Monday, December 13, 2010

Three for three

My third event in 3 weeks was the Wanganui (3 Bridges) half marathon on Saturday (Dec 11th).

I was worried about the heat, but it turned out to be an overcast day with a slight wind. The start finish line was at the Boat Club. Other race options were 5km, 10km, and the full marathon (walk and run). The half marathon was a 2 lap loop around the 3 bridges - Dublin, City/Victoria and Cobham. I took the first lap slow, but started to surge after the first lap. I was feeling pretty good around the 12-14km mark. For the final 2km, I was already moving, so even though it started to hurt, I kept pushing through till the finish.

The plan was to do slightly better than my Taupo time, but it ended up exactly the same - 2 hours 5mins. It felt like a really good run, so I was a little disappointed with the time. But I suppose it's pretty good considering the longest training run I've done since my last half was a 70min run. I need to train smarter, I think. And more speedwork obviously needed.

It started to spit just as I was finishing my first lap, but it never got too heavy until we were all sitting on the grass at the finish waiting for prize giving. It drizzled and I got pretty cold sitting there waiting without a jacket. Turns out I should have just gone home. I think everyone who was there won a spot prize except me :(

Monday, December 6, 2010

Two events in one week

Taupo Cycle Challenge (Nov 27th, 2010)

We did this as a team of 4, with me completing the 4th and final leg. The route was a lot of fun, with a few long downhill. There were the uphill parts too of course. Hatape Hill was a heartbreaker. Because it was so hot, many people got off their bikes to walk it. The temperature on the day soared to 32degrees. I was very tempted to stop as well (several times), but hung in there barely and somehow by a miracle got over it.

The rest of the route into Taupo main center was great, particularly at the finish line.

Our team time was 7:26:12 with my individual time at 1:57:20




Old West Road Race (Dec 3rd 2010)

This 10.6k run is an informal run between Massey and AgResearch staff. It was a hot day on Friday, but managed to finish in 61:53 (unofficial time for now), beating my last year's time of 65:35.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Off road at Kinloch


My first off road half marathon.... and I am hooked.

The Mizuno off road half marathon event was held in Kinloch, about 20km from Taupo. Kinloch is a gorgeous little get-away place with many beautiful holiday homes in the area.

The course was over an undulating terrain with two fairly gentle but long climbs and a large part of it was over the W2K mountain bike track. I was rather surprised to be feeling quite good in the first half of the race after the initial steady climb. Despite wiping out once quite early in the race, I picked myself up (with the aid of a couple people behind me) and kept going.

My calf muscles started to protest somewhere in the middle part of the race but I adjusted my running and ignored it the best I could. There were a few amazing views at the top when we finally got there - looking over at the lake, which was a good distraction from the pain.

The final 4km was pretty rough but I worked through it and turning the last corner and seeing the finish line was the best thing ever. I finished in 2:30:27, and just about gulped down a bucketful of GU drinks and water, and stuffed a chocolate fish which they were handing out, into my mouth.

It would have been good to carry some water with me. I had thought I would be OK without water for a half event in such cool weather, but that probably contributed to the calf cramps. It wasn't until we were walking back to the bach when I fell onto the side of the road - with severe calf cramps in both legs. It felt better after stretching it out, but it's pretty sore even two days after the event.

So, will I do an off road event again? Hell yes.

(Event on Sept 4th 2010)

Monday, August 2, 2010

August 1st Taupo half - my first official half

The weather wasn’t the greatest. It was overcast and there was a slight wind coming in from the lake. But at least it didn’t rain (not till later anyway). I started in the back of the 5th wave and tried to settle into a steady pace within the first 3km. That was hard to do with that downhill bit right off the start line. But I think I managed to stay disciplined and keep to my pace.

My first 5km split was slower than I would have liked it to be, but picking up the pace after the 10km marker wasn’t really an alternative either. I did put in a few short surges, overtaking a few people on the narrow footpath as we headed back into Taupo, but would settle back into a steady pace until the last 2km when I tried to sprint it. I passed as many people as I could on that last hill and through into the finish line. It was strong finish which I was happy with, but when I noted my time, it left me wondering if I didn’t give it as much as I could have throughout the earlier parts of the race. My legs felt like they didn’t quite belong to me towards the end (they seemed to have a mind of their own), and at the finish my left knee was so sore I was walking with a limp. But that cleared up quickly enough after I walked around a bit more.

Overall, I think it was a good course. It was fairly flat, and I was already anticipating that last hill – which really wasn’t too hard to do when you know the finish line is only 500m away. I did push through some pain towards the end, but I guess for my first official half marathon, I did an OK job.

Monday, July 5, 2010

10km club event

Ran the 10km event sponsored by the local running club yesterday. The weather could not have been more perfect - it was a sunny, crisp cool winter's morning. Excellent conditions for running. It was also a relatively flat, fast course.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Previous

Some of the previous events going back to my first cycle event in August 2009:

Cycle: Fielding Festival: 20km August 20/09
Cycle: Hunterville: 43Km October 24/09
Cycle: Rotorua Bike the lake: 42km Nov 8/09 (1hr 42min)
Cycle: Lake Taupo Challenge (team) 40km Nov 28/09 (1:56 second leg)

Run: Old West Road Race:10km Dec 4/09

Cycle: Taranaki Round the mountain (team)(36km) Jan 16/10

Duathlon: Palmerston North Women’s Tri (3km/12km/2km) Finished 6th Feb 27/10

Cycle: Mangatanoika bush cycle 60km Mar 14/10 (2 hours 42min)
Cycle: Rotorua-Taupo Flyer 50km (team) March 27/10

Run: Curves to curves 21.6km run May 16/10