Happy Days

Another month, another road trip to Taupo and another half marathon. The third and final run in the 63.3 – 3 halves in 3 months series was the Kinloch Off-Road Challenge.  I went into this one feeling a lot better and healthier than the previous one a month ago. Just being healthy at the start line makes running 21+ kilometres that much less daunting. 

Kinloch threw up a pretty nice course. Double and single track through re-generating native bush on the Kinloch to Whakaipo Bay and Headland Loop tracks.  Nothing very technical and whilst the first half is pretty much climbing most of the way none of it is very steep. The toughest hill was the ridiculously shaped bridge over the marina less than a kilometre from the finish!!

I hadn’t quite done the running miles that I’d liked to have done in the weeks prior. But in the runs I had done I’d been noticing some quite big gains in speed and ability to recover. I’d also been able to clock up some pretty decent days on the bike. 

Having done my first off-road half marathon – the Tauhara Trail Run – two months earlier in 3:14 I felt confident that setting a target time of 3 hours was an achievable goal. Once underway and knowing that there was a lot of climbing to do in the first half I settled into a steady, comfortable rhythm  with those of similar pace. Even with a couple of photo stops along the way to pick up some snaps of the awesome Lake Taupo vistas that 3 hour target was never in jeopardy. 

 

Despite suffering a bit in the last 2 or 3 kilometres, no doubt due to the lack of longer training runs, I crossed the finish line in a satisfying 2:47.

Now the reality has sunk that I’ve achieved  what seemed like an incredibly lofty goal a few months ago for someone who just over 6 months ago weighed a very unhealthy 131kgs, of doing not just the Wellington half marathon  but then following this up a just a couple of weeks later with the first of the 63.3 series races.  So in just over three months I’ve run four half marathons – two on road and two off road, and in doing so dropped a pretty satisfying 29kg. 

I’m pretty much done with road running I think… it’s incredibly boring compared to trail running which I love.  I might do the 63.3 series again next year which will entail one on road event but I don’t see myself turning down the profitable few hours photographing the Wellington half as I did this year!

The next challenge for me is now a few months away in December. The fearsome Goat on Mt Ruapehu – a half marathon between Whakapapa and Turoa skifields with over 1,000km of vertical ascent! I’m also following this up with the Tussock Traverse – 26km around Ruapehu from Tukino skifield to the Chateau Tongariro. I’m also entertaining thoughts of adding the Routeburn Classic to my running bucket list. Maybe not next year but if things go well then I think I might have a crack at it in 2015.

First up though a holiday. This blog is being posted from the Koru lounge at Wellington Airport as I head off for an adventure in Dubai, Italy and France with plans to do a lot of photography, walking, bike race watching and the odd spot of running along the way.