Frustration

It is crazy to think that it is March already, and even more crazy to think that I have yet to complete any events in 2012.

An unfortunate tumble during last weeks Coastal Challenge resulted in me withdrawing from the race 11km in due to a suspected fractured thumb. Thankfully my thumb is not fractured, though it is still extremely painful, and I am in an orthopedic brace while it heals.

Unfortunately KBar is out of the question due my inability to kayak or ride a mountain bike until the thumb heals.

Monday will see me tackle a brand spanking new modified training program geared towards the Marysville-Melbrourne Multisport Race, T42, and ultimately Wellington Marathon.

2012... The Plan

A few nights ago, I sat down and mapped out a race schedule for 2012. I have always raced a lot, and would like to continue to do so, as it is what I really love doing, so, there are a lot of events on the schedule. In order to be able to do this I have put the events into categories based on their importance to me, and the amount of time and energy I will devote towards them. I am keeping this close to my chest, though I suspect it might be relatively obvious which are the top priorities.
New for me are some kayaking, and cycling events, with more to be added. I am also hoping to try some new things, learn some new skills through 2012, cross country skiing, (real) white water kayaking come to mind.

Coastal Challenge
KBar
Tarawera Ultra-Marathon
The DUAL
King of the Harbour
Sand to Mud
Marysville to Melbourne Multisport
T42 Off-Road Marathon

Xterra Auckland Trail Run Series
Wellington Marathon
Tough Guy Challenge
Captain Cook's Landing
Coromandel Classic
The Legend
Xterra Trail Challenge
Tour de Tasman
Auckland Marathon
The Goat
Waimakariri Classic
Tour de Vineyards

In there somewhere is my Chiropractic studies and caring for all of my wonderful patients. It is going to be an exciting year. Come and join me for an adventure, i'd love to help you achieve your goal.

Coast to Coast

"You can make all the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day, you just have to race well"  - Richard Kennedy

After much deliberation, I have made the difficult decision not to race in this years Coast to Coast. This is obviously hugely disappointing, as I had set a number of goals towards the 2012 Coast to Coast.

For a number of reasons my build up was always going to be short, though I had hoped that I would hit my straps at just the right time. Unfortunately I have not been able to find the strength, nor speed to do the event the justice it deserves.

It was suggested to me by a number of mentors that I could still enjoy the race by adjusting my expectations. Unfortunately, given my psyche it was agreed that this would probably result in me pushing my body beyond its limits and doing myself significant physical damage. As it is only possible to get the body to perform at its peak a few times each year we decided that it would be unwise to use one of those opportunities on a probable substandard performance.

Thank you very much to my Coast to Coast sponsor Thule for being so supportive of my decision.  

Good luck to everyone taking part, I will be down there, and I am looking forward to enjoying the race from the sideline.

Changing of the Guard

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be supported by a group of extremely generous sponsors. The assistance provided is greatly appreciated, and helps make it all possible. Unfortunately nothing lasts for ever, so I wanted to publicly thank a few people.

bioSPORT - Thank you very much to Greg and Wendy for their support over the last two years. The support that they have provided me with has been invaluable. Greg has been an instrumental part of my journey towards a more natural and minimal running technique. My muscular awareness and control have improved out of sight, and I am now much more efficient than ever before. I would most certainly recommend an assessment by Greg in your chosen sport.

Mule Bar - I was introduced to the Mule Bar products in 2009, and soon after started to use them in my training and racing. Unfortunately the products are no longer being distributed in New Zealand. Thank you to Tim, Leigh, and Mark for their support.

WBC - WBC has been keeping me big and strong every morning for the last 12 months. Unfortunately like Mule Bar the WBC products are no longer being distributed in New Zealand. Thank you to Damian, Paul, and Amanda for their support.

And of course, thank you very much to Discover Health, Vibram FiveFingers, Total Sport, Lululemon Athletica, Buff, & Injinji for your ongoing support. It is a pleasure to be associated with you.

The Great New Zealand Santa Run

I am Auckland's fastest Santa. I stoked to regain the title that I won in 2009. It was one of the tougher races I have ever run in. Having done five hours of training earlier on Wednesday I had to dig very deep to get away from Grant Schofield in the last hundred meters. It has been a while since I had a win, and even though it is not the most serious race in the world it was nice to cross the line first and get a bit of recognition.

The event is a fundraiser for Kids Can, a charity that I have decided I would like to continue to support. I have always thought it bizarre that we give money to overseas charities supporting child poverty in the third world, when we have children on our back doorstep who are not being provided with the bare essentials. So, to finally be exposed to a charity that is "aiming to meet the physical and nutritional needs of disadvantaged New Zealand children to assist them in reaching their full potential in life" makes me very happy.

Commonwealth Mountain & Ultra-Distance Championships

Before I left NZ, Jenny Barlass (Discover Health) and I spent some time making sure I was armed with the right supplementation to ensure that I was able to recover from the demands of long haul travel. I was able to get a good amount of sleep on the flights, and too be honest I didn't really feel jet-lagged at all.

I travelled up to the event centre in the North Wales town of Llandudno on Thursday. The immediately striking thing about the seaside holiday town was the number senior citizens and mobility scooters.

With my Kiwi team mate Vajin Armstrong, and our Australian counterparts we headed for the Newborough Forest on Angelsey to have a look at the course, which would be five laps of a 10.5km course. My initial thoughts were that it was fairly benign, though on closer inspection it became obvious that this was not the case. There was a soft sand beach section of about 2km out to the end of the peninsula and back which would become increasingly challenging during the race as it dried out and became more cut up. The rest of the lap was within the forest on hard packed sand trails, though these too would become more challenging in parts. One 50m ascent 7.5km through the lap, easy on a recce, maybe not by lap five. There was not an ounce of technicality about it, which was slightly disheartening from my perspective, though New Zealand trail running tends to be rougher than the rest of the world.

Friday offered a chance to support a strong kiwi team of Wayne Botha, Matt Bixley, Brian McCorkindale, Alex Mackenzie, and Val Muskett in the 24-Hour race. By bed time on Friday night all of our runners were tracking quite nicely. I decided to get up in the wee small hours to get to the heart of the event, and experience the raw human emotion of running for 24 hours. It didn't disappoint, a few of the athletes were 'relatively' jovial, though most were showing obvious signs of discomfort. It was a successful day or the kiwi contingent, both Brian and Val recorded age-group world records, and the guys claimed bronze in the men’s team event.

Angus Bell and Tina Harris ran on Saturday in the mountain race at Llanberis, I decided not to go, as I needed to rest the day before my race. Gus finished 25th and Tina finished 22nd.

We managed to convince Gus to back up and run again on Sunday so that we would have a third runner, and thus, be eligible for a team medal. This was a huge call, and I am very thankful to Angus for doing this. We knew that he wouldn't be at his best but figured there was a chance that our combined times could still put us in with a chance. I must admit I was a touch apprehensive about being beaten by a less than fresh Angus.

All the pre race talk was about how the African runners were probably going to go out fast, tear the course to bits on the first couple of laps, and probably pull out with cramps and such like.

Standing on the start line was a proud moment, hopefully the first of many opportunities to represent my country. The pace was very conservative at the start, so I found myself in the familiar position of leading out, however I knew this would be short lived. I was happy to run along side the Kenyan runner for the first couple of kilometers and have my moment of recognition.

I was surprised by the huge variation in shoe selection. A number of the runners had opted for road racing flats. I decided to run in my Inov-8 X-Talon 212's and by the first traverse of the beach I was glad for the flexibility and traction, and happy with my decision.

Sure enough a number of runners tried and failed to tear the race to pieces from the start. The top five runners at the end of the first lap all failed to finish the race.

By the third lap, I too was beginning to struggle. I was running solo, about thirty seconds behind a pack of runners and starting to feel like death warmed. Self doubt was creeping in, and, as is so commonly synonymous with such feeling I was beginning to question: "Did I go out to hard at the start? Would I be blacklisted if I didn't perform or finish? Would trail-running be blacklisted if Vajin and I didn't perform? Why was I putting my body through this?". By forcing myself to sip away on an alternating supply of water, progressively sweeter Endura, and MuleBar Kicks, I managed to silence the ego, keep the demons at bay, and continue to run at a good pace.

I eventually stopped the clock in 3:54:33 to finish in 14th position. I am extremely happy with my performance, and pleased with where I am at in comparison to the other runners in the Commonwealth. It is of course, another step in the right direction.

Vajin finished 8th in 3:43:13, and Angus pulled out at the end of the 4th lap when it was clear that we were outside of medal contention.

Assuming my recovery goes well I am hoping to run Total Sport's Xterra Trail Challenge in Waihi, and a few weeks later the West Coaster. Beyond that there will be a big focus on cycling and kayaking with the Coast to Coast being my next major target.

Thank you for your support and for making the trip possible.

Sneak Preview - 2012 Vibram FiveFingers

Click here for a sneak preview into what Vibram have got planned for 2012

Help James get to Wales

   

I have recently been selected to represent New Zealand in Wales at the Commonwealth Trail Running Championships in September. The championships will see me racing against 200 of the finest athletes that the Commonwealth has to offer over a 55km off-road course on the Welsh peninsula. More details can be found at http://www.cmudc2011.org/en/

The trip is self-funded, and is going to cost approximately $5,000, so... I need your help to get there.

Donate $50 towards the cost of my trip, and you will receive a black crew-neck 'KÜGS' sweatshirt.

You can contact me on 021 858 554 or via email to register your support.

Commonwealth Mountain & Ultra-Distance Running Championships

I have been selected to represent New Zealand at the 55km Commonwealth Trail Championships to be held in Wales in September. The race is expected to attract 200 of the commonwealth’s finest athletes, from 25 countries. More details can be found here. The opportunity to represent my country is a lifelong dream, and something I am extremely excited about. The details of the trip are still filtering through, though no doubt I will need to start raising funds in the coming weeks.

Routeburn Classic

The Routeburn Classic is an 'adventure run' over New Zealand's world famous Routeburn Track. The track is 32km long and climbs +800m from the Milford Highway (S.H. 94) to the top of the Harris Saddle before descending steeply to the Routeburn Shelter.

Racing in south island is always an unknown quantity as there are always plenty of good runners who I have never heard of, or raced against. From the pre-race chat I figured that my competition would come from: Bevan Stevens who I knew very little about, Grant Guise who I knew a little about, and my good friend Nick Hirschfeld, who I knew plenty about. Nick and I had been for a couple of runs, so I knew that he was running really well, and he knew that I was well below where I would have liked to be.

Clear blue skies, and very little wind greeted us on race morning. The track was going to run hard and fast. Perfect conditions, many people exclaimed, though I personally would have preferred some snow, given my technical off-road running strength.

The race began with 500m on the road before funneling onto the actual Routeburn track. Historically I would have impetuously tried to win the race in the first 500m. On Saturday I was far more controlled. I did lead onto the single track, though without to much concern for what was happening behind me. I glanced back at one point and got a bit of a fright to see a procession of seven other runners. I figured (hoped) that one-by-one they would fall by the wayside, sure enough after about 40 minutes only Stevens, Guise and Hirschfeld remained.

I managed to create a gap of about 5 seconds on a technical downhill and did contemplate opening the throttle but thought better of it.  The four of us reached Mackenzie hut together. My concentration lapsed momentarily immediately after the hut and I started to head off to the right towards a phantom track before realizing that the track continued to the left. Grant grasped the opportunity, taking over the helm and lifting the tempo.

The rise in tempo, mixed with the not so gradual rise in gradient was too much and I began to slip off the back of the group. Physically, and psychologically, I was defeated. Mixed with the steepest ascent of race I was not in a good place. My only saving grace was that every so often I would catch a glimpse of Grant up ahead and he didn’t look to be enjoying himself either.

At the Harris Saddle I worked out that I was approximately a minute behind Guise, and three minutes ahead of the next runner who I had been concerned about earlier in the climb.

I was pretty confident that if I could get my legs working then I would be able to bridge the gap on the steep and technical downhill, perhaps even catch Nick & Bevan.

Unfortunately, my legs didn’t want to play the game. I was also starting to run out of water and overheating. I took my gloves off, and of course 2min later Murphy’s law prevailed. I kicked a rock and went for a dive, I managed to skin my pisiform which is going to less than comfortable if I need to adjust someone in the Chiropractic Centre using a pisiform contact.

Not long after Falls Hut and back in the shade of the bush I managed to convince myself that there was still a chance that I could run into the top three. I focused on keeping my deep abdominals switched on, maintaining my form, and keeping my cadence high. Every kilometer I would have a celebratory nibble of Mule Bar, and sip of water.

I stopped the clock in 2:58:52 to finish 4^th. To be brutally honest I am disappointed with the result and I look forward to returning to complete unfinished business. Congratulations must go to Bevan Stevens, Nick Hirschfeld, & Grant Guise for giving me a good lesson in trail-running.

Men:

1. Bevan Stevens - 2:49:37 (New Record)
2. Nick Hirschfeld - 2:52:38
3. Grant Guise - 2:55:27
4. James Kuegler - 2:58:52

Women:

1. Whitney Dagg - 3:34:34
2. Kristina Crane - 3:35:39
3. Leah Hirschfeld - 3:38:52

           

February Update

We are already half way through February and I feel like I have barely taken a breath.

Athlete 

This weekend I am taking on New Zealand’s premier multisport race, the Coast to Coast. The race consists of 36km of running, 140km of cycling, and 67km of kayaking, traversing the South Island from Kumara Beach on the West Coast to Sumner Beach on the East Coast. Swedish roof rack company and Coast to Coast sponsor, Thule, are very kindly supporting me for the race. Their roof rack and transport solution products simplify lifestyles, and are second to none. There will be live updates throughout the day on Saturday on the Coast to Coast website.

Coach

During the last few months I have thoroughly enjoyed travelling to different parts of the country to coordinate a series of Natural Running Workshops organised by Vibram FiveFingers. The aim of the workshops has been to teach people to move the way nature intended them to and to promote healthy, trouble free running. I have met some amazing people and am excited consistently to receive feedback that people have rekindled their enjoyment of running, are noticing a lower heart rate when they run, and are achieving personal bests. I even received requests to do some private coaching sessions while I was holidaying in the South Island.

It is crunch time for the athletes that I coach as we get ever closer to the start line of some big ultra-marathons, multisport races and triathlons.

Chiropractic Student

Studies have resumed for 2011. Now in my third year at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic I am set to become a Chiropractic intern. I will start seeing student patients in a matter of weeks, and I will be able to start seeing public patients at the start of April. I look forward to providing the same chiropractic care that has helped so many people get to the top of their game, and stay there.

Website

www.KÜGS.co.nz is up and running. Thank you to Dylan Connor for his time and assistance: I couldn’t have done it without his help. It is a work in progress and will continue to develop and evolve in the coming months.

 2011

The plan for the rest of this year is by no means set in stone. I plan to sit down with Brendon in the week after the Coast to Coast and map out the rest of 2011, in order to create a framework for the next couple of years. We hope that this will enable better continuity in my training, and allow me to make the best gains possible. Potential races for 2011 include: Tarawera Ultra Marathon, The DUAL, Routeburn Classic, Xterra Off-Road Series, Cambridge – Hamilton Kayak Race, Coromandel Classic, Motu Challenge, and K2.

 

www.KUGS.co.nz

My new website www.KUGS.co.nz is up and running.

Thank you very much to Dylan Connor for his efforts.

It is most definitely not perfect, and we will continue to improve and update it in the coming weeks and months.

What Else Is Coming Up

Total Sport Training Seminar

This weekend Callum Wicks, whom I have been coaching since August will tackle the 84km Molesworth Ultra-Marathon. Callum is getting faster by the week and we are confident of a strong showing this weekend.

The Goat is my next race, so I will be training hard for that over the next couple of weeks. First, however, I need to get through my Pathology exam on Monday 23^rd.

Beyond both of those I will be completely focused on training for the Coast to Coast and providing an excellent coaching service for my athletes.

Kugs.co.nz is still not live, though as soon as my exams are done this will be high on the priority list. In the meantime I will continue to post regular updates here on www.jameskuegler.com.

Also in the pipeline is a trip to Japan to run the Tokyo Marathon at the end of February next year. Over 300,000 people apply to run the marathon. I was lucky enough to be one of the 35,000 names pulled out of the ballot. This also presents an opportunity to run along side (behind) Haile Gebrselassie. More on that in the next few weeks.

Rodney Coast Challenge

Thank-you to Canoe & Kayak North Shore for the entry to the Rodney Coast Challenge on November 14^th. Having decided not to run the Auckland Marathon I thought it would be a good opportunity to compete in another multisport race.

The format of the race is a 10km Run, 30km Road Bike, 24km Mountain Bike, & 8km Kayak: an interesting format with a particularly small amount of running.

I firmly believe that I need to test myself continually against quality athletes, so upon arriving at registration I was pleased to see that Grant Donoghue, Bryce Irving, Sam Goodall and  Steve McKinstry would all be lining up in the individual race.

Within a couple of minutes of the start a group of four consisting of David Cooper, Graham Moore (both team runners), McKinstry and myself had formed, and we were working hard to build a gap on the rest of the field.

I put a bit of a surge on with 500m to go and managed to gap the group crossing the timing matt in a shade under 38 minutes. As far as I can work out this is the third fastest time recorded in the six years the race has been organised.

I had hoped that the two team riders might be of some assistance, though unfortunately I was riding on my own, or with a team rider sitting on my wheel for the majority of the ride. By the Road Bike to Mountain Bike Transition I was sitting in second place overall, a couple of minutes down on McKinstry and becoming increasingly conscious of those chasing me from behind.

I found it difficult to get into any sort of rhythm on the mountain bike, and the heat was starting to get to me too. Team ‘Not All Old Men’, Sam Goodall, aero helmet and all, and Bryce Irving all came flying past me. I managed to stay with Irving just long enough to see him get it horrinly wrong on the entry to a particularly nasty corner. How he managed to control his bike as he slid uncontrollably, with feet unclipped still puzzles me.

Kayaking has been a focus of late, and I thought I paddled went really well, I even seemed to be catching the far-off figure of Irving in the distance.

I finished 6^th overall and was the 4^th individual across the line in a time of 3:22:01.

Rodney Coast Challenge 2010

 

Natural Running Workshops

Auckland Workshop Poster

I recently spent a weekend in Sydney assisting the Vibram FiveFingers team organise a running workshop. A series of similar workshops are being held throughout New Zealand. The idea of the workshop is to introduce people to a more natural way of running, moving the way the human body intended. It could be the best $10 you ever spend on your running. For more information click here

Crowd Goes Wild - Legend Marathon

Tapering & Taking Care of Business

  The Big Race
"Tapering & Taking Care of Business"
- A seminar on ‘Race Preparation and Execution’ with James Kuegler

bioSPORT 119a Wellesley Street

Tuesday October 26th. 7:00 - 8:30pm. $40

To Register Click Here

Alastair McDowell, Tongariro Crossing - April 2010

 

Get the inside word on how to prepare for the big race and execute the perfect race strategy.

James is one of New Zealand's top endurance athletes. His performances range from winning The Dual Marathon, to finishing second at the Two-Day Coast to Coast.

The seminar will focus on the Speight's West Coaster and the Auckland Marathon, though the general principles can be applied to almost every race. In 2009 James smashed the West Coaster record two weeks after finishing 5th in the Auckland Marathon.

Xterra Auckland Trail Run Series

2007 Leppin Off-Road Series

My introduction to Total Sport was the 2007 Leppin Off-Road Series. Returning from a year abroad and looking more like Gerald Waters than Michael Adams I had naîvely decided that I was going to complete the 2008 Coast to Coast Longest Day. The Leppin Series would act as part of my preparation.

I finished 20th in my first race, just ahead of Highbeam's Richard Keene and well known ultra-marathoner Russell Maylin. Throughout the series I improved, and by the end of the series I was battling it out the likes of Tim Grammer, Hamish Keston, Grant Schofield and Graham Watts. After every race I would analyse the results and see if I was getting any closer to Nick Hirschfeld and Michael Adams.

That year Graham Watts won the masters and was rewarded with a heart rate monitor. I won the junior series and was gutted to receive a hamper of chocolates. Graham wasn't keen to swap either. We still joke about it, and the irony is that he still doesn't know how to use it.

I have made steady progress, and this year, after three years of trying I had my first off-road series win at race #1 of this years Xterra Auckland Trail Run Series, winning by 7 and a half minutes.

I am yet to beat Michael Adams, though, I like to think I am getting closer with every race.


I continue to meet fantastic people at each and every Xterra Auckland Trail Run Series race (what a mouthful) and am ever grateful to Total Sport for their sponsorship. I blame and thank them for making me a far better runner than multisporter.

Today, on fatigued legs I pipped Ed Hyde to take my third win of the series. As a result, I wrapped up the series, even despite my best efforts to throw the series away at the Woodhill when Michael, Martin de Bock and myself inadvertently decided we should do an extra loop.

The 'ego' inside of me is screaming something along the lines of "Why such a fuss over a local off-road series, you are always telling people 'If you are going to dream, dream big, it takes no extra effort'."
Why... because, back in 2007 it was a 'big dream' to win the off-road series. I looked up to amongst others Nick Hirschfeld, and Michael Adams and dreamt of one day winning the series. Today I achieved that.

2010 Speight's Coast to Coast. Photo Courtesy of JeremyCronin.com

Coaching

Richard Kennedy - Wellington Half Marathon

I have just completed  my Tri NZ Coaching Course. I am putting what I have learnt from the course along with my personal experience into practice by offering my services to a number of runners, multisporters, and triathletes. 

My new website should be up this time next week and will show  various coaching options for different levels of athletes. 

One of the athletes I am coaching is on target to run the Dunedin Marathon in a personal best time of 3:05, and another has recently completed his Grade  2 kayaking certificate, taking him one step closer to February’s Coast to Coast.

What's Next

I will shift my focus  slightly for the next few months and concentrate on my running as I build up to the Auckland Marathon, which this year is the New Zealand Marathon  Championships. My goal for this is to try and achieve my medium term goal of  running a 2:29 marathon.

More immediately I will try and wrap up Total Sport's Xterra Auckland Trail Run Series this weekend at Shakespear Regional Park and take on Total Sport's Lydiard Legend Marathon on 18th September (4th in 2009).