Category: Blog

After another great off road run last weekend and a massive case of FOMO (and maybe 3 glasses of red), at the last minute I decided to enter the 32km Cranleigh Kauri Run across the Coromandel peninsula. A number of my running buddies were doing the 70km ultra-marathon, but I wasn’t feeling like I was missing out that much ! With only a 12 km under my belt in the past couple of months the 32 had me nervous enough as it was.

We had a great drive down to Coromandel township on Friday afternoon where the ultra guys left me after a late lunch to drive up to Fletcher Bay, where their run started at 6.00 am on Saturday.  I mooched around Coro for a couple of hours, took a photo of how scary the hills we would be running tomorrow looked, had a meal in a local cafe and an early night !

An hour after the 25 ultra runners had started their run I was having breakfast in bed in the motel, before heading off for the 8.30 bus to Waikawau Bay for the 32k run start –  at a leisurely 10:30. The late start really screwed with my nutrition planning as I just did not eat enough for the length of time I was on my feet and I ended up feeling quite nauseous later in the run.

Last night the forecast was for a cloudy day with little wind which is just perfect for a long run. However, as usual, the forecast was wrong and it was sunny with a strong breeze, which made for some tough running and out of the sun it got quite cool on the exposed ridges.

The bus got us to the start just as the first of the ultras were coming through and I was lucky enough to catch Shaun moving at an awesome pace through the transition after 4 hours and 38 kms.

Note the cold pizza in the hand, awesome 🙂

The walk to the start

The 32km run started with a 2k run along the beach, which is just stunning and with the tide low it was not too soft under foot.Yeah ok, I look a bit of a muppet, but it was damn windy and those bibs were not exactly flattering.I wanted a nice slow start to avoid blowing out early, so kept to the back of the pack.

The beach was followed by a nice bit of bush single track with a number of small stream crossings where I managed to pick off a number of the slower runners and then a long climb up to the first drink stop, a hard climb with a stunning view back over the bay from the top.

The next dozen or so km’s crossed over the spine of the peninsula with some gruelling climbs and some fun descents.  In places the scenery was just awesome, one of the prime reasons for doing this run.(look at that wind in the pungas !) The scar in the bush is where we are heading next, and as you can see below it was as steep as it looks, and not the hardest part of that section of the trail.

However, from the top the views to the eastand west

were really worth it. (sadly neither me or my camera were up to these shots).

The final section up to the highest point was a fun piece of gnarly technical single track that I would normally have really enjoyed, but I was feeling pretty broken after 4 hours of running and took a  fairly conservative approach to avoid busting an ankle.The view from the trig (and the highest point of the run) back down over Coromandel township and the gulf was inspiring.

From the trig it was a 5km run down to the finish line at Coromandel School, I was feeling a bit nauseous on the run down so had to stop and walk a few times as the bouncing was pretty unpleasant and could have got messy.  I finished in 5:01, 85^th out of 104 finishers, very pleased with the result as I was really expecting to take around 6 hours due to my lack of  running.

After my race was done I waited around in the sun for the rest of the ultra guys to roll on in. Shaun had been in for a while before I arrived, finishing the 70k in 8 hours 15, with the winner of the ultra finishing in a stunning 7 hours !

Mal (and Sal who beat me by 5 or so minutes)Vicki (and Dougie who had been apparently puking for hours).and Barbarella.An awesome result for all the ultra runners, a first official race for Vicki, Mal and Shaun. I stand in awe of anyone who can complete a 70k event over that (or any other) terrain. It was a great event, with a great feel amongst all the competitors.

The beers after were great 🙂 though it was an early night for all.

Wow that was quick – my house was sold in just over a week and for more money than I expected – AWESOME ! The one condition on the sale is I have to be out by Monday 5th December, which is slightly earlier than I originally would have liked. However, this early sale means I will probably get away to the south island for a few days to see my sister, friends and experience some life as a backpacker in my own country.

Those who know me well will laugh at this, but the best thing about having the sale process over is I can go back to being a slob and stop cleaning up after myself every minute of the day. The clothes mountain is already growing on the lounge chair.

We took possession of the house on 19 November 1999 and I clearly remember sitting on the front deck on the afternoon we moved in and saying that I didn’t like the house, and sadly that has never really changed. That is not to say that I have been unhappy here, I have some great memories and had more than a few laughs here.

Having a large, flat(ish) section meant plenty of outside time and many hours were spent kicking footballs, making jumps and skate ramps and watching the boys jumping their bikes. Back in the day the massive Christmas Eve BBQ’s we had for friends and family were a highlight of our summer calendar.

No 36, I wont miss you but I will take some good memories.

This morning I broke two of my own rules of trail running, firstly I went out on my own and secondly I was not as well prepared as I should have been. Fortunately nothing happened, even though I did make a wrong turn at a trail junction. What I did do right was let someone know where I was going !

It was great to be back on the trails, and I particularity love the trails around Piha, the downhill sections are just so fast and flowy and the scenery is great, I just love running in the Waitaks.  Even better  I was really pleased to still be feeling good after almost two hours of running, a good start back.

Next time I run I pack a warm layer and a beanie, I got cold today and its November !

 

Saturday 29 Oct 2011 was the first day of my new life, the first day with no job to go to on Monday, or any other Mondays in the near future.  It was a good day. It started with my first trail run in two months, followed by a fun photo shoot in the afternoon, ending with a family dinner for my niece’s birthday in the evening.

With my focus over the past three months primarily being on work I have not managed to dedicate much time to myself and my hobbies. Late nights, stress and a lack of sleep, as well as working a few weekends, left me fairly wasted when I did have free time so the time was seldom put to good use.   Now it has all changed ! My last day at work was on Friday and now I can do what I want when I want and it was great to cram a couple of my favourite things into day one.

After having only done one short road run in the past two months I was a wee bit concerned that even a short trail run would leave me gasping.  However, my buddy Vicki picked an awesome fifty minute run over the Farley Track in the Waitakere Ranges, that was just perfect for a first run back. Not technical, good under foot track conditions, no steep bits and a beautiful section of native bush to enjoy.  A great first run that has me looking forward to the next one.

After the run it was a quick trip home, shower and then into the city for the first Flickr group photo shoot meet up that I have attended in months. It was a great opportunity to test drive my new camera, tripod (the tripod was a leaving gift from my work, awesome !) and the messenger bag combination I was planning on using on my travels. Though, stupidly I left the tripod mount at home so ended up not testing the tripod out. I really enjoy hanging with the Flickr group, they are a great bunch of people as well as having some fantastic photographers in the mix.  I have also not taken my photos for a while so I really been looking forward to this.

The objective of this meet up was to take 30 photos in JPEG format over 2 hours, then print them out in the local photo store, no post processing!! It was all good fun and I got to spend a bit of time playing with the new camera. Ultimately I was not thrilled with my images, but an afternoon of shooting photos then a couple of beers while looking at the printed output of the group was good fun and a good start back into photography again.

I left the beer session early and raced back home to nip up to my sister’s place for a family dinner for my niece’s birthday. A great way to end the first day of the rest of my life !

A shot from the day, a sticker from Occupy Aotea. I don’t mean to be political, but I am not a fan of our current government.