Keegan Williams's Blog

Well, its been an exciting few weeks for me here in NZ, with a good result in Wanaka and a even bigger result a few days later

I finally plucked up some courage and asked my girlfriend Tracy if i could put a ring on her finger, well what did she say?

YES!

I am lucky to find some one who puts up with all my triathlon madness and supports me 100%, i just have to settle her down at races as she gets more nervous than me

Time to fly as leaving for Subic in a few hours

Keegan

Some photos attached of the training views around Wanaka.

Yesterday I competed in Challenge Wanaka, we had a small pro field but quite a few well known faces on the Ironman circuit.
The 12hrs before the race there was a lot of rain, 150mm had been predicted for the surrounding areas so it was great to wake up race morning to only slightly overcast and windy conditions.
My swim went well and I sat in the first group and had the straight arm rolling (also a bonus for Tracy as she can actually pick me out swimming – thanks boss)
Onto the cycle leg and we had a 30k out and back section to complete and then one further big lap to make up the distance. At the end of the 30k mark Chris Mcdonald and Pete Vabrosek rode up to my self and Luke Dragsta. We rolled along until the 70k mark and then the pace was increased which was too much for my pins and I drifted off the group. Once we turned at Cromwell it was back towards home and into a solid head wind. Justin (Donkey) Daeer rolled past to fast and I ended the bike in 3rd place approx 5min down on Justin and had about 2min back to Pete.
Back into T2 and it was time to head out on the run, my legs felt pretty good to start with and I was ticking off some good k splits. The run is a two lap affair with 50% trail running and 50% on road, the second lap wasn’t as good as the first but I had some good motivation as I was getting splits to Justin and was closing in. I caught Justin at about 10k to go at the bottom of a solid climb and tried my best to run past at a decent speed. About 5k later I heard that Pete was closing and then with about 2k to go I heard he was only 40m back which was getting close! I didn’t want to look behind and just kept it going and ended up holding him off by 30sec for second place. Chris was in another class and ended up 7min in front at the end and took 10min off the course record.
So my day ended with a 8.44, which was a 21min pb from last year and a big 17min off my run time from last year. I am stoked with the improvement from last year, and looking forward to seeing what I can do after some more camps with the boss.
It’s definitely a race I would recommend as it’s in one of New Zealand’s most scenic areas, you get great southern hospitality and the Race organisers put on a great week of build up events and race day.
Keegan

Well, im on my second holiday in about a month now which i think is pretty good. This one only lasts one week then back to part time work for 10days and then off to my new job in subic!

Im very grateful to my boss who has been very fexible with working hours, so if you ever need a engineer, look up www.duffillwatts.com . They carry out all manor of work from structural, civil, roading and project management.

What am i doing on my holiday? well im flying down south to compete in Challenge Wanaka, New Zealands newest ironman distance race. Should be a good one

Over and out

K

Here in NZ it is tradition to drink a lot of beer and eat a lot of food at this time of year, but this year has been different, I have been on the Sutto diet of training and sleeping!

The pins are feeling a lot better for it and I am looking forward to getting back to Subic for some more training and meeting all my new team mates.

Next up is Challenge Wanaka on the 17th Jan.