Ooooh boy, I am about to take on my first ever FTP test on the bike. Give me a running sesh over a bike sesh any day of the week. Any words of wisdom are welcome.🤣 Let's goooo!

Well at this time of the year in northern Australia it’s heading towards the wet season. The humidity is starting to build and it also marks the time of year when certain infamous native birds and other creatures are into their breeding season. One of the better known birds is of course the black and white magpie, the scourge of cyclists everywhere. This bird can find the gaps in a cyclists helmet with pin point accuracy and are relentless in their attacks if you are within their self proclaimed territory. It is quite common to see helmets adorned with many zipties protruding to stave off any attacks . It looks like the cyclist is wearing a porcupine on his head with all those spines. Another maybe not as well known but equally tenacious in their hostility but more so towards runners are the spur winged lapwing, also known as the spur winged plover because they conceal a spur on each wing which can inflict a nasty wound in the event of a contact. Quite often the poor victim is unaware of the attack until the feathered marauder is almost upon them giving little chance for to defend. They usually only attack when your back is turned and generally avoid a face to face confrontation, reminds of some people I know. If I make it successfully across both magpies and spur winged plover territory unscathed I then head down a quiet rural back road bordered on either side with tall stands of sugar cane. Of course it is now harvesting time and it is quite common to see these little sugar cane trains up to a kilometre or so long winding their way through the countryside on their way to or from the sugar mills where the sugar is processed. If I hear a whistle from one of these trains I know I have to seriously sprint before it gets to one of the many level crossings on my otherwise quiet rural backroad or I could be held up for quite some time until makes its way though. But today was a great day, a local cyclist unintentionally lured the magpies away, I thwarted all attempts by the plovers to inflict damage, no sugar trains coincided with my run and my much maligned calf muscle seems to have settled down.

Hey Team, happy Monday! ☀️ Let's check in and see what happened over the weekend. - Did you run a race and if so, which one and how was it? 🚀 - How was your training over the weekend? 💪 - Did you have a favourite or least favourite session? 💯 Excited to hear some updates and see how everyone is doing! Let's have a great week ahead and tackle those training sessions! Boom Shakalaka! Aaron & the Nick Bester Team

Had a good race today for the first three miles till I got a bad side stitch at mile 3. Pushed through to finish after a brief walk. All in all had fun though. Great race atmosphere and people at the Tequesta Freedom 4 Miler.

Happy Monday team! Let's start the week off by saying well done to those members who competed in races over the weekend. We have: @Nick Bester - Dulwich parkrun 5k @Miguel Reis - Lisbon 10k @Harry Lourimore - Arizona 5k @Amie Walker - London Dynamo ride @Brandon Chaplin - SD 100 miler (team relay) Very well done to all of you. 🔥 Feel free to let us know what your results were from the events down in the comments! ⬇️ You can check out Nick's performance at Dulwich parkrun with the video below! You'll be on the edge of your seat the whole way through. If you competed in a race and haven't been mentioned, please send me a message! 🙈 Onwards and upwards team, let's have a great week ahead! 💯 Boom Shakalaka Aaron & the Nick Bester Team