Accidental selfie!



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1xMtEXX

After work picnic on a rock at the beach

11:49 Posted by leosaumure 0 comments


via Instagram http://ift.tt/1CwCM8B

It's scientifically proven that new gear makes you run longer and faster! True story!



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1ugPerF

The colours of a summer run.

13:17 Posted by leosaumure 0 comments


via Instagram http://ift.tt/1xlEfIZ

Grumpy Run

Today's run started out badly and then degraded from there. Actually, the day itself sort of set the tone for the run. First thing this morning (5:30 a.m.), Kristie got up to go to the bathroom and saw that Walnut had an accident. This took her by surprise and she blurted out "OH NO!", which startled me from a not so sound sleep, and got me out of bed a lot earlier (and quicker) than I would have liked. I was hoping to sleep in a little today as we have been getting up at 5:00 a.m. virtually every morning in order to get out for a morning run.

Ok, so now I'm up  and because I have to clean up dog pee, I'm not in the best mood. The coffee didn't seem to help much this morning either, but we still went out for our run after a cup and a half and a couple pieces of PB toast.

Today was suppose to be a long run (minimum of 10 KM), and on those days, we like to start off at Worser bay and run around the peninsula. On this particular dark, dreary and windy day, Kristie was having digestion issues and we didn't want to be too far away from a public bathroom, just in case. So we ran to Scorching Bay, back to Worser Bay, and over to Beacon Hill Reserve (see map below). After the 5 KM mark, the entire run seemed to slow down space-time. I'm pretty sure that from 5 KM to 6 KM took 23 days, although my watch would beg to differ.



In order to mix it up today, I thought it would be nice to run uphill in the Reserve trails (see image below)*, which as it turns out was much more UPHILL than I had anticipated; there were many stairs, and both Kristie and I were getting pretty grumpy at the amount of effort that needed to be expended as opposed to how quickly we were actually moving. When we reached the top, we couldn't even run quickly down as the trail was quite rocky and uneven with loose gravel, and we didn't want to lose our footing and get injured.


*Note: This is where we ran, but this is a different day...today was dreary.

After that, we just went through the Seatoun neighbourhood to get to Gypsy Kitchen, which would be our stopping point regardless of how many kilometers it turned out to be. In all, we did only 9.2 KM at a very slow speed, and there was much grumping throughout the entire run.

You know those inspirational posters where there is a photo of someone running, and working hard, with a quote something like: "Work through the pain...it's worth it", or "I run to live life to the fullest!" To those inspirational posters I say: FU!

Post run view.



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1wessL4

Long Run and Breakfast

Today we did our "long" run that we usually have scheduled for the weekends. Generally, on either Saturday or Sunday, we will try to do anywhere between 10 - 14 KM; they usually end up being about 12 KM. But, yesterday, which was Sunday, was really windy! The maintained wind speeds were about 45 KM, whereas the gusts (and there were a lot of gusts) were around 85 KM. And let's face it, I don't want to be running into an 85 KM headwind. So instead of running yesterday, we deferred the "long" run until this morning.

Now, I put "long" run in quotation marks because this is only the second weekday morning run we have attempted so far, and we're still working the kinks out to ensure we have enough time to get out for the run, have breakfast and coffee, as well as shower. We still have to iron out a few details, but today's run only allowed us to do about 8 KM, rather than the preferred 10 KM (see map below).



If we want to make it at least 10KM, we'll probably have to ensure we have an extra 15 minutes for the run. Oh well, at least we're getting out there.

A couple of the things that we changed this time out was that we prepared and packed our breakfast the previous day so that instead of eating before the run, and dealing with digestion issues, we simply packed it up in the car, and ate it on the waterfront after the run. In addition to the food, we also took our coffee with us in travel mugs so that we could have a few sips before the run, and something to have with breakfast afterwards.  Eating on a nice sunny and (relatively) wind-free morning was a wonderful way to close out a nice sunny morning (see photo of our eating spot).

Picturesque breakfast setting in Wellington.
As for the run itself, it was fine. Nothing spectacular, and certainly nothing to write home  about...blogging about it, is another matter all together! I've got to say that I am very happy that summer weather seems to be getting more consistent.


After morning run.



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1AyAHsY

Angus gives a hearty hello! --- --- Sent by WhatsApp



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1xDlrsR

Recovery Run

18:10 Posted by leosaumure 1 comments
Yesterday I had mentioned that we were doing 6 X 400 runs, and that we'd be feeling the effects today. Well, I was wrong. Today was a 6 KM recovery run, and I thought that it would have been a lot harder, but to be honest, Kristie and I seemed to have easily recovered from the 6X4s.  Granted, today's recovery run was pretty slow, only 6:30 per kilometer, but it still felt pretty good!


As you can see by the photo below, the weather really cooperated today too!


Speaking of photos, here are a few I took on my lunch time walk, while I was going to purchase a new wireless router for work.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy, fishy!

Alas poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio!

Mechanical Wetas

Just hangin' with my bone!


I want to tile our kitchen like this!

Walnut: Ugh! So tired!



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1Do3fDL

Colours of summer



via Instagram http://ift.tt/1DiY7AQ

Summer salad for dinner.

20:41 Posted by leosaumure 0 comments


via Instagram http://ift.tt/1xnjeSe

Two days left

12:24 Posted by leosaumure 0 comments
It has been a wonderful holiday break! We both got off early on Xmas eve, and will be going back to work on Tuesday. Last night, due to the epic amount of cooking we did, we didn't get to sleep until almost 1:00 p.m. Even then, Kristie didn't have a great night sleep.

We got up this morning sometime after 7:00 a.m., had our coffee and PB toast, then went off to our run in Miramar (see below).

Worser Bay, to Scorching Bay, to Reserve and back


We got a bit of a late start, so we decided to avoid running around the entire peninsula in order to avoid the heavier traffic at that time of day. Instead, we just ran to Scorching Bay, back towards Beacon Hill Reserve, and then back to the car at Worser Bay. It was only about 8 KM, but it was a lovely run with the sun shining!

After the run we walked over to Gipsy Kitchen for a 1/2 sweet chai latte and a piece of pie for takeaway (they have incredible pie). Then walked back through Seatoun, back to the car, and home for some leftover lasagne and some pie!

All-in-all, a pretty good start to the day!

One of many pohutukawa trees in Miramar

Seatoun Warf on Marine Parade

Wadestown walk whilst weather woes

08:04 Posted by leosaumure 0 comments
Despite yesterday's wildly inaccurate weather forcast (it wasn't bad weather, it just wasn't what they predicted), we still managed to get outside with the boys and take them for a walk in Wadestown.
Angus doesn't so much walk as stand

Walnut loves finding pine cones

Go home meteorologist, you're drunk

Dear Glorious weather which was forcasted only last night:

Go home, you're drunk!


Just last night, right before going to bed, Kristie said that Metservice was predicting sunny weather, with a high of 24 degrees and no wind! As it was suppose to be a glorious day, we blew off an early morning run with the hopes of bringing the boys out to the beach with us and stopping off for a take away breakfast at Gipsey Kitchen.

What is the weather like (see below)?


It is a full 6 degrees cooler than they predicted, there are significant winds compared to what was predicted, and there is rain!

Mother Nature...You Suck!!!

Summertime and the livin' is easy

Day 2 of Training

Today was the second day of training, and we did a 30 minute run at an easy pace. We started off at Kate Mansfield park, went to the Botanic Gardens, and then down to the waterfront (see map below). The run felt pretty good to the both of us, and we were hoping to actually keep going, but we've got a long run scheduled for tomorrow.


More Exercise


After the run today, we wanted to take full advantage of the fabulous weather, and went to Waikanae to go on a hike we've been itching to try for a while, called the Parata trail. Apparently, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mount Taranaki. Although it wasn't that clear, we did get some great vistas (see below).




The hike itself is just a little under 2 KM, but it is 500 metres up. We thought we were doing pretty well up the hike, going at a good pace and working up a sweat, when at about the 3/4 mark, we were passed by a runner going up the hill. That in itself was pretty impressive, but it was made even more impressive by the fact that she didn't seem winded...at all!

After getting back home, and taking a quick cat nap, we had a four hour long Skype call with our friends Shauna and Jason! Four hours! It was really great hearing from them again, and we should try as often as possible to remain in contact.

The late running call pushed back our dinner to about 10:30 p.m. Luckily, it was the leftover Maki we had made yesterday, so it was simply a matter of putting the dishes on the table, and scooping out the selections onto the Nori. Acutally, now that I think of it, Kristie had made a bit more sushi rice earlier today to ensure we had enough for the meal.

Before eating however, we had to go to the store to pick up more soy sauce, because...well, because sushi! And as we weren't home for a large part of the day, and when we were, we weren't very dog-focused; we took the dogs for a quick walk on the waterfront before heading back home to make our dinner.

All-in-all, a spectacular day!

New Year's Day Training Begins.

First Day of Training

Today was the first day of true training that Kristie and I have embarked on in ages. Today's schedule was 35 minutes tempo, which we have interpreted at race pace.

I didn't set my watch options up properly before the start of the run, so we had to estimate time by the distance that we had run. We assumed that 6 KM should be about 35 minutes, so we ran from Fergs to Ballena Bay and back...but not the whole way back (see map below).



We ran a pretty good pace; actually the fastest we've run in ages! We were both pretty knackered during the run, but we did manage to keep the pace under 6 minutes per kilometre and had our last K as our fastest split (see below).


Tomorrow, according to the training schedule, is suppose to be a rest day, but we didn't manage to start the training on the correct day, so we're going to do an easy 30 minute run tomorrow.

Weather-wise, it was a great day to start the training! Sunny, although a little bit of wind, and not too hot.