Great Lake Relay

Each year we send a work team up to have a go at the great lake relay. After a stunning result last year the team was look forward to pulling off a similar result. I took on two legs (a 14.1 km and 10.3 km run) and managed to pull off 4 min 30 k's all the way around.

Doing two legs about six hours apart means that some sort of pacing strategy should have been employed. My boss currently has the work record for 14.1 km leg at 1 hr and 1 min and i was pretty keen to smash this. I employed the strategy of going rip shit and bust for the first leg and saving nothing for the second leg (I'd be on the pain train later but i could deal with it). Going out pretty fast i managed to hold a strong pace right to the end. I don't think i have run or climbed hills that fast ever. It helps that it's one in the morning and the temperature was just right. Knowing that it was going to be pretty close i put the hammer down on the last kilometer and managed to pull off a time that equaled the current work record.


The second leg proved a bit more exciting. We had been trading places with another team for the last two legs and both came into the transition area at the start of my leg at the same time. Being team captain i was keen to put on a bit of an inspiring performance knowing that a couple of the boys were not looking forward to their second leg. From the transition area i went out pretty hard as did the other teams runner, I figured if i could unleash the pain onto him early he might lose motivation and I'd take it out easily. We maintained the same pace for the first kilometer after which time he backed off the pace and i managed to put about 40 meters on him. Over the next eight kilometers i managed to increase this lead to seventy meters before he crawled back to be forty meters behind me. Knowing that I'm not much of a sprinter i didn't want it to come down to a forty metre dash right at the end so i stepped up the pace another notch and really unleashed some pain on the poor guy how must have been really struggling at this stage. By the time i entered the next transition point he was a good 250 metres behind me. Pretty stocked with my race tactics on this one.

The team came together really well over the day. It was like a perpetual snowball of inspiration was created has we went around the lake. We managed to come in 14th and went sub sixteen hours which i am pretty stocked about. Was a good final trashing of the body before karapoti in a few weeks time. Need to do some more speed work before next year and then i might go sub 1 hour on the 14km.

Boom

Boom to the max

My very first blog - and the reason for it

Boom - my first blog post ever. I'm pretty excited about it cause its taken me the last hour to figure out how to actually post. Also I've been trying to get this blog going since Friday and its now Saturday week, been busy.

So first - the reason for this blog. First off I have always tried to keep a diary- but keep losing it or getting lazy and then losing it. I figure since this is online I'll never be able to lose it. Unless someone invents some sort of alternative Internet which is better than the current once, kind of like how DVDs replaced Videos. So if your reading this and thinking that an alternative Internet is a good way to make money, its not - leave the old Internet alone.

Secondly, apparently I'm rubbish at keeping in touch - especially with family. Sorry mum. So just to cover all my bases I've got a blog so mum, if I haven't called and its worth telling you about, it's probably going to be on here. i promise to still ring but boom; I'm covering things with the blog as well.

With plans to go overseas and all the adventures that I'm getting up to I'd like to keep a record of things. Just in case i forget. So this covers that.

Finally - it seems everyone trying to make it as a pro athlete has a blog. And while I never have dreams of going pro, cause I do enjoy my job and don't think I'd enjoy racing full time, but if you want to feel like a pro you've got to act like one to. So in counting with that theme - I'm writing this blog.

Boom

Now onto the title "living the dream". Why this title you may ask? Because at the end of the day that is what it is all about, and that's what I'm doing. Living the dream. The races, the people and the adventures are all part of it, along with the set backs the dramas and anything else that comes along. Without those the good bits wouldn't seem so good. Life's for living and that's what i intend to do with mine, and to the fullest.

So that's it, the reason for this blog and its title. Keep following to see how it all unfolds.

Cheers

Andy