Howdy. Zak's the name. This is my little space on the web. The navigation links at the top of the page are the gist of the things you'll find, but I throw in some random thoughts and ramblings too.
Snow report from errand duties: Yeah nah.
#RemarkablesSkiField
Why is linen always so freakin difficult to navigate?
This leafless bronze canopy of willows caught my eye on a walk today as the afternoon sun shone on it.
#walking
Weeknote 2024-W24
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🏃♂️ Went to the physio and confirmed I’ve got runner’s knees. No surprise, but good to put a name to it. To be specific, it is patellofemoral pain syndrome. Knees were strapped up for 3 days and I’ve got some light exercises to work on my vastus medialis (inner quads). I will see the physio again on Wednesday. Looking forward to implementing a long-term programme of strengthening exercises. It’s definitely something that’s been missing. Hoping to be running again soon.
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❤️🩹 Since I got COVID on 26 March, and these injuries popping up I have been putting on a little weight. I have wiggle-room, but I am a bit concerned I don’t have a handle on it. At 185cm (6'1") I find my sweet spot around 77kg (170lbs). Lately I’ve been hovering around 81kg so there’s a bit of work to do.
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☕ Limiting my coffee to two cups a day is going well. Tracked it while I was at it. I’ll try and throw in more single-cup days.
- 2024-06-10 06:30 aeropress
- 2024-06-10 09:00 instant
- 2024-06-11 07:30 stovetop
- 2024-06-12 06:25 z servo
- 2024-06-12 10:00 instant
- 2024-06-13 06:31 stovetop
- 2024-06-13 11:40 stovetop
- 2024-06-14 07:05 aeropress
- 2024-06-14 10:05 aeropress
- 2024-06-15 08:43 stovetop
- 2024-06-15 12:39 cafe
- 2024-06-16 10:32 stovetop
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💻 Played around with the dark mode colours in my website’s CSS. I’ve always liked green text on a dark background. I haven’t played with the light mode much yet, but when I get the time I’m thinking of going down the path of an oldschool yellow notepad coloured theme.
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📚 Been reading a lot of Junited blogs recommended by folk on Mastodon. There’s been some crackers and I’ve been updating my RSS feed accordingly, which is forming up nicely. That said, I haven’t been reading much in the way of physical books lately. I pick up The Data Storyteller’s Handbook by Kat Greenbook every now and again but it’s not drawing me in much.
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🏢 At work we have kicked off six sigma green belt training. It’s great to be going through this in some formal (online) classes. It is pretty fast paced and with topics like statistical analysis it requires a bit of brain power to stay on top of it. I might do some posts on certain topics to help me retain the knowledge.
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🌱 Things have well and truly slowed down in the garden with the colder weather rolling through. I am still harvesting plenty of rocket, silverbeet and carrot. The garlic is starting to show itself, and I’ve mulched the garlic and broad beans. The winter solstice (shortest day) is this Friday so I need to get my fruit trees pruned (and a couple more planted).
Broad beans mulched
#weeknotes
Remarkables ski field opened today (conveyors only). I won’t be forking out $1k for a season pass but might try and get up for a few skins this year.
Stone circles, roundabouts and digitial places 🤔 I’ve just updated my #Junited2024 list. zakb.micro.blog/junited/
Runners knee it is. Can’t say I’m surprised. Physio strapped them up and sent me off with some roller and easy inner quad (he gave me the technical name but I don’t remember these things) strengthening exercises.
5 passes in a day
Date: 27 December, 2023 Location: Glenorchy, New Zealand
- Distance: 69.25km
- Elevation: 4,394m
- Moving Time: 13:42:31 (I was moving much longer, but I was so slow my watch didn’t notice)
- Elapsed Time: 20:59:14
The goal was to complete the 5 Passes Route in one push. I was keen for a slog. The route is considered for experienced hikers, taking anywhere between 3-7 days. The terrain is slow, with multiple river crossings, bush bashing, alpine passes and navigation challenges. Perfect.
This would double as training for The Revenant which I had scheduled in a month later.
I kicked off at 4am knowing the first section would be easy in the dark, starting from the Routeburn Shelter as the bridge at Sylvan Campsite was down from flooding and the track to Lake Sylvan was closed. A bit annoying as I would’ve liked to do a full loop, but this way gave me the Sugarloaf Pass in both directions (6 passes?), so who am I to complain?
Amazing scenery the whole way. It was very tough going with not much runnable terrain. Feet were wet most of the way. Beans Burn was marked with triangles and cairns to where it opens up before Rock biv, though it was still easy to lose the track (which I did frequently).
The climbs were grueling as were the constant rivers, tussocks and boulders. The final descent from Sugarloaf at midnight, 20 hours after being on my feet, felt like an eternity.
Overall a successful day. A ripper of a challenge in some beautiful surroundings.
2 months later a couple of parties tackled the loop route for a Fastest Known Time (FKT). They came in at 20:08:42 and 22:28:02.
Crossing the river on Beans Burn Track
Useful markers along Beans Burn
Occasional open plains
Somewhere along Beans Burn
Track is somewhere in there
Knackered already and I’ve only done one pass. Fohn Saddle just around the bend
Looking up Beans Burn with Fohn Saddle in the distance
Walls of mountains, looking NE over Beans Burn from a higher altitude as I approach Fohn Saddle
Fohn Lakes and the outlet
Looking SW along the Fohn Lakes outlet with Fiery Col out of shot to the left
Approaching Fiery Col (left saddle)
Passing a small waterfall approaching Fiery Col
Descending Fiery Col
Approaching Cow Saddle
More mountain goodness
Looking down Hidden Falls Creek
Looking south over Park Pass, after an impressively steep climb
#trailrunning #bigslog
I think all the mountain slogging is catching up with me. Knees are not good. Time to take these strengthening exercises seriously. Physio tomorrow.
Wet morning.
#Queenstown
