A two-year break from running has given Tauranga athlete Angus Bell all the motivation he needs to ignore the giant kite sitting in his garage and pull on his running shoes.
Bell flew to the United Kingdom last week.
He he will compete tomorrow in the second Commonwealth mountain running championships, which start and finish in the mountain-running village of Llanberis in northern Wales, taking runners on a gruelling 12km route up and down the 729m-high Moel Eilio, which sits in the shadow of Snowdon - the highest mountain in England and Wales.
There is also a 53.7km trail race and 24-hour ultra-distance race for the really keen.
It will be a return to international competition for 31-year-old Bell, who secured selection for the Commonwealths by being second Kiwi home at the New Zealand mountain running championships in Porirua.
Bell, the 2007 national champ and race recordholder of the Boxing Day run up Mauao, had been pushing for selection for the world championships in Albania two weeks ago but missed out.
A stress fracture in his lower back kept him off the track, with the health and safety manager at Trustpower returning to running last year following a prolonged recovery.
"I got beaten up a bit and knocked around learning to kitesurf, which threw my hips out of alignment. While they were out of alignment I was doing some big running mileage and that's what caused the stress fracture," Bell said.
"I've been tempted, because living in the Bay is perfect for being outdoors, but I haven't had my kite out at all recently.
"Once this race is out of the way I'm looking forward to getting back out on the water."
Bell is part of a small Kiwi crew in Wales, who will be alongside Wellington's Tina Harris tackling Moel Eilio and several others the trail run and ultra race.
He flew out early to give himself a full 10-day buildup in and around the Welsh village.
"We start and finish in the village's main street and climb to 729m on fairly similar terrain to what the (Mauao) 4x4 track is like going up.
"It's not too technical, just a honker of a hill to negotiate and then a freefall down where I'd imagine everyone will let it all hang out."
Bell is an experienced international runner, having represented New Zealand at the 2006 world champs in Turkey (where he was 59th) and a year later in Switzerland, where he made a few mistakes and was 92nd. Then came the injured-enforced layoff and he's been chipping away at training to recover peak fitness.
There's an art to running downhill and cowardice just doesn't cut it.
"I've learned to let caution go a bit," Bell said. "I've built up a heap of strength in my legs and am feeling bloody good on the uphills, which is where my strength still is, but that still doesn't afford me any leeway to negotiate my way down the hill.
"You still need to be a bit cautious and I've never raced 6km downhill before, but gravity needs to help and sometimes holding back on the downhill, as opposed to just rolling and letting the legs tick over, can be detrimental."
The very nature of mountain running means Bell hasn't just been able to text around a few mates and pull a training crew together, although the Macdonald twins, Kyle and Iain, have been willing allies and Bell's dog has also been a constant companion.
"I've been out training twice a day every day, an easy run in the morning with the dog and a hard session at night, which have been a combination of hill workouts up the Mount and longer steady runs."
He will hit the summit of Mauao, 231m above the beach, three times during a typical session and has been cranking out the hours during the weekend, with Mt Te Aroha (950m) a favourite haunt.
"Mountain running isn't everyone's cup of tea and finding training partners can be slim pickings. But the dog's a good pacemaker and training solo means I've been able to focus on what I need to be doing."