I woke up to a cloudy day which is perfect for me - nice and cool, but had the unusual prospect of wasting time until 5pm as the race was a rare evening event - after the shops had closed in central Wanaka. Wanaka is a beautiful town in the Southern Alps and is unspoilt in comparison with its big brother, Queenstown. See Wanaka below:
And we get spoilt to great sunsets like this:
The race went really well - the lake was 14 degrees which is rather fresh, but it was lovely and calm - a rare treat as we usually swim in the sea. The whole race went as well as I could have hoped although you always want to be faster. After the race we watched the elites race but had to wait until this morning for the results. I was really chuffed to find that I was second in my age group which gives me lots of points in the national series. I was then disappointed to see that the guy who overtook me during the run, pipped me for first place by 21 seconds... I simply couldn't have ran any faster so I'm happy enough.
I am currently enjoying the cool environment of an Internet cafe, as hundreds of sweaty people make their way around the half and full Ironman course outside. It is a hot day today, but I would like to give this monster event a go some day in the future. Several of my Nelson friends are here competing and we all got a nice mention in the Nelson rag here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/sport/the-fitness-zone/3232892/Triathlon-weekend-draws-strong-field
I woke up wishing I was racing in the half Ironman race this morning - the swim and bike would be OK, but the run would cripple me... my body has been seizing up over the past hour though so I'd better take a walk!
I'm going to hang around here for a couple of days before heading to the East coast to join my coach and explore the area by foot, bike and wetsuit! My second race (Olympic distance) is 8 days away so hopefully I can collect some more valuable points and memories!
Love to you all from sunny Wanaka,
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment