She'll be coming round the mountain...

It seems that Annalie is seeking different ways to challenge herself physically as she continues running. So when a friend asked for volunteers to take part in the Taranaki Round the Mountain Relay, Annalie jumped at the chance.

The 150km circumference of Mt Egmont/Taranaki is split into 21 legs of various length and gradient. You just need at least nine other people to split the running with you. Not only that but the race starts at 2.30am! So you have to be a little bit mad, or keen.

Perhaps Annalie is a bit of the former, agreeing to run the maximum three legs for the team.

She travelled up on the camper, the perfect support vehicle. With Ian working, that left room for our friend Dave to tag along. He used to run lots, before home ownership took over! But we knew he'd still be a secret weapon!

Annalie's first leg was number 5 and the start time we'd estimated was 6am. As we carbed up on pasta on the Friday night, we were told that the runner on leg 4 was super fast, so Dave and Annalie guessed it could be more like a 5.30 start. But we would get a text when the previous runner set off.

We stayed out in Stratford as it was just 5kms from Annalie's first start. She got a text at 4.50 to say Adam was off and running, so we got set to be at the start by 5.20. As it happened, she started her run at 5.36, nearly a full half hour ahead of schedule.

As this 5.1km run was in the dark, she needed to wear a headlamp and a rear light too. The good thing about running so early was she couldn't see the long straight road ahead. Because there's nothing worse!

Having 2 legs and 14.6kms still to go, Annalie didn't want to push it too hard so early. Still she ran faster than she intended and made up 3 minutes on her forecast time.

She had a 40 minute break while another runner completed the next leg, then she set off on her round 2, leg 7 and another 5.2kms. She managed to pass two other runners on the leg and maintained a similar pace to her first, conscious of the 9.4km leg still to come.

She was passing on to Dave after both her latter legs, and his encouragement towards the end, along with that of the rest of our team, spurred her on at the finish. Another 3 minutes gained.

This time her break was more like 1.5 hours. She took on some fuel and water to ensure there was plenty in the tank and hydration in the legs. Then all too quickly it was off again, this time on her longest, and what turned out to be her hilliest leg.

Plus, it was another dead straight road, which is mentally challenging when your route just stretches before you!

Dave perched at the halfway point to provide some more water and encouragement. But she felt strong and powered on. Despite having already run 10kms, she ran her fastest pace of 5:16 per km. Her next goal is a repeat of her first half marathon at Round the Bays, and she's gunning for a time of 1h 50. If she can maintain the pace from her last mountain leg, she should do it.

Tagging Dave again, Annalie then became part of the all important support crew, leap frogging around the rest of the course, dishing out encouragement and water.

We joined up as a team 70m from the finish line to cross it together, with Dave leading the way on the last leg. We completed the course in 14 hours and 30 minutes. We were 44th out of 50. But that didn't matter. We'd all entered it to challenge ourselves and just to say we'd done it. And what a fab event it was.

For Annalie, the best part was running as a team. It's a great feeling to have support driving you on when your feeling fatigued or you can see your leg stretch out in front of you, but you can't see the end of it in the distance! We could be back next year!

Collecting personal bests

This week has seen a collection of running personal bests coming Annalie's way.

On Sunday she'd decided to pop over to Masterton in the Wairarapa to take part in a 10k race. It was only her second at this distance so she was confident that she'd beat her original time.

Her colleague is an experienced triathlete so she had a personalised plan written. It was only for three weeks, so rather a lot shorter than a proper plan would be, but it was something to focus on.

Although going in rested, Annalie made the fatal mistake of not taking her camelback and getting a bit dehydrated (it was hotter over there than in Welly). But she still achieved her goal of being in the 51s. Just. The watch said 55 seconds. But the official time was 59.

The second PB came on Tuesday night. Annalie had never taken part in the Waterfront 5k, mainly due to it clashing with football. But this week she was roped into it for work, promising to be running mate for the CE.

Turns out he didn't need it, as he flew off. But Annalie was determined to beat her Parkrun best of 24:41. She's been trying to surpass that each week but to no avail, getting within 5 seconds but not close enough.

The waterfront event is a faster course so she thought she'd be in with a good chance of beating out. With a few people to focus on, she was able to push herself through and shave a whopping 32 seconds off! The watch was off again, this time it was 4 seconds over. She was obviously too glad to finish to stop her watch in time!

The PBs just get harder to achieve now though. But it's probably back to half marathon training now. Round the Bays is looming in February. And there's a PB to beat there too :-)

Another month, another half marathon

Annalie's third half marathon in three months was the Vineyard Half in Marlborough. This region is reknowned for amazing Sauvignon Blanc, which is made possible by the cool nights and warm, sunny days.

The autumn weekend that greeted Annalie over the Strait typified this - although she hadn't counted on the 1 degree Celcius temps as she got up that morning (thank heavens we'd recently invested in an electric heater for The Bach!).

Her walk to the start line rendered her fingers inoperable, despite the glorious sunshine that drowned everyone at the start/finish line.

 

Once the race kicked off, the rest of her body started to warm up. However it took a full 9kms to regain fully-functioning fingers! Not ideal during a pee stop at 7kms, when she had to try and pull up her compression tights over sweaty legs with hands that didn't work properly!

Eventually they regained a pinkish colour, but they weren't really required too much, except to reach out for some of the samples of the local, ahem, fayre that was on offer. You'll be pleased to hear that no alcohol was consumed on the course, but some yummy food samples were not refused (it's called sustainance!).

She wasn't aiming for a time and even turned the volume on her running app down so she didn't know what pace she was running. It wasn't until she crossed the finish line that she knew she'd done around 2 hours again. The official time was posted a couple of days later at 2:00:01 - if only she hadn't needed a pee! (Because the Sauvignon Blanc gelato was a necessity ;) The official course photos make it look like she finished strong too.

The course was incredibly scenic and it was a wonderful event - as she keeps telling everyone! We don't think she'll be alone next year! And when you get a "medal" like this, why wouldn't you?

Going round the forest this time

It would appear that the Round the Bays run wasn't a one-off for either of us.

This past weekend we headed up the coast to Waitarere to participate in the Great Forest run. Annalie managed to win a free entry into the half marathon via Twitter, so we headed off in The Bach to revisit the campsite we'd stayed at for our first night of campervan ownership.

With a range of distances to choose from, Ian decided to plump for a 5km sprint. Given that he's recovering from a hamstring injury, he didn't want to push it.

Annalie set off first at 9am. This time there was nobody to keep her company or stop her running too fast. The game plan was set to beat 2 hours 10 minutes, hoping to shave around 5 mins off her RTB time.

Her lack of running conscience buddy showed though, as she completed the course in under 2 hours! A goal she wasn't aiming for until the Wellington half marathon in June. Oh well. She'll just have to set another goal for then.

She finished just in time to see Ian off for the start of his race at 11.30. Waving him off with good luck in his ears, she thought she had about 25 minutes' respite before he crossed the line. 21 minutes later, a familiar figure crested the final hill and Ian sprinted for the finish line.

Even more impressive than a 21-minute finish time was the fact that he was placed 17th overall! Not bad when you consider he was up against club runners too. His biggest gripe was that 8 girls beat him!

Yes there are more runs in the pipeline, so this blog may now take on an additional agenda of updating you on our progress too! But having The Bach means we have so much flexibility, allowing us to combine our tiki tours around NZ with our newly emerged hobby!