Rail Trail Classic 100 - Sunday 27th September 2009 152km MTB Race

Well on Sunday I went and competed in the Rail Trail Classic – the 152km MTB race from Clyde to Middlemarch. Initially when entering I didn’t think too much about the distance and challenge this could become, after a bit of thought and talk with others I realised the 152km on a MTB on a gravel road had the potential to be a long way. Anyway starting at Clyde at 8am we headed off and my main goal for the day was to get to Middlemarch without wrecking myself in the first 100km and suffering for the last 50 odd km. So making sure I was taking on good amount s of food and fluid along the way was going to be important. With a clear crisp morning it was a good pedal through the first 65km to Oturehua and occasional times where there were a few of us to share the load a little – however it was surprising how quickly everyone spread out and I found myself pedalling alone for a lot of the day. From here on there was a slight head wind picking up and by the time I left Ranfury after some quick food loading it was 60km to go to the finish. The legs were feeling pretty good until I had to slog out from Ranfurly to Hyde (about 35km) on my own into a fierce head wind, pretty demoralising when you are grovelling by yourself into a wind like we had and your barely moving. Anyway a bit of a grind but at Hyde with 25km to go we got a bit of a bunch going and were really able to wind it up to the end in Middlemarch, In our bunch there were 5 of us so I worked it so I was in a good spot to make a break on my own and about 200m to go I gave it all I had and managed to ride off the bunch and finish solidly dropping the rest in the final sprint!
Having eaten well and kept my fluids up through the day I felt ok on finishing.
I finished in 7hrs12min, placing me 36th overall out of 157 starters including teams and was 23rd individual across the line. With only 13 teams in front of me I was pretty happy with this result. IN my class 19-34yrs open men I was 8th – the longest ride I have ever done in one sitting on my bike!!! Some good base miles for other upcoming events! Full results at www.rtc100.co.nz

Dunedin Half Marathon 13th September 2009

Well, I had resorted to the half marathon this year instead of the full marathon due to having not really managed to build up enough miles on the feet since my recovery and knowing that you can't comfortably bluff your way through the full marathon without inflicting some serious pain on yourself!.... To add to this having had a cold/sinus/blocked up head congestion for the last week and a half and been off school for half of last week, i thought my chances of linig up for a run in the Half Marathon yesterday morning were going to be pretty slim.... anyway after contemplating my flu symptoms and dosing up on some de congestants i went for it... I decided to leave my watch at home otherwise i would be trying to keep to probably unachievable times - so with my watch at home i just ran with what felt ok and didn't worry about times going for the surprise sighting of my time at the end - an interesting way to run letting the body tell you what it feels ok with while having no real idea of pace. I got into what felt to be a reasonable pace and tried to clear my nose for the first 5km or so and then used what energy i had left to run on. Energy levels were a little low but going on what the body felt like was better for me yesterday and Overall i was pretty happy with the run coming in in 1hr42min. The next race for me i now in 2 weeks and is the RTC100 - which is the 152km MTB on the rail trail so i guess that will sort the legs out!