I did my first triathlon here back in 2007, so while the course was different, I was keen to post a better result than first time around. Things didn’t go completely smoothly on race day, I twisted my thumb trying to get the wetsuit off in T1 and got chased by a dog intent on running in front of the bike. However I was pretty happy with the overall result, 46th out of 161. Apart from the dog at the end, the cycle was excellent and I did really well on the hills and fast cornering. If my first tri was scaled to have the same number of participants (it had a little less), I would of placed 126th out of 161, so huge improvement there. Below is a short video of the race from Triathlon New Zealand.
Archive for the ‘New Zealand’ Category
Whangamata Triathlon 2010
Monday, January 11th, 2010Delayed, Restarted, and Delayed Again
Friday, August 21st, 2009Yes there hasn’t been anything here in ages, that is true. I was planning on blogging more often from my iPod Touch, even paid for a blogging application as well. Except somehow inbetween a laptop change and iphone os software upgrade iTunes decided I didn’t own the application and refused to install it back on my touch. So the nothingness here continued…
However, there is a plan to get this blog back off the ground. I’m planning on building a new combined work/personal blog that uses Word Press instead. Since version 4 came out Moveable Type has just sucked the joy out of blogging for me (I’ve also been very very busy as well). So dear reader new postings will return, I can’t say when, but in the next months for sure.
In the interim I have returned from my year living in Italy, followed by 4 months in UK and 1 month in Australia, and am now once more living in New Zealand. Together with my lovely lady, whose musings you see below, we now have a nice little 3 bedroom house. Things are going quite well all in all, has been busy crazy times though, more to come. —Uncle [less travelling for the moment] Matt.
Lazy Sundays
Sunday, September 24th, 2006
Today was the first sunny weekend we’ve had since last summer. So not to waste this ideal opportunity to increase my risk of skin cancer, we cruised over to Raglan—a small coastal town, famous for its Manu Bay surf break—for a day at the beach. I recently bought a new digital camera that can take DV quality video with sound, a big step up from my previous camera.
Sheep & Starbucks
Sunday, September 3rd, 2006
A Thousand Words
Sheep on a ute, in the middle of the city, right outside Starbucks… and they say Hamilton isn’t a hick farming town.
…I rest my case
Fast Flowing Waters
Saturday, September 2nd, 2006
When I was young, maybe 7 or 8 years old, my dad and I used to go hiking up near the Coromandel, an area that is both beautiful but bears the scars of the 1870’s gold rush. Yet at the time it didn’t see it like this, the tunnels and discarded equipment in the middle of forest was a source of excitement and adventure for a small child. A few of the rivers and streams are still polluted from the mining, though fortunately there are many that escaped unscathed and our hikes usually ended in lunch and a swim in a nearby stream.
I seem to be doing so much recently, not that I mind being so busy, but at times it feels a lot like it did swimming in those streams; being pulled along swiftly by the current, little feet not always being able to touch the bottom. Most nights I’m not home to 7 or 8, in fact it seems like I’m never home these days, not that I mind that much as this flat is quite damp over winter.
My business is growing which is both exciting and daunting. I guess it’s the realisation that most business owners come to when they have to start hiring people. You’re no longer responsible for just yourself and as employer as have a obligation to help your staff grow and move forward in all areas of their lives, not just professionally. I like Richard Branson’s approach to business that you have to love what you do, in so you’ll hopefully create an environment where people enjoy working. In contrast to the television series The Office, which seems like so many companies I’ve worked at in the past.
At the moment I’m taking courses on management skills and building high performance teams, the non technical skills of running a business and an area that is all too often neglected. It looks like it’s going to be a long road ahead and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scarred. Nevertheless, this path seems right and who knows, the swimming hole at the end of it might be pretty good.
Departure Lounge
Sunday, April 3rd, 2005
Well not even close… Every year before I head back to the northern hemisphere from our little corner of the south pacific, I start having these dreams about missing my flight. The usual scenario is it’s 30 minutes, an hour, whatever to departure and I haven’t packed and am nowhere near the airport…
In last night’s instalment I end up at the Hawaiian Airlines terminal, but I’m not even going to Hawaii. Some how I’d mixed up Hawaiian with Air Tahiti, and what use would all this French I’ve been learning be there, they don’t even speak French in Hawaii?! After finally arriving at the Air Tahiti terminal, I end up pleading with the attendant to be able to take the next flight, however it’s a no go…
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