Race time ... this weeks flavour, races starting with a K...

The last two weekends were filled with traveling and some fun racing...in mud...

K-race number one was the Kururau Krusher in good ol Taumaraunui. Doc Martin and I teamed up for this bike-run-kayak-mtb event, it was 'Doctors Order' time! There were some random rain-storm-flood-disaster warnings going on that weekend and we weren't really sure what would await us, but the god's must have had a good time and spared us too much crap weather on the day. It rained the night before of course, just to mush up the MTB track...The race went well and was a lot of fun, Martin had a good first 44ks on the roadbike and I went off on the run with maximum running training under my belt (3 runs in 2 months is pretty solid?). I had a blinder on the run and surprised Martin by showing up a wee bit too early at the transition! Off went Doc M and into the wind! By then the wind was quite gusty and made the paddle rather interesting - but Doc M managed to pull off a PB and did not go swimming! Last but not least was the MTB...Doc K payed a wee bit for her blinder on the run and the first bit of the ride was, hm.., rather slow. Blame it on the headwind? The second part, the downhill part on farmland, which was rather WET and MUDDY was interesting...that day I did understand why people have mudtyres! Well, sliding down the hill on a solid block of mud and no traction made for some entertainment and added about 5kg to my MTB! All in all a solid and good day out, 1st 2 person mixed team home, we were happy with that!

So, off we went to race numba 2 with a K - the Karapoti Classic. Apparently this is THE to do MTB race in NZ. So we got told. So we entered. So we heard one horrorstory after the other. Just before the start of the race someone said - do you remember the worst day in your life? Forget it, today will be it! Ohhhh well....

Again, weatherforecast for the weekend was rather crappaloodels. Hm, any greater Karma or connection between races starting with a K and rain??? I can see another phd rolling along...but I'm diggressing. As usual. Dave 'thumbs up' G and I made our way down to Wellington, after some navigational 'issues' ('Dave, we're a few k's away from wellington, weren't we supposed to turn off somewhere?....) we found our way to our luxury accommodation - I never knew you could squeeze 4 people into a 2 squaremeter big cabin, but you can! To keep the K-race tradition up, it pissed down all night long and stopped raining at the start of the race. Choice. More mud...bring it on tampon, as Bevan would say...

Karapoti is one of the biggest MTB races in NZ, 1000 keen racers to take on 50k's of hell (as I found out that day). http://www.karapoti.co.nz/ has a nice vid on it...
Start is in le mans fashion on the other side of the river - yep, wet feet right at the start, even better! Race starts were staggered and us girls started last with the old farts, so that the boys have something to look at when we ride past them, but that gave us time to watch the start of the pro's and first age groupers and to suss out where NOT to cross the river! There was some serious swimming going on, very entertaining...so, about an hr after the first riders we were finally sent off and I had a nice start. I took Sarah P-C's advice to shut up and ride and not talk to everyone in the field and dug deep at the start to work my way through the field. And then the first hills came...and another...and another...and another...Sarah Beadel had passed my by then and showed me how to ride up a hill, shame I could only watch! So, the race went on and so did the hills. Karapoti is most famous for the hike/carry/push a bike section up Devils Staircase - at this point I wished I was in Taupo doing Ironman as it felt like the way easier option! And then there's the rockgarden...and more uphills. And bogs. And more uphills. Have I mentioned the uphills yet? There were a few! BUT - there were some wicked downhills, and I loved them! And yes, I passed lots of guys, so starting at the end of the field wasn't that bad after all...hehe...so, 3.59hrs later I was across the finish line, muddy like everyone else and swearing (gotta love the doublemeaning) I'd never do that race again. Somehow today I already thought what I'd do different next time...

Sunday was another day of ridin, the tumbs and I went to explore the Makara Peak MTB tracks in Wellington - some choice uphill singltracks with wicked views over the city and the sea! The downhill was rather quick, so we had enough time to check out the skills park and do some jumps, ride sea saws and fall of obstacles...we finally found the coolest track, Livewires and I learned not to trust Dave's advice about which line to take 'left kat left' - me thinks, what the heck is good about this pile of rocks on the flippin left??? - 'oh, no sorry I mean right, right'..yea whatever....all in all a nice ride over there, but sorry Wellington, ya can't beat Rotorua...nothing better than home sweet home ;-)

tricoach.co.nz - now there's a deal

Ahhhh, there's nothing better than some 'friendly' pressure from your loverly friends, isn't it...????

My mate Paul Westwood, aka Westy, aka Westicle, aka the skinny bro, aka www.tricoach.co.nz has offered me a deal - I have to finish the race, need to give it all, my best, no walking in the park and no fluffin around and he's gonna sponsor limbs4all and me.

Oooooooookay then, I'm always up for a challenge, especially one from a skinny pom! I'm off for some training now I guess, better make sure I'll buy some more harden up pills as well...

Check out www.tricoach.co.nz to find out more about this sadist supporter or read la blogga on http://tricoachwestwood.blogspot.com...

Donations donations donations

Donations for my cause can be made here
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/KatrinWalbert/

This money will go directly to Mark Inglis' limbs4all and I promise, not to the Kat is addicted to coffee fund :-)

Thanks for your help!

Kat

Ryders is on board!!!

Woooooaaaahoooooo

Thanks to Julie, our persistence and Brent Martin we've got some sponsorship from Ryders Eyewear towards the race! Wiiiiiiiiicked. More on those guys soon, check out the webpage for cool sunnies....www.ryderseyewear.com
We're on the hunt for more support, watch this space, but in the meantime, cher bro to Ryders for giving us their support!!!

Team Mullet races the Whitestar Intrigue

So, we survived the big weekend of training and after an easy week and lot's of sleeping it was time to hit the road for a trip up the the Coromandel for the Whitestar Intrigue Weekend. Dave 'Thumbs up' G, Sarah 'the machine' P-C and Kat 'you talk to much when racing' W hit the road on Friday for a whole weekend of MTBing - on Saturday's menu was a Points race (Timetrial, Crit, Hill Climb and Downhill), followed by the main course of a 60km MTB race over the hills of Coromandel on Sunday.

The highlight of the trip was Sarah wondering out loud if we would be able to use someone's mullet to get our tentpegs into the ground...the picture of a headbanging mullet over a tentpeg did not leave us for the rest of the next two days...
Fortunatley the camping ground was soft enough for us not asking anyone for their mullet and we got our tents up just before dark, so that we could sit back in our chairs with a beer and watch other late arrivers struggling to put their tents up in the dark. Ah the joy of Schadenfreude...

Saturday was a day full of different activities - you could choose between a 3h or a 6h Orienteerieng event or the Points Series. I'm a pro elite in getting lost, so the Points Series it was. We had to do a 6km Timetrial, a 10km Criteriumrace and in the afternoon we were off to a hill climb and a downhill race. Wicked concept, hang out time with other people and lots of cowshit action on the timetrial...the machine had a wicked day out and won two of the races and Dave won the best cornering action with thumbs up! After pricegiving it was gametime - a rather interesting mix of games between some of the teams, the banging one (pic) went on for quite some time, I think they really enjoyed it...

Day two was again full of options, we chose the 60km version of sightseeing the Coromandel. Again, a wicked day in the saddle. The machine powered away but her i-drive broke, so she had to pull out and doddle home, and the Thumb and I played tag team for some time until he managed to to break away...ah the testosterone...
All in all a great weekend and highly recommended - two great days of racing and playing on your bike, thumbs up!!

May the force be with me

Sometimes I think my coach is a sadist.
Over the last few years I've called him many names during my training sessions...On the Donaldson Ironman-diet you get things to do like a 8km run - 42km ride - 8m run - 42km ride - 8km run - 42km ride - 8km run session (yes, that is ONE session) or a 6hr ride followed by a 30km run - after 2 weeks of running, the 30km run will be your 4th 3hr run within those two weeks. When you read those sessions you generally read them 3 times, in case you miss-read what you just read.
You generally read them right the first time though...

The damn thing with this coach though is, he know's what he's doing...you shit bricks the night before those sessions and then you go out and do them. And no, you don't die...you just do them. And you realize, you CAN do it. I've come to the conclusion that training is really a cheesy combination of Adidas and Nike marketing - anything is possible, you just have to do it...wicked feeling though once you've done it!

So, my schedule for this weekend is to ride the Whaka 100km MTB course on Saturday (in other words - ride every blimmin hill and singletrack in Whaka Forest), and the 50km course on Sunday. Morning. The afternoon will be topped off with 4 reps of Moerangi South. And some Split Enz inbetween, if the hand-eye coordination still works.
The longest ride I've done on a MTB is maybe 3hrs, on the road 4 1/2...and funnily enough, no, I'm not shitting bricks this time. I know it might be painful going to the toilet after this weekend, but I also know I'll just have to go out and do it. Won't be pretty, but I'll get it done.

Ingrid, one of Scott's Ironman-coachees has written this great column on Training and Scott...

http://www.dailypost.co.nz/localsport/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3793654&thesection=localsport&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

She pictures him as the wise yoda. I still reckon he has some relation to Satan, but yes, he's a wise man...and all I'll hope for this weekend is - may the force be with me!

limbs4all

Time to be philosophical...

Take a moment.

Look down on you.

A pair of legs.

Whatever shape or size or color they may be, some are well shaved, some belong to multisporters and will never be shaved even though they should, some have paint on their toenails, some are fast and some are just the way they are.
But they are there.
You just walked on them over to your computer and logged onto this page. You may have just been swimming or out for a ride or run. After sitting here and reading this, you might go out for a paddle or some more riding, getting that kick from exercising that we love so much.
We have a pair of arms and legs which enable us to go out and live life.
What would you do without them? Despair? Give up? Go on and find another way?

The thought of having something happen to me which would take away the freedom of living my life as a sport-addict always freaked me out a bit. What would I do if something would 'disable' me?

A few years ago I met Mark Inglis. For those of you who don't know, he's a Kiwi, who lost both of his legs below the knee in 1982 during a freak climbing accident. A blizzard caught him and his climbing partner out and they were stuck in an ice cave on Mt. Cook for 13 days. He went on to win a silver medal in 1 km time trial event at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, climbed Mt. Cook again in 2002 and moved on to become the first ever double amputee to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. 2007 he came to Rotorua and gave a talk to our Triathlon Club about his life, his amputation and his quest to climb Mount Everest.

This talk really opened my eyes that there is no real 'disability' unless you accept it. And there's always a way forward. Loosing a limb doesn't mean you have to loose your life. You can keep going on and live to the max, whatever your max may be. But you need two things - attitude and a prosthesis. The right attitude may not come easy, but you can get it if you work on it. Attitude comes free of charge, but sometimes you need some help to get it. That second thing, the prosthesis, that's not for free, you need money and help to get it. In some cases your insurance may help, in some cases and countries there is no insurance. And there might be this young kid, who want's to pursue his talent in a sport but needs a special prosthesis for it. There are people out there, that may never get the chance to walk upright again if it wasn't for people like Mark and Anne Inglis, who have set up limbs4all to help some of the 400 million disabled people in the world by supporting projects and individuals both within New Zealand and world wide.

Inspired by Mark that there's always a way out and forward, I decided that I would like to support his charity during my journey towards the BC Bike Race. We all so often take everything for granted and don't know how lucky we are and forget to pay it forward.

I hope some of you are keen to support me and Mark to raise some money for his charity limbs4all. If you are, then take your healthy hands and go to http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/KatrinWalbert/ fundraiser logo on the right side which will bring you to the donation webpage. You might have to get on your two legs to get your credit card details, but hey, it's worth the cause!

If you want to know more about Mark Inglis and limbs4all, check out www.limbs4all.com www.markinglis.co.nz - he's one handy motivational speaker! Mark also know's how to make sports nutrition, his brand Peak Fuel can be found in Bike Shops all over the country and is highly recommended! Check out www.peakfuel.co.nz for more info on the products.