Athletics season finished

And another athletics season is over.

This season we were interrupted in our training by a month-long trip to China over Christmas and the New Year.  It was definitely worth it, but it made it harder to get top performances when we only trained two or three times the entire time we were over there.

Mulan:

This season Mulan got new personal bests in triple jump (10.44m), long jump (4.67m), heptathlon (3026 points), 200m (29.40s), 800m (2:50.68s), 600g javelin (19.92m) and 4kg shot put (8.00m).  She got the Takapuna club record in the triple jump and heptathlon.

Mulan's big aspirational aim for this season was to achieve the qualifying standard in the triple jump to allow her to compete at the National Champs.  For the Under 20 women this was 10.20m, and she needed to get this at a recognised competition by the 16th of February.

At the beginning of the season she jumped 10.00m twice, so we knew that if she trained well and had good conditions it was possible.

One challenge was that Auckland Athletics doesn't put on many triple jump competitions.  In the new year and before the 16th of February there was only one competition, on the 10th of January.  And this was the day after we arrived home from our China holiday.

Not ideal, but Mulan had a go.  Understandably, jetlagged and with little training, Mulan didn't get the standard, falling short with a 9.65m jump.

Mulan's next option was to ask for special dispensation, explaining her situation and pointing out that there are very few girls meeting that standard, so the competition would be quite empty.  Unfortunately the answer came back no, because they don't give dispensations to juniors (under 20s).

We chatted about this with the Takapuna Athletics Club president.  He immediately said let's have our own official triple jump competition at the club.  He arranged for four nationally qualified athletics officials to come to the club and put on a recognised competition on the 11th of February.  (Thanks everyone, you were amazing!!)

Meanwhile, Mulan kept training daily.

On the day of the competition we were worried that the wind would be too strong (it has to be 2.0m/s or less).  But it died down enough, and the conditions were perfect.  Seven of us competed, to make it a real competition and to give Mulan a rest between her jumps.

The results of the Takapuna Triple Jump Exhibition are here.  Delightfully, on her third jump Mulan got a wind legal 10.22m.  She'd done what she needed to do, the competition was recognised, and she qualified for the Nationals.  More daily training followed after that.

And then at the Nationals Mulan did even better, coming 4th with a jump of 10.44m.  (Oddly, one of the girls competing didn't appear to have met the qualifying standard, with no recognised jumps over 10m.  We have no idea why there was this apparent inconsistency in selection.)

Auckland Senior Champs (21-22 February, 14 March), Under 20 Women

1st triple jump (9.96m)

1st javelin (19.16m)

2nd long jump (4.67m)

Results

Javelin results

New Zealand Champs (5-8 March), Under 20 Women

4th triple jump (10.44m)

Live results here

New Zealand & Auckland Combined Events Champs (21-22 March), Under 20 Women

2nd Auckland, 4th New Zealand heptathlon (3026 points)

Results

Miya:

This season athletics has not been such a big priority for Miya, as her focus has been on school and music, preparing for her school orchestra trip to China in April.  We can't do everything, and we have to make choices.  Consequently Miya hasn't trained so frequently and so hasn't improved from last season.

Nonetheless, Miya has still done very well, coming 5th= in high jump at the Nationals. She also picked up a gold medal at the Secondary Schools Nationals as part of her school's 4x100m relay team (school magazine article here).  She bettered her Takapuna club record in the pentathlon, and also broke her school high jump record, clearing 1.60m at the Westlake Girls Athletics Day (school magazine article here).  She also got a new personal best in the long jump (4.56m).

We also got to see Miya on TV!  Her Nationals high jump competition was shown on TVNZ here.

New Zealand Secondary Schools Champs (5-7 December), Junior Girls (Under 16)

7th high jump (1.58m)

13th triple jump (9.67m)

15th 80m hurdles (13.97sec)

19th 300m hurdles (53.73sec)

1st 4x100m relay (Westlake Girls team)

Results

Auckland Senior Champs (21-22 February), Under 18 Women

1st triple jump (9.75m)

3rd high jump (1.50m)

Results

New Zealand Champs (5-8 March), Under 18 Women

5th= high jump (1.54m)

Live results here

Auckland Secondary Schools Champs (19 March), Intermediate Girls (Under 17)

3rd high jump (1.55m)

3rd triple jump (9.96m)

Results

Me:

This season I newly moved up an age group to the 50-54 years category.  This meant that my hurdle heights lowered and my throwing weights lightened.  Much easier!

For the past several years I had been giving myself a personal fitness goal of still keeping up with Mulan and Miya when I turned 50.  For the most part I think I succeeded in that.  I'm still faster than the girls at the sprints, though the girls have better fitness and endurance.  Miya has been beating me in high jump for a few years now, and this season Mulan beat me in triple jump by 2cm, but in long jump I'm still ahead of them both (for now).

For the new age category I got club records in triple jump (10.42m), long jump (5.10m), high jump (1.45m), javelin (27.14m), 400m hurdles (1:24.81sec) and pentathlon (2277 points).  My pentathlon points was a new personal best.  I got the Auckland Masters age group record in the pentathlon, and for the fifth year running got the Auckland Masters men's pentathlon trophy.

Auckland Senior Champs (21-22 February, 14 March), Masters Men 50-54

1st triple jump (9.74m)

1st long jump (4.95m)

1st high jump (1.45m)

1st javelin (27.14m)

1st 400m hurdles (1:24.81sec)

2nd 60m (8.22sec)

2nd 100m (13.19sec)

2nd 200m (27.57sec)

Results

Javelin and 400m hurdles results

Auckland Combined Events Champs (21 March), Masters Men 50-54

1st pentathlon (2277 points)

Results

Exercise

After a month of rest, athletics winter training is starting next week.  Here's our plan for exercise over winter:

Miya:

Monday: Contemporary dance

Tuesday: Weights (athletics squad)

Wednesday: Running (athletics squad); Ballet

Thursday: 

Friday: Rock climbing

Saturday: 

Sunday: Running (athletics squad)

Mulan:

Monday: 

Tuesday: Weights (athletics squad); Ballet

Wednesday: Running (athletics squad); Ballet

Thursday: Weights

Friday: 

Saturday: 

Sunday: Running (athletics squad)

Me:

Monday: Biking & rock climbing

Tuesday: Weights (athletics squad)

Wednesday: Running (athletics squad)

Thursday: Biking & rock climbing

Friday: Rock climbing

Saturday: 

Sunday: Running (athletics squad)

Dance and climbing

In between athletics, music and academics, we have a little bit of time left for dance and rock climbing.

Mulan:

Way back in 2022, Mulan passed both her RAD Advanced 1 Ballet and NZAMD Level 6 Contemporary exams.   Then, throughout 2023 and 2024 she worked on Advanced 2 ballet.  (Her dance school didn't offer contemporary at higher levels, so she had to stop that.)

Finally, last August Mulan sat her Advanced 2 exam.

Unfortunately, Mulan did not pass.

We didn't know this so much at the time, but it turns out that Advanced 2 is pretty difficult to pass.  It's a bit different from the other previous exams that Mulan had sat.  Leading up to the exam, Mulan was attending up to about six hours of classes each week, but doing almost nothing outside of class.  We now know that that's not enough.  I get the impression that Advanced 2 is more for people who treat dance as their number one activity and are likely going to go on to do dance at tertiary level.  That wasn't Mulan.  But it was a great learning experience for her to try it out at that level.

This year (2025) Mulan is continuing to dance, doing a couple of hours each week of open classes at Mainly Dance.

Miya:

Last year (2024) Miya did both RAD Intermediate Ballet and NZAMD Level 4 Contemporary.  She sat the ballet exam in August and the contemporary exam in September, passing both of them.

This year Miya decided not to continue with ballet.  She is doing Level 5 Contemporary and, just for fun, attending an open neo-classical ballet class.

This year Miya also restarted rock climbing, after a couple of years away from it (she stopped at the beginning of 2023 because it was clashing with ballet and athletics).

In term 1 Miya joined She Climbs at Northern Rocks.  This is a fun social climbing group for secondary school aged girls.  The once-a-week meetup fits in perfectly for what Miya wants to do, and she's continuing this term.

Me:

A few days ago I also restarted rock climbing at Northern Rocks, after a couple of years away from it.

My body has been feeling increasingly sore from sprinting and jumping, so I decided that I need to change my exercise routine.  The plan is that most days I'll bike to the climbing wall (about 15 min) then climb for about 30 minutes or so.

Athletics season finished

Another athletics season has just finished, and it's nice for us to look back on what we've all achieved.

We train at the Takapuna Athletics Club, which in the last few years has been growing really well with excellent coaches and facilities.  The training squad is super supportive, and everyone is doing so well.

This season we had a lot of travel round the country for competitions.  Masters North Islands Champs in Whangarei, NZ Schools Champs in Timaru, North Island Colgate Games in Hastings, and National Champs in Dunedin.

Miya:

This season Miya got new PBs in high jump (1.62m), triple jump (10.10m), long jump (4.52m), and 80m hurdles (13.33s).  She broke Takapuna Club records in high jump and pentathlon.  She's a national champion in the pentathlon, and got silver and bronze national medals in high jump and triple jump.

Miya's results are now good enough that she has an Athletics New Zealand profile here.

Miya also has a World Athletics profile here.  The funny thing is that they have also included some of Mulan's results (and taken an odd selection of Miya's results)!

New Zealand Secondary Schools Champs (6-8 December), Junior Girls (Under 16)

4th high jump (1.55m)

10th triple jump (9.80m)

12th 80m hurdles (13.80s)

12th 300m hurdles (52.35s in heat, 52.78s in semi)

Results

North Island Colgate Games (10-12 January), Grade 14

4th high jump (1.54m)

7th 80m hurdles (13.93s heat, 13.77s final)

11th long jump (4.32m)

Live results

Auckland Senior Champs (18 January, 1-2 February), Under 16 Women

4th 300m hurdles (53.52s)

Results

Auckland Junior Champs (21, 23 February), Grade 14

2nd high jump (1.60m)

4th 80m hurdles (14.08s)

5th long jump (4.43m)

High jump results

Hurdles results

Long jump results

New Zealand Champs (6-9 March), Under 16 Women

2nd high jump (1.58m)

3rd triple jump (9.99m)

10th 80m hurdles (15.68s)

Live results

Auckland Junior Pentathlon Champs (15 March), Grade 14

6th pentathlon - 800m, discus, 200m, shot put, long jump (2415 points)

Results

Auckland Secondary Schools Champs (18, 20 March), Intermediate Girls (Under 17)

2nd triple jump (10.01m)

3rd high jump (1.55m)

8th 80m hurdles (13.61s)

8th 300m hurdles (52.28s)

13th long jump (4.47m)

Triple jump & high jump results

80m hurdles results

300m hurdles results

Long jump results

New Zealand & Auckland Combined Events Champs (22-23 March), Under 16 Women

1st pentathlon - 80m hurdles, high jump, shot put, javelin, 600m (2331 points)

Results

North Island Secondary Schools Champs (5-6 April), Intermediate Girls (Under 17)

5th high jump (1.62m) - PB

10th triple jump (9.72m)

12th 80m hurdles (13.33s) - PB

Live results

Mulan:

Back in October Mulan did a fun 10km run participating in the North Shore Marathon.

Mulan got a new PB in the triple jump (10.48m, but we think it was measured wrong and was probably 10.28m).  At the beginning of the year she went up to Under 20 grade, meaning higher hurdles and heavier throwing implements.  At the new hurdle height she ran the 100m hurdles in 18.10s.  She got Takapuna Club records in the heptathlon and hurdles.  She got her first national champs medal -- bronze in the heptathlon.

Mulan also has an Athletics New Zealand profile here.

New Zealand Secondary Schools Champs (6-8 December), Senior Girls (Under 20)

10th triple jump (9.65m)

12th 100m hurdles (18.50s)

16th long jump (4.39m)

Results

Auckland Senior Champs (18 January, 1-2 February), Under 20 Women

1st triple jump (9.98m)

1st javelin (12.79m)

2nd long jump (4.48m)

Results

Javelin results

New Zealand & Auckland Combined Events Champs (22-23 March), Under 20 Women

1st Auckland, 3rd New Zealand heptathlon (2857 points)

Results

Me:

This season I was at the old end of my age grade, and next season I'll enter the 50-54 age category.  For the first time I tried out some masters competitions -- first the North Island Champs and then the New Zealand Champs.  I'm a national champion in the triple jump, and got national champs silver in the long jump (at this age it's often more about who is able to survive without too many injuries!).

North Island Masters Champs (29 November - 1 December), Masters Men 45-49

1st triple jump (10.79m)

1st long jump (5.09m)

1st high jump (1.34m)

2nd 60m (8.50s)

2nd 100m (13.36s)

Results

Auckland Senior Champs (18 January, 1-2 February), Masters Men 45-49

1st triple jump (10.22m)

1st long jump (5.12m)

1st 400m hurdles (1:21.75s)

2nd high jump (1.35m)

2nd discus (20.20m)

2nd javelin (24.10m)

Results

Javelin & hurdles results

Auckland Combined Events Champs (22-23 March), Masters Men 45-49

1st pentathlon - long jump, javelin, 200m, discus, 1500m (2188 points)

Results

New Zealand Masters Champs (28-30 March), Masters Men 45-49

1st triple jump (10.59m)

2nd long jump (5.31m)

Results

Athletics season finished

Our athletics season is over.  The big comps are done, and we had our final clubnight last night.  It's good to have a rest; it's been a busy several weeks.

(We're not joining the schools North Island Champs in about 10 days, as it clashes with a school senior music camp that both Mulan and Miya are attending.)

Miya:

Miya's had an awesome season, with huge improvements and some great competition results.  It was a huge experience for her to qualify and compete at the Nationals.

This season Miya got new PBs in high jump (1.54m), triple jump (10.04m), long jump (4.50m), 80m hurdles (13.41sec) and 300m hurdles (51.67sec).

Takapuna Club nominated Miya for the Auckland Junior Track and Field Sportsperson of the Year.

Miya broke Club records in high jump, triple jump and sprint hurdles (some still to be updated).

Her competition results include:

North Island Colgate Games (5-7 January), Grade 13:

• 6th 80m hurdles (4th in North Island)
• 8th high jump
• 10th discus (8th in North Island)
• 10th shot put (9th in North Island)
• 4th Takapuna Club team 4x100m relay (3rd in North Island)

Results

South Island Colgate Games (12-14 January), Grade 13:

• 2nd high jump
• 2nd 80m hurdles
• 12th discus

Results

Auckland Senior Track & Field Champs (3-4 February), Under 16 Women:

(The hurdles races were held on another day, but we didn't compete as we were busy.)

• 2nd triple jump (PB)
• 3rd= high jump
• 9th long jump

Results

Auckland Junior Champs (23-24 February), Grade 13:

• 1st high jump
• 3rd 80m hurdles
• 9th= long jump

Results

Auckland Junior Pentathlon Champs (9 March), Grade 13:

• 4th pentathlon

Results

New Zealand Track & Field Champs (14-17 March), Under 16 Women:

(Miya's performances during the season meant she qualified for five events, but she decided to just do three, and didn't sign up for 300m hurdles or long jump.  A lot of the girls she competed against were a year older than her, so she's got a really good chance to do well next season, when she'll still be an Under 16.)

• 4th= high jump
• 10th 80m hurdles (PB)
• 13th triple jump

Results

Auckland Combined Events Champs (23-24 March), Under 16 Women:

• 2nd heptathlon

Results

Schools Auckland Champs (26 March), Junior Girls:

(To compete in this competition, athletes first needed to qualify by placing in the schools Zones competition.  Miya qualified in five events, but decided to scratch from the long jump and just focus on four events.)

• 1st triple jump
• 2nd 70m hurdles
• 2nd 300m hurdles (PB)
• 3rd high jump (PB)

Track results, field results

Mulan:

Mulan's had another great year of athletics.

She got new PBs in triple jump (9.89m), 100m hurdles (18.20sec) and 300m hurdles (52.71sec).

She broke Club records in both the sprint and long hurdles.

Mulan received a trophy for the best female field event athlete at the Auckland Launch competition.

And she got third Senior at the Westlake Girls Athletics Day.

Her competition results include:

Auckland Senior Track & Field Champs (3-4 February), Under 18 Women:

• 2nd triple jump (PB)
• 3rd long jump
• 5th shot put

Auckland Combined Events Champs (23-24 March), Under 18 Women:

• 2nd heptathlon

Schools Auckland Champs (26 March), Senior Girls:

(Mulan qualified in five events, but didn't want to scratch from any.  Unfortunately the programme wasn't ideal for her, and she triple jumped ten minutes after running the 300m hurdles.  Understandably her jumps weren't as good as usual, otherwise she probably would have got 3rd.)

• 3rd 100m hurdles (PB)
• 4th 300m hurdles (PB)
• 4th triple jump
• 7th long jump
• 10th shot put

Me:

I'm still continuing with athletics, and at the moment I'm feeling in pretty good shape due to trying to keep up with the girls at training and comps.

I got a new "old person" best (personal best since returning to athletics nine years ago) in the triple jump (10.97m).  I also tried out the 400m hurdles for the first time in my life!

I got Club records in 800m, 1500m, 400m hurdles and triple jump.

I also broke my Auckland Masters pentathlon record (here).

Auckland Senior Track & Field Champs (3-4 February), Masters Men 45-49:

• 1st triple jump
• 1st long jump
• 2nd high jump
• 4th 60m
• 4th 100m

Auckland Combined Events Champs (23-24 March), Masters Men 45-49:

• 1st pentathlon

Athletics Auckland Champs

We had a busy and satisfying weekend at the Auckland Track and Field Championships.  The results are here.

Miya has newly gone up to the Under 16 grade, and she competed in three events.

Long jump was Saturday, and it was tough competing on a day with blustery winds and sharp downpours.  But happily she got a couple of great jumps in, including a 4.47m, which earned her 9th place.

Then on Sunday it was triple jump and high jump.  The weather was perfect, and Miya was on fire in the triple jump, with three of her four jumps well over her previous best.  Her best jump, of 10.04m (wind 1.2), earned her a silver medal.  It's also easily over the entry standard that allows her to compete at the Nationals in March.

In the high jump, Miya pleasingly didn't miss a height at 1.35m, 1.40m and 1.45m.  She was close on her attempts at 1.50m, but didn't quite get it this time.  This earned her a bronze medal (equal with two others).

Miya has now qualified for the Nationals (and Auckland team) in both high jump and triple jump.  She's got another three weekends of competitions to qualify for long jump and hurdles (fingers crossed for legal winds, as her performances will likely be good enough).

Mulan's still in the Under 18 grade, and she also competed in three events.

Shot put is mostly just a fun and relaxing event for Mulan.  Her 9.09m was not bad, but on other days she's occasionally got it out into the high 9s and she's hoping one day to get it over 10.

Her long jump, also in tough weather conditions, was a satisfying season best of 4.50m, and this earned her a bronze medal.

And finally, Mulan triple jumped soon after Miya's huge new PB.  Sibling competitiveness meant Mulan was also looking to get over 10m, but she had to settle for an excellent new PB of 9.89m (wind 0.4), which earned her silver.

I'm still in the Master's 45-49 age group, and I competed in five events.

On Saturday I ran the 60m in 8.25sec and the 100m in 13.17sec.  I also jumped 5.16m in the long jump.  Then on Sunday I jumped 1.40m in the high jump and 10.46m (wind 1.1) in the triple jump.  This earned me two gold medals and one silver medal (and two 4th places).

A big thing for me now is endurance, and I needed to pace myself so I had enough energy left for the later events.  In all three jumps events I didn't use up all my attempts -- just two long, two high, and four triple.  It was probably about right, though who knows whether in the long and high one more attempt might have given better results.

Athletics

As I said in my last post, we've just got back from the South Island.

We were there, in part, because Miya was competing in an athletics competition.  So, let's talk athletics first.

We're now getting into the second half of the athletics season, when most of the big competitions happen.  But we've already had a few bigger comps.

On the 26th of November, Miya was part of the Takapuna Club team competing at the CNW (Central North West Auckland) interclub children's relay competition.  Miya's Grade 13 team got 1st in the 4x400m relay, 2nd in the 4x100m relay, and 2nd in the field relay (where Miya did the shot put).

On the 15th of December, both Mulan and Miya competed at the Launch athletics competition.  This is a fun and different competition for teens, where the athletes are randomly put into four teams, and then compete for team points during the Friday evening competition.  Each team is lead/mentored by two senior New Zealand rep/champ athletes.  For the field events (even high jump), competitors have three attempts only, of which the best two are added together for their final result. The track events have unusual distances.

Delightfully, Mulan won the trophy for the best female field event competitor.

While Miya had a huge new PB of 4.50m in the long jump.

Then in the New Year Miya competed at the Colgate Games.  This is the big children's competition, which is divided into the North Island (this year held here in Auckland) and the South Island (this year held in Dunedin) events.

For the North Island comp, held over three days between the 5th and 7th of January, Miya did the 80m hurdles, high jump, discus, shot put, and 4x100m relay.

Miya came 6th in the hurdles, though once we exclude the foreigners (those not from the North Island), she came 4th.

After a busy Friday she wasn't quite at her best in the high jump on Saturday morning, and her below-average 1.40m placed her 8th.

She did the throws just as fun extra events -- 20.38m in the discus and 7.27m in the shot put earned her two 10th placings.

Finally, and delightfully, her Grade 13 Takapuna Club team earned themselves a bronze medal in the 4x100m relay.  They came 4th in the final, but since the first place-getter was the Victorian (Australia) team, they were the 3rd North Island team so got on the dais.

Then a week later Miya competed at the South Island Colgate Games in Dunedin.

Again, the discus was just a fun extra event, and her 18.10m earned her 12th.

Then, delightfully, she came 2nd in the 80m hurdles.

(This time Miya was the foreigner, getting the white-ribboned medal.  There was a medal mixup, and Miya was initially presented with gold -- she changed it afterwards.)

Then finally it was the high jump.  Having learnt from the North Island comp, Miya was careful to manage her energy levels before the event, so was in good physical shape.

And she got a new PB of 1.51m!

This earned her another silver medal:

(Six athletes got medals, as the first three were all foreigners from the North Island.  Another medal mixup meant that initially Miya was presented with the red-ribboned South Island medal, rather than the white-ribboned foreigner medal -- they swapped it afterwards.)

Coming up, we've got two more months of big competitions:

• the Auckland Senior Champs this coming weekend (3-4th February), with long hurdles on the 17th,
• the Auckland Children's Champs on the weekend of the 23-25th of February,
• the Auckland Children's Pentathlon Champs on the 9th of March,
• the New Zealand Senior Champs on the weekend of the 14-17th of March,
• the Auckland Senior Multievents Champs on the weekend of the 23-24th of March,
• and finally the Auckland Schools Champs on the 26th of March.

Athletics new season

Our athletics season started on Saturday afternoon, with a pentathlon for both Mulan and Miya.  (I decided not to compete, as I had a busy day planned for Sunday and I couldn't afford to be out of action.)

Both girls had solid, satisfying performances in all events, considering it's been several months since they last competed.  (And considering that they both also had dance classes in the morning!)  The results are here.

Here's Miya clearing 1.44m in the high jump:

Athletics

The athletics season has now finished.

Lately I haven't been posting regularly about our competitions (or anything), but I thought it would be useful to record a quick summary of our main results this season.

(Competition results aren't everything, and equally important is personal growth, new PBs and skills development.  But it's nice to look at comp placings sometimes!)

A big reason for Mulan and Miya's recent successes (and huge gains) is that they have both been working hard with their training.  This season the reinvigorated Takapuna Athletics Club started a training squad for their age group, and the great atmosphere has really encouraged awesome results.

Miya:

(In Auckland colours competing at the scaled down Interprovincial competition)

Besides the North Island Colgate Games (which I wrote about here), Miya's three big competitions this season were the Auckland Senior Champs (competing as Under14), the Auckland Children's Champs (competing as Grade 12), and the Auckland Children's Pentathlon Champs (also Grade 12).

At the Senior Champs Miya got:

• 1st triple jump
• 2nd 80m hurdles
• 2nd shot put
• 3rd discus
• 3rd= high jump

While at the Children's Champs she got:

• 3rd high jump
• 4th 80m hurdles
• 7th shot put
• 9th discus

And at the Pentathlon Champs (discus, shot put, 800m, long jump, 200m) she came 4th.

Miya is on the Auckland ranking lists for the Under 14 high jump and triple jump (1st in high jump and 2nd in triple jump).

She got three Takapuna Club records: Grade 12 80m hurdles, and Under 14 80m hurdles and high jump.

Miya's best events seem to be high jump (1.45m twice) and triple jump (9.40m on grass), though with still being young and growing she needs to be careful with the various aches and pains to not push herself too hard (especially in triple jump).

Mulan:

(In Westlake Girls colours at the schools Auckland Champs)

Besides the Schools Nationals in December (which I wrote about here), Mulan's three big competitions this season were the Auckland Senior Champs (competing as Under 18), Auckland Multi-events Champs (Under 18 heptathlon), and Auckland Schools Champs (competing as Intermediate).  She didn't compete at the Schools North Island competition, as it clashed with a music orchestra event she was in.

At the Senior Champs Mulan got:

• 1st triple jump
• 3rd 100m hurdles
• 3rd long jump
• 6th shot put
• 6th discus

And at the Multi-events Champs (100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, 800m) she came 1st in Auckland.

At yesterday's Schools Champs (track and field results) she got:

• 3rd triple jump
• 7th 80m hurdles
• 10th long jump

Mulan is on the Auckland ranking lists for the Under 16 triple jump and long jump.

She got three Takapuna Club records: Under 16 80m hurdles and triple jump, and Under 18 100m hurdles.

Mulan's best event is the triple jump (9.70m), and while she's had solid performances all season with all her events we always feel that there are some big results yet to come.

Ever since the Schools Nationals in December, Mulan had been carrying niggling ankle injuries.  First it was her right ankle from the Nationals triple jump, then it has also been her left ankle since the Heptathlon high jump.  She's been taping these each time she competes and trains (and is rehabbing them with massage and wobble-board strengthening), but they were fairly painful at yesterday's competition.  It'll be good to rest and rehab over the off-season.

Me:

(Part one of the Auckland Champs Pentathlon)

I continued to compete this season, in the Masters Men 45-49 age group, though unfortunately catching Covid in late January slowed me down a bit.

At the Auckland Senior Champs I got 1st in my age for triple jump.  Then at the Auckland Multi-events Champs I got 1st in my age in Auckland for the Pentathlon (long jump, javelin, 200m, discus, 1500m), though getting a migraine partway through slowed down my later events.

I got three Takapuna Club records in the Masters Men 45-49 age: 100m, 200m and high jump.

While my triple jump significantly deteriorated, I was very happy to (a) get over 5 metres in the long jump, (b) get 27.07sec in the pentathlon 200m, bettering my time from last year, and (c) keep up with Miya and get 1.46m in the high jump!

Athletics Auckland Champs -- hurdles

This year the athletics Auckland Champs are being held over a few weeks.

Yesterday the champs kicked off with the hurdles, which Mulan and Miya both competed in.

Miya came second in the Under 14 Women 80m hurdles:

While Mulan ran her first ever 100m hurdles race, coming third in the Under 18 Women's event:

The results are here.

Whanganui holiday

Our family holiday this summer was down in Whanganui (mostly).

It was just a short trip, leaving on Wednesday 4th and arriving back home on Thursday 12th.

It was Whanganui this year because once again we were at the North Island athletics Colgate Games (like we did last year in Wellington and the year before in Inglewood).  This year it was just Miya competing, as Mulan is too old (14 and unders only).

I'll write some more on this post but for now here's the important bits:

Here's Miya coming 4th in the final of the Grade 12 80m hurdles (15.24sec):

And here she is clearing 1.40m in the high jump to come 4th:

Both were new PBs for her.  She did the shot put and discus too, but didn't throw as well as she sometimes does.  She was also in the club's second relay team for her age, and they came 6th.  The results are here.

Athletics Nationals

Over the weekend we were down in Inglewood for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Champs.  (And by "we" I mean just Mulan and me; Mama and Miya stayed back home.)  This is different from the club national champs, which happen at the end of the season in March.

We left home on Friday morning and arrived back on Sunday evening, the drive each way taking about five hours.

We were there because Mulan had signed up for the junior girls (under 16) 80m hurdles on Saturday morning and triple jump on Sunday morning.  (Mulan decided not to compete in the long jump on Friday morning as it clashed with a ballet event happening on Thursday evening.)

It was a very satisfying weekend, with two new PBs (personal bests) in the two events.

First up, into a slight head wind Mulan ran the 80m hurdles in 14.61 seconds.  Overall she came 17th out of 22 competitors.  What's even more satisfying is that there is still room for improvement; Mulan's main comment was that she jumped too high over the hurdles and this slowed her momentum so she had to add an extra step between the last few hurdles.

Here she is in lane 6, running in the early morning mist:

I didn't get a video of Mulan's triple jump on Sunday, as there were too many people crowding around the runup.  You'll just have to trust me that her second jump of 9.70m, also into a slight head wind, was spot on.  This earned her 10th place.

But you can see her third jump (which was not so good) on the YouTube livestream.  The livestream was focused on the senior competitors, but it just happened to catch Mulan jumping in the background.  Having already got 9.70m, Mulan decided to go hard with her final jump, but she slightly twisted her ankle on the hop landing and didn't get a strong jump into the pit.  (Her ankle is okay now.)

The competition results are here, and Mulan's personalised results are here.

Music and athletics

Saturday was quite busy.

First up, at 8:30am we were in Te Atatu for the Christmas Parade.

West City Youth Concert Band, which Mulan and Miya play in, set up in the park to entertain the crowds.  They played one-hour-ish sessions both before and after the parade.

(Mulan's in the flute section on the near side, while Miya is on the far side with the clarinets.)

When it finished at 1pm we headed off to Pakuranga for our usual McKinnon Shield interclub athletics competition.  The results are here.

For our first event, Mulan and Miya were in the same 80m hurdles race together.  Into a strong head wind they both had pleasing times, with Mulan getting 15.05sec and Miya getting a PB of 16.70sec.

I pushed myself with a 60m sprint (8.64sec) quickly followed by a 100m sprint (13.81sec).

We all then finished off with a triple jump together.

Delightfully, Miya got a new PB of 9.02m while Mulan got a solid 9.41m (again into a head wind).  These were good enough to get both Mulan and Miya onto the Auckland ranking lists (they are now on the ranking lists for two events each!).  Still recovering from my sprints, I only managed 9.60m.

(At the same time Mulan's two-year-old Under 14 Auckland record of 9.32m was finally beaten; the new record 9.67m could be a challenge for Miya to beat!)

It must have all been too much for me.  Arriving home around 6:30pm I had a migraine, which put me out of action for the next 36 hours.

Athletics weekend

We were at athletics competitions on both Saturday and Sunday.

First up, on Saturday we had the regular McKinnon Shield competition.  Mulan and Miya both competed, while I decided to have a rest day.  The results are here.

Miya cleared 1.35m in the high jump

and just missed 1.40m:

Mulan got a new wind-assisted PB of 4.59m in the long jump:

Both girls jumped well enough to get onto the latest Auckland ranking lists.  Miya's 1.35m is on the Women's Under 14 high jump list, while Mulan's fourth best jump of the day (4.29m) had a legal wind and got on the Women's Under 16 long jump list.

---

Then on Sunday Miya competed at the CNW (Central-North-West Auckland) children's interclub relay competition.

Our club, Takapuna, has a lot of competitive girls in Miya's grade (12), and Miya didn't make the team.  But we don't have many Grade 14 girls, so Miya was offered a spot to make up the numbers in a fun team.

They competed in the 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay and field relay.  Miya did the shot put section of the field relay, getting a new PB of 6.88m.  And since there were only three clubs competing in the grade, Miya's team came away with three bronze medals!

Dick Quax athletics comp

On Saturday, once again Mulan, Miya and I competed together at athletics.  This time it was the Dick Quax Memorial Meet.

The results are here.

Miya ran her first ever hurdles race -- first time over hurdles on rubber and first time completing a full 80m!  For her first race it went pretty well.  The big thing for her to work on is getting familiar with the stride lengths between the hurdles.  About halfway through the race she had to chop a stride very short to get over a hurdle, and consequently on the next hurdle she was off balance and fell.  But she quickly picked herself up and still managed to finish well.

Delightfully, immediately after that Miya got a new PB in the high jump, clearing 1.37m and getting very close to 1.40m.  She's also adjusting well to throwing a heavier shot put this season (3kg up from 2kg), and got it out to a solid 6.56m.

Mulan is de-rusting well, getting very pleasing results in her first long jump (4.39m) and hurdles (15.27sec) competitions of the season.  What was especially good about the hurdles was that it was into a strong head wind (2.4m/s) yet she kept the momentum going and mostly didn't need to add an extra stride between hurdles.

Finally, I did an okay-ish long jump of 4.88m.  The main thing is that I'm still doing something to keep fit, though it's a bit sad to feel the body getting slower and flatter each season.  One of the big pleasures of athletics is the feel of speed, and aging takes that away incrementally every year.

First athletics comp of the season

Yesterday was a day of firsts for us.

It was our first interclub athletics competition of the season.  (Though we've been having clubnights for a few weeks now.)

It was also the first time that 12-year-old Miya has ever competed at a senior competition, not to mention her first proper triple jump competition.

It was also the first time that Mulan, Miya and I have all competed together in the same event and at the same time.

This was the McKinnon Shield competition, and we all signed up for the triple jump.

Miya is newly competing in the "Women Under 14" grade.  She had a great start, jumping both well and consistently to get three of her six jumps over 8.70m and a best of 8.76m.

Miya will be in the Under 14 grade until the end of 2023, and if she continues to improve in the triple jump she'll put pressure on the Auckland record of 9.32m (currently held by someone by the name of Mulan Riseborough!).

Mulan was feeling a bit under the weather all day yesterday, but thought she'd have a jump anyway.  She was looking very flat and couldn't get much bounce going, only getting 9.02m.

I was also feeling flat (and old), and only managed 9.90m.  Really hope I can do better this season and it's not permanent old age deterioration!

The results for all of us are here.

Yellow climb

Here's Miya doing a new yellow climb yesterday:

Skiing and snowboarding

Way back, a couple of months ago, we planned a skiing holiday at Mt Ruapehu for the recently-passed school holidays.  We'd booked our accommodation and everything.

This would've been my first time skiing in over a quarter of a century, and the first time ever for everyone else in the family.

But unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, and the ski fields ran out of snow.  Apparently, the managers of the ski field decided to not maintain any beginner slopes during the school holidays, and only maintain intermediate and above.  (No idea why they didn't try to get the school holiday kids business.)

So, with no slopes suitable for us we had to cancel our holiday trip.

Instead we decided to try out indoor skiing much closer to home, at Snowplanet.

Three weeks ago today, during the school holidays, we had an evening of skiing.  Mulan and Miya skied for four hours, while Mama and I had two hours.  (Cost: $41 each, including equipment.)

We'd watched a few YouTube videos introducing how to ski, so we knew what to do.  Very quickly, Mulan and Miya took off on their own on the beginner slope, while I stuck with Mama helping her.  Towards the end of my two-hour session I tried out the steeper intermediate zone, and after a while Mulan came up with me too (though she fell over lots!).

After a half-time bite to eat, Mama and I relaxed and watched the girls keep going on their own.  Here's a couple of videos of the girls:

It was well worth it, and the time on the slope was about right for us beginners.

But then we heard that the homeschoolers were organising ski lessons during school term time, again at Snowplanet.  $28 each, including gear, for two hours.

Miya and I jumped at the opportunity, while Mulan was grumpy that she missed out and had to be stuck at school.

I thought I may as well try out snowboarding (first time ever), and Miya got another ski session.

By the end of last Tuesday's session Miya was much steadier on her skis and was going up beyond the beginner slope and into the intermediate zone.

Meanwhile, I was getting slightly steady-ish on my snowboard on the beginner slope.  I found my introductory lessons (alongside the homeschool kids) really useful to get me started.

My verdict?  I enjoyed snowboarding, and it was great to try it out, but I prefer skiing.  If we ever go skiing/snowboarding again, I'll probably opt for the skis rather than the board.

Bouldering versus roped climbing

Time to compare and contrast.

Last Wednesday we did our usual rock climbing session, bouldering at Northern Rocks.  Here's Miya doing a couple of new climbs:

Yesterday (Monday) we spent about five hours doing roped climbing at Birkenhead Pool and Leisure Centre.  (We last went there back in February of 2019.)

Miya did a Grade 19 climb:

While I ran out of puff at the second to last hold,

and had to rest on the rope a bit before completing it.

Mulan completed Grade 15, and almost did Grade 16.

Which means that according to this chart Mulan is mid-intermediate while Miya and I are low-experienced.  (In contrast, our bouldering levels suggest Mulan is mid-experienced, I am high-experienced and Miya is low-expert.)

And the verdict?

While I enjoy both bouldering and roped climbing, for now I prefer bouldering.

Why?

Personally, I found the higher wall of the roped climbs mostly challenging for my endurance fitness.  For the grade level that I was at, each move by itself was relatively easy; I was reaching my limit mostly because my muscles got too pumped and stopped working.  So, while it was a good challenge for the body, it wasn't as challenging for the brain.

In contrast, for me, bouldering is a mental challenge as much as a physical challenge.  It's about problem solving and creativity.  On the shorter wall there are fewer moves, but each move needs to be thought through to figure out how best to do it using one's unique body type and skills.  That aha moment of finding the right trick to a move can be very satisfying.

So, while we definitely plan to do more roped climbing, we probably won't do it so regularly -- maybe just every several months or so.

Oh, and I've got to repost a pic of me with a few friends 25 years ago at Birkenhead climbing!

And see those ropes?  They are doing absolutely nothing to protect us.  This was a posed photo for a local newspaper, and we simply free climbed up with the ropes dangling off us. Scott and I were trusting Steve and Matt to not pull us off the wall!

Climbing with Mulan

Mulan is on school exam study break at the moment, so of course we all forgot about study and went climbing today.

(Actually, Mulan had all her exams early, so she's now got a short holiday until next week.)

And Mulan got her first ever green climb!!!

A few months ago we agreed that if (and when) Mulan gets a green we'd have a special takeaway dinner together.  So the girls had Subway and Fanta tonight.

And then it was time for photos.

Here's Miya cutting loose with a one-handed dyno:

And here's Mulan showing off her splits.  (Pity we forgot our good camera -- we had to use my phone, which has a scratch that looks like a mark on Mulan's face.)