Tag Archives: Wellington

Wellington Round The Bays – 2013 – 7km

Posted on by

8

20130217-134631.jpg
Wow. First race run and it feels good.

The weather wasn’t as sunny and clear as it was forecasted to be – but the cloud cover and light rain actually made it a more comfortable run. And no sunburn!

Round the Bays was a sell out this year - 13,700 participants in a city of only 200,000 people (500,000 if you count the satellite towns). It was busy.
20130217-134657.jpg
We started somewhere in the middle (or, the back of the runners). For those of you who ran too, we were between Spider-Man and Batman. Wonder Woman was a little too ambitious.

The 7km went surprisingly quickly – with plenty to motivate us along the way. There were locals with sprinklers, a jazz band, this guy and Dominion Post posters along the way.
20130217-135737.jpg
Some of the corporate-sponsored t-shirts were pretty funny, too.

We crossed the finish line with the clock showing 54 minutes. Since we were so far back, I would estimate it closer to 52 minutes. But we won’t know the official time for a couple if days. Either way, it was under an hour and we walked a fair bit. I’m happy with that.

And, next year we’ll smash it.

Lazy Mountain Climber

Posted on by

6

We’ve been so lucky with weather in Wellington lately. We rarely have this many good days so close together (even in summer)! It’s true what the proverbial ‘they’ say – you really can’t beat Wellington in a good day.

So a friend and I ran (/walked) up Mt Victoria to the lookout over the city and surrounding bays. The sky was relatively clear, and the wind was only really noticeable at the top.
20130209-152947.jpg
Having been up to the look out hundreds of times in my lifetime, but never running, it was a great new experience – and right on my doorstep!

Like so many of you mentioned last week, running with a friend is a completely different ball-game to running alone. If I’m being honest, I push myself much harder when I’m on the treadmill and can see my speed and distance in all it’s green digital display evilness goodness. But today was so much more fun!

Unfortunately, though, there were photos. The kind that you look at, ask if that’s really what you look like, then go off to cry. Photos taken from behind, and at unflattering angles. You know the sort – right?

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: My Arse (running up a hill)
20130209-153627.jpg

But it okay – I’m embracing the photos. Afterall, I really enjoyed myself out there, and these photos are just further proof of the continued progress!

Thanks Kristin!

That’s got to be worth celebrating with an over zealous, uncoordinated dance on top of one of the highest points in the city…
20130209-153937.jpg

What are you getting up to this weekend?

Crazy Week Indeed

Posted on by

4

Yes, yes, I’ve been a little quiet here over the last few days.  Can you blame me?  I had to take advantage of the weather while it’s been all sorts of amazing , and there are so many people to see that I missed over the Christmas/ New Year break!

Don’t worry though, I haven’t been wasting my time.  I’ve been keeping as busy(ish)…

…there’s been plenty of reading in the sun…
…trying not to get sunburnt… and failing.

I’ve been running with friends…
…which I loved, even though it turned into more of a gossip session than a workout…
… and the next day I tried my first pilates classes (wearing the peonut.com t-shirt, of course).

I’m still feeling the effects of Thursday’s class today.

I’ve been suckered into a friend’s dragonboating team…
…which is usually reserved for the fittest in any given workplace…
… and I’m terrified… and kind of excited (because there’s no way I’d get on the team at work…).

Enquiries have been made about opportunities to hurl myself out of a plane…
… and I may be speeding back down to earth as soon as this weekend…
… even though I was just in the Wairarapa last weekend, for the Martinborough Fair, and I could have done it then.

And I have plenty to keep me busy coming up, too, but don’t worry about that just yet – I’ll make sure to share those goodies in due course.

What about you guys?
How is life keeping you busy? 
And how are you keeping up?

Zombies, Run!

Posted on by

8

After all my big talk yesterday I slept through my alarm this morning. I tell you this because I was disappointed in myself all day. That is, until I got home from work this evening and went for a run.

Last night I downloaded a new app called Zombies, Run! It’s a game designed to get you running – your helicopter has crashed on your way to a ‘safe’ zombie-less base and the zombies are fully aware of your arrival. Cue prompts to run faster. No, no, faster.
20121030-205839.jpg
I love this app. It plays perfectly with my messed up sense of humour, and I got completely lost in the story. I caught myself instinctively looking over my shoulder several times. And was running through my old primary school while my phone had me running through a hospital, which made it strangely believable. Mini-zombies on the monkey bars, look out!

Sadly, the my predecessor-turned-zombie caught me while I was giving way to a car before bolting across the road. I was figuratively gutted until I realised that at least I wasn’t literally gutted. Then I was a little relieved.
20121030-210020.jpg
All up I was playing the game for an hour. I certainly wasn’t running the whole hour though. I walked home from the beach the long way – up and over the hill – to make the calves feel it (and to get a good look at the view since the weather was perfect). 20121030-210556.jpgAfter you’ve completed your mission, you can continue to run/walk with the app running and collect extra supplies. You won’t get chased by zombies, but you can listen to a couple of the characters as they broadcast a radio-show out to other survivors in the area. Their banter reminds me a little of Chuck and Josh from the Stuff You Should Know podcast.

Why collect supplies? Because when you’ve finished your workout and you’re ready to check out how you did, you can use those supplies to improve your base camp – Abel Township. What’s the point in that? The better your camp, the more missions you can unlock. That means story progression and more zombie chases. Yes please.

And the app has an online run syncing service – ZombieLink – which acts as a zombie-fied mapmyrun of sorts. I haven’t explored it yet, but I will do over the next couple of days.

Nevertheless, I think I’m hooked and I can’t wait for tomorrow when I can tackle mission 2.20121030-212721.jpg
Have you tried the Zombies, Run! app? What did you think?
Do you have any tips or thoughts you care to share?

Busy With R&R

Posted on by

0

20121028-194925.jpgIt’s been a busy weekend. Kind of. I’ve been busy relaxing, out of the city.

But with the A&P show in Clareville this weekend, my weekend of relaxing wasn’t spent lazing about in the sun on my parents’ lawn. It was spent swanning around the show grounds, petting donkeys [insert ass joke here], and traipsing through poop. There was a lot of poop.
20121028-194940.jpg20121028-194947.jpg20121028-194954.jpgThere was also an extremely cute, hyperactive goat that butted the phone every time I tried to take a photo. I stood out like a real city-girl. But then I got the uncontrollable giggles and even the goat pretended not to see. Win.

My family also took me out to dinner at one of the restaurants in Masterton where we proceeded to stuff our faces full of tasty, tasty food. Weight loss fail. And my lil’ bro took the challenge of a garlic bread starter, a porterhouse steak with fries and a plate of BBQ pork ribs for the main course, and another garlic bread for dessert. There were no leftovers. Doggie bag unused. The wait staff checked in continuously. It’s probably safe to say someone won some cash on a little under the table wager.20121028-200656.jpgAnd as it I hadn’t pushed my luck enough this weekend, I went shopping for new jeans this morning. And found a pair. One size smaller than the last pair. Butt shot!
20121028-201250.jpg Now I’m back in Wellington (shot from the train above) nursing a food-hangover and a face of sugar-triggered pimples.

I’m going to go for a run tomorrow morning and nothing short of a natural disaster is going to stop me.

What’d you get up to this weekend?

Private Confessional

Posted on by

7

Forgive me Jeans, for I have sinned.
I have a confession to make. 

Yesterday I made the most of a very tasty, pretty, [insert adjective here] all-you-can-eat chocolate buffet.

Sorry, I’ll repeat that for you Jeans, in case you didn’t quite catch that.  All-you-can-eat chocolate buffet.  Oh, you did catch that?  What was that, Jeans?  You’re well aware of my enthusiasm for the platters and platters of sugary goodness?

I am sorry, I swear.

Okay, maybe not that sorry – you only live once, right?
I’d totally do it again.

(Yeah, the rum balls were totally the best part).

Wellington’s Finest

Posted on by

1

Wellington city is full of fantastic restaurants.  Too many to try every single one.  But The Boyfriend and I are working through a list of the iconic Wellington restaurants.

Yesterday he surprised me with lunch at Logan Brown, one of the nicest places to dine in the city.

Don’t be fooled by Logan Brown’s location – you’ll find it in Welington’s Cuba Quarter, amongst some of the city’s quirkiest stores and cafes.  The Cuba Quarter’s fantastic and that kind of place where I’m at my most comfortable.

Logan Brown’s almost the exact opposite.  And I loved it.

The building itself is fantastic, the decor inside is perfect, the staff are immaculate and justice can’t be given to the food if I tried to describe it in words.

At just $45 for the 3 course bistro menu, it was worth every cent.  And then some.

To start: Logan Brown Baked Bread

Entree: Black Bean & Ham Hock Soup with Cumin Sour Cream & Pork Scratchings

Main course: Braised Lamb Neck with Garam Masala Butternut, Pepitas & Minted Yoghurt

And last but not least, dessert: Pumpkin Pie with Maple Ice Cream & Candied Pecans

Breaking it Down: The Goals, Pt V

Posted on by

3

It’s been a little while (okay, a long while) since I stood back and evaluated where I stand with my current goals.  So, ladies and gentlemen, here we have it – a run down:

  1. Complete the Adidas 10km walk around the Wellington coastline on 24 June 2012
    Yes!  Done!  It was a great day too, check out my post about it here.
  2. Try working out in the morning before work.
    I actually forgot all about this one – and I plan to do it tomorrow.  Please oomph, find me at 6am tomorrow!
  3. Treat myself to a new piece of workout gear.
    Actually, I never got around to doing this seriously.  But I bought some nice socks – do they count?  No?  Okay, maybe I’ll have to keep this goal on the list.
  4. Complete week three of Couch to 5K.
    This one was knocked out a while ago.  Starting on Week Five tomorrow.
  5. Go one day without fizzy drinks (soda) of any kind.
    Ha! I did this one, too.  And I didn’t think it was as easy as it ended up being.  I have far, far less soda now than I had before. 

And just like every other update – I have three more to fill their place:

  1. Complete week five of Couch to 5K.
  2. Exercise everyday this week.
  3. Track all food I consume this week to find out exactly what I eat.

2012 Wellington Marathon, Half-Marathon and 10km

Posted on by

2

Amy's race number (Adidas 10km)

By Jove, I did it.

Falling asleep last night, I could hear the rain pouring and the wind howling around our house.  Waking up (still a little hungover), it didn’t look much better.  But we went anyway!

By the time the race started, the weather was looking up and actually ended up being pretty good for a walk – cool, no rain and little wind (even along the waterfront).

I walked with a colleague and we aimed for 90 minutes from start to finish.  According to the race clock as we came to the finish line we crossed at about 88- 89 minutes, and the Map My Run app tells me we maintained a relatively constant pace the whole time.  Sweet.

It was a great collection of people – from serious athletes to protesters in chicken suits.  We saw a lot of people – the course doubled back after 5km – and I can honestly say we were beaten by five chickens, a handful of balding men in tutus and half the children in the city.

Regardless, it feels good.
I finished.  I did it!

And the free stuff is pretty awesome.  Work branded running singlets, all the fruit you can eat, and a towel.  I cannot tell you how excited I was to receive a towel.   New gym towel?  Think they’ll believe I ran the Wellington Marathon?

Of course they will.