2011

2011 was a pretty amazing year for me. Some very cool races (thanks Salomon!), some fun skiing and of course the 2 biggest highlights were marrying Jane in February and then welcoming Isabella into the world just a few days ago. Below are a few photos from 2011, it was hard to pick just a few out of the hundreds taken over the last 12 months.  I figure my silly little blog is a good way for me to have a little snap shot of the last year to look back on.

A great day shared with friends and family

Tarawera Ultra 100km- 3rd place

Routeburn Classic- 3rd place and some huge blisters on my feet

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Kepler Challenge 2011- Bitter Sweet…

This year’s Kepler was so so different to last year’s, but at the same time more or less the same.

My build up was pretty mellow and I guess not really ideal. I would have liked to get a few more final long runs of around 3hrs in the final weeks of training, but that was not to be, instead I ended up working in my weekends around home, mostly digging holes and building a fence. I think I worked pretty much every day building the 3 weeks before the Kepler, except the Thursday and Friday right before. But while the running was minimal, what running I did was of really good quality as I was doing some climbs as fast as I ever have. I was very relaxed pre race also, unlike last year when I was probably wound a little tight.

I arrived in Te Anua on Thursday, set up camp at Queen’s Reach and then met Vajin for a run from Rainboe Reach to the Control Gates. This was a super super easy 52min run. That night I had a feast, I cooked on an open fire, cut a few Celtic’s and started out sleeping under the stars- before the bugs sent me into my tent. On Friday I ran easy, did the gear check and moved camp into town next to the Bixleys. I had a very restless night’s sleep, but woke up ready to go!