The MARATHON training schedule

As given by the Marathon Clinic... it involves a lot of running, and doesn't give distances to achieve but running time. This is also known as 'time on ya legs'. It seems the training is mostly about getting used to walking, jogging, running, sprinting or whatever for longer and longer periods of time. So that's my time cut out for me then.

The Blue Swallow

It's a 6 Ft Fish with a fat nose and a Blue Swallow on it.

Hence, the Blu... You get it.

Xmas time in Taranaki

Ho, Ho, Ho...

Merry Xmas to you all,

My first summer xmas was quite an experience. People tend to mainly celebrate xmas day in EnZed, it seems. While xmas eve is as good excuse as any to load up on a few - and a few more - drinks until everything shuts down around midnight ... on account of xmas.

So, this year, I was on the other side of the world. Instead of cold and rain/snow, sun and surf were on the menu. With fellow orphans of Europe and a token Kiwi, we spent the eve and following day in Oekura, about 10km south of New Plymouth, where many glasses were drunk, and most people too soon after.

On the 25th, I awoke feeling a little worse for wear, went for a run to clear the spirits, then for a surf. Yes, a surf on xmas day, with santa hats on, an absolutely fantastic feeling.

Lunch was a regal affair, Idris, our Welsh host, conjured up a feast of turkey, roast potatoes and parsnips, vegetables, gravy, and mash.

The Feast, with Idris' Welsh friends, Harry, Tom, Tina, Olly, Idris cutting up the Banofee pie, and Cat was there as well but hiding behind Tina.

The best was saved for last as Idris brought out a home made Banofee pie. For those unfamiliar with Banofee, it is a biscuit base cream pie with BANanas and tOFEE = BANOFEE. Amazing stuff. After a post-prandial game of Cranium to keep the brains ticking over, Idris, Harry, Tom and I looked out at the beach 50 yards from the house. The wind had died and the waves rolled in unhurried and inviting. We took longboards out and had a le-gen-da- "wait for it" -ry surf session til dusk. And that was my merry xmas day, à la Taranaki.

The setting sun, the chillin' behind the break, and photo evidence of me on a wave.

Idris having a stretch on a long wave

On Boxing day, further surf was riden in the morning, after a heartwarming Skype conference with the Boston Bolands. In the evening, we went to Pukekura park where live music and concerts are being held every day well into February. The park is lit up at night with very colourful displays which set a rather fairytale-like scenery.

The Festival of Lights in Pukekura Park

Managed to get up the next day for my morning run, at 7 am, with the Marathon Clinic group, the New Plymouth Runners and Walkers Club. After which i went straight back to bed. Back in the Park that evening, a lively Irish music group, full of talented Kiwi musicians played some classic Irish and Scottish ballads to much aplause and singalong. A testament to the Celtic roots of a large segment of the population of Taranaki.

18 holes of terrible golf on the sunday were followed by a career-best - and only - time at the Bell Block 10km run. This was a local event, part of a summer 10km run series. I ran it flat out to see how fast i could go with my marathon training. The first 1km I spent running behind a little kid who was really setting quite a testing pace, I eventually overtook her and got halfway (5km) in 20 minutes. The second half was a little more about hanging in there and I finished the whole thing in 42min and 58secs. As I approached the finishing straight I saw the seconds ticking towards 43 mins so put my foot - or feet- down and sprinted the rest to make it just under that mark.

The evening was again spent in the refreshing environment of Pukekura Park for an outdoor movie.

All this in just 4 days...

1896 Olympic Marathon - they look like they've escaped from prison. Legendary!

Quick update, went for 20-21k run today (in 2h15) with the Marathon Clinic Runners. Am shattered but that's the longest i've ever run. 3 Months to double the distance...

PS Pictures of boards to follow.

Four nights down, three to go. A little time between pager calls to write a few words.

It's been about 3 weeks since I arrived in New Plymouth and it feels like a lot has happened. I've managed to miss three marathon clinic long runs, partly because they start at 7 am on a Saturday morning, partly because Friday night can be a big night. So I'm mostly doing my training by myself, exploring the network of roads and walkways around New Plymouth. Couple days ago, I ended up getting a little lost on the run back towards the hospital, in an area which, I have now been informed, is the part of town where Mauri gangsters hang out, live, and racketeer people.

There's two main gangs in New Zealand apparently; the Mongrel Mob who all adorn dog tattoos on their body, and the Black Power gangsters.




- pics curtesy of google eh, i haven't really met any of them... yet -They loosely affiliate themselves with notorious LA Gangs, the Bloods and the Crips. They entertain themselves by dealing drugs and shooting each other it seems. But they ain't messin' neither. Anyway, I feel i'm probably lagging behind the X-man, training-wise, as I hear he's been shouting across rooftops that he went for a 10 mile - 16 kilometers sounds more impressive - run. I've yet to match that.

On a slightly different note, the surf in Taranaki (the Mauri name for the region and the volcanoe which surplombs NP) is pretty erratic as it's very dependent on the wind. This wind seems to change every other day from the South to the East to the West... You get the picture. That, however, has not stopped me expanding my surfboard collection. The new additions are a 6'1 shortboard (not quite ready to use it yet) and a 6'0 fish. I acquired the Blue Swallow, as the latter board is known, from Mike Pinkerton aka Pink to some of the local surfers. I also acquired his van which is a 1989 Toyota Grand Saloon Masterace Surf with 14 windows of which about 10 open. The van also has a name, Simon. So Sancos, Simon and the Blue Swalloow are hoping for some great surf adventures over the next few months.
Simon, the 1989 Grand Saloon MasterAce Surf. 14 windows - 10 of which open, plenty of space for gear and a mattress.

My birthday came and went last week. Thanks for all the phone calls and wishes. It was very touching - figuratively as well as literally. The Canadian friends Alex and I had met on the South Island came down from dozy Raglan, a little ways up the coast, and even brought a carrot cake - good on 'em.

Jumping off some rocks near a fresh water and rather chilly stream with B and C.

... It felt much higher at the time....

The team I was covering for had no patients, and so I was able to get off early, chill out on the beach with them. In the evening, we all went for a big meal at a seaside restaurant called Fish or something like that. Good food, I had the duck.

Birthday meal, Becky and Caylee were there but somehow dodged the pictures

What else? I'm hopefully moving out of the hostel and into a house with a few fellow doctors. Haven't seen it but have bought a hamoc for the back garden already. The job. Ah yes, well it's still interesting and very learningful. Night shifts, especially, even if they can be a little stressful.

A few stats to finish off:

Longest run: 7 miles;
Number of waves caught with the Blue Swallow: 1 - but it was swee-eet;
Cardiac Arrest calls: 1 - but the patient came to within seconds;
Money won at Tuesday Night Poker: $0 so far;
Cost of ticket to Tiki and Shapeshifter concert: $50 - for some good times.

Thanks and good morning,

Sancos

After a week

Catriona and Tina in Downtown New Plymouth

New Plymouth, the best city of it's size in the World!

I can sort of understand why.

Good weather, picturesque mountain, black sand surf beaches, friendly atmosphere around town. People seem happy to live there. I am happy to be there.

The first week of 'work' started intensely with a 'late' day. On-call til 11. The rest of the week was mainly spent off the work roster and so gave me plenty of time to get my affairs in order, familiarise myself with the way the hospital operates and spend some time with the general surgical team I'll be spending most time with over the next few months.

I also managed to go running about 5 times in my new running shoes. Went to the beach and paddled around for about 1 hour on a shortboard.

Back beach - the local spot

Drove - was driven actually - to the base of the volcanoe a couple of times to hike around.

Short hike around Mt Taranaki

Swam in the hostel pool every day the sun was out - which was pretty often this week. Went out a couple of times, went to a bbq where they roasted a whole pig on a spit. Some huge Tongan dudes, who'd played rugby for Tonga vs France, had set it up.

The spit roast pig

I mean, i don't know, but this is a little bit like hanging out in paradise. A little surreal. The world events and tragedies don't really seem to reach this little pocket of EnZed. So i'll have to make an extra effort to 'keep it real'.

hanging out for a bbq around the pool with Olly, Nicky, Tom, Charlotte and finally Idris - destroying a burger.

Yup, that's it for now.

Peace

Sancos

I saw the Mountain

The clouds finally lifted yesterday and Mt Egmont/Taranaki stepped out of the landscape. This is the view from my room at the hospital hostel.

First day at work

Just a quick update.

Arrived in New Plymouth on Sunday evening. Met by the accomodation manager for the hospital, Graeme. He then showed me around the hostel which has pretty much everything one could ever need - including golf clubs. There's a gym with a pool and squash courts.

There's supposed to be some very beautiful mountain right next to the town, but it's been overcast and raining since i've arrived. Apparently the weather improves by the end of december.

Had the first day of work yesterday. Induction (introductory talks) til one o'clock, when I got to meet some of the other staff starting that day. There's a good vibe, people are keen to go surfing, sailing, etc...

I then met with Diane, my supervisor, and she sent me to cover for a doctor who was sick til 4pm then on-call til 11pm. so, pretty busy, all in all. it was a good way to get back into the swing of things. i'd forgotten how cumbersome the bleep (they actually have pagers here) can be.

So... I also found out about my job description. I fill in for junior doctors doing surgery or orthopedics who are on leave or off sick. So when neither happens, I get a day off!! Which sounds good, but I don't think it'll happen too often. Today is one of them so I'm gonna do a little bit of housekeeping, buy some shirts, board, running shoes.

Alrighty then, so that's about it, overall, very happy to be back at work with a renewed enthusiasm.

Hope you're all well,

Sancos

End of the Meandering

We drove up the fast and straight road from Dunedin to Christchurch, only stopping to check some very curious sedimentary rock formations on the beach (see pictures). They were very old rocks... There we found a hostel, dropped the car off and set about enjoying our last night as a foursome. Which we did with stoical enthusiasm into the night, at the local Irish pub. There was a ridiculous live band - with an overexhuberant guitarist, a kurt cobain lookalike, and a strange looking drummer - and a table football. During the last game of 'fooseball', we were joined by a Kiwi dude who was completely off his face, not very helpful, but very keen. He also fancied himself to be a bit of a psychic, so we let him guess where we escaped to...

We got up early the next morning, said our short emotional goodbyes to the Canadian Girls and took the plane to Auckland. On arrival, we wasted no time, went up the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, which provides a splendid vista of Auckland, the Harbor and surrounding hills. We then got straight on a bus for the Bay of Islands, 4 hours North.

Auckland Harbour and Bridge from the SkyTower

There we spent a couple of big nights and a relax day. Sampling the local backpacker pubs and clubs. We also took the ferry to Russell, which is the site of the first European town in NZ, once dubbed the worst town in the Pacific as it was frequented by sailors who jumped ship, Australian criminals and such like. It was also the site of the early Mauri rebellion after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 something. This treaty which is generally accepted to be the foundation of Mauri/Pakeha (european) relations still provides plenty of food for debate...

View of Russell from Paihia Lookout Point

Then I headed back to Auckland, leaving Alex in Paihia for an extra night. On the bus journey back Parnell, I reflected on what had been been good times traveling around NZ with this Genevois as a travel buddy/wing man. I checked into the Lantana Lodge, the original landing site, and went out to sample the Auckland nightlife with local connaissances.

I've now caught up with today... I'm about to get the bus to New Plymouth where I'll be checking in to the hospital accomodation before starting work tomorrow. I spoke to a Scotsman yesterday who still played rugby - loose head prop, at the age of 51. He summed up my feelings when he described the feeling of anticipation with a good word that escapes me as I write these. Anyway, so the meanderings end and work begins soon.

Cool

South Island ... La suite...

We arrived in Queenstown after a scenic drive over Haast Pass where the melting snow makes for some very pictoresque waterfalls.

Becky, Caylee and a waterfall

The weather was finally starting to feel like summer: Warm, clear skies, nice sunset. We met up with a friend of our two Canadian travel companions at an open-air bar concert. The band had only been together 2 weeks but put together some really mellow instrumental tunes which, much to my delight, often switched to DnB. One of the members use to play with Salmonella Dub, a well-known, Enzed (NZ) dub reggae group. So it was my first glimpse of local music royality. Great stuff. We then went on to a some crazy themed night in one of the clubs til early morning.

The next day, summer had left. and it rained and rained and then rained some more. So we just had a day of chilling out. The highlight was a delicious burger at Fergburger's. This was a spot that had been recommended to Alex way back in Geneva. All the produce was sourced locally and the result was probably the best burger I can ever remember eating.

Fergburger, Queenstown... Hit

We continued the evening in some bar which had Guitar Hero - which is actually quite an addictive game, and the World Bar where cocktails were served in teapots with an optional straw. As a local put it to me, in NZ teapots are meant to be downed. Lesson learnt. The other cool thing about that place was that payment was decided with the roll of a dice (if you rolled 5 or more, it was free). So, many free drinks and a merry time.

We left Queenstown the following morning. But not without sampling the local speciality. The Kawarau Bridge Bungee Jump. It is the longest running bungee site in the whole wide world - 20 years and no fatalities. Three of us (Caylee, Alex and myself) signed up, got our weight written on the back of our hands - to adjust the bungee cable, and then got ready to jump. It was pretty chilly outside but the anticipation pretty much blanked it out of mind. I chatted to the crew as they tied my legs tightly - the dude had recently been to Lausanne. Got up, hopped to the end of the board, and pushed out as hard as I could, shouting 'BUNGEEeeeeeeiiiiiiiihhh' as loud as possible. It was like taking a dive from a high spot. Exhilarating, over quickly, and as soon as it was over I wanted to do it again. I didn't and we left for Dunedin.

Queenstown on our departure, soon before Alex jumped off the Hawaraubridge for some Bungee Action

In Dunedin, I had a couple of 'connaissance' from the UK I was keen to see again. Leanne from the DTMH course and Kiren from Medical School. I was lucky enough to catch with both of them which was great. We drove up the Otago Peninsula stretching out next to Dunedin to check out the local Albatross colony, the only one in the world on mainland. We got sight of these magestic birds as they took advantage of the strong wind on the peninsula to glide effortlessly around their nesting areas. We did not get very close however as the observatory normally used to view the birds was closed for the nesting/mating season.

A shot of the great birds in flight, this was a close as we got.

East side of Dunedin Peninsula

Albatross gliding against the strong winds.

Next up was the Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour, which was so boring that Alex and I decided to do everything the tour guide suggested (such as 'Why don't you eat this Moro - candybar - now and we'll give you another'). This was a good game until I got the lady to ask Alex to finish the bag of chocolate that came with the tour. It was now a great game... 15 minutes later, Alex was left feeling a little ill but mightily triumphant.

Alex, the tour guide, and me on the old Milk Truck. Alex eating a bagfull of nauseatingly rich chocolate bars in one go. No umpalumpas were sighted.

The slightly dissappointing chocolate factory tour was followed by the Speight Gold Ale Brewery Tour which was much more fun as the guide made us we go all around the brewery before unleashing us onto the free sample bar. We made sure we had a good taste of each of the six different types of beer, several times.

Speight's Brewery tour, making sure we really tasted the beer

I then met up with my UK contacts near the town centre which is known as the Octagon, because it is shaped like .... an octagon.

The most photographed building in NZ on the Octagon, Dunedin. Just thought I'd add to the stat.

But it wasn't all good, I managed to completely mess up a booking for flights back up to Auckland. The lady at STA travel understood 25th when I said 21st of November. So she proceeded to make a booking, take payment, and almost issue the tickets before I noticed the misunderstanding. The changes cost us money and the next cheapest ticket was a day earlier, thus cutting short our time in Christchurch to one night only...