I looked at starting this blog almost 3 weeks ago during the Peak to Pub weekend but got side tracked and have been either too slack or just too busy to get it done. I restarted this post with only 2 weeks before we leave for New York and my training starting to taper. As indicated in the last post it was school holiday time with Harry and Kate in Ashburton and initially Thomas was on the West Coast helping out on Marcus's farm. Thomas though would soon be heading back from the Coast to take part in the Peak to Pub.
The Peak to Pub is a multi sports event which is a lttle different. There is no long swim legs or kayaking, instead you start off barrelling down Mt Hutt on skis or snowboard after doing a run through the snow at the top of the mountain. You then travel down the ski field road on your mountain bike to the main cross roads with Route 72 and run the rest of the way to the Blue Pub in Methven. This year one of the teams entered was the "3 O'NEILLS", Harry O'Neill was our skier, Thomas anchored our team and was the runner and I was competing in the Mt Bike leg with my offroad handbike. The most important part of the team was the support crew; Kate team manager and Denise driver and catering.
The day for the race was great with bright sunshine and mild temperatures. We did have a bit of a hiccup on the way up with road closed due to congestion at base building and the carpark full. This meant when we eventually got to the base buildings we needed to drop our gear off and then get our car back down to the lower carpark at the Rakaia Saddle. Harry with a history of ski racing for Waihi School was well primed with his streamlined haircut (he chose not to wear a helmet) and he did not disappoint being the 3rd down the mountain in the teams event. From here I took over and I unfortunately did not keep up Harry's good pace. I cranked the handbike as quickly as I could and had the power assist helping me but the competition on 2 wheels flew past me. The handbike certainly bounced around alot and was difficult to control on the corners, especially the off camber corners designed to stop ski bunnies driving off the road. I eventually made it to the cross roads and past the bid onto Thomas who was about the last team runner waiting to go. I followed Thomas doing the run down the road section on the handbike and saw in dive into the Rangitata Diversion Race, a very cold 8m swim. We all then meet at the Blue Pub and Thomas did a very good 10km + run in 46 minutes. No prizes were run but much fun was had!
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| Three O'Neills Team - Peak to Pub |
Following the Peak to Pub I did 3 rowing machine sessions followed by another push at Staveley with Thomas. We again climbed the hill up to the Skating Rink and set a new record of 55km/hr down the hill. When back at the store we headed up Route72, this involved generally a steady climb with some steeper pinches to test you. We got past the old Alford Forest store and the Moas and eventually turned around near the one way bridges. It was then pretty much all downhill back to the store followed by another short hill and then coffee. To finish the week off on Saturday Denise and the boys went skiing and I did a really good 37km push with Brent Kircher. It was another good day and we headed out the usual way but this time completed the circuit back to Mitcham Road.
Thursday: 1 hr 53 mins 27km
Saturday: 2 hr 34mins 37.4km
Saturday: 2 hr 34mins 37.4km
The next week we had Hugh and Donna down who were following Amy and the Wellington Girls East netball team in the National Secondary Competition. I was keen to go out for push with Hugh but it was windy as hell so I did not manage any training until a row on Wednesday followed by a push on Friday with Thomas. This was only made possible after withdrawing from a regional fire exercise at Raincliff in South Canterbury. This also allowed me to complete my last long duration marathon training last weekend. The weekend pushes did not go that smoothly. I headed out on Saturday with Denise intending to do about 35km on the usual route but after doing about 12km I got my first flat tyre. After Denise couldn't find anybody at home at the closest house a passing motorist stopped and we used her mobile to call Thomas to rescue us. With a couple of new tubes and the bike repaired we headed out again on Sunday. Thomas went with me this time and it was warm, proabably in the mid 20's so I wore shorts and only my skins top. After having rowed in the morning I still hoped to do about 30km. With heat however I reviewed this to 26km.
Friday: 1hr 41mins 24.5km
Saturday: 55min 12.1km
Sunday: 1hr 45min 26km
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| Heat Goes On...Shorts Go On! |
I am now entering the taper period of my training. This means I reduced the length of training sessions but make them more intense. I started this taper period by joining the college rowers at a group erg (rowing machine) session. This had me completing a pretty intense 40 minutes, longest erg session since my accident. On Wednesday this this week I did another trip to Staveley with Bruce Day. Another hill session but a shorter but vigorous push of 19km. I feel quite fresh after this and enjoy a coffee and famous sausage roll at the Staveley Store.
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| Bruce Day with me at Staveley |
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