The team

I had a challenging build up balancing full time work, wedding planning, training and just life. Having raced Red Bull Defiance a couple of weeks before gave me some confidence that I would be able to complete the day. However this meant it was important to recover well between the two events. I have done bigger days, the challenge for me is that C2C is a fast race; you have to work on keeping going at a good pace. It was also different that I would be doing this race as an individual rather than in a team.

Attending race briefing the atmosphere felt somehow different to the two-day race. I started feeling like I had joined the big kids club. We splashed out this year and stayed in some accommodation, which was amazing and made life easy when the alarm went off at 4am, as there were no tents to deal with. I mostly slept well the night before, but woke up in the middle of the night with a sick stomach, was it nerves? I’m not really sure.

I wasn’t sure how I was feeling heading to the start but I knew I was looking forward to getting to my kayak, there was cycle, and a mountain pass to run over first. It was still dark as we stood on the beach ready to go. We headed off on the first 2.2km run, I was pushing hard to get into a good bunch, however this year I wasn’t super quick in my run. I made it to the bike for a reasonable smooth transition. It was raining through the start of the ride but it didn’t really bother me, I’ll ride my bike in most conditions. I managed to get into a bunch, there were a few guys in the first section rotating through at the front but otherwise it didn’t seem to be quite working as many people didn’t want to share the work at the front. The biggest thing I noticed was the ride was less hectic and fewer surges compared to the two day. Everyone wanted to get through the rain without an accident. On the second half I ended up at the front and helping rotating through; but again it seemed there were a lot of people behind us who never did any work at the front.

Off the ride it was onto the run. I had chosen to use clips on the first ride, which meant I had slightly slower transition, as I had to change my shoes. My support team was great and helped shove banana into my mouth. Unfortunately this food did not last long; as about 500m out of the transition I threw up my breakfast. I slowly eased back into running. I wasn’t feeling too bad on the first section, however for most of the run I battled with stomach issues. I still worked on getting nutrition in but in the form of gels. It would take me a long time to take one gel but at least I was managing something. I focused on breaking the run down into smaller segments. When I made it to Doreen Creek, I was 5mins behind the timing I was hoping for but was excited to make it onto the boulder section. This section flew by quickly to Goat Pass Hut, which was nice. A guy worked hard to catch up to me and we enjoyed some good conversation, that was a nice distraction from my stomach.

I was excited to get to the downhill and tried to pick up the pace. I just kept focusing on picking off points, Mingha Bivvy, Dudley’s Knob, the Bealey River and then was running the last section along the rocks; keen to make it to the transition.

There were lots of yells of support as I ran into the transition. My run to bike transition was smooth but not super quick. It felt good to be on the bike. My aim here was to try to get some solid food in. I had a selection of food to choose from in my bike bento box. I thoroughly enjoyed chomping down on some sausage rolls. I managed to get a good amount of food in without upsetting my stomach again. After not long I was heading up the last hill climb to the run/kayak transition. I saw James, racked my bike, changed into my running shoes and slowly jogged down the hill. James helped here and fed me some baby food that went down a treat. A good tip Richard gave me here was its okay to slow down or walk parts of this section to keep my food down. That exactly what happened, I had to walk small sections to make sure I didn’t throw up again.

I was really happy to see my kayak. Again it was a nice smooth transition onto the kayak, my support crew were really nailing it. As asked before the race, James gave me specific directions on the line I needed to take to leave the transition without getting beached. It worked well and I felt like sticking left was the way to go, I managed to successfully get down to Gooseberry without having to get out of my kayak. I was a bit slow getting going on the paddle but slowly managed to pick the pace up.  It was exciting catching up and passing lots of guys who had passed me on the run.

I applied the same technique of just focusing on ticking off locations throughout the paddle.  It was exciting to reach the start of the gorge; I had never paddled the Waimakariri River when it had been this low before. I got my heart rate up early in the gorge when we were directed to paddle right of a rock. I did not partially want to take this line but followed the instructions. I was not happy when I went around the rock and then found myself paddling over another rock and through a wave chain. They kept saying paddle left to get out of it but this is easier said than done….. after getting through that, I was really on my game for what was to come in the gorge. Along the way I enjoyed sipping on smoothie and ‘Tailwind’, which kept my energy levels up. I made through the gorge in one piece without any major mishaps and enjoyed most of the paddle. I planned to pick up the pace at Woodstock, which I definitely tried to do, but I did not really manage to increase the pace much. I was glad when I finally went around the last corner and was at Gorge Bridge.

It was now just the home straight to go; just a 70km flat cycle…I hobbled out of my kayak and started striping my gear off while walking up the hill. A quick bathroom stop and then I was headed out on the bike. My support crew had tried to feed me and I accidently yelled at them “no more food, I’m full!” as I was super full from my yummy berry smoothie. It was a little bit funny.

Once on my bike I just worked on getting the legs spinning and up the small hill. It didn’t seem too bad and then at roughly 65km to go everything seemed to hurt. Earlier in the day my feet had started to hurt but luckily this wasn’t a problem in the kayak. However it was like a burning sensation every time I pushed my feet down on the peddles. I’ve had it before when racing GODZone but had never expected it during C2C. Then my back also started hurting, I found myself shifting around in different positions on the bike that felt like I was riding a brick on the rough road. All I could do was keep pushing forward. I appreciated the tailwind for the first part of the ride. I had to dig deep to keep pushing forward but often that’s what racing is all about – giving it everything and seeing how much you can push yourself. I started singing songs as a distraction from the discomfort. It was entertaining, as I would run out of breath when I tried signing aloud.

I was glad when I finally made it to the highway bridge and was counting down how far to go. Closer to the finish there were people yelling support along the way, someone yelled 8km to go. I had no idea if they were telling the truth or not but I decided this was the point to dig really deep and empty the tank. I tried to pick the pace up and pushed hard to the finish. Finally it was there, I left my bike and ran for the finish. It was the most amazing feeling running down the finishing chute, there was so much cheering and support. Then I was there, greeted by Steve Gurney with a hug and an “aww Rach” I had made it from the West Coast to the East Coast. There is nothing else quite like the feeling of crossing the Coast-to-Coast Longest Day finish line.

I don’t really know how to sum the whole race up. It was definitely an adventure filled with highs and lows. My support crew were amazing, I felt like I almost had a professional support crew. Mum and my now husband James did a fantastic job; they have supported me for so many years through my training and racing. We have learnt a lot together along the way. They have even started thinking about what they want to do better and how the transition were smooth but that we want them faster. TeamCP has also supported me over the last four years that I have been in Christchurch. The group sessions make training fun and social as well as a good workout. Richard puts together my training program that really helps me to balance training with work and train effectively.

Now the big question I keep being asked – what’s next? I’m really unsure on the answers to this, I have a few ideas brewing but am not sure what I will be able to make possible. However that is okay, I’ll take some time off training and just enjoy some fun adventures. I even went whitewater kayaking this last weekend, which was fun.

The post Coast to Coast Longest Day 2019 appeared first on TeamCP.

Day 1

Stage 1 – Minaret Burn Mountain Bike – 42km Alt gain 1020m

It was still dark when we arrived at the Edgewater Resort (race HQ), ready to jump onto the bus to get to the start line. The bus trip was longer than expected and it was hot and stuffy in the back of the bus. We were feeling a bit sick from the windy road, which ended badly with Kathryn throwing up her breakfast into my pack liner. We were both glad to get off the bus into the fresh air and onto a barge to get across the lake. Not long after, we were on the start line ready to go.

Then we were off. It was a nice four-wheel drive track to start; the pace was quick as it was mostly flat with some ups. Kathryn was not feeling great and struggling with energy after losing her breakfast. I tried to support her, so we stuck at her pace and she worked on eating some food. She felt better after 45min and started to charge along well. Alas, then I started to feel sick on one of the hill climbs and struggled with this throughout the rest of the ride. I tried to keep eating and drinking. There were some steep hills, we managed to ride some and walked our bikes on others. When I wasn’t feeling well, Kathryn and I swapped bikes walking up the hill as her bike is lighter than mine. This worked well.

Stage 2 – Rocky Mountain Run – 10km Alt gain 550m

 We got off the bikes and had a reasonable smooth transition, leaving the transition while stuffing our packs with more food and water. We started the run with a steady pace along some undulating single track before hitting the steep climb. I was pleased to have my poles for the climb. As I still wasn’t feeling great and Kathryn was feeling good she offered the tow me for some sections. I was glad when we got up the climb and onto some nice running sections, then before we knew it we were at the abseil.

We took this opportunity to eat some food and chat to people. We didn’t realise that we would be waiting for 45min – 1hr and we ended up getting cold (it also started raining). It was good when we finally make it onto the abseil. While getting the brief, I looked over saw that Kathryn was already gone, so I tried to chase her down the abseil. It was a fun abseil with a cool view.

Running to that kayak

We set off again on the run and got a lovely surprise as my Mum and James (Husband) had found a spot where they could cheer as on. We chipped away at the last section of the run, working hard as we knew we wouldn’t need out legs anymore. I was excited to see the TA and so was my stomach which decided to empty it’s contents onto the ground. That sucked and I’m still not sure why this happened.

Once at the TA it turned out we still had a bit more running to go, so we picked up our lifejackets/helmets and shuffled our way along an estuary to the kayaks.

Stage 3 – Lake Wanaka Kayak – 16km

We were excited to make it to the kayaks and were looking forward to this stage. Off we went on the nice flat lake for a solid paddle to the finish. We were working hard in the kayak, steadily chipping off the distance. After a while we paddled around a point and hit rough/wavy water. This was one of my favorite parts of the day as we had lots of fun surfing the waves. Then we were at the finish and stoked to have competed day one.

At the end of day we turned our focus to recovery and prepping for the next day. This involved packing our food and gear into transition bags and dropping them at Edgewater Resort for the next day. This also meant ensuring we were eating food to help over bodies recover. We also discussed a race plan for the next day, and how we were going to approach the day it, as it would be a big one.

Kathryn and Rachel, day one done

Day 2

Stage 1 – Clutha River Kayak – 20km

Kathryn and I were on the water at 6:15am in the kayak ready to tackle day two. Then we were off! The pace was fast and there were kayaks everywhere. It was wavy, windy, and people were bumping into each other everywhere. Kathryn and I were working hard. We made it across the lake, headed down the Clutha River while keeping the pace up. We accidently paddled through a big wave, which was fun. Beforewe knew it we were at the take out. Then we ran to the mystery activity which was knife throwing into a hay bale. My throw was dismal. Kathryn saw this and promptly nailed it, saving us a penalty run. Then we were off to transition onto the bike.

Stage 2 – Criffel Peak Mountain Bike – 31km Alt gain 1030m

We had a smooth transition onto the bike, but were not sure if we were riding in the right direction when we left. Luckily we were, however my bike was not going well as the top gear was slipping. It turned out I didn’t need that gear anyway as we soon got into the hill climb that went up, up and up. The gears on both of our bikes did not sound good and we wished we had packed some bike lube in our transition box . I was feeling much better today and was enjoying the climb on the bike. We settled into a steady pace for the ride knowing it would be a long climb and that we didn’t want to blow ourselves up for the run. We finally made it to the top and got to enjoy some downhill. We made it to the transition in one piece ready to tackle to run.

Finishing the bike

Starting the run

Stage 3 – Skyline Traverse Run – 28km Alt gain 1480m

We eased into the run at a steady pace while getting some nutrition in. It started with an undulating track followed by a big hill climb that went up, up and up. I used my poles on the climb to help drive me forward. We also used the tow on some sections, which helped to keep the pace up. My main nutrition on this run was gels and water as it was challenging to eat solid food. When we hit the ridge, we ran what we could and moved along it steadily. We were stoked to make it to Mt Roy and onto the downhill.

The downhill

It was a super long downhill (7km!). When we made it to the bottom, my feet were sore and we knew it was time to finish the race off. Kathryn put me on the tow, we eased into the final 5km and built the pace up. We saw some teams not far ahead and chased them down. The pace got faster with us pushing the final run section hard to make it to the finish line. Then were done and happy to have completed RBD, it was a challenging course.

Kathryn and I worked well supporting each, through the highs and lows, to finish the race. We placed sixth overall in the female category in a strong women’s field. We raced well on the second day and felt it was a bummer things didn’t go as well on the first day, but we made it through the challenges we were presented. I am now recovering and getting ready to tackle my next challenge – Coast to Coast Longest Day!

The post Red Bull Defiance 2019 appeared first on TeamCP.

For a long time I have wanted to give racing a marathon a crack. I’m not much of a street runner so I wanted it to be a trail run. When I saw that Mission Mt Somers Marathon would fit into my schedule, I was keen to give it a crack. The main events I’m training for are Red Bull Defiance and Coast to Coast Longest Day so Mission Mt Somers became a training run/race rather than my main focus.

The lead into Mt Somers was never going to be great for preparation and that was just something I just had to accept. I was in the field camping for work the week beforehand and got home on Friday. I knew this would be the case when I planning the race but did not want work to prevent me racing or having adventures.

I was feeling nervous at the race start, it was great to see some Team CP members just before the start for some encouragement. Before I knew it we were off, the first 6km was a run along farm tracks and a few stream crossings. My aim was just to complete the race so I tried to work on not starting too fast and maintaining a steady pace. I was looking forward to the first big hill climb. Once there I pulled out my hiking poles and settled into a steady pace up the hill. I found it challenging finding my rhythm with so many other people around and guys powering up the hill. However, I just focused on sticking with my own pace.

I enjoyed hitting the downhill and flew down the technical terrain. I made some time up on the downhill sections which was exciting. I was feeling pretty good when I reached the halfway mark (21km) at the Woolshed creek car park. I quickly stopped to resupply and then headed out onto the next section.

Everything seemed to go downhill from here. I ate a banana heading out which is a usual food choice for me. Not long after that my stomach started to feel sick and that’s how it felt for most of the way from then on. Once that happened I struggled to eat food and just focused on keeping on moving forward. I tried having a gel but my stomach rejected it. Progress was slow up to the saddle. I was stoked to reach the saddle and was looking forward to getting to Pinnacles Hut and for some fun technical running through the bush.

I wanted to get some fuel in so tried eating a jam sandwich. This was no good, causing me to throw up. So I went back to focusing on going forward. I ran with someone for a while and it was good to chat to him and have a distraction. My stomach felt a lot better after throwing up so I focused on drinking. Luckily I had some Pure and Tailwind.

Eventually I made it to the Sharplin Falls carpark, so there was only 6km to go. It was a slow struggle and hard mentally to be running on farm/gravel road to the end compared to sweet technical single track. But in the end I made it. Tired and worn out I was stoked to have completed a marathon and somehow still really enjoyed it.

Mission Mt Somers wasn’t my best race but that’s okay. For me it was about getting out there, giving it my best shot, and completing it. It gave me the opportunity to really push myself and test my mental toughness, which I will need for future events. We think my upset stomach may have been due to dehydration; through not drinking enough water in the first half of the race. This is a learning point I can take away and make sure it does not happen again. Mission Mt Somers is an awesome event and I would definitely do it again.

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A champion team will always beat a team of champions – John McGrath

It’s been over two weeks now since we stood on the finish line of GODZone after 7days 3hrs 2min of racing in the wilderness of Fiordland. Most of the time it didn’t feel like a race, it was more an epic adventure, sometimes feeling like a game of survival. We stuck together, helped each other out and really became a team, which is what got us to the end. The race was so long and some bits are still blurry that this is just a summary of the race.

When the planner (with what the race would involve) was released it was clear that GODZone was going to be truly epic. It scared me, the enormity of what we were about to take on. The only way I made it though the race was focusing on one leg at a time and often I broke these into even smaller stages. Before the race we had a quick team talk about our goals, strategies and what everyone wanted out of the race. This was really good as it put everyone in the team on the same page. Our main goal was to finish the full course and to focus on racing our own race.

 Stage 1 – Packraft, trek and Abseil 110km

The start line with the team and our awesome supporters (team parent)

We started the race with a run in Te Anau and a packraft paddle down the lake and Waiau river. Then it was into a trek. I wasn’t feeling so great so boys took some of my gear to lighten the load. The night before starting I hadn’t slept well and had ended up throwing up, which was not a great start, I think it may have been nerves. We made it smoothly through the trek to the abseil. I have never done an abseil at night or one of 100+ meters, so this was an epic experience. I have heard that it was much more scary in the daylight.

We had an interesting packraft down the Monowai River in the dark and enjoyed the company of the Bend Racincg / Yogaslackers team. We couldn’t see very well which made it more exciting. We were then dark-zoned before getting on the next section of river, which worked well for us as we had already planned to sleep.

Stage 2 – Mountain bike and caving 55km

It was nice to off our feet and onto the bikes. I really enjoyed the caving and thought it was a cool thing to do in the race. It involved a compulsory two hour stop so once we had been though the cave we all enjoyed some food and a chance to dry our feet off. Then we were off to finish the bike leg.

Stage 3 – Packraft and trek 150km

This leg was massive and slow with lots of bush bashing. Navigation was important as well as looking after ourselves, especially our feet. We knew we were battling in the top 20 teams but just continued to focus on our own race. Our navigation went well mostly with minimal mistakes (CP 17 didn’t go well for us). To get through such a massive leg I just focused on small section at a time, often this would be thinking about when we would be in a packraft next.

We were dark-zoned after the paddle across Lake Hauroko so a lot of teams regrouped here and essentially the race restarted in the morning with a packraft on the Wairaurahiri River. This was one of my highlights along with other packrafting legs on lakes and rivers.

After a big bush bashing adventure there was a long tough slog (roughly 55-60km) out along the coastal track. We managed to get a chunk of it done in the dark before crawling under some bushes for some sleep. After 4ish hours we were off again slogging it along the track. We had to keep pushing forward; we spent all day on this track with our feet getting more and more painful. It was tough. We were rewarded slightly at the end with a gorgeous sunset behind us looking back at where we had come from (which was miles away). Everyone was in the hurt box in this section and all we could do was go forward.

It was dark by the time we finally made it to the transition. It was amazing as our parents and supporters were all there waiting and cheering us on. It gave us a good boost. It felt so great to be there and to have survived that trek.

Stage 4 – Mountain bike 155km

Road riding section

I was so excited to see my bike. We had a slow transition but still managed to get out and get some of the leg done before settling down for a sleep. We really tested our gear here as we didn’t put the tent up and then it started to rain. The water resistant sleeping bags paid off as we stayed dry. We biked though Rowallen Forest; did a big road section and then the good stuff came. The Borland road and Percy Saddle. I enjoyed the first big climb, we chipped away at the climb well, the decent was wicked and the views great. Once we got onto the climb to Percy saddle it was more hard work. We pushed our bikes up most of the steep climb, it kept feeling like we were getting closer to the top but then we got to the real hike-a-bike section. This was hard work scrambling through the bush over big rocks while carrying our bikes. I was definitely feeling pretty tired at this point (so were others as well) but we just worked on chipping the final part of the climb off. I put my bike on my shoulders to carry it when possible. When we finally made it to the top we were stoked! It was super satisfying, we were there just in time to catch the view before the sun set. It was incredible, then we enjoyed going downhill to the transition.

We were super surprised and excited to see Tom and Levi’s Dads at the transition. They had been on their own adventure to get there. This transition was pretty slow, everyone just slumped for a bit feeling a bit tired and enjoyed eating chips. Eventually progress was made and we got through the transition.

Stage 5 – Kayak 14km

We made slow progress on this leg, it was dark and hard to see much. I really struggled to stay awake(Sorry guys!), I took double caffeine tablets to try and stay awake but it just wasn’t really working. I hoped the trek would wake me up.

Stage 6 – Trek 28km

There was a nice warm hut at the start of the trek where we took the time to look after our feet. Glen had trench foot and Levi was starting to develop it also which was not great. We bush bashed our way up the river for a couple of hours before deciding to get some sleep. I was feeling a bit dizzy so sleep was a relief. Two hours later I woke up on the morning of day 7 and decided it was time to go home but first we need to finish this trek and a paddle. We continued to bush bash up along the river. Tom carried Glen and Levi across any water to try and keep their feet dry and to prevent the trench foot getting worse. For awhile we were joined by Bend racing/yogaslackers (who we thought were way in front, but had taken a bad route choice) and enjoyed chatting to them before going our separate ways. It felt like it took forever to climb up to Lake Herries but the terrain we covered was really interesting.

Lake Herries – One of my favourite spots in the race

We were 10-15metres away from the Lake and we couldn’t see it. We were all stoked to finally make it to the Lake and were surprised to see Braden Currie and his Dad there. We then paddled across the lake which was one of my highlights being in such a cool location. We saw a team (Bend racing/Yogaslackers maybe) just behind us so we put the pressure on climbing up to the saddle. The saddle was awesome and from there it was a slow slog out along the river. Downhill was a lot more painful on the trench foot and an injury Glen developed, so it was slow going. We took weight out of Glen’s pack to take the weight off his feet. It felt like it took a really long time walking out. Everyone just kept going. Not far before the transition we saw lights behind us, it turned out The Sneaky Weasel Gang had caught us and our teams both arrived at the transition at the same time. The paddle was dark zoned so we had our last sleep. This trek was challenging but I really enjoyed the scenery.

Stage 7 – kayak 35km

We got up in the morning ready to paddle home. The Sneaky Weasel Gang managed to get away just before us on the paddle; we never managed to catch them and enjoyed a paddle on flat water to the finish. It felt amazing to make it to the finish line after such an epic adventure. It felt satisfying to make to through the entire course. It challenged you mentally and physically, it was the toughest thing I have ever done. We managed to finish 10^th overall (only 25 teams finished the full course out of roughly 72 teams that started) which we were stoked with (and we all wanted to make the top 10 if things went well). We also took out first place in the Colts category, and were the youngest team in the race again.

I didn’t know how it would go training for two-day Coast to Coast and GODZone as they are two very different races, overall I’m stoked with how it all went and am not sure what the next big challenge will be. Really it’s time for a rest and Richard has prescribed 6 weeks off training. Of course I can still go out and have fun so I’m hoping to ride down some hills on my mountain bike. I want to say a massive thank you to my teammates, Mum, Dad, James (my partner) and Richard Greer. James has put up with months of training, going to work while I go paddling, me being tired from training and has supported me heaps along this journey. My parents have always supported me and I could never have achieved my dreams with out them. Thanks Richard for setting me a good program and putting up with my always-changing study and life timetable. Our team had the help of some great sponsors – Gurney Goo, Duncan Venison, Hilary Foods and Awaken Bars. Their support helped us through the race; we went through a lot of Gurney Goo and it helped to keep our feet in great shape. Last of all thanks to all the friends who have supported both myself and the team along the way.

We did it!

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Everything was ready to go, I was ready to take on the Coast to Coast. It would be about giving it everything and trying to do it as fast as possible. I often feel, at the start of a race, that I should have done more training but for once I felt like I had done everything I could.

The Start – 2.2km Run

Somehow, I found myself in the front row getting ready to go. I felt proud to be standing next to a close friend of mine; she was doing the team event. Many years ago, I never would have imaged us standing on this start line together.

Then we were off. It was carnage with people pushing to get off the beach and over the rocks. I was pushing the run and then settled into a good pace. I was huffing and puffing when I entered the transition and found my bike. Running shoes off, bikes shoes on and I pushed my bike out of the transition, jumped on and was off. I had a smooth transition and did my shoes up once I was on my bike.

55km Cycle

I got a bit carried away starting on the bike as I was trying to make it to a good bunch. I drafted off a tandem team for a while in a small bunch that grew bigger and bigger over the ride. I kept hydrating and smashed down three Gels over the ride to make sure I kept my energy levels up for the run. A massive bunch caught up to ours, after which it was a bit crazy. You had to be super careful of other people. I am best at hill rides rather than flats so this ride suited me, but it got frustrating on some of the climbs as the bunch would slow down a lot and then start accelerating closer to the top.

We crossed the railway line and I knew we were close to the transition. I went through what I needed to do in the transition in my head, remindin

g myself that ‘smooth is fast and fast is smooth’ and that is how the transition went. I racked my bike, leaving my road shoes with it. I spotted my support crew and then my shoes and bag were on and I was off. I had practiced for the first two transitions, which definitely payed off.

32km Run

I slowly ran out of the transition smashing down part of banana. I felt really slow, so I focused on my race plan to start slow and ease into the run. I did not feel great so concentrated on getting to the first bridge, then the first river crossing and to keep moving forward. It was discouraging having lots of guys passing me, but I just stuck to my plan. One female in my category passed me early on and I just let her go. Not knowing how I was placing at that point I was surprised more females were not passing me.

I started feeling better further into the run. Along the way, I talked to some people and decided to ask everyone where they were from. By the end of the day, I had meet people from Wellington, Queenstown, Fairlie and Napier among others. Before I knew it, I was at Dorreen Creek – nearing the beginning of my favorite sections. I filled up my soft flask and managed to lose the lid. This was not good as I was planning to carry water in it on the bottom run section.

I kept going and continued drinking from the river. I enjoyed the boulder section and caught up to some people here and got stuck behind others. Eventually, I caught up to the chick that passed me. I sat behind her for a while before making a move past and heading up the hill climb to the hut.

At the top of the hill, I was looking forward to the downhill. I was feeling good at this point and flew down the hill, having lots of fun. Luckily a competitor was kind enough to lend me a spare soft flask which saved me as otherwise I would have had a limited water supply. I kept ticking points off and was glad to get up and over Dudley Knob. I enjoyed the technical sections and found that this was where I was catching people.

Before knowing it, I was onto the riverbed and getting closer to the end. My training had paid off as I was still running strong on the final sections, but struggled on the very last section and was pleased to make it to the finish, totally shot. Day one done – I was pleased with how most of the run went, but did not make the 4hrs 30 minute time I would have liked. I finished in 3^rd place, which was exciting, but knew I had my work cut out to hold this place.

Day Two

It was hard to get up for the start of day two. I was feeling a bit tired and sore; it reminded me of how it feels every time you wake up from sleeping during GODZone. I made it to the start line, looking forward to the paddle.

15km Cycle

We started with a nice short cycle to warm up. Competitors were broken into waves and set off at 1min intervals. I started in the same group as the 4^th placed chick who finished close to me on day one. I had a good cycle, enjoying some quick climbs, although it was hard work as I pushed it on the ride. Then I was off my bike and running down the hill to Mt White bridge pushing my bike. It is surprisingly challenging running down the hill pushing a road bike and I really wanted to ride it.

67km Kayak

My kayak transition was not the quickest, and running along the river in my mountain bike shoes wished I had changed into my booties just before the rocks. I finally made it to my kayak and spotted that the flag was still on the end. I was getting ready to go and spotted the 5^th place chick! I focused on myself, she got off before me but I made sure to get my drinking system set up correctly. Then I was off.

I was not sure about my placing at this point and focused on my paddling and my race plan – to get to, and through the rock gardens. It was not long until I saw the chick that passed me. I slowly caught up to her and then caught another chick who had snuck past me in the transition.

I made it through the rock gardens safely and to the start of the gorge. I enjoyed the gorge, making sure I picked good lines. I got my heart rate up going through Hamilton Rapid and was happy with my line choice, sneaking down the left line and avoiding the rough stuff. Allthe way, I sipped on tailwind and a yummy berry smoothie to keep me fueled. I knew there was a female on my tail and just had to keep moving forward. Sometimes I took safer, rather than fast lines, but everything was going pretty smoothly.

Eventually I was hanging out to get to Woodstock, once there I knew there was not far to go (15km). I tried to picking up the pace, but was not super successful although I was making ground on a lot of guys during this section. What I did not know was that somewhere on the paddle I passed the female who came first on day one. I made it to the Gorge Bridge and was glad to get off the water.

70km Cycle

I had a smooth transition onto the bike, and was off ready to tackle the final leg. I knew I had my work cut out for me, as I was still being chased. I hoped to get a bunch, which I did for the first half of the cycle. It was going well, until another bunch caught up to ours. Then our system started to fall apart, with holes starting to form. I was dropping from the front to the back when things fell apart for me. The back was a mess, with lots of holes and I ended up getting dropped. Everyone was pushing hard not to lose the group, but I just could not get back on the end of the bunch!!

It was not good, another guy also got dropped and we worked together for the final sections of South Eyre Road and into Christchurch. It was slow going with just two of us into the headwind. We were maybe 10-15km to the finish when a bunch caught us and there were two individual females – eck. I jumped on knowing that I had to stay on this bunch to try to hold onto a podium finish. I knew there was not long to go. We picked up a few more people who had dropped from the big bunch and then entered the final 1km and this was it. I stumbled off my bike, dropping it and ran up the finishing chute at the same time as another female. I had made it, 243 km over two days from the west to east coast. It was finally over, the training had definitely paid off and it felt nearly like the end of a journey. I scraped into 3^rd place female individual; taking it by just 2 minutes. It shows that small things can matter (I’m glad I didn’t get a puncture on the final ride!)

With my awesome support crew. Thanks guys!!!

Well it’s not really over yet, I am taking it easy at the moment, recovering and preparing to race GODZone at the end of the month. It has been challenging training for both and soon time will tell if I have been successful in that. Then the journey will be over, I will take a holiday from training and racing and start a new challenge and stage of my life starting a new full time job (after finishing study). For now, I just need to make it to the start line.

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One thing to remember is that the race is only one part of the journey. The first achievement is to overcome challenges to make the start line. My build up has gone reasonably well, some weeks have been good with everything on Training Peaks turned green and others a mess where I have had to adapt to the weather and people, to make training on the course happen. Some days it was easy to get out training and others not so much, but the drive of my race goals would eventually get me out the door. I have kept working on my paddling, wanting to get more confident in my kayak. I’ve enjoyed the adventures of running through Goats Pass and paddling the Waimakariri River. Sometimes it’s worth taking a moment to slow down and it enjoy those amazing environments.

So now is the time to trust my training and the journey I have had to get to the start line. I need to trust that it will get me though the race, when things get tough just focus on moving forward, or as Richard would say just focus on getting from one point to the next. Overall, the most important thing to remember is to have fun!

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In build up to the events I decided to give the Rasdex Classic River race a crack. It involves paddling the Coast to Coast paddle route (roughly 72 km), which is fun. It throws at you rapids, rocks, bluffly corners, braids and an incredible environment if you get the chance to look around and appreciate it.

The morning of the race I was not feeling so good after sleeping badly and struggling to eat breakfast. It was very windy on the drive up and I was feeling a bit anxious. My kayak is a Sharp 6 which I love paddling but am still mastering it in tricky whitewater sections (I’m nearly there). I did one paddle of the route before the race and was stoked to get down without a swim and that was what I was hoping to achieve again during this race.

All the open women set up and off everyone went. I didn’t have the greatest start but just focused on settling into a good pace and picking braids. It’s a long paddle and to get through it Richard and I had talked about breaking it into smaller sections and focusing on one bit at a time. This worked a treat rather than focusing on how far there was to go. One of the rock gardens was flat but on the second one things where a bit rougher. As I approached it I tried to pick my line but could not decide whether left or right was better, which ended in disaster! I went straight down the middle…..not a good line choice! I heard a “awww Rach” from a friend behind me as I tipped over. I got to the side, quickly emptied my kayak, got back in, checked my drinking system and headed on my way. Often when I used to swim when whitewater or multisport kayaking I would get upset or frustrated. I decided before starting the race that if I did swim (which I really didn’t want to) that I would work on staying calm, which is exactly what I did. I took a lesson from it and really focused on making good line choices.

On the next rock garden I nailed my line choice and saw some other people swimming down. I paddled nice and steady through to the Iron Bridge steadily catching open women along the way and focusing on good line choice. I nailed the line on Bluff Bluff and was stoked. I enjoyed sipping away at a berry smoothie and tailwind to keep my energy levels up.

There was more chaos after the Iron Bridge with really strong wind making it challenging to paddle forwards. I pretty much got blown over, luckily a guy and I had been paddling together and he gave me a T-rescue, which was awesome and saved me a swim. It might be time to do some more rolling practice so I can get that combat roll down. Reaching Woodstock was a relief and I had to keep pushing and try and pick it up. It felt great to go around the final bend and make it to the finish line. It was a long paddle with the flow being really low. I was gutted having had a swim but was happy with how I recovered from it and paddled the other sections of the race. I’ve been improving in my kayak and just need to keep spending time paddling it on moving water. If you want to get better at kayaking the best thing to do is to go kayaking!

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Balance

• Balance is really important for everything, especially to fit in study, training and work. Too much training and then not enough study gets done, but then I am much more productive when I am training and being active as that is what I enjoy. It’s about doing the right amount of each thing. You also need to fit in time to look after yourself otherwise there can be a risk of burning out.

Time management and planning

• Time management is the key to balance and staying on top of everything. It helps to have training planned out in advance for the week so you can work out how to fit in to make sure it happens. My study timetable changed weekly so this was super important to make it easy to get my training done. This is one reason it is awesome having a TeamCP coach to help plan and set the training for you. Training Peaks is also a fantastic tool for this. We could adjust the training load depending on the amount of time I needed to put into assignments and work each week.

 Preparation

• Preparation is fundamental for a race and really anything. I did many presentations during my degree and the more prepared I was the better the presentations went and it is the same for racing. I have found over the years preparing for racing has become easier through doing more races, gaining experience and learning how to do it and what works. If you prepare your gear and food well for a race, things are likely to go a lot smoother. Things like getting your bike serviced before the event and giving it a good check over and clean are important.

Motivation

• Being motivated helps to get things done. I pick races and set goals that I am excited about which helps to keep me motivated. Sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated when things get tough especially with hard assignments or when feeling tired. This is when you need to remind yourself of what you are trying to achieve to get you out the door for that run or to get that project done. I’ve really enjoyed going to the Team CP Tuesday morning run group as it is social and takes less motivation to get out and do the training.

 Sleep

• When everything gets busy it is easy to cut down on the amount of sleep you get but it is fundamental to doing everything else well. The longer I studied the less late nights I put into assignments. I found there would be a certain point where it was just not productive; if I got more sleep I would be much more productive and be able to train better. Sleep is also important for recovery from training sessions. You have mange your time to make it all work and prioritise getting sleep. All those late nights studying did pay off though when I raced in GODZone and had to deal with sleep deprivation.

Looking after yourself

• Sometimes you just need to look after yourself and take a breather. This can be challenging when we all live in such a busy technological world. For me I like to escape everyday life and head to the hills. Whether it’s just getting out for a day walk or really getting away from everything and going on a three to four day tramp. When out in the bush I enjoy being away from the demands of every day life and digital technology. It’s good to find something you can enjoy to be able to take some time out for yourself.

Friends and family

• Without the support of family and friends I would not have been able to achieve what I have in Adventure Racing and degree. They have support crewed for multiple races and supported me in to achieve my training, racing and study goals.

With my degree done everything is pretty exciting and scary as to where I will go next but that’s ok. I will chance my focus from study to now training for GODZone and two day Coast to Coast which will be fun, exciting and challenging.

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The horn sounded and we were off. A weather bombshell immediately hit us with strong wind and snow. My legs struggled to warm up in my tri shorts as we slowly ploughed through the snow on our bikes. The race consisted of 3 stages: 50km mountain bike, a 33km trek and a 25km mountain bike(rough distances). Each leg had a number of check points and you could chose the order you did them in and in what order you did the three stages. This meant everyone was doing a mix of stages and for most of the race you couldn’t really tell how you were going.

Cold feet (photo credit all photos – Levi Hibbert)

We started on the 55km mountain bike and made it to the front of that group although that didn’t last long and we were caught and passed by Sneaky Weasel Gang; although this would not be the last we would see of them. We were kind of grateful to have them helping break a trail though the snow that had settled on the ground. The weather was slowly improving, but we were still slowly slogging it up a valley in snow. I was stoked when we reached the hut and cp, which was our turn around point as we would then have fun going down. It was strange on the way back as the snow was starting to melt making the going easier and the scenery different. For the last cp on the leg we had two route choices; either over the hill and drop into it or go around the bottom of the hill and bike up a small valley. The majority of the vote was on going around and this turned out to be quick and efficient and we saw Sneaky Weasel Gang heading out of the cp. All we had left then was to make it back to the transition area.

The plan was to do bike, trek, bike; but we decided that things were going well on the bike and to tag the next bike leg onto it as well. We stopped by the transition area, checked in, restocked on food and then headed out again. By now the weather had improved (although still windy) and our feet had started to warm up. This bike leg had more hills. I jumped on the tow rope for some of the hill climbs. This really helped to keep the pace up as I’m not as quick as the boys on the hills. Tom was a tank with towing on the bike. There were some cool views from up in the hills. There were some ups and downs and it wasn’t long before we were heading back down into the transition area.

It was now time to take on the trek. The team had been working really well together and helping each other out. Some of the boys were bringing trekking poles along. I hadn’t used poles on a shorter race before, but since they were I decided to bring my two poles along too, which was awesome for the climbs. We started the trek with a steady running pace. I got offered the tow line early in on this leg to help and it was then used a lot. I had never been on a running tow before but it turned out to be pretty cool. Glen turned out to be a really strong runner so was happy to offer to tow. My legs got shredded as we spent some time sidling around and navigating our way through Rose hip, which is a spiky plant that I have added to the list of plants I don’t like. Eventually we had to climb up from the lake to the hill for the final two cps. I was starting to get a bit worried about the amount of time left, as we had to be back to the finish line within 12 hours. The presure was on as ran along the ridge to get the second to last control, and then we were also running to the final control. We smashed it up the final climb to the last control. As we climbed, I knocked back a final Gel to help me get to the finish line. It was then a race down the hill to make sure we made it back in time. This was exciting as it was dark. We made it to the finish line with 20min to spare. The boys and I were all tired from an awesome race and finish. The race went really well with us coming together well as a team. Everyone looked after each other and helped each other out. This resulted in us taking out 1st place in the Mixed Teams category and 2nd place overall behind the Sneaky Weasel Gang Men’s team. This was a fantastic opportunity to practice as a team as we are entered for GodZone Pure next year.

You can check out what the Greenhorns team gets up to at https://www.facebook.com/GreenhornsAR/

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On Sunday 5^th August I took on the Lake Hood half-marathon near Ashburton. This was something completely different from what I am use to; flat and fast. Earlier in year, when Richard and I were planning out races he suggested the Christchurch half as something different as we were planning to work on improving my running for Coast to Coast. I never would have thought about doing it otherwise, as I’m more into trail running. It didn’t work out doing the Christchurch half-marathon as I ended up racing in China; so here was another chance to give it a try.

I was up early on Sunday morning and enjoyed some breakfast before getting picked up by Vicki (also team CP) and joined by another mate heading out to Lake Hood. This was good as it kept me calm and relaxed before the race and I got to enjoy a social drive. I often have problems with nerves before racing, so it was a nice change to be feeling more relaxed than normal. I had gone over my race plan the night before and was feeling ok. I didn’t feel quite as fresh as I would have liked, but I knew it would be ok once I got started.

We picked up our race packs and before I knew it we were lining up to start. Then we were off! I took off quite quickly and was feeling pretty good. I realized that I probably needed to settle the pace down a bit or I would burn out. This was only the 3^rd half-marathon I had run and the first one that was flat and not on trails. I slowly settled the pace down so I was not too comfortable, but comfortable enough to maintain pace. For me this race was about getting out there and giving it a good crack to try for a time of 1hr 45min. It was about just racing my own race and I think this helped prevent me from getting as nervous as normal; as it was really just a training session.

The course involved three laps around Lake Hood. The first lap went pretty well and I was happy and feeling pretty good. I was focusing on maintaining good posture as this then helps me to keep a shorter running stride and overall better running technique. What I didn’t like was when I discovered that one section had a really strong head wind which you had to push though…this was some type 3 fun (not fun at the time and not fun to talk about afterwards).

On to the second lap I was still feeling pretty good to start with. Mentally it was good to have ticked off one lap (7km). My hydration strategy was not going so well, I was attempting to drink going though the aid stations but 95% of it was ending up on me or on the ground once I gave up trying to drink it. I had never tried racing and drinking from cups before, and decided that my bladder is much easier. I was trying to keep the pace up in this lap but it was slowly dropping off as fatigue started to set in. I smashed back a gel to help keep the energy levels up and just keep focusing on myself. I fought through more wind and was happy to have finally made it to the last lap, only 7km to go.

Around the 15km mark things slowly started to fall apart. I was struggling to hold my posture now and my form was slowly falling apart, my pace was dropping. I kept trying to pick it up but it just wasn’t happening. I had thought that my pacing had been ok and I had been on track with my plan most of the way. I just focused on moving forward and counting down the kms. With only roughly 3km normally I would tell myself that that was nothing and to try and pick up the pace, but that didn’t quite happen today, at that point it felt like 3km was still a long way to go. With 2km or less to go I tried to just focus on using everything left in the tank and just get to the finish. It was a struggle to keep it up but next thing I knew there was the finish line, I crossed it happy to be done and then decided to acquaint myself with the ground. I didn’t quite mange to hit 1hr 45min, which I was a bit disappointed with, but was still happy to have given it a good crack and achieve a PB of 1hr 48min.

I enjoyed the race and it created some good learning. It was challenging running a flat course where you had to maintain quick pace throughout. I found that over the three laps my pace slowly dropped. I have improved my running posture a lot, but it still needs work to be able to maintain it over a long period of time. It was fun and I wouldn’t mind doing another some time. My next race is the Spring Challenge 9hr event which I am looking forward too. The training that I’m doing at the moment is also helping me to build up for the two day Coast to Coast and GodZone Pure next year.

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