Tri Saint

Made it !!!

2011-03-03T15:21:00.002+13:00

I am now an official athlete for IMNZ 2011.

Yes I am now in Taupo & have registered for the big day. Have been for a swim in the lake & now just chilling out.

Soon it's the pasta dinner & race briefing but before then its feet up & rest.

Race number 932, Paul Miller for any ironmanlive watchers.

I have a small brick session to do Friday morning then the big day on Saturday. I don't have any great finish time in my head but in round figures, 1hr swim, 6hr bike & 4hr run, so anything around 11hr will be fine. The weather may play a big part.

14 Days

2011-02-19T14:39:00.002+13:00

Just thought I would write some more.

Have had another great week of training & the size of the sessions are starting to decrease & you can really work on the quality. This week I had a great 1.5hr bike with an hour run off the bike on Wednesday & felt really good. Yes the calf's were a bit sore from the weekend but nothing to serious.

I also did a 4.4km swim on Thursday night which was great. Furtherest I have ever swam in the pool.

Today's Saturday brick had a 3hr bike & 1 hr run which also went really well & with 14 days now to go till IMNZ I real do think I am ready & just waiting now for the last few sessions to be done & getting onto the race course. Off to the Blue Lake for a 4km OW swim on Sunday, you gotta love the lake swimming.

The weather over the last few weeks has been amazing & I guess we can only hope for more of the same between now & race day. I know it doesn't matter for me doing the race but will make the day so much more enjoyable for you the spectator & with the new course changes & road closures I'm sure it's going to be great.

Will try keep you posted between now & race day.

Been missing

2011-02-15T17:36:00.003+13:00

Well what a last few weeks I have had.

After having a quiet week after the Taupo Half it was then back into training again.

Then along came Xmas & a 2night trip for the family to stay at Arkles Bay Whangaparoa with my sister in-law & 5 nephews. We all had a great time & I didn't drink to much & managed a couple of runs.

Home from that holiday & straight back into training, with some good runs & a long weekend bike ride round the Rotorua loop from Tauranga.

New Years eve soon passed & we tripped on down to the Blue lake in Rotorua New Years day for a swim across the lake. Awesome swim.

Then we packed the car again & headed to one of New Zealands holiday hot spots Whangamata to stay a couple of nights with one of Kathy's clients. It also was the time of the Contact Triathlon so got to watch that. Another awesome time away from home. Did some more running whilst away.

I then had the normal week of long run & swimming then it was the Tauranga Half & I was a Technical Official for this event. Stinking hot day in the sun. The following day it was a long bike ride out to Matata & home, a good 168km.

My long runs were now getting upto about 30km & I was starting to feel really good about them.

Another long ride followed the next weekend then it was time for the annual family camping holiday. This was the make or break period for me. I had a very long bike ride & 3hr run to do whilst I was away. Could I resist the cold beers ????

Well for the record & drank maybe a dozen beers over 2 weeks, I also cracked a 3hr run covering 32kms & did a 227km bike ride to Whakatane & back. I also feel off on this ride on the busiest round about in Tauranga. Luckily the only damage was a bent rear wheel & bruising to body & pride.

The camping holiday had it's moments also having to cope with 2 Cyclone which blew across the Upper North Island bringing heavy rain & gale force winds. We survived them both to tell the stories..

Whilst on holiday I also managed some good runs & bike rides & enjoyed the fact I could just sit down & do nothing afterwards. No work, no long days standing!!

So for the month of Jan I managed 1000km on bike, 175km running, & 20km swimming.

After camping it was off down to Kinloch the following weekend for the Erin Baker standard distance tri. This was not a race just a brick at race pace.

I had a ball & really enjoyed my stay in Kinloch. I'll be back.

Now I have just finished a long weekend in Taupo training on the IMNZ course. friday saw me do a 87km bike in 2:42 followed by a 21km run in 1:45. Was absolutely stoked with this.

Saturday was just a 4km swim in the lake 1:20. Then Sunday we covered the whole bike course & I managed 5:53 & did a 3.5km run off the bike.

Had an awesome weekend training & am feeling really good about where I am training wise with only 19 days to go.

Will try & write some more before the day.

This is a very short brief of the last few weeks but that's all life allows at the moment.

Taupo Half Ironman

2010-12-21T07:13:00.006+13:00

Friday afternoon had finally rolled around & it was time to gap it from work & head down to Taupo for registration.

For this race you have to have your bike racked before 7pm on Friday night which does make Saturday morning just that little bit more less stressful. Going to bed Friday night & the wind was fair howling, so I expected it to blow again on Saturday. How hard would be the question ??

Race morning.

Up at 4am for the morning feed & a quick look outside showed some wind & overcast conditions. Went about all the normal things you do on race morning & for once this year I actually felt a little nervous. Hardest thing was waking the kids up & getting them moving.

Down at transition prepared all my gear & made my way down to the start area with not much time to spare. This year the organisers moved the transition area up to Tongariro Domain ( like IMNZ ), which would mean the long 600m run to T1.

Swim.

We had the National Anthem sung then it was time for the action to start. Swimming in a lake has to be the best thing ever & when the gun went we were off. Had a reasonably good swim down to the turn-around buoy which was 860m down, then out 70m to the 2nd buoy. Here I really managed to find some space & rhythm & had a good swim back up to the turn marker & up to the beach stopping the clock at 37:58. Happy with this.

T1.

Yes there is a 600m run along a flat road followed by some steep stairs which take you up to the transition area. Once again I struggled to get the wetsuit off. This time it was just sucked onto me & just didn't want to come off. Never mind I just did what I had to do, got my gear on & headed for the bike exit knowing by this stage that we were going to in for a long bike ride as the wind was already picking up & it's only just gone 7am. This transition was a bit long & slow but oh well. Time 6:41.

Bike.

This year the bike course changed as well. I thought the changes would make the bike more enjoyable & it certainly was. If these changes work then don't be surprised to see them used at IMNZ.

We headed out to the Napier - Taupo Rd & climbed that up to the new East Taupo Arterial Rd then over to Broadlands Rd & straight out to Reperoa. The wind by this stage was starting to get up & blew us down the 1st 15 km's or so. Was having a good slingshot ride here with an other competitor & we were humming along. Down onto the flat section & the wind was a left to right crosswind but nothing to bad. By this stage I had decided to let the other person go & just settle into my race pace. Nutrition was going good & I was feeling great. Now I had a few mates / training buddies in this race also & I knew a couple of them were ahead of me in the swim, so it was as we got closer to the turn-around that I started looking to see were they were. Finally spotted 1 of them & we gave a wave to each other. ( Now I wasn't out there just to beat him but it does give you something to aim for ). Now as we turned it became very apparent that the wind had got up & was going to make the return 45km's quite difficult.It was the last 30km's which were the hardest as we slogged straight into it & the speed came right down.

Now the course also had a small change to it as you now went down a side road for 600m. It was whilst down this road I saw my mate & I had caught up heaps. I thought to myself just keep doing what your doing & you should get him by the end of the bike. That is what I hoped but that all changed as I was about 10km's from the end by rear tyre went down costing me 10 mins. Never mind just change it & get going.
Offical time 3:02:31, bike computer time 2:52:21.

T2.

Quick run with the bike round transition then into it to find your bike slot. Fairly quick here & off running in pursuit of me mate. Time 2:45

Run.

Firstly I had to stop for a nature call costing me another minute or so. ( This might come back to haunt me ). Settled into a good pace & started on the run nutrition. The run course also changed this year but nothing major & nothing that I hadn't ever run before in Taupo. With it being a 2 lap course there was plenty of time to see people you know & give them encouragement. After the 1st lap I had taken heps out of my good mate. LOL . I had now changed my game plan slightly. My whole approach for the day & especially the run was to finish feeling like I had more to give & wanted to keep running. Now I still wanted to finish like that but I had a burning desire to catch him. So on the 2nd lap a bit more intensity came into my running & I picked up the pace but kept my form strong. I really enjoyed it as I went on the hunt. Unfortunately I never got him & as I entered the finsh chute he was just crossing the line.

Never mind that wasn't what I set out to do today but it sure would have felf good to run him down. Unfinished business at IM. Stopped the clock for a run split of 1:53:27 & overall time of 5:43:22.

Bit lazy / busy

2010-12-14T20:16:00.006+13:00

I've just done 2 races in the last 2 weekends & haven't done a race report on on either. So I'll give you a quick run down on the Tinman Sprint race & if I have enough time I'll carry on to the Taupo Half Ironman.

The Tinman sprint race was purely just for me to get a race under the belt before the half & to do things at race pace !!

The morning dawned awesome & so the rest of the day would be.

I was quite relaxed & heading out for the swim start I was still in good spirits. Had an alright swim through the slower standard distance competitors. Had a slow as T1 as I spoke to a couple of people & struggled with the wetsuit legs.

Out onto the bike I had fun & put in a 34:11 for the bike split. Had good fun here overtaking people in both races. The race wheels certainly helped.

Onto the run & felt strong & ready to run. Made good time round the Mount base track & powered up them hills.

Overall I had a good race & enjoyed just getting out there for a quick fire race then finishing, getting a feed & watching the top guys battle it out for the gun in the Standard distance race.

All things pointed towards a strong race at Taupo.

The other thing I promised ages ago was a shot of the bike & I finally did that. These were taken before buying the Sram 60 wheelset, so I'll take others & maybe get around to posting them.

Outa time so will do Taupo 1/2 another day.

Simple Awesome

2010-11-29T21:21:00.004+13:00

Yep that sums up the round Taupo Cycle Challenge for me. I had a ball !!!

As most of you would know I approached this race as along training Time trial ride. I had placed myself in group 7 which had an estimated time of 6:10-7:00 hours. My theory was that these people don't really ride in bunches.

So lets set the scene.

I awake early as I always do but this morning is like no other morning of a race. I don't have the nerves & my group has a start time of around 9am, so I've got heaps of time. Eventually we make our way into Taupo & down to the start-line area. Catch up with a few mates then I even headed out for a quick warm-up. Made my way upto the start-line, then it was my turn to go.

I got straight into my work & by the time we turned off the main highway I had dropped all the guys I started with. Feeling good !! For the next 60km I just flew past everyone with a couple of people trying to catch a ride. Around the Waihaha hills I was being kept company with a number of team riders. They would go up the hills stronger & I would pull away on the downhill & flats. This was making me work harder on the uphills which was good for me.

Thru 80km's & over Kuratau hills & everything was still going great. Down the steep descent flat out & down onto the flat it soon became apparent that there was quite a stiff breeze blowing & when we turned the corner at Turangi it would become a headwind. DAMN

By this stage in the race the day was getting very hot & I was going to need to get some more water, but I was reluctant to stop at any of the support stations as there were so many people at them, so I made the decision to stop in the forecourt of the Shell petrol station in Turangi & fill my bottle. A quick stop & I was off again.

Now this headwind was certainly slowing things down a little. I slogged on into it & was still feeling great. A reached the 120km mark in just a touch over 4 hours so I was very happy with that. Around this time a bunch had caught me up from behind & I then made the decision just to jump on in & rest up for a little while. I soon made my way back to the front & started to pull the bunch towards Hatepe Hill. By this stage in the race I was still loving every minute of it even if my legs were starting to tire. At the base of Hatepe I bid farewell to the bunch I was in knowing darn well most of them would fly up here & I wouldn't.

Aftera good slog up the hill we were off & there were still 3 of us from the bunch & I was off on a mission to catch some of the others & get things rolling again. From the top of the hill to the finish is only 20 odd km's so it was time for the hammer to go down & leave nothing in the tank. Had an awesome ride to the finish & I just sat at the front of the bunch sharing ( not evenly shared ) the lead with one other guy whilst the rest of them just hung on. I even was thanked by a 13 year old girl for doing so much work.

Down the finish chute & stopped the clock at 5:15:08.

Well pleased with that effort. Was looking for anything less than 5:30.

Things I learnt:

It's hard to eat & drink when leading the bunch.

When you don't eat & drink you feel like crap when you get off the bike.

Two cans of Coke & some shade do wonders for you after a long HOT race.

You must eat & drink in Ironman or you will not finish the run.

and finally that if you just push yourself you'd be amazed what you can do.

All in all I had a great day & that event certainly is well run. The prizegiving was emotional when 1 of the husbands of the ladies that were killed cycling got up on stage & made a speech. He stood there to a standing ovation & huge round of applause.

The weekend was rounded of with a lovely swim in the lake on Sunday morning.

I have now just put my race wheels on all ready for Tinman this weekend. That's another race report coming up next week.

Train Safe.

The excitement's building

2010-11-16T06:48:00.005+13:00

Now some fellow bloggers Kate, Phil & Graham all kicked their official Tri season off a couple of weekends ago, which has left me feeling very excited about my up coming events & already counting down the days. Yep days not weeks !!!

Now with only 6 more days till Round Taupo my training has gone great guns & culminated last weekend with a hilly 150km ride down to Rotorua & back home via Te Puke. The ride itself was a mixed bag with it raining at 6am when we left, then clearing up & blowing a nice tailwind for 50kms, then becoming a very stiff 40km/hr headwind from Te Puke home. All character building...so they tell ya. This weekend just gone was another good brick session on Saturday & an easy 2 1/2hrs in the saddle on Sunday. Yippee !!!!!

So then the excitement will turn to the Taupo Half Ironman..

The course for this years race has changed a little for the bike & run legs which will make things easier on the bike I think & the run pretty much the same. The talk is that if the bike leg changes work then IM New Zealand will make the changes also.

So in 3 weeks time I will be able to sit back & enjoy a full rest week which I think the body is in need of.I'm not tired of training just in need of some sleep, infact I've really been enjoying the training over the last couple of months & are very happy with where my running has got to. Having never been a great runner it's pleasing to now feel injury free & running upto 2hr 15mins & covering 26kms. Cycling has just got easier as I've got myself sorted on the TT bike & swimming just stays the same.

So the next few weeks looks like this :

27th Nov Round Taupo Cycle Challenge 160km bike ride, 5th Dec Tinman Sprint Distance Tri, & 11th Dec Taupo Half Ironman. Heres hoping the weather is good for each weekend & I have some FUN.

Train safe & I'll give you a race report when I tick off the 1st event.

Warmer weather.

2010-10-25T09:11:00.007+13:00

<
Although winter this year wasn't all that cold, it sure is great to have Daylight Savings started & Summer knocking on the door.

A couple of weekends ago here in New Zealand it was a public holiday which in this household means only one thing, & that's to go swim in the ocean. It was great & the water wasn't to cold. A group of about 15 of us got in so it was fun.

So with summer just about here that also means the TRI Season.

Yep we have an Olympic & Sprint distance race here in the Mount in just 31 days. I'm doing the Sprint this year as the following week is the Taupo 1/2 IM which is far more important to me, so the sprint is more like a solid brick session at race pace.

Also with the season beckoning I have recently bought some race wheels to complement the bike. A nice new shiny pair of SRAM 60's, with a new pair of Vittoria CX Tech tyres to follow.

Now for the training side of things.

Have had a good solid October & the body is still feeling strong & injury free. I've had some great rides & probably nothing better than the 144km I knocked off in 5 hrs. This was done on a mainly flat road but so is the Ironman course.

So here are the boring stats for last month.

Bike 886km / 33hr

Run 145km / 12:45hr

Swim 22.8 / 8:15hr

I have a couple of big brick sessions coming up over the next few weekends so looking forward to those. Just can't wait to get out there & do a race.

8 weeks till Round Taupo.

2010-10-02T17:25:00.006+13:00

Yep that's all.

This year I haven't done as much cycling leading up to the event, but I am only going round once this year & it's all just part of the bigger picture, not the 1 race I was aiming for. In saying that I am feeling quietly confident about the race.

My plan for the Contact Round Taupo Cycle Challenge is to start with the 7 hr group near the back & just TT all the way round ( apart from the hills ). Starting with the 7 hr group should hopefully give me a free road without all the bunches & I'll just get to ride my own race. Knock this off & that will be part 2 of the Cameron Brown award done.

Bike training has been going well with a 122km ride last weekend & a 135km ride just done this weekend. I must admit climbing hills on the TT bike is certainly harder but I'm getting better & think my seatpost height might be just about right now which is helping.

Last month I managed 388km total & hope to build on that now daylight savings has started & can get out after work.

All the other training pretty much went to plan for the last couple of weeks & I have managed 125km of running, 178km windtrainer & 21km of swimming for September.

Now I haven't forgotten about the City to Surf fun run. Last Sunday turned on the best day we've had all spring & the run was great. Awesome atmosphere at the finish line area & I posted a 57:34. The run was definitely not 12km but we all ran the same race & I was happy with where I finished.

All in all a great September & bring on October, with warmer weather & longer hours of daylight. Will also get into the sea for my 1st swim over the weekend of 23-24 October.

Just ticking off the boxes.

2010-09-21T20:14:00.003+12:00

Yep that's about it.

The last week was all good & got everything done. Saturday mornings bike ride was extremely hard going as the entire country was covered in a large storm which bought about very strong winds in the Bay of Plenty. I did manage my 4hr 20 min & clocked up 105km, but it sure wasn't easy.

The rest of the week was fairly normal training & clocked up 28km of running & 1hr 45 min on the windtrainer & 5kms swimming.

On a positive daylight savings kicks off this weekend so hopefully will get some more training in after work.

Have the City to Surf 12km run to do on Sunday so I'll let you know how that went next time I check in.

Bring on Summer

2010-09-13T19:40:00.002+12:00

Now the last few weeks have just been wet, windy & wild. I'm over it & just want warm summer & daylight savings.

In saying that I have been able to get out on the bike the last 2 weekends & clock up over 100km each ride without getting very wet.

The new bike feels fast & easy to ride. I do struggle a bit on the hills but just means I've got to work harder. ( Yes I'll get round to the photo one day ).

Once again my running has been a little slack over the last couple of weeks with only totals of 26kms. I really need to build on this but the old leg has been abit sore recently. I think this has to do with the aero riding straining the butt. Starting to feel better now though, so hope to see the distance increase again over the next few weeks.

So in total I've only been putting in 10 - 12 hour weeks. Bit slack.

Not long now till the Tri season kicks off & the Taupo Half Ironman so these times will be increasing. I also have the small task of the Taupo Cycle Challenge 160km bike ride. My way of thinking for this years race is that I will start near the back with the 7 hour starters & just TT the race. That way I hope to miss all the big bunches of idiots that can't ride sensibly.

Just had the weekend away with work at the Jamis Day Night Thriller & it was a long couple of days so this week i'm going to have to be onto it or I'll just be lazy. Also busy week at work with a number containers to unload , so it's going to tough.

Onwards & upwards though. Plenty of things to look forward to on the training front with a Half IM camp, a trip to Broadlands Rd for a training ride & I'm going to compete in the City to Surf 12km fun run.

Train safe & hard.

A good solid week

2010-08-21T19:17:00.003+12:00

Firstly I went back to the physio this week & he's real happy with the way my right leg has strengthened up with the exercises & now is happy for me to steadily up the running. Great news.

So once again there hasn't been much running this week ( only 15km ) but time to ramp it up a little. The swimming has got alot easier this week & with good numbers turning up to the squads this week we real have started to push each other.

Now unfortunately the weather was cr@p this morning & I still haven't got out on my bike. I did instead do a 2hr 12 min hard out ( AVHR 143, MXHR 164 ), windtrainer session in the garage with another IM in training. That help bring the total hours on the windtrainer to 3hr 40min this week.

So this week I would have to give myself a big tick in the box of doing all the programme & each session was constructive.

We have the last of the Tri Cub's winter Duathlon's tomorrow & hopefully the weather is good afterwards, as I hope to take the bike for a ride up & down the Toll Rd.

Tonight the All Blacks will hopefully win the Tri Nations & the Warriors beat Manly.

Time for the business to start

2010-08-16T19:45:00.004+12:00

Yes I went to Taupo ( pronounced Toe paw ) & set about achieving my 1st goal of the my season, the Half Marathon.

As I had planned I came in with my worst 1/2 Mary time of 1:54:22. My PB is 1:39:13 & back in 2008 I ran 1:41:43, so you can see I had a goal of pacing myself & did just that. Finished the race feeling fresh & wanting more. We also had a great fun filled weekend with our friends & training buddies.

I had the following week as a rest week, then on the Sunday I competed in the North Island Inter Club Duathlon race at the Pukekohe Raceway. This was a 5km run, 20km bike followed by a final 2.5km run. I didn't go there to break any records & certainly didn't , but had a good fun race. That's what it's all about isn't it ????

During this time I finally dragged myself along to the physio to see what might be causing the pain behind my knee. Physio's thought is the glute injury I have had for about 15 years is playing up ( & not firing ) & as a result the hammie has been doing more work & has now become inflamed & sore. So 2 weeks into treatment & the glute is already much stronger. I can only look at this as a positive thing & not something that has slowed my running down to only 30 minute runs for the next few weeks.

So now with just over 6 months left till that gun goes off for Ironman I have sat down & nutted out my training schedule with my wife / coach. I now feel that it's time to start doing some real serious training & not just going through the motions & just getting the job done. Each training session from here on in needs a purpose & a goal.

It's taken a couple of swim sessions to get back into that & I haven't been outside on the bike yet but did have an excellent windtrainer session in the garage in the weekend. Did the Spinervals 24.0 HILLacious DVD. Awesome workout !!! The running is obviously taking a little while to get back into but hopefully I'll be stronger.

I have now taken possession of my new Jamis TT bike but haven't been out on the road yet so that is going to take a bit of time getting used to. I also have a new pair of K-Swiss Konejo 11 running shoes to try out so all very exciting times.

So for now it's just head down & get training. Will post some photos of the bike as soon as I take some.

This weekend

2010-07-30T07:15:00.004+12:00

Only 48 hrs now till the start of the Mizuno Half Marathon in Taupo.

I really enjoy doing this race & halfway through the year it comes at a good time, giving you the motivation to keep training through the winter months. Now as I've said before this run is not about a PB, it's just about finishing feeling strong & fit. My time I'm looking for is between 1:50 & 1:55.

The weekend should be abit of fun also as we have a group of 12 staying at the Huka Falls Resort & we have other friends who are in Taupo but not staying with us. Might even watch the All Blacks kick the Wallabies on Saturday night.

I'll let you know next week as to how it all went.

No I didn't do the fun ride last weekend. I chose to stay @ home, save some money & time & did my 6 monthly gardening instead. Was worth it.

And lastly , hopefully I will get my new TT bike on the road in a few days time. I've had it sitting at work for a number of months now but haven't had it built but very soon it will hit the road. Can't wait !!

Might see ya in Taupo.

26 more days to go

2010-07-05T19:30:00.003+12:00

Yep that's right. Only 26 more days till I seriously start my journey to Ironman & the Cameron Brown Award.

Sunday August 1st is the date of the Mizuno Taupo Half Marathon. My plan for this race is to try & run to my Heart Rate ( will probably be a bit higher due to it being a race ) & not worry to much on my time. I know it's not going to be a PB so it doesn't bother me. I just want to finish strong & feel like I could keep on running. My hopeful time for the race will be around 1:50 - 1:55. That's about 10 mins slower than my PB but who cares.

Now to get me there in top form I have been putting in some long runs over the month of June & are really pleased where I am right now. I managed a 2:05 hr run doing 22.70 kms which is the longest ( time & distance ) I have ever done. My total running for the month of June was 140.75 / 12:41 hr.

Now all we hope for is a nice Taupo winters morning.

I have 1 other event which I'll do before the 1/2 Marathon & that's the Okoroire 70km FUN ride. Yes fun ride, it's not a race !!!! Yeah right. I did this ride last year & had great fun. It was the race which kick started my journey to the 320km Enduro. This year it's just something to do during the winter & to get you out training before the Wattyl Cycle challenge. So this month I've managed a total of 245.5 kms / 9;45 hr of cycling & 100km on the windtrainer.

My swimming just keeps ticking along doing 20 kms this month.

Once again it's more than last year, with the running especially being heaps more & I'm even enjoying the running. So down to Taupo we'll go in a few weeks with a group of us staying at the Huka Falls Resort. Should be fun.

Triathlon Tauranga have been running a Duathlon series over the winter & we had another great race on Sunday. Now I haven't been doing them just organising them with another guy who's training for the Sprint distance Worlds in Budapest. We have had great fun & some great feedback from the people competing, so if you read this & can get down to Tauranga, we have 1 more race left on August 22nd. Otherwise you'll have to wait till next year & we hope to do them again.

So onwards with the month of July. I have 2 weekends away with the family over the school holidays which isn't the best for training but luckily things taper off towards the 1/2 Marathon.

Where is the year going ???

2010-06-03T18:18:00.006+12:00

With May now behind us we head ourselves into the deep dark winter.

Na really our winters here in Tauranga aren't that bad. We may have just had a whole lot of rain but it's still not that cold. So that's meant I've had some reasonably good training, but have had somethings like a kids Cub Camp to attend & organising the Triathlon Tauranga's Duathlon Series get in the way of training. The Duathlon went off just great the other weekend so I don't mind doing that stuff & you always have got to have time for the kids.

So for May I managed, Bike - 213km, Swim - 16.5km, Run - 101km, Windtrainer - 70km

I also managed a few core & weights sessions. Very happy with where the running is right now. Need to work on the bike k's & also the same with swimming. Now overall for the year I'm ahead of the same time last year so that's a good thing considering I'm heading towards Ironman.

So the month of June will just be more training with the Mount Joggers 10km run the only event I have planned. Will only do this if it's not rubbish weather.

Yes I'm in

2010-05-18T20:15:00.003+12:00

As alot of you would know by now IMNZ has reached it's 1500 person capacity & is sold out for 2011.

So this is a small piece of history for IMNZ, We all know IM races in the States sell out in hours but not down here in good ol NZ, so for most of us this is quite a shock & has meant we have had to fork out the entry fee 9 months in advance. Anyhow I'm in & have atleast 10 other people I know joining me in the experience.

So my jouney has started with some good weeks of training under the belt already.

My main goals for the year ( next season ) are to complete the Cameron Brown Award which is given out to people who complete the following events in the one season. This starts with the Taupo Half Marathon, Taupo Cycle Challenge ( only 1 lap this year ), Kinloch Triathlon, Across the Lake swim & finally Ironman NZ. You don't have to do them fast, you just gotta finish.

I will also throw in the Taupo Half Ironman & no doubt some other smaller events to keep my mind off the hard training miles.

So that's the plans & from here on in I'll try & keep you all informed of how things are going. I'm happy with where the training is at right now, with my long run upto 15km & biking 70 +km for my long ride. Have been managing 2 swims a week for a total of about 5km & throw in some weights & a windtrainer session & that's about the week full up. My biggest challenge will be to stay injury free & not over do the running.

On the event front I've had a busy last 2 weekends with being team / company manager for our teams we had in the Moonride 12 Hr MTB in Rotorua, just last weekend at the Kaimai Classic Multisport event in Tauranga. Two great events & our teams had some good results.

Hopefully for me the next event will be the Okoroire fun ride in late July.

Train safe & be cautious of crazy drivers.

Things have changed

2010-04-08T17:46:00.003+12:00

Yes I have now made the decision not to go to Busselton & compete in Ironman.

Instead I will line up at Taupo for IM New Zealand.

The decision was made due to a lack of holidays on my behalf & if we travel that far we want a holiday also, so for the moment it's just on hold.

So NZ it is! I hope to line up with about lots of mates this year so should be a bit of FUN.

What a busy start.

2010-03-20T10:51:00.004+13:00

Well we are almost at the end of March, a 1/4 of the way through the year & time has just raced by. It needs to slow down or I'll be 40 in no time.

So here's a rundown on what's been happening in that time.

It all started with me doing the swim leg for a team @ the Port Of Tauranga 1/2 IM. Clocked a time of 36:51 in very trying conditions. Was happy with that time & beat all the people I wanted to. I then helped marshalling on the run course.

Then I had the last 2 weeks of the school holidays camping at Bowentown with the kids. This was a great break. Did do some small runs & swims whilst I was away. We then packed up on the Saturday & had the Womens Triaction ( formerly Bendon )race on the Anniversary Monday. I was the Chief Bike Marshall so was up bright & early setting up the course.

That's January gone!!!

Now into February & the 1st weekend I competed in the local Ucan2 race. These races are very casual & cheap & are always well attended by the local community. I had a poor swim but on a whole it was good just to race. The following weekend we had a house booked in Taupo which was meant to be for an Ironman camp. Unfortunately we didn't get the numbers so Kathy & I & 2 others ( not doing IM )headed down anyway & had a great weekend training. Did about 70kms of biking, 18kms of running & 3kms of swimming in the Lake. Did alot of laying around being lazy also.

The very next weeknd we were back in Taupo for the Great Lake Relay. This is a team event in which you run/walk around Lake Taupo. We had a team of 9 people. We piled into the Transit van @ 2am on Saturday morning & had an absolute ball as we ran our way around the Lake. I had a leg of 10.9kms 1st then another 7.4kms later in the afternoon. We managed to get round in 13hr 32 mins. Another great weekend.

To finish off February we headed north to Auckland to watch the final round of the Thundercat racing at North Piha. This was very entertaining as most races had atleast 1 boat flip in the huge surf. The boys had a quick boogey board then it was time to head back to the MIL house for the night.

That brings us round to the 1st weekend in March which is traditionally IMNZ weekend. So off we headed on Friday night to Taupo to watch. The day was great even if a little windy & cold. We always say it's harder to watch than compete. The finish line at midnight was very cold. Well done to all those finishers. Yes it did fire me up for the oncoming training & race.

Now just in case we were getting sick of travelling we headed to Maraetai the following weekend, with another couple to compete in the Panasonic Tri. We had an enjoyable days rest on the Saturday, then had a great race on Sunday. Kathy & I did the Olympic distance in a team. I had the swim & run to do. Swim time of 28:01 & run 46:14 which I was very happy with. The run course was 2 laps & had a climb in each lap. This was much like the run course in Mooloolaba so was a good hit out.

Now as I write this we only have 4 more days till we head to Mooloolaba for the Triathlon. Hopefully Cyclone Ului won't cause any damage to the coastline & by next Sunday any large waves will have gone. I would really like to swim in the ocean this time. This year we will be competeing in a team as individual entries sold out really quick. It's going to be a great trip as we travel with another 2 couples & have an apartment which looks out over the beach & the ITU race course.

So in nutshell that's what's been happening. We have the Bayfair triathlon this Sunday & I am going to be the Bike Marshall again.

So that will be March over & done with. Then we head on into April with my brother / girlfriend & his son arriving from London on Good Friday. We all head to Onemana for Easter.

Then watch this space as I will knuckle down & start getting some structure to my training.

Just for the record I have been doing some exercise, not just tripping around the ountry. Stats so far are, 180kms running, 670km on the bike & 42kms of swimming.

Yep I'm still alive

2010-03-15T20:31:00.003+13:00

Yes I have been slack but these first 9 weeks of the year have raced by & I seem to be away just about every weekend.

Now with our trip back to Mooloolaba just a few days away I thought I would write something & let you know I am at home this weekend so will do some catch up on what's been happening where.

The beginning of a New Year

2010-01-01T08:15:00.008+13:00

Well to recap on 2009 first.

Had fun in Mooloolaba, set myself a goal of the 320km Enduro bike ride & had a ball doing it & have got more active in the Triathlon Tauranga scene. Kathy & I also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year. So just to finish here are a few numbers in which I hope to better in 2010. ( Maybe not the cycling but you never know )

Running - 525km, stopped running to concentrate on cycling.

Cycling - 5680km, will try to keep this up.

Windtrainer - 710km, winter training.

Swimming - 197km, happy with this effort.

Overall I've been happy with 2009's training & can't wait to get into some serious IM training.

So my goals for 2010 are to smoke the swim at the Tauranga 1/2, have fun doing the Round Taupo Relay Run, have another awesome time in Mooloolaba ( this time with friends ), train alot harder in the gym in the off-season ( maybe find some Ab's ), get faster on the bike ( getting a new TT bike should help this ), & get to Perth in December ready to race.

Some other milestones this year will be my twin boys turning 10 & myself hitting the big 40.

Xmas Kiwi Style

2009-12-24T13:04:00.004+13:00

Well it's that time again whan all those in the Northern Hemisphere suffer through a cold snowy Xmas Day whilst us down under have BBQ's & head to the beach.

Hope you all have a great Xmas with your loving families & we'll do it all again in the coming New Year.

I still have 1 sprint Tri to do on the 28th. Should be fun.

Tinman / Taupo Half Ironman Report ( A little late )

2009-12-14T06:20:00.006+13:00

Yes I've been a bit slack / lazy / busy lately & haven't got around to writing a Race Report on Tinman.

Well here is what I remember...

After weeks of crap weather the Sunday morning dawned fine & little wind. Yeehah.

The swim.
This went really well & although most people say it was short I was happy with 21:26 & 89th out of the water. Up into T1 & I just took my time & made sure I was ready for the ride & remembering I just needed to finish. 2:58 later & I was off on the bike.

The bike.
As one would have expected this leg went very well. My biggest challenge here was not to push to hard & kill my poor legs for the run. I had a good ride & finished with a time of 1:10:26. Fairly happy with that time & I felt like I hadn't destroyed my legs. A leisurely T2 2:40, & I was ready for the run ( hopefully a run )

The run.
Now as we all know this was going to be a challenge. I haven't run since Mid August & had no idea if I could get round 10km without walking. All I can say is the theory of lots of cycling will help the running is what I hoped for. I felt good going down the 1st km so hoped it was going to stay that way. By the time I hit the base track of Mount Maunganui I was starting to feel a bit sore but it was there that I overtook a local bike shop owner which gave me a boost & from there on I was not going to let pass me so that stopped me from even thinking about walking any part of the run. Yes the base track hurt but I was enjoying the beautiful weather & scenery which certainly made it more enjoyable. Off the base track & down the last km to the finish there was nothing left & you didn't see any sprint finish coming from my poor legs. I was very happy with a time of 50:47 for the run.

Overall time of 2:28:17. I was stoked to go sub 2:30 & very happy just to get round in one piece.

Was good to be a part of the Triathlon Tauranga Team which once again won the Club Challenge.

Now this race was out of the way I had a week to try & get some very sore legs up & ready for the 90km bike leg of the Pearl Izumi Taupo Half Ironman. I was doing this race with my wife. She was to do the swim & run legs. The race was to have some added spice as we were having a race of the families with another couple from Tauranga.

Having never done or even been to watch the Taupo 1/2 this was to be a new experiebce for the both of us.

Now race morning dawned grey & overcast & a wind blowing already. The atmosphere was great but without all the hype of Tauranga. The swim start was great & Kathy got bashed up a little but exited with a 35:59. Now it was my turn to crank out a quick 90km on the bike. Heading past the Motor Race course the wind was fair honking & it was also raining. Had a great leg out to Reporoa. The ride back towards Taupo, I decided it was time to work a little harder & catch some people up ahead of me. By the time we were about 15km to go & starting the climb I was feeling real strong & started to drop / catch people regularly. Up & over the top I put the hammer down & fair smoked on into transition with a time of 2:45:46 which I was very happy with. ( all I need now is a TT bike & hopefully go a little faster ).

Passed the transponder to Kathy & let her do the rest. Yes we did beat our friends by about 4 mins so that was something to be pleased about. Nothing like a little rivalry to keep the fire burning.

Now that those 3 weeks are over it's time just to chill for a while & let the legs have a wee rest. No I'm not saying I'll do nothing, just smaller shorter rides & start doing a little bit of running.

So the plan for the rest of the year is to go watch the Rotorua 1/2 Ironman this weekend & be a supporter for my blogger friends. Then chill for Xmas with the family, do Surfbreaker @ the Mount on the 28th, then chill some more for New Years.

For everyone racing this weekend go hard do your best.

Wattyl Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge

2009-12-01T20:40:00.006+13:00

Well some many months ago I thought I might do the 320km Enduro race.

My reasoning behind this was to start training for Ironman Western Australia & to make the 180km ride feel short. I then put this idea to one side as I thought I didn't really have enough time to train for it. That was till a good friend I worked with in Auckland talked me back into doing it & as we all know that was the beginning of some BIG training rides.

Well I'm pleased to now write a Race report of the big Day / Night/ Morning.

It all started Friday morning in Tauranga by dropping the kids to school, grocery shopping then heading down to Taupo about 11:00am. Made ourselves at home in the rented house then went off to register. That done it was a quick stop in the Orca shop & back home for an afternoon nap. Got a couple of hours in then woke up & chatted with the rest of the people I was staying with. Got back to bed about 9pm then slept till midnight.

Saturday 28th November.

Awoke at midnight & ate some spag on toast, got changed then got on my bike & headed down to the start line to find my friend & support crew. The organisers had done the roll call by 1:15am & just waiting for a few late ones & we would be off at 1:30am for the 320km Enduro race.

Now after the initial excitement & racing on up the hill out of Taupo we settled down & a group of about 12 formed. We rode like this for about 20km then ended up dropping a few & picking up a few, finally ending up with a bunch of 8. We had 3 support vehicles with us & we were making some great progress. Having never ridin on the road at night this was all very exciting & I was really enjoying the thrill of going down hills at 50+km/hr in the darkness. The bunch worked really together & we chatted throughout the night. By early light we were down the south end of the lake & climbing Kuratau Hill. We just rode steady & made sure we all made it to the top together & formed back up on the Tokaanu Flats. We lost 1 rider here to a mechanical but the rest got into single file & started to crank it up along the shores of Lake Taupo.

We got to the bottom of hatepe Hill altogether but going up I opened a 200m gap ( unintentionally ) which enabled me to stop for a nature break. We charged on into Taupo & into the Caltex station to sign in. I quickly got changed out of my warmer long pants / top & into other cycling kit & after about 8 mins was ready to get back out on the road all stocked up with food & perpetum. A big thanks here to my wife & her 2 friends Jodi & Yvette. A quick photo with my mate Dave who unfortunately due to a family situation could only do the 1st lap with me.

I headed out & 2 others were coming out also so we rode back out together & joined up with the mad rush of the 160km starters. The bunches coming through were the 4:30 seeded riders so a little to fast for us. After about 3 km's of riding with 1 of the others I said bye & headed of alone to try & hang with some of the bunches coming through. This I did manage & so long as I was looking after the heartrate I sat in the bunches I got a free ride. Yes the smallest hill would throw me out the back but I would just keep trucking & the next bunch was never far away. I did end up in a bunch which of about 600-800 people which was amazing. I had great fun & I was encouraged by alot of people along the way. Finally got back round to Kuratau again & got left behind by most people. Once again down onto the Tokaanu Flats & got myself into a bunch which would stay together for the next 40 odd km till reaching Hatepe Hill.

Now this probably had to be my worst fear of the entire race. Could I get back up it a 2ND time. Very much to my surprise I not only rode it quite easy the 2nd time but I smoked heaps of 1 lappers & with the crowds yelling support for me near the top I got to the top with ease. Now time to get to Taupo & that finish line.

I did promise to ring the wife just so she could get to the line in time to see me as she had been out training so I jumped off at 5 Mile Bay & had a nature stop & madea the phone call. Quickly back on the bike & up the slight rise to the Airport. I once again surprised myself by overtaking people, so once on the flat I put the hammer down & 3 others came with me. I now had a goal of finishing with a ride time of less than 11 hrs. We were flying along & knew I was going to make it barring a mechanical so coming into the last few 100m I sat up & made sure no-one was around to steal my moment of glory when I crossed the finish line. Yes I made it in under 11hrs ride time & an offical time of 11:10:48 with which I was stoked.

Now I have been told I don't look excited in some photos we have, but I think I'm just reflecting on what I had just done & a little tired.

Now the goal of making training for 180km for Ironman have been achieved I think. I now look at 90km as a small ride which you can go out hard for.

See you all at Tinman. I'll be the one who can't run.

Race Report to folllow later

2009-11-30T06:05:00.003+13:00

Just thought I would let you all know that I did complete the 320km ride on Saturday in an offical time of 11:10:48.

Will write more later when I have time.

2 more sleeps

2009-11-26T19:44:00.003+13:00

That's about it.

A sleep tonight , then try & sleep Friday afternoon till about midnight , then off to race start for a 1:30am start time.

Hopefully the rain doesn't come till the 2nd lap & I finish. Around 3pm would be good. I'm looking forward to a beer & BBQ Saturday night.

Good luck to anyone else out competing in the Lake Taupo Challenge.

Not a bad race.

2009-11-15T08:57:00.005+13:00

It would appear the bike & run legs were a little short but we all had to race on the same course so who cares.

I had a great 2nd half of the 84km. This half was over hilly roads & into the wind. I managed to finish with an average speed of 30.1km/hr so I was rapt with that.

For some photo's of our team competing check out one of my teammates blog.

Thanks to the team for asking me to fill-in. Was great to go hard for 90km & know I could just get off at the finish.

Some useless information

2009-11-12T19:54:00.002+13:00

Just thought I would share these figures with you all as I enter the last 2 weeks before Taupo.

Since the 1st of August ( when I finally decided to train for the Enduro ), I have managed to knock off 3169 km in 119 hrs for an average speed of 26.6km/hr.

For the entire year I have managed a total of 4643 km in 170 hr, 20 mins for an average speed of 27.3 km/hr.

Right now I'm feeling confident in finishing the ride. People keep asking how long I hope to take & my answer to them is hopefully between 12 -13 hrs. That will just depend on how many times I stop.

Oh well this weekend I've been asked to fill in for another blogger at the Karapiro 1/2 IM so that will be a great chance to try go hard for 90km. It's not the flattest course around but all the more challenging.

Good Luck to anyone else competing this weekend in any event, anywhere.

What a difference a week makes

2009-11-09T19:10:00.006+13:00

Well we all now that last week I failed in my 250km ride..

This week nothing was going to get in the way of me completeing 250+ kms. So I planned myself a ride which would hopefully see me ride into a building SW breeze , then have a strong tailwind home.

Tauranga, Tokoroa, Rotorua, Te Puke, Mount, Tauranga
Find more Bike Rides in Tauranga, New Zealand

This is what I came up with..

So the day dawned nice & sunny with a light SW wind blowing. Yes everything's going to plan. Set out after waiting for the boys to wake up. Normally I would have been gone by 6am but this weekend the kids had a overnight Cub Scout Camp so wanted to say goodbye & to have a great Saturday. I was attending on the Sunday for the bush walk.

So off I went over the Kaimai Ranges & off into the unknown. What I was install for was probably the most enjoyable ride I have had over the last few months. The stretch of road from the Kaimais down to the corner of SH1 was great, then on to Horahora Rd which runs alongside Lake Karapiro. Some great real estate along here & something to keep the mind off the riding. Next was onto Old Taupo Rd which was just great riding. Nice rolling country roads & a pretty good surface also. I was going great guns along here & feeling damn good about things.

Now when I left I was quite prepared for the 1st 120km to take upto 6hrs ( into the wind ). So when I got to Tokoroa ( 101km in around 4hrs I was stoked. Only problem that I now realised was that I had been riding with a cross tailwind. Oh well shit happens!! NOTHING is gunna stop me this week.

So on I went & down to the turn-off onto SH30 & heading home. The NW wind that was blowing quite hard did assist me along this stretch of road so I was off. I txt Kathy to ask what the wind was doing in Tauranga to be told it was a strong NW. Oh well atleast the sun was shining.

By now I wss in Rotorua with 160km down in 6hrs. I was still very happy with what I had donee so far. Now up the side of the lake was very windy & it wasn't till Okere Falls that the wind really started to help my cause. This next part of road I really like as it's very fast going towards Tauranga. Mainly down hill as we head back to sea-level. As always the last part of the ride through Te Puke was hard & along Papamoa Baech Rd was getting tougher as I pushed into the breeze. Got to Pilot Bay & had done 240km. So now just the last few km's home & mission accomplished.

I was stoked with the ride & felt great !!!

Catch-up Time

2009-11-01T08:55:00.007+13:00

Well it's been a few weeks now since I last wrote something so just thought I'd do a little catchin up.

Yes I did manage my ride upto Pukekohe although it was into a strong Norwesterly for most of the way & then when I got over the Waikato River & started on the Glen Murray Rd it got worse. It was about 60km to go from here & I'd been doing ok, but this back road is very undulating & into the wind, VERY HARD. Then to top it off the afternoon heavy showers came in & it was accompanied by Hail & Thunderstorms. So being out in the middle of nowhere one must just push on. Was very happy that day to get off the bike & find a hot shower. For the record it was 225km in 9hrs 5mins.

The following day was the Bauer Express in Pukekohe & I had the job of lead vechile for the 50km race. The day had it all with Gordon Macauley turning up to take the win, numerous crashes due to the strong winds & a record field ( despite the weather there were heaps of late entries )of over 1300. Well done to all.

A quick trip home & out for dinner for my 9 year old twins birthday. What a weekend !!

Now whilst this was all going on my work was in the process of moving. We had done the office on the Friday. This was to go on for the next 2 weeks & make me extremely tired. Luckily it is all over now.

The week 19th - 25th I very little training. Just a few little bike rides. Come Thursday night I drove north to Auckland with other crew members to sail in the Coastal Classic ( Yacht race from Akld to Russell, BOI ). The race got underway at 10am Friday with a nice 18knt Souwesterly blowing. So up went the spinnaker & we sailed the next 120 nautical miles with it up. Very good sail & finished around 1am Saturday. Some of us then drove home about 10am & finished back in Tauranga around 5ish. Then once again straight out for Kathy's dads birthday dinner. BUSY, BUSY.....

Not us, but taken just after start.

So after some good nights sleep I moved on with the next week of training. Monday saw an easy 80km ride over the Mount, then my normal 45km Wednesday morning ride, followed that afternoon by another 45km ride. Both these were good & wanted to do more even though it was very windy. Damn wind!!!!! Is it ever going to stop. Thursday saw the normal am swim of 2500m.

So onto the weekends long ride.

Where do you go for 250kms ??? My plan was to go via the direct road ( Pyes Pa Rd ) towards Rotorua but go over the top of the lake through Hamurana past Lake Rotoma & on to Whakatane. Then head back home through Matata, Te Puke & the Mount. Now I hoped to be home by 5pm so as to go out with the wife & kids & friends for a kids Halloween dinner at Bureta Park.

So up at 4.30am & out the door by 6am. Things were looking great with no wind & the sun about to come up & eventually warm the day. How things change. Going past Pyes Pa school ther was still no sign of the wind & I was going great guns. %kms further up the road I was just thinking, Oh F#*k Here we go again !!!!!!!! A bloody strong headwind AGAIN.. So as one does they just put the haed down & hope for the best. 2hrs into the ride I had come through the Mangorewa Gorge roadworks & heading for the lake. Well a km up the road I had my 1st flat for 100's of kms. Stopped outside a farmers drive & started to fix it. He soon turned up & asked if all good. I said " Yep just pump this up & I'll be off " . Well that is if you don't snap the valve !!! Next tube & the farmer tells me he has a compressor, so luckily with the adaptor I carry we took the bike on the quad bike 400m up his drive & fixed the puncture. After a wee chat I was off 30mins lost.

So back into the headwind but now heading for Rotorua as to get some replacement tubes. Thanks to the guys at Rotorua Cycle Centre for letting me fix you up on Monday with a couple of tubes. Back on the bike & for the small trip out to the Whakatane turn-off I had a tailwind. Once on this road & going past the Lakes the wind was back in the face & swirling round. Up & over the hill & past Kawerau I was beginning to look at the time of day & whether I would make it back in time to go out. Some quick calculations told me that if I proceeded to Whakatane I wouldn't have enough time to ride that 105kms, so I took the next left turn & started to head for home. A cross tailwind for about 20kms so finaalty some relief. Next thing to do was stop in Matata for a pie & coke.

Now for the last 70km home. Easy I hear you say the winds a strong southerly. Yes it was in Matata but the forecast was for afternoon sea breezes ( 8-10knts / 10-15km ). Yes this did happen 5km up the road so I was now looking at riding the next 60 odd kms into a strong NE wind. It wasn't no sea breeze!! Around about here I was starting to think where I might get to before pulling the pin. I had told myself long before that if the wind did change then I would just stop right there. But I didn't !! I wanted to get to aleast 8hrs. So I carried on only to get attacked for about 3 minutes by the same shitty Magpie which attacked me last time I went this way. I was really pissed off about now. Just outside of Te Puke I finally made the call to Kathy & asked her to get ready to come & get me. I finally struggled my way to Baypark Stadium at 4pm for my totals of 204kms in 8hr 5mins.

Man I was glad to get off. It felt like I had ridden 300+ kms. So on reflecting on this ride I'm glad I stuck it as long as I did but hugely dissapointed I didn't get up to the 250km mark.

Sometimes Family must come First

Great Ride !!

2009-10-15T19:53:00.003+13:00

Not much to mention really as the weeks & km's just seem to be ticking by.

Last weekend I did manage my ride from Tauranga to Auckland, & in some strange way I really enjoyed the 238km / 8hr 45 min ride. The weather was pretty good considering what it was like on Friday & yes I did get my gentle southerly & a pie & coke at Ngatea. Mighty fine change to perpetuem.

So that brings me on to this weekends ride in which I hope to go over the Kaimais again then upto Te Aroha, over to Ohinewai then over the Waikato River at Glen Murray & come into Pukekohe the back way.

Sunday we have the company sponsored Bauer Express so I'm going to ride up & be a lead car for the race.

Will let you know next week if I make it.

Not much to mention.

2009-10-04T12:21:00.003+13:00

The recovery week has gone fairly well & the legs are feeling ready for some more action.

The week only consisted of a crap 5km run on Tuesday, 83km between the 2 rides on Wednesday, a 3000m swim Thursday & 90km flat ride on Saturday. Will finish it off with 2800m in the pool this arvo.

So that leads into this week which will see the weekday rides moved to Tuesday so I can squeeze in Wednesday night summer yacht racing ( just for the next 2 weeks till the Coastal Classic race Labour weekend ). Normal swim Thursday, hopefully a small run, then the biggie.

With school holidays & Kathy's last exam, she'll be taking the kids to Auckland on Friday to visit the Zoo & stay with her mother on Saturday. Dad will join them sometime Saturday afternoon once he has cycled there via the Kaimais, Paeroa, Miranda & up the East Coast Rd to Kawakawa Bay. Somewhere along the journey ( Miranda ?? ) I will hopefully run into my Round Taupo cycling buddie who will make his way from Auckland. Then off into town we go.

So this week I need to eat well & get plenty of sleep, & hope for great weather with a nice southerly blowing.

Will let you all know how it goes.

10/04/2009 Route
Find more Bike Rides in Thames, New Zealand

Off to Vegas

2009-09-27T17:39:00.004+13:00

No unfortunately I didn't get to go with the boss to Interbike, Las Vegas.

I had to settle with riding to Rotovegas.

I rode over the Kaimai's for the first time which took me 1hr 25 to cover the 29km from home & climb 490m to the summit. Once again the weather didn't know what it was doing & I had rain & sun on the way up. Then the descent it was raining. On to the flat rolling country roads it stopped.

Now the left turn onto State Highway 5 was like the unknown. I travelled this road from Auckland to Rotorua all the time but haven't for atleast the last 8 years, so had forgotten what it was like. It was basically up!!! The first 22km saw me climb 450m with nothing more than a 5% gradient. At the summit it once again threw it down, & with nowhere to hide I just kept riding to Rotorua.

The sun was shining on the airport side of the lake when I got to Rotorua, but by the time I had made my way round it was raining.

The road back to Tauranga from here is predominently downhill as we head back to sea level. Had a great ride along here & heading up towards the Mount I eventually had to head for shelter as the roads began to flood.

Only a short time later was back on the bike & heading over the Harbour bridge for home.

DROWNED !!!!!

Another great ride !!

2009-09-27T11:39:00.010+13:00

This weeks long ride was to include hills so check out below to see where I got myself to

Tauranga, Kaimai, Mamaku, Rotorua, TePuke, Mount.
Find more Bike Rides in Tauranga, New Zealand

Will write a bit more later.

Whakatane here I come

2009-09-20T11:29:00.005+12:00

Thought I had better sit down & let you all know what's been happening.

Last weeks mid-week training went really well. I got another couple of rides in on Wednesday totalling 93.50kms, did a 7km run & 2.8km swim. Then on Friday I loaded the companies trailer with tents & bikes etc & headed on down to Taupo. We had staff & riders staying in a couple of houses down there & the one we stayed in was huge sleeping 13 in total & space for more. Saturday dawned grey & overcast for the race but it was quite nice, not hot & no dust.

Once again my time was taken up making sure everyone was happy, doing all 3 prizegivings & generally making sure as the sponsors we all had a great day. For the record our Elite team won, the open & 90's revival team's were both 3rd. Phil a husband of 1 of the ladies at work won the 12hr solo & a Jude from Porirua cycles ( Big Jamis supporters ) won the womens 12hr solo. All in all a great day & couldn't wait to hit the sack around midnight.

Now the plan was to ride part way home but with the boss not coming down & me having to tow the trailer I didn't do a 75km ride.

Instead I did do 45km after work on Monday.

So the next week has rolled around & once again I mangaed 92km between my 2 rides on Wednesday, then knocked off 205kms on Saturday. Had a great ride from home to Whakatane & back. Beautiful morning at 6.30am with a slight westerly blowing , once I turned for home light showers started & a soueasterly ( Tailwind ), then by the time I hit Te Puke it was raining quite hard. Was glad to get off the saddle after 6hr 45mins. Feel like I could have kept riding, but this was only a flat ride. See what I fell like next week after 180km with hills.

The plan is over the Kaimai's, then down through Rotorua & back home via Te Puke.

You all have a great week.

I will !!!

Another good week

2009-09-07T19:10:00.004+12:00

This has been another successful week of training.

I once again managed a couple of short runs, totalling 9.55kms ( whahoo )& got in the pool for a total of 5.7kms. Both of these two discipline are taking alittle of the backseat at the moment but still just trying to be consistent.

Now the cycling on the other hand has been coming along great. On Saturday's ride I managed my longest time in the saddle of 6hrs. I have ridden 5hr 43mins before on the way to Taupo 2007. I also managed two good rides on Wednesday. So in total I rode 265.5kms with a total time of 10hr 13mins. Saturdays ride was quite a challenge as I was doing a hilly ride which involved not only the hills but a very strong headwind. It also was quite cold & even by 1pm I don't really think I was much warmer. Yes the sun was out but not warm.

This week is an easy week which is good timing as I head off to Taupo for my works sponsored MTB race. The boss may not be going to join us again this year so I 'll get to run around like a lost sheep. She'll be right !!

Hopefully the plan is for me to ride my easy 75km ride from Taupo then get picked up on the way. Just an easy few kms down Broadlands Rd.

Wednesday's rides will hopefully be a little longer this week as the daylight hours get longer. The rest of the week will fairly easy & hopefully the weather gods will be nice.

Ticking along

2009-08-30T14:30:00.003+12:00

Well this has been a good week of training.

I managed to get on the bike before & after work on Wednesday & was riding till about 6:45pm. Something I'm not used to riding in the dark. Before Taupo I'll have to get up in the middle of the night & go for a ride just to see what it really is like. Will also need to practice eating pies at 5am in the morning.

This week I've managed a small run of 5km, as well as my 2 swims totalling 5.5km & bike rides which totalled 253km in 9.5hrs.

Health wise I'm good & not to tired. Am really having to start seriously thinking of what I'm eating during the week & on the ride. It's alright at the moment but will have to start stopping at the pie shops soon as I can't get that much food & drink around with me.

Oh well that's enough from me this week. Keep training & have fun.

Back on the horse

2009-08-23T08:11:00.005+12:00

Well not quite a horse but after 4.5 hours on that saddle it felt good to get off.

Yes I seem to have got over the ankle injury ( just a ligament strain ) & got back on the bike Saturday morning. The plan was for 110km. I did the Welcome Bay loop with 3 hill climbs up Reid, Rocky Cutting & Waitao Rds.

Now I haven't ridden this distance since Lake Taupo Challenge 2007 so by the end I was begining to struggle, especially into the headwind. It felt good just to have done the distance though even if it wasn't fast. We have to remember that 320km round the Lake aint going to be fast, just Loooong. So the plan from here on is to increase the long ride by 35km for 2 weeks then halve it for a rest week. So next the next 2 weeks will be 145km then rest week of 70km, following 2 weeks 180km, rest 90km. This will get us through to 2 weeks of 250km rides then a couple of weeks of taper rides. Sounds mildly mad.

I did manage a short 10min run off the bike just to see if it was possible & I felt no pain so hopefully I'm all good.

This week will hopefully see me getting out before & after work on Wednesday's for more biking. The plan is 1.5hrs before & 2hrs after.

Now it's only 3 more weeks till the Jamis Day Night Thriller in Taupo, so all of you that are thinking of entering do so & we'll see you down there for a great day.

Great day..... but Ouch !!!!

2009-08-16T12:06:00.010+12:00

I'll start with a quick update on this weeks training. My running has been a little slack over the last few months so I thought I should start increasing my long run. So this week I did if only by 1.3km, to a huge distance of 6.3km. I had a good windtrainer session & hit the gym twice & a good solid swim. All things going good !!

Then along came Saturday & the Waikato Draught Tough Guy & Gal. I ended up going to the event alone as our friends had a funeral to attend & as it was hiffin it down with rain, Kathy decided to stay home & study. For those that don't know this event is a 6km or 12km run through mud, swamps, bush, over slippery farmland & taking in some manmade obstacles. I opted out of the 12km & just did the 6km. I thought 45 - 50 mins in the rain would be enough.

11.10am & off we went. I had alot of fun & it was a great to be finished. Through the finish chute & collect your cold Waikato then off to the water truck to get blasted. Then down to the not so hot showers changed & ready for prizegiving. Now don't worry about being last at this event as there were people finishing after 3hrs.

Now what did happen during the race was as I jumped down from one of the climbing obstacles, I felt some pain in my right ankle. I think the fact that you have your shoes taped on it gave my ankle some support & I was able to carry on without any difficulties. That started much later.

A quick drive home, shower then off to Kathy's dads for dinner & a beer & that's where it all started to turn to custard. My right ankle just started to lock up with immense pain. I started to get the shakes & we needed to get home. I could barely get out to the car.

Once home I iced it & had some drugs & hit the sack, a little pissed off that there would probably be no training for me for a little while.

Well 24 hrs later I can atleast walk on the ankle but still sore. Might be a trip to the physio come Monday. Hopefully will be back into it soon & back on the bike especially. Running can wait till later.

An observation

2009-08-09T09:29:00.002+12:00

Now as you know I went to Auckland this weekend.

I had a great 90km ride, but I'm not going to bore you with any details. What I am going to say though is after riding on Saturday & being out early Sunday morning taking Kathy to Uni, is how little amount of cyclists in Auckland wear bright fluro jackets. Is it still not cool to be seen wearing clothes like that. Do the jackets mean your just a commuter or recreational cyclist.

Do the jackets clash with upmarket brands of bikes or do you have to be seen in your bunch with a bike shop's kit on. I thought getting home in 1 piece would be of more importance.

I know for sure that more & more people in Tauranga wear them & that's probably to do with the Safe cycling promotions we always have.

Anyway I've had a good weekend & have caught with my cousin & an old school/work mate so now it's home & more training.

Got the Tough Guy race on Saturday so that's going to fun??

I think Spring is in the air

2009-08-06T08:37:00.008+12:00

The days are getting longer, warmer & the blooms are coming out. This has to all bode well for training. It's so much more enjoyable running in the mornings with no ice & cycling without the thought of black ice around the next corner.

This week has seen me get back into training after having a week off. I have taken it easy & just got back into it slowly.

Now the latest on the Taupo Cycle Challenge is that I've been asked to reconsider doing the 320km Enduro. My old work mate from Akld & fellow triathlete is keen to give it a crack & thinks it would be more enjoyable to ride at Taupo with someone else. Remember that the 320km race starts at 1am, so riding round the back road by yourself could be very lonely. Yes you do have a support crew but you can't talk to them. So the next steps from here are to get up to 150km by September 5th & assess how we are both going.

If it's the go ahead then I'll have to put some serious k's in. I might have to team up with Mike Kelly who's training for Kona & hang on his wheel. The plan will be to build up to 2 rides of 250km. So this week I have spent some more time on Google Maps looking at potential rides I could do. These rides would take in places like Tokoroa, Putaruru, Rotorua, Kawerau, Whakatane & maybe even Taupo. The last thing I want to do is get bored riding round & round Tauranga. I may even take a ride to Auckland.

Obviously as a result of this I won't get alot of time for running, but I feel that so long as I keep doing 1 10km run a week then I'll be able to stuggle my way thru the 1/2 IM in Rotorua. It won't be fast or pretty but just a steady IM pace. Remember this is all part of the big picture some months away in Perth.

The family are heading to Auckland this weekend & yes Saturday afternoon I'm planning on riding from West Harbour, thru Albany to Dairy Flat, then over to Helensville & back down to West Harbour. Should be a good 90km ride.

So things should go well & we'll be signing up for 320km. Sounds scary but a great challenge. People have asked me why???? My answer is that it's there to be done. I've done the 1 lap race once. Yes I could go back & get a better time, but that just means getting in a faster bunch & hanging in there. I want a challenge!!!!!

So I think I have now talked myself into doing 320km.

BRING IT ON !!!!!!!

Rest week

2009-08-01T21:33:00.005+12:00

This last week I have been resting. All my week consisted of was 2 gym sessions & a swim Thursday morning. All this rest is meant to get me on the right path mentally & physically for the next 17 weeks as I build for Taupo & 20 weeks till Vegas 1/2. On the Taupo race I have now been asked by a mate if I still want to do 320km's. I'm leaving it up to him to decide. If yes then 320km it is!!

So in anticipation of the go ahead I've been on Google maps measuring rides all over the greater BOP. Rides through places like Rotorua, Kawerau, Tokoroa.

This morning I had a good 80km ride then a 5km run off the bike. First time this winter I have been rained on whilst riding so have done fairly well. Next weeks long ride will be done up in Auckland as the family goes north with Kathy.

Just to show it's not all triathlon in this household this afternoon I've watched a couple of NPC rugby games & it 's been great to see the big unions getting beaten. The best result had to be the team from my old stomping ground getting up to beat Canterbury. Go the mighty Harbour.

Yes it's a long season but you take the wins when you get them !!!!!

Anyhow might go watch the Warrios now, then get up & watch the AB's whilst other bloggers are preparing for a Half Mary in Taupo.

That was FUN.

2009-07-26T15:10:00.003+12:00

This morning dawned fine & frosty. What better weather for riding. Luckily by 10am it had warmed up a little & it was action time. I was nowhere near the front at the start so in the 1st few km i just went all guns blazing to get up nearer the front. I think it worked.

Now my biggest problem with bunch riding is when the front doesn't work & people don't roll through. As a result the speed drops & I always think we should be going faster so head off up to the front. Another reason for being at the front is so you don't collect traffic cones that almost throw you off your bike. Yes I was near the back on 1 corner & almost bit the turf. Everyone near me did commend me for staying upright.

Anyway the race went well after that & got home safely with a respectable time of 2:07:33 for 70km.

I am now going to have a rest week which will only have a couple of swims. No running or windtrainer. Back on the bike next Saturday. Think I need to work on hills.

Race tomorrow

2009-07-25T10:08:00.006+12:00

Sunday morning 10am I am competing in the Okoroire 70km fun ride ( race ). Hopefully the rubbish weather from this week has passed & as per the forecasters it is going to be fine with light winds.

Mid week I heard over 400 people had entered & more are likely with good conditions. This race for me is purely just something to do mid-winter & blow out the cobwebs. It also signals the start of some serious bike training for Round Taupo Cycle Challenge . I have now decided that 160km will do this year.

The 2 North Island reps from work are also doing it so that will be good motivation for training & race day.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll catch up with Phil & Kate at the race. Always good to see other bloggers at events.

It's time now to go do some family things with the kids & put the race tyres on the bike. Will be back tomorrow arvo with a small report on how the race went.

Windy Waihi.

2009-07-21T07:01:00.006+12:00

Sunday morning dawned reasonably fine but very windy. At least that was an improvement on Saturday's weather. We packed the family into the car & headed 40 mins north of Tauranga to the small mining town of Waihi for the inaugural Newmont Waihi Gold Town Duathlon.

Race HQ was the Waihi Rugby Club. After a short race brief the long distance race got under way at 9:15am. Starting with an 8km run, which was 2 laps of the Gold Mine on a gravel walking track. Before the race I had heard a local say uphill & headwind in the same sentence when describing the course. How correct he was!!! 1km into the run & bang up quite a steep grind. I just took it easy for the 1st lap then built into it for the 2nd & managed to pass a number of people going up the hill. At the top it over looked the mine & had a great view of the greater Waihi area. Each lap the family gave me words of encouragement. I don't know who was doing it tougher, me in the race or them freezing in the howling gale.

Onto the 4 lap, 20km bike leg & it started with a nice tailwind , followed by severe crosswinds then straight into the wind up the hill. By the 4th lap it was getting tough. Besides the downhills the most enjoyable part was going through town with the tailwind. Reached speeds up to 50km/hr along the flat. I started getting a sore calf when I got out of the saddle so hoped it wouldn't stop me from running.

Luckily it didn't & I got round the 4km last lap in one piece. The finish was on the soft rugby field so was no chance of a sprint finish.

Was happy with my offical time of 1:41:58 & 6th place for the long course race.

Managed to pick up a spottie ( sports bag ). Kids got a good look @ the mine & wife got to watch for once so all in all a good day.

Headed home & did the afternoon swim squad.

The rest of the weeks training went well. Now this weekend I've got the Okoroire 70km fun ride on Sunday so hoping for fine weather.

Will add some photos at some stage.

Things are a gunna get BUSY.

2009-07-14T18:13:00.008+12:00

As if they aren't already.

Lets start with work. We have our 2010 bike launch in Christchurch in 3 weeks & we have alot still to organise. Then when the show is on for 3 days, only 2 of us are staying in Tauranga, whilst the rest are at the show. Hope the phones are quiet.

After that we get things ready for the Jamis Day Night Thriller www.daynightthriller.co.nz/ MTB race in Taupo 12 September. We have a number of Pro teams competing so quite a bit of organisation. We have 2 houses booked for the weekend so looking forward to this event again.

Mid October we then sponsor the Bauer Express road race in Pukekohe www.pukekoheexpress.co.nz/. Whilst all this goes on we launch the new product & summer comes around, then we all go biking. Hopefully before Xmas Kathy & myself will get new TT bikes which we plan on racing in Perth.

On the home front Kathy will be back at Uni which means weekends away for us. I've got a duathlon this weekend then 70km bike race the following weekend. We'll both keep trying to train ever spare minute in between swim coaching, being a Leader at the kids Cub Scouts & watching the TDF.

All the time I keep telling myself Daylight savings aint far away then that extra light will be a godsend.

On a real high note for us at Jamis, it was awesome to see Richard Ussher podium at Challenge Roth. For Kathy & myself it was also pleasing to see Elina finish her first triathlon. A very small one but we all started somewhere. She really admired that fact that Kathy had done IMNZ & we wouldn't be surprised to see her on the start line sometime soon. Watch for Xterra next year.

After spending a bit of time with them back in May, Richard said his goal was to go hard with Normann Stadler. Well he did that & grabbed 3rd place on the podium.

The training went without a hitch this week & I got a good 92km bike ride in on Saturday morning.

Onward & upward. Remember,

Beer makes you fat & wine makes you lean......

Against thing

Absolute Madness

2009-07-07T19:48:00.002+12:00

That's about the only way to describe what happened this morning when entries opened for the 21st Port of Tauranga Half Ironman.

If you managed to be one of the lucky few who wanted to do the event & got your entry, well done . What this does mean for me is I'm now the swimmer for a team, so I will be a small part of this event.

I find it staggering that every year people moan & bitch about drafting, to many people, blah, blah, blah but for the last few years the race sells out within 1/2 a day. Is it the venue, the Long Distance champs, it's flat & fast, or is it the only 1/2 IM race in NZ you get to compete against the worlds best whether in a team or individual. Maybe it's just Tauranga & you guys all wish you could live here.

Whatever, congratulations to Sport BOP & the Patter Group for making this event.

As for me you'll see me at Hooksie's 1/2 grinding up them HILLS.

On that note I had better go & get the windtrainer out for my session in the morning. Might TT against the TDF teams. Go the Kiwis. Let's have a Kiwi win a stage of the Tour.

Another good week

2009-07-05T10:21:00.007+12:00

Not much happened this week.

The week rolled by with the normal gym sessions after work, windtrainer sessions before work, swimming, running & a long Saturday bike ride. The long bike has been going well over the last few weeks & am now looking to increase the distance ( probably up to 90km ) then get into them hills & get some good strength.

I know there is still 24 weeks till the Rotorua 1/2, but that's not many long bike rides left, when you might not be able to get out every weekend. Also in the back of my mind is the long goal of IMWA so the more of a base I can get now hopefully next winter will be easier.

This week I had a day off work as one of the boys was sick. As I sat there during the day I thought about how cool it would be not to work. Drop kids off at school then go out & train when your ready. Only deadline is to pick them up on time. I know it's great to work, to interact with other people but it would be good especially in the summer.

Right time to stop dreaming because Kathy would want to be the one who doesn't work.

Today was going to be some running hill reps but I just felt lazy. The weather certainly didn't help. Instead I went online & checked out dates for some of the summers events. Ocean swim series, Contact Tri series, Across Lake Taupo swim & some bike races. Want to do some long swim & bike races this summer to help the training & as many Tri's as one can afford.

Once again the forecast for this week looks dodgy so here's hoping next weekend is fine & we can all get out & smell the fresh air.

I think the next few weeks are going to be busy with the Tour de France on. Thank goodness for My Sky & a windtrainer.

Train safe.

Should I stay or should I go.

2009-06-27T14:55:00.007+12:00

Our good weather forecasters told us that the morning would be clear then start raining again Saturday afternoon. Well it was grey & misty when I was thinking of going but thought maybe I should wait & see, stay inside & watch some more back to back Jackson hits on C4.

Finally around 8am I thought it looked promising so headed out & expected it to clear up. Well that never happened & the misty rain closed in & for the 2nd hour of my ride it was wet & getting worse. On the upside, it wasn't cold so that made things just a little more enjoyable. Had a great but cautious ride around the Tauranga area. Great fun getting on the new asphalt on the Expressway & watching the speed. Have been stuggling over the last few months with the weather & other commitments to get any really big bike k's but hopefully over the next few weeks I can at least be consistent & get a 2+ hour ride in most weekends.

Finally getting home dripping wet I changed & headed down to the pool for a quick 2km splash & dash. Spent the rest of the arvo inside with 2 boys who kept telling me they were bored & a wife trying to tell me all about her Uni exam, that she barely understands let alone try to explain it all to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm interested it's just quite complex.

The rest of the week has gone pretty much to plan. I did miss my interval run on Thursday to attend the kids school parent / teacher interviews. Once again they tell us they have no concerns for either child which is awesome. Now hopefully this continues for thier entire schooling. Liam appears to have picked up some his Dads traits, but so long as it's only the good one's.

This next month is just around the corner & all things going right I have a couple of events I'm hoping to enter. The first one is the Gold Town Duathlon Waihi ( being held @ the mine ) 19th July. This event is being held for the 1st time so if you can get along & support it, do so. The 2nd event is the Okoroire 70km bike ride. This event is always popular & attracts good numbers, even if it does rain most years.

Now the last couple of days have had me thinking. Love him or hate him I'm sure we'll all miss Micheal Jackson's music. Which made me think. We've had Elvis, now Wacko, who's going to be the next King. Is there currently any solo musician who might have it in them.

I think NO !!!

Shortest day

2009-06-21T08:45:00.003+12:00

There's not going to be many daylight hours today so thankfully it's a lovely day. Being the shortest day must be a good thing, as we can now look forward to Daylight Savings only 14 weeks away & warmer temperatures. Kathy & I really hope next year isn't this cold as we build for Busselton.

Back track to last weekend & we had a great weekend in Auckland whilst Kathy was slaving over the books at Uni. The kids & I went up the Skytower on Saturday afternoon then had dinner with Kathy's sister & her 4 kids. Noise , noise , noise !!!!

Sunday we met up with a friend I worked with at Fuji Xerox in Auckland & also a budding Triathlete, his daughter & went to Kelly Tarlton's. The kids love anything to do with animals & this was no exception. Being able to see King penguins is pretty cool, freezin infact. We were there when the keeper fed the huge Stingrays which was quite unreal ( gave me a few tips for this summers open water swimming ).

Great weekend & then the drive back home. This is the only reason I actually went with Kathy was to drive home.

The rest of the week has been good on the training front. The normal hill windtraining session was good, morning run felt good ( apart from the temperature ), interval run on the treadmill was a little more successful than last week, good swim, & I got a small ride in on Saturday afternoon.

Spent Saturday morning down in Whakatane at the Monty's Revenge race being support for an athlete work sponsor.

Swimming this afternoon then the week rolls around & we do it all again.

Why ??????

To lose weight, go faster on the bike, run faster, to be a good role model, you enjoy it even when going gets tough, or does this sport become addictive unlike playing soccer, rugby, netball etc.

For each individual it is slightly different but the common thing I think is the bond between triathletes unlike team sports. We're all mad !!!!

Another week goes by, QUICKLY

2009-06-13T07:00:00.003+12:00

This week has flown by & we get another week closer to half way through the year. I'm sure as a kid the weeks & months never went by so quick. It used to take forever for school holidays to roll around, & school work just dragged on. Now you just need a couple of busy days at work & there seems to be no time left in the week & everything gets behind.

I finished off last weekend with a good 70km ride on Sunday morning, so that ended a great weekends training. I then took Kathy's swim squad on Sunday arvo.

This week saw the freezing cold weather be replaced by humid warm rain. As a result of the heavy rain I didn't get my long run in on Tuesday morning so replaced that with a short ride on the trainer whilst watching 20/20 World Cup Cricket.

The rest of the week went pretty much to plan & have done a couple of Gym sessions, just over 2 hours on the windtrainer & an interval run on the treadmill. Being the first interval run I had done since the 10km race I stuggled a bit with the 16km/hr intervals but I'm sure I'll get back into it next week.

The weekend has now rolled around again & the kids & I have joined the wife & travelled north to Auckland. She will head off to do her Uni studies whilst we hopefully do enjoyable stuff & catch up with some old mates.

Will get out for a couple of runs hopefullly. Had hoped to bring the bike but the weather was shocking when we left home that I didn't want to stick the bike on the back of the car & get it covered in grime & road crap, so I left it tucked up in the garage @ home.

Solid days effort

2009-06-06T11:13:00.000+12:00

Got out this morning for a 4km hill repeat run. Not a long run but good all the same. I then dropped the kids off to a Birthday party at noon & headed for the pool. Managed to do 4km of drills & freestyle. Never swam that far in one session so was quite knackered in the shoulders.

Got home & the day was still fine so headed out on the bike for 1 1/2 hours & managed 50km. Just cruised around the greater Tauranga area so I could be home in time for the kids to get dropped off after the party.

Here's a list of events I've currently got on the to do list in the next 6 months,

26th July Okoroire Fun Ride 70km

15th August Waikato Draught Tough Guy & Gal Challenge

28th November Wattyl Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge ( maybe ?? 2 laps, 360km )

6th December Tinman Triathlon

19th December Rotorua Half Ironman.

The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge may not happen but I'll still put it down as something to keep in mind. Will need some serious biking miles under the belt to enter that one.

Well time to rest up for Sunday's long bike ride.

Global Warming

2009-06-04T19:31:00.000+12:00

For the last few years we've been bombarded with talk of how the planet is going to rise in temperature, ice sheets will melt & sea levels will rise.

Well I think they should come & spend some time down here in NZ because this weather is sure making it hard to get motivated & get outside & train.

I think the easiest discipline for training at the moment is actually swimming, as it's alot warmer in the pool than out. You've just got to get there.!!

So here's hoping for a fine dry weekend so we can do some quality training.

Mount Joggers 10km Run

2009-06-01T08:59:00.000+12:00

The 23rd running of the Mount Joggers 1/2 Marathon, 10km & 5km fun run was held Sunday 31st May. The day dawned crisp & sunny. What better way to spend a Sunday morning than with the family all doing an event together.

The kids & Kathy were doing the 5km fun run together & I was out to give the 10km run a good nudge & hopefully a PB.

With a nice start time of 9:40am it was game on. The course takes you down the main beach of Mount Maunganui then turns back on itself & then around into Pilot Bay & then heads onto the Mount base track in a clockwise direction finishing at the surf club. From the start I managed to sit in about the top 30 in the race & that's where I stayed for the entire race. Now one of my goals was to catch the rest of the family who started 10 minutes after me & were also having to go around the Mount in their 5km run. I caught 2 of them where I thought I'd catch them but 1 of the kids was not to be seen. I found him within 100m of the finish ( a good couple of minutes ahead of the others ). Goal 1 complete.

2nd goal was obviosly to run faaaast & get a PB. I felt like I went out a bit to hard but you do that in a race so now it was just a case of keeping it up. The on road parts felt fine but did stuggle on the last hill around the Mount. Happy to say I achieved my goal with a 45:15 minute run.

Now for the last part of the morning & the most exciting bit for the kids. To see if they could win a spot prize !!!!!! Even with all the redraws that happened we still got nothing but the kids were still happy.

Lazy afternoon then finshed the day off with swim squad. A good 2000m swim in which the kicking drills did hurt.

It's now time to ramp up the cycling miles & just keep the running ticking over.

From the beginning

2009-06-01T08:39:00.000+12:00

As most of you would know, my good wife Kathy has been blogging for some time now. Well I thought seems I have finally given myself a major goal of getting to Ironman Western Australia 2010 that I would join you all.

I haven't been doing this Triathlon game very long as it was Kathy's sport & I wasn't allowed to join in & compete knowing that I would be faster & she'd get grumpy. So I sat on the sideline & supported through the good & the ugly then eventually started doing the shorter events & finally the Rotorua Half Ironman December 2008.

We somehow manage to both get out & do the training which requires a very structured lifestyle, juggling 9 year old twin boys, fulltime jobs, Kathy's coaching after hours, kids Cub Scouts & I even manage a bit of keeler yacht racing.

That's enough of all the boring stuff.