OK - the Waiheke Race website is back up (Read 653 times)

Finally the website is back up which is great as it allowed me to check out the hill elevations and see what last years results were like. The website is here...http://www.wharf2wharf.co.nz/index.html And in my log I have saved the course and elevation. Can you all access that? The dude arranging the run says that the 24 km is very hard (no intention of trying that yet!) so I am guessing that the 12km is cool. We'll see. Opinions welcomed on difficulty level of this race - bearing in mind that I am certainly NOT a monkey and very much a beginner in all of this. Claire xxx

Hi Claire I've only been running approx 5 months, so i'm probably not as qualified as others here but i'd say that course is ambitious but not unachievable. Where I live isn't so hilly, and i haven't tackled any hill training yet, so if that were me i would be prepared to walk some of it and certainly not run it at race pace, for fear of cramp or worse in the later stages....plan to tackle that course gently and ensure you have a great "first race" day out! You've still got 2 months or so if i remember right, so plenty of time - start building those muscles up!! Cheers D

Janell - NZ is beautiful! I got really nervous about doing this race today. Don't know why, it just came out of nowhere! Usually I am the sort of personality that lives to push myself continually - but on today's run I kept thinking 'You stupid woman. January is the hottest time of the year here and those hills are going to kill you.' Oh well. I have a while to train yet. I am going to do my hilly run every other day and get my husband to take me to a really hilly location to run every other weekend. I figure that I don't have to pay for my entry until January - if I feel it's too much i'll just sign up for the 7km. If I run the 12 km I am going to be really proud of myself! Claire xxx

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/ex/exercises.asp?ID=128 http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/ex/exercises.asp?ID=116 http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/ex/exercises.asp?ID=160 Should get you started... There are others on this board with more knowledge of running strengthening exercises than me. Have faith! This race is sneaky... it includes a test of faith. You must believe in yourself in order to succeed. Pay no attention to the monkey jokes and just train diligently and to the best of your ability. No one could ask any more than that. If you do that, you've already succeeded. What actually happens on race day is so small compared to what happens with your getting ready for race day. You can do this if you want to. It's just a matter of if you're going to choose to allow some stinkin' ole hills to intimidate you or not. Your choice. But I know you've got what it takes to make this work. I know because you told me over on the "I'm thankful for..." thread. You've already proved your courage. This race is just one way of showing it to the world. Go get 'em, girl!

Awesome looking run. Very, very cool. This one is immediately going on my "must do before I die" list. Those hills do indeed look pretty tough. And very, very steep. I think I might worry about the downhills even more than the uphills. That was the one thing I wasn't ready for in the Monkey Fun Run ... the strain on the quads on all the downhills. And the knees. I never have knee problems, but they were hurting the next day. Do you live on that island? Can I come stay on your couch? Good luck on the run! Should be a blast. Some advice: don't be stunned if you feel like walking up some of those hills. It's not necessarily a bad move. At several points in the Monkey run, when people around me were running up the hills, I slowed to a walk ... and realized that walking was pretty much just as fast, and a lot easier. And then I flew down the other side. But take it easy on *those* downhills ... wow. Let gravity do the work, but don't go nuts. I'm so jealous.

Some advice: don't be stunned if you feel like walking up some of those hills. It's not necessarily a bad move. Sounds like great advice. I don't have the fortune of living on Waiheke Jake, but my friend Frances has a batch (holiday cabin) on the island so we are thinking about staying overnight as I think that the kids would enjoy that. I am sure I can swing you a stay if you ever make it to NZ! A challenge is good right? I think that this course will challenge every aspect of me and is a moderately terrifying first race for someone so new to training. I am training really hard though. Constantly pushing my distance and pace and running more challenging areas. I may not be ready, but I will at least be prepared! It will be awesome to run it again in 2008 and see how far I have come! Claire xxx