Takapuna Triathlon

Summer is flying by, as it is already time to start racing in 2009. I raced last weekend in Auckland. There was some pressure for my first triathlon of the season as it was shown Live on TV 1 for everyone to watch.
I dove into the water feeling really strong as I pulled away from the field in the opening 500m swim leg. I took it easy up the 200m hill into transition, as I didn't feel like trying going alone on the bike. I had just come off the Buller Half Marathon win last weekend, so I wanted to see how my legs were over 5km against the others. On the first 2 laps of the bike I could hear my breathing, but it was just first race shock to the body because the bike got easier riding in the front pack with 6 others. And I ran strongly the whole 5km winning from Sam Warriner. It's good to start the season off on a high note.

Buller Half Marathon

On 14th February instead of waking up to flowers and chocolates, I woke up at 5.30am in Punakaiki on the West Coast of the South Island of NZ and drove 45min to Westport for the Buller half marathon. It was overcast and mild; perfect weather for running. My technique felt really good the whole race. It was a nice feeling realising that all the drills and specific running technique training had a significant effect during the race. I managed to never run alone so the pace was changing with different surges from the guys trying to break away from a girl. The hills were noticable on the second half of the run when they became longer and the first part of my body to feel the fatigue were my quads. I went through the 5km in 17.06, the 10km in 35.00 and finished 11th overall, 1st woman in a time of 1 hour 15 minutes 56 seconds. And with this run I feel like racing now.. so I have just confirmed my entry for the Takapuna NZ Triathlon national series race this Saturday 21st Feb in Auckland. You catch this live on TV1 4pm-6pm.

Canterbury Surf Life Saving Team places 2nd

I competed in the Lion Foundation Surf League last weekend as a member of the Canterbury surf life saving team. It was great to be back involved in a team with team racing throughout the whole weekend. Although, nothing much has changed in the surf league since the last time I competed 5 years ago. We had a great team this year who competed so strongly over the weekend that we finished 2nd behind the Taranaki team. I enjoyed the short racing. Nothing beats the intensity of a 5 minute race. The 200m run relay was a shock to my legs though which were not used to sprinting and adding that it was soft sand too made the run feel even longer. But my ski paddle won't be taken out again this year; I have more running to do. This Saturday I'll be on the West Coast running the Buller half marathon.