This course had a mix of everything. Single track through pine forest and native bush, narrow slippery sheep tracks traversing steep grassy slopes, assault course like ducking around and under fences and manuka bushes, and brutally steep climbs covered in thick, heavy clay mud. One of the descents was a 300m scramble down at an incredible -38.2 degrees. If you don't steep degrees... think cliff! One of the competitors, a much faster one than me at that described the climbs as cliffs too... muddy ones. The organisers weren't joking at the briefing when they described the day's two main climbs as being walkable in 15 minutes and unlikely to be runnable, but if you tried, would probably take 20 minutes!
Shoe choice was critical today. The aggressive tread pattern of Salomon's Speedcross 3s gave an added confidence as people slipped around me left, right and centre. But even then, I still had the odd moment of scrambling to maintain balance with the odd slip here and there. In some places slipping was definitely not advisable, with a long tumble to the bottom of the hill the likely result.
This was a tough end to a great series. Despite the weather and the hard course, there were still a lot of smiles on the faces of the competitors, my own included. Probably helped by the fact I remembered to suck back a couple of gels on the way around. This kept the dreaded hunger knock at bay thereby avoiding the suffering that I encountered in the last few kilometres of round 2 in the Orongorongos.
It's kind of a shame that Xterra is only four races. But I'm sure next year will roll around in no time. For now though, my running focus shifts to half-marathons with the Wellington half next weekend and then the Tauhara Trail Run up in Taupo two weeks later.
Round 4 - Xterra Wellington.
Distance: 11.2km
Climbing: 605m
Logan Ackers (aka. Buffman) put together a cool video of the run and I trot past the camera a couple of times.
The other cool thing this week was I found the motivation to dust off the road bike and do the commute from home in Newtown to work in Johnsonville, about a 35km round trip - up Ngauranga gorge on the way and down Ngaio gorge on the trip home. All this running is obviously doing the body some good. Aerobically I felt awesome and I found it all pretty easy (especially compared to last time I rode just after Xmas), so much so that I did it a second day as well.
So with barely a breath of wind yesterday, I figured I should make the most of it and I went for a spin around Lyall Bay, Miramar peninsula, up over Mt Crawford and back again. All up about 36.5km and 315m of climbing.
In keeping with my declared philosophy of keeping my cycling fun, it was a slow ride with lots of photo taking on my iphone as I cruised along. In fact a photo essay is probably the best way to sum up what was a most enjoyable ride.
Quiet roads around Mahanga Bay. Roadie bliss...
I did thank you...
A pause to take in the scenery...
Alongside Burnham Wharf very close to where a sprint finish to a local club race went horribly wrong in 2007 and left me with a broken back and 6 months on crutches...
The cycling selfie. I may be fat and slow but I make sure I look pretty damn pro...
The view from Mt Crawford...
Photography, is a great passion of mine. Thankfully when I'm not running or cycling I pull out something more serious than an iPhone and spend a bit more time planning my shots. Last weekend I took a morning drive over to Featherston and down Western Lake Road, an area of the Wairarapa I'd never visited before.
Lake Wairarapa. Canon 1DMkIII, EF70-200mm f/2.8L and 10-stop ND + CPL long exposure. Processed in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro...
Fence in the bush. Canon 1DMkIII, EF70-200mm f/2.8L. Processed in Adobe Lightroom...
Derelict house south of Cross Creek. Canon 1DMkIII, EF70-200mm f/2.8L. 5 exposure HDR. Processed in Adobe Lightroom, Photomatix Pro and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2...
And to finish, Western Lake Road. Panasonic Lumix GX1. 3 exposure HDR. Processed in Adobe Lightroom, Photomatix Pro and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2...
There's so much photo potential over in the Rapa. I must schedule in some more time to do a bit more exploring with the camera (and maybe the bike).
Meanwhile the mind shifts back to running. I just need to shake the cold that's sprung out of nowhere.
