Update

Well, the time flies at this stage of the year. So the past couple of weeks I tried to have a little hit out at the Taupo Half Ironman, have done some christmas shopping, watched Ava grow, and done some good training.

Taupo Half was a tough day at the office and I decided to call it a day after the bike, the body had some big bricks on its back and couldnt get them off. So a easier week after and I am starting to get some better sensations in the legs and not pedalling squares :)

So what would I like for Christmas? Well next year I am pleased to confirm that I am going to be back with Team Timex and we are changing bike sponsors, so one of the below is going to be just like christmas :)

Update, Taupo Half Ironman

Time has been flying since baby Ava has arrived. A little less sleep at night, some training sessions, coaching and the days seem to disappear very fast :)

This weekend will be my first race in a while, the Taupo Half Ironman, I have had a win, 2nd, 3rd, crash DNF in the past couple of years in Taupo. Its a great course, and a perfect chance to practise on the IMNZ course if you are stepping up to the IM distance or to get a feel of what IM will feel like.

A very good field is due on the start line on Saturday morning, Cam Brown, Callum Millward, Mark Bowstead, Jamie Whyte, Brodie Madgwick, Kerin Doe and a few others so it should be a cracker of a race.

Training wise, I am in the middle of a big build up for Challenge Wanaka ,I have been thinking about this race ever since making some stupid mistakes last year. Check out my old blog if you want the details.

Hopefully Taupo is not like it was in 2009 (see photo below), must thank the volunteers for battling in the below conditions

Ava Jean

So little Ava has arrived, Tracy has been extra busy and I have been getting a little less sleep :)
The birth definitely put in perspective pain tolerance on a big scale, I will take Ironman any day

Check out my photo blog below for some of the action

After run session at birthing centre

After Bike session

She likes the sound of water, my little trick to get her to sleep

Quite energetic already!

First friend

Baby, birthdays, racing

Well its waiting time in the Williams house at the moment. The little baby is past its due date so should arrive any time now.

So training at the moment involves taking the cell phone and always letting Tracy know where I am going. Candice had her birthday the other day so we had a 10 kilometer set in the pool and I was half expecting the lifeguard to come over and give me some good news, that I would have to rush home, but it didnt happen.

I had a few athletes racing at the weekend and all showed some really good improvements from the work they have been putting in over the winter. All have plenty more to come, good things take time. I like the quote from Percy Cerutty
 "Hard things take time to do, impossible things take a little longer"

Erin 5th and Ange 21st at Long course world champs
Candice backing up her big weekend (K2 + Auckland Marathon) with a win at the Gisborne Duathlon
Tamsyn 2nd at Ashburton Half Ironman

New York Marathon

The New York marathon is coming up in a couple of weeks and I was shown this great little video of the NZ great Rod Dixon. It gives a great insight into proper pacing and beleiving in your plan.
Kimberly Smith is also on the start list this year, so it could be another great Kiwi victory

Some stats for the numbers people

 Bronze 1500m at Munich olympics
 1500m = 3min33sec
 5k = 13min17sec
 10k = 28min11sec
 Marathon = 2hr08min

Kona 2011

Who watched the race on the weekend?  I was certainly glued to www.ironmanlive.com for a good chunk of the day, but still managed to squeeze out some good solid training.

What an awesome race!  Seeing Craig Alexander cramping towards the end of the run and being forced to walk made it an incredibly exciting race, especially with Pete Jacobs chopping out time from him with every stride.  But he held on to get his 3rd Hawaii Ironman title, and broke the course record at the same time!

And how about Chrissie Wellington coming from over 20 minutes down off the bike to win the race with a stunning display of pure guts and grit.  She really is that 1:10000000 race horse.  No complaining before the race of her injuries, just got in there and got the job done with the tools she had left.

Anyway, I had a competition for people to give their picks for the mens and womens champions, with the winning run split required to decide the closest guess.  The prize was for an awesome Team Timex training jacket.  Most people picked Alexander and Wellington to win it - surprise, surprise, so I have some on to it readers :)

But the person with the best picks actually got 4 out of the 6 top 3 positions correct. So Brodie Madgwick takes the prize. I will be in touch. What are your picks for the World Cup Brodie?

What training did I do today?

So what does a typical friday look like for me these days? At the moment I am working on increasing my bike power and strength which I need for next season.  The basics behind the sessions is too really overload my cycling legs more than usual, while keeping the running and swimming ticking over.

This morning started with a session on the erg (indoor trainer) which consisted of a long warm up, some short intense intervals with a long rest interval, followed by a long warm down. The reason for the longer rest is to let my legs recover completely so I can hit the next interval with the maximum of effort, and hold good form the duration.  I am set up in the lounge in front of the telly, playing a mixture of "The good morning show, Juice TV and MTV."  Its amazing what a good song can do for the brain, the time goes alot quicker and its easier to switch off and just get the work done.  I also learn some great housekeeping skills at the same time.

I have some 'work' work to do before heading out for the next session and then its back on the bike this afternoon. I am going to ride hills for a couple of hours, which will include climbs such as French Pass, Te Miro and Sanatorium.  For those who aren't familiar these range from 5-15 minutes in length, with a range of gradients, from "it dosent hurt much" to "works the legs no matter what"

I will follow this bike session with by putting on the Saucony Fastwitch's and run a number of short intervals, not too many but just enough to get the heart rate up and to remind the legs that to run a fast Ironman you still have to run FAST!

The below photo is from last friday, plenty of Magpies around at the moment, these ones a little worse for wear.

Check the random quote below, I quite like it.

Also, dont be scared to put in a entry to win some timex kit, check out link below
http://keeganwilliams.blogspot.com/2011/09/win-team-timex-gear-kona-picks.html