I will do a full-length blog about that before and after, so you have something to look forward to as well. I will share my experiences with you and immerse you in the Melbourne Grand Prix. One last note: I will do a GoPro week. I will have a lot of pictures and videos next time.
