The day after my jump was pretty good. I went for a 32km run and was quite happy to finish it in less than 3 hours. This was my longest non-stop run ever and I ran a total of 75 km that week – two personal bests. I was in a good mood all day long. Life was good again.
Two days later things changed. I went for a 16 km run but noticed that my shins started to hurt when running. Every. Step. Was. Painful. I only ran 5 km.
Shin splints I guess. I’m no doctor but that’s probably what it is. I took three days off and went for a 10K. My legs felt slightly better but I reckon I need more rest. I cancelled today’s long run and spent the day on my couch feeling sorry for myself. I’ve never skipped my long run. This week I only did 15 km, it’s probably 15 km more than you did my dearest reader. This is just sad. It really sucks to be hurt.
You know what makes things even worse? I’ve got a half marathon race next Sunday. A sub 90 minute finish was my goal when I signed up but now it feels I’m lucky to finish in less than 2 hours. “What have I become, my sweetest friend?… I will let you down. I will make you hurt…”
Friday was also my last work day, I’m starting a new similar job next week. I’m going to miss some of the idiots from work. 😀 and flipping rubber bands, attaching binder clips to shirts, suspending batches so that somebody else would process the difficult ones… Not exactly excited about the change because the new job is mostly boring data entry and only for 4 weeks. I wish I could do something with a bit more meaning for work. So I started to apply for “real” jobs again. Hmm… maybe I should become a math teacher?
Dancing though is going pretty well and I do lots of it – about 10-12 hours a week. Clearly I’m enjoying it. I like that I’m not a beginner in some of my courses anymore. For example I’m taking Tango and Bachata intermediate lessons. Feels good to level up! There’s so much to learn. I also started hip hop for beginners. It was very different from Latin dancing but I’ll stick with it until they teach me to moonwalk.
Princess picked me up at 7:30 AM. Her ride is way better than mine. Our destination was Ripcord Skydivers near Gatton, just an hour’s drive west from Brisbane. We reached it around 9 AM, maybe a bit later.
I was very calm in the car and the days before the jump. It’s because I remembered my tandem jump and how good it was, so I wasn’t scared. I knew I’d enjoy it.
After several wrong U-turns we finally arrived at the DropZone, I blame the female driver for our logistical difficulties. We had to fill in some papers to make sure that we understood the risks involved with skydiving. After that training commenced.
Neither of us had done a solo jump before, this was going to be the first one. Our instructor Sara taught us how to put the parachute on, how to turn right, left and how to brake, how to land, what to do with line twists. Later she talked about how to open the emergency parachute. We practiced doing that for a good 30 minutes. She covered all kinds of malfunctions and what to do in each case.
We also practiced landing outside by jumping from stairs onto a mat and later the mat was removed to give us an idea what it really felt like. One student was a bit overweight and it was funny to listen to the instructor’s comments because he kept landing the wrong way. First it was: “OK, you just broke your ankles”, a bit later “yep, you just broke your right leg”… It was hilarious because he “broke” every bone possible. Later on he got better… I think (he continued practicing with the instructor as everybody else went on a break). After the break we practiced getting out of the plane. The idea is to stay low, otherwise you risk pulling the safety pins on your emergency parachute and in worst case scenario killing everybody on the plane.
I think the training ended around 2 or 3 PM. Sadly we were not able to jump immediately after it because of the strong wind. We had to wait for the weather to calm down.
As we waited, I noticed a guitar in one of the rooms and was able to kill some time playing a song or two. Since we were clearly bored one of the jump team members decided to show us a video compilation of last year’s jumps. She also added her commentary. It was really funny to see what you can do in the air.
For example there’s a thing called skyrape. It’s when one jumper mounts the other one from above and starts dry humping him/her and there’s nothing the other person can do about it. It’s one of the dumbest and funniest things I’ve seen. 😀
The videos had other cool stuff like eating M&M’s during a freefall, lots of funny faces and circling around each other. And then there was a clip of a naked guy getting out of the plane. The jump instructor said that guy got exactly the same training as we did and later asked whether he could do the jump nude. The instructors were OK with that and so he did.
Several other cool clips followed. Until Sara showed us a video of one guy who didn’t stay low as he got out of the plane, he pulled his emergency parachute’s pins out. Both of his parachutes opened after the jump but he was still able to land unharmed. After that the jump team started to talk about all kinds of accidents and about what bones some people broke and how they did it. It was funny to watch how much enthusiasm they had when they spoke about injuries. It was all great stuff to know about before my first solo jump.
I started thinking about that guy who jumped naked and thought for a second that I could do that. You know, you only live once. If you do something, you should do it with some gusto. I couldn’t get that idea out of my head and decided that I would do a nude jump as well. The jump team didn’t have a problem with that. Well, sort of. Sara didn’t agree to be the one to help me … uhm… fasten the parachute around my … uhm… down under. “Luckily” another guy agreed to do that.
I was asked whether I was excited. “I can’t get excited… if you know what I mean”, I replied. 😛
The initial plan was for Princess to jump on the flight before me. Later the jump team decided to put us on the same flight. So, Princess got suited up and had her parachute fastened to her back and a bit later it was time for me to Birthday Suit Up. The jump team had a lot of fun as they took pics of the other guy “helping” me with the chute. 😛 I will look back fondly to those fun and embarrassing moments for years to come…
OK, now it was time to get my bare ass on the plane. I wasn’t completely naked – I had to wear shoes and a helmet. The helmet had a radio in it which the instructors used to guide me through my jump and landing. Several practice routines on the ground to make sure that we remembered what to do and take off.
About 5-10 minutes later we were at 3500 feet and they opened the plane’s door. It stayed open for a good minute or two. They gave me the signal – three taps on my shoulder. I immediately forgot everything I learned during the training but somehow got out of the plane, stayed low and moments later was hanging on to the diagonal which connects the wing to the plane’s body. There was nothing below my feet and then all I had to do was let go.
Just 5-6 seconds later the parachute opened on its own. I looked up and saw a line twist, I got out of it, released the brakes, and followed the instructions given to me via the radio. I turned left, I turned right and practiced landing. Everything seemed OK with the chute. “Woooohooooooooooooo! Yeah! This is it! I did it! Woooooohoooooooooooo”, I screamed. 😀 I was super happy as I felt the breeze down under.
The idea was that a solo student jumped and after he/she landed the next one got out of the plane. John gave me instructions on when to turn right or left and guided me down to the landing spot. I got a bit confused because at one point he started to give instructions to Princess as well (it was the same radio frequency) and I turned when I wasn’t supposed to. I know, I know, excuses excuses. Anywho I overshot the big X but landed nicely on my feet (ok that’s a lie too, I crashed and burned). I daisy-chained the parachute, packed it all together and walked back to the jump team as Princess made her landing. Her landing was much better than mine. Overachiever.
I’m glad Princess joined me, she made the day very entertaining. I loved her company, especially her laughter and good mood.
A lot happened in the car. Not only did I manage to get an electric guitar I also found out that Princess is quite adventurous. We all were – everybody in the car had done a tandem skydive. The corners of my mouth turned upwards and I knew this was it. This was the moment I’ve been waiting for. I popped THE QUESTION. Without hesitation and with a HUGE smile she said YES!!! 😀 Princess agreed to do a solo skydive with me.
I wasn’t 100% sure whether she really meant it but two days later I saw her at another social dancing night and found out she meant business. Several minutes of planning, checking our calendars, synchronizing our watches and a booking was made on May 18th – only a week later. I can’t wait!
Sometimes I watch the above video of my tandem jump and it gets me back into that euphoric state of mind where anything is possible. I look so happy in the air, I felt alive. I want to experience it all again: the adrenalin pumping in my veins and that hollow sensation inside – a mix of fear, excitement and breathlessness. It’s going to be awesome!
Sometimes I can be a little slow. It’s true what they say. We, men, don’t understand hints. We don’t understand BIG hints, nor do we understand small hints. We absolutely don’t get obvious hints.
Here’s what happened. During my Latin dancing lesson a girl told me she was really hungry. I immediately thought about the watermelon I had in my car just sitting on the passenger seat. I said nothing because for some reason associating black people and watermelons is racist. But that was really the case. I bought it before class and generally eat watermelon quite often to get my daily vitamin A and C.
So I just kept practicing my steps and was glad when I heard “Change partners”. Those two words ended the awkward silence. Once I was driving home it hit me. She was flirting (well, seriously, who can resist my charm? :D) and wanted to go grab a bite somewhere… Oh well, you live and you learn. Funny how my mind works…
A couple days later
I agreed to go to Cloudlands – a fancy club in Fortitude Valley. Goldilocks (her hair isn’t really golden :)) talked me into it, more or less. I thought that one late night in a work week won’t be the end of me.
Our group had six people. We all sort of knew each other from our Latin dancing courses but didn’t really socialize outside the class. That needed to change and a social dancing event at Cloudlands presented a good opportunity.
We also decided to carpool. Princess picked me up and I actually got to know her and others a little bit during the ride. Everybody seemed so interesting, I felt out of place.
First there was a Cuban Salsa workshop at the club. It was intense! Very fast, but lots of fun! We learned some new interesting moves. Well, at least I did. I liked the clapping and jumping parts!
After the workshop everybody danced salsa and bachata. I thought that after almost 3 months of dancing lessons I knew what I was doing until Goldilocks danced with this other guy. He was very good on his feet and made her look fantastic even though she’s just as much of a beginner as me. It’s amazing how much better the dancing looks when someone knows how to lead. I was jealous. Still am. I need to up my game.
Even though my world was shattered in front of my eyes, I managed to have a really good night – it’s always fun to dance with Goldilocks, Princess and Blondie. The best part was the end of night.
As we drove home I quite randomly asked whether anybody had an electric guitar with and amp to lend me. To everybody’s surprise Blondie did 😀 Sweet!
Oh I was excited, I was about to get a guitar! I’ve been wanting to learn to play Canon Rock by Pachebel and Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd for years. The only problem was that I needed an electric guitar for that. I didn’t want to buy any more stuff since I’m very likely to leave Australia in December (I’m going to New Zealand, I got my working holiday visa). I was in the right place at the right time. Now I can practice the songs properly, playing on the acoustic isn’t quite the same. Thank you Blondie!
One of the instructors said something which I couldn’t get out of my head. It took her three months until her first social dancing night and that in retrospect she regretted not going any sooner. The words “first” and “regret” just kept repeating in my mind. I like to do “firsts” and exploring new things. I also thought that I’m not going to repeat my teacher’s mistakes and decided that this weekend I have to go to the social dancing thing. No more excuses.
There was a workshop first. We had a guest instructor – Becky Lee. She’s Bruce Lee’s hot sister who just happens to be a professional dancer and of course a Kung-Fu master. The workshop was in Cha Cha Cha – something I vaguely remembered from high-school. It turned out to be an intermediate/advanced workshop, so I was a bit out of my league, but just only a tiny little bit.
The only part I enjoyed was saying “Cha-Cha-Cha” out loud when dancing stumbling about. I was good at that. 😀
Later we grabbed a partner and rotated the girls. I kept apologizing to everyone because of the lack of motor functions in my feet. Luckily I caught a break when I had to dance with a girl from my current class. Boy, I’ve never been so happy to see her! It was good to suck at the same time with a partner (although she was better than me).
Here’s what Becky taught us (somehow watching the video the steps don’t seem so advanced):
The workshop ended and it was time for some social dancing. Most of the night I danced with the same girl and I had lots of fun. It’s funny that you forget EVERYTHING once you’re on the dance floor on your own. But slowly we started to remember the moves and steps. And of course we invented many new shines and styles that night too.
I also had to seize the day and danced with Becky. After all she’s a professional and could dramatically improve my technique. I liked that she gave me many pointers and was very helpful. If I continue my current learning curve then one day very soon in the future I’ll be the one who gives pointers to wannabe professionals.
By the way I’ve been having so much fun in my Latin dancing classes that I’ve singed up for 9 lessons a week (starting in 2 weeks, currently I “only” do 5 classes a week). I thought that if you really enjoy something you should spend more time doing it.
The last two weeks before the race were rubbish. I hurt my quadriceps muscles (that’s the front of the thigh). I think I ran too fast downhill and my legs weren’t used to that kind of stress. Anywho there was one day I was in so much pain I couldn’t fall asleep and had to take some painkillers (paracetamol – the label said it’s good for muscle pain). After that incident I took training way easier.
I started to cycle (I’m terrible at that) and swim. OK, I went to a pool once. And I was terrible at swimming too. I turns out that there’s a bit of technique involved in swimming. You use your hands for 3 strokes and then breathe, repeat. Also there are several strokes to use e.g. butterfly, freestyle, back crawl. I’ll get better, I hope.
I sent a bunch of couchsurfing requests into the Sunshine Coast area and was lucky to find a host. I knew that I’d rather be a bit social than spend the day alone in a hotel/hostel thinking and worrying about my run the day before the race.
I made some chocolate chip cookies for my host, bought two GU energy gels for the race and drove to Noosa to pick up my racing pack. Later I met my CS host Brock and his family. I was positively surprised by the two Swedish girls who were also guests at Brock’s place. The more the merrier…
OK race day. I drove to Noosa and parked about 3 km away from the start line. This was good because I wanted to jog a bit for my warm-up. My leg was slightly hurting and I was pondering whether I should not run at all. Since the route was very flat I decided to give it a go.
I was happy there was no long piss-line. Soon after my bladder was emptied I was standing in the crowd of runners before the start line.
My goal was the same as in my previous Twilight half marathon – to run a sub 100 minute race. 30 seconds of silence for Boston and a bit later the race started. I went a bit slower this time.
The weather was perfect and running felt quite good. My first lap was quite easy – 47 minutes and I felt good because I was on pace to finish in less than 100 minutes. I planned to go all out in the last 5 km of the second lap but I just didn’t have the energy. Instead of speeding up I actually slowed down and people started to pass me. It took me about 49 minutes for the second lap.
I finished my first half marathon in 1:36:36 and I’m very happy with my result. After the race I thought that normally I do yoga after running so I should do it this time too. Sure it was a bit strange to do yoga in public but hey, it’s part of my running ritual. It was a bit funny but other runners around me started to stretch and do pigeon and similar poses as well.
From now on I will work on my endurance and speed. I might run another half marathon in 5 weeks and try finishing in less than 90 minutes. I think it’s a realistic goal.
Last Monday I went to Joe Satriani’s Masterclass Clinic (similar to a concert event but with a focus on teaching). He’s one of the world’s best guitar players and teachers. For example he taught Kirk Hammett (from Metallica) to play guitar.
It was a really cool event. I enjoyed listening to him play and thought that I needed to practice way more if I wanted to play anything like him. His song “Always with me, always with you” gave me goosebumps. It’s a powerful song!
The highlight of the event was when everybody got a chance to meet Joe and get his autograph. I had Jane (my guitar) with me and got my cherished John Hancock. Now my guitar is worth millions 😀 I’m rich!
I remember my guitar teacher Erik once told me that he’d wish to get Satriani’s autograph on his guitar. Now I feel like I’ve got a very special instrument at home. I’m almost afraid to play it.
OK. New Zealand. I still don’t know what the deal was with my chest X-ray. I picked up two envelopes. One of them was sealed, I guess they don’t want the applicants to be able to tamper with the results. So I don’t know what the doc wrote about my lungs. The other envelope had the X-ray pictures but since I’m no doctor I wasn’t able to see any abnormalities. Anywho… I just put the envelopes into another envelope and happily mailed it to the embassy in Sydney. Now all what’s left to do is wait for a decision about my visa application.
Today is also my first day living in solitude – both of my roommates moved out. OK, Benn moved out only temporarily. I was heart-broken when I discovered he took his juicer with him. What a dick move! Why didn’t he discuss that issue with me? Maybe I wasn’t OK with him taking it… We just never talk anymore…
What’s the point of scheduling an appointment if nobody cares about it? My chest X-ray was supposed to be at 2 PM. I arrived 15 minutes earlier, waited in line for 20 minutes to get to the receptionist and then had to wait another 30 minutes to get to the “radiology” room. Welcome to Australia!
The real kicker was this: after taking the X-ray the radiologist told me that he needed to do a second X-ray. I told myself “no reason to panic, I probably moved when the picture was taken or something”. Before the second attempt I was asked whether I’ve had chest pains. Not to my knowledge. And that was it, no further comment about my lungs. Am I fine? What was wrong with the picture? Am I going to die? Great things to ponder about for the next couple of days…
Another retarded thing is that I need to come back to the clinic in 2 business days to pick up the X-ray paperwork and mail it to Sydney. Why can’t the people at the clinic mail it themselves? It’s just stupid.
I took a blank sheet of paper and wrote in big red digits (and a letter) 3:07 M and put it on my wall. That’s my goal for a marathon (27th July 2013). The reason it’s 3:07 is because my aunt ran a marathon in 3h 8m. I must run a faster time! Never mind that she’s a former Olympic athlete. My 7 months of training will be more than enough to beat her time 😀 (I just finished my 3rd training month, celebration time?).
Since I need to move my behind a bit faster I decided to add some speedwork to my training sessions. I did some research and introduced fartlek to my 10 and 8K runs. It’s actually something Emily told me about. She said that I should sprint from a streetlight to another one, then recover until the next streetlight and start sprinting after it. Repeat until you’re at home. It’s a good way to learn to run faster.
I really liked my first fartlek session. It was a very creative run, time just passed by. I created several triggers for sprints. For example each time I stepped on a brick I would sprint, a dog barking at me also meant to run faster, reaching a roundabout meant running as fast as possible until the next roundabout.
Every time I was in a park I ran as if dropbears were chasing me until I was out of the park. It was interesting. The last 5 runs resulted in 4 personal best times. Clearly this technique works… or maybe I’m just super awesome. Yeah, that’s probably it! 😀
Since my workday has very early starts (4AM) I need to go running even earlier. During my last 10K run I saw a man in the distance. It was around 2:15 AM and he said “hello”. Then he asked me where I was running. I said “home” and then as I got closer I saw that he was a policeman. I knew I was running a good time and as I got next to him I said really quickly: “10K run, doing a personal best”… and I waived and off I was. I completely blew him off. 😀 He just stared and thought I was a weirdo. 😀 (PS: My time was 43m40s, not exactly superfast, yet!).
Today was my first run in my new compression calf sleeves. Those bad boys are really tight. I hope, I’m sorry, I know, they will be my ticket to a future Olympic gold. 😀 I also noticed that my thighs felt very much left out. They wanted some love too… I guess I know what’s next on my shopping list.
Allrighty, slight change of topic. Yesterday, I applied for a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa and tomorrow I will need to get a chest X-ray to prove that I don’t have any deadly contagious diseases. All this will cost me about AUD 230.
It’s a bit sad to think about it but it seems that I’ll be staying in Australia only until December. Maybe it’s for the best. You know what? I don’t even want to think about it. Not yet. I will focus on making the most of my last 8 months here.
Ivar the Salacious 
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