A fun filled Easter Weekend..!

On my last post I mentioned I was going to have a go at some of the local races over the Easter Weekend here in New Zealand. I was determined to take advantage of the store being closed due to the public holiday, so it all started on Easter Friday where I had entered the Lake Hayes Tri 10km trail race. Now some of you may remember that I did actually race this back at Christmas too in 25 degree heat well this time round it was the total opposite ! Very chilly and windy made the course once again a challenging event. The race is held twice a year once at Christmas and the other at Easter so it gets lots of the same runners which is great.. Back at Christmas I finished up in 3rd and suffered a lot on the far side of the lake due to being exposed to the blistering heat (For a Welshman anyhow!) this time round the runner who won last time was here again and a few new faces. Gem was racing once again and hoping to improve on her Christmas time too and our new house mate Rachael decided at the last minute to have a crack.

Race number 1. Map and profile!

From the gun the lead runner just went with out looking back, what left myself and 2 other runners in chase (including last events winner) for me I was set on trying to keep as close as possible to him or better still obviously get my own back from Christmas… As we passed through the 5km mark our little pack of 3 had been reduced to 2 and still moving pretty well, I decided at the far end of the lake that I would make a move on a steep incline and make my bid for 2nd place and strangely that's exactly what happened (for a change!!) I raced up the hill and glanced over my shoulder to see 3rd place had slowed down on the incline. The final 4km was all about hanging on and my goal was done, I was never going to catch 1st so my main focus was to stay 2nd and take it home. On crossing the finish line I looked down at my Suunto Ambit 2 and was pleased to see I had actually taken off just over 4 minutes from last time I raced this course, obviously growing up with wind and rain helped me today! Not too long after Gem had a storming run to win the ladies race overall and was over the line in also a much quicker time than last time.. My new house mate Rachael also had a very strong run to finish middle of the pack .. Overall a good day all round!
On the Saturday I had a chilled morning followed by a 17km walk along the lakefront trails and a 22km mountain bike ride in the evening to turn the legs over which at this time was starting to stiffen. A good feast in the evening and an early night ready for Sundays race..

Nathan racing vest and Hoka One One trail shoes.. Good to go!

7:00am soon come around on the clock and it was time to go again, this time The Arm Run 26km trail race,  I was racing this one alone as Gem and Rachael had to work, so I found myself cycling 22.5km to the start line of the trail race as a warm up.. Today's weather was much better still a little wind around and cooler temperature but no rain in sight! 10:00am and we were off , the start was enough to kill anyone off it was a steep rugged trail climb for the first 15minutes before descending onto the lake front trail of Jacks Point. On hitting the front I felt it might flatten out a little how wrong was I! The trail went for almost 10km of up and down, up and down along this amazing single file track. Every now and again you were hit by the strong winds of the lake but nothing too challenging. I quickly realised that again I wasn't going to catch the lead runner.. he had ran a very strong first 15km over the undulating trails to gain his lead and he wasn't going to just give it up, I glanced over my shoulder to see no one else in sight.. I had put a big gap in between me and 3rd overall at this point. As I hit the 20km mark my legs had started to stiffen I was slowing slightly mile by mile but determined to hold onto my second overall. The final 5km down my usual trail run into work felt like double the normal distance and each hill felt steeper! Luckily I managed to hold onto my 2nd overall place just like 2 days before, on crossing the line I stopped the watch and noticed my legs were a little stiff the course had just over 1200ft of climbing involved along the single technical trails.. All great fun, and some good miles in the legs for TNF100 in Australia in 4 weeks from now.

Race number 2 - Map and profile!

A great Easter weekend all in all and some good time spent on the legs, clocking up my distance tallying  97km in total for my weekend. Then a perfect way to finish off my weekend with a easy run with Emily and Lar to get over the 100km mark for the weekend..
Back to the grind tomorrow in the store and a little recovery before my last few longer runs before TNF100!
Thanks to Nathan Sports as always for keeping me hydrated along the way as always, for anyone who is looking for a light, comfortable, multi function pack to carry their water and bits and bobs along the way you should check Nathan Sports for their selection of packs to hand held hydration solutions - http://www.nathansports.com . And again Hoka One One trail running shoes for keeping my legs moving and as fresh as possible over the couple of days! Always responsive, cushioned ride with less impact soreness on the legs. Well worth the buy if your in the market for new shoes..

Cheers for following everyone! Hope everyone had an awesome Easter and of course a tone of chocolate..
Paul

Feeling a little more normal...

After a couple of quieter weeks since racing the Tarawera Ultra I am finally starting to feel a little more fresh on my runs. Legs don't get as sore anymore and I seam to be recovering much better again! Rather than feeling heavy for days after doing a tempo run.

So this week I decided to do a little more and see how it went, I started off my week as normal now with a speed session with Gem, Emily and Lar. A nice solid hour after work on a Sunday is just right, we started off with hill reps followed by some grass track work! With the clocks changing last week you can really see the difference as your running around the track in the pitch black with no head torch.. I think everyone said the same things at some point in the session "Where's the track gone?" All good fun to say the least!

Gem taking a moment at the top of a long climb..

Through out the week I have been doing more but shorter runs to get the legs ticking over and they seam to be coping well! (For a change) And the usual to and from work either walking or running what clocks up a few more miles.

Stunning views around..

Yesterday I had said to Gem about running up the Remarkables and along to Lake Alta for a longer run. We set out around 10am as the forecast was hot followed by rain in the evening, it wasn't wrong! Along the way up the heat was just raising and rising step by step which made it even more fun.. if a 13.5km hill climb in one go wasn't tough enough as we neared to the summit of the climb there was workers in the road stating we couldn't go any further due to works being done at the ski resort unless we went off track and found a way around. As most of you know me, I did just that! After the next corner I had decided to just take a hard right turn and start to run/walk/scramble up to the ridge line to see how we was going to get around, after about an hour of waist deep grass, scrambling over rocks and trying not to fall down the side of the mountain we finally reached the ridge line of the Remarkables Mountains at just over 6,000ft in height we made our way towards to ski resorts area and ultimately Lake Alta. The best feeling ever after being roasted by the sun most of the way up was to just through my arms and face into the glacier made lake and cool down! Didn't take long before I was freezing of course, can't win!

Enjoying the cold waters of Lake Alta..

The decent was much easier and we were down back into town in half the time which was great as I was starting to starve :-) just under 50km and 12,000ft of elevation change we had finally around back home and had enjoyed an awesome day in the mountains.. My kit choice for the days was Nathan Vapor vest (Awesome all around pack what doesn't bounce around in the mountains, fits perfectly and enough pockets to carry everything along with 2L of water.) A pair of Hoka One Ones and Salomon twin skin shorts and top!

Picking routes out along the mountain side.. 

Easter weekend next weekend and I am hoping to do a little shorter racing locally as it's Easter there is a 10km trail race on the Friday followed by a 26km trail race on the Sunday. All being well hopefully I will get to race in both and gain some race fitness for the TNF100 in Aus coming up in May!

Thanks again to all who takes time to read/follow my blogs..
Paul

Easy few weeks after Tarawera Ultra...

So I have been a little quiet on my running blog the last few weeks due to my running being quiet too! After the Vibram Tarawera Ultra I decided to just take a step back and relax, as many of you know I wasn't over joyed with my performance in the ultra. I don't actually have an exact reason or excuse to say why?! Apart from a just it didn't' happen on the day… Many of you guys who read this will understand what I mean by this! I just felt tired at 45km onwards and my body/legs just didn't want to go.

After taking a few days to just recover and chill me and Gem went out for an easy 10km to see how the legs was feeling, they felt ok but not fresh by any means. I enjoyed being back out on the trails as I always find rest and peace when I'm out along the trails.. I have often said running distance in Hoka One One shoes have always aided my recovery and again I'd say the same, I was wearing them again for my 10km trot and my feet always feel great! And of course staying hydrated by my hand held drinks bottle from Nathan Sports..

Thanks Nathan Sports for your support!

Since that really I have just been keeping it basic and only going out for a run when I have really felt like I have wanted to rather than 'I have to go out and train!' I have been doing my usual 5km to work and 5km home each day but mixing it up from running and walking. It's been good to keep my legs turning over and in some sort of shape. With the 'The North Face 100' in the Blue Mountains in less than a month I seriously need to some longer runs to get the feel of distance back in my legs, I don't think it's going to be easy! I really want to actually perform a lot better there but I am also hoping the course might actually suit me a lot more with all the long slow climbing involved rather than faster flatter trails like in Tarawera!

A stunning view from the trails..

I have been doing a little more hiking this last 2 weeks rather than running too just because it still gets me out on the trails and mountains with out taking to much energy and effort.

Last Sunday after work I have arranged to do a speed session with a Emily and Lar which was great! It was actually nice to just do a short intense workout with some friends and after our first set of efforts Gem had joined us from work so it was good to have a little group training together rather than going out for hours on your own.! I don't do enough speed sessions but I do enjoy them when I do make them part of my training. Hopefully will get one a week into my training from now on..!

Been enjoying the nice weather in NZ

Like I said at the start of this blog there wasn't much to share, but that is about it what I have been up to running about the trails! The big countdown has started now till the TNF100 race in Australia, I am super excited to race here as it will be a new country for me to race in what will take my tally to 16 countries :-)

TNF100 Elevation Chart

Thanks again to everyone who follows and takes time to read my blog posts! Hopefully my next one will be a little more interesting with what I have been up to.
Cheers
Paul