Runslates: Blair McWhirter: On Tour

After the Motatapu my body recovered quickly and I felt sharp again by Tuesday afternoon. Sunday I didn’t run, mainly due to the rain in Queenstown and the fact that we had plenty of food vouchers that needing spending in Arrowtown on route back to Christchurch. Seemed like many had the same idea so the morning was spent jumping from place to place savouring coffee, sweets and breakfast!

You can't beat Christchurch on a good day

Mid week Port Hills action

Looking South West

Victoria Park Mountain Bike/Running Trails

Looking South

This week I was aiming to get my body right for a demanding half marathon in Kaiteriteri. The course has one decent climb (around 3km up to 250m) and a couple of shorter grunts. After travelling on Friday afternoon we arrived to a beautifully clear sky and what promised to be a great following morning. Waking we weren’t disappointed. Crisp to start but once the sun rose it worked its magic, so perfect for the start time of 8.45.

Tough life

I haven’t been up to the Abel Tasman region for a while and it’s still just as I remember it. Even better going there late holiday season. So quiet and relaxed.

It was great to see Phil Costley and Graeme Taylor, both Nelson locals, at the start line and a record number in the field. I can see why as the location is perfect for a half marathon.

Loving the start line snaps, notice the hands on watches

Coming into this race I’d quickly researched some previous times and thought that I should aim for a 74 minute effort. As with a couple of weeks ago this went out the window after a couple of km’s. With Phil charging ahead and I left to eat his dust and get my head around trying to get close. Not too sure what happened in the first few km as I was very short of breathe and my pins felt uncoordinated frequently knocking my knees together, which never looks cool! Maybe something to do with my preparation and warm up, or if you could call jogging for 2km a warm up…..maybe something I need to look into!

So after about 5 km’s we went up the climb and this is where I started to feel much better and got into my work. Up and down went well with the odd glimpse of Phil well ahead of me. I focused on running km’s 11-16 at a strong and consistent pace. Which I did completing them all around 3.16. With a couple of climbs left towards the finish line I wanted to keep rhythm steady and get as close to Phil as possible, knowing that I’d never catch him but a smaller time gap would satisfy. Without taking much notice of my time I looked again to see I was shaping up to be well under what I initially thought and true to this I came home in second in a time of 1 hour 10 minutes and 40 seconds. Added to this I felt great, legs had been working which I could feel that but nothing that was spelling out trouble. This was also the first half marathon I’d run in the Adidas Adios. For those of you who don’t know they are the shoes worn by Patrick Makau of Kenya, the quickest man over the Marathon distance. He ran a 2.03.38 at Berlin last year…so you can’t argue how fast these wheels are or how fast they make you feel!!

Can't claim this photo (http://shuttersport.co.nz/)

I loved this race. The course really keeps you honest with the climb early in the race and also the decent is quick so the first half really puts some strain on your legs. The scenery is wonderful and the water afterwards sooths any sore legs. The atmosphere is really relaxed and it’s the perfect excuse to take a Friday and Monday off work to enjoy what’s on offer.

Afternoon spent relaxing

This week I’m down in Cromwell for the 2^nd running of the Northburn. Races include 100 mile, 100km and 50km, for which I’m in. Cannot wait to get down on that start line, which is very early on Saturday morning and run over that beautiful landscape again. For a lot less time this time!!

Even more excited to be running in my weapons, Adidas Supernova Riots. It’s not often you return from a 4 hour run to find a brand new pair of shoes waiting at your back door, fortunately this occurred this morning! From first glimpse these shoes seem tough, perfect for the hard, dust and rocky tracks of the Northburn. I feel very humbled by these things happening and I really want to thank Glenn at Adidas. The Adidas range is real quality, trails or road it covers you!

Have a look at :

http://www.adidas.com/nz/running/