I made an online photo album to stash some pix in, not much there yet but will add to it as bits and pieces come along.
=]
http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w40/soniaspix/
Friday, January 26, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Racing action
Well I've been training for a solid (!!!) 2 weeks now and done 3 races, starting to feel like I'm on my way to being an athlete again! The couple months break was really great, the longest I have had by a country mile in the past 4 or 5 years and I think it's done me good. But after putting around between xmas and new year sort of trying to get kick started but doing a ride here, run there, stringing 3 or 4 days together then falling off the wagon again and having 3 or 4 days off and just being lost somewhere along the way, my day of reckoning arrived.
Tauranga Half Ironman
I had committed months prior to doing the cycle leg of the Tauranga Half Ironman for the Balance Nutrition (Nutralife) sponsored chicks team. Carmel Hanly was our swimmer (fish!) and we ended up with a ring-in for the run leg due to a late injury but Alice did a stellar time. Now me on the bike, I did enough, busting out a 90km TT on nothing, but it wasn't very pretty and my time was verrrrrrrrry average. Luckily Carmel had snatched us a lead on the swim leg that Alice and I were able to hang on to during the cycle and run legs. Phew ! So we won the female team section, and the Balance boys won the male section and Anna Hamilton also sponsored by Balance came second in the individual race (National long distance champs) behind none other than Jo Lawn who is a mean legend.
I really enjoyed the race, it was awesome, but my lack lustre performance was enough to kick me in the guts and I drafted up a training plan for the next 6 weeks. Wahoo, then I ACTUALLY set about doing it and faster than lightening I was back in the groove. Now I'm in that 'just try and tear me away from my schedule' space again. Sweet as.
Now we all know, racing is the best training and I love racing. Having had a single income year for the past 2 in our house and then our wedding in December we just aren't in a position for me to burn around doing the MTB National series or anything like that (besides I am pretty sure my lack of form would make it a waste of time and it's hard to enjoy it when you're going like a dog if you know you can go better!), so I'm taking in a variety of local races in all shapes and forms with my end goal of XTERRA in April in sight.
Tour de Beautiful Central Hawkes Bay
On the 14th Jan I headed down to the Hawkes Bay where my Mum and Dad are and we all headed out and raced the Tour de Beautiful Central Hawkes Bay. What an ace race! Mum did the 50k and Dad and I did the 100k. We all had awesome rides and whilst I did better than I thought I would, it hurt in ways it shouldn't! That's the beauty of racing to train I guess! How about this, for $35 entry fee you get a wicked race, lunch provided afterwards, shower, spot prizes, a snappy and organised prizegiving and it's still a fundraising event for the Waipukarau school, very cool.
While I was away Rod was burning around up the farm at home and he shot a deer! Then he cut it up and carried it home (took a few trips, a tired and sore body Sunday night!) and we bagged it up and put a stash of wild venison in our freezer, boy do we have a swag of delicious steaks to eat through! Cool.
Hub 2-Day Tour
And this weekend just gone Rod and went back to the sunny Hawkes Bay and I blew some more cobwebs out in the Hub Cycle Centre sponsored 2-day Tour. Mum and Rod were most excellent supporters for Dad and I. We both raced in C grade as what happens down there is the pro-semi pro roadies come and race A grade so the A grade ramblers (Hawkes bay club) race B grade and the B graders race C grade. Dad is a C grader as were a number of the bunch so they get a tough ride from the invading B graders as do the few B graders who tough it out in B grade and we could hear them abusing the invading A graders during the crit! It's all character building I guess! Anyway without writing a giant boring story it was a super training weekend and a wickedly well organised event.
Day 1: Stage 1 52km RR, Stage 2 Criterium 30mins +3 laps,
Day 2: Stage 3 20km RR including 6k climb up Te Mata Peak (ouch!) Stage 4 62km RR
It was good hard racing man, I had to fight real hard to stay with the front bunch up the climbs in Stage 1 and 4, a bit of hard chasing to get back on a couple of times. The crit was awesome, a super fast course and that was just mint as. Te Mata Peak was always going to be where we all got sorted out as she's pretty steep and after a circuit race round the bottom first, we all went our separate ways on the climb and I lost 2 mins on GC (but I did beat the yellow jersey up heh heh!). Highlights for me were finding myself in a mint as position out of the final 2 corners in the crit for the second sprint prime. there were just 2 guys in front of me so I thought well hell I may aswell have a go! I was on for 3rd and then this dude (who I saw coming up my left) just got me on the line! I grabbed as many gears as I could but I couldn't hold him off. Good practice! And then in the sprint prime before we went up the peak I got in an ace position again and this time took 3rd. Not good for much because I had no other sprint or KOM points but hey I need the practice!
I had a rad time and managed to take home the
white leaders jersey for the women in c grade which was mint because I totally wasn't expecting that. Dad did awesome and had a great tour, he only lost a couple mins on Stage 1, then he gutsed out the crit till he got lapped but not too bad and he had a great climb up the peak, only couple mins behind me, but he got real unlucky early in the final stage and along with a few other people just slipped off on a climb that was hurting legs full of fatigue from the mornings effort. Still, he battled his was around with one of the other ladies, the 2 of them sharing the load and triumphantly completed his second tour.
Well I've written enough now, time to go for a walk up the farm with Tui. Catch ya later!
Tauranga Half Ironman
I had committed months prior to doing the cycle leg of the Tauranga Half Ironman for the Balance Nutrition (Nutralife) sponsored chicks team. Carmel Hanly was our swimmer (fish!) and we ended up with a ring-in for the run leg due to a late injury but Alice did a stellar time. Now me on the bike, I did enough, busting out a 90km TT on nothing, but it wasn't very pretty and my time was verrrrrrrrry average. Luckily Carmel had snatched us a lead on the swim leg that Alice and I were able to hang on to during the cycle and run legs. Phew ! So we won the female team section, and the Balance boys won the male section and Anna Hamilton also sponsored by Balance came second in the individual race (National long distance champs) behind none other than Jo Lawn who is a mean legend.
I really enjoyed the race, it was awesome, but my lack lustre performance was enough to kick me in the guts and I drafted up a training plan for the next 6 weeks. Wahoo, then I ACTUALLY set about doing it and faster than lightening I was back in the groove. Now I'm in that 'just try and tear me away from my schedule' space again. Sweet as.
Now we all know, racing is the best training and I love racing. Having had a single income year for the past 2 in our house and then our wedding in December we just aren't in a position for me to burn around doing the MTB National series or anything like that (besides I am pretty sure my lack of form would make it a waste of time and it's hard to enjoy it when you're going like a dog if you know you can go better!), so I'm taking in a variety of local races in all shapes and forms with my end goal of XTERRA in April in sight.
Tour de Beautiful Central Hawkes Bay
On the 14th Jan I headed down to the Hawkes Bay where my Mum and Dad are and we all headed out and raced the Tour de Beautiful Central Hawkes Bay. What an ace race! Mum did the 50k and Dad and I did the 100k. We all had awesome rides and whilst I did better than I thought I would, it hurt in ways it shouldn't! That's the beauty of racing to train I guess! How about this, for $35 entry fee you get a wicked race, lunch provided afterwards, shower, spot prizes, a snappy and organised prizegiving and it's still a fundraising event for the Waipukarau school, very cool.
While I was away Rod was burning around up the farm at home and he shot a deer! Then he cut it up and carried it home (took a few trips, a tired and sore body Sunday night!) and we bagged it up and put a stash of wild venison in our freezer, boy do we have a swag of delicious steaks to eat through! Cool.
Hub 2-Day Tour
And this weekend just gone Rod and went back to the sunny Hawkes Bay and I blew some more cobwebs out in the Hub Cycle Centre sponsored 2-day Tour. Mum and Rod were most excellent supporters for Dad and I. We both raced in C grade as what happens down there is the pro-semi pro roadies come and race A grade so the A grade ramblers (Hawkes bay club) race B grade and the B graders race C grade. Dad is a C grader as were a number of the bunch so they get a tough ride from the invading B graders as do the few B graders who tough it out in B grade and we could hear them abusing the invading A graders during the crit! It's all character building I guess! Anyway without writing a giant boring story it was a super training weekend and a wickedly well organised event.
Day 1: Stage 1 52km RR, Stage 2 Criterium 30mins +3 laps,
Day 2: Stage 3 20km RR including 6k climb up Te Mata Peak (ouch!) Stage 4 62km RR
It was good hard racing man, I had to fight real hard to stay with the front bunch up the climbs in Stage 1 and 4, a bit of hard chasing to get back on a couple of times. The crit was awesome, a super fast course and that was just mint as. Te Mata Peak was always going to be where we all got sorted out as she's pretty steep and after a circuit race round the bottom first, we all went our separate ways on the climb and I lost 2 mins on GC (but I did beat the yellow jersey up heh heh!). Highlights for me were finding myself in a mint as position out of the final 2 corners in the crit for the second sprint prime. there were just 2 guys in front of me so I thought well hell I may aswell have a go! I was on for 3rd and then this dude (who I saw coming up my left) just got me on the line! I grabbed as many gears as I could but I couldn't hold him off. Good practice! And then in the sprint prime before we went up the peak I got in an ace position again and this time took 3rd. Not good for much because I had no other sprint or KOM points but hey I need the practice!
I had a rad time and managed to take home the
white leaders jersey for the women in c grade which was mint because I totally wasn't expecting that. Dad did awesome and had a great tour, he only lost a couple mins on Stage 1, then he gutsed out the crit till he got lapped but not too bad and he had a great climb up the peak, only couple mins behind me, but he got real unlucky early in the final stage and along with a few other people just slipped off on a climb that was hurting legs full of fatigue from the mornings effort. Still, he battled his was around with one of the other ladies, the 2 of them sharing the load and triumphantly completed his second tour.Well I've written enough now, time to go for a walk up the farm with Tui. Catch ya later!
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Creation of The Hills
Rod & Tui & I. We had a really cool wedding at the little Ngakuru Church where I was Christened & attended Sunday School as a tiddler. Nana has played the organ there for years & years. We had Pete's big purple BikeFix Chevvy as our wedding car & Mum and Dad & my bridesmaid Sarah & Tui & I arrived in that & the boys (Rod & his best man Donal) arrived in Grandads farm ute with some haybales on the back from my Coach. We later had some pix on that & in Nana & Grandad's garden on the farm. My other Nana did our flowers for us (Sunflowers) & we had a marquee on the lawn at home on our farm with a really relaxed dinner & sweet as party. Our families helped us out loads with preparing & running the show on the day. We had a mint time with everyone & were nursing hangovers in the morning - bwah ha ha!
My new place in space!
Heya! I know quite a few people are probably wondering why nothing has happened on my old website for aaaaaaaaaaages...basically it all just got too hard and out of hand. It's not that nothing has been happening!
Loads has been going on, Rod and I even managed to get married in December, I graduated with my teaching diploma and secured a job at Putaruru College teaching Biology and junior science for 2007 and beyond and I have started training again and creating some new goals and the sun has sort of started to shine but it's still a bit cruddy for what is supposed to be summer. Oh well.
=]
Stand by for action.
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