Thomas K. Somerville

 They say if you’re not first, you’re last, but from my experience at the 2023 70.3 Sunshine Coast, if you’re not last, you’re first. If you came here to read self-deprecating jokes about everything that went wrong in my latest race, you’ve come to the wrong place. I finally got one more or less right, and for the first time in a professional race, I wasn’t last across the line (not including DNFs). That’s progress, and progress is the goal at this stage of my career. A symphony of alarms at 3:30 am woke me on the Friday before race day, allowing sufficient time to get to the airport, remember what I’d forgotten to pack, go home to pick it up, and get back to the airport with enough time to get through security. However, this time there was nothing forgotten, check in/bag drop was fast, and security was a breeze. Four hours on an Air New Zealand A320-271N (a fine machine, despite what the news may say) and we were in Brisbane. I had booked the smallest rental car I could find, ...

A year ago, I said that one day I would address the question of the most scenic triathlon in New Zealand, and more recently, I hinted that I was coming closer to a conclusion to the question. Well, today is the day folks. Read on to find out my verdict on the most scenic triathlon in New Zealand. But first, I'm going to make you wade through yet another race report. This time, for one of the contenders for the most scenic tri, the Sea2Sky Challenge. One of the unique (to the area) features of Sea2Sky is the swim. Surf swims are not common in this neck of the woods, and this has got to be one of the best surf swims out there. On a good day, big swell beyond the breakers, and good body surfing into shore. On a bad day, you’ll spend half of your time with a nose full of water and not knowing which way is up. Unfortunately, this year was neither fun nor scary. For maybe the first time ever, the Scarborough surf was non-existent.  This made for a fast swim, so I went out hard and came o...

Sunday 12 February 2023 Bad news. Less than one week out from Challenge Wanaka I found a small hole and some loose stitches in my trisuit. Not disastrous. It would probably make it through one more race at least, but this would be its final season. I had seen earlier that day that Swim T3 had a 50% off sale to celebrate Cyclone Gabrielle. I had a browse through their trisuit options and found something fast looking, affordable, and in my size. After much deliberation, I pulled the trigger. It probably wouldn’t arrive in time for my departure, but I would need it down the line anyway. Tuesday 14 February 2023 I ticked off my last prerace workout, tearing up Old Tai Tapu Rd, ate a (probably) delicious dinner, and spent a good chunk of the evening explaining how the PTO ranking system works and why I was too slow to have a ranking to my flat mates. Race excitement was building. In a week’s time, I could have a ranking. Or I might still not have one. Wednesday 15 February 2023 Si...

 If you follow me on Instagram, you may know by now that the Tauranga half didn't go all that well for me this year. If you don't follow me on Instagram, how did you find this? Congratulations on making it to the very bottom of the internet. After a disastrous elite debut at the same race last year, I was looking for redemption. A less than ideal build (three weeks almost completely off in December due to Covid) knocked my confidence, but the Christmas break came at just the right time for me to smash out a big training week while on holiday (training camp) in Nelson. With some fitness and confidence regained, I was ready to race. An uneventful flight to (and prompt escape from) Hamilton, and a hectic drive over the Kaimais, took me to New Zealand's largest retirement home. I took a quick pitstop to find a replacement fastener for one that had rounded off when packing Trev (heart in mouth stuff getting that one out) and a very brief look at the CBD and carried on to Mt ...

 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 ...