Blog Backlog and Winter Bites

I need to be more disciplined with getting my blogs in regularly....these days I constantly feel there are not enough hours in my day!!  At the moment though is a great chance to catch up, Denise and I are currently sitting at 10,000m ASL heading for Queensland and some warmth!

So here goes with trying to catch up with 3 weeks of blogging. I think I will just give you the brief highlights as I'm not sure how good the memory is;

In the week following Ben Lucas borrrowing me one of his chairs I spent a bit of time trying to set it up and getting the stirring working properly. This took at least a couple of pushes with Bruce Welch being very patient with lots of stopping and starting. Over the three weeks I managed a few longer pushes, one of these with Alison Batchelor heading out on the roads to the east of Tinwald.  These roads were new territory for me and they worked quite well with not too much traffic and also relatively flat terrain. I also managed a longer push with Denise on the roads to the NW of Ashburton and spending about 75 minutes in the chair. In another variation to my training I took my racing chair along the Christchurch southern motorway cycleway. This was quite different from my training around Ashburton with slick hotmix and no cars or trucks to worry about. I feel as though training on the chipseal roads around Ashburton are better for me with the extra resistance building me up, the smooth roads of New York will seem a piece of cake.

In the last week prior to jumping over the ditch there has been no race chair training. I had hoped to go for a push with Bruce Day on Wednesday morning but I needed to put down a brew of apple cider. Also with temperatures only nudging about 1 degree at 11am we decided to give it a miss.  I have also been trialling some sports massage over the last couple of weeks. Anna the new gym manager at the EA Networks Centre put me onto Jenny Lott.  Jenny helps athletes (and horses) keep there bodies going even though they are abusing them training, fingers crossed my body responds to her treatment.

Off for a push SE of Tinwald

Champions and New Chairs

Another weekend and we are back at the lake for some rowing. Saturday morning is cold with a good frost and then cloud cover to keep it cool.  I do eventually warm up and have a good relaxing row. That afternoon I head out for a longer push with Denise, Thomas stays at home to do home work. A southerly change has been forecast to hit later in the afternoon and as I have been known to do I fail to get organised very quickly and we don't get away until late afternoon. The push starts really we with gentle cross winds and quite warm weather, this however changes just as we are about to head home. As we turn south to head home the southerly hits. What is usually a quick push with a gentle down gradient has become a full on battle into a chilly southerly, this push is starting to remind me of that session at Mayfield with gale north west winds :-(  Anyway we get it done and I am rather lucky compared to Denise who rode next me and is chilled to the max.

The next day we head to Christchurch via Lincoln with Denise, Thomas, myself, my chair, Thomas's bike and my racing chair all packed in the car. We are heading to Lincoln to meet up with Ben Lucas.  Ben is a racing chair guru having represented NZ in both the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. I can remember seeing Ben when I was at Burwood where he works as CEO for the Spinal Trust, he had the coolest looking chairs and always speed around with ease and grace. After a cup of tea and a meet the family we head out for a short push so that Ben can give me some pointers on the best way to push the chair. This goes well and when we get back to Ben's place he suggests that he might have a chair that might suit my body shape better. The chair gets dug out of the attic and we then have to fit an extra chair into the car, help we need a really big shoe horn!! I tell Ben that I will be back for more help when I can and head away.

The New Racing Chair from Ben Lucas

Post Race Recovery

I really did enjoy the Christchurch Half Marathon, my supporters team were legendary making race day very easy and they definitely deserved their Brunch with the early start and the brisk Christchurch weather. After brunch we decided to stay in town for the prize giving, this proved to be worth while with the wheelchair 1/2 marathon winner getting a $150 Skins voucher.

 

Denise at Lake Hood

While we waited in the Square for the prize giving we meet up with Chris Bellringer, a fellow masters rower. During our conversation Chris asked whether we would be rowing on Monday morning, and I said 'why not?' With Monday being a public holiday we had a later start, 8am, which was appreciated. There was 4 rowers plus me the para so Denise would be part of the Quad crew in the brand new boat. I also managed to persuade Thomas to join us. So with Kate in bed; Denise, Thomas & I headed down to Lake Hood and the weather was perfect - mild conditions and flat calm water. I wasn't sure how the body would go after the race but things went well. I think the action of the rowing stroke is quite good for my body with the opening out of the shoulders which is opposite to the racing chair pushing action.

 

Following the holiday weekend it was back to work. The forecast for later in the week was not good with rain and cold southerlies forecast. I therefore decide to get straight back into training. Bruce Welch has said he is available Tuesday afternoon so we do a short 7.5km push which seems to go well, the arms and shoulders are a bit stiff and sore to start with but they soon warm up. For the remainder of the week I stick to swimming.

A Good Day in Christchurch

Sunday morning was Christchurch Marathon day and my first chance at racing in a wheelchair.  It was an early start for me getting up before 5am and doing my morning routines as well as getting ready for race day.  The previous evening we had packed the racing chair into the car by removing the wheels and lowering a third of the back seat.  With advice from Denise and Thomas I started the morning with a fruit smoothie as well as my usual cup of tea.

After sorting out a few finer details like camel backs and clothing for the finish we head north on a frosty Canterbury morning.  We picked up Kate from Merivale on the way to Cathedral Square, it is a tight squeeze with both the racing and my normal chair in the car. As we were told at registration the day before, we drive through the road blocks and park at the organisers carpark on Worcester St near the Square.  We get to the start line with plenty of time and my helpers Thomas, Denise and Kate get me into the race chair and I make my way to the start line.  Denise is on her bike and she will chaperon me through the Christchurch streets. 

Getting Ready for the Start

At the start line I am poised just behind the electronic sensors surrounded by the elite runners. I am then given a one minute head start and I sprint away as quickly as I can. The road surface is generally pretty good and I get some reasonable speed up although there are quite a few corners that slow me. It is not long before the competitors in the 10k race fly past me and I start trading positions with the runners, generally they are going past me but sometimes when I get a bit of a down slope I will whiz past them again. The first part of the race loops around Hagley Park and then as we start heading back to the square I realise I probably started a little too quickly and I try to settle on a less vigorous pace.

Pushing Hard Early in the Race

Denise and I get back to the Square at about the same time as the lead female 1/2 marathoners. From here though things get more difficult as we head east and towards the red zone. To begin with I have to tackle some of the Avon River bridges that have been lifted up as a result of the earthquake.  This proves quite difficult, especially when I have to climb up the bridge while turning at the same time. We then get deeper into the red zone and start travelling on roads that are no longer used by cars. These roads or tracks are a mixture of pot holes or soft hot mix repairs that have not been completed properly. Some of these repair sites are quite long and the surface is more like a beach or a riverbed than a road.  This definitely slows me down but I managed to press on and after a bit of cursing at the racing organisers we do eventually get back to real roads. With the body pretty weary I 'push' on to the Square and the finish. 

Over the Finish Line!

At the the finish I am greeted by Kate and Thomas who tell me I have completed the race in about 1 hour 21 minutes. I am stoked as I had aimed to finish between 1:15 and 1:30. I am also greeted at the finish by my cousin Michael which is a great surprise. Michael along with my helpers manage to get me back in my normal chair and we head back to the car to stow the race chair and then head to a cafe for a well earned brunch.

Christchurch 2015 Wheelchair 1/2 Marathon Champion!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has got me this far. Firstly Denise who has been 100% behind me. All my children; Kate & Thomas who helped me at this event and Harry who has trained in the rain with me and been a camera man.  Thank you to everybody else who has helped with my training and those who have helped financially and to people that cheered me on in Christchurch.  All the crowds along the route provided great support and gave the event a fantastic atmosphere.