Had an awesome day and managed to get to both the start and the finish line which was brilliant :) The swim went really and was probably my favourite part of the day. It was a bit daunting to see how choppy the lake was, however I'd been out the day before in similar conditions so knew it was fine. I had a great warm uproutine thanks to your sessions which really helped relax and focus me. I started quite a way out to the right (left hand turns through the course) so had a lot of space to myself. It meant no one to draft off but in the conditions that would have been hard anyway. At the first turn the lake suddenly got very shallow, it was so odd being able to see this gorgeous sandy bottom and I had to constantly fight the urge to put my feet down and see if I could touch the bottom!
Auckland Triathlon Bike Course
Last month I was up in Auckland visitIng friends and meeting up with the Triathlon NZ director of coaching. While I was there I hired a mountain bike and cycled the bike course for the Auckland triathlon as part of my race preparation. For those of you who are entering the race and have not had the opportunity to cycle the course then check out the information below. I can tell you that it is a hilly course but the climbs are short and there are only a couple of steepish ones. I've also added some photos of some of the climbs for you to visualize, as well as the elevations.
JD Duathlon, The Enduro
What fun there is to be had in racing, the battles you have during the race, the body pumping with adrenaline, the muscles screaming at you to stop and the exhilaration when you cross that finish line! The Enduro is a 2.6km run, 9km bike, 1.3km run, 9km bike, 1.3km run and is the 3rd and final race of the JD Duathlon Series.
As I’ve been in Denmark for 2 months I had missed the first two duathlons, but was determined to make this one. Spent the morning before the race putting on my Tri-Planet wheel covers, they are really cheap and do the same job as a disc wheel (well almost!), go to www.wheelbuilder.com to get some!
Winter Training Tips
Winter is without a doubt the most difficult time of year to train. Not only do you have limited hours of light and sometimes freezing cold weather but motivation is also hard to maintain! It’s easy to say “It’s raining I’m not training”, or “It’s too cold”.
#1 Motivation
Why not start here! For everyone it’s different, but I find goal setting the easiest way to maintain motivation, races certainly help with this. If there are no races then plan your training with a few swim, bike or run time-trials each month.
JD DUATHLON – THE APPETISER - 25th Jun 11 - By Charlotte Gavin
Christchurch – Ruapuna Raceway - Novice: 1.3 km run, 13.2 km bike, 1.3 km run
Who would have thought 18 months ago I would be heading into my 13th competitive sports event. Before this the last sports event I was involved in was “dragon boating” and this was over 11 years prior, which to be honest didn’t require a very high level of fitness to paddle a boat for just over 60 seconds.
Rise Up Team Challenge
The Rise Up Team Challenge was created after the earthquakes that recently struck Christchurch, this was a fun event catering for everyone designed to start people back on the road to a healthy active lifestyle. Any profits from the event went towards re-building triathlon services in Christchurch. With this in mind I couldn't help but enter a Tri-Planet team to show our support to the people of Christchurch. Very little arm twisting was required and in no time at all I had Caren and Natasha signed up for Team Tri-Planet!
NZ National Triathlon Champs - Wellington 2011
Firstly thanks to all those who gave me words of encouragement, support and congratulations. Especially Craig for his last minute “tweaking” maybe my swimming isn't a lost cause after all. This race was a target for me and it was an absolute buzz, blast and adrenaline rush to complete it successfully.
Race Day
Conditions were calm….unbelievable for Wellington. The dawn atmosphere at transition was tense and electric. Not sure if that was the anticipation of racing or a result of the possibly pending tsunami on its way.