Mud, mud... glorious mud.

Running has become a pretty big part of my journey back to a fitter, lighter me. I’ve always said that I’ve hated running with a passion and whilst I’ve done the odd running event in the past, training regularly has always been a struggle. Maybe it’s the monotony of pounding the streets, or the aching muscles afterwards… I don’t know. This time around though I’ve eased myself into it, progressively ramping up distances and intensity and I’m enjoying it.

The other big contributor to the enjoyment factor has been trail running. I get a buzz from running off-road. There’s something infinitely more rewarding about being in the bush away from the traffic, running along trails that constantly twist and turn. There’s very little of the monotonous rhythm of road-running and you need to be engaged with your body, conscious that a misjudged footfall could send you over a rock or tree root and face first into the dirt at any moment.

So when I came across Xterra Wellington I was hooked and immediately signed up for the whole four race series.

Xterra Wellington round 1: Mad Makara

 

Wellington had been blessed with an extraordinary summer this year. There was month after month of glorious sunshine and little to no rain. However the end of daylight savings also signaled an abrupt end to the good weather. The first event I did, the Porirua Grand Traverse a couple of weeks ago, came with a biting cold southerly and patchy drizzle. 

The second event was round one of Xterra, held last Sunday on the fantastic trails of the Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park. It rained all day the day before, it rained all night too and by the time I lined up for the start there was no sign of the deluge easing. What this also meant was that the trails, that a week earlier would have been a great hard-pack surface to run on, were today covered by the slickest layer of clay mud imaginable.

For my first Xterra event I was only game enough to try out the short course option which turned out to be a smidgin under 8km. Basically the course climbed relentlessly for the first 5ks and then had a steeper descent back to the finish. There was no respite from the slick mud, other than on a couple of short pieces of four wheel drive track that also happened to be the steepest pitches of the climb! 

Being predominantly single track, there were few opportunities to pass other runners which had me feeling that I could go faster than the pace that was being set for much of the climb.  But I also wasn't really game enough to expend the energy required to push past the half dozen or so ahead of me to get clear track, least I blew up spectacularly and looked like a fool. Any thoughts of making up for lost time by striding out on the descent were dashed thanks to the mud. The downhill section was a constant battle to balance speed with staying on my feet.

I wasn’t out to set any records for pace anyway so am happy with my decision to just settle into the rhythm of the group and complete the course, without having a heart attack or ending up on my arse . 

Nevertheless after a spirited sprint over the last couple of hundred metres, I had to fight hard not to throw-up after crossing the finish line! I’ll put that down to running on an empty stomach.

Xterra round 1 - Makara Peak MTB Park    (photo: Mark Lynch)

I was pretty stoked too for my good friend Jess who finished strongly a few seconds ahead of me. She took on the event together with a work colleague and had no real idea of what to expect. I have a sneaking suspicion that this won’t be the only Xterra event she has a go at.

I’m a bit of a gear freak and my sporting interests are a great way to indulge my addiction for buying gadgets. One of these is my Garmin Forerunner 910XT multisport GPS watch. Used properly it’s a fantastic training tool that delivers a plethora of performance, health and scheduling metrics through Garmin Connect’s online portal. I’ll do a proper review of it at some point in the future. Right now though, its player feature is a great way to relive events such as this and to indulge my analytical side. 

http://connect.garmin.com/player/300736558

This was just my first taste of Xterra but I’m impressed with how well organised an event the Welllington team put together. I’m really looking forward to round two on 12 May in the Catchpool Valley part of Rimutaka Forest Park… and possibly a step up in distance from the short course to medium and a run of about 12km. 

 Gotta keep on training!!

 

The First Steps To Redemption

 In mid-September I'm heading over to Italy for a month to have a look around and to watch the road cycling world championships and Tour of Lombardy. I want to be able to enjoy myself... I want to be able to walk all day and take in the sights and I don't want to try that at 130kgs, or 120kgs for that matter. So I set a goal... to lose 25kgs by September.

How's that going? It's 12 weeks on from my reaching peak weight. In those 12 weeks I've managed to shed 16kgs and it's still coming off. I'm confident that I'm on track to hit that goal and I'm going to try my hardest to knock it out of the water. But I need to be diligent about keeping up the good work that I've started.

There's no secrets and no special diets. I'm not giving anything up... if I want a night out or a burger then I'm going to indulge. What I've changed though is just being conscious of what's going in on a regular basis and making "better food choices". Sandwiches for weekday lunch have become salads and instead of a coke I'm drinking a lot more water with a squeeze of lemon. I've actually been surprised at how easy the change has been.

The second key thing has been exercise. Essentially getting off my arse and doing something everyday (well, maybe one day off a week sometimes!!). At first this was walking. Walking at lunchtimes, walking before work or walking after work. Gradually though I felt this wasn't enough and at this year's annual work trip to the Great Lake Relay up in Taupo, I felt that I was underdoing myself and the team by doing a walking leg (for the second year in a row). Then on my daily walks I often found myself wanting to go faster... to run.

I've always hated running.

One morning, halfway into a 5km morning walk the urge to run got the better of me. Since then I've discovered that, for the first time in my life, I'm enjoying running [WTF?].

So here is a second goal. To finish my year off by doing The Goat - a 21km alpine run on Mt Ruapehu from Whakapapa to Turoa skifields. Now this looks like a pretty tough race... basically a half marathon, off-road with 1,000m of vertical ascent. That's going to take some serious training.

Well the preparation is underway. It started with the Porirua Grand Traverse and their option of a 7.5km "fun-run". With a couple of training runs under my belt, I headed down there on what turned out to be the coldest day of the year so far. Arriving in Porirua it was a chilly 6 degrees but with a real feel of 3 degrees thanks to a brisk southerly and cold light rain. The run was only 7.5km long but came with over 200m of vertical ascent, the bulk of which was in the first kilometre from the Titahi Bay beach up to the top of Mt Cooper in Whitirea Park.

The view from Mt Cooper back towards the start on Titahi Bay beach.

I had set myself a very conservative target of 1:05:00, but was really hoping to go under one hour. When I reached the finish line though I was pretty stoked to look down at my Garmin 910XT to see a moving time of 54:29.

And I still felt pretty good. That afternoon I still felt good (warmed up after a nice hot spa when I got home!!) and was even more surprised to not really have any aches and pains the next day. So I've kept on running.

The next target is the Xterra Wellington trail running series. It kicks off this Sunday with an explore of the Makara Peak mountain bike park. I may only be taking on the short course but I'm still just taking baby steps.

THE BEGINNING

The best place to start anything is the beginning...

Once upon a time I would have described myself as an outdoors person. I regularly mountain biked, road cycled, skied, hiked, kayaked, sailed and climbed mountains. I had a passion for the being outside and being active.

A shift to Wellington some 12 years ago, working life in an office and a busy social life put paid to a lot of the activities that I loved to do. Whilst I have kept up the sailing and for a time the cycling, gradually my 'other' passion (the devil on the other shoulder) for food, wine and a good party overtook the healthy living.

 But the passion has never died and it's time to begin a journey back.

So just why do I consider this a journey? After years of neglect and excess I got a shock from the bathroom scales. On 24 January 2013, I saw the figure of 130.7kg. To me, that was the catalyst that triggered an awakening. There's no hiding from  it... if I didn't do something soon then I knew I was on the fast track for an early and unhealthy demise.

So how did I get here? I was pretty good for a number of years. I regularly biked to and from work racking up the kilometres and keeping my weight under control. But there were a couple of setbacks. In 2007, a serious crash in the first race of the Wellington road racing season landed me in hospital with two broken vertebrae. I spent the next six months on crutches and when I finally got back on the bike my confidence had taken a big knock.

A year of solid training though had me feeling pretty good about my form and my weight was hovering in the mid 90's (I've never been a lightweight!!). In 2009, I set a goal of going under 3 hours over 100km. When the time came, I felt ready and had a strong race. But the dynamics of bunch riding saw me miss that three hour mark by 20 seconds. Yes, a mere 20 seconds. I should have just shrugged it off, knowing that 20 seconds was nothing, but psychologically something inside me snapped. This 20 seconds has done me far more damage than the broken back did.

I decided to take a break from cycling and other than a half-marathon in mid-2009 have done virtually nothing to maintain my fitness. I also did nothing to adjust the rest of my lifestyle. In a little over 2 years I racked on 30 plus kilos and for 2012 hovered in the mid 120s. At this point there was always the "I should do something about it"... but I never, until now did

By recording that fateful 130.7kg, I immortalise the number as a reminder of where I have come from and where I shall never return.

Next chapter... The first steps to redemption.