I’ll let the photos tell the story and click on the Garmin links for a map of the route we took:

Day ONE: Taitung to Chihsang
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/70093518

Our destination for the day - the rice paddies of Chihsang

Day TWO: Chihsang to Yan Leiou
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/70093517

Sweet Bike Paths

Paparazzi!

Totally exhausted after a long day's riding!

Day THREE: Yan Leiou to Wushibi
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/70093513

Where to go??

Shiouguluan River

Day FOUR: Wushibi to Taitung
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/70093505

Breakfast!!

Almost Home

It was a trip that I will never forget. Great company, great scenery, great adventure. I always felt safe on the roads as well. New Zealand has a bit of a culture where cyclists are hated and often on the receiving end of foul language and rude gestures – but in Taiwan somehow it is the opposite. Cycling through every little town we’d be offered shouts of encouragement and applause. Truly touching stuff. So why does it have to be so different over here in little old New Zealand? We’ve got a reputation for being a pretty friendly place so why doesn’t that extend to the recreational cyclist? I can’t quite put my finger on it.

The course for the half marathon is great. My only wee concern about it beforehand was that if it was windy it could be pretty tricky because we were running around the harbour. But as I said it was a windless day so conditions couldn’t have been more perfect.

Course Map

I started off pretty slowly. A piece of advice I was given before the run was to pace myself so that I ran the second half faster than the first. Good advice but because I hadn’t run that sort of distance before I didn’t know what state I’d be in for the second half! So with me I had my iPod, my new Timex Ironman Triathlon watch I bought at Hong Kong airport and two muesli bars (so I could stop for a picnic along the way if I got tired). Everything went really well to start with. I got to the 10km mark and was feeling really good. There were water and sports drink stations every 3km and I fueled up at them all. I got to the turn around point at Point Gordon and was still feeling ok. I decided to up the pace a little bit and it all became psychological from then on. My legs started to feel really heavy and everything was screaming at me just to stop and walk a little bit. At the last drinks station with about 3km to go I let myself walk for 10 seconds, probably a bad move because it was so hard to start running again! It was all I could do to keep going without walking. My run turned into more of a shuffle. But i made it across the finish line with a time of 1 HOUR 54 MINUTES 1 SECOND!!!

I was totally stoked with my time. I’m totally sore all over today though…… Bring on the next one!

Hey guys, I’m having a great time here in Taiwan! I’ll be back soon (on Tuesday to be exact) so when I get my life sorted I’ll fill you in on what’s been happening.

Ciao.

I’m pretty stoked with my running progress so far. One of the group runs I did back in November was a 5km time trial. There were six of us running, almost every one of them having completed some sort of half marathon or other such running event. Then there was me, not having done any running at all of any note in the past – in fact it was probably my second or third run in as many years. My time was 23 minutes 12 seconds and I was stoked. I started off trying to keep up with everyone but then soon realised I couldn’t sustain the pace. I backed off, then at the halfway mark once I realised that I could up it a bit I sped up and ended up overtaking a couple of people. It was a good feeling finishing strong.

The run section of the Taupo Half Ironman is a two lap course right alongside the lake. I’m looking forward to it. I even fancy my chances in the run against my uncle and cousin who are also taking part.

One piece of advice a triathlon coach told me when I told him I was contemplating the Taupo Half Ironman was to train first of all for a half marathon and then for a full marathon. So the plan is to run the AMI Around the Bays half marathon in February and then the Armstrong Motor Group Marathon in June. Wish me luck!!

There have been several articles recently in the local rag raising the issue of sharks infiltrating our peaceful waters.

The first article was to do with warmer sea temperatures being the reason for earlier than usual shark sightings. Apparently each summer in New Zealand there are about “two bites” occurring that usually only result in minor injuries to hands and feet. The experts reckon that most of the shark species swimming around New Zealand bays and harbours don’t want to go after humans as ‘food’ but just take a wee nip to satisfy their curiosity have a taste to find out what we are.

The articles that have concerned me more are the ones to do with specific sharks that have been sighted in and around Wellington Harbour. The first one I have touched on in a previous post. That was the 2.6m long Great White shark two fisherman found trapped in their nets. The next article was about a shark that was spotted at Lyall Bay forcing the beach to be closed as a precaution. The most recent article was in today’s paper and talked about a 2.5m long hammerhead shark that was found 1km away from Scorching Bay. Scorching Bay is where the triathlons I was planning to take part in are held!! Hammerhead sharks are the 8th most deadly sharks to man!! A city council spokesman said “They don’t appear to be that interested in coming in to shore to eat people.” That made feel so much more at ease.

Hammerhead Sharks - Eerie

According to NIWA the sharks lurking around New Zealand waters are in more danger than the swimmers they scare. Apparently a type of shark called the Rig Shark is super common here, but also super common on fish and chip shop menus!

Yum! Just needs some T Sauce.

And in other news I went for a 5km run this evening after work. It was a beautiful evening, the sun was out, not much wind, perfect day for a swim in the harbour with the sharks. But more importantly I smashed 50 seconds off my best time! Pretty stoked. I did it in 22 minutes 24 seconds.

So for my bike benchmark – my fastest ride up Makara Hill was 12 minutes 32 seconds. That was way back in March, 2010 at the Hospi Charity Bike Ride.

Riding the road between Reporoa and Taupo at the 100k Flyer Funride

Watching the 2010 Taupo Half Ironman there was one main concern for all of the riders during the bike leg – wind. Although the wind is an uncontrollable factor it is worth thinking about and can be overcome by your position on the bike through the use of an aerobar. My bike is an endurance road bike which means that I have a more upright riding position compared to a road racing bike or a triathlon or time-trial bike. Maybe I need to go shopping for an aerobar!

The other important factor on the bike leg is nutrition. It is much easier to eat and drink on the bike than it is when you’re swimming or running. Have you ever tried drinking out of a paper cup while going through a feeding station at an event? Pretty tricky stuff.

And now I’d just like to say a big congrats to Hayden Roulston – the 2011 New Zealand Road Cycling Champion!

The swim is definitely my least favourite discipline. Its all about building confidence and then getting the technique right. On my first couple of sessions in the pool I was a bit unsure of myself and was a bit self-conscious I guess. But as my confidence grew and I started to enjoy being in the water my technique has definitely improved.

As part of my training and as a way to gauge my process over the coming months I have done a time trial in each discipline. For swimming it is a 300m pool session, for cycling it is Makara Hill, and for running it is a flat 5km run at Oriental Bay. The idea is to compare the results every now and then to make sure my training is actually paying dividends!

So to kick things off – my 300m swim time-trial in November was 7 minutes 22 seconds!

2010 Taupo Half Ironman Swim

The swim at the Taupo half is a 2km rectangle circuit. It is a deep water start in front of the Taupo Yacht Club which is pretty close to the mouth of the Waikato river. Teams start 10 minutes after individuals. The swim heads out parallel to shore, takes a right turn and heads 70m offshore then another right turn and back to the start. On completion of the swim there is a 450m run which takes you to transition next to the events centre.

Well, I told you all I had something exciting to share about the coming year. 2010 was the year of the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge. It was something I decided to do at the start of the year, trained hard for and completed – and had a hell of a lot of fun along the way!

We all need goals and things to work towards otherwise it’s hard to find motivation. My goal was to get fit so I started jogging. It was totally aimless and after a couple of weeks I just gave up completely. Then one night after work at the pub my boss and I started talking about cycling and doing the Taupo challenge. Within a couple of weeks I had bought a bike and the rest is history! I was by no means fast but I got all the way around and knocked the bastard off.

So on to 2011. I’ve set a goal this year that I probably don’t quite comprehend myself. Its going to take a hell of a lot more training than I did for the cycle challenge but will be a lot more gratifying. It’s the Taupo Half Ironman on the 10th of December. That’s a 2km swim, 90km bike and a 21.1km run to finish. It’s definitely something that’s
achievable but I don’t just want to finish it, I want to finish in under 6 hours 30 minutes.

So my new years resolution for 2011 is to complete the Taupo Half Ironman in less than six and a half hours

I have lots of events planned in the next few months so I’ll keep you posted. I’ll also give you a more detailed run down of the course of the Half Ironman for those of you who are interested.
Ciao.