We eventually saw one - see if you can spot it in the two pictures below...
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Whitakers in Wellington!!
We visited Matiu / Somes Island the day after the race. It is in Wellington harbour and has several rare and endangered birds as well as the world famous (in New Zealand) Tuatara.
We eventually saw one - see if you can spot it in the two pictures below...
We eventually saw one - see if you can spot it in the two pictures below...
Whitakers in Wellington!
A few more pictures of us enjoying the rare weather and fauna near Wellington...
Wellington Triathlon
We had a great time in Wellington this weekend. The focus was of course the race, but having 10 Nelson Tri Club members in town made for good company and a few laughs.
We were up at 5am in order to eat and get ready for the 7am start. Despite a very light shower just before entering the sea (whilst it was still dark!) the conditions were perfect. The water was still quite warm, the city and harbour were quiet and there was little to no wind - very rare for Wellington!
Us men got a 5 minute headstart on the women and the swim was bizzarely quite peaceful - it being so dark still! We both got around the swim, bike and run course which stuck to the coast throughout, inside our targets which was really satisfying. B finished in 2:41 and me in 2:17 (the winners got in on the 2hr mark). We both felt really elated and on a high - well worth the months of build-up and training!
We then ate, showered and got back to the course in time to see the elites doing the course... but some way faster than us! Bevan Docherty - world number two (who spent the day with our tri club last year) won convincingly and it was great to see his fluid yet fast technique...
We were up at 5am in order to eat and get ready for the 7am start. Despite a very light shower just before entering the sea (whilst it was still dark!) the conditions were perfect. The water was still quite warm, the city and harbour were quiet and there was little to no wind - very rare for Wellington!
Us men got a 5 minute headstart on the women and the swim was bizzarely quite peaceful - it being so dark still! We both got around the swim, bike and run course which stuck to the coast throughout, inside our targets which was really satisfying. B finished in 2:41 and me in 2:17 (the winners got in on the 2hr mark). We both felt really elated and on a high - well worth the months of build-up and training!
We then ate, showered and got back to the course in time to see the elites doing the course... but some way faster than us! Bevan Docherty - world number two (who spent the day with our tri club last year) won convincingly and it was great to see his fluid yet fast technique...
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wellington Baby!
On Thursday evening we make the 30 min flight to Wellington for the final NZ triathlon race of the summer series.
The races have been dotted around the country - not in Nelson which makes travel exensive so this is our first big triathlon in NZ. It is also an Olympic distance race which is double the distances we're used to; 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run. We've been trianing every day for the past 2 months with only a couple of rest days. It's like having 3 women n the go - you do one discipline and feel guilty for not spending time on the other two! We have swum mostly in the outdoor 50m pool next to school which is the best way to finish a day's teaching. Bernie regularly goes to specialised coaching sessions and I have begun cycling in a big bike race series on a Tuesday night which is punishing but great for strength. We regularly run around the airport next to where we live - situated right next to the sea so plenty to watch as you run. You even have to stop and check for planes in two parts of the course as it is so close to the runway!
The Wellington Tri is on Saturday morning - an early start should meannice and cool without too much wind - heavier conditions might be to my advantage though... Bernie just wants to get it out of the way! The course is pretty much within the picture below... I hope the ship doesn't come in too far!
The races have been dotted around the country - not in Nelson which makes travel exensive so this is our first big triathlon in NZ. It is also an Olympic distance race which is double the distances we're used to; 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run. We've been trianing every day for the past 2 months with only a couple of rest days. It's like having 3 women n the go - you do one discipline and feel guilty for not spending time on the other two! We have swum mostly in the outdoor 50m pool next to school which is the best way to finish a day's teaching. Bernie regularly goes to specialised coaching sessions and I have begun cycling in a big bike race series on a Tuesday night which is punishing but great for strength. We regularly run around the airport next to where we live - situated right next to the sea so plenty to watch as you run. You even have to stop and check for planes in two parts of the course as it is so close to the runway!
The Wellington Tri is on Saturday morning - an early start should meannice and cool without too much wind - heavier conditions might be to my advantage though... Bernie just wants to get it out of the way! The course is pretty much within the picture below... I hope the ship doesn't come in too far!
Any one for a 3km Swim?!
Following on from our Thursday night swims in the harbour which finishad last week, we completed a 3km endurance swim on Sunday morning. Getting up for the 8am start was worth it. We slipped into the water with a little trepidation, but soon got into cruise control as we headed out from the boat club (foreground of picture below), o the right hand side of Hulashore island - the island in the middle of the picture below:
We encountered a bit of a swell as we rounded the back of the island which made the going quite tough. From the shore it can look perfectly flat, but any slight swell makes for tricky sightings of the next bouy or rock and also makes it all that much harder to time breathing.
We finished rounding the island as the sun was in full glory over Nelson, meaning it was near on impossible to sight the finish point! Over that kind of distance I go into a trance and by the end I could have carried on for a while longer, it was really nice to finish though - a few of us had a bit of a sprint at the end and I finally beat the guy who runs Nelson Triathlon club... he's in his 60's - but competes for NZ so I'm still proud!
We encountered a bit of a swell as we rounded the back of the island which made the going quite tough. From the shore it can look perfectly flat, but any slight swell makes for tricky sightings of the next bouy or rock and also makes it all that much harder to time breathing.
We finished rounding the island as the sun was in full glory over Nelson, meaning it was near on impossible to sight the finish point! Over that kind of distance I go into a trance and by the end I could have carried on for a while longer, it was really nice to finish though - a few of us had a bit of a sprint at the end and I finally beat the guy who runs Nelson Triathlon club... he's in his 60's - but competes for NZ so I'm still proud!
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