October Update

This month has been the start of my serious build up phase going towards Nationals, where the focus is getting in lots of miles on the bike to create a solid base to build my form and strength on for the coming season. As with every year in October I race in 3 hard endurance events, these are great because they are at just the right time of year in relation to the phase of training I am at, also they tend to be on the same course each year so it's really positive to be able to see how you are progressing from year to year.

Motu 160
This is a race of 65km on the MTB (gravel roads) then 95km on the road bike. This event wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't for the weather we seem to get dealt EVERY year, and this year was no exception, with heavy rain and even more extreme winds literally blowing people off their bikes.
I went okay in this race, didn't ride the time I was hoping to in the MTB but I was happy with how the road bike section went. I finished 5th in the Open Mens group.

Whaka 100
Another great race this year. My legs were still acclimatised to the heat of USA so I didn't start quite as fast as I should of, this left me playing catch up for the rest of the race, slowly passing people as the race went on. Finishing in 4th place overall, I was very happy with how the race went. Also, beat my previous best time by over 20 minutes.

K2
By the time K2 came around my body was pretty tired, after 3 weeks of long training without rest (I had done 15hrs of riding in the 5 days before this race), I was looking forward to finishing so I could get some much needed recovery in the following week.
However that was only in the back of my mind. I have finished the K2 in second place in the 19-22 age group twice, so this year I was determined to go one step further, and I am pleased to say I accomplished that target as well as setting my best time by 15 minutes.

So overall this month has gone well and things are on track!

Off-season Update

Well... my off-season has just finished and it did not go as planned. After the Moonride I battled a lot with a knee injury that started off being an IT band issue. So I went to see a phyiso to sort out my injury, however once I had sorted the IT band out I now had a problem with my hamstring, again after sorting that out I had another issue, this time with my peroneus muscle (a muscle that runs down the side of the leg below the knee). So with all these biological imbalances I have been unable to compete in my fore-planned multi-sport events, with all emphasis being on injury recovery.

Finally, 4 months after the event, my knee was pretty close to 100%. Just in time for the start of the build up to nationals. Just in time for a trip to the USA and Canada with my family, to visit my sister who has been working in Vancouver since February. Of course I took my bike along with us and got some pretty solid riding in, building my foundational training on some awesome tracks in the Canadian Rockies. We spent not quite 2 days in Jasper, AB and I managed over 150kms of single track riding in that time in the company of some awesome locals. Another great place was whistler, where I rode the most epic single track of my life on the trail 'Comfortably Numb', an unbelievable trail with a huge variety of technical elements. After seeing my sister off in Vancouver, I wasnt able to get much more mountain biking done, but I did some pretty awesome rides along the roads down the coast of Oregon and California.
It was great getting away from the daily grind and have some time to think about things. Now that I am back, it is time to kick it up a gear and get on with training and work, fired by a fresh spark ready for some hard yards.

Riding along the Oregon coastline...amazing!

Cateye Moonride 2012

5mins before start time

This year I decided to enter the Moonride 24hr Solo event, so that I could cross completing a 24 hour solo MTB race off the 'bucket list'. I had no real expectations (results-wise) and just wanted to last the whole distance. Not knowing what to expect or how my body would handle rotating the pedals for that long. I did know I would have to pace myself and start slower and find the right rhythm and also determine what works best nutritionally.

The start hooter went off at 9pm in a chilly 5 degrees, a few other solo guys hit off the start line like they were only racing 6 hrs so I let them go thinking if they can maintain that pace for the whole race, they deserve to beat me. I hadn't done any laps prior to the race so the first few laps were exciting in the dark, with slippery mud making the track fun. First few laps were pretty uneventful, apart from having a silly crash around a slick corner. I had made it up to the front 3 guys at the end of lap 1, with one mad ex-pat South African riding a single speed rigid bike. Riding behind the other solo riders I worked out that they were a little bit slower on the downhills and boggy flat mud sections, allowing me to ease up on the uphill and catch them again on the downs. Eventually I worked my rhythm out and went ahead of the others, with Jared Scollay coming with me. We traded places a few times in the next couple of hours. After about 4 hours he had a reasonable lead on me and I went through a bit of a dark patch, running low on energy. I fixed this by chewing back lots of sugar and getting some protein in me. Eventually I made it back up to Jared after 6hrs and moved into first place as he pulled off to have a pit-stop. The next 6 hours felt like 2 and things were going well, I was a clear 1 lap and 7 minutes ahead of 2nd place and 2 laps ahead of Jared who was now in 3rd. I had found my pace and was sticking to it, trying to keep my lap times consistent and refuel stops short.

10hours in about to ride the track in daylight for the first time

12 Hours in also coincided with the 12 hour race start, and another 200 people joining us 24 hour racers on the track. At first this was a blessing, with the added wheels on course drying up some of the boggy sections. However after only 2 hours this blessing turned to a curse and inexplicably the course turned even boggier. Already we had been having to push our bikes up the main hill but now we had to push further and longer and some of the sections that were ride-able were now very hard to ride and taxing on the body's energy supplies. I now hit another low patch just as my knee was starting to give me some niggles. I did some stretching and that alleviated the pain a little.
At about the 16hour mark, I had regained some energy and was ready to pick up the pace a little. Unfortunately this didn't last long, after a toilet stop in the bush, I went to get back on my bike and my IT band had completely seized up on my right leg. I stopped for about 5 minutes giving it a good stretch and it felt much better so I got back on the bike and carried on at a good pace. A lap and a half later, after making it up the hike-a-bike hill, my IT band returned to the same state as before. I was only 1km from the tent where my dad was supporting me so I carried on in pain. By the time I got to the tent, I was creeping along not able to put any power into the pedals and in real discomfort. I sort of collapsed on the ground asking for voltaren and my dad gave me a quick massage with deep heat. Unfortunately this hardly had an effect but I decided to carry on and see if I could carry on racing. I got about 500m and realised, it was getting worse and I needed to do more to solve the problem otherwise something would end up tearing. I cut off the course and made my way to a medic who gave me ice and sent me to the massage tables. After a 30-40 minute massage (providing little to no respite), and some consultation with my Dad we decided it would be best to stop my race at 35 laps and 220km. This was a heartbreaking decision as I was winning the race and still felt energised and motivated. Fortunately there was some consolation for the 16 hours 46 minutes I spent on my bike, making the podium in third place, despite finishing over 7 hours early.

Coming past the tent for the 2nd to last time

Massive thanks to my Dad who didn't miss a beat feeding me, charging the lights and cleaning my bike. Equally a big thanks goes to Nigel from ENDURA cycle-wear for the support and providing me with top quality clothing. Endura is the only cycle-wear you should ever consider wearing for bike riding. GU energy for the gels and DZ-Nuts for doing it's job like no other chamois cream can. Thanks also to Specialized bikes, no other bike brand can compare.

The Set-up

I still taste the bitter taste of defeat now but I learnt a huge amount nutritionally and I will be able to take some of this new found knowledge into the Mulit-sport races I plan on competing in the next few months.
Also... I can't exactly cross riding 24 hours in one go off the bucket list, so might have to do another one. Give myself a chance to do things right...

XTERRA

The inaugural NZ Xterra Champs were on in Rotorua on Saturday, what a cool event. Here is a short video showing a little of what the race involved...

My buddies and I drove down from Auckland on Friday for the Xterra race the next day. I entered as an individual while Will, Zoe and Simon entered as a relay team, they also kindly filmed my race, thanks guys! They did well even with Simon falling hard and badly bending his derailleur hanger on the bike. 
I came into the race a little 'underdone' thanks to a flu virus and a back injury, but that didn't matter as my main goal was to have a bit of fun and a break from MTB racing over winter while still keeping fit. I will definitely be back next year if I can.

My next event (a month away) is the 24hr Cateye Moonride, which I am riding SOLO. Then the weekend after I am running the Huntly Half Marathon, in an attempt to beat my Dad's best time of 76mins and claim the $1000 he has bet on me failing! So over the next month I am going to be putting in some big miles on the bike and some frantic k's running.


Check back in a month to see how things went in the Moonride...

My First Go At Triathlon (Video)...

Heres a quick video I put together of the Orbea Half Ironman Short Course triathlon I competed in on the weekend in Maraetai. Was good to get an idea of what I am gonna need to work on before xterra in 3 weeks time (there's a lot of improvements to be made!).




I hope to continue these short videos through the off-season, instead of writing up an essay after each event. Keep things interesting.

2012 National Season Wrap-Up

There is one word that accurately describes my national season this year, and that word is 'consistent'. This years racing started in Dunedin early January moving its way up the country through Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Napier, finishing with Oceania Champs in Rotorua early March. For the first time since 2009 my legs had some spark, this is reflected in my race results achieving four 8th place results a 7th and a 12th. And going from 15minutes down on the race winner in Dunedin to slowly chipping that time down each race until I got down to 7:40 in Rotorua. With room to improve I am going into this off-season supremely motivated, ready to do some hard yards dabbling in some new disciplines to keep the 'training' fresh and exciting (and no doubt challenging), so that I can enter the 2013 National Season faster and stronger than before, ready to do shake things up!

I will endeavour to keep this blog updated and (most importantly) interesting, throughout the journey that is the 2012 Off-season.

A Cut Above

I am shaving my head for a good cause… I’ve joined the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation in their effort to get 10,000 people shaving in a mass expression of solidarity. That’s one shavee for each one of the estimated 10,000 New Zealanders living with a blood cancer or condition like leukaemia. The Leukaemia & Blood Foundation receives no government funding, so any support you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Please sponsor me and help me support this great cause.

It’s simple, fast and totally secure. Just click the link below, whip out your credit card, and the LBF will email you a receipt directly.

http://www.shaveforacure.co.nz/view_event_profile/4331

I will upload before and after photos once the shave is done. At this stage the shave will be done on Friday 15th April!
Many thanks for your support.