Thomas K. Somerville

 For the last two years, the OxMan Triathlon has been the bane of my existence. On 27 November 2022, that all changed. Read on through a haze of covid brain fog induced ramblings to find out how. Allow me, if you will, to take you back to 2020. I was a fresh faced half distance rookie with no expectations. I ended up swimming well and biking better, on my road bike with clip on aerobars and a bird’s nest of cable ties, cardboard and cut up drink bottles (#AeroOnABudget), to have a four-minute lead off the bike. I ran well for 10 km, and then cracked, giving up my lead and finishing third. Disappointing, but still a solid effort on debut. I also learnt to wear socks in half distance races. This will be relevant later. I returned a year later, hungry to improve on my third place, and confident I had what it takes to win. With Trev on my side, I again took the lead on the bike, this time stretching it out to seven minutes. I even exercised some degree of self-control on the run, s...

  You’ve all been very patient, so here it is, the official full-length Sunshine Coast 70.3 (113, seriously, what the hell is a mile? I can't be the only one who thinks that is a stupid name for a race. I will die on this hill) race report, and the first addition to this infernal blog for six months. In the interim, there has been a half marathon personal best, a resulting injury, the wettest month on record, and plenty of training. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, let’s begin. A nice thing about traveling from NZ to Australia to race is the time zone. The Sunshine Coast is two hours behind NZ, so I was able to stay on NZ time to make the bright and early start feel like just another day. As such, I went to bed the night before at 8 pm and set a pre-race sleep personal best of 6.5 hours before a leisurely 3:30 am wake up. We then raced traffic control to transition, at one point literally going through an intersection as they were closing it. Parking was better than anticipat...

If I had to describe the Sea2Sky Triathlon in just three words, I wouldn't. As you are about to find out (if you can make it through this meandering quagmire of a race report) I would use 871 words to describe it. The Sea2Sky Challenge is the self proclaimed most scenic race in the country. There might be one or two that would dispute that claim, but lets leave that for another day, and just agree that it has some lovely vistas. It is however, without shadow of a doubt, the most challenging triathlon I have had the displeasure of competing in. It may not have scorching temperatures, or be a long enough day to test one's mental fortitude, nutrition strategy and overall endurance, but what it does have is elevation, and lots of it. Not even the swim is exempt from significant elevation gain. Due to rampant Omicron in the community, the Canterbury Triathlon Club worked their magic once more and devised a cunning plan to allow the race to proceed. As such, we were set off in waves ...

  You may have recently seen my Triathlon NZ/Suzuki Tip of the Week. Well that wasn't the only tip. For your viewing pleasure, here is the full collection of tips. With these, you'll be no better off to be perfectly honest. Enjoy. The first tip (all of them really, but the first in particular) is brought to you by Suzuki. How you get to the race is important. Start the day as you mean to continue. Secondly, this tip will ensure you continue to benefit from excellent, wholesome, entertaining content just like this in the future. And finally, a reference to my ill fated day at the 2022 Tauranga Half. Don't be like me. I hope you learnt something today, even if it was not to be like me. I'd prefer to be unique anyway.

  Earlier in the week, I was sitting at my desk/kitchen table, working from home like the socially responsible citizen that I am, when all of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Who could it possibly be? (I knew who it was because there is a window next to my front door, and because I was expecting a visitor). It was none other than Canterbury Classic race director, John Newsom ! What a privilege and honour! What could he possibly be here for? Like I said previously, I was expecting him, so knew what he was doing here. What I wasn't expecting however, was a special delivery on behalf of  T riathlon New Zealand  and an ever so slightly awkward presentation on my front doorstep of this here stunning national championship medal. I thought to myself, this medal is so nice, and I am so arrogant, I'd better make an Instagram post showing it off. All my idea. Anyway, as you can see, it's very shiny, and the unique shape really draws the eye in to some of the more intricate ...

 Watch out Sea to Sky, there's a new challenger for toughest race in town. With the cancellation of the Triathlon NZ standard distance national championships in November, the honour of hosting the event fell to the Canterbury Triathlon Club. Usually, this would mean the race being hosted at the iconic and hilly Corsair Bay course, but because some big shot sailors by the names of Peter and Blair couldn't make up their minds about whether or not they wanted a summer holiday in Christchurch, the race was moved to the lovely, but even more hilly, Wainui, for the rebranded Canterbury Classic. Wainui, for those not familiar with niche Canterbury geography, is a small town, just a collection of baches really, across the harbour from Akaroa, which you may have heard of for having very small dolphins or being slightly French. Given that this race was just a week after the Tauranga half, I hadn't planned to do it, but entered on a whim, not wanting to pass up a chance at a natio...

  Summer had grown bored and Winter had taken over for the day. Motivation to escape Christchurch was high and the prospect of some Bay of Plenty sunshine was an attractive one. Good thing I was heading north to the Tauranga Half. Given I'd like to buy a house some day, I forwent the luxuries of a hire car, uber or taxi from the airport. I even employed the principal of marginal gains and chose not to take the bus. I elected to walk instead. After the five km trek to my accommodation and a brief excursion into town to find something to eat, it was time to wake Trev from his slumber. He made the journey unscathed, wrapped up in an Orucase frame protection kit, although his assembly was hindered by a small but essential aero bar fitting which had found its way into the depths of his stem. Unfortunately, my helmet was not so lucky. It had picked up a few dings on the temples in transit (likely due to how it had been packed). The structural integrity was most likely compromised (this...