New Zealand

I set off tomorrow for 3 weeks mountain climbing on the South Island of New Zealand. This is the second climbing trip I am making there with my climbing buddy Alan Dorin, and also with Sophie my partner. I am also bringing my son Nathaniel aged 13.

This year we are planning a warm-up climb near Arthur's Pass to climb Mt Rollestone. We then travel to the Ahuriri Valley for the NZAC (Alpine CLub) climbing camp where we will be joined by 50 other climbers. Our objectives there include Mt Barth and Mt Huxley. After 9 days, we then have some R&R, and travel to Wanaka to ascend Mt Aspiring. This will be a hard climb, so we hope to be in good shape.

I haven't started packing, and I fly within 24hours. Lots to do.

Canberra Half Ironman

I finished my first triathlon in four years on Sunday. It was a fun day out. Real fun. I had more fun than I thought I would have had, anyway. I was a bit nervous beforehand, especially the day before, but once the swim started I felt relaxed and didn't stress.

I had an easy, cruisy, suck-on-toes kind of swim, and came out of the water in 32 mins; right on target. I felt pretty good the whole way and almost enjoyed it, although Lake Burley Griffin wasn't as clean as I had thought it would be. I passed a bunch of athletes in the wave before (with different coloured swim caps). The 200m run to transition T1 felt hard, mainly because of the wobbly legs that you get after a swim like that and the uphill run. I had an Ok transition, and got out on the bike amongst lots of cyclists. I took it pretty easy on the bike and cruised along while I ate and tried to conserve some energy for the later hills. Thirty kilomtres soon clicked by, and I realised that I hadn't drunk enough, so I downed a lot of water and gatorade. The scenery was spectactular; nice countryside and rolling hills. It started getting hot. There was little drafting, and I was slowly passing a few people here and there. Some of the climbs were brutal; there is nothing you can do when you are breathing hard and climbing hills at 12km/h. But with every uphill there is a downhill, and they were fast.

Soon sixty kilometres was done and I got some fresh waterbottles with water and High5, and kept working the flats and downhills keeping the speed up as best as I could. I felt good on those stretches, but a bit tired on the hills. There sure were a lot of hills! I passed a few more people.

Before long I was back into transition T2. A quick change and I was out running, trying to get the legs working. I felt pretty strong and ran a good first 10km in 50 mins, which was right on my race pace. But then it got hard. I somehow decided I didn't want to hurt that much, so I ran between aid stations and loaded up on coke and water. The coke worked really well. I passed a lot of people and then crossed in 5.39.

Overall I had a good race. I was happy to beat my training partner Pete, and also finish in a respectable time for a tough course. With more specific run and bike training I think I could do a bit better, but I was really happy with what I did.

Overall, three races in four weeks, and I feel good. An Adventure Race (4hrs), a 24hr Rogaine (13hrs and then pulled out), then the Half Ironman (5.39). Not too bad at all. Now for some rest, and then New Zealand climbing.

Sea to Summit

While I attempt Canberra Half Ironman this coming weekend, my buddy Sean (aka Mister-G) attempts to run from the ocean to the sky. He will be running from the ocean to the top of Mount Kosciusko, approximately 250km away. He will run for about two or three days to complete this trip, with a few other like minded ultra runners. He'll probably eat more pretzels, jelly snakes and drink flat coke than he can tolerate. He may be crazy.

It's an impossibly long way to run, and I wish him well.

Canberra Half - preparation

I've entered the Canberra Half Ironman. The race is next weekend, over 1.9km swim, a 90km bike and a 21.1km run. I'd forgotten how much work is needed before a big race like this. I organised accommodation with relatives, booked my bike in for a service and tune up, dug out the race wheels, got some glue to fix the little fingernail holes in my wetsuit that I can't seem to avoid, and did a million other things that needed to be done before I go away on Friday.

I'm not sure how I'll go. Peter, my training buddy is racing there also, so there is some pressure to beat him. My swim training has been going well, and my 1500m swim times are good. My cycling is strong, but Canberra is very hilly, so I've gone with a easy rear cog (13-25 for those who understand rear cog sizing) on my race wheels. My running will be the test, since I haven't done a great deal lately though I have been very consistent and fast; just not over a half marathon distance.

Sophie is racing also, after her 500km+ ride this past week on the Great Victorian Bike Ride. Her riding should be good, and her swim times are good. I hope she has her running legs.

It should be fun. Stay tuned for a race report.