Jamis Bikes, a force to be reckoned with.

I have the privilege of being supported by a number of awesome companies, for which i am truly thankful. One of these sponsors, Jamis Bicycles are responsible for supplying me with the fantastic bikes that help me set those fast bike splits on race day.

Anyway the last 6 months I have coped a bit of flack about the Jamis. Just because it is not one the so called "brands to have" which populate transitions around NZ like sheep do our countryside. Sure Jamis might not be a huge brand in triathlon yet but it should be a force to be reckoned with. I have a number of interesting facts that will have certain people (shall i name and shame?) think twice before dropping in those cheeky Jamis comments on the next training ride.

Over the last twelve months Jamis Bicycles have achieved....

- 1st Place - 2010 Men's NZ elite road Cycle Championship's

- 1st Place Stage 2 Tour of Southland 2009, in Yellow Jersey for 3days and finished 2nd Overall

- Ridden to the fastest ever ironman distance time by a New Zealander

- Won Xterra New Zealand 2009

- Ridden to 2nd Fastest Overall Bike Time at Ironman NZ 2009

- Ridden to Fastest Age Group and 10th Overall Bike Spilt at Ironman NZ

Not bad for a fairly new brand into the triathlon and road market. I mean face it a lot of people buy bikes based on how fast they go at big races or what they have won. Considering it is not in peloton at the big tours yet it is pretty good.

Watch for more top results during 2010

Whitianga Training Weekend

The past weekend myself and a few of the boys made our way up to the Coromandel town of Whitianga for a tough training weekend. Whitianga is a really cool place, one that i could of got used to hanging around in. Good weather, good food, good suroundings and great training.

But the real reason for the trip was to knock out a big ride on a famed 190km ride right round the Coromandel called K2. The crew was made up of a group of guys putting the final touches on their Ironman NZ preperation. I was more focused on Half Ironman races coming up and was dragged into the the journe. Ok so i wasn't really dragged, I voluteered and saw it as a good way to get in a tough long ride.

It was a rather eventful weekend with the highlight being a new wheel for Duane being choppered in (Yess by a Helicopter)by his mate Shacks to Thames airport half way through the K2 ride. It was all rather entertaining really and pretty cool, I bet Lance probably does not even get that privleage. Duane thanks for breaking a spoke and Shacks thanks for getting up from your possy by the side of the pool to fly it in. (He turned around early siting a lack of form).

An afternoon by the pool and relaxing in our lush accomodation on the Whitianga waterfront followed.

The next morning we jumped on the Ferry that travels between Whitianga and Cooks Beach and proceeded to try and loose our selves on tough 2 hour run. It is always exiciting to go running up in the Coromandel as it is usually a little different. Last time there was swimming across estuarys and bashing thru heavy bush to find a track. This time wasn't much different really however the oppurtunity to swim across the estuary was declined. However we did go for a wee mud run and get lost on some farmers driveway which resulted in laps around his avocado orchard.

A good hard weekend then to set myself up for my final preperations toward Auckland Half Ironman in March. It was also good to see the ironman boys going well, and i am looking forward to watching them down in Taupo come March 6th. To the guys Duane, CK, Craig, Scotty and Shacks thanks for a solid weekend.

TOP 10 at POT Half Ironman

This past weekend I raced to my first TOP 10 finish in the pro/elite feild at the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman. This was pretty special for me as 6 weeks ago my whole season was on the ropes with a hip injury that was proving hard to sort out.

However with the help of the specialists I got back into some decent training and with only 5 weeks of running under my belt I finished in a personal best of 4hr 06 minutes and 9th in the Eilte feild.

Swim: 30:52 Ride: 2:12 Run 1:22.29

Stay tuned for a full race report soon.

Happy New Year

As I start the last day of 2009, I can look back on they year and say that is has been pretty eventful. It has been a year that has had all the ups and downs of training and racing. From the High of qualifying for the Ironman World Champs at Ironman NZ to the low of an injury that not only derailed my Kona aspirations but could of easily put an end to any future ironman races. Along the way there was also the acquisition of new sponsors, Half Marathon PB's, amazing overseas experiences and to end the year a couple of race wins.

So to highlight my 2009, i have put together my top 5 moments.

1. Winning my age group at Ironman NZ and qualifying for Ironman World Champs.

2. The 3 weeks in Kona for the Ironman World Champs. What an awesome experience, and a great crew to share it with also.

3. Finishing the Ironman World Champs. (Every ironman finish is a highlight)

4. Gaining the supprt of my first big sponsor, ENZA and Turners and Growers. Thanks team

5. The All Whites qualifying for the Soccer World Cup. (Its not all about triathlon).

I will put an hounourable mention in there for the sheep shearing cartoon that is funny as (oh yeahh!), and the screen door incident and the laughs it bought on. I will cop it if i don't mention it.

Heres to an awesome 2010.

Happy New Year everyone and take care over the holidays.

Mike.

A Pain in the Hip.

The last few weeks have very much been about slowly getting back into training and working on my injured hip that slowed me down in Kona. After what has been 6 weeks since the big race I have finally got to the bottom of the injury. After bouncing off various sporting specialists which concluded with a trip to see the Surgeon in Auckland last week, I have been diagnosed with a femoractebaular impingement - or in other words the head of my femur has been impinging on my hip joint becuse it is not symetrical.

There has been alot to get my head around, however in no terms is this serious. Alot of strengthing work around the joint and visits to the Physio have got me back up and running pain free. I am now free to train over the next 6 weeks towards the Tauranga Half Ironman before it assessed again.

It has been a very frustrating time as i have not really known where is was going to be heading and the health system in NZ doesn't really help as everything takes so long to happen. It aslo doesn't help that our government changed ACC regulations, thanks National, I hope our taxes come down now. However the team of specialists I have been seeing have been fantastic and with all there hard work I am back up and running.

Bring on summer and the season ahead.

Kona Race Report

Well I have been a bit slack over the last couple of weeks getting things updated, but finally the race report from the Ironman World Champs is here.

Dawn, the 10th of October in Kona was the same as all the others had been in the 2 weeks leading up to the race. Not a cloud in the sky, calm pacific waters and thousands of trim looking athletes from all over the world hovering around the peir. The only difference was today was the day to get down to business, yah finally after 6months of hard slog. But the Kona ironman was not like any other race day, I knew Madam Pele the island god was cooking something up when a local volunteer at check said "be careful out there today it is going to be hotter than hell", apparently she could tell by the way there are no clouds around the Volcano that stood nearly 9000ft above Kona. Boy was she right.

Swim Start: 7am

2000 athletes just does not go into a area no wider than 50 meters and I was made very aware of this over the first 2 km of the swim. After getting my ear drums blown out by the massive cannon that started the race I was caught in a frenzy of athletes fighting for the same peice of water.

After an eventful swim that invovled a few kicks and elbows to the head I was out in the late 1:04's which wasn't to bad but still 5 or 6 mins slower than what I know was capable of and wanted to do. I can put that down to a tactical error as where to start the race, next time I start further left. Next up 180km of Hell on Wheels across lava feilds.

On to the bike and I went out hard, as I usually do for the first 20 to 30km, by that time we were well out of Kona town and on the Queen K Highway heading out to Hawi. Having trained on the course for two weeks I became very familar with the next part of the course through the lava feilds and into the feirce trade winds. This was a part that if you went to hard early could ruin your day further down the road so I settled into comfortable pace up to the turn at Hawi. Things turned a little pear shape here when my specials needs bag with my special nutrition for the last half of the bike didn;t turn up. Oh well these things happen but it meant I rode 7 miles with out any fluids and 14 miles with out food. This may have been the beginning of the end but I soldiered on and actually put the foot down heading back into the lava feilds for the run home. At this stage tempratures had been turned up, 43 - 46 degrees according to tempreture readings on my SRM and the famous head winds had come to play. By the time I had got back to town and T2 I had been oven roasted nicely by the Kona conditions. My Bike time was 4:59 and I rode within myself the whole way staying below my watt targets. I knew I would need this on the run.

Next up a 42.2KM Marathon run through the gates of hell (ok maybe an over exageration but it was probably as hot).

The run didn't start great when I seized up in T2 and required a bit of medical assistance. For those of you who may not have been aware I was carrying a back/hip injury into the race which had forced me off all running up till Sunday before the race. This started to give me some trouble at this stage, but some treatment and some time at transtiton helped that and I headed out on Ali'i drive for the first 10 mile out and back section. I was running pretty well to start picking up alot of places. But at 8 miles things started to un ravel very quickly and at 9 miles I new I was in trouble when I started to feel bad. Then at the top of the big hill up Palani rd !BANG! DENTONATION!!,OH THAT HURT. Everything went at once, my legs felt like they were going to fall apart and was not going to be able to walk to the finish. But I did not come all this way to the World Champs to pull out, so the next 16 miles was a long lonely walk along the Queen K highway through the lava feilds and back to the finish line along Alli drive. I did manage to run over the last mile, the presence of the huge crowd and the prestige of this race had me determined to run the last 800m down Ali'i drive to finish, that hurt alot but it was worth it.

After a 4hr plus marathon I finished in a time of 11hrs 1 minute. A little dissapointing as I knew close to 9hrs was a possibility. But as Mark Watson said to me after the finish, "you should be proud you have finished the hawaiin Ironman" he was right and that alone made me alot more positive about the experience, also alot more determined to come back in future and make up for unfinished business.

Finally let me say what an amzing experience the whole trip was, one that I enjoyed from start to finish. I must give a big shout out to my fellow house mates Craig Kirkwood, Richard Swan, Andy McKay and big Jo Carrel thanks for all the laughs and good times. Also to Kylie Kirkwood and Leslie who turned up on the Thursday before the race and were a fantastic to have around in the days leading up and during the race. Thanks for the support.

Also to my sponsors ENZA in Association with Turners and Growers, Bay Canvas, Young Read and Woudberg, Smiths Sport Shoes Tauranga, Jamis Bikes, Leppin Endurance Products and Bodyzone Health and Fitness with out your support this all would not of been possible.

Now it is rest time, then bring on 2009/2010 Season.

Beating the winds.

Well we are a t - minus 4 days until the start of the Ironman World Championships here in Kona on the Big Island of Hawi. Since i last posted i have been busy getting to know the course and finish off my race preparations.

I have been down to the swim start at Kona Pier for a open water swims with fellow kiwis Craig Kirkwood, Richard Swan, Jo Carrel, Andy Mckay and Cameron Brown. It is an awesome swim, the water is crystal clear and you can see all of the fish swimming and reefs below you.

Over the weekend it was out to Waikoloa where a group of us rode up to the Bike turnaround in Hawi. The conditions were pretty kind to start with as the trade winds seem to be hiding but as we got closer to Hawi, bang they decided to jump out at us and I mean that literally. It can be fairly calm at one stage then bang the wind kicks in and your in for a ride. The ride back down was awesome as you decsend from 700 ft with views of the Kona Coastline and the Pacific ocean with the wind at your back.

We concluded the ride by making our offerings to Madam Pele (the Hawaiian Volcano Goddess) in the Lava Fields on the Queen K and an afternoon on the couch with some American College football followed.

Sunday and it was out to the famed energy lab for a run in the afternoon heat. Now I have had a niggling injury in my hip and back which has been preventing me from getting some quality run training in. After some good imporvements I tested it out in the lab for a 70 minute run and seemed to get through the run well with out any major complications so all is on track for Saturday.