Roped in and the creeper

My friend Jarred only just arrived back from working in Cairns about a week ago, it’s great to have him back as he’s great value, good to hang out with and thrash the trails with (we don’t actually damage the trails though but rather ourselves ;) ). We were out riding last week and he mentioned that he was going to do this half ironman as his friend Guy talked him into it. Jarred didn’t know when the race was going to be other then sometime in December. Turns out it was only half a week away and he hadn’t done any swimming for a while, and his knees don’t like the running much! Hm…. Rob therefore had the great idea to get the entry change from ‘solo’ to ‘team’ and rope me into doing the run for Jarred!! Guess it doesn’t hurt to step in for a friend in need ;)
So I ended up doing a half marathon on Saturday as part of the Rotorua Half Ironman. It turned out to be a great event with really good and very casual atmosphere and the course was just stunning as the swim was in Lake Tikitapu, also called Blue Lake, the ride went along State Highway 30 out to Lake Rotoiti, Lake Rotoehu and Lake Rotoma and the run was around Lake Tikitapu and down to Lake Tarawera lookout.
Below is what you see from the lookout (luckily there was no snow on Mt Tarawera though)
It was extremely windy in the morning when the race started, the lake was super choppy and a lot of swimmers seemed to struggle with the conditions, not so Jarred's friend Guy Crawford who was way ahead of any competition and got out of the water 4min ahead of the next athlete, he only took 26 min for the 2km swim! Jarred didn’t do badly at all other then for his swim-bike transition; I quote Rob: ”He took longer then your girlfriend takes to get ready to go out!” , it was rather painful for us to watch, but also a great laugh as we weren’t worried were we would get in the race (I am not saying we wouldn’t give it heaps ;)) .
Jarred was riding my Roadster (Santa Cruz road bike) as he needed a roady and Rob assured us triathlon bikes are meant to be small so it would be the prefect fit for Jarred who is about 6 ft 1 (1.86m) and I am 5 ft 4 (1.66m) (not sure about ft as I work in meters) but anyway, Jarred is quite a bit taller then me.
We followed Jarred along the first bit of the course, watched him hammering it up the hills and overtake everyone along the way, it was great to watch. He had a good ride despite loosing his computer and therefore having to do a u-turn to get it back (we blame Mike Metz for this one), his time was 2hr 45(-ish)min.
Guy was still in the lead when he came back from his ride but unfortunately kicked his shoe when he hoped of the bike and managed to break his little toe! He didn’t look that happy when he started the run, now I know why! Nevertheless he took off like a gun and was on target to do his run in 1hr 22min before he started getting rather bad cramps and had to stop ever 2km to stretch before being able to move again. Guy won the race by 15sec!! What an awesome effort! Jarred and I weren't quite up there but did quite well, as we had fun which was our main goal. I had a pretty good run 1hr 30min which was still 2 min slower then Guy’s!! and we ended up 3rd amongst the all male teams (no typo there ;) )

all winners got a big cuddly toy ;) and some booze


below blue lake nice and placid (unlike the day of the race)

Ps: our team was called ‘roped in & the creeper’

The Goat Run - final of the triple crown series

Wow I cannot believe my four weekends of racing have come and gone so quickly! It feels like I've only just been looking forward to it and now it's already been and gone. Crazy!
It has been a great challenge and not as hard as I had anticipated. The hardest part was Toi's (I think you can tell by the impression on my face in the pics) as I was still recovery from some big runs and rides. But they all races were a lot of fun and all were completely different which was just fantastic. I can recommend all of the four events and am looking forward to doing them again ;)

So now to the goat run, we were driving down to the national park, Fiona, Jason (thanks for driving!!) and I. We were not sure if the race was going to be postponed due to the week of rain leading up to it, we had heard the river levels would possibly be too high. It felt like a little adventure driving there and not knowing whether we would have to stay over night to race on Sunday or if it was on as planned or if we would be doing a different race course altogether.
But when we got to national park we went to the registration and everything was according to plan and we headed up to the start line to find some familiar faces like Budgy who was in charge of safety for the event (so we knew we were in good hands ;) )

having a chat to Sjors before the start:

Lining up on the startline:

The race starts off with a mad run down the tarseal road before it heads into a super technical walking trail with lots of river crossings, ups and downs, lots of sliding and clambering and falling over. I am well battered and bruised now but it was all worth is ;)
I wasn't doing that well at all (obviously if I admit to falling over a few times), I felt like a roady on a slippery and technical single trail, especially when one of the girls came flying past me, it looked rather amazing and I had no idea how she did it. I did luckily catch her up on mama's mile, like the year before with Oksana, but this time there were 2 girls already over the finish line well before I started that last climb. I got 3rd, and was 1st Triple Crown woman over the line. So I managed to win the series, very happy :)

as you can see the weather wasn't that flash at the end of our run.

Fiona did really well in her first goat run and crossed the line, very dirty and wet and with a SMILE on her face :) - you cannot quite tell in the pic

Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Huka XL

Saturday was another early start, I am slowly getting used to them, as it is getting easier to get up. This time it was quarter to five when the alarm went off so not quite as early as the week before. It felt a bit odd to be heading out for a mountain bike race as I hadn't done one for sooo long! It was a good feeling though; I like to mix things up a little as I might get bored otherwise. I also knew it was going to be a good race as I had done it last year and really liked the course. And the other massive plus was that I was going to be riding my awesome new bike, the carbon lt! - Rob reckons the best bike ever ;) I would have to agree :)
It was nice to see some familiar faces on the start line; the atmosphere was very social, as we were chatting away while waiting for the race gun.
It took me a little while to warm up but that was expected and so I was taking my time to get the hang of riding my bike and the different style of trails. The trails in Taupo are really quite different to the ones we have in Rotorua, they are much more tight and windy, with little kickers and not much time for rest.
I had a really fun race, enjoying the endless single trails, which was the bigger part of the 80km course - to be fair, it was mostly single trail ;). Plus it was great to see all the smiley marshals along the course, cheering us on and having a good time, I hope they did!
Time went by rather fast as I, despite having done the race the previous year, wasn’t quite sure what was coming up as they had changed a few bits and so you keep getting surprised about what’s coming up. And on top we got to see some stunning scenery; rode through beautiful old bush, along magnificently coloured streams and obviously the Waikato river.
I won my race for the 2nd year in a row, might have to go back next year ;)

Ps: my bike is so much fun I had to take it out again on Sunday, and I felt surprisingly strong, I blame the bike as it’s so much fun to whip it through the trails; so I guess it took number one on my bike chart

Sorry couldn’t find any pics yet, hope to find some soon and put them on.

The Great Kauri Run

What an absolutely fantastic race! :)
We got to enjoy some absolutely stunning views, a nice challenging course with ever changing surroundings from beach, bush with stream crossings, tight single trail, steep descents and climbs and rough roads. And all this with a good cause in mind, to try re-establish some of the enormous Kauri forest that once covered the Coromandel peninsula some 200 years ago. For every competitor in the great Kauri race (13km and 32km, walking and running options) a Kauri tree gets planted along the race route. over 1200 trees over the distance of 3km have been planted before the race this year and another 360 Kauri trees will be planted after this years race (the 6th ever Great Kauri Run)!

My friends Ann and Bryon were mad enough to offer to take me to the race, the poor buggers had to get up at 4am! How crazy is that!?!
The race started at Waikawau beach; with the first two kms being in rather soft sand we were trying to dodge the incoming waves, it looked rather playful watching Graeme Pearson way in front of me weaving up and down the waters edge. we then left the coastline and the course went along a nice bush trail following a small river upstream and crossing it a few times along the way until it got steeper and steeper up the hill and we lost the river to head to the top of the ridge and from there pretty much followed the ridge line for the rest of the course. At places you could look to the right and left and see beautiful coastlines to both sides, how awesome is that! :)
Running along all by myself for a while I was fully absorbed by the stunning views and just enjoyed a great time out there following the ever changing terrain towards Coromadel. I must have slowed down a little then when I looked back in the very technical single trail about 3/4 of the way through I could see Michelle Hyland, and she was pretty much right behind me. I knew I had to change my pace or she would get me and I might loose my ride back home as Bryon had warned me that he would leave me behind if I didn't win. ;) I knew there was a nice long decent coming up and then we would be pretty close to the finish line. So I wasn't too worried yet about having to walk home to Rotorua. It was a great feeling running down that last long downhill section making use of the gradient to speed up the legs and get a sensation of speed. I wasn't quite sure how much of a gap I had but I was safe. I won by just a minute.

Bryon and Ann were waiting at the finish line with a punnet of strawberries as I had told them about how nice it had been at Toi's to get some strawberries at the finish :) thanks heaps they went down a treat! :)

Ps: we couldn't stay till prize giving as it would have meant we would be home after 9pm (which wouldn't have been very nice for the driver when he already got up at 4am!) so Graeme Pearson was so nice to pick up my goodies and take them to Rotorua for me. man was i surprised when i saw what i got!!!! the best ever prizes i reckon! i got a beautiful rare swamp Kauri bowl, some nice sunnies, a handy backpack, an cool event t-shirt and a free entry to next years event! will i go back?? bet i will :) it was so much fun and then i get spoilt rotten after! COOL!

Toi's Challenge

the toi's challenge is the first race of the triple crown series. it's an 18k running race from Whakatane to Ohope and back, it's super scenic and has loads and loads of steps, 'ouch!!' yeah people have told me about them but i certainly didn't get it until yesterday when i saw/felt it first hand, but it might have been a good thing not to know, as it was very painful in deed. i must be getting soft! oh well! other then stairs there was a bit along Ohope beach and on the way back we ran through some beautiful bush, it was absolutely stunning and i can recommend anyone to go and walk or run the track, depending on your level of madness ;)
the race was really well organised and there was lot's of smiling people that cheered us on along the way. i blame the amount of sunshine these people are able to enjoy for always being so happy :)
i had a good battle with a local girl Karen, who took off like a rocket at the start and seemed to just want to keep going at that mad pace, luckily for me she was fading too, just like me. we changed lead a few times before i managed to pull it off and win the race, i was pretty shattered though i must admit.
Fiona got second in her class, awesome effort!! ;)


almost forgot, one of the best things about the race was that when you crossed the finish line you got a punnet of super delicious strawberries - they went down a treat!!! :)

looking forward to a restful week and then to the next challenge - the Kauri run! i hear it will be a stunning run as well, can't wait! ;)

to finish off another pic from the breathtaking Toi's track ...

getting a new bike yipee! :)

my new bike is being built up...., I am very excited about it trying out. unfortunately the weather is rather miserable so will have to wait at least until tomorrow. :(

Rob and Mike already tested their new carbon lts and love them! to be honest I thought my santacruz lt was 'mean as' but if I can trust the boys' verdict (and normally I can) the carbon frame is EVEN BETTER!?!? crazy! not sure how that can be but I shall find out soon ;)

my new bike is a new santacruz carbon lt with the new fox float 150 forks and the new sram xx gear (10 speed), mean!!!

will get a pic when it's all built up and 'hopefully' not too dirty yet.

happy trails.... :)

a few images from our trip to Switzerland

Rob in Livigno (Italy) having a play on the burms


on our way up...




same trail still but a bit further on
above St Moritz at Lake Suvretta, ... taking in the sights and having a breather before enjoying the super long and technical downhill single track ;)