RunningTuff

Blast from the past: Paris Marathon 2010

I wrote this four years back to pitch it as a travel article to a newspaper but never got around to it. Enjoy! Pre-child Europe jaunt. People travel to foreign big city marathons for the buzz, the energy, the new experiences. The awe-inspiring amount of public urination before the 2010 Paris Marathon presumably falls intoContinue reading “Blast from the past: Paris Marathon 2010”

From the couch

I’m at home, by myself, on a beautiful day, with gifted garlic soup heating up in the kitchen. Life is grand. The only blight is the cold sitting like a small elephant on my nose. For the last few months my colleagues and friends have fallen like flies with loathsome lurgies but I’d become complacent. SeemsContinue reading “From the couch”

UTDC – the preamble (AKA ‘TMI’)

‘You’ve run wearing a rectal thermometer before, right?’ asked Lillian, as she prepared the heat chamber. I laughed. Ho, ho, what witty banter! Ha ha ha. Ha..? Yeah, it seemed she wasn’t joking. I figured doing the Ultra-Trail Des Cagous in New Caledonia would make for some interesting new experiences, but hadn’t expected them toContinue reading “UTDC – the preamble (AKA ‘TMI’)”

What’s next: deuxième partie

It turns out my comment about not entering any ultras for at least two months after the NZ 100k champs was a complete lie. Sorry, limbs. Encore une fois? (Wow, sudden late ’90s dance music flashback.) For anyone who missed it, my 100k race report is over at Backcountry Runner. Short version: it went well, despite an overenthusiastic start. IContinue reading “What’s next: deuxième partie”

What’s next?

“What’s next for you?”, asked everyone after Tarawera. Aside from the glib responses (Sleep! Food! Basking in goal-completion-mode before stressing about something else!), I didn’t know at the time. With characteristic vagueness – let’s call it clarity of focus – I just didn’t want to look past Tarawera beforehand. So that all went fine, but theContinue reading “What’s next?”

Vibram Tarawera Ultramarathon 2014 race report

Tarawera! The training was done and the time had come. The idea of finally being on the startline was tantalisingly close, but my almost-not-quite-maybe cooperating body kept me guessing until the last minute. I was hanging out for a reassuring pain-free jog in the final 10 days, but the achilles was being stubborn. By Tuesday I gaveContinue reading “Vibram Tarawera Ultramarathon 2014 race report”

Superstition and the ‘i’ word

This time last year I was inspired by a book on visual journals and started one. It’s possibly the first time in adulthood I’ve kept a regular record for a year. Part of the reason for choosing Waitangi Day 2013 to kick off was that we had a great training run in the morning that deservedContinue reading “Superstition and the ‘i’ word”

Merry Kepler and a happy new year.

The day preceding the mighty Kepler Challenge started at 4am and felt long – five hours waiting in an airport (Jetstar misplaced a plane and a cabin crew), and then a one-sided splitting headache appeared upon the descent that didn’t go away. By evening I was a sore zombie. And it was raining. Woe is me,Continue reading “Merry Kepler and a happy new year.”

Running for a cause at Kepler

So. After my previous entry about being ready to start some long run training, I immediately injured my achilles again, in a similar manner to pre-Tarawera, at a similar timeframe out from Kepler. “NOOO!” I wailed to an unsympathetic herd of cows, before limping home from Horsham Downs. Thankfully it has responded better to treatment thanContinue reading “Running for a cause at Kepler”

Bring on the training

I just realised it was nearly November, and November is really close to the beginning of December. Ergo, I should be doing some training for Kepler. Where did those three months go? 2009 100k world champion Kami Semick is doing Kepler too, BCR just announced. I’ll admit to getting a bit of fan-girl frisson uponContinue reading “Bring on the training”