Time well spent

Since Ironman NZ in March I have spent 93hrs 25min or 3 days 21hrs 25min swimming!! Yes you read that it correctly....swimming....and with only 3hrs of swimming in NZ left, I am going to crack the 4 day barrier....wow. That’s a lot of exposure to chlorine.

Ok now I can hear you asking, how do you know that? Well, for those who don’t know I work in the GPS Vehicle Tracking industry and I just ran a report on my vehicle...it’s a little sad I know, but I was curious.

I only hope it’s been enough to get me out of the water closer to the front of the field than I was at Ironman NZ.

Vista with a Barista

As a born and bred mainlander I am not foreign to the awe inspiring vistas our country has to offer, and over the last 3 days I have spent time in the Coromandel and today I am in Taupo....NZ is an amazingly inspiring place! Taupo is a cracking little town with spectacular views, and I have always enjoyed coming here for work or for play, and I could easily see myself living here. I never tire of this view....enjoy.

A cup of fixation coffee and beautiful view, does life get any better....thanks Mr Barista.

Island time

In just a little over 4 weeks I will be departing the chilly NZ spring for the warm summery climate of Kona, Hawaii....and I can’t wait. Despite my training going very well, I am over it. I am ready to race. I always find this the hardest part of training for any event – 3-4 weeks to go. I always end up using the countdown as a method of keeping me focused ie. I only have 12 more swims before leave.

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine told me he’d been speaking to a fellow Kona entrant, and this fella bravely stated something to the effect ‘oh Kirky will struggle on the bike in Kona because of the wind’. Now this kind of thing really winds me up. Granted I have only been in the sport about 10 months now and didn’t own a bike or a pair of speedos up until about 15 months ago....hell my idea of going for a swim was to doing bombs in the deep end, and I have only ever raced in 3 triathlons, but I have raced this particular guy (who shall remain nameless) twice, and beaten him twice....I smell sour grapes. Maybe he should stand in front of his tri-career drawing board and focus more on finding a way to beat me rather than making ill-informed comments about my abilities (or lack of them). FYI it has been pretty damned windy in the BOP this winter.

Update:

Craig Kirkwood = 6 Moros & 3 Snickers/Mars bars

Michael Kelly = 0 - but he did see a sea bird whoaaaaa.....