While the 70.3 swimming and running sections are similar to the off-road triathlon Xterras in which he has been racing, his bike training needed to change over the past month from mountain biking to hitting the road on his time trial bike.
In the first of two back-to-back races, Currie excelled in the Ironman 70.3 Ecuador on August 8.
Despite getting a flat tyre on the 90km road cycling stage, he finished second to former world champion triathlete Tim Don, of Great Britain.
Returning to his base in Canada, Currie (29) felt he could not pass up a chance to pit himself against the best half-ironman triathletes in the world and entered the Ironman 70.3 Timberman in New Hampshire, United States.
Racing on Sunday against five of the top-10 ranked 70.3 ironman athletes in the world and top New Zealand triathletes Dylan McNeice and Mark Bowstead, Currie knew it would be a big task.
''I wanted to just give it a crack and see what times I could do against the best in the world,'' he said.
''I was really happy with my swim but I found the bike ride hard. Racing on the back of another half-ironman last weekend meant I couldn't match the pace of these specialised half-ironman athletes.''
Now overcoming a frustrating Achilles injury - sustained at the first of the three Xterra races in the United States and leaving him unable to run for about eight weeks - Currie was pleased his trademark fast pace on his feet was returning.
His run was the sixth-fastest split for the day and he finished 11th overall, two places behind triple Challenge Wanaka winner McNeice.
''It was a case of two out of three disciplines working for me at Timberman. My run is coming back and my swim was good. If I focus on some more time-trial-specific training and cut down on the travel miles before a race, I think 70.3 could be a viable future focus for me,'' Currie says.
Based in Canmore, Canada, for the next six weeks before returning home to Wanaka, Currie's major goal will be winning the overall US Xterra Championship title next month.
He is in second after a win, a second and recently a third at the US Xterra Mountain Champs in Avon, Colorado.
The final Xterra US Championship race is in Utah on September 19, when Currie will race his main rival, 10-time Xterra US national champion American Josiah Middaugh.
''Josiah is an incredible athlete who is rarely off his game, but I have beaten him once earlier this year and I will put everything I have into this event, so I hope it will play out for me and allow me to bring that US title home to NZ,'' Currie said.
Afterwards, he will return with his family to Wanaka for a month before heading to Hawaii to compete in the Xterra World Championships on November 1.
It will be his third time racing in this event, in which his past finishes were 17th in 2012 and fifth in 2013.
Currie said he felt he had gained a huge amount of experience racing in Europe in 2014 and the United States this year, and had made a solid progression in his technical mountain biking, which should all count towards a top finish in Hawaii.
''It will be interesting to see how much I have improved. Although I'd be stoked to podium, I'll always be trying to win,'' he said.
