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.