In other news, I'm off to Hamilton for a couple of days with work and I've just bought tickets to go see the All Blacks play South Africa as part of the Tri Nations at the end of July.
Monday, 20 June 2011
1,000 hits
This blog has just gone over 1,000 page views. Although that's tiny numbers compared to many blogs, it makes me pleased that I've got some readers.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Wellington half
Today I ran in the Wellington Half Marathon. I mentioned that I was signed up in my post about the last half marathon I ran back in April. Unlike that race, which was all pretty last minute, I've had a couple of months to train.
The course was really nice and flat. It started at the Westpac Stadium, where incidentally I'd been the evening before to watch the Hurricanes (Wellington Super 15 rugby team) get beaten by the Crusaders. After heading through the centre of town, the route is around several bays out to the airport and then it looped straight back. This is the road I've done most of my training on, so I knew what to expect.
As we're now in winter I also had an idea what to expect weather-wise, and Wellington didn't disappoint. It was raining pretty heavily when we started, luckily that eased off for most of the race. There was a strong north-westerly, so as I came round a couple of the headlands it was head down and dig-in to keep moving forwards.
I'd decided to aim for a time of 1 hour 40, but wasn't sure if that was going to happen given the weather. In fact, I managed to get round in 1 hour 38 mins. Full stats on the race site. I ran with a pace team for about two-thirds of the distance and that definitely made it easier to keep on track.
Probably through a combination of the faster pace and the weather, it was a much tougher run than in April. As I type this I'm not feeling too bad, but will have to wait and see how mobile I am tomorrow. Really glad I managed my target time as that made the effort worthwhile.
Next decision is when/if to enter another race.
The course was really nice and flat. It started at the Westpac Stadium, where incidentally I'd been the evening before to watch the Hurricanes (Wellington Super 15 rugby team) get beaten by the Crusaders. After heading through the centre of town, the route is around several bays out to the airport and then it looped straight back. This is the road I've done most of my training on, so I knew what to expect.
As we're now in winter I also had an idea what to expect weather-wise, and Wellington didn't disappoint. It was raining pretty heavily when we started, luckily that eased off for most of the race. There was a strong north-westerly, so as I came round a couple of the headlands it was head down and dig-in to keep moving forwards.
I'd decided to aim for a time of 1 hour 40, but wasn't sure if that was going to happen given the weather. In fact, I managed to get round in 1 hour 38 mins. Full stats on the race site. I ran with a pace team for about two-thirds of the distance and that definitely made it easier to keep on track.
Probably through a combination of the faster pace and the weather, it was a much tougher run than in April. As I type this I'm not feeling too bad, but will have to wait and see how mobile I am tomorrow. Really glad I managed my target time as that made the effort worthwhile.
Next decision is when/if to enter another race.
Monday, 6 June 2011
Picton and Queen Charlotte Sound
I've just spent a fantastic weekend over on the South Island. Today was a public holiday for the Queen's birthday, so I decided to take the ferry from Wellington over to the northern tip of the other island at visit the Queen Charlotte Sound.
Things didn't start too well early on Saturday morning. There are two ferry companies that travel across the Cook Straits and I turned up at the wrong one, close to the deadline for checking in. Luckily I did a quick dash when I realised my mistake and made it on board with no problems.
The ferry travelled up Charlotte Sound to Picton. A sound is different from a fjord I discovered this weekend, it's formed by rising sea levels and tectonic activity, rather than a retreating glacier, so now you know!
I had just enough time to drop my bag at my hostel, and grab a quick lunch before being picked up for a wine tour of Marlborough. Along with a friendly bunch of Brits and Americans, I visited 3 different vineyards - Hunters, Forrest and Montana. At each we got to try a good selection of their wines, which made for a very relaxing afternoon. Just in case that didn't finish us off, the last stop was to try a range of liqueurs and spirits!
I spent the evening chilling out with other guests at the hostel - Tombstone Backpackers. During the evening it started to rain really heavily, which didn't bode well for my plans to spend Sunday hiking. I got up early and it was still raining. I considered sacking off the hike, but decided to man up. So I waterproofed by bag with a bin liner and a collection of freezer bags for valuables and got ready to get very wet. Everyone at the hostel thought I was a bit mad, including the owner who gave me a lift down to the waterfront in the pouring rain.
I was going to walk a section of the Queen Charlotte Track, which traces along the edge of the Sound. To get out to the track takes about an hour on a water taxi. It was still raining and rough in places, but the sky was starting to look a bit lighter. We even got a rainbow at one point -
Just as the boat arrived at the landing point, the rain came to a stop. Incredibly the weather then held for the whole day. Given June in the southern hemisphere is the equivalent of December back home, this was really special. The walking was nothing compared to my last hike, especially as I was only carrying a day sack rather than full camping gear. I'd be worried about taking my Nikon because of the rain. I'm really glad I did, and I'll let the photos tell the story of the day -
Things didn't start too well early on Saturday morning. There are two ferry companies that travel across the Cook Straits and I turned up at the wrong one, close to the deadline for checking in. Luckily I did a quick dash when I realised my mistake and made it on board with no problems.
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| Leaving Wellington behind |
 |
| Entering Charlotte Sound |
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| Picton harbour |
I spent the evening chilling out with other guests at the hostel - Tombstone Backpackers. During the evening it started to rain really heavily, which didn't bode well for my plans to spend Sunday hiking. I got up early and it was still raining. I considered sacking off the hike, but decided to man up. So I waterproofed by bag with a bin liner and a collection of freezer bags for valuables and got ready to get very wet. Everyone at the hostel thought I was a bit mad, including the owner who gave me a lift down to the waterfront in the pouring rain.
I was going to walk a section of the Queen Charlotte Track, which traces along the edge of the Sound. To get out to the track takes about an hour on a water taxi. It was still raining and rough in places, but the sky was starting to look a bit lighter. We even got a rainbow at one point -
Just as the boat arrived at the landing point, the rain came to a stop. Incredibly the weather then held for the whole day. Given June in the southern hemisphere is the equivalent of December back home, this was really special. The walking was nothing compared to my last hike, especially as I was only carrying a day sack rather than full camping gear. I'd be worried about taking my Nikon because of the rain. I'm really glad I did, and I'll let the photos tell the story of the day -
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| Very happy (and dry) at the end of the day |
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