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Richard Ussher Coast to Coast Report

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Coast to Coast 2012 Multisport World Championship

It is always a rather nervous time heading into Coast to Coast, reports abound in the media of just how great everyone else is going and often about how much better other peoples chances of winning should be.

For Elina and I this year we’d had the luxury of no race in Abu Dhabi before hand so a few extra weeks in which to refresh and start a proper build up

The start of the race is always chaos starting in the dark on Kumara beach and right from the gun the pace was on. Braden Currie pushed the pace and instead of the usual line of competitors for the first time we actually ended up with a small break on the run.

After a hurried transition onto the bike we set off at top speed. We had a small group of 6 athletes formed already and Dougal Allen was especially keen to push on as James Coubrough was missing from the 6 despite being one of the first to the bikes. He’d also made it clear he wanted to try and take the sting out of the quicker runners legs and despite some of those runners forming part of our pack everyone was happy enough to roll through at a good tempo.

About half way through the ride our 6 became 4 and the pace backed off a little with less legs to help at the front.

Still given the light headwind blowing we had still made excellent time by the first transition and the first defining leg of the race began.

Braden Currie was quickly into his stride and started putting some time into us immediately but I was relieved to see the gap was opening relatively slowly. I had company in the chasers spot with Jeremy McKenzie and Dougal Allan seemingly glued to my heels, so much so that when I tripped and fell one time they literally tripped over me.

We could still see Braden whenever we had a good line of sight and at Big Boulders it was still less than 3 minutes. James Coubrough had now joined our chase group and was looking super fresh despite having caught up nearly 4 minutes in the first hour. I was feeling really comfortable and with Braden’s gap now seeming to stabilize I was happy to keep the same pace and let the other dictate if they wanted to go faster.

Just before the top of Goat Pass I suddenly noticed that James and I had gapped the other two and shortly after I let James go up the steeper section towards the hut.

It was nice to be finally running by myself, and the rhythm seemed to come a bit easier, I could see James as we headed down around 30-40 seconds ahead and I was also still catching glimpses of Braden so I felt like things were reasonably under control. Prior to the race I’d had expectations that I could be giving up as much as 10 minutes on the run and that was looking unlikely with less than an hour to go.

I actually caught up to James again on the downhill from Dudley’s knob and we ran together for a while before I decided he was going just a half step faster than I wanted to and let him gradually pull away again.

It is always nice to finish the run and get on the bike, or maybe it’s just the extra food you can stock up on in transition. My support crew bundled me through and onto the bike where I set off after the front two.

I was feeling good and moved back past James halfway through. There was still a chilly headwind blowing but at least it was warmer than the top of the run. It was already becoming clear that we would be battling the wind for the entire paddle.

Running down to the kayak I saw Braden paddle off as I was crossing the bridge and a couple of minutes later I was off in pursuit. For some reason my drink system wasn’t working, the result of a leak or poor connection maybe but to get any drink I had to suck as hard as possible and take in a few drops as I was mainly just sucking air. I also managed to take the worst line possible at one split and when the river came back together 5 minutes later I had James right back on my tail.

I had almost lost sight of Braden as well and a small amount of nervousness set in while I tried to keep James behind and catch back up to Braden. They were both going well and it wasn’t until the Gorge that I finally caught up to Braden and almost simultaneously started to put more of a gap on James. I had a quick chat with Braden and then set off to try and eke out some time on them both by the end of the paddle.

By the time I reached Woodstock I couldn’t see anyone behind on the longer straights and I was ready to start winding it up over the last hour. There were a few two-day competitors in some strange places on the river but they all seemed in good spirits as they closed in on Gorge Bridge.

It is always a great reception for the athletes as you finish the kayak section. My crew hauled me out of the kayak and I tried to do my best running on the spot impression as we made our way up the hill to the waiting bike and the last section of the race. It sounded cold in Christchurch so a few extra layers went on as well as a bit more food before it was off for the final 70km.

We still had a headwind, not super strong but enough to make sure it always felt like riding up a false flat. I eased into the ride and focused on staying smooth and keeping the cadence up, plus a little in the tank incase I ended up with company from behind. The kilometers were ticking over though and averaging 40kph I felt it would be hard fro the chasers to put any serious time into me.

By the outskirts of Christchurch there were a lot of people out supporting the race and the numbers only grew as we headed through the city – I think it was possibly the most I’ve seen out cheering the race on ever and was a huge lift every time I passed by a group.

I still had no idea what was going on behind me and so had to keep the pace high and hope that I was still making some time. It is definitely a cool feeling whizzing through Christchurch with a little police escort but I always feel a few nerves inside the last 20 kilometers when I’m always hoping I won’t suffer a flat tire or any sort of mechanical.

By the causeway the road was deteriorating somewhat and I had to be extra vigilant to not hit any slumps in the road or obstacles, definitely not the most comfortable ride on a TT bike but I also knew I could ride on the rim if I needed from 3km out so the realization a 5^th win was close was starting to sink in. I was able to relax and enjoy the final couple of kilometers and it was just as magic a feeling running up the sand to cross the line as the previous 4.

Behind me there had been some big changes on the final ride with Dougal storming through from 4^th to 2^nd with his customary huge final ride with Braden grabbing 3^rd from James.

It was great to see the young guys really have a crack this year, it definitely made for an interesting race and one that I’ll remember for being one of the more tactical that I have done.

Apparently as I was finishing Elina was just finishing the kayak and learnt that I’d got the win, she was having her own stellar day and had opened up a lead approaching 25 min by the end of the kayak.

It was till quite a nervous wait on the beach for me as we heard occasional time splits but nothing concrete.

Just under 2 hours after I finished I saw one very happy Elina come running down the finish chute and claim her first title on the original course and shed 5 years of frustration in the process.

I’ve always maintained if she got the chance to have a normal build up without a major race in December, which we had typically had, then she would be able to show what she was really capable of, and this year she did just that winning by 38 minutes.

It had been talked about often enough, the chance to be the first husband and wife to win in the same year, and to have it finally happen meant a happy household all round!

Behind her it sounds like Fleur Pawsey had a rough day with stomach cramps but she fought like a true champion all day to claim second ahead of a fast finishing Rachel Cashin and AR World Champ team member Mimi (Myriam Guillot)

Will we be back next year ?– we certainly wouldn’t discount it despite what the media said – I think it is hard to be enthusiastic about returning when asked 30 seconds after finishing and every muscle in your body hurts – it already doesn’t seem like it was so bad and I know the young guys are itching for another shot at knocking me off the top spot.

I also wanted to do something for the next generation of Multisporters in Christchurch after all the community has been through in the last 18 months and I’m after suggestions.

Along with Andrew Martin and our new company Flow Kayaks we are going to auction off my race boat within the next couple of months and will donate all the proceeds to a cause that we think is most deserving, and that will provide the greatest benefit, so if you have any thoughts please let us know. We’ll put all the ideas together and once decided on will list the kayak on Trademe

The boat is pretty unique in that it has been paddled to 3 victories in the Coast (2008, 2011, 2012) along with lots of other race victories around the country. At the moment the boat is going to be kept in original condition as it was at the end of the race last weekend but we can also tidy it up if the auction winner would like - the choice will be theirs.

So finally a huge thanks to our support crew who were amazing, all the people who cheered us on and to our sponsors who make it possible for us to prepare and race at our best.

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz

GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/

R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz

CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz

LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com

INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz

NEWTON www.dcmsport.com

ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com

AR PAGE www.arpage.co.nz

BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com

3^RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz

WILDSIDE TRAVEL www.wildsidetravel.co.nz

Posted in: In the Media

Fleur Pawsey Coast to Coast Report

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Coast to Coast 2012 – Fleur Pawsey

The Longest Day sure lived up to its name this year – it was one hell of a long one!

Before I get stuck into a race report, I need to thank few people. I was without doubt the best prepared I have ever been for a Coast to Coast effort, and it was entirely due to the hard work and huge generosity of a few special people.

Richard Greer of Complete Performance did a fantastic job coaching me, making sure I was physically and mentally ready for the start line. With the mind and body sorted, Emily Miazga (creator of Ems Power Cookies and Bars) stepped in to help with my food. She developed a coeliac friendly gluten free cookie bar for me to eat while racing and training, which turned out to be so good I actually had to hide my stash so as not to overindulge before race day! Finally, Len and Kate from Legend Paddles put their hands up to be chief support crew, as well as very generously providing me with a new paddle to use on the river. Thanks team!

With all that support, I’d love to say that I was able to put it all together and have a blinder on race day. Unfortunately the story is a little different.

Things started according to plan. The early morning dash off Kumara Beach was comfortable and I had no issues getting myself exactly where I wanted to be on the bike ; riding alongside the main contenders in the womens race while the faster men were having their own race further up the road. Elina Ussher, Rahel Cashin, Myriam (Mimi) Guillot and I pulled into transition at the same time and my crew excelled themselves with a super slick gear change over. For a brief minute or two I had the glory of being race leader.

It wasn’t to last though; I was quickly joined by Elina with Mimi chasing hard not far behind. As we headed up the Deception Valley Elina began to pull ahead, and I was more than happy to chase rather than lead the way. Mimi is a spectacularly fast mountain runner so I mentally prepared myself for her to fly past and run ahead too. That didn’t happen and I soon found out why. In an apologetic voice Mimi asked if she could follow me through the run as she did not know the way. She is one of the kindest and most generous people I have met on the adventure racing circuit and I was happy to actually be able to help her out for a change. She repaid the favour by physically pushing me up some of the steeper parts of the track and by checking I was remembering to eat and drink… old adventure racing habits die hard!!

Once over Goat Pass I had hoped to kick into a higher running gear and pick up some speed, but my body was going into battle with me on that one. My legs seemed a little shaky, and adding to the mix the expected pain in my long suffering dodgy right knee was being countered by a brand new pain in my left heel. With all this going on I decided my best strategy was to run conservatively and focus on getting myself to the kayak in reasonable shape. I felt like I had some sort of double sided limp going on as I finally got to the end in a time that was slower than I would have liked. It was disappointing but not disastrous; Elina was only eight minutes head so I still had a race on my hands.

The 15km bike ride and 1km shuffle down to Mt White Bridge were a boost for my spirits. It was awesome to see plenty of friends and familiar faces on the riverbank, and I felt relatively cheerful getting into the boat. The sun was shining, the air was fresh, and my Sharp 6 kayak is such a fun boat to paddle down the Waimak. I set off in pursuit of Elina feeling strong, and thoroughly enjoyed myself until I realised that, well, I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore. In a long and intense race it can be so hard to pinpoint the moment where things start to go bad. My recollection of the paddle is a bit hazy, but I do know that by the Iron Bridge I was beginning to have a hard time eating and drinking, and by Woodstock it didn’t really matter as whatever I ate and drank clearly was not going to stay down. Add to that a total snafu at the Horseshoe Bend ‘shortcut’, and my paddle had gone pear shaped.

Transition couldn’t come soon enough. When it finally did I gave my crew the torturous experience of watching Mimi saunter past me in transition to move into 2^nd place, while I made a very necessary visit to the portaloo!

I was feeling pretty delicate as I prepared to set off on the final bike ride, and I knew I was going to have to race carefully if I was to see the finish line. Here Em’s gluten free cookie bars proved their weight in gold. I ditched my normal last ride lollies and gels, grabbed a couple of bars which had far more appeal to my sorry stomach, and set off down the road. My journey down Old West Coast Road went something like this: in my head I counted ‘one, two, one, two’ over and over and over as it seemed the only way of keeping my legs turning around. Every ten minutes I had a bite of bar and if I could manage it a sip of water, and every 15 minutes or so I had a unintentional wobble and weave on the road, as if my body just wanted to remind my head that it was absolutely smashed and really wouldn’t mind just lying down in the ditch on the side of the road.

Somehow this management method actually worked, and by the outskirts of Christchuch the cookie bars had kicked in and I had begun to feel human again. I’d overtaken Mimi to regain 2^nd place, and while a win was clearly out of the question the day was looking brighter.

I felt quite emotional riding down the causeway and toward Sumner. There is no better reminder of the year we have had in Christchurch than the lumps, bumps and scars on that section of road. As I rode into Redcliffs I caught a glimpse of the house I had been living in a year ago, now red stickered and awaiting demolition, and rode past the ruined and deserted homes of former neighbours. It was a reality check; a reminder that whatever the outcome of the race it is only that, a race. A reminder of how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to be on the start line, let alone at the finish and in 2^nd place. So it was with a huge grin and a feeling of exhausted relief that I finally ran down the finish chute to take the runner up position in the 2012 Longest Day.

My congratulations must go to Elina on a dominant and impressive win, and also to Rachel and Mimi who gave me a great race and took out 3^rd and 4^th respectively. I’d like to thank my super support crew who put in a huge effort for me before, during and after the race, and I’d also like to thank the following sponsors for their support and generosity:

- Complete Performance www.completeperformance.co.nz

- Em’s Power Cookies and Bars www.powercookies.com

- Legend Paddles www.legendpaddles.co.nz

- Icebreaker www.icebreaker.com

- R&R Sport www.rrsport.co.nz

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Powergirl's Picks for 2012 Speight's C2C

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Click this link to view the NZ Herald article by Emily Miazga:

http://www.powercookies.com/resources/images/2012C2C_NZherald.pdf

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Jo Lawn 7x Time Ironman NZ Champion

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Jo Lawn - 7x NZ Ironman Champ and #1 Em's Power Cookies Fan!

Late last year, I was at the ITU Triathlon World Cup Expo at the Auckland Viaduct. I spotted Jo Lawn across the crowd of people chatting with friends. I had never seen Jo in real life before, and she looked really beautiful, relaxed and engaging. So part of me wanted to go up to her and give her some Em’s Power Cookies to try, but I was a little shy (believe it or not!). Next thing I knew, Jo and her husband Armando were standing in front of our booth exclaiming, “OMG… are you EM??? We LOOOOVE your cookies… they are just the best…!!!” etc, etc. I was really flattered, surprised and humbled to have the great Jo Lawn paying me such wonderful compliments about my cookies. Jo and Armando also had a real appreciation for my business, and respect as a small entity trying to make it in the tough competitive market. Meeting Jo and Armando really made my day, and further affirmed that my cookies truly are “the goods”.

Since then we have started supplying Jo with some sponsored product and here are some of her thoughts and feedback:

“Lovinggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg my cookies..... They are soo good...... I even had a Chocolate Oat Explosion the night before my Tauranga race!! It obviously worked a treat. I have been having some stomach issues when I race, so I try and eat pretty plain foods the day prior to racing. Your cookie was awesome, pretty much one of my only races that I haven't had to stop for the bathroom!!!! Yippee.....”

“Armando and I have one every morning and then after swimming and then on the bike!!!! I think I need to order some more!”

“The feedback is going awesome. People want to buy your cookies everywhere!!! Even a request from a mate in Aussie!!!!”

Thanks Jo – you’re amazing! I wish you all the best in getting Ironman NZ title #8 Em’s Power Cookies will help you get there for sure.

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Mokihinui Track Restoration

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Recently, we had over 40 volunteers descend upon our local Buller, West Coast Region to work on the Mokihinui Gorge track. We sponsored Cookies to all the volunteers and boy, they sure needed the energy! In the past this track has been quite formidable, and unrideable to say the least. After the efforts of these keen volunteers, the restored track is amazing and now anyone can enjoy it safely, while taking in this breath-taking part of NZ. The track will form the last section of the Old Ghost Road, which is part of the NZ Cycle Ways project. It will be complete in 2013, and already a UK magazine has rated it as one of the best rides in the world! Here are the stats for the weekend:

41 volunteers on day one, and several new people arrived on day two
The track is mostly cleared, and 96% rideable to Andersons Creek - total distance 6.5 km
Chainsaws were hugely valuable. Special thanks to the operators, Peter, Dave and Dave
The Old Ghost Road team have got funding to employ a digger to forge ahead to the Suicide Slips, and then they will get a couple of suspension birdges built across those formidable obstacles
By next year,Meridian will have won or lost their environment court hearing (Sept this year). Either way, the track will hopefully be formed all the way to Mokihinui Forks

Thanks to:

Ground Effect for tools
Emily for Em's Power Cookies
Dave for Calenders
Ghost Road Trust for BBQ
The Kennett Brothers for helping to make this happen

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Cramping Q&A

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A customer recently emailed me with a question about cramping and endurance racing. Here is the story:

Hi Em, just watched your webinar on the Speight's site, great info thanx. Understand the carbs vs weight from Ironman last year but am concerned re cramp - I experienced this after about 11 hours (30 odd k in run at IM) expecting a 15 hour day on my 1st C2C have been supplementing with magnesium this year to counter, do your Cookies offer any support in this area?

With cramping the best prevention is hydration with fluids that have enough sodium: aim for 400mg/L concentration. Horley’s Replace is the best sports drink, and nuun is a fantastic electrolyte replacement to add to water when you don’t want/need the carbs (it contains nil carb).

In C2C, anytime you’re drinking I highly recommend using a good sports drink or nuun rather than plain water. During the race, the mtn run will pose the biggest risk because you’ll just drink from the rivers (plain water) so make sure whatever gels you use have a decent amount of sodium – around 100mg per serving. My Cookies and Bars have added salt and baking soda so there’s about 185-200mg per serving. This is a good amount to take with 200-300 mL plain water, but I don’t put magnesium in.

Generally with magnesium there is some research to say it can help w/cramping. But I think this refers more to your baseline magnesium that you have in your system going into the event. You don’t lose magnesium through sweat-losses in the amounts like sodium. So I’d focus on the sodium as per my recommendations.

Here are the 4 things to prevent cramping:

1. Adequate hydration: 200-300mL per 15-20 mins

2. Adequate sodium – whatever you’re eating/drinking make sure you’re close to about 400mg sodium per L

3. Train for the event – sometimes cramping is simply a consequence of fatigue from pushing hard in a race you’re not used to

4. Stay warm – I find being cold can exacerbate the onset of cramping

Hope this helps you!

Cheers

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Type 2 Diabetes Q&A

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A customer recently emailed me with good questions. Here is the story:

Hi I am just wondering what the sugar content of the power bars are? I have Type 2 Diabetes and need to watch what sugar and fat content of food is. I am planning on a large ride in a few months and have been recommended I try your product but would like to know a little more about what is in it. Thank you.

The bars and cookies are all about 28-35g sugar per 100g. Much of this comes from natural sugars (mix of rice syrup, dried fruits, honey) depending on the flavours, and brown sugar is the only added sugar I use. The most important aspect with diabetes blood sugar control of the glycaemic index. All my products are based on rolled oats and have a moderate protein and fat content so the GI is LOW. (I used to be a Certified Diabetes Educator when I was practicing as a Dietitian in the US.)

For sports nutrition needs they will be perfect for you. Remember as you’re exercising, you will have improved insulin-sensitivity so you may even have to adjust any meds you may be taking to lower doses.

The fats come from the coconut, dark chocolate (saturated, but healthy types), sunflower oil and peanuts (in the peanut bar only) and almonds (apricot bar). So no bad fats, expect the Original Cookie has a small amount of butter.

I’d say the Peanut Choc Bomb is the best for you: it has no added oils – so the fat comes only from the crushed peanuts, and dark chocolate. And there is no added sucrose – just honey and rice syrup.

Hope this helps you. Cheers!

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Cycling Kit Sneak Preview

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

We are just in the final process of placing our order for some great-looking new cycling kit. If you would like to order any please get in touch with us ASAP. We have to place our order by Feb. 3. $100 NZD each per top or shorts (not bibs). For sizing, see the Tineli website www.tineli.co.nz. disregard the women-specific sizing - we're going for unisex!

Cheers! EM

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Product Testing in the Mtns

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Kelly Creek, Arthur’s Pass, NZ. Jan 2012

Hey. We’re just sitting here in Arthur’s Pass. And it’s Jan 2012, Jan 4. I’m just wrapping some of these bars. Mitch and Fleur Pawsey about to go through the run and the river today – a back to back workout. And I’m just developing this GF Bar for Fleur because she’s a Coeliac. And I might call it my “Flower Power Bar” or maybe my “Fleur Bar” because Fleur’s going to eat these on the Longest Day of this year’s Coast to Coast. And if all goes well, hopefully she’s this year’s Champion. It would be really good for her and good for the Bars. But they’re really yummy. They’re made with (censored…) … And they just taste divine. I’ve got one here I haven’t wrapped yet. This is the way I used to do it! But you can see the texture and the “moistness”. They’re really, really, good. And even if you’re not a GF person; they’re still really yummy!

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Em's Recipe #11 High-Pro Recovery Smoothie

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I just whipped this smoothie up for my husband who is doing a 5 hr training ride in preparation for Coast to Coast. Recovery nutrition is very important especially for long sessions and even more especially is the session was hard.This smoothie provides approx 90 g carb and 17g protein which easily meets post-recovery requirements within 30 minutes of the training session.

Put all ingredients into blender and hit the GO button:

2 ripe bananas (50g carb)
1+ T. peanut butter (nil carb, 8g pro)
6 Brazilnuts (nil carb, 8g pro)
1 T. honey (15g carb)
1c chilled rice milk (26g carb, 1.5g pro)

For an even more decadent tasting smoothie, try using frozen bananas. This smoothie is 100% vegan and gluten free. Enjoy and happy training!

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Lake to Lighthouse Ussher Race Report

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Lake to Lighthouse 2011

Well it’s no secret it has been a busy few months of racing and the Lake to Lighthouse was a bit of change of scene after mainly 2-4 hour races.

I’ve also been super busy launching a new company called Flow kayaks, which I formed with Andrew Martin. Andrew has made my race boats for years and has also been one of the major contributors to improving my paddling since moving to Nelson nearly 7 years ago. In the past few weeks we finally saw the plans go from the computer to the water but it definitely took a major toll on the training leading into this particular race.

We literally finished the first boat, which Elina would be paddling, on the Thursday morning about an hour before we had to leave for the ferry. Elina got 5 minutes in it to make sure it floated before we had to scarper to make the ferry. We were in Picton not more than 5 minutes before we drove onto the ferry – good timing!

Day 1 – Waikaremoana

If there was a single day of racing on our calendar this year which I was dreading it was this one. It isn’t that it is a bad course, far from it, but after racing and training for events no longer than 4 hours to be faced with a 5+ hour run as just one section of the day I knew there was the potential for disaster.

The day started with a grind on the MTB’s up the gravel road from Tuai to the main lake, before we followed the undulating track around to transition 1 at Home Bay.

I had company this year with Trevor Voyce and team cyclist John Gray and we all raced into the TA together.

Onto the paddle and I quickly tried to get the jump on Trev, I figured any extra time I had at the start of the run would be a good thing and as I chased down Sam Clark from the first team I managed a small gap. Sam and I battled it out throughout the kayak leg and arrived with a couple of minutes over Trevor.

It sounds as though we got through before the wind started coming up but further back in the field there was apparently plenty of action including a few swimming lessons.

Onto the run and I was freezing cold for the first 30 or 40 minutes, the southerly was certainly keeping the temperature down.

I was feeling pretty comfortable, I could see Sam Clark close behind for the first hour or so before he gradually slipped back. It wasn’t long though before I caught sight of Trev not far behind. It was almost exactly 2 hours in and although I had hoped I’d make it to the hill before he caught up we weren’t too far from the transition.

I picked up the pace a bit or Trev slowed up and we ran stride for stride to the end of the first section of the run.

Once loaded up with more drink, food we set off again, stride for stride. John Gray from the lead team had swapped his MTB for his running shoes and came flying past us both, oh to have fresh legs at that point!

I managed to up it a little and I was surprised to gap Trevor slightly. My dabble off the front ended soon after when I stepped out of my shoe running through some mud and Trev, who’d only be a few meters back anyway cruised on past.

We soon hit the climb and I was thankful that the pace wasn’t any harder than it was as I struggled up onto the top of the Panakeri range with Trev cruising along behind me. The body was definitely starting to suffer. It appeared that muscle memory was lacking for a run of this length and the 90-minute runs I’d been surviving on between races just weren’t enough to have me firing for so long on the feet.

As we passed Panakeri Hut I grabbed some water from the aid station and as I did Trev bolted. I gulped down some water and bolted after him. I wasn’t making much of an impression on his lead and he gradually slipped further and further ahead while I became aware my body was starting to have a pretty serious meltdown. There was less than 10km to go but the track was broken and covered in drops and roots requiring far more co-ordination than I was able muster by this stage and as a result I did several ungainly face plants.

The weather had also taken a turn for the worse with a massive hailstorm passing through and the temperature plummeted.

It was all I could do really to put one foot in front of the other for the remainder of the run, which for me was more like a painful hobble. I finally saw the transition below and mustered a jog the final flatter 500m to my waiting bike.

It was the greatest feeling once I got to the downhill and I could see the kilometers ticking off quickly with no effort on the part of my legs. I finally arrived back at the finish line in Tuai, utterly exhausted and defeated. When I arrived I was welcomed back by the most fearsome Haka I have ever seen, which I fully felt like I didn’t deserve.

Trev had put almost 18 minutes into me in the last 10km and I realistically felt my race for first was over.

Day 2 – Tuai to Wairoa

Over night I came to terms with the fact I was highly unlikely to win this race, after being so thoroughly destroyed yesterday it was easy to have lower expectations on myself but the closer it got to the race start the more I felt like to hell with it – lets see what I can do. More than anything I decided I had to go down swinging and to show all the people who showed so much support the first day and throughout each and every race we do just what I can do.

The race started and I went – from the gun as hard as I could. I looked back after 200m and I had a gap already. Team rider John Gray made it across the gap and the two of us disappeared up the road with a clear gap behind.

I was already getting pretty loose on the gravel downhill’s, the thought briefly flashed across my mind that I was probably going to die in a bike accident of my own making today – I quickly dismissed the idea and dug even deeper.

As we hit the first major climb I dropped John and it was comforting to be out on my own, egging myself on like some deranged soul. The climb gets really steep and by the top I couldn’t see anyone – I had already made up I guessed at least 2 minutes. The downhill’s that followed I truly scared myself, the road was rutted and washed out from rain, as well as being extremely slippery in places there were drops and holes that could easily break a bike, and a person it you plowed into them. Somehow I managed to keep the bike upright and was right back into hammering for every second I could.

The last climb is super steep, only just rideable and my legs were so thrashed by the top I thought maybe I’d overdone it, but I was in the right frame of mind well and truly now and it became a game to just see how much I could punish myself and keep pushing through.

Arriving at the TA I grabbed my TT bike and headed off up the hill, 400m up in 4km or thereabouts. My power meter was showing good numbers and the legs accustomed quickly to the change of position.

The downhill on the other side is a blast and I was regularly approaching 90kph. I still had no idea where Trev was in comparison to me so it was head down as I tried to blast my way to the next TA as fast as possible.

A few cars started passing me and some were yelling splits that I couldn’t really hear over the noise of the wind through the helmet but everyone was looking pretty excited, maybe I was pulling back enough time to at least make it exciting.

The other thing that was getting exciting was where was my support crew? I had only about 8km to go the kayak transition when they went whipping past – relief!

Into the kayak and more than half the day was done already. I was still feeling good but ultra aware that the kayak could be the make or break if it was getting close. I was disappointed to see there would be no assistance from the current today; the branches in the water indicating it must be nearly slack tide.

I keep concentrating on the process, ticking over, making sure the food was going in, checking the GPS for speed and digging for that little extra. It was empowering to be racing with such purpose instead of just going through the motions to get to t he finish. Sam Clark from the top team was eating into my lead and by the time we reached the final TA he was right behind me. John once again took off like a cut cat while I tried to cox the body into one last effort.

After about 10 minutes of running the road joins the river and runs parallel to it, I hoped I would see Trev, which would mean the race, would be getting close. Sure enough just as the river came into view so did Trevor. I’d been running 10 minutes 20 seconds, I figured he had about exactly that to the finish of the paddle meaning I now held a slim overall lead – it was all on

Knowing Trev would be at his best on the run gave me the determination to dig even a bit deeper. I made it up the main climb feeling good, the co-ordination on the rough tracks incomparably better than the previous day.

With 6 kilometers to go the track flattened a little and it was now a matter of letting loose until the finish.

The body was by now well and truly feeling the effects of the day off the front and yesterdays struggle added in for good measure. It became a struggle between the mind and body with the GPS the gauge on who was winning the battle. Before long I was breaking the final kilometers into 500m blocks just to make the task manageable.

Finally the finish came into view and this year there were no high 5’s or smiles, it was full gas right through the tape to an almost instant collapse.

Now all I had to do was wait. In many ways I would have been content whichever way the result went, I’d had a great day and could have done no more, it was a day I could be proud of and that was what I’d set out to do more than anything at the start of the day.

As the minutes ticked past 5 then 10 then 15 minutes the anticipation grew. Alan on the microphone started teasing the crowd, and me, that he could see the quad bike that would be filming Trevs last few steps, but still no one could see his imminent arrival. As the clock ticked past the 18-minute mark a weary satisfaction washed over me and a few short minutes Trev made it to the finish line. He’d obviously had a rough day and had left it all on the track also.

It was a great race from Trevor, it was by far the hardest I have been pushed in a Multisport race for a long time and made the racing that much more fun and the satisfaction was far greater as a result of such close competition.

In the women’s race Elina was unstoppable, again and was right in the race for the 3^rd step on the men’s podium, just missing out by a few minutes on the final day. She gave the new “Rockstar” kayak a good workout and gave it the seal of approval (once she’d checked the kayak times!)

We had a fantastic weekend at the race again and with plenty of less extreme options becoming available as part of the weekend f racing hopefully the race will see greater numbers in 2012

A huge thanks to all our sponsors and supporters, there’s just one last race this coming weekend in Lorne near Melbourne to decide the series of the Anaconda races before a few weeks of proper recovery. I’ll be making some plans over that time on what the racing calendar will look like over the summer too.

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz

GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/

R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz

CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz

LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com

AR PAGE www.arpage.co.nz

INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz

NEWTON www.dcmsport.com

ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com

GARMIN www.garmin.com

BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com

3^RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz

SUJON www.sujon.co.nz

EM'S POWER COOKIES www.powercookies.com

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Em's Recipe #10 Tahini Salad w/Strawberries

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Last night we did the naughty and had fish and chips. Afterwards we felt pretty gross, yet unsatisfied. What is with that with junk food?

Our neighbour had given us some lovely fresh organic salad greens, and they were sitting on our table looking at us saying "eat me". So I decided to whip up this salad with a few things I had on hand, just to cleanse our palettes. Here is what happened:

Dressing:

1 T. Tahini (sesame seed paste)
Generous splash of lime juice (I didn't measure but I think it was about 2 T.)
Small splash of olive oil (maybe 1/2 T.?)
Sea salt and cracked pepper

Whip up with a spoon in a small deep cup.

Salad:

Large plate of salad greens - anything but iceberg lettuce. Rocket would go nice with this
5-6 large strawberries, sliced
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 carrot, shredded

Arrange the salad on a big plate, and top with the dressing and enjoy! This took only about 5 minutes to make up - super easy and a perfect spring/summer treat that served its purpose for us nicely as our apperitive!

Enjoy, EM

Posted in: Em's Blogs

Customer Adventure - Baffin Island

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From the moment we stepped ashore at the head of Pangnirtung Fiord in Baffin Island in Canada’s far north territory of Nunavut and the sound of the boat dissolved among the waterfalls we felt alone in an ancient primal land controlled completely by the forces of nature. Loaded with more than we could carry we were forced to repeat each day’s journey two more times for the first four days in order to ferry loads.This way we experienced the landscape under different conditions as the weather changed constantly and unexpectedly from sunshine to gale force winds and rain. Rivers rose and fell within hours making crossings dangerous, and avalanches of rock poured down thousand meter rock walls. Camping each night meant finding a huge rock to shelter us and flat ground that was safe from flood. Polar bear safety required stashing food (including all our Em's Bars) and fuel well away from our camp.

The sheer scale of the Weasel Valley is hard to comprehend with granite walls that tower above us for a thousand metres capped by glaciers hundreds of metres thick. The valley floor has no trees, the tallest shrub being a low growing Arctic willow. When the ice and snow melts in the brief summer months the exposed tundra is covered with flowering plants, Arctic geese fly in formation overhead and eider ducks flock at the river’s edge. The remains of caribou antlers and tracks of other creatures show us that there is life here but we saw little except a lone peregrine falcon.

One of the most inspiring peaks is Thor named after the god of thunder by the Inuit people who have inhabited Baffin Island for 4000 years. The overhanging west face is one of the tallest and home to one of the hardest climbs in the world. The peak’s shape is so dramatic we wanted to make The Fine Line Sculpture in its shadow. This is a land dominated by ice so we were excited to find that some of the winter ice still remained in the coldest part of the valley shaded by the walls.

Although the ice was very thick it was melting at the edges where the rocks absorbed sunlight. Here it was possible to cut off and shape a piece about 1.5m across using our ice axes and with much effort, especially from Len, move it to a suitable site on the ice sheet. We had little time to get the shape right before the sun dipped behind the giant peak of Odin to the west. Since the sun never actually sets here above the arctic circle in summer its golden light touched the high peaks for some time giving me the opportunity to photograph and film the glorious spectacle.

Some days later we had made our way to Summit Lake, climbed up onto the Caribou Glacier and camped on ice beneath the mighty flat topped towers of Mt Asgard. A day or two of clear weather meant this was a highlight of the expedition and a chance to experience the high Arctic terrain I had dreamt of for so long.
The return journey with our heavy loads was punctuated by severe storms, difficult river crossings and a transformed landscape.

The friendly Inuit family with whom we stayed in Pangnirtung told us that the rainfall is the worst for decades and that the annual winter ice festival last Christmas was the first they have held using boats because there was no ice on the fiord.

Our flight out was cancelled and we hitched a ride on a rescue helicopter returning to base after evacuating those in the mountains affected by the severe weather and a polar bear sighting. Flying low across the vast Arctic wilderness of Baffin Island for hours we saw no human habitation only endless rock and tundra interspersed with lakes and patches of remnant ice, as wild as any place can be.

Posted in: Em's Blogs

Fleur Lattimore

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Fleur Lattimore (pictured left in the photo) is relatively new to multisport, however she has shot to the top in a very short time. She is one of the toughest athletes I know and is an amazing stand-out runner, not to take anything away from her other disciplines for which she dominates!

Fleur has just won the Augusta Anaconda Adventure Race in Australia by over 20 minutes, and also helped to gain the Trans Tasman Trophy for NZ, along with Richard Ussher and Trevor Voyce. This acheivement is amazing, as this was Fleur's first crack at the series and the Anaconda races pose tough competition from the local Australian girls.

Fleur first raced the Speight's Coast to Coast World Multisport Championships in 2009. In her maiden voyage she came an incredible 5th place after only just learning how to kayak. Over the last 2 years Fleur has beaten World Multisport Champion Elina Ussher in the KBAR Multisport Race, which gave her the NZ National title for 2011, and then she went on to a credible 3rd place with Team Toread at the Wulong Mtn Quest in China. Her team was plagued with horrendous sickness but they were still amazingly strong, especially Fleur, so Marcel Hagener tells us..."She is scary strong!"

Fleur is not a full time professional athlete, yet she competes like one. She is a busy mother so has other committments that force Fleur to pick and choose her races carefully.

Em's Power Cookies is really proud to support Fleur, and we look forward to watching her compete in the future!

Photo credit: www.sportzhub.com

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Em's Recipe #9 Bloody Good Pizza

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Since being away in Australia for the Noosa Triathlon, I returned to a rather wild patch of organic spinach. It's amazing how much this green gold can grow in a week! So I did a major chop-back to get it under control. As Powerboy Mitch and I were hiking up Mt. Glasgow we wondered what to do with the spinach, and we decided to puree it with olive oil and garlic and put it on pizza. Once back in the kitchen here is what I concocted. Hope you enjoy!

Blend in food processor or blender:

Spinach - as much as your food processor can handle (and they can take alot once the spinach blends down). Pre-chopping it helps.
5-6 cloves garlic
1/4 c spicy chutney (I used Eskal Deli Roasted Pepper Tapenade) You can use whatever you want.
5-6 sundried tomatoes
3 T. olive oil

Other toppings:

1.5 sliced tomatoes
12-15 olives
10-12 green beans, cut into halves
handful almonds
fresh cracked pepper and sea salt

Pizza crust:

Either use 2x store bought ones, or make 1 large one yourself

1 T. active yeast
2/3 c warm water
1/2 T. raw sugar

(mix the yeast, water, sugar in a bowl and let it sit for 10-15 minutes until it's all foamy)

approx 3 c. wholemeal and white organic flour
2 T. olive oil
fresh chopped rosemary, dill, sea salt, cracked pepper, coriander powder, and a generous dose of poppy seeds

Mix everything together and knead the dough until your heart's content. Once a nice dough-ball has formed, press it into your pizza pan or onto a pizza stone

Build it:

Spread the green spinach-blend all over the pizza dough. Mine was about 1/2 and inch thick and looked like "the blob"
top with the Other Toppings (sliced tomato, olives, etc) finishing with the salt/pepper

Bake it:

200 degrees C for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the crust are golden brown.

Sorry no photos - it was so suprisingly good we ate it too fast. 1 large pizza serves 4 quite easily. Enjoy!

Posted in: Em's Blogs

Noosa Triathlon Expo

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From the Tour de Tasman, to the Rugby World Cup fever when the AB's took the crown, to boarding a plane early the next morning to Australia, we were pretty exhausted as we embarked onto our next week's mission: Em's Power Cookies at the Noosa Triathlon.

I had never been to such an event before, and have never seen so many top-end triathlon bikes, let alone fit people all in one small place. We were sharing an expo space with Cognition Bikes, Profile Design and our Australian Distributor Velo Vita. A huge thanks to all the guys for making this happen!

We arrived on Friday morning to help get set up. Everything was in a bit of a flurry, and we got straight into chopping up product for freebie giveaways to the visitors as they came to our booth. We really enjoyed meeting the crew at Cognition, and appreciated the opportunity to be at this fantastic event. We had 3 full days to show our stuff!

I was surprised that most of the triathletes were not familiar with Em's Power Cookies & Bars, however as people came through to do some taste-testing, word traveled fast throughout the Expo and visiters came just to see what we were all about. It was also nice to meet a few long-standing fans who bought-up big and really enjoyed chatting and sharing their stories with me. In particular, Hazel and Rob - a pair of Dietitians from northern Queensland who were hooked on Em's and very big fans. It was great to sit and have my lunch with them and compare notes. Also it gave me some confidence and validation knowing that other nutrition professionals were giving Em's Products their nod of approval. There is no better praise than that coming from professional peers!

After the Triathlon, Powerboy Mitch and I hit the Glass House Mtns for some hiking with Power-Mother-in-law. She was amazing and kept pushing the pace for a good 10k. Straight afterwards we drove down to the country side of Northern NSW to visit Power-Auntie Tracy. On the way there we stopped to pick some flowers. As I was squatting on the side of the road relieving my well-hydrated bladder, Powerboy jumped back with an almightly yelp and a few words I won't mention here.... there was a massive snake laying in the grass right where he was about to step! He did make an effort to look "just in case" not really thinking anything would really be there. What were the chances!? Upon describing the heart-stopping incident to the locals, most simply dismissed it as "probably just a harmless Phython".

The next day we hit the Night Cap National Park do do a good long hike, then to follow with a climb up Mt. Warning. 10 minutes onto the trail as I was following Powerboy. Looking down at my feet, just as he passed I spotted a small brown snake right on the track, inches from where I was stepping! Adrenalin shot through my veins and I bolted backwards with fright. I tried not to scream or anything, but I yelled at Mitch "oh my #$%^ing he!! there's a snake!!!!" Mitch did a mad dash ahead and there were were - the only 2 on a remote track in very dense rain forest, separated by a poisonous brown snake on the track!

We honestly did not know what to do. There was no way back except for Mitch to pass the snake. We wanted to just get out of there. The snake wouldn't move so Mitch poked a big stick at it - not a good idea. This only made it very angry. It kept moving towards Mitch, but mostly stayed close to where I first sighted it. We contemplated Mitch taking a wide berth around it through the thick bush. Bugger that. Where there's 1 snake there's 20, right? As Mitch tried to move the snake would move. After a few more minutes it settled down. I remembered some advice that if you stomped they would move away from the vibrations. So I started marching in place, as close as I dared, pounding my feet into the track. To our relief the snake started to move away. Slowly it slithered into the rocks, and as soon as it's tail disappeared and I could no longer see it, I gave Mitch the word. On the count to 3 we both made a mad dash out of there. My heart was jumping through my chest! We got off the track thankfully not seeing anymore snakes, and got to our car. We both totally agreed no more bush walking, and we headed straight for the security of civilization: Byron Bay.

As we crossed the rocks to the beach, Mitch said, "hey - look over there". Right on the rocks at Byron Bay central, stood a sign saying "Caution: snake breeding season -browns and vipers sighted. Walk on rocks with caution".

The narrow strip of sand, called "the beach" gave us some repsite between the snakes and the sharks and stingers as we walked along just trying to enjoy it all.

Cheers

Posted in: Em's Blogs, In the Media

Whats been going on behind the scenes?

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Whats been going on behind the scenes?

We want to let you know what’s been happening over the last couple months with Em’s Power Cookies, mainly changes in the pricing and distribution. As we’ve been operating for over 7 years, in order to get started we have had a broad range of different retailers, as well as different distributors. This has been an integral part of getting Em’s Products established in as many stores as we could.

The problem was there were different wholesale prices happening from different distributors, and as a result the retail price points were varied. RRP is something that cannot be controlled because it is entirely up to the retailer, and different types of retailers charge different prices. However consolidating our distribution has alleviated this by establishing one consistent wholesale price that is the same for all stores, regardless of the type of retailer or how much they buy. We hope this will translate into consistency at the retail level.

As of Sept 1, we’ve set our official RRP at $4.50 for an Em’s Power Cookie or Bar in New Zealand. The Australian RRP is higher due to the shipping costs to Australia, plus costs of clearing Customs and shipping within Australia.

Our new RRP in NZ is very competitive in the sports market at 5.3c per gram for the Original Sports Cookie and 5.6c per gram for the Cookie-Bars. All other sports bars and protein bars in the market sell for 7-10c per gram! So Em’s Products are still good value for money and all retailers are treated fairly with the same buy-in price. We feel this has been an important step towards managing our market better.

In the next couple months once we move into our new carton packaging, our website prices will be adjusted up to the full RRP, but we still always do free shipping in NZ.

We hope this better helps you to understand how Em’s Power Cookies works and why there have been so many changes recently.

Cheers

Posted in: Em's Blogs

Em's Recipe #7 Quick Healthy Lunch

Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Who says it's too hard to eat healthy at lunch? Here is a very quick and easy recipe for some nice soup:

Maggi Instant Noodles (lowfat)

1 small bunch silverbeet, chopped

1/2 large carrot, sliced

Spices: coriander, cayenne or chili powder and turmeric

Handful roasted peanuts

All you do is make the soup as per directions. As it's cooking throw in the veggies, spices and serve topped with the peanuts. It's very quick, easy to prepare and you can easily keep these ingredients at your work and whip this up in no time!

Approximate nutritional breakdown:

Carbs: 50g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 15g (monounsaturated fat from the peanuts), Kcal: 415

For anyone who needs more food or is training for sport then add an Em's Power Cookie or Bar to this, or have as an afternoon snack with a piece of fruit and you will be POWERING for your PM workout!

Happy eating! ~EM

Posted in: Em's Blogs

Ussher Update - MAINPEAK race - Perth WA

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

After arriving back in NZ after 3 months in the European summer and racing in China on the way home Elina and I had only 8 days in which to recover before heading to Western Australia for the inaugural Mainpeak Multisport race in Perth.

Unfortunately Elina was carrying a few injuries from China courtesy of some crashes and was still also in recovery mode from the bout of food poisoning she received there. I was feeling great until a couple of days before we left when I succumbed to the dreaded man flu.

You know something is wrong when you are wearing all your warm clothes but still freezing cold on the plane, but everyone else seems quite happy in t-shirts.

By the time we arrived in Perth I was severely worried that I would be just a spectator on race day.

The format for the race was a 7.5km run, followed by a 55 km Road bike, a 24km run, back onto the bike for 33km, then the option of paddling 7.5km of whitewater or running a further 12km and finishing off with two further paddling sections, the first 16km and the last 12km.

The day before the race we got our first look at the whitewater section of the river, which was quite different to most of the rivers in NZ that we paddle in Multisport competitions. The Avon river holds one of Australia’s biggest paddle races each year – The Avon descent and the challenge varies wildly depending on the water level. It sounded as though the flow was unusually high for this time of year – not meaning that the water was massive – more just that there was enough water to make paddling the top section feasible.

It was characterized by slow moving water, often through Ti-Tree groves which required some nimble turning skills and then 3 larger rapids which were mainly pour overs with no chance to avoid a bit of rock bashing. We were paddling plastic surf skis for the section meaning the rocks weren’t much of an issue but it was a different mindset to be attacking rapids in plastic compared to the care usually required to get a composite boat through unscathed – which would have been a big ask!

On the largest of the rapids, Bell’s – which has a fearsome reputation Elina had a swim in the main chute and bashed her knee pretty badly. Luckily the pool at the bottom provided a place for her to clamber up on the rocks while Ken our guide and I searched in vain for her paddle. After scouting the pool and several downstream we finally discovered her paddle in a strainer only metres behind her when we walked backup to collect her.

That evening Elina’s knee was super sore putting a start in doubt and my flu although marginally better still had me hacking up what looked like yellow porridge.

Race day dawned fine and clear – and far cooler than I had anticipated Perth would ever get too, not that nice on a raw throat and sensitive lungs! The pace was quick right off the start with a group of about 6 runners forming our lead group including Sean O’Neil who I expected would be my main competition. Sean really put on the pace as we reached the uphill and I decided to just keep him in view rather than push too much right at the start. I was very aware that a week of doing nothing but being sick was going to leave my energy levels vulnerable and a more cautious approach was needed.

I had my first bit of good fortune when Sean and another lead runner took the wrong track, and the rest of us passed through as they were quickly back tracking.

We all hit the transition close together and out onto the bike I quickly set about reeling in the one team guy in front of us. Sean jumped on my wheel and looked comfortable.

Once we joined the front there was quite a bit of jostling to try and unseat us from the draft but after a while we all started rolling through and it seemed as though we’d be riding as a group to the end.

Almost immediately after this thought though the team rider again attacked and this time got a gap on Sean, I was able to jump across and all of a sudden I was in a two up time trial to try and get as much time as I could on Sean.

He was quickly out of sight behind us and we seemed to be moving well, I figured any time would be a bonus and allow me to take the run a bit easier.

Nearing the transition the team guy attacked again to get the stage prize while I was far more interested in saving any energy I could for the 24km run coming up so it was an easy decision to leave him to it.

Onto the run and it was straight into a decent hill. My feet were feeling a bit like blocks of ice after the ride and it made running a lot more comfortable once they had thawed several kilometers later.

Once the hill topped out it was a long gradual descent before the track steepened sharply and dropped to the far point of the course by a river.

It’s always nice to be over halfway on a run and despite a decent hill in the second half I was pretty happy with how I felt. I keep a regular watch over my shoulder for the impeding sight of Sean tearing into my lead but by the time I reached the TA and the start of the next ride I still hadn’t seen any sign of him or anyone else.

Climbing back on the TT bike I was glad to stop running but it always seems to be that much harder to bike after a long run. I’d been anticipating a predominantly downhill ride but with a rising head wind it felt more like a false flat uphill for much of it. Ken my support crew came past halfway through the ride and let me know I had about 13 minutes of Sean in second, which kept the stress levels down.

Onto the first of the paddling sections and I knew now all I had to do was keep it ticking over and stay in the boat through the upper section. The river was a busy place with loads of people out in slalom boats and Canadian canoes enjoying the day. I found my way through the Ti Trees OK and had a load of fun shooting the rapids. Once out the bottom and onto the flat water it was nice to have a few more groves of Ti Tree to break things up. I stopped at the next TA and got the news that the lead was over 15 minutes getting on the water so I enjoyed a bit more food before setting off!

I’d also managed to overtake the lead team as they had elected to run the section instead of paddling it and had conceded over 14 minutes. Their paddler appeared 20 minutes later and steamed on by. They were in a composite racing ski customized with an over-slung rudder and given I was still in a plastic ski I stood no chance of keeping up, not to mention the 6 hours of racing already completed.

The remainder of the section was uneventful except for the extreme discomfort from the seat. I had to lie back on the deck and lift my behind up almost every kilometer to alleviate the pain.

At the final TA I was able to swap to nice light a carbon ski now that the river would be deep enough for the under stern rudder. I had a bit more food and then headed off for the final hour on the river.

The Perth airport is reasonably close to the finish of the race and several times planes flew straight down over the river and looked like they were almost going to land in it which provided some spectacular views

Arriving at the finish was a relief; I’d definitely pushed my body harder than it would have liked with not being well but luckily it didn’t seem to be any worse except for my voice.

Elina’s day also went well given her sore knee especially. She’d had the measure of all the girls and most of the guys as well but was pretty sore when she finished and her knee was really swollen. She also did the run instead of the top section of the river which she said was a killer run, there were all sorts of horror stories coming out about that run!

Overall it was a great course and as always super well organized by Rapid Ascent. There were plenty of weary people at the end and plenty of stories of how tough it was.

We were treated super well by all the locals and had amazing help from Mainpeak to help make it possible for us to race. A huge thanks to everyone from there who also helped us out, particularly Dave, Ken, Katie, Richard and John.

Up next we have the Motu Challenge in Opotiki in 2 weeks so the focus is on getting healthy again and enjoying some more time at home at last!

Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters

Em's Power Cookies www.powercookies.com

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz

GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/

R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz

KIA www.kia.co.nz

CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz

LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com

INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz

NEWTON www.dcmsport.com

ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com

GARMIN www.garmin.com

BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com

3^RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz

SUJON www.sujon.co.nz

and for the Mainpeak race thanks also to

MAINPEAK www.mainpeak.com.au

Posted in: Em's Blogs

2011 Spring Challenge Wrap

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The 2011 Spring Challenge was a resounding success with competitor numbers at full capacity of 600 charging women! This event is a fantastic way to get women involved into sport, and has 3 events: the 3 hour, 6 hour and 12 hour adventure races. The shorter courses are designed for beginners and intermediates, while the 12 hour course requires a bit more experience and training.

The pre-race registration and race briefing was at the beautiful Brancott Estate Winery which was a very impressive setting! I was a little nervous getting ready to write my “speech” for the packed house. The night before I was thinking about what I should talk about… and for some reason my thoughts drifted back to the 2010 Tour de France and my “yellow bikini” antics. I had kept a journal on our bike trip but I had stopped writing surrounding the yellow bikini days. So I decided that I should catch up my journal and write about the whole build-up and experience on the Tourmalet in France. The atmosphere there was very special, and exciting. And what most people don’t know is the “yellow bikini” had made its debut on Stage 16… not Stage 17 and the famous media photo! Jodie F. the event organizer introduced me to the packed-house to talk about “seizing the day”. The uncut, non-media version of the “yellow bikini” story went off with fits of laughter as I described my reservations of “donning the ill-fitting yellow piece” as I could not remember the last time I shaved…. Well, you get the drift! We were bike-touring and camping after all, and I think most women can relate to this same feeling!

The next day at the race we hiked into checkpoint 7, between Transition Areas 2 and 3. Powergirl was in full-form and gave each team a couple Em’s Power Bites and a Cookie or Bar. As the teams came powering up the steep hill towards our station, they all had the biggest smiles on their faces, and of course said “where’s the yellow bikini!?!” My story must have stuck in their minds… not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing… ;-) But they all definitely seemed to be seizing the day. A few of the women displayed some of my “what goes on-the-road stays on-the-road” antics! Nice work! But sorry – unless you were at the Spring Challenge, you’ll have to wait for the autobiography before all is revealed…

I think all of the teams made it through the challenging course, except one that I know due to sickness (hope you’re feeling better Bron!). And at the finish you could see the sense of real accomplishment and teamwork the girls had achieved. I was so happy to be able to provide the athletes with some “Em’s Power” as well as a little inspiration and humour to take away. Well done ladies – see you next year!!

Posted in: Em's Blogs