My Very First Half Ironman! Time: 5 hours 29 mins I’ve been pretty slack over the past 5 weeks. At first it was because Scott was in a taper week for Kona, then he was in Hawaii for 2 weeks. I can’t get up early to train if there isn’t anyone else getting up. Scott came back and it was 2 weeks of no training for him. So not much training for me All this [...]

I’ve been trying to pick which half ironman (70.3) races I’d like to do. I found it annoying that there isn’t really one list of all the races, so I’ve decided to collate one in-case anyone else would find it handy. And also for my use in the future. If anyone has any others, put them in the comments or flick them through to me and I’ll add them in   New Zealand Half Ironman Events Karapiro [...]

An event put on by John Newsom to get Christchurch people active over the winter months after the earthquake. I think it’s a great idea. Although not too many people signed up – about 200 all up. It was pretty crap weather at the start of the day, wet and cold for the juniors at 10am. We were lucky, by the time it was 11am and the start of our race there was a patch [...]

I raced the Sydney age group World Champs race on Sunday. It was a quick visit, flying over Sat morning and back on Monday night. Now I’m very tired and can’t wait to hit the sack! Results: 2:31:12, 16th in age group 1500m swim / 40km bike / 10km run Sydney triathlon results I arrived on Sat morning and went straight to the hotel room. I was staying with Emma and Chris Rathbone. Lucky they [...]

Olympic Distance Triathlon 1500m swim / 40km bike / 10km run PB 2 hours 24 mins 14 seconds 4th in age group 3rd in overall triathlon series for my age group This is my ‘A’ race for the triathlon season. With a pretty interrupted lead up to the race I’ve been in a bit of a dream land. After the Feb 22nd earthquake in Christchurch this is how the 2 weeks before went: Christchurch earthquake [...]

The Contact Triathlon Series held a race in Christchurch for the first time today. It was held at the Pegasus man-made lake. The day started fine but a little chilly, 9 degrees when I left home at 6.30am. Temperatures were soon into the twenties and over 400 people were getting ready for races ranging from the children’s Contact 1:2:1 to the 3:9:3 and the trophy sprint distance events (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run). I [...]

Scott and I travelled down to Wanaka Thursday afternoon. Friday turned out to be perfect weather. Really hot though. It was a high of 28 degrees. My race – Wanaka Contact sprint triathlon 750m / 20km / 5km My race – the sprint triathlon started at 3:40pm and it was still really hot.  The water was flat as a pancake. I took my spot on the far left looking out the the water. I wanted [...]

My neice raced in her first duathlon at school. She’s only 5 so the distances are only short. So cute! Here she is with the future budding athletes!

We had the Christchurch Triathlon Festival last Sunday (19th Dec). One of the main sponsors was John Bull Cycles – bike shop in Christchurch. I think it was their first time sponsoring a triathlon event and I hope they continue! John Rastrick was at the event with 2 Avanti tents and loads of gels and gear for sale if anyone needed last minute gear. A few days before the race John gave me some of [...]

It was a lovely evening for race 2 of the Surf n Turf series last night. This Wednesday my boss Graham had signed up too. He bought his first wetsuit a few days ago, but hasn’t swam in the open water yet. We have told him it’s a bit different that swimming in the pool – but I don’t think he realises yet how different it is. Noone does until you get in and see [...]

Last night was the first race of the Christchurch Surf n Turf series. They have lots of races going on at the same time. Last nights options were: Short run – 3km Long run – 5km Short course ocean swim – 400m Long ocean swim – 900m Short aquathon – 400m swim + 3km run Long aquathon – 900m swim + 5.5km run Multisport surf ski / kayak Scott and I entered the long aquathon (900m [...]

In Scotts lead up to Taupo Ironman he did the Karapiro Half Ironman last weekend. He did so well, came 6th with the 4th fastest run time. Which is amazing considering he has been injured for so long now and has only been able to run for a short time. It feels like only a month that he’s been able to run properly. So this is exciting with the prospect of him doing well in [...]

It’s been amazing here in Budapest. So much fun meeting all these people from all over who are interested in triathlon. Or some people would say – are as crazy as me! Willing to put in the hours to train and sacrifice other comforts in life. It’s been great to hear how everyone else trains, some train a lot longer than me. 23 hours a week, every week. So interesting to listen to how people [...]

Gold Medal at Duathlon National Champs! Christchurch August 22nd 2010 We had the NZ duathlon nationals here in Christchurch on Aug 22. That’s 10km run / 40km bike / 5km run. The first run was up the quarry in Hallswell. !! I was worried about the race leading up to it and considering doing the shorter course since it didn’t have the hill in it. But went for the standard course (long) and actually loved [...]

Yesterday was a perfect day for a winter duathlon in Christchurch. It was 20 degrees which is pretty amazing. I was just hoping for no rain. But no rain and 20 degrees! Great day. The speedway is an excellent place to have a duathlon. The race was 2.4km run / 16.5km bike / 2.4km run. The run was 3 laps of an 800m loop, and the bike was 5 laps of a 3.3km loop. It [...]

It was an early morning the day of the race. I had everything organised the evening before which meant I didn’t need to think about much. Just routine. I got up at 5am and turned on the pot which had some oats, water, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raisins. Poured the cooked porridge into a bowl with some milk and yoghurt. Still half asleep I gobbled it down with about 500ml water to drink. Walked [...]

Here’s a list of the races I’m going to do over the Christchurch winter. Anyone can start training now and do these races. There are different lengths for each event so get in there and give them a go! I picked out these races a while ago and it felt like they are ages away. Now the Christchurch half marathon is just around the corner, 4 weeks away! Although my focus is on triathlon racing, [...]

The final Contact Tri race of the season! This is the race which qualifies us for the olympic distance World Champs in Budapest if we are in the top of our age group. Day Before My partner Scott and I flew to Wellington on the Friday morning. We took the shuttle back to his sisters house and started putting the bikes back together so we wouldn’t have to worry about it later. Well actually Scott [...]

There’s me, third from the left! The Accommodation Remind me never to stay in backpackers in the centre of Taupo the night before a really important triathlon race! My partner and I booked into Go Global Backpackers since all accommodation and holiday houses in Kinloch were booked up, except of course the ones worth $200 a night. Which now I wish I had paid for! The backpacker accommodation was above a pub, opposite a pub [...]

The day before Challenge Wanaka. I have my Contact Sprint Tri race and I was so nervous! The lake was freezing, 14 degrees, We had an email the day before saying that neoprene swim caps were going to be compulsory for the Challenge race the next day.Neoprene swim caps are made out of wetsuit material and keep your head heaps warmer. As we lined up at the start I say only a few competitors had [...]

Challenge Wanaka has been rated in the top 10 long distance scenic triathlons of the world. I’d definitely agree. Not that I did the race myself! I came here to do the Wanaka Contact Triathlon the day before Challenge Wanaka. My partner Scott did the Lake Wanaka Half. Scott is from Owaka and loads of people came from there to compete this year, including his dad Keith who competed in the swim. The Full Challenge [...]