A few more M2M photos

Here are a few more photos of the M2M taken by my good mate and support crew Becks.

Battle away on the run. Not feeling good at all here.

Slick transition on to the road bike

Pushing hard early on in the final climb

In a world of pain getting towards the end of the Snowpark climb

Good to be done (my wife Lily and I at the finish)

The A team. (Aves, Ross, myself, Lily and Becks)

M2M

After a hard day at the P2P I had put in a solid winter of training in-between studying which included a training camp in Wanaka with 8 of my Exponential Performance athletes. I was feeling better than ever a few weeks out from the race as was really looking forward to sinking my teeth into the race and improving on last year’s 3rd place. A week and a half out from race day I was hit hard with the flu which saw unable to function for a few days. I got over the worst of it by race day but still had a really chesty cough that I just could not shake.

Lining up on the start line I was still coughing up my lungs but when the hooter went that all went off the window. I had the ski of my life and handled the white out conditions halfway through with minimal time lost to the front runners which I was stoked about.

Arriving at the kayak I was feeling pretty good and hopped into my Evo Edge and got it wound up. The river flow was high compared to other years which took out all the route choice options and made for a fast paddle. A smooth transition thanks to a great crew saw me into my Salomon Speed-crosses and out onto the run in no time.

Out on the run I was battling to stick with people I would usually leave of dust. On the first few steep climbs I was coughing uncontrollably and just could not breathe. I finally reached the road bike transition and have never been so glade to stop running and start biking. On to the road bike I dialled in a solid cursing speed and set to work by myself up the Cardrona valley. Starting to get back in the groove of things I reeled in a few individuals and moved into 5th place.
Off the road bike and on to the MTB I worked as hard as I could and was closing in on 4th place. At the half way mark I was on track for a PB hill climb. However from this point I started to fall to pieces. I hit a big wall and just did not have the legs to push any harder.
I reached the finish 2minutes faster than last year in 5th place, 1minute 30seconds behind 4th and 14 minutes behind 2nd. Absolutely shattered I was pleased with my effort given the situation and but gutted I did not get to put my fitness to the test with good health.

Thanks to studio 5 for the awesome on course photos

Brass Monkey Triathlon

When the opportunity came up to share a ride back to the West Coast to compete in the Brass Monkey Triathlon I could not say no. A chance to race on home soil and catch up with my dad, things don’t get much better.
This is my favourite race in the world. I first competed in the race 8 years ago and this was my first every multisport race. The course consists of a 6km run, 5km kayak and 16km road bike. It is a community run event and always has a good turnout.
With some of the locals keen to push the pace the run was hard and fast. I found myself out the front and just before the finish 2 other of the top individuals joined me at the front.
A fast transition into the kayak saw an instant 30sec gap open up between myself and the chasers. Paddling a borrowed Evo edge I set to work on the paddle. I had to slow down a few times to make sure I looked around as the views on the mirror lake were stunning to say the least. Out of the boat and I had managed to paddle the fastest kayak stage out of the whole race (teams included).

Final few strokes of the paddle stage

The eternal struggle out of the kayak

On to the bike and it was off on the final stage. I set to work riding but my legs were feeling a little heavy with the cold. I set a good time on the bike considering I was by myself the whole time (4th fastest overall) and ran down the chute to finish 1st.

On the road to the finish

Good to be done