First training session of summer

Some days down in Dunedin it is starting to feel like summer. This is a short video I made of a training session I did in the Dunedin sun a few weekends ago.
30km bike out to Taieri mouth and then a bit of a run along the Millennium track. All in all a good day out.

Braemar Gut Buster 12 Hr Adventure Race

While the rest of NZ was hunkered down to protect themselves from the storm the size of Australia that was on its way we were on our way towards Mt Cook for the Braemar Gut Buster.
I was teaming up with my supervisor Dr Jim Cotter and as well as racing we were there to over see a group of students taking on the challenge as part of the Multisport practical paper offered at the PE School.
With the 1st kayak being canceled and only three teams getting out on the trekking course before it closed it turned into a big mountain bike through A LOT of snow. With all of the changes out on the course through out the day no body knew where they were placed in the field. We finished the day up in second place.
For the official race report check out the link below
http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10741

Bendigo Rogaine

With Dunedin under water from all the recent rain it seemed like a crazy plan to head into the hills for a Rogaine. However as we travelled in land the weather cleared.

Now for those who do not know what rogaining is, it is a bit like orienteering but do it in a team (the team has to stay together), your team plans the route it will take and it’s done over a longer time period. There are a whole bunch of controls set up out in the middle of nowhere, each worth a different amount of points depending on the controls difficulty (e.g. a control on top of a mountain will be worth more than an easy to find control on the side of a road). There is a set time period, and during that time the goal is to get as many points as possible.

Out in the snow

This weekend we had entered a team from the PE school in the 6 hour race. The team consisted of my supervisor Jim Cotter, another lecturer Geoff Ockwell, student Hayden McCoy and myself. As Geoff and Hayden had never done on of these races before the goal for the race was to get out and have a look around at some of the high country around that area and if possible get up into some snow.

The team me, Jim, Hayden and Geoff

After a solid 6 hours out getting controls we were still not back at the finish which meant we would be penalised 10 points for every minute we were late. A big effort by the team running as hard as tired legs would let us. We made it back 20minutes late, which we thought would put us out of any placing. But to our surprise at the prize giving we had managed to take 1st place. All in all a great day out, we got to look around some great country, we found some snow and we managed to take first place.

The trusted gear

There was not much time to reflex on the day’s activities as it was straight back into the car to get home for the 3rd round of the Dunedin Winter Multisport Series the next morning.

Silver Stream weekend adventures

With a beautiful Dunedin day on the cards I just had to get out in the hills to stretch the legs. With the Bendigo rogaine coming up next weekend a bit of an off road adventure was needed. A bit of a stomp around in the Silver Stream area with our two dogs was just the ticket to get things broken in for the race next weekend.

Dunedin Winter Multisport Series Round 2: Whare Flat duathlon

This duathlon course is without a doubt one of the coolest courses I have ever done. The first 3km off road run has some steep climbs, flat water race tracks to stride it out on and some technical down hills to keep your mind on the job. Once off the run it’s on to the MTB for some solid climbing on forestry roads before descending on to the water race track. A few creek crossings and sections of technical riding makes this ride unlike any other multisport bike stage. Course map

Course profile

The final run is a repeat of the first run which does not seem to get any easier.
A strong field turned out for some fast racing. Coming into T1 a lead group of four kept the pace hot. Once on the bikes ex-Olympian Kashi Leuchs showed this class pulling away to take the lead.
Jim Cotter chased Kashi hard with Gavin Mason and me not far behind. Losing contact with the lead group on the first major climbs I worked hard through the single track and eventually caught and passed Gav. We raced back and forth for the remainder of the race with Gav just pulling away on the final run to take the 3rd position with Jim 2nd and Kashi 1st.
Same course but 1 year earlier - just as great this year

Whare Flat/ Sliver Stream training session

Another fantastic Dunedin day allowed for a solid afternoon on the MTB checking out the course for the second round of the Dunedin Winter Multisport series with some of the athletes that I coach through Exponential Performance Coaching.
A solid 3hour 30min session saw 1700m of climbing on the bike and a short up tempo off road run in the Whare Flat/ Sliver Stream area. The course for next week’s race includes a fantastic single track MTB which I am really looking forward to doing again.

Heading home at dusk the view over the Taieri planesand Silver Peaks was just amazing, I tried to capture it with a photo but it does not do it justice.

Dunedin Winter Multisport Series - Round 1

After a busy few months at university being full immersed in my masters research doing minimal training the first race of the Dunedin Winter Multisport Series was a bit of a shock to the system. A beautiful day made for great racing conditions.

The first 5km kayak start with a hot pace driven by a number of K1 paddlers keen to push the pace. Having done every limited paddle training this year meant that I was red lining the whole way. Thanks to my new Sission Evolution Omega I was able to limit my losses to the top paddlers to 2 minutes.

On to the MTB stage I worked my way through the field from 7th out of the water to 5th going into the run. Once into the brutal off road run my Salomon Speed Crosses came into their own on the steep greasy slopes. Over the 5km run to the finish I managed to reel in 4th and 3rd place to finish in 3rd place.

R&R Sport Otago Peninsula Challenge

With a bit of drizzle, a light wind and a little sun from time to time the conditions for the R&R Sport Otago Peninsula Challenge were great. The breath taking scenery on this course is defiantly a highlight and there were a few times when I got up close and personal with the scenery during a few crashes on the fast greasy grass down hills.

Taking in just about every steep hill possible the course is a tough one. A gun field assembled on the start line and the pace was hot from the start.

My drink bottle with all my Leppin Enduro booster bounced out of my bottle cage on one of the first down hills with out me realising. This left me with one bottle of water and only two leppin squeezes for the 2hr15min race. This was well below my usual nutritional intake and resulted on the fuel light blinking as I grovelled to the finish. I crossed the finish in 6th place and not to far off the pace of some of Dunedin's best riders.

All in all it was a great day out.

NZ MTB cup series- Dunedin race

This was to be my first experience of cross-country MTB lap racing. I had chosen to do this event as a stepping stone towards the Oceania’s MTB champs that are to be held on the same course in March. I was keen to gain as much experience as possible and have a good hard hit out. It has been a big learning curve entering the world of mountain biking and this race was no exception. It had rained a lot in the week leading into the race and all of the practice rides I had done around the track that week had ended up with me on my arse or in the bushes struggling to ride the wet slippery conditions. The boys at R&R Sport bike work shop set me up with some good mud tires for the conditions and a bit of advice that would turn out to be a massive help come race day. Luckily the track had dried out a bit come race day which made things a bit easier. I was racing in the senior age group category and our race consisted of 4 laps which took in the best bits of Bethuns Gully and Forester Park. A fast start saw everyone tearing off the start line. I worked hard to hold onto the front rider during the first 10minutes. As we entered the technical single track for the first time I could tell I was riding better than he was. At some stage he popped his cleat due to messing up a technical corner and I got past him into the lead. For the remainder 2/3rds of the lap I didn’t look back and rode hard through the technical descents.
It was great to hear that I was 45 seconds up on second place by the end of the first lap and I used this to fuel my effort. For the next 3 laps I set to work riding as hard as I could, focusing on good lines, pushing the up hills and keeping my energy levels topped with Leppin Squeezes every 20min. I rolled across the finish in 1st place in a time of 1hour52min, I had won the senior grade by 5 min which I was stoked about.

Watching the elite level racing in the afternoon was great motivation and a good indicator of the top level to strive for. So now after recovering well from the race it is back into some high volume training to future develop my aerobic capacity so I can put in some good quality high intensity training in preparation for the Oceania’s in 8 weeks.

Ill keep you posted