Taking Le Tiss!

I am now into the second week of my training program and thankfully the weather has been very helpful. No, I don't mean rain has prevented me from getting out on the bike and in the kayak. Actually, it's the opposite. Fine dry weather has made getting into a training routine fairly painless!

I have always been fairly motivated by weekend training but after work training is a different matter. Who really wants to jump on a bike or slip on the running shoes after a hard day's graft? Or in my case, a day sat on my comfy office chair clicking a mouse...

Watching Matt's great goals certainy makes time pass quicker whilst on the wind-trainer

Anyway, I am a good boy, so have been paddling after work and getting on my bike. To be honest the bike has not been going anywhere as it is still getting dark too early to go out on afterwork rides. Therefore it has been set up on the windtrainer in front of a spare DVD player. At least I have been able to watch Matt's favourite fifty (yes fifty) goals in 'Taking Le Tiss' and 'Only Fools and Horses' episodes whilst training! Who said training can't be fun?

Dedication is What You Need!

Gulp! Just having another look at the first part of my training program. Six days a week from week 1 and on one of those I have two sessions: cycling and kayaking. Crikey, I really did have a brainstorm when I signed up for this race!

So what did I do the evening before my first training session? You have guessed it, I went to the pub. I must say that the Sunday roast and accompanying pints went down rather well! Some people cut out alcohol altogether when training...not me! Obviously, I will be mindful of my early morning training sessions, though!

In case, you are wondering, I did do some exercise before going to the pub. I spent the morning paddling down the Waimakiriri River. It was the fifth and final Brass Monkey race. I managed to post a new personal best but then the winner also broke the course record. Well, the river was flowing much faster than it has been for a while!That's me paddling down the Waimak, in my sea kayak, with the Southern Alps in the background. It's tough living here!

Beer, Bravado and a Handshake!

Well, I am an official entrant in the 2010 Coast to Coast (C2C) race…the one day individual race I must add. Mad? Perhaps. Motivated? You bet!

So how did I get myself into this? Like many good ideas, this one was conceived after a few beers. A group of us were at the 2009 C2C after party and talking about how good it would be to complete the one day race. Fuelled with beer, bravado and the high of completing the two day event, a shake of the hands sealed our fates. I kind of hoped that it would be forgotten about but Chris (one of the shakees) reminded me about it a couple of days later! Oh well. I couldn’t go back on my word so entered I am, and a thousand dollars poorer, to boot!

For those who don’t know what the race involves here is an extract from the official website (http://www.coasttocoast.co.nz/):

‘The Speight's Coast to Coast traverses the South Island of New Zealand from Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach (Christchurch) on the Pacific Ocean. Over either two days (individuals or two person teams) or the one-day event (individuals only), competitors cycle 140 kms (three stages of 55km, 15 km and 70 km), run 36 km (including a 33 km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67kms of the grade two Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the Waimakariri Gorge.’

So that’s what I have let myself in for. Before that though, I have six months of running, cycling and kayaking training just so that I can endure 17 hours of race day pain!

If all goes well, in six months time I can say, ‘I did it!’

P.S. Follow this blog to chart my progress – I plan to write weekly updates!