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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]