Chris…

05:15 cold, dark & tired. I don’t fancy this was my first thought this morning but gave myself a half hour to wake up, ate some breakfast (3 weat bix) I found out later that Aaron only had two & a half, he couldn’t manage 3 (girly) and started to feel up for it. I picked Aaron and Mike up just before 06:00 and we headed off for Rochford road were we parked up and headed for Mount Kahuranaki. We had planed to run for between 3 1/2 and 4 hours so once we reached the top in 1 hour 20 min or so we soon realised that running back down and then going back up to the top for another go was definitely on the cards, to be honest I did not really fancy this I would have preferred to have ran the actual course but we could not get permission so we had to make do. Once we reach the bottom again I actually felt really good and my legs were itching for another go so off we went not stopping or walking on either climb. We did take a minute or two at the top to fire off a few photo.s so we could add them to the blog but apart from that we never stopped, back to the car in just over 3 hours 10 minutes which we were pleased with but would have both preferred a longer run at this stage. All good though with a short jog & stretch off planned for tomorrow then the start off the last week of high intensity and high volume training prior to the start of the taper the following week.

Later – Chris

Chris…

I don’t know what it is about these early morning runs but I am struggling to say the least. It’s not the getting up that’s a problem its the physical activity that I am struggling with I just don’t seem to have any energy, all the times I have stood on the pool deck at 05:30 in the morning putting my swimmers through a tough work out it is only now that I can fully appreciate how difficult that must be. We headed out again on the flat knocking off about 14k it was supposed to be an easy pace but I think that we may have got carried away and gone out a bit faster than we should have, a good run though with more time in our legs and another deposit in the bank.

Lunch time and off up the Peak via the Goat Track, I hate this run it’s nothing but hard work and it never seems to get any easier but we do it because it is an essential part of our training program, working the steep inclines at a consistent pace only walking when it is just too steep to run has made our legs so much stronger and able to cope with the hardships of the Challenge itself. We decided that Friday will be a day off running to save our legs prior to Saturdays biggie, still doing a workout though but heading off to the pools for a swim – should be fun!

Later – Chris

Part II…

I don’t think either Chris or I really fancied the Goat Track today but we huffed and puffed our way to the top and pretty pleased to have knocked it off. Felt great coming down and it ended up being 12.6km so 26.6km for the day which is great. I am knacked now though and we have decided to swim on Friday at Clive so really looking forward to that and will be a good rest before the biggie on Saturday. Our Skins arrived today as well so Chris is dropping them at the printer tomorrow, pretty tight and no hiding the spare tire so I have to remember I keep my belly sucked in before the race, I wont care after! Will let you know how the swimming went, Chris will probably pick on me because I’m not kicking or not breathing right or something like that, stuffin swim coaches. Kia Kaha Aaron

Another early start this morning and I actually get off pretty light with two early starts a week where as Chris is up early every day. Another good paced run out to the horse and back, we could still manage to speak but only in short sentences as the heart rates went up and we were breathing a bit harder. My legs know that we have upped the tempo and we have the Goat track to look forward to at lunchtime which should hopefully be another good hard hit out. Will let you know how we get on. Kia Kaha Aaron

Had to go solo today as Chris was tied up at the Weetbix triathlon with the boys, sounded like they had a good time which is great, I must get my girls into that one next year. Just ran around the roads and a bit off road for about 45 minutes which was a good loosener. This is going to be an intense week for us and I am sure come Saturday afternoon the legs will be crying out for a rest but thats all good I can handle a bit of pain. I am finding it difficult asking companies for sponsorship, its not the greatest time economically and I know that companies are watching outgoings very carefully. Well its early to bed tonight for another early start in the morning and then its the Goat Track at lunchtime. Kia Kaha Aaron

Well our first double up day with a 14km run in the morning and 10.6km at lunchtime. It took a bit to drag myself out of the scratcher this morning but met Chris and Ben at 6am and we ran to the horse and back, nice and flat and a pretty good pace. These early starts can catch you unawares but will let Chris expand on that one. I felt really good after the run and was really looking forward to the lunch run which we decided en-route to change to a hill sprint which we did up the Chambers Track. We ended up doing 6 reps of about 250mt-260mts which was pretty tough but as one of our sayings for this year goes “its in the bank”. We cruised back to the domain and all up it took just over an hour. The explosive anerobic training should hopefully help during the race especially as our legs tire. Will look at doing a relatively easy run tomorrow to loosen the legs up before another double up on Thursday. These weeks are flying by now and the big day is looming large on the horizon but looking forward to it and hoping we’ve done enough.

We had a bit of a result today with Brandex coming to the party and helping out with a skins top for Chris and I. I dont cut the most fetching figure in a lycra top but if it helps on the day then who cares, and a big thank you to Kate at Brandex for their support.

Chris…

Early start to the day getting up at 05:30 this morning for what was the first of our two planned runs for the day. Aaron needed to let his horse out of the paddock this morning which is about 7k away so we thought a return run would work well. We did this run at pace working our heart rate at a higher level which all helps to improve your fitness and speed. The pace was not so fast as we could not talk but it was difficult to hold a conversation without puffing and panting all the way. I felt like I struggled on this one a bit, expected that really as running at pace is not something we have both done a lot of. Got back in a reasonable time thought even with a stretch off at the horse we still did the run in just over an hour. Home, showered, breakfast, coffee & off to the school swimming sports.

Swim sports finished a little late but well worth it as they were brill and I had a great time, well done Havelock Primary! 12:30 & a quick change met with Aaron and off up the Peak for our second run of the day – the dreaded ‘hill sprints’. We ran to the main track area off the first car park going up the main road and started the set. 6 x hill sprints of about 250 metres jogging back down the hill (very slow) to recover) these sets are all about pushing your maximum heart rate whilst keeping active on your recovery. I could have thrown the towel in by number 3 but with Aaron going so strong I just had to dig deep. To finish off we ran back to the Domain and at an easy pace and finished with loads of stretches, good day a bit tired now and ready for my bed.

Later Chris

Chris…

I met up with Aaron today a lunch in the village and we set off for a nice and easy plod up the Peak, we never hit the top but put in a loop or two around the water tanks & Red Woods area. Nothing too stressful just ran at an aerobic pace (talking all the way) and then headed back to the Domain, all in all about 1 hour 15 mins an easy start for what will be a hard week.

Later – Chris

Chris….

Here I go with my first blog. Like Aaron I enjoyed the sleep in this morning starting at 08:00 it is so much more civilised than 06:00 in the morning. We ran for time this morning which means that before we started we agreed that we would run for between 3 hrs and 3 hrs 30 min. We arrived back home on 3 hours 16 minutes which was just right. Apart from the heat I felt pretty good, I was quite dehydrated and thinking back I never took on nearly enough water for a run in such hot and humid conditions. We ran at a basic aerobic pace trying to keep our pulse rates down to a minimum, a good gauge for this is to run at a pace which you can hold a conversation, even going up the hills you need to cut back your pace enough so that you can keep that conversation going (harder than it sounds). Don’t know how far we ran probably about 30k, I am not really worried at this stage about distance we just need to get the time in our legs. Having a day off tomorrow my next post will be on Monday.

Later Chris

Man its nice not to have to get up at 5.30am for a long run! We kicked off at 8am today as Debs was working nights and we had a additional running partner in Mike join us looking fit and ready for a decent hit out. Off to let Sofie the horse out of her pen and then we turned and headed for the Peak and the dreaded Goat Track. It was getting warm by the time we hit the Peak and our new mate was feeling the pinch but we battled on and when we turned around at the top…no Mike! Back down and another loop of a slightly smaller track and off home, By now we were both losing a lot of fluid as the mercury headed towards the late 20’s and the Hawkes Bay sun beat down. Why we decided to move to the top of a hill is beyond me but I managed to negotiate that just and collapsed into the house. With the exception of a bit of dehydration I felt pretty good although I reckon I managed to drink half the Heretaunga water table. Next week Kahuranaki which I am really looking forward to…must be the sun. Off to buy some trail shoes today as I am sick of doing Christopher Dean impersonations. Kia Kaha Aaron